[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 29: The Dark Vault

“Did you say ‘break me’?” Sam asked, wondering if she was making fun of his Breaker bloodline.

“Yes, it’s an Islegardian obscenity, why?” Raiko said.

“Oh, never mind. Anyway, what’ve you found?” he asked, coming to get a good look himself.

Komachi wriggled out of his armor and perched up on his shoulder like an owl ready to take flight.

“Incredible loot, the likes of which will change our lives,” Raiko said, animated with excitement. “The cat too, yes. Immensely dangerous though. Wouldn’t surprise me if they’re trapped.”

Sam looked at the beautiful glass cube that seemed to shine with an inner light. Perched atop an ornate altar and set into the ravine wall, it would have easily been possible to walk right up to it without seeing it during the day.

With a slight poke, the floating cube of glass shimmered brightly.

Trial Dungeon: Inferno Isles

Would you like to enter?

“It’s a Dungeon?” Sam straightened up and pulled his finger away. The cube looked like it was made of crystal, but it felt like soft jelly. And up close, he could see that it wasn’t just giving off a magical light.

It was a damn microcosm. He could see the twists and turns of several blackened landmasses afloat in a sea of lava.

“These might as well drop from the ogre himself,” Raiko said. “Even before the shattering of Islegard, Dungeons and all their varieties contained treasures and monsters of disparate histories, locations and powers.”

“If they’re loot,” Komachi said, perched on Sam’s shoulder. “Can we take them with us?”

Sam declined to enter the lava land and, with the childlike curiosity of a total stranger to a magical land, grabbed the cube and stuffed it into his Inventory pouch.

“Dang,” Komachi whispered.

For a moment, he waited to see if it would work, or if some strange effect was going to blow him up. When nothing did, he quickly marched to the next altar.

This one, like the one before it, held the same sort of crystalline microcosm. The only difference, aside from the ornamentation of the altar, was that the crystal was a pyramid and contained vast stormy seas.

“There’s so many of them,” Raiko said breathlessly. “Endgame loot for the starting island, maybe?”

“Yeah,” Sam said excitedly. He hurried from one altar to the next, ping-ponging from one side of the narrow ravine to the other until he had gathered a total of 8 [Dungeon Ingresses].

Despite their shapes being different and the internal imagery, the item name remained the same no matter which he looked at. It almost felt like the Shard wasn’t giving him the full details.

[Dungeon Ingress]

(Vault) (D-Class)

(★★☆ Limited VIII)

All across the Shardrune Realms there are Dungeons that exist in their own temporal pocket. Among these are Ingresses, entrances to said Dungeons that can be utilized no matter where you are. When used, they provide a one-time entrance to the Dungeon within. If placed upon a Tile you control, you gain the ability to anchor the Dungeon to the material plane.

Raiko began to cackle but stopped herself. “Ugh, hate when that happens.”

“Is this how we get off the island?” Komachi asked.

“It could be that one of the Ingresses will spill you out at another location on the starting island, provided you miraculously clear it,” Raiko began. “Or it might just deposit you right back where you first entered. I’m no expert on… well, anything anymore.”

“And the ogre would be waiting for us…” Komachi said, hiding back in Sam’s armor.

“I haven’t checked them all,” Sam said, hefting the [Dungeon Ingress] orb of inky darkness, “but this one is D-Class. That’s far beyond anything I think I’m capable of. Only my bloodline is that high. Everything else I have is F-Class, and my Job is unranked so I’m probably lower than that.”

“It says Tile, doesn’t it?” Raiko asked, thinking.

“The heck is a Tile?” Komachi said.

“Something you put on your bathroom floor,” Sam answered, stuffing the last [Dungeon Ingress] into his Inventory. “However, there is this thing.” He motioned at the large, ominous door at the far end of the ravine.

He wondered about the connection to the ogre and the [Dungeon Ingresses]. Considering the timer to leave the island, how could anyone be expected to get all the way down here—without nearly dying like Sam—clear a Dungeon, then flee before the ogre obliterated them?

There had to be something more to it. Even getting down here without falling would require more rope than he would know how to get his hands on.

Raiko flew over to the door, moving back and forth in an exaggerated way in what looked like an attempt to trigger any traps.

Sam, one hand on the hilt of his sword, stepped up to the door. There was something… unsettlingly familiar about it. A sense of déjà vu, despite knowing damn sure he’d never seen this thing before.

But he couldn’t ignore the tingling sensation that ran up and down his spine. It made him… irrationally angry for some reason. Like looking at your ex’s social media reel and seeing that all of their lying and cheating had bought them a life of luxury and happiness.

“This doesn’t belong,” Raiko said softly, studying the door.

Unsheathing his sword, Sam took a deep, steadying breath. He knew, on an instinctual level, how to trigger his Breaker bloodline.

He had, however, never done it intentionally.

Focus, he told himself, eyes intent on the strange curving script that covered the door. It looked ancient. Somehow, he knew it was older than the rock it was set in.

Only its arched shape and the clear seam in the middle told him it was a door and not some impenetrable wall. Sam stood there, [Charred Claymore] parallel to the floor and pointed at the door like an ancient enemy.

And then, in a rush, it came to him.

He moved without thinking.

Sam struck home at the top of the arch, to the side with a swipe of the blade, and then a low cut across the base of the door before reversing his grip and slicing upward, just to the side of the seam.

The mana from each of his attacks seeped into the ancient, hardened stone and formed a network, a map of weaknesses so tiny that alone they would have done little more than superficial damage.

But when chained together…. Sam pressed the flat of his hand against the door and pushed.

The bulwark exploded inward. Air rushed into the decrepit tomb’s darkness, pushing at Sam’s back. It felt uncannily like the hole in the ravine wall was trying to suck him in.

Sam’s ears popped as Komachi yowled angrily.

Once the rush died down, Sam looked over at Raiko, who had managed to stay floating by way of her ghostliness.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re amazing?” she asked in a rush, seemingly without thinking, then realized what she said and looked away, flustered.

Sam walked into the darkness, holding aloft the [Archflame Coal] for what meager light it could provide. “Yes,” he said without turning around.

Of course, that was a lie, but Sam wasn’t about to tell a pretty girl that he was more often called a loser than amazing.

The tunnel was carved and smooth, large enough to be a small highway. In fact, it reminded him of some of the highway tunnels back home.

After a while, Sam felt his body seize up suddenly as immense pressure assaulted him from all sides.

A notification filled his vision.

You have discovered a (Restricted) Dark Vault.

Enter?

Should you choose to deny entry, you will forever be locked from accessing this Dark Vault again. You are only allowed to bring an equal number of standard souls as Incarnates in your Party. You may not enter without an Incarnate present.

[Restrictions]

Must be Copper Rank or below.

Must not have Ascended beyond the First Layer.

Must be accompanied by at least (1) Incarnate.

“Invite me to your party, Sam,” Raiko said, touching his shoulder. He could barely feel her, but there was a buzzing sensation there, reminding him somewhat of mana. “I imagine there’s a benefit.”

Though Sam still wasn’t sure how he knew what to do, he felt a little knot of awareness appear at the back of his mind.

“Huh, that’s rather different,” she said, intrigued. “More lightweight.”

Komachi waved, formally welcoming her to the group.

Confirming his selection, the pressure immediately eased and lights flashed on in the lightless depths far beyond what the coal could illuminate.

Rows upon rows of blue-burning torches revealed a long hallway that opened to a wide, expansive room filled with pale-green light.

“Guess we better start walking,” Sam said, keeping his sword out, just in case. The closer they came to the room ahead, the more uncomfortable he became.

Just before the entrance, Sam stopped and crouched low to see if there was any sort of ambush waiting for them. Satisfied, he stood up, only to see Raiko silently drift into the room ahead of him.

Right, he thought, she should do the scouting.

Raiko disappeared beyond a pillar the size of a building.

“She’s quiet,” Komachi whispered. “Think she picked Seeker for [Stealth]? Or Scout for… scouty things?”

“I don’t think Scouts have samurai swords, Komachi.”

When Raiko came back into sight, she waved for Sam to come in.

Seeing no reason not to trust her, despite the fact that she was a little blood-lusty, Sam entered the cavernous space.

“I feel like I’m inside a hollowed-out volcano,” Sam whispered, because that just seemed to be the thing you did in huge spaces.

The room was far from empty, but it seemed almost anti-climactic. The place was called a “Dark Vault” after all, shouldn’t it be a bit more frightening or at least dark?

Not that I’m complaining, Sam added mentally. He would be perfectly happy to traipse through the Dark Vault and find a totally unguarded treasure chest at the end.

Everything had a sense of scale that went beyond words. It was a megalophobe’s worst nightmare. To Sam, it just looked like some giant toddler’s playroom.

Blocks the size of three-story homes were stacked haphazardly all across the room. There were different geometric shapes here and there, ladders that led to mobile block-shaped platforms that went back and forth across the room, and more puzzle-like things.

Nothing at all threatening that Sam could see, unless you hated jumping puzzles. I can already see where this is going.

After a little exploration, Sam’s suspicions were confirmed. The only exit was a rather annoyingly complex-looking jumping puzzle that spanned the entire room in a circuit that climbed higher and higher until eventually getting over the massive walls at the northern end.

Sam looked at the towering wall. It was smooth as glass and sheer-sided. Nobody but Spider-man could climb that thing.

Normally, Sam enjoyed jumping puzzles in video games.

In real life? Not so much.

Getting a good grip on his sword, Sam focused on the wall. C’mon, there’s got to be something here.

After some coaxing from Raiko, Komachi scampered out of his armor and made an attempt at the jumping puzzle. One failed attempt turned into many. Maybe it was possible his cat could gain some kind of skill from that, but he wasn’t sure what.

“I saw what you did to the Dark Vault’s door,” Raiko asked curiously, drifting sideways. “Can you actually do that again, to this behemoth?”

Sam struck out with his sword again, sending small mana pulses to precise locations throughout the wall. It took longer than the doorway, mostly due to the sheer size of the thing, but he felt more confident with each stroke that resounded against the glassy surface of the stone.

With a final push from his hand, the gargantuan wall blew inward, a deafening crash of shattering tiles echoed throughout the room, throwing up a blinding cloud of dust and debris.

When everything settled and they could see again, all that remained to bar their way was a small hill of rubble leading up to another room’s entrance.

“Cool,” Komachi whispered.

Sam stopped just before the red-tinged torches that marked the next room’s entry. “Ladies first,” he said with a slight bow and a grin.

“I think I should start using a different swear around you,” Raiko said, impressed.