“That’s where the other goblins came from.” Bordan said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “Looks like more storage. Let’s check the other way.”

The right hallway off the T led into a room a third the size of the main room. Unlike the rest of the ruin they’d seen, the walls in this room were decorated in wildly different variations of the ‘trees, roots and vines’ theme. One had more uniform trees, another lots of vines hanging down , a third was actually just a jumble of worm-like roots. Several flat surfaces extended out of the wall and floor.

“Weird.” Leodin said, and Bordan grunted in agreement. Salissa ran a hand along one of the strange textures, turning to look at the tables.

“A workshop, maybe?” She asked hesitantly. “These remind me of workbenches, although they’re a little high, and the walls could be different attempts to create the look of the rest of the place.”

Edwin nodded. “Probably. We know the inhabitant of this place liked designing things, this might be where he did his work.”

Another open doorway was across from them, and they followed it into a slightly larger room. Unlike all the other rooms, this one’s walls were bare, the flat, grey surfaces making it seem like they had exited the stone forest into a normal house.

On the floor of the room were several…things. Ranging from waist-height to taller than Edwin, half a dozen of what looked like Magestone bushes were strewn haphazardly around the space.

“So weird.” Leodin repeated, slowly circling one of them. “Is this supposed to be a garden?”

Edwin looked at the unadorned walls and even, flat floor and shook his head.

“Art storage, I think. The Pioneer was experimenting on these in the workshop, and he put them here when he was done.”

“Fake stone bushes for a fake underground forest.” Bordan shook his head.

“Hey, Edwin.” Leodin called. “Look at this.”

He was crouching next to one of the bushes, intently staring at its base. When Edwin walked up, the marksman pointed at a divot in one of the lowest roots.

“Does this look like something’s missing?”

Inspecting the bush, Edwin scratched his chin. It did look weird. There was a small notch in an otherwise perfectly even surface, and the bush itself seemed more barren than the rest of them.

Leodin stood up and stuck his head into it, running his hand along some of the surfaces.

“I think your stick goes here.” He said, pulling his head back out and holding a hand out to Edwin. Edwin handed the glaive over, and Leodin maneuvered it into place with some difficulty.

It slotted into place with a quiet thud.

And nothing happened.

“…what did that do?” Bordan asked suspiciously.

Edwin knelt down, practically crawling into the faux shrubbery. The glaive blended in almost perfectly, the gnarled stick forming one of several thicker branches. If Edwin hadn’t watched it being put in, he wouldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary. After a few seconds, his face brightened.

“Oh, that’s neat!”

He stood up and pulled on the glaive, removing it from its resting place with only the barest resistance. Then he grabbed another one of the branches and pulled – and his hand came away holding a large Magestone knife in the same style as the glaive.

He turned towards his surprised companions.

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“This isn’t art, it’s a weapons rack.”

--- ----- ---

A short while later, what had looked like a full and vibrant bush was reduced to a few forlorn sticks that a smattering of leaves was attached to. The adventurers were gathered around the largest workbench in the other room, inspecting their find.

Aside from the glaive, there were two knives large enough to be shortswords, something that might have been an axe, two different-sized hammers, a sickle and two more polearms: A spear and a stick with blades at both ends. Leodin had almost lost a hand to this one, only realizing at the last moment that there was a second, way too sharp blade to be worried about.

“Well, they’re definitely pretty.” Leodin said musingly. “What do we do with ‘em?”

Edwin picked up one of the knives and weighed it in his hands. It was like a shorter, thinner version of the glaive’s blade, with a short handle attached.

“Salissa, how is the weight on this one? You could maybe use this instead of your sword.”

The mage carefully took the weapon from him, weighing it in her hand.

“It’s heavier than my sword, but almost the same length. It only has one blade, though, and it seems more unwieldy. It’s nice, but why would I?”

“Because of that.” Edwin said, pointing out the silver veins in the blade that continued all the way to the tip. “The silver root is Magesilver, meaning you can channel your magic through the blade. It would give your magic a little more range in normal use and make it much easier to switch from fighting to casting while in combat. It’s also a way to get past auras without sticking your hand into someone’s gut.”

“I’m still angry at you about that.” Salissa said, glaring up at Edwin.

He ignored her.

“For the rest of these, unless you guys want one, there’s nothing to do except leave them here. We can report this ruin once we’re back at the city and get a reward. The College is always looking for more of these to explore and research, so we’ll make a pretty penny.”

“The Guild will take a portion.” Bordan reminded them. “Because we found it on an assigned mission, not on our own.”

“True, and the war might be dropping prices.” Edwin admitted. “Still though, it should leave us with a decent sum. Especially this place. While it’s not very large the theme and artwork are pretty unique, so archaeologists and architects both will flock here. Ten bronze say that stone trees will become the next big trend with the rich, even though they could just as easily use real trees while above ground.”

“You’re not very fond of nobles, are you?” Bordan asked with a grin.

“I’ve met too many that are tools. If you look at the mess we’re in right now, it’s just nobles feuding over land that they’ve never seen with their own eyes, letting people they’ve never met kill each other. But honestly, rich commoners aren’t much better. Money and status corrupt, that’s just how it is.”

“I wouldn’t become like that if I were rich.” Leodin said.

“Sure.” Edwin agreed. “It would probably take a few generations. Might be your grandkids, or great grandkids, but sooner or later they’ll be so used to being on top and better than everyone else that they’ll turn into tools as well.”

“A little pessimistic, don’t you think?” Bordan said, bemused.

“Maybe.” Edwin shrugged. “There are idiots everywhere, I suppose, but where poor idiots just make life hard for themselves, rich idiots can make life hard for everyone.”

“So what’s your solution then?” Salissa asked.

“Who said I have a solution?” Edwin said grimly. “Who said there is a solution? People suck. Power corrupts. So unless you get rid of either people or power or both, it is how it is. Best you can do is try not to get caught up in anyone’s bullshit and do your own thing. That’s what I do.”

There was a pregnant pause, then Bordan slapped the table.

“Cheery thoughts to brighten my day as usual, Edwin. Shall we check out the door?”

They left the room and went back into the corridor, Salissa awkwardly carrying the knife. They didn’t have a sheath for it, so they’d have to find a way to safely transport the incredibly sharp blade.

The rest of Edwin’s party turned left towards the entrance, but Edwin decided to save the best for last and went straight instead to get a look at the room he hadn’t seen yet. As Bordan had said, it was built for storage of some kind. Unlike the other storeroom, this one was probably made for a different kind of goods, with tall shelves throughout the room and several large, square boxes made of Magestone standing in a row at the wall.

Edwin walked over and lifted up a few of the lids, but only dust and decay wafted out of the containers. He sighed. Untouched Pioneer goods, whatever these might have held, would have been a real treasure. Sadly, the seals on these containers hadn’t been tight enough to keep the contents safe for the ages, or something had pried them open in centuries past. Or maybe they had been empty to begin with.

He turned back, heading into the corridor. The voices of his teammates were echoing through the quiet structure.

“…runes there, is that a ritual?” Leodin asked.

“Looks like one to me.” Bordan said. “Salissa, what do you think? Think it’s for opening the door?”

“They had one for the light, so I guess that makes sense.” Salissa said hesitantly. “Should be easy enough to find out, I’ll just push some mana in…”

A shiver ran down Edwin’s back as Adrenaline flooded his body and he started to run.

“STOP!” He yelled as he slid around the corner. “DON’T TOUCH THAT!”