Ch: 119.2

“So, what am I doing wrong?” Tabitha asks as we walk down a dark corridor.

The humidity was rising the deeper we traveled into the ruins. The grey brickwork was still solid in most places, but after thousands of years, parts had started to give way, leaking dirt and moisture into the dilapidated structure.

“The trick is to start small. Repeatedly open and close your status page, but focus on your soul while you do so,” I instruct.

“And that will work?” Tabitha is surprised by my simple recommendation, but it was the best place to start.

“Sure,” I comment as we walk through an inch of water covering the floor. The section of the hallway we were walking through had started to sag, allowing water to pool. "Where do you think our status pages come from? It's our souls. The flame you sense is all the experience you’ve gained, and your soul projects that as numbers.”

"Fascinating," Tabitha mumbles with a far-off look in her eye, a sign that she's summoned her status page. “I wonder if Master is aware of such things?”

“Why would he?” I ask as we clear the small pool of water and turn down yet another dark passageway. “And would he even tell you if he did?”

"I would think so," Tabitha starts by sounding confident, but her expression slowly slips into something less sure. “But then again, Master has his secretive side.”

"But I thought you were his favorite student or something?” I direct us into an adjacent room.

"That's nice of you to say," Tabitha smiles from ear to ear like a schoolgirl talking about a senior she has a crush on. Gross. "But I’m not sure I can claim that title. Master has devoted much time to teaching me, but he is quite old, and I’m one of his newer students. Number 37, to be exact."

“That doesn’t sound like much,” I note. “I would think Pacore would have thousands of students.”

“I think you are confusing people he has trained with his students.”

“There’s a difference?” I lead us down another flight of stone stairs, bringing us closer to the chamber below.

“Verry much so,” Tabitha says pridefully. “As one of the three strongest people in Scholl, Master is obligated to oversee and command countless people, but that doesn't make all of them his students. To be a student of Pacore the Deathless, you must display exceptional talent and be handpicked by him.”

“Then shouldn’t he be picking people similar to himself?” I’ve only met Tabitha so far, and while her fighting style is similar to Pacore’s, it isn’t exactly the same.

"It's written in his younger years; he did," Tabitha educates me. “But as he’s grown older, he’s branched out and accepted more students with different fighting styles. Not all of us emulate Master’s path, but that doesn’t mean he has nothing to teach us, and most are just happy to be under his umbrella of influence.”

“Okay,” I nod along. “Then does that make me his 38th student?”

Tabitha chuckles,” I am not his most recent addition. Master has taken in three others since me. And once Master returns to Scholl with you and introduces you to the king, you'll be his 42nd ward. The second student he’s taken in this decade.”

“Hold up,” I stop walking and turn toward Tabitha. “Are you saying Pacore only takes in a single student every ten years?!”

“Not necessary, but about,” Tabitha confirms. “Maybe now you understand the unique opportunity you are being given.”

"You mean the opportunity forced upon me," I correct with more than a bit of sass.

“Please,” Tabitha rolls her eyes. “You must have realized by now that you couldn’t remain in that small village forever, especially for someone so eager to adventure in a magic-dense region. Either you would’ve gotten yourself killed going it alone, or people would’ve noticed a girl your age with your levels. You would've been forced to make a pact with someone; you should count yourself lucky it was Master who found you first. He loves nothing more than grooming exceptional talent; you’ll fit right in.”

“Maybe,” I grumble outwardly, but I had to admit, Tabitha was making some excellent points. I've done everything mostly on my own until I ran into Pacore, but since I met him and Tabitha, my growth has noticeably exploded. I wouldn’t be nearly the level I am now without Tabitha’s training and guidance; that was an undeniable fact.

“You’ll see,” Tabitha stares into my eyes with a certainty you rarely see in people. She truly believed I would do well in Scholl with all of her being, and arguing with that kind of faith was impossible.

So, I urge us forward instead. "This way," I wave for Tabitha to follow me, which she does without hesitation.

“Are we getting close? That was the third flight of stairs,” Tabitha asks, her hand resting on her sword’s handle.

“Almost,” I look down and to the side at a random wall. “The entrance to the chamber is one more floor down.”

“Can you sense anything now that we are closer?" Tabitha follows my gaze but can't see what I see, which is arguably very little.

"Just a mass of mana. The chamber itself is difficult to pierce, and the unusual mana is making things harder to pinpoint,” I inform Tabitha.

“But are there any enemies?” Tabitha asks with an excited grin. She was looking forward to fighting something again. After days of rest, she was overflowing with energy and didn't care if she was still an arm short.

“Could be. When we reach the outside of the chamber, I'll try to use Meditation to see if I can see anything. That should give us an idea if anything dangerous is waiting for us. At least, I hope so,” I smile awkwardly.

It was no secret; my skills have come up disappointingly short as of late. From not sensing things well in the crater to missing the winged serpent and the soul horrors lucking in the walls, we’ve been ambushed by almost everything we've encountered. That was why I was double and triple checking our surroundings every few minutes.

I refused to let another monster sneak up on us, but again I was having trouble sensing things due to weird mana interference. It almost felt like….

“Hey Tabitha, what are the chances there’s another monster that can utilize a mana zone?” I nervously ask.

"Why; is that what you're sensing?" Tabitha’s eyes widen in shock, and we both skid to a halt.

“Not exactly, but it is similar,” I tell her. Unlike with the winged serpent above us, there wasn’t a foreign mana mixed in with all the death mana, but it was still acting unnatural. "Is there anything that can perhaps draw in death mana, an enchantment?"

“It isn’t out of the realm of possibilities,” Tabitha hums in thought. “Seeing how old these ruins are, it could be any number of things, but I don’t think it's another monster as strong as the lesser dragon."

"And what makes you say that?" I ask her to explain her thinking.

“Simply put, two monsters of that caliber wouldn’t be this close to one another,” Tabitha points upwards. “The snake might not come down here normally, but if there were a beast capable of threatening it down here, it would’ve cleared it out or left to find some other place to nest. So, I don’t think we’re dealing with another mana zone.”

“And you’re sure of that because our last encounter didn't go so well?” Again, I stress the importance of the matter.

“I’m 70% sure," Tabitha proudly states, like the number she just said was higher than it was. “If you’re nervous, we can turn back,” Tabitha offers with a challenging smile.

“Please, like you’d let us turn back after we came all this way,” I snort and shake my head in disbelief.

Tabitha’s grin widens, “You know me so well. Is the chamber open, or is it secure?”

Finally, a question I can answer confidently. “The chamber is closed behind two large doors; we’ll be able to see them soon; they're not that far away."

“Then lead the way,” Tabitha nudges me forward. “We’ll reevaluate when we reach the doors. If it seems too dangerous, we’ll leave. Simple as that.”

“Simple as that,” I repeat mockingly. “I think that’s the attitude that got us into our current situation,” I morbidly joke. Of course, both of us were at fault for getting tricked by the winged serpent, so I was making fun of myself as much as I was Tabitha, and she knew that.

“Then we must learn from our mistakes,” Tabitha tries to project an air of confidence and sound profound, but she overdoes it and just comes off as silly.

“Right,” I smile along with her as I lead us deeper into the ruins. And like I told her, it doesn't take long to lead her down the last flight of stairs and reach the massive double doors leading into the chamber. The chamber absorbing all the nearby death mana.

“That’s some impressive architecture,” I whistle at the massive stone slabs blocking our way.

"Indeed," Tabitha nods in agreement while her eyes scan every inch of the grey stone. “It’s locked.”

“Not locked, enchanted,” I look under the surface of the grey stone at the profound runes hidden under the bland grey surface.

"Really?" Tabitha is more than a little shocked to hear the door's enchantment was still going strong and for good reason. For it still to be going after all this time meant the runes had to endure whatever destroyed the city and thousands of years of wear and tear.

“Not all of them are still active,” I clarify, spotting multiple enchantments that had gone dark and were no longer active. “Still, though," I gaze at the 50-foot-something doors. What was this chamber meant for? A giant?

We were many levels down, so much so there were no longer any windows, meaning this section of the ruins was probably always meant to be underground. The placement of the chamber was also odd, it was connected to the rest of the structure, but it was also positioned off to the side, out of the way of everything else. Then there was how well everything was reinforced and how hard it is to sense with my skills. No matter how you looked at it, the chamber was a vault, one of massive size.

Sense Mana couldn’t tell me exactly what was inside, but it gave me a clear enough view of the overall space. The room was circular with a domed ceiling spanning 94 feet across, making the one room almost 7,000 square feet overall.

“Now that we are closer, can you see what’s on the other side?” Tabitha turns and asks me.

"Not currently, but let me try Meditation,” I slowly sit on the damp ground and close my eyes. I sense Tabitha draw closer to me to guard me while I activate Meditation.

Once I activate my skills in unison, the world shifts around me, and I sense everything more clearly. Sense Mana and Meditation have both leveled to 81 since the last time I tested my range, and it made a difference. It was only a single level in each skill, but there was a noticeable difference between my skills reaching level 80 and reaching level 81.

I could now sense the minute mana flow of all objects within 20 feet of me, and my overall range had increased to 912 feet. And when I add Meditation into the mix, I can scan anywhere within 3,009 feet of myself. I can sense so much of the ruins around us, it's crazy, and it's easy to scan the surface even though we’re hundreds of feet down.

However, there were two noticeable things. First, I was pushing my skills to their limit, but I still couldn’t spot the winged serpent hiding in its mana zone. And the second issue was the chamber; I could force my senses past the walls of the chamber, but once I did, it was like everything became fuzzy.

I didn't think anything was alive inside the chamber, but I wasn't 100% sure. I did know that it wasn't the enchantments in the walls that were disturbing my skills; it was something inside the chamber. Unfortunately, it was impossible to decode what the exact specifics of the various still working runes did, but from where they are placed, I can infer they’re only meant to keep the chamber sealed, not shielded.

There was quite a lot of death mana inside the chamber, and it was all converging at a single point. “I think there’s another undead inside,” I open my eyes and meet Tabitha’s inquisitive gaze. "All the death mana is being drawn into a single point on the opposite end of the room,” I point at the stone doors.

“That’s a bummer,” Tabitha frowns.

"I thought you were looking for a fight," I'm confused about why she wasn't excited.

"If it's undead, then you can just use your skill to handle it,” she sighs but then notices my confused look. "You can use it, right? Without going berserk?"

“I should,” I awkwardly reply. “So long as it isn’t too strong, I shouldn’t have a problem with it. I had trouble with the soul horrors because I was exhausted from escaping the winged serpent and healing you. But, ugh,” I stammer over my words. “With my new skill, I don’t need to worry about absorbing too much as long as you’re with me.”

“I see,” Tabitha smiles. “So, you’ll transfer everything you can’t handle, like back then. But how are we to get inside?” Tabitha slowly draws her sword and takes a stance before vanishing and reappearing in front of the door. At blindingly fast speeds, she thrusts her sword at the stone doors….

And nothing happens.

“Damn,” Tabitha audibly curses, pulling her sword back. There was a faint scratch mark on the door from where she tried to pierce it, but that was all. “These doors are worse than the bricks,” she grumbles. “I even used a few of my skills with that strike.” Even with most of the enchantments dead, the doors could still stop an attack from somebody above level 100.

“I don’t think we’re getting in with brawn,” I step up next to Tabitha and put my hand on the massive stone doors.

“You can open them?” Tabitha raises a questioning eyebrow.

“I’m going to try,” I struggle to hold back my giddy expression. The runes were overly complicated, and though I probably won’t be able to gain much from them, they’ll be a good reference for the future.

"And if you can't?" Tabitha asks.

“Then I go with plan B, destroy the doors,” I grin.

"And you can do that?" Tabitha looks at me skeptically. She probably thought I couldn't do anything if she couldn't, but I had a way in that she didn't.

"Yep, all I need to do is compromise the still-working enchantments. If I did that, the runes would go out of control, and the material would turn to dust." Or at least I hoped they did, but I don't mention that possibility.

“Then why not just do that first?” Tabitha sheaths her sword and crosses her arms in front of her chest, knowing how I would answer.

“Obviously, because I want to have a chance to examine the runes,” I playfully stick my tongue out at her.

“Figures,” Tabitha rolls her eyes and sighs dramatically. “Please don’t take too long.”

“Got somewhere to be?” I chuckle as I raise my other hand and channel my mana into the stone doors.

"Funny," Tabitha dryly remarks, not sharing my sense of humor.

I know I tease, but I wasn’t planning on making Tabitha wait long. If I couldn’t figure out how to open the doors by the end of the day, I would just destroy them; the runes be damned. We are on a time crunch, after all. That said, I don't waste any time and jump right into trying to decode what each rune does.

An internal locking mechanism ran along the seam where the two doors met. If the mechanism were metal, it would've rusted by now, but instead, it was made from the same grey stone as the doors themselves. Every component fit perfectly together like the world's most complex jigsaw puzzle, and the doors were sealed so tight the only thing passing through them was mana.

There were countless runes, but I focused on the ones on the locking mechanism. Since there were no handles, the doors had to be opened another way, and I was betting it was magic. Of course, a skill might be required, but that would limit who could gain access to the chamber, hence a magic key.

Not literally, though magic keys might be a thing; I suspected the runes had to be activated in a particular order or a specific way to get the door to open on its own.

I spend the first hour examining how all the runes of the locking mechanism link to one another, and within three, I figure out which rune I’m supposed to start with.

Hours go by, but it feels like nothing to me because I'm having fun. But by this point, I'm rethinking the skill requirement idea because this is difficult even for me and my skills. Unless everybody used to have skills like mine thousands of years ago, I don’t think many could’ve opened this door.

Each rune was a puzzle needing to be solved, and they reacted differently whenever mana was channeled through them. That meant I had to start in the first rune, decode my way through it, and press on to the next without losing control of my mana. If I stopped applying mana, the rune would shift, and I would have to decode it again.

Currently, I was on rune twelve of sixteen, meaning my mana was stretched pretty thin. But on the flip side, I was getting better at decoding the runes. The trick was to observe how they shifted when mana was applied to them, as it gave away subtle clues on how mana needed to be channeled through the rune.

I must look ridiculous standing in front of the doors with my hands stretched out for as long as I have, but if I did, Tabitha wasn’t commenting on it. She recognized how hard I was concentrating and was silently watching me work from a few feet back. If the doors opened suddenly, she would be able to react in time, but she was still far enough away that I had plenty of room to work.

“Twelve's done," I say to myself under my breath—only four more to go.

Methodically, I work until I'm just about finished with the last rune when I pause and look over my shoulder at Tabitha, who is standing by. "I think this is it," I tell her with a smile.

“Truly; you got it?” Tabitha looks surprised, which makes my accomplishment that much better.

“Let’s see," I turn back to the doors and finish channeling my mana through the sixteenth and final rune. As soon as I do, lines appear on the previously featureless grey doors, and we can hear a rumbling from within.

The doors were opening. We were in, but the question still was, what was inside?

It was time to find out.

**********

3,300 words.

Another chapter that ran longer than I was planning, but I feel good about this one and the ones going forward. But please tell me what you think below, as I never go long without doubting my work.

Thanks for reading, and as always, stay safe.