Leona chuckled as Kryos explained, and she turned, tuning out the conversation as she scanned the Chamber. It was a massive haul of treasure, and no doubt all of it was real, but most of it was trapped and hazardous. Sure, probably some of it was safe, but a lot of it was bait. Thankfully, there was some source of natural light up above, being redirected in with mirrors, so the room was well-lit, negating the need for her torch. She extinguished it.
She glanced back at Kryos, snagging another peek before he got his trousers and shirt back on.
He’s definitely blessed, she thought as she snickered and looked back to the treasure chamber.
“Tavan, mind helping me with the armor?” Kryos asked.
“Oh, sure,” the Mender replied. “Leona, what are you up to?”
“I’m trying to find the safe path through this death trap,” Leona replied with a dismissive hand-wave.
“Death trap?” Kryos asked. “It looks just fine to me.”
Leona looked back at him, and looked away before her slight blush could give away anything. She pulled up her hood and mask, just in case. “Well,” she said curtly, “First off, the room is too clean and intact compared to the last Chamber which was old and decrepit. In fact, the rest of this place has been ancient compared to this area.” She turned around and kept her eyes on the floor, grabbing all of her items that she had upended from her pack and began putting it all away.
By the time she was finished, Kryos had armored back up, and Tavan seemed in much better spirits. The Mender said, “I can do an area-of-effect heal if you’d like. Everyone is injured, so it might be smart despite it being a massive MP expenditure.”
“Probably wise,” Leona said. She walked over.
Tavan held his rod up, and it glowed a bright green. “This is called Health Link. Basically, what it does is it drains my MP, looks at all of our current HP totals, and then adds them together, before dividing them evenly. It’ll prioritize making them equal, then it’ll fill up Anchor, Mender, and Breaker last.” He looked at Leona. “Sorry, but in priority, that’s just how it pans out.”
Leona nodded. “I get it. As long as I end up healthier than I am now.”
“That’s a guarantee.” Tavan’s green glow expanded, covering all three of them in a sphere, and Leona felt a tingling feeling go all across her body. Then, she felt exhausted, and staggered—only for Kryos to grab her shoulder to steady her. And then, a rush of energy filled her—and her HP was full. “There we go,” Tavan said. “Enough for full-up on everyone. And, I have some MP left over.”
Kryos grinned. “That is very neat.” He looked at Leona and let go of her shoulder. “Sorry, I didn't want you to fall.”
She brushed off his hand. “It’s fine,” she said dismissively, and walked back to the stairs. “Now, this room is going to be our death unless you can keep your greed in check.” She pointedly looked at Kryos.
He frowned. “I’m going to be able to.”
She looked back to the front. Sure you will, she replied in her head.
She reached for the stick on the side of her pack and unlatched it, then pulled the smaller sections from the inside, and flipped them around before screwing the threads together.
“What’s that?” Kryos asked.
“A poking stick,” she replied bluntly. “It’s handy for poking things.” Leona had a six-foot-long wooden stick, and began poking the stairs as she stepped down them, ensuring that none of them were trapped. “Follow my steps exactly,” she said. Despite having Hazard Sense active, she was pragmatic and cautious, never fully trusting her Trait.
Too much trust in the SAVE system could lead to disaster. She’d learned that firsthand from a more veteran adventurer who said they’d almost died in a Rift by blindly trusting their Traits and Skills. Real life, practical talents were just as useful as those granted by a Class.
Tavan followed right behind her, almost uncomfortably close, and as his hand began to drift toward a pile of gold on the stone bannister leading down the steps, she smacked him with her hand. “Ouch!” he said.
“No touching,” she hissed. “I didn’t think I would’ve had to tell you that.” She glanced back at Kryos, who had, notably, put his shield and mace away, and shoved his hands under his biceps, and was holding them tight against his ribs.
Well, she thought, he’s actively restraining himself. Good dragon. He can be tamed.
They reached the bottom floor of the treasure chamber and Leona saw several possible trails through the space. Odds are, there would be some treasure they could take that would be okay to snag, but most would be deadly to acquire. Keeping her poking-stick in front of her, she probed the floor along the most dust-lined parts of the path, then swept over to the least. To her Trait’s credit, just as she suspected, the less-dusty parts of the stone floor had a little bit of give when she applied some pressure.
“Avoid the less dusty areas,” Leona instructed. She glanced back again, and saw Kryos’ eyes wandering over the piles of treasure. They almost seemed glazed over, and his feet were dangerously close to wandering off her trail. She thwapped the side of his shoulder with the stick, which brought his attention back to the front.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Tavan, can we swap places?”
“Sure,” Tavan replied.
The two swapped, and then Kryos asked. “Leona, may I loop a hand through your belt?”
She paused at that, and looked back at him. He had a serious look on his face, and kept his right hand pinned to his side. She could see the slight trembling of his hand, and she gave him a subtle nod. He looped his left hand through the back of her belt and gripped firmly. Then, she turned to face the front and kept leading the way through the treasure piles.
Every so often she glanced back, and could see Kryos’ eyes wandering, but true enough, he looked like he kept it in check. She could see his teeth grinding behind closed lips, and sweeping her gaze down, saw the slight outward tilt of his feet to go off-path, but he course corrected.
He’s really restraining himself, she thought, feeling sorry for him. It’s almost like he’s an yrishthistle addict looking at a pipe across the bar. But he’s holding back.
There was something endearing about his ability to keep his base urges in check.
She returned her attention to the front. They reached a section where she knew they would have to take some calculated risks. A pile of coins blocked their way, and she knew it would be a matter of guesswork to see which way was the safest. Her Hazard Sense wasn’t any help here, as it was going haywire with the plethora of traps surrounding them.
“Okay,” she said calmly. “We have a six-foot-wide expanse, with a pile of coins. I would imagine that we either have to clear it entirely in a jump, or carefully get over it without disturbing it.” She scanned both sides of her, and didn’t see any other path that would be less hazardous in disturbing the surrounding piles which would doubtless trigger more mechanisms.
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“Oh, look at that!” Tavan said. “I see a fancy looking rod!” He began to drift off the path.
“Hey!” Leona snapped, getting his attention. “Eyes on the prize.”
Tavan looked at her, a frown on his face. “There’s no way we can try to get it? I bet it helps my healing a ton!”
“No,” Leona said curtly. “Unless you want to kill us all.” She turned her attention back to the pile of treasure, but kept her eye on Tavan, ready to snap at him again if he wavered.
Kryos pulled his hand out of her belt and tapped her shoulder. “I can probably clear it with a running start. What about landing on the other side?”
She glanced back at him and shrugged. “I can’t see.”
He squatted down, wrapped an arm around her waist, and lifted. Thankfully, Leona had great balance and was able to stay upright. “What about now?” he asked.
She scanned the other side and spotted two pressure plates immediately. Reaching back into her pack’s side pouch, she pulled out the chalk pouch and tossed it onto the safe spot. “I marked the place you could land.”
Kryos let her down, and then took a few steps back. But, then he paused. “What about getting you two over?”
Tavan clicked his tongue. “Shit. Forgot about that.”
“I could throw you two over,” Kryos offered.
Leona looked at him with a stern expression. “Are you sure you can do that?” she asked, flicking her eyes sideways to the treasure piles.
He tracked her flicked eye movement, licked his lips nervously, then nodded. “I need to. It’s the only way past without taking a massive risk.”
“Okay then. Toss me first.” Leona readied her stance. “Grab my waist, and when I jump, just give me some extra ‘oomph’. On three.”
Kryos nodded and she faced the front, felt his large hands almost fully encircle her waist. Again, she realized how inconveniently, appealingly useful he was. “Okay,” she said, counting down. “One, two, three!” She jumped as he threw with a lift, and she flipped with the momentum, landing easily on the other side.
“Great launch,” she said as she checked the surrounding tiles to make sure that they were all clear places to land, and marked the safe ones with chalk dust from her bag, then put that away. “Okay, send Tavan over! I’ll catch him!”
Kryos launched Tavan over, and while the man’s flight wasn’t graceful, Leona was able to keep him from crashing down. With just Kryos on the other side, Leona felt a flicker of worry that he would just go and give into his draconic greed and grab handfuls of coins. But, he took a running start and leapt the treasure pile, landing in the safe zone in a crouch. “And there we go,” he said with a haughty smile.
“Good job,” Tavan said. He looked over at the pile with the rod atop it. “Are . . . can’t you . . . like a lasso with the rope?”
“Nope,” Leona said. “Can’t disrupt the treasure pile.”
Kryos grimaced. “If I can’t take anything, you can’t.” He sounded tense as he said it.
More and more, Leona thought, and little by little my opinion is changing.
“Okay, back to marching order,” Leona said as she brought her pole to bear. “Kryos? Back to the belt?”
“Yes, please,” he said as she resumed his position, tucked his right arm away, and grabbed her belt.
Leona led the group through the winding pathways, and they reached a section where to their right was a large, open door that was ornately decorated with an archway studded with gemstones—and within was a massive chest, lid open, overflowing with rubies. She felt a longing for those gems, but knew it was a trap.
She felt Kryos’ hand in her belt tug in that direction, and glanced back at him, but saw his gaze still firmly fixed on her. “I’m good,” he firmly said. “Just keep going—please.” That last word was filled with a near-pleading tone.
Leona kept moving, and they arrived at the final part of the Chamber, as there was a closed door, and a series of weights and scales that seemed linked to it. Leona took a few moments to take in the scales, and then the piles of wealth around them, and nodded curtly. “Right, so there is a trap here, but it’s a clever one.” She turned to Kryos, and looked at Tavan, who seemed on-edge. She gave him an inquisitive brow-raise, and he just shook his head.
“Let me guess,” Kryos said through gritted teeth, sounding desperate. “You want me to solve it to learn—don’t. Please, just get it over with and get me out of here.”
This must be incredibly hard for him, she thought, feeling a deep pang of sympathy for him. She didn’t question it, just nodding, and immediately set to solving the puzzle. It was not a difficult one—all about weights and measures. Effectively, it was a test of greed. If someone was too greedy, then they would not be able to leave. If they stacked the right amount of coins, they could leave and take some treasure with them. If they tried to take too much, the door wouldn’t open.
She was able to open the doors, and Kryos ran past her to the hallway beyond. Tavan moved swiftly past as well, and she joined them.
The door slammed shut, and then a slot above the door opened, and a shower of silver coins rained down onto her—a crushing amount. She covered her head with her arms, but then heard a tink tink tink of coin on metal. Looking up, she saw that Kryos had covered her with his arms, and she was right next to his armored chest, looking up at his face. He had a look of relief. “Thank you,” he said, voice echoing that expression.
“No problem,” Leona replied. “Good job keeping your instincts in check.”
[Your Experience has reached the Threshold to qualify for a level up!]
[You have gained 4 levels! Level 10, Level 11, Level 12, Level 13!]
[Choose 4 Stat Points to Allocate!]
Oh, excellent, she thought with glee. Okay, I want two into Vitality, and then one into Strength, and one into Agility.
[Confirmed!]
Excellent, she thought.
[You have reached Level 11! You are now Tier II! Choose an Upgrade Path for your Class!]
[This will determine your future Upgrade Paths at higher Tiers, which will unlock Skills and Traits.]
She pondered that as the SAVE HUD listed out the dozens of possible options available to her. She could lean more into combat, scouting, infiltration, reading people—all sorts of roles. But, as she looked at the two allies she was currently with, considered the location she was at on the fringes of the ever-expanding world, and the likelihood that more Rifts would show up . . . she would need to be versatile.
Let’s go with Thief. The natural most banal upgrade from Rogue, but also keeping my options the most varied down the line.
[You have reached a level increment of 10 (Level 11)!]
[You have gained a Trait point!]
[Unlock a new Trait, or Enhance an existing Trait?]
Let’s go with something new from Thief.
[Confirmed!]
[Essence Theft.]
[When you strike a target, you siphon a sliver of their essence into an ‘essence shard’ which can be utilized as crafting material for Magic Items. This can only be used once per target per lifetime.]
Oh, wow that is handy, she thought. I imagine that it takes quite a few essence shards in order to create an item, but still, the fact that harming monsters will give me tangible benefits massively benefits my current frontier lifestyle. She smirked. Thank you SAVE system for knowing just what I need.
[You have reached a level increment of 5!]
[You have gained a Skill point!]
[Unlock a new Skill, or Enhance an existing Skill?]
Ah, excellent. Well, Hazard Sense is always useful, but I should cap out Precision Strike since I’ve been working on that.
[Confirmed!]
[Precision Strike III.]
[You deliver a precise, targeted attack aimed at a vulnerable point. The damage amplification is increased.]
“Okay,” she said, gently pushing Kryos back. He allowed for the forced movement—she was sure she could never shove him back if he didn’t want to be moved. “Let me divvy this up, and then we can proceed.”
“Sure,” Kryos replied. He took a few steps away and leaned against the wall, checking his armor and securing a few straps along his greaves. She could see a few slight tremors across his body, but he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Tavan glanced at the man as well, then made eye contact with Leona, and raised a quizzical brow. She shook her head and set to her task.
She knelt and began splitting up the piles, quickly getting the ten-percent guild cut off to its separate pouch and then dividing up the thirds. “There we go, one for everyone.”
Kryos came over and began scooping his take into his bag, as did Tavan.
Well, Leona thought, he impressed me. Definitely not what I assumed when I first saw him. Perhaps he’s someone worth sticking close to. He’s valuable as an Anchor—able to take a hell of a beating, keeps his cool in a panic situation, pretty adaptable in a pinch, listens to my instructions . . . yeah, okay, I could see this working out.
Tavan made for the door that led to the final Chamber. There was a large handle on it that looked like it would allow for the entire aperture to slide sideways. “I’m pretty good on MP. We’re topped off on HP. Everyone ready?”
“Give me a second to process my level-up,” Kryos replied as he finished shoving his split of the silver into his bag.