‘Hey, isn’t this corridor a bit longer than usual?’

The band had left the previous room for a few days now, the dark corridor ahead stretching into seeming endlessness. While supplies were still plenty and there weren’t any other strange occurrences just yet, it was becoming a little tiring to trudge along this path. There was nothing to see, nothing that stood out, not even a single slit of natural light that seeped through from the outside. The only light came from their torches, and the only sound came from their footsteps and hushed chatter.

Sofis, with the help of Jorn, was pulling a chest filled with items in the rear. It contained most of the objects in the previous room, at least those that Sofis deemed to be valuable for her research. Trinkets, toys and bits of small furniture bumped into each other as the chest moved, creating somewhat of an erratic rhythmic sound. Though it was unclear what purpose those objects would exactly have, she could perhaps reconstruct a similar scene back at the Academia or her study for further analysis.

This was essentially her treasure. It was a shame that the room was ruined and no longer preserved as it was before, but the items could still tell a story of their own. As for the mysterious apparition of a toddler… She honestly had no idea how to interpret such a sighting.

But as for the others, they were still searching for some sort of treasure that may or may not be even held at their final destination: the topmost level of the structure. It was wishful thinking, at least from her perspective, that these long-untouched ruins would somehow contain wealth beyond their imagination at the very end. Though their goal had developed beyond just a shallow search for wealth at this point, the feeling of disappointment was still there even after passing through the hall of silver.

As she was still pondering these things, the band suddenly came to a stop. Sofis nearly bumped into a treasure hunter in front of her, but Jorn pulled her back just in time.

‘I hear water,’ Gennai said in excitement. ‘Sounds like a big pool too.’

With their last encounter of water being an incredible gift, the band’s spirits were immediately lifted up. The water ahead was a sign of perhaps a hall, or at least, the end of the current monotony of their journey. Many were already fed up with the corridor itself, and with the memories of the two creatures gradually fading away, the hunger of adventure was slowly returning to their minds.

‘I wonder what nice things are there…’ Jorn said gleefully.

‘Hope it’s not another trap,’ Temia replied.

‘It would be a pain indeed,’ Sofis agreed.

As they arrived at the next hall, there was once again no door, only an archway that led directly to what seemed like a small lake. The light could only penetrate the surface of the water to a certain point, the darkness seemingly hiding many species of fishes capable of eating them alive. Not that anyone wanted to particularly imagine that.

Parked at the surface were what seemed to be a few sailless boats made of metal, fitted with random pipes and spikes, lacking even the most basic of oars. There didn’t seem to be any lower decks for cargo like the boats and ships they were used to seeing, but it wasn’t as if there was space on the floor to hold all of their luggage either. In fact, the path surrounding the lake was so narrow it didn’t even seem like the chests could traverse over the ground without a significant risk of falling into the waters.

‘Check if there’s a door or something at the opposite end of the lake,’ Gennai said to a few of the treasure hunters. It was simply too dark to notice from their current position.

The scouts left, leaving the rest of the band to just sit and wait for any news. A few also ventured around, but found nothing on the well-polished ground. Most of them just waited outside, sitting and minding their own business in boredom, unsure of what to do next.

The scouts soon came back, bearing some unfortunate news: there was a metal barrier that blocked them from going any further, while the waters continued to stretch beyond that barrier, flowing towards the distance.

The only way through was by using the strange boats and perhaps, somehow, travelling across the lake to whatever lay on the other side.

So much for wishing there was a larger space to explore. Now they had a space so large they couldn’t even see its end.

‘Are we going to use the boats?’ one of them asked.

‘It’s the only way at this point,’ Gennai resigned. He seemed to have absolutely no idea how to even operate these boats, and neither did anyone else, but with that as their only option, they had no other choice but to use them. Without steering and any sort of propelling, they might as well be just floating platforms.

Sofis noted down the appearance of the boat as she entered it while following behind Temia, Jorn and Gennai. Though appearing heavy and cumbersome, it nonetheless floated quite stably on the surface of the water. In fact, it was as if they were stepping on solid ground. Even with four passengers on each boat, the crafts didn’t sink down a bit from their original point. There was a retractable platform which connected the boat’s rear to the ground like a bridge. There was what seemed to be a slightly raised large platform, appearing like a hatch, but she had no idea of its purpose. She tried pulling on it but to no avail.

‘Hey, look at this!’ Jorn exclaimed excitedly. He had put his torch close to the water to examine it, and to his surprise, there was a metallic shine that reflected back from the waters.

The others did the same, and soon came to a realisation: the boats were, in fact, largely sunken underwater, with the platforms they stood on something like a crow’s nest, an observation platform at the very top of the boat. Or at least that was what everyone thought.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

‘Um…’ one of the treasure hunters spoke up. ‘I think I found the entrance to the proper boat.’ He had somehow lifted the hatch, revealing a ladder that went to a lower deck.

‘Can the chests fit in the gap?’ Gennai asked.

‘Barely, if we rotate them vertically.’

This was definitely an interesting boat design.

After some struggle, the hatch on Sofis’ boat was also opened, revealing the ladder that stretched to a lower level. Following Jorn with Temia above her, the three descended carefully into the lower deck while Gennai remained on the surface to direct the transport of the chests.

At the bottom was another platform and hatch, and after some difficulty, it was also opened, revealing a set of stairs that led to a metal chamber with a few levers, buttons, lights and a steering wheel. There was a wide but short glass window that allowed them to see the murky atmosphere outside, the gargling of the waters creating a mildly uncomfortable sound all around. Somehow, the lights were all artificially lit, with none of them emitting any heat of any kind. Walking around the chamber, they soon found a door that led to a rear chamber with comfortable beds along with a rather small storage room beyond that.

But there was still no sign of any oars, sails, rudders or some sort of propelling device.

Out of curiosity, Sofis began examining the buttons and the levers next to the steering wheel. She assumed this was the helm of the boat, the key area for navigation. She had no idea how the navigator was supposed to see anything from this level, but there was probably some reason for the helm being situated here. The entire craft was still too small to be called a ship, but the complexity of design was beyond any ship she had seen in her life.

Finally, she decided to click on a button. A bright light appeared in front of the window, piercing through the waters and illuminating the depths. No fire could replicate that sort of light, as if whoever created this boat had captured a ray of the sun and stored it inside the boat itself.

‘Wow,’ she gasped.

Clicking on another button seemed to allow her to hear the sounds from the other boats, namely the conversations between the other treasure hunters. Another button switched on more lights within the cabins, creating a more lively atmosphere. A third button seemed to extend some anchor-like claws which she can then control with a stick and several more buttons on the side.

Finally, she decided to push the lever.

The boat jolted, forcing her to quickly reverse her action. Jorn nearly tripped, while Temia jumped up in alarm. This was definitely something related to propelling the boat itself, something she should definitely not be touching. She didn’t want to run the risk of drowning all of them inside the boat.

Still… This was exciting.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask at this very moment regarding the area, but she knew none of them could be answered quickly. What were the boats created for? What was this lake inside the structure? Why were the boats here? It didn’t matter that no one had answers yet. It was just immensely exciting to ponder the possibilities.

‘Sofis, they’re lowering the chests now,’ Temia called out, returning Sofis to reality.

‘R-Right.’ It wasn’t as if she could help much, really, especially when Jorn was on the boat.

The chests were lowered by rope, each gradually descended with the help of at least four people on the surface while the three of them supported it as soon as it came within their reach. As soon as the first wheels touched the ground, the bulk of the work would be transferred to the ones inside the boat, untying the rope and gradually letting it rest at its original orientation. This process they repeated a few times until three chests were lowered and stored in the rear chamber.

Soon, Gennai also entered, closing the hatches above and marvelling at the exotic design of the boat’s interior. The air was surprisingly not suffocating despite the lack of apparent incoming airflow, creating a comfortable atmosphere for the four of them.

‘So, how do we make this thing move?’ Gennai asked.

‘Sofis knows,’ Jorn gestured.

‘H-Huh?’ She was fiddling with the buttons earlier, sure, but that didn’t mean she instinctively knew how to use the boat. This wasn’t a book. All of her confidence simply disappeared when it came to a field she had absolutely zero knowledge on.

Gennai looked at her in anticipation.

She looked over at Temia, but Temia only gave her a confident nod.

She sighed. ‘I think it’s this lever here. And then it should be the steering wheel… I think.’

Without hesitation, Gennai pushed the lever.

Another jolt, some whirring, the sound of metal clanking, and all of a sudden, the boat was moving.

It was that simple. But…

‘Aren’t we sinking?’

The other three of them looked at each other in panic. No one had any idea why this was happening.

‘Sofis, this is what’s supposed to happen, right—’

‘I-It is,’ Sofis blurted without thinking. ‘It’s an “undersea boat”. The boat is supposed to sink first, and then it traverses underwater towards our eventual destination… somewhere. I-It’s like a whale, in a way.’

She immediately regretted saying this blatant lie.

‘Are you sure?’

‘... Yes. Perhaps.’

She was not sure at all.

‘And how do we rise back up to the surface later?’

‘With, uh, with…’

She noticed another lever nearby.

‘With this.’

She pulled it. To her pleasant surprise, the boat stopped its trajectory and began rising up. Satisfied with her demonstration, she pushed the lever again, letting it sink further.

That actually worked. This was probably one of the most stupid things she attempted in her life, and for it to work was only the result of extreme luck.

‘Hey, Gennai, can you hear us?’ A crackling voice sounded around the chamber. ‘We pressed a button and heard Sofis talking.’

‘Yes!’ Gennai responded emphatically.

‘This is absolute magic!’

Cheers resounded on the other side. Everything was somehow operating extremely smoothly. None of them really knew where the boats were taking them. There was still a tinge of nervousness as they sunk deeper and the waters grew thicker, but covering all that was a sense of pure excitement.

And for the treasure hunters, there was one thing that the bottom of a large body of water usually held.

‘Treasure!’ Gennai shouted.

He was right. At the bottom of the lake, half-hidden amongst the sand and debris… was a golden shield.

It felt impossible. An ocean might hold bits and pieces of valuables from sunken ships, but an artificial lake wasn’t supposed to be the same at all.

And what was a golden shield doing here?

Everything was beginning to feel like an intense fever dream, but a dream that Sofis increasingly wished would not end.