Zach climbed over the high cliff with Savreen hanging on his back. She could climb on her own, but the difference in speed between them would pose more than just a few problems. Down below, the scarecrows were relentless. Lucky for them, those straw men were not adaptable to climbing a vertical cliff.
“A few feet to the side,” Savreen said. She pointed at the peculiar stone that only she could see. It wasn’t that much different from the stones around it, yet there was a slight glisten that drew her attention.
Zach even used Identify on it and nothing came up. He stated it was just a stone, and nothing more. He was even starting to regret a bit, taking this fruitless gamble. Nonetheless, he still followed the unwavering Savreen as she believed in herself, and what she saw.
Then they were there. They stared at the ordinary-looking cliffside, hoping something would happen. “So?” Zach asked, thinking this was all a dud. He even touched, and pressed the damn stone, and yet nothing happen.
But the moment Savreen brushed her finger across the rough surface of the stone, it began to glow. A section of the cliffside vanished, and Zach lost his foothold. Gravity took over, and the duo went falling. Yet right at the last second, Zach managed to grip the edge of the newly created hole in the wall. The veins in his fingers popped like mad as pain jolted. He earned a stack, and the boost eased him to climb into the hole.
His feet found the ground, and Savreen let herself down. Both of them stared at the inside of the hole as their eyes could not believe it. There was a glowing gate at the other end. It shined brilliantly in silver light as perhaps the gate itself was made entirely out of silver.
Identify worked its magic, and Zach behold upon the identity of this gate.
[Hidden Dungeon(Lv.??-??)]
[Only the favor will gain entrance.]
It was a dungeon inside a dungeon. Which begged the question? Was it even possible?
He frowned. Not because of the existence of this dungeon but the description. The explanation did not look good to him, and from how only Savreen managed to see the clue leading up to this gate, he was somewhat sure that perhaps he could not enter it.
“Go on,” Zach said.
Savreen looked at him strangely. “You’re not coming?” she asked. It was hard not to notice the lack of enthusiasm on Zach’s face compared to when he found the dungeon door before.
“From the look of it, I’m not invited,” Zach said.
“What do you mean?” Savreen was confused. Zach told him of what he read and told her the assumption he had over this particular gate.
Savreen crossed her arms in front of her chest, glaring warily at the silver gate. “I’m not going then,” she said. She made her decision with no room for consideration.
“You sure?” Zach asked. “We came all this way and—“
The silver gate suddenly glowed brighter for a few seconds before returning back to its default luster. Both of them froze on the spot, confused.
It piqued his interest, and Zach used it again. This time there was a change.
[Hidden Dungeon(Lv.??-??)]
[Persuade the girl, and you, the one who could see, will be rewarded.]
It raised his eyebrows. This sudden discovery was not what he expected to find in using his Identify skill. Never in a million years would he have thought that a gate could converse with him in their own way, of course.
“What is it?” Savreen asked. The look on Zach's was hard to hide with all the silver light bathed on him.
“There’s a bit of change,” Zach smirked at her. He told her the new development and this time the look in her eyes turned from wary to obvious distrust.
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“I would die first before stepping inside that gate,” Savreen proclaimed.
As if it was in a haste, the silver gate glowed more quickly than before. But Zach just stood there, not bothered. He just watched and kept silent as not long after, the glows kept on coming as if the silver gate went mad.
“What is it saying?” Savreen asked. Curious as she saw for herself the method of this unlikely living thing in communicating.
“I don’t know,” Zach shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t really say anything since my mana kinda dried up. But I can figure something out if there’s a useful item that I can—“
A sudden flash of light blinded the duo’s eyes. It came out of a sudden like a flashbang, and once their sight recovered, there was something close to the gate. An item that came out of nowhere.
[Mana Potion(Tier:Normal)]
[Effect: Recover 100 Mana Points.]
Another surprise that he did not expect. For a gate, it was quite a philanthropist compared to some humans that he knew, and to be fair, he felt guilty a bit about lying about his mana. He did have half of his mana points left, but it would be stupid of him if he rejected the generous offer.
Zach grabbed it and set it aside a bit further from the silver gate.
“What is that?” she asked. Curious about the item that appeared out of thin air.
“Just some potion,” Zach replied.
“Potion? You mean a witch’s?” Savreen started to shiver. She warily gazed at the blue potion on the ground, shifting her feet a bit further from where it was. It was understandable from Zach’s view. The Mirdouin had these old wives’ tales that commonly involved witches, and they were usually used to scare the children of Mirdouin to be good and well-behaved.
But back a few years before Zach came here. A tragedy befell the Mirdouin people near the Xhaka Desert, many died due to unreasonable causes. Some called it a witches curse, while some said it was a plague. But the reigning theory was the doing of the Sun’s Flesh. Up till this day, none knew the truth. So perhaps the trauma inflicted on her made her believe the witches were the responsible party.
“You made the girl scared, Mister Gate,” Zach said. There was a hint of a tease in his tone, and the silver gate glowed in quick succession.
Zach took a brief glance at the silver gate with Identify and he was quick to dismiss it. It was bad for the eyes as it was full of profanities and the likes of threats that he did not expect coming from a gate. For all its silver beauty, its inside was pretty ugly.
“You know Mister Gate, Savreen here might not get scared if there’s a pointy blade fit for one hand with an adequate amount of length. You know? For her protection, of course,” Zach said.
Savreen was getting weirded out. She noticed that Zach was bargaining with the living gate with her as the chip. She glared at him, trying to say something. But Zach gave her the side-eye, staring right through her as if telling her to give her trust in him.
She gave in and kept her silence. Savreen observed whatever was going on, hoping she was not involved in all of this.
Another blinding light, and there it was. A sheathed sword rested on the ground as it was even equipped with its very own sword belt.
[Lunarite Sword(Tier:Uncommon)]
[A sword forged with stones that came from the moon, the Lunarium. The completion of the sword to remove its known fragility is through a blessing from a Moon Priest. Further improvement can be done in the presence of a Moon Priest.]
[Attack: 45]
[Durability: 100/100]
[Effect: +20% in Attack under the moonlight.]
A great gift that he appreciated, and yet its description drew more of his curiosity. The talk of Moon Priest gave him an idea, and he wondered if this was the reason it wanted Savreen and not him. It might be a long-shot assumption, but he could not deny the possibility.
Zach grabbed the sword and wrapped the sword belt around his waist. He looked even stranger as the mix of leather cuirass, boxer shorts, ankle-high shoes, and a sword hanging by the side did not go well together. Nonetheless, he was grateful to earn anything in this strange world.
“Hey,” Zach called. Casually throwing a knife at her as Savreen snatched it by the hilt in mid-air.
“Is that really reliable?” she eyed the lunarite sword hanging on his waist. “A witch’s tool should never be trusted.”
“An opportunity lies ahead for you, Savreen,” Zach said. Nodding at the silver gate. “And I can assure you this, that gate is no contraption of witches of the sort.”
“You cannot be sure,” Savreen said. “You might be deluded by their witchcraft.” She was standing tall in her decision, not budging even with the temptation of an opportunity, and for a so-called treasure seeker, it was quite odd.
“You sure?” Zach asked. “Inside there might be something that can give you strength to keep you safe. Even better than with me by your side, and perhaps you might get a lot stronger than me.”
She started to waver. The talk of strength and safety was starting to tug her into an unknown path. Savreen gave a glance at the silver glance before falling back to Zach.
“Then accompany me,” she said, looking Zach in the eyes.
“Unfortunately, I cannot,” Zach said. “The gate wants you, and it won’t let me pass.”
Savreen turned to the silver gate and walked closer a few steps. “He comes along, or I won’t enter through you,” she proclaimed.
“I don’t think the gate wi—“
There was a response. The gate glowed, and Zach used Identify.
[Hidden Dungeon(Lv.??-??)]
[Fine. The male may enter.]