It was a lot more silent this time around. The band said nearly nothing to each other, the clicking of their steps instead echoing across the halls. The relatively relaxed atmosphere was no more. The structure was still the same as it was, the vegetation still as rich, the air still as humid. As they walked past the first statues again, a collective unease fell upon the band, half-expecting at least one of them to shift as they had experienced earlier on in the day. The darkness was pressing against them, suffocating their vision as they went deeper within. With only the luminescent plants besides their torches to light up the area, the gigantic halls felt almost like an infinite expanse.

Sofis found herself tightly packed between two treasure hunters. It was probably due to instinct, but the entire band was a lot more compact, feeding off each other’s warmth to create at least some sort of security. They were all practically leaning against the wall as they walked, their hands maintaining contact with the cold surface. After seeing Roya, it was no surprise that they became far more alarmed. Every twenty steps or so, there would be some kind of noise that’d stop them in their tracks for a few moments. Despite Gennai’s encouragement, even he struggled to maintain a steady walking pace to lead the others.

It was in these moments that she'd examine the walls more carefully. While moss grew from the cracks and vines stretched from the ground all the way up to the ceiling, she noted that the bricks were well-carved and certainly smoother than expected, especially when some of them had traces of moisture flowing from above. Not even castles from a few centuries ago, at least the ones she observed from a distance, seemed so well-preserved.

Yet sometimes, as she crouched down, she’d find much coarsely carved stone, almost blending in with the floor itself, as if the walls and the floor were carved out of the same giant piece of rock. The decorative pillars also suggested a style dating back over a thousand years, the archaic patterns and ridges resembling an era when decorations weren’t as extravagant and instead stressed simplistic elegance. As she brushed against the surface… there it was again: a sort of white marble that contrasted greatly with the dull green and grey around it. Bits of the outer layer just crumbled into dust, so delicate that it didn’t seem possible it could’ve completely coated the entire pillar until she touched it.

She was no architectural expert, but nothing about these walls made much sense to her.

Compared to the others, she was surprisingly unaffected and calm, the atmosphere being something of an afterthought for her. At times she did feel a little unnerved at the random sounds, but quickly dismissed those to be from insects. She just couldn’t be bothered to be afraid. If magic was indeed true in this place as Roya claimed, there was nothing she could expect anyway. Fear usually came from the unknown, but for her, the unknown was an opportunity for discovery. There was nothing much to be afraid of if she couldn’t even imagine where the fear might manifest itself.

After what seemed like an endlessly repeating cycle of careful walking and pausing, they finally arrived at the wooden door directly before the hall where their supplies were. Except… Sofis didn’t remember there being a door the last time they were here, nor were there any doors previous to this hall.

‘Is it just me, or did this door not exist before?’ the tomboyish woman noted. It was an obvious fact, but Sofis didn’t expect anyone to even say that basic observation out loud.

‘You’re right,’ Gennai agreed. ‘There weren’t any doors on the way here as well.’

‘Yeah, yeah…’ The band murmured amongst themselves in agreement, creating the first bits of noise since they re-entered the structure.

Sofis looked at them in silent disbelief. It was as if no one else had noticed such a thing before the other woman spoke up.

Still, after forgiving the shallowness of the band, she decided to examine the door by herself. The wood gave off a faint fragrance, showing the grace of its age. There were cracks and ridges along the surface, particularly around the metal hinges where the rusted metal and rotting wood nearly blended with each other. The wood was devoid of any decoration near the bottom, but as she looked up, there were carvings like stretched branches and leaves that grew out of the sides before meeting at the centre, creating an archway that somewhat replicated the scenery of forest highways. As she looked closer towards the keyhole, she also noticed a repetitive pattern around the edges indicative of advanced craftsmanship. Based on the intricate detailing, she guessed the door would’ve been made at least five hundred years ago.

And yet as soon as she touched it, some of the wood would already be peeled away, revealing the rot inside. For such a large door with such brittle wood in these humid conditions, it shouldn’t even have lasted beyond two centuries.

‘Notice anything, scholar?’ Gennai approached her, his large frame covering all torch light towards her.

‘The door shouldn’t exist,’ she said, a bit annoyed at the lack of light.

‘Well that’s obvious enough. We all noticed that earlier.’

She grimaced in frustration.

‘It also looks pretty rotten,’ he added. ‘It seems strong, sure, but I think with one push it’ll crumble.’

Sofis finally turned her head towards him. ‘When did you notice this?’

‘Oh, around right when we saw the door. You kind of notice things the more experience you have. You also knew about this, right?’

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

‘Huh,’ she muttered. She should’ve expected that from a seasoned treasure hunter, but she somehow didn’t.

‘Anyway, I don’t want to distract you from your work. Just tell me when you’re finished, and we’ll knock it down.’ He gestured towards the others. ‘They’re all waiting.’

‘I… think I’m done,’ she quietly said before she retreated back to the band. That was a bit more attention than she would’ve wanted.

‘Took you a while,’ the other woman commented.

It turned out Sofis was also only noticing the obvious compared to the rest of the band.

Sure enough, with a couple of kicks from Gennai and several others, the door quickly came crashing down, becoming a pile of wet, rotten scraps.

‘Let’s hope there won’t be any statues moving in there.’

Fortunately, the hall was quiet, their supplies scattered about just as they left it. Wheeled chests, backpacks, food… Everything was still here as expected. A few raised their heads a little to check if the statues were still as it was, but Sofis couldn’t bother asking them what they found.

Next to their supplies was the trapped chest that started it all.

‘Alright, let’s take this slow,’ Gennai said as he motioned for everyone to move. With increased caution, the band crept towards their supplies. Those who had tools such as shovels and longer sticks held them close to their body, keeping aware of anything out of the ordinary.

Thankfully, there wasn’t any suspicious movement in the hall. The statues seemed to all be silent, as if the incident earlier was only a fever dream. Still, that was far preferred over encountering conflict all over again. The band once again were in possession of their belongings, and finally, they lowered their guard a little as they examined the damage.

Sofis scrambled to the wheeled chest that stored her backpack as the others reorganised their supplies or rested. With the help of a treasure hunter, she managed to drag it out, resting it against one of the statues while she checked inside.

The damage wasn’t as severe as she thought. Some of her more delicate tools were broken or bent, a couple of boxes here and there scratched against the insides of the backpack, and some minor spillage of ink, but overall everything seemed to be in proper shape.

She took out one of the boxes, placing it by her side. Next, after grabbing a pen, ink and semi-stained parchment, she began to document the encounters of the day.

Journaling wasn’t exactly a fond habit of hers, but keeping a log could prove to be handy in the future. In this calmness where she was finally able to have the space to think, she could now reorganise her thoughts and findings. She began to jot down notes, scrawling words across the parchment in this small window of rest.

While she was absorbed in her own thoughts, the others focused their time in building a temporary camp. She noticed they started a fire when the air felt a bit warmer. The smell of fragrant smoke indicated that someone was cooking. Finally, her notetaking was interrupted when Jorn handed over a bowl of what seemed to be stew of some sort.

‘Time to eat,’ he reminded, gesturing for Sofis to join in the circle around the fire. She thought she saw an expression of lament or remorse on his face.

Disregarding her observations, Sofis obliged and shuffled towards the circle, the pen and parchment temporarily stored inside a large inner pocket in her robe. She wiped the bowl with her outer robe, removing the grease from Jorn’s hands, before taking a careful sip of the stew.

It was… mediocre, at least that was her initial thought. Well, considering it was made with mostly dried foods soaked in hot water, it was good enough. At least it was warm. As the liquids trickled down to her stomach, a fuzzy feeling enveloped her body, simultaneously rejuvenating and relaxing her muscles. Credit where it was due, the stew was actually somewhat decent after a few bites and sips.

‘Well, I’m glad there hasn’t been any strange occurrences since we re-entered these ruins,’ Gennai said, pausing the chatter around him. ‘Glad we’re all here in one piece. Though it’s sad what happened to Roya.’

The others nodded in sombre agreement. They probably accepted the fact that Roya had gone mad after the incident.

‘While we’re recuperating tonight, I have some plans to tell you all for tomorrow,’ he continued. ‘Grabbing as much treasure as possible is still our top priority. Still, I think there’s something very special in that tower at the top of these ruins. Tomorrow will be a day of finding stairs to go up to the next level. I don’t know how big this place is, so we can also roughly map out the area at the same time. Unlike our usual jobs, we have basically no idea how this place is designed. The mapping used to be Roya’s job, but it’s up to everyone to not get lost here now.’

‘Don’t you think we should cover this entire floor first before moving on?’ one of them asked.

‘We don’t know a thing about this place and we have limited supplies,’ Gennai answered. ‘This isn’t just exploration.’

Sofis couldn’t really hide her disappointment. Sure, supplies were a problem, but she was here to study the ruins. And to simply neglect her purpose for being here in favour of material goods? It felt almost insulting, even if digging up treasure were these people’s livelihoods.

‘I suggest we split into two groups,’ the other woman said. ‘One group will stay here, the other will continue. Don’t want unwilling stragglers to slow down our progress.’ She glanced at Sofis.

‘No, we’re sticking as one group,’ Gennai firmly disagreed. ‘Again, we don’t know what’s in here. Crazy stuff has happened already. Separating will only make things worse.’

‘Whatever you say, boss.’ The woman sat nonchalantly, seemingly unbothered by the strong rejection. Sofis noticed a slight grimace from her, however.

‘For the strange stuff that’s been happening, I’ll leave it for the scholar to figure things out,’ Gennai said as he looked at Sofis. ‘That’s what you’re here for isn’t it, Sofis?’

‘Yes.’ He hadn’t forgotten about her purpose, thankfully. She was almost sure she had been forgotten by the band.

‘That’s about it, I guess,’ Gennai concluded.‘Take care, eat and rest well for tonight. Today’s been tiring enough.’

With a rather uneventful night, the band were soon in the mood to sleep. The moving statue and Roya’s insanity felt like a long memory, their guard now nearly completely lowered with the fire flickering at the centre of the camp. As Sofis finally took out her mattress to sleep, there was only Jorn left sitting awake, gazing at empty space.

An uneventful night was a blessing, though not one that’d immediately cross Sofis’ mind. With her thoughts occupied by stone and wooden architecture while also bouncing around unrelated ideas, it took a long while before she could finally sleep.

Just as she was about to close her eyes, for a split second, she thought she saw a flicker of bright light that filled the entire hall.