The air felt a little heavier than before. It wasn’t that it was literally heavier or anything, but everyone felt at least some tension bubbling within the band ever since the so-called Creator was killed by Temia. No one could forget that moment when her knife plunged through the boy’s chest, her eyes defiant but calm. If it was any other person, they would’ve outright been horrified by the act of cold-blooded murder.

Instead, the band showed little reaction, silently endorsing Temia’s act as they cleaned up the scene and left for the next hall. It wasn’t that they weren’t unnerved. They simply had to support a fellow companion.

Sofis had all but stopped in her note taking, her eyes now focused on Temia out of concern. Long gone was the distant observer in her. After the trials before, she had begun to consider herself a fully-fledged member of the band. In fact, she’d consider herself to be closer with the band than any of her fellow researchers and scholars back at the Academia. Compared to the individualistic working style there, she was beginning to appreciate the community that she found herself in at this moment.

Temia was still wiping the blade of her knife, though any visible traces of blood had been long erased. Sofis noticed her body language wasn’t as confident as usual, perhaps a side effect of killing that boy despite whatever bravado she showed before.

‘Uh… Do you want me to hold the knife for you?’ Sofis asked as she approached Temia.

‘No, I got it,’ Temia replied, her expression remaining the same.

The two didn’t speak another word until the band now arrived at the next level, the door before them protected by a sliding metal gate. The style of the gate fitted poorly with the stone bricks, as if someone had just misplaced it there out of laziness. The door behind, meanwhile, was perfectly average, only wide enough for one person to enter at a time.

‘I get that the higher levels are probably smaller, but… what is this?’ Gennai said in mild confusion. Regardless, he went and opened the door, the resistance far less than he expected. All he had to do was to slide open the metal gate and turn the knob on the wooden door, and they were able to enter.

Inside was a small, messy room. A spinning device of some sorts was operating in the corner, blowing out a gentle breeze of wind to cool down the room. Leaning against a wall was a red couch, a piece of furniture usually only found in the manors of the rich. Sprawled on the ground were what seemed like children’s toys: wooden blocks, simple instruments and what seemed to be intricate figurines. Most intriguing for Sofis was the bookshelves next to the couch that, though not storing a huge collection, every single book seemed so exotic and different from the ones she would read in libraries.

Finally, there was literature for her to analyse.

‘Leave the luggage out and prepare to find another way around,’ Gennai said. ‘There’s no way we can pass through this room with everything we have.’

Sofis had already entered the room, digging through the surprisingly well-preserved books for any clues that might be linked to the history of the ruins. Instead, all she found were either children’s picture books or treatises on philosophical concepts she had never heard the title of before. There were also some ‘history’ books, but the tales included there seemed to be either wild exaggerations or outright fictional events. In the end, none of those books seemed particularly valuable, so she only took away three of them for further analysis after the journey ended.

She looked around the area. A few other treasure hunters were sitting on the couch, melting from its soft and comfy surface. Gennai searched through cabinets and cupboards, but to his disappointment, there was little of note other than a cheap silver ring, not unlike a peasant’s heirloom.

‘Anything good?’ Jorn asked as he was about to enter.

‘No,’ Gennai sighed. ‘I don’t even know why this room exists. Compared to everything before, it’s just so… different.’

‘Let me have a look still.’ Trading places, it was now Jorn who rummaged through the room while Gennai waited outside.

All in all, for how small the room was, it was quite packed with items. It was just disappointing for the treasure hunters that it didn’t have many things with value. For Sofis, however, the room could be a glimpse to life in a previous age, even if it seemed extremely out of place compared to all the other halls before.

Suddenly, a crash. As she looked up, she saw a bewildered Jorn fallen down on the floor… and taking a section of the wall with him. Behind, a second and third room appeared, the rooms each having a bed, more cupboards and storage, as well as a few strange lights.

She came to a realisation. The set up was similar to a common house, though smaller and more packed with various items. This was clearly a place of residence, perhaps for two to four people. Were they perhaps people who used to tend to the structure before it became ruins? Was this only reserved for guests? Were there children who lived here?

So many questions that popped up, she suddenly felt she could spend weeks on end just studying these rooms.

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‘Hey, do you hear some wailing?’ Temia suddenly asked.

The band went silent. Sure enough, there was the sound of a child wailing from somewhere, though no one could ascertain exactly where the sounds came from.

‘This is a bit scary,’ a treasure hunter admitted.

‘No way there’s another child here, right?’

Sofis clutched her new books tightly. It didn’t seem like whoever made that noise was hostile, but it was definitely unnerving and annoying.

The shadow of a toddler flashed before her eyes. She blinked, and the next moment she found some of the wooden blocks stacked up and organised by colour.

‘Did anyone see that…?’ She looked up, an uneasy feeling travelling down her spine.

‘See what?’

‘Oh.’

Another flash. This time, Sofis was positive everyone noticed it. Their eyes widened, their bodies frozen as they stared at the thing that was in front of them.

A toddler was waddling about, putting the items back into boxes before he entered a room and climbed up his bed. He completely ignored all of them, minding his own business as if no one else was there and simply carried on with his life. It was like seeing an apparition or a ghost, something that only existed in legends and superstitions. Except… that toddler was very real.

‘Does anyone know where his parents are?’ Jorn asked nervously.

The answer was obvious. No one even knew where the toddler came from, nevermind where his parents were.

Sofis, though, thought she recognised the toddler from somewhere, despite his strange puffy clothes and mannerisms. It didn’t matter that Sofis herself hadn’t seen any toddlers in years. The face just reminded her of someone.

A treasure hunter finally picked up the courage and attempted to touch the toddler. ‘Hey, little guy, do you know—’

As soon as he touched the toddler, smoke exploded out of nowhere and heavily clouded their vision. When the air was clear once more, the toddler was in another area, this time reading a picture book by himself.

‘What the…’

No one really knew how to handle the situation. They were treasure hunters, not babysitters. Unable to find any viable solution, they soon all followed Sofis’ example: observing the toddler from afar. Those that attempted to enter the room were met with many hushes, pointing at the little boy who continued to play by himself.

At some point, the boy brought out what seemed to be paint, brushes and paper. These were expensive materials, used only by professional artists or a few nobility who attempted to dabble in art. Sofis could not possibly imagine seeing these materials being in the hands of a boy who barely even knew how to walk or talk.

But she opted not to voice her thoughts. If the boy was some apparition of sorts from the ruins, whatever he was doing had to be a sign of what other toddlers did during that time period. It was the perfect primary source.

The boy began to paint, splashes of colour being spread around the paper. No one could really make out what exactly he was creating. Still, they patiently watched him, a few whispering amongst themselves as they attempted to guess what the final product would be.

‘Ta-daa!’ the boy exclaimed as he held up the paper. The paint was still quite wet, but a clear image could be seen. And as for what was in the image…

‘A lizard?’ Jorn finally blurted out. The toddler immediately turned to smoke, but when the air was clear again, the drawing remained lying on the floor.

Sofis inched closer to take a better look. It did look like one. The boy had painted it green, much like many lizards that existed nowadays. It had scaly skin and spikes all over its spine. Its teeth were sharp and its head comically big. Yet instead of being four-legged, the lizard in the drawing had two strong hind legs and what looked to be tiny front legs or arms. It was either a hugely inaccurate representation of a lizard, or it was an entirely different species of animal altogether.

‘Dinosaur!’ the boy shouted. He was back on his bed now, excitedly waving another piece of paper. It was the exact same drawing but in black, and with his devilish giggling, Sofis would’ve thought he was laughing at them and not simply being proud of his work.

But what exactly was a ‘dinosaur’...?

A bellowing roar thundered across the corridor outside the room. It wasn’t like that of a lion. In fact, it was similar to a hoarse shriek of someone who nearly lost their voice. But in that moment, their nerves were all tensed up, their bodies instinctively afraid of such a sound.

A few of the treasure hunters went and grabbed their new weapons, holding them close and with caution.

Gennai, still outside, stared into the darkness, anticipating some sort of attack. He was holding a spear, resting it on the ground while the tip faced outwards. A few others followed suit, creating a temporary palisade of sorts as they waited for whatever monstrosity to show its face to them.

The roars became louder. The ground shook with steady steps. The toddler had disappeared, leaving only his drawings and items behind. No one really knew what to do. Those inside the room could only poke their heads out if they dared, the rest sitting and waiting for the worst.

A giant lizard head appeared from the darkness. It grinned, showing its sharp teeth and wrinkly, scaly skin. As it took another step, the ground shook intensely while it revealed more of its body. Small spikes on its back, two extremely muscular and strong hind legs accompanied by comically small arms, its bulky body balanced by a long, thick tail. Its reptilian eyes stared right into the souls of the band, saliva drooling from its mouth.

It was a ‘dinosaur’ alright. Whatever this beast was, it seemed to seek only one thing: food.

It roared and shrieked, the sounds blasting everyone’s ears along accompanied by a putrid smell of rotten flesh.

Sofis trembled as she began to note down the features of this creature. For the first time, she was fully aware of the fact that she might not survive the situation. In that moment, the band of treasure hunters imagined themselves to be the prey, huddled together and using whatever they could to fight against this monstrosity of a predator.

Gennai swallowed his fear, taking a deep breath as he eyed the predator. ‘Everyone… It’s either fight or flight.’