Chapter 96: Traps


    With the Essence Eater gone, the ind was far more rxing to explore. That said, there was a long stretch between rxation in thefort of a home and wandering the purple vine-ravaged fragments of a fortress.


    Chanc wasnt nearly as on edge as he had been, but the ind was still eerier than he would have preferred. Still, it was leaps and bounds better than before. He and Be scoured through the ind,bing every building and investigating every brick that looked out of ce.


    For the first hour, they found absolutely nothing. That baffled Chance, as he could have sword the ind should have been mostly untouched with the Essence Eater guarding it. But, finally, their search came to fruition.


    Chances foot caught on a protruding stone and he tripped, grabbing for the wall to catch himself. His palm pressed into a dull grey stone, identical to all the others around it. It slid inward with a faint click.


    He froze as a distant rumble shook the ind. Dust sprinkled from the ceiling as a section of the wall beside them slowly ground back, revealing a passageway that led into the heart of the ind below them. Chance exchanged a nce with Be.


    Was that intentional? Be asked.


    If I say yes, would you believe me?


    Not for a second.


    Was worth a shot, Chance said with a grin. He squinted into the darkness. Even with the lighting off the golden mist surrounding him, he could barely see more than ten feet into the passage. It was just stairs leading to pitch ck.


    Well, if theres anything worth taking, Ill bet its down there, Be said.


    Either that or this is a really clever trap. I mean, everyone thinks the secret passage has the loot, right? Wouldnt it be really nasty if you stuck the worst trap youve got behind a secret passage like this one so any would-be thieves waltzed into it thinking theyd found the treasure trove and ended up getting caught off guard?


    Be shook her head and let out a slow whistle. Are you sure you arent evil? I was expecting you to finish that off with a diabolicalugh while you stroked an invisible moustache.


    Chanceughed. Is that a trope here too? I thought that was an Earth thing.


    No clue. Maybe its shared? There are a good number of Earthlings in Centurion, so its possible someone just brought it over. Im not sure where the stereotype started myself, but youre well on your way to bing it. You better shave, Im starting to see the beginnings of that moustacheing in.


    Chance touched his lip, then scrunched his nose. Liar. I couldnt grow facial hair if my life depended on it.


    Keep up the psychopathic ns and youll surprise yourself.


    They fell silent for a few seconds, staring into the darkness. Be cleared her throat.


    Do you actually think its a trap?


    No. Who would do that? Its crazy.


    Be red at him, and Chance had to fight to keep from bursting intoughter again.


    Ill go first, then. Be stepped past Chance, a thin veneer of glittering Essence washing over her skin before she hesitantly lowered one foot to the stairwell, keeping her weight on the other leg and only putting the end of her shoe down.


    Nothing happened. Be leaned more onto the foot, then finished the step. She took another. Chance crept after her, providing light as the two of them headed deeper.


    Their footsteps echoed through the thin hall, bouncing off the walls and reverberating around their heads. It was warmer than it had been above ground, but mostly because there wasnt any wind or open air.


    Unsurprisingly, the air was stuffy and thick. Neither Chance nor Be mustered the desire to speak in the ufortable environment, so they just continued on with only the sound of their movement to keep thempany.


    After what was truly a minute but felt like ten, the stairs came to an end before an open archway that led into a room. At least, Chance suspected it was a room. It was too dark to get a good look at anything, so all he saw was a wider area to walk and ack of stairs. Chance and Be stopped at the entrance and squinted.


    Can you see anything? Be asked.


    No. I could try to direct my Essence in there to light it up, Chance offered. Im not sure if that would set off any traps, though.


    I doubt theyd have a trap just waiting to get set off by Essence, it would be too much of a pain in the ass to deal with day-to-day. If there <em>are </em>traps, then theyre probably on specific things rather than just waiting to pounce.


    Chance nodded. He extended a hand and tendrils of golden Essence swirled away from his fingertips, snaking through the room and rising up like a hazy hydra.


    It was a room. Arge one, with a high ceiling supported by old metal beams. The walls were sparsely dotted with weapons and armor hanging from hooks, and more than a few of themid on the ground where they had fallen  years ago, judging by the thickyer of dust covering everything.


    Its an armory, Be breathed. Its not big enough to outfit an entire fortress, though.


    Not big enough? Chance asked in disbelief.


    Think about how many soldiers would be needed to defend an entire ind. This ce was pretty big. Be pointed at the wall. And look, those are all short swords, but just a bunch of different styles. It looks like a personal collection.


    Chances eyebrows lifted as he caught on to what Be was implying. You think this belonged to <em>one </em>dude?


    Well, maybe a few. Be shrugged one shoulder. I see more than just short swords. Either way, if its not the general armory but rather a specific one given how much the swords vary, its really likely that they kept any relics or important weapons down here.


    Would one trap an important weapon?


    Depends if they thought theyd need to collect it quickly, Be replied with a smirk, but her voice wasnt nearly as confident as her words. I can check them myself. Im the most likely to survive getting hit.


    And Im the least likely to get hit at all. Besides, there probably arent any traps.


    But what if there are?


    Im lucky, Chance said. He cleared his throat. But, in case luck isnt enough, Im also pretty light on my feet. Ill be careful.


    Be pressed her lips together but gave him a small nod. Chance slipped past her and pulled on more of his Essence. As he gathered it, a strange feeling welled in his chest. Chance frowned, halting before he stepped off the stairs to investigate. Thest thing he wanted was to be distracted while walking through what could be a minefield of traps.


    His senses brushed across his Gate first, but there was something else that hed never noticed before. Just to the left of his Gate, right in the center of his chest and behind his sr plexus, was a new mote of energy.


    Chance could feel the invisible lines of energy that ran between his Gate and the new mote. He followed it with his mind. As soon as he was focused on it, the world shifted.


    Hues bloomed, dancing through the air and illuminating the room. Chance flinched as his skin suddenly turned a dull shade of gold  simr to that of his mist, but deeper and far more solid, almost like a shell.


    What the hell?


    Whats wrong? Be asked urgently.


    Are you not seeing this?


    Seeing what?


    Chance waved his hand through the air. All the colors.


    No, Be said, the frown evident in her voice. Are you okay?


    Chance went to answer. Then he closed his mouth and pped himself in the forehead. Im an idiot. Its my aura. I forgot that I reached Knight rank.


    Be let out a snort ofughter. Then she cleared her throat. I kind of did as well. Thats embarrassing. Whats it feel like?


    Chance turned his hands over. He tapped his skin curiously, but it didnt feel any different. Im not sure. Not that different, to be honest. Im just more colorful now.


    He lifted his eyes from his skin, looking out over the room. Almost immediately, his eyes were drawn to several weapons on the walls. They shimmered with faint light, so dim that it barely formed an outline around the weapon  but in the pitch ck, they stuck out like a sore thumb.


    For that matter, they were the <em>only </em>things he could make out in the room. Everything else had gone so dark that it might as well not have been there. Even the floor directly before Chance was just ck nothingness to his eyes. He looked to Be, who was outlined in a faint blue glimmer simr to his.


    Chance released his hold on the new node in his chest. The dull greys of the room returned and the auras faded once more. Chance shook his head.


    Okay. Thats useful. I think I can see the weapons that have Essence attached to them. I cant see anything else, though. Its some sort of pure aura-sight. I can either see things with aura and nothing else or vice versa.


    Thats odd, Be said. I never heard anyone say they had to swap between the two modes. Its probably something you learn to merge.


    Chance nodded. He swapped back to his aura sight, focusing on a nearby short sword that shone purple, and let it drop again while keeping his eyes on the weapon. The de didnt look any different than the other ones on the walls.


    Im gonna grab that one, Chance said, pointing at the sword in question. Its purple.


    What kind of aura is purple?


    How should I know?


    Oh, yeah. Duh, Be said. Okay. Just be careful. Make sure you dont actually touch the weapon with your skin in case its sentient or something. They usually need direct contact.


    Chance rooted through his travel bag to try and find his backup handkerchief. Hed had two, but hed given one of them to a doll weapon that hed cut into pieces about five minutes afterward.


    A momentter, he remembered that the handkerchief in question was currently in Bes pocket, where it housed the ring theyd found earlier on that ind. He grimaced and pulled his shirt off, wrapping it around his hand before taking a cautious step into the room.


    He wasnt sure what hed been expecting, but his foot touched the ground just like it did any other ground. Chance paused for a moment, then edged further into the armory. He made his way over to the sword hed had his eye on and examined it closely.


    Beneath the thinyer of dust was a fairly in looking sword. It hung from its hilt, suspended by two hooks that jutted out from the wall. And, running between them, was a thin strand of wire.


    Chance swallowed, his eyes tracing the wire into the wall where it vanished. He slowly backed up until he was standing on the stairs with Be again.


    What is it? Be asked.


    I was wrong. Im pretty sure its trapped. Theres a tripwire on the sword. Im not sure what, but if we take anything out of here, I get the feeling that it wont be for free.