Maria came into a round, spherical room.
There was hardly anywhere to get solid footing. It was like they were walking around on the inside of a bowling ball. Dotted around the chamber, several pedestals jutted out from the ground, ceiling, and walls, adorned with large pointed crystals of various shapes and sizes. Opposite their entrance, a gated pathway stood, guarding the second lever and a chest positioned behind it. From the center of the roof, a solitary beam of light descended, illuminating the crystal situated at the bottom of the spherical room. An aimless beam of light reflected off it into the wall.
“What kind of room is this?” Tanalia asked.
Chariot shook her head. “It’s a puzzle room.”
“I know that, but what are we supposed to do?”
Maria tentatively tapped the crystal in the center with her fingertips. They were solid, and no mere illusion, despite their ominous pale appearance. Upon closer inspection, she noticed irregular curves and jagged shapes within the crystals. In an attempt to activate or manipulate them, she pushed and pulled with all her might, but to no avail. They were heavy. However, when she tried turning the crystal, the pedestal beneath it rotated with a slow, ear-splitting grind of stone against stone. The beam of light rotated with the crystal's movements.
“It’s a light puzzle,” Chariot said. “It’s simple. All we need to do is get that beam of light to the end of…” She looked around the room. There was no discernible end for the beam. There were no obvious markings by the door, nor visible symbols or instructions anywhere in the room, aside from the tablet outside. The spherical room was smooth, so smooth it was impossible to get a grip somewhere.
“To where?” Maria asked.
“I’m not entirely sure. But I can figure this out,” Chariot said.
“I doubt it,” Tanalia said.
Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Maria stepped back and settled near the doorway. She studied the room while she fidgeted with her silver ring. As her party turned the crystals to refract light, a new problem emerged. Some of the crystals emitted several beams of light in different directions, some that didn't even line up with any other crystals. At first, Maria figured they had to align the lights in a certain pattern or shape, sort of like creating light art. She scanned the walls of the spiral tunnel leading down to the chamber for any visual clues but found nothing. As time passed, however, the realization was that unraveling the puzzle wouldn't be a quick and easy feat.
As Maria searched for clues, one nagging concern gnawed at Maria's thoughts—the existence of only two pathways yet the need for three switches. There was no way one switch was going to unbolt two of the steel beams barring the giant door. They had already found a switch at the end of both pathways, though one was still inaccessible for the time being. So where was the third switch? Either it remained hidden somewhere down the first path where they had done battle with all the monsters, or perhaps it was somewhere else they had yet to explore. But where would that be?
“I’m going to head back to the first part of the dungeon,” Maria explained to her party. “I’ll go see if I can find the third switch.”
“You go do that,” Tanalia grunted, twisting one of the crystals.
“You should go with her,” Chariot said confidently. “I can handle this on my own.”
“I don’t think you can.”
“You’re already not helping me, so it would make no difference if you were here or not.”
Maria stood and watched her teammates bicker for a few moments, before returning to the main chamber. As soon as she stepped out into the room, she spotted Irra emerging from the elevator shaft, stretching her arms. She too spotted Maria and flashed her a cheeky grin.
“There you are,” she said in an almost taunting voice.
“How’s your search turning up?” Maria asked.
Irra simply gestured to her door.
Maria peered over. Both the first, and third bolts had been removed. “Hold on, did you find the third switch?”
“We did. I see you haven’t yet.”
“We’re… well... I’m looking for it. What about your teammates, where are they?”
“They’re still trying to figure out how to solve the light puzzle. You’re going to have to speed up if you ever want a chance at winning.”
“Oh, I’m trying. Mind giving me a hint?”
Irra scoffed before roaring with laughter. “You can’t honestly be serious.”
“I mean… I was.”
“You’re adorable,” Irra shook her head and marched down the steps back into the chamber before freezing like her body had been chilled to ice. “In a comedic sense, I mean,” she said.
“Hmm, right,” Maria grinned.
“No, hey, I didn’t mean—”
“No, no, sure you didn’t,” Maria teased her further. Before she could continue on though, Irra stopped her.
“Hey, wait.”
“Hm?”
“How about we make this a bit more interesting? Whoever wins this little competition gets to pick a punishment for the other team’s party leader.”
“A punishment?”
“Anything really. Just a little more incentive for you to try harder.”
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Maria looked back at the bolts in Irra’s door. She was already at a disadvantage, but there was a chance for them to come back from this. She didn’t see why not. If she did come out on top, she could make Irra do anything she wanted. Several dirty thoughts raced through Maria’s head. “You know what… why not.” She held out her hand, and Irra shook it.
“Best of luck.” Irra started jogging back to her side of the dungeon.
Maria hurried off back to the first tunnel. She could hear Irra growl behind her, and simply smirked as she bolted further into the dungeon.
Maria remained cautious as she re-exploited the first section of the dungeon. Although the monsters were all vanquished, she remained vigilant, just in case one may still be alive, and lurking around the corner. She had to meticulously avoid the traps she had already gone through once before. There was no way to deactivate them now. She painstakingly searched the halls, tapping her sword against the walls in hopes of revealing a hidden room or an elusive invisible passage— she never found anything. Her efforts proved fruitless as she explored every nook and cranny, circling each of the floors meticulously. After nearly an hour of backtracking and thorough investigation, she reluctantly figured that the third lever simply wasn't here.
Maria returned to the large, ornate doors. Still, even after all her time searching, Irra's group had yet to solve their puzzle. Their second bolt was still blocking the doorway, as was the second and third bolt over Maria's. She scanned the room for any signs of the elusive lever, but still, there was nothing. Maria paced around the room, listening to the echo of her footsteps as her frustration only grew with each passing minute. If they didn't find this third lever soon, Irra's party would win.
Maria came to a stop.
She gazed back towards the elevator.
What was she doing over there?
Maria marched back to the elevator shaft and spotted a lever beside the stone platform they had ridden down. For a brief moment, she had a spark of hope, only for it to swiftly fade as she realized its purpose was likely to summon the elevator back down in the event of it ascending— ascend...
Maria quickly looked back at the platform and paused. Her gaze fixated on the narrow gap between the platform and the floor. An idea sparked in her mind. Maria stepped onto the pressure plate and swiftly leaped off just as it started its ascent. Now, she waited, standing with her arms crossed, and her gaze locked on the gaping hole before her. It appeared to stretch endlessly into the abyss of darkness below.
A few moments later, a faint, ethereal blue light emanated from the bottom of the shaft, steadily intensifying as it drew nearer. Maria squinted as the light grew brighter and closer, until finally, another platform emerged, ascending to the designated spot before settling with an ominous rumble. She couldn't help but crack a smile.
"There's no way," she muttered under her breath. Maria stepped onto the pressure plate in the middle of the new platform and hopped off again. Just as she suspected, the elevator went back down, and the original one they had ridden returned to her.
The witch squealed in excitement and sent the original platform back up. When the new one rose, she eagerly hopped on and rode the mechanism deeper into the earth. It grew just as dark as before, with only the soft luminous glow of the elevator illuminating the space around her. There was no way in hell Irra just stumbled upon this secret, Maria almost couldn't believe it. When the elevator came to a stop, she found herself in a dimly lit hallway. The path ahead of her was illuminated by a long row of torches capped with dancing blue flames. As she took a step towards the path, however, she found that a strip of blue paint outlined the hallway. This is the path Irra had gone down. Maria raised an eyebrow and turned around. Behind her was nothing but darkness. When she cast {Flames}, however, she managed to light a torch where previously she had seen nothing. Another tunnel revealed itself, this one outlined in red markings. To her surprise, the torch she illuminated quickly took on a blue hue, causing an eerie glow. She removed the torch from its sconce and waved it around. As the blue flames danced along the surface of the walls, faint lines materialized, appearing as if drawn with invisible ink.
The ceiling arched overhead, while the faint sounds of scuttling emanated from within the walls. Maria’s heart beat faster with each step forward she took. There were no turns or alternative paths—just a solitary, straight walk through the encompassing darkness. Every fiber of her was braced for the lurking presence, an imminent threat waiting to pounce from the shadows as soon as she let her guard down or turned her back.
But there was nothing.
After a long walk, the blue light of her torch illuminated a faint silver glint. Maria stopped dead in her tracks and proceeded slower. Soon, the third lever came into view, its handle as freshly polished as the day the silver was likely forged. Maria breathed a sigh of relief, letting out a tired chuckle before she pulled the lever.
Several strange noises echoed around Maria. It was as if the very stone within the walls was shifting and stirring. Every torch lining the seemingly endless hallway ignited one by one, starting from the far end and gradually progressing toward her. With each new torch, a new obstacle appeared before her. Spikes suddenly shot up against the ceiling at regular intervals, dart traps triggered, flamethrowers spewed forth scorching fire, and scythes swung back and forth between narrow slits in the walls and floor. The final torch lit beside Maria and the walls around her were revealed to contain several small holes in them.
She quickly moved out of the way as two pairs of spiked walls clamped down where she once stood. Heat engulfed her as fiery blasts erupted towards her path. She screamed and fumbled her way back down the hallway. Narrow blades swooshed across the length of the hallway, forcing Maria to crawl, leap, and duck so quickly that she barely had time to process everything going on around her. The swinging scythes nearly took off the brim of her witch cap as she stumbled forward a little too far, and nearly fell face-first into the trap.
Maria managed to evade the swinging scythe. Her respite was short-lived as a sudden yelp escaped her lips when long, pointed darts pierced both of her thighs. She fell to her knees as a shocking pain surged through her legs. She groaned in agony. Her legs felt weak, and her fingers started to tingle. Numbness was spreading through her extremities. Beneath her health and mana bars, a yellow box materialized, bearing the symbol of a water droplet.
“Shit,” Maria groaned and pulled the two darts from her thighs. Two warm trickles of blood seeped down the sides of her legs as her health started dwindling fast.
{705/1027}
{672/1027}
{659/1027}
{636/1027}
{601/1027}
{587/1027}
Summoning every ounce of strength she had left, Maria forced herself back onto her feet. She was only halfway through the hallway, and every step felt like an uphill battle. She had to time the next few traps carefully. Maria stood before another swinging scythe and fell forward to move her way through it. It was like she was trying to walk on stilts, and those stilts were being eaten by termites. The fire was spreading through her veins. She dodged another dart trap, and hurried past a barrage of spikes and fire, before finally reaching the platform. Her health had dropped to {208/1027}. Collapsing onto the pressure plate, she activated the ascent of the platform. As the liquid coursed through her, her health surged, reaching a slightly more manageable {464/1027}. It was just enough to sustain her for the time being.
The elevator came to a stop, and Maria stumbled back into the dungeon’s main floor. The third beam before the large ornate door had been removed, leaving just the middle one. She turned, and nearly fell over. Her vision was growing blurry, and she felt like she was walking on clouds. Maria slumped against the wall, forcing herself to walk along before crying out. She wasn’t sure if she said anything at all, or just an incomprehensible sound, she only tried to make as much noise as she could. Her legs gave out from under her, and she collapsed, scraping her palms against the stone floor as she rolled onto her side.
“My, my, my, my, my, who is it that we have here?”
Maria forced herself to tilt her head and glance up at the figure standing over her. They stared down at her, their face obscured behind a snow-white mask, adorned with wide, upturned eye holes. Over the left eye hole, a red diamond was painted, while a black diamond adorned the right.
The Ringleader.