“Uhmm. It seems I can open this door.” Brian’s valtite energy was at the right level, but was it that important?

"Guess it's up to you, then," Serdna said, his usual bravado faltering slightly as he eyed the door warily. "I'll be here if anything goes wrong."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Brian rolled his eyes as he reached out a trembling hand and placed it on the door. He focused his mind, feeling the familiar surge of valtite energy coursing through him, willing the door to open.

With a low rumble, the door slid open, revealing a dimly lit chamber beyond. The smell of damp earth and decay wafted out, making Brian gag involuntarily.

"Unfortunately, my knowledge of ancient dungeons is a bit... limited," Serdna admitted, scanning the room for any signs of danger. "I think the government has been looking for this, but they have never been able to enter. How did you open it?"

“So apparently I have the Valtite System. And it just gave me access,” Brian replied.

“Weird, I’ve never heard of that.”

Stepping cautiously into the chamber, they found themselves in a circular room, the walls adorned with ornate carvings and murals depicting scenes of long-forgotten battles and monstrous creatures. In the center of the room lay a yawning chasm, a faint echo trickling up from the depths below. There were no doors, only the hole in the middle.

Welcome to The Echo Pit

Objective: Watch your step - 0/1

Complete this challenge to progress further.

"Great," Brian muttered, peering over the edge of the pit. "What now?"

"Well, they want me to find an artifact or something. Any ideas?" Serdna asked, his gaze locked on the abyss below.

"Let me think. There’s an objective, but it just says ‘watch your step’," Brian snapped as he took in the details of the chamber. A faint glimmer on one of the murals caught his eye, and he approached it hesitantly. "Maybe there's some sort of clue in these carvings."

"Or maybe we just jump," Serdna suggested, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

"Are you insane?" Brian retorted, his gaze hardening in annoyance, momentarily forgetting his fear. "We have no idea what's down there!"

The stone engravings depicted a rough sketch of two humanoid figures on either side of a pit. One figure had its mouth opened, while the others remained closed.

Serdna scratched his head, his brow furrowing as he surveyed the abyss. "I'm not sure, but... listen." He violently tossed a pebble into the chasm. The moment it disappeared into the darkness, it was violently flung back up, whizzing past their heads.

"Good thing we didn't just jump in, huh?" Brian clutched the edge of the pit tightly. "So, now what?"

"Let's try something else." Serdna plucked another stone from the ground, allowing it to drop gently from his fingertips. This time, the stone remained suspended in mid-air over the pit, caught in an invisible net of energy. It drifted there, ominously humming along with the pit's own tune.

"Right. Sound triggers the... rebound effect." Brian's eyes narrowed as he processed this new information. "If we can find the right volume..."

"Maybe we can control our descent," Serdna concluded, nodding. "That is where my brand new Auditory Core comes in."

"We'll tether ourselves together. If one of us starts to fall, the other will shout to counteract the force."

"Okay, but who goes first?" Serdna asked, his voice betraying a hint of reluctance.

"Assuming that your Auditory Core works similarly to my Oculus Core, but with sound… Then, you should probably jump last and monitor the sound," Brian said, tying a rope around his waist and handing the other end to Serdna. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Serdna sighed, gripping the rope tightly.

Brian took a deep breath, stepped to the edge of the pit, and leaped into the abyss with all the grace of a man diving headfirst into his own doom. The darkness swallowed him whole, and for a moment, he felt the sickening sensation of freefall.

"NOW!" he shouted, and the echo force pushed back against him, slowing his descent. He stole a glance upward, relieved to see Serdna's concerned face retreating into the shadows above.

"Damn it," Brian spoke softly to himself, focusing on the rhythm of his shouts. With each guttural cry, he battled the unyielding force propelling him upwards, the rope tethering him to Serdna growing taut with tension.

"Keep shouting!" Serdna's voice echoed down to him, both a reassurance and a reminder of the precarious balance they maintained.

"Thanks, Captain!" Brian snarked as he felt the air coming out of his lungs.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Their dialogue altered the pit's response to their voices, triggering a momentary upward float. Serdna, caught in a slow spin, found himself unconsciously twining into the rope, bundling them closer together.

“WTF man.” Brian shouted. His comment propelled him upwards even more.

Now in arm's reach because of Serdna’s gyroscopic movements, Brian signaled him to hold his tongue.

It seemed like an eternity before their feet finally touched solid ground. As they untied themselves, Brian flashed Serdna a weary grin.

"Let's never do that again, okay?"

"Agreed," Serdna laughed, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Hey, Brian," Serdna began, his voice echoing unpleasantly within the narrow corridor. "Where do you think this hallway leads?"

Brian shrugged, adjusting the scarf around his neck. "I don't know," he admitted. "But if this dungeon is like an RPG, we'll probably encounter three rooms with three different challenges."

"RPG? Three?" Serdna arched an eyebrow. "Why three?"

"Beats me," Brian replied. "Challenges always come in threes, though. We beat the first one already, so that leaves us with two more. Oh, and per RPG rules each one is harder than the last."

Serdna nodded, accepting the logic, then shifted gears. "What do you think about Mandrix's new fixation with exposing the aestari government's evil schemes?"

"Hard to say" Brian responded thoughtfully. Brian didn’t know enough about Valteria to make an informed judgment, but ever since he met Mandrix, he's given him conspiracy theorist vibes. “Although, he'd fit right in with those guys who wear tinfoil hats to block out mind control signals."

"Sounds about right,” Serdna chuckled. But then he stopped, as if something important had just been revealed to him. “Wait, you can block mind control signals with tinfoil?"

Literal mind control is possible here, figures, Brian gasped. "Thing is, I met High Director Aleron once. Seemed like a decent guy, but there was something off about him. Can't quite put my finger on it."

"Maybe Mandrix isn't completely off his rocker, then," Serdna mused, running a hand through his hair.

"Could be," Brian conceded. "But we should focus on figuring out the next two challenges."

"True" Serdna agreed. He paused for a moment, seemingly lost in thought before shaking his head. "All this talk about evil governments and conspiracies is giving me a headache. Let's focus on staying alive in this godforsaken dungeon."

"Look, we are here," Brian grinned, as the hallway came to an end.

Brian's brow furrowed as he and Serdna Baker stepped into the next room. The small room was nothing more than nine tiles arranged in columns and rows of three.

Welcome to The Invisible Maze

Objective: Finish the maze - 0/3

Complete this challenge to progress further.

"Let's just cross over," Serdna said, already moving toward the first tile.

"Wait." Brian's voice snapped like a whip, stopping Serdna in his tracks. "Nothing's ever this simple."

Serdna frowned but stepped back.

"Look at that," Brian said, pointing to the engravings on the left wall. They depicted a divine being weaving magic into a staff, surrounded by distorted creatures that appeared captivated by the ethereal object. Some of them even seemed to follow the sound waves emanating from the staff.

"Think it's some sort of clue?" Serdna asked, his voice a low whisper as if he didn't want the ancient chamber to hear their conversation.

"Look," Brian said, pointing to the opposite wall. The humanoid figures on this wall stood on tiles arranged in a three by three grid, similar to the one before them. Visible footprints marked a specific pattern across the tiles. Some of the figures moved cautiously, avoiding disaster. Others plunged through the floor when both feet landed on the wrong tile.

"See?" Brian gestured at the engravings, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "There's always some kind of trick."

"Fine, fine. So, we follow the pattern?" Serdna asked, tilting his head as he tried to make sense of the footprints.

Brian studied the footprints, his mind working to decipher the safest path. "Got it!" Brian grinned triumphantly, pointing out the correct sequence of steps. "We need to go like this: left tile, forward, right, middle…"

"I see," Serdna nodded solemnly.

"Remember," Brian warned, his voice laced with seriousness, "one wrong step could be our last. Also… I think it’s your turn to go first." Brian smirk almost didn’t fit on his face.

With a deep breath, Serdna stood in front of the first tile. He cautiously stepped onto the first tile, his weight shifting only slightly. When nothing happened, he fully committed and placed both feet on the tile.

“Holy sh–”

To their horror, the tile suddenly dropped, and Serdna began to fall into the pit below.

"Gotcha!" Brian yelled, lunging forward and snatching Serdna's wrist just in time. The muscles in his arm strained as he fought to keep his grip. With gritted teeth, he pulled Serdna up and back onto stable ground.

"Thanks...for saving me," Serdna panted, still recovering from the near-death experience.

"Don’t thank me, thank the Oculus Core," Brian replied. And thank God I invested nine points into dexterity.

Brian was left scratching his head. Were the engravings wrong? he wondered. After comparing the pictures engraved on the stone wall with their initial attempt for another minutiae, Brian formulated a new hypothesis.

“I think the grid on the walls is reversed. See the tile that fell? It's in the same position as one of the last tiles in the engraving but on the opposite side,” Brian said. “And also, only the full weight of a person will make the wrong tiles collapse."

Serdna Frowned. “I bet they did it on purpose too.”

“I’ll try it this time. Stay close in case the tile also breaks.” Brian moved slowly onto the tile that would be safe if the grid was reversed.

Brian finally relaxed when nothing happened upon stepping fully onto the tile. He then moved on to the second tile, following the reversed and mirrored version of the route they had originally mapped. Serdna followed close behind, jumping onto the tiles that Brian had previously used.

At the end of the room an entrance led to a narrow hallway, wide enough for just one person.

Objective: Finish the maze - 1/3