Chương 14: Curiosity Killed The Cat

The sun hung low over the island, stretching shadows across the dirt path like dark fingers. To Adom's right, the ocean crashed against the cliffs below, its breeze carrying salt and the sweetness of wildflowers from the grassy slopes to his left. A flicker of movement caught his eye. High above, a figure on a broomstick glided through the clouds, their blue robes marking them as an Imperial mage.

They waved as they passed overhead, and Adom returned the gesture automatically, watching them soar effortlessly through the air.

"I wonder how they do it," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Even if I was trapped in a dungeon and flying was the only way out, I wouldn't—" He stopped mid-sentence and glanced skyward.

"Hmm. Actually, forget I said that. No need to tempt fate or whatever cosmic force runs this universe. I'd rather not jinx myself." A sudden gust of wind rustled through the grass, as if in acknowledgment. Adom wasn't sure if he was being paranoid or appropriately cautious. This was the kind of weather that made you forget Arkhos was home to tens of different criminal organizations and one very angry vampire. The kind of weather that also made jogging feel like voluntary torture.

[Endurance +2] Thirty minutes into his "light jog" and Adom's legs burned with that special kind of hatred reserved for exercise. Each step sent a dull throb through his bad leg, a constant reminder of why he was putting himself through this hell. He'd found that focusing on complex problems helped distract from the pain, or at least gave him something to be annoyed about besides his burning lungs.

The problem of Helios sat in his mind like a puzzle box waiting to be solved, though right now it competed with thoughts like 'breathing is overrated' and 'who invented jogging and why haven't they been arrested?' Sun exposure was the only permanent solution for a vampire - everything else was just a temporary inconvenience. Something about sunlight drained their life force completely.

Imperial mages had theories about why the sun affected these mutants so drastically - perhaps something in their altered biology simply couldn't handle solar radiation. But studying vampires was nearly impossible; most victims of vampire bites either succumbed to the rotting effects of their bacteria-laden saliva, or, in rare cases where they got treatment in time, were cured. The even rarer survivors who weren't treated became vampires themselves, but none had ever volunteered for research.

Stake them with silverwood? They'd wake up eventually. Dismember them? They'd piece themselves back together. Burn them? The ashes would reconstruct given enough time. The tracking spell Helios had placed on him was what worried him most. Sure, the Borealis duchy of Lumaria was huge - finding someone specific among its sprawling cities and countless islands was like looking for a particular grain of sand on a beach. But Helios had managed it once already.

As long as the vampire was out there, Adom would never truly be safe.

"So, I need to get a vampire," he wheezed between breaths, "who's probably centuries old and definitely not stupid, to walk into sunlight." He jumped over a loose stone, landing awkwardly.

"Simple. I'll just... ask... nicely." His lungs felt like they were filled with angry wasps. He slowed to a walk for ten seconds, just enough to catch his breath, before grudgingly returning to what could charitably be called jogging. The real challenge wasn't even Helios himself - it was the aftermath. The Children of the Moon (or Moon Children? Their branding was so inconsistent) wouldn't take kindly to losing someone like Helios.

They'd want revenge, and unlike their daylight-challenged members, their human associates could operate at all hours. [Endurance +3] [Stamina +4] [White Wyrm's Body +1] Adom started breaking down the problem like a complex spell formula, trying to ignore how his shirt was now thoroughly soaked with sweat. Step one: map the organization's structure. Every criminal enterprise had a hierarchy, and hierarchies had weak points. Who reported to whom? Where did the money flow?

Which members were loyal and which ones were opportunists?

"Information gathering first," he gasped out between strides.

"Find their warehouses... safehouses... fronts..." He realized he was talking to himself again, but at this point, oxygen deprivation made it hard to care. A hollow clop-clop-clop echoed from around the bend. The wooden cart came into view first, loaded with freshly cut logs that still carried the scent of the forest. Adom seriously considered whether being run over might be preferable to more jogging.

The horse - a sturdy brown mare with a white streak down her nose - plodded along at that particular pace that suggested she knew exactly how fast she needed to go and wouldn't be convinced otherwise. Adom envied her reasonable speed.

"Evening there, young man!" The driver's voice carried the warmth of well-aged whiskey, and far too much cheerfulness for someone watching another person slowly die via exercise. He was the sort of old man who looked like he'd been old forever - face weathered by sun and wind into a map of laugh lines, white beard neatly trimmed, eyes twinkling with the kind of wisdom that came from decades of watching the world go by.

The kind of person who'd probably never had to jog a day in his life and lived to be a hundred anyway. His clothes were simple but well-maintained, the sleeves of his cotton shirt rolled up, exposing forearms hardened by years of labor in the fields. A farmer, probably. The sort who got his exercise doing actual useful things instead of running in circles.

"Eve-" Adom wheezed, stepping to the side of the road, "-ning, sir." The old man pulled gently on the reins, and the mare stopped with the air of someone who had already planned to stop anyway.

"Getting mighty late for a Xerkes student to be out here dying of exercise." He squinted at Adom's sweat-soaked uniform, then at the lengthening shadows.

"Sun's fixing to set soon." He reached into a worn leather bag beside him and pulled out what looked like an orange.

"Care for a ride? Bessie here," he patted the horse's neck, "could use a rest, and you look like you could use one even more." Adom glanced at the path ahead. He'd planned to jog the whole way, but... The orange the old man was peeling released a sweet citrus scent into the air, and his legs were staging an open rebellion against further movement. Hugo would know, but at this point, Adom was too exhausted to care.

"That's very kind of you, sir."

"Ben," the old man corrected, already making space on the wooden bench.

"Sir was my father, and he was a much more serious fellow than me. Here," he handed Adom a perfectly peeled orange half as he climbed up, trying not to show how his muscles screamed at the movement, "fresh from my daughter's grove. And I've got some salted peanuts here somewhere... ah!" He produced a small cloth bag.

"Nothing better than peanuts and oranges on an evening ride, that's what my grandmother used to say. Course, she said a lot of things. Once told me the secret to a happy life was never trusting a chicken that could whistle." Adom couldn't help but smile as he settled onto the bench, his body thanking him for finally stopping the torture session. The orange was perfectly ripe, the kind that made you understand why people bothered growing fruit in the first place.

"I'm Adom," he offered, accepting a handful of peanuts and trying to eat them at a pace that didn't reveal how the run had made him ravenous.

"Adom! Good strong name, that. Bessie, say hello to Adom." The mare flicked an ear back without changing her pace.

"Don't mind her, she's got opinions about everything. Been with me fifteen years now, knows these roads better than I do. Speaking of..." Ben clicked his tongue thoughtfully, "where you headed, young man? Not many students out this way unless they're looking for trouble or treasure. Sometimes both, if the stories my daughter tells about her Xerkes days are true."

"Redcliff Valley," Ben announced as the cart rounded a bend.

"Sure is getting darker, though. Sure you want to stop here?"

"This is perfect," Adom said, preparing to get down.

"Lots of good practice opportunities. Hunting too."

"Ah, you mages and your hunting. My daughter was the same way when she was at Xerkes. Always out here practicing, testing spells, hunting creatures..." His expression sobered slightly.

"Course, that was before all these strange happenings. People seeing spirits nowadays, you know. Just last week, Miller's boy swears he saw something with glowing eyes in the western woods." Adom chuckled - he'd studied the ancient runic arrays himself, massive spell circles that encompassed the entire island chain. The Isle Wards, as they were called, had been repelling malevolent spirits and even demons (though those hadn't been seen for millennia) since the time of Law.

Whatever Miller's boy had seen, it certainly wasn't a spirit.

"Oh? You're laughing at an old man's warnings?" Ben's mock-serious tone dissolved into a warm laugh.

"Bah, look at you though - got a good head on your shoulders, I can tell. More mature than most youngsters these days. Still," he wagged a finger, "doesn't hurt to be careful, eh?"

"I promise I'll keep both eyes open," Adom assured him, jumping down from the cart.

"It's been nice having company for the ride back," Ben said, adjusting the reins.

"Most days it's just me and Bessie exchanging opinions about the weather. You're welcome to visit the farm sometime - good folk should stick together in these strange times."

"The farm?" Adom asked, brushing off his uniform.

"Up on the cliff, the one with the sea view. Can't miss it - got those fancy enchanted windmills spinning day and night." Adom's eyebrows shot up.

"Wait, you mean the Farmer Mage's estate? That farm?" Ben's laugh echoed across the valley.

"The very same! Twenty-three years now, serving the duchy. Someone's got to keep those magical crops in line, might as well be this old groundskeeper." This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. He patted the cart's side.

"Come by sometime. We've always got fresh bread, and the missus makes a mean apple pie. Besides," he winked, "my daughter would never forgive me if I didn't extend proper hospitality to a promising young mage."

"I'd like that," Adom said, genuinely meaning it. There was something comforting about talking to someone who reminded him of his actual age.

"Off with you then," Ben said, clicking his tongue at Bessie.

"And remember - no trusting whistling chickens!"

"Got it!" The familiar path seemed shorter this time, muscle memory guiding him up the cliff face. The cave entrance was exactly as he remembered - and yet completely different. Nature had already reclaimed its territory, vines and scrub brush obscuring what had been freshly exposed during his last visit. His fingers found the rune beneath the vegetation, just where he'd left it. One simple activation later: The riddle came.

"Tomorrow," Adom answered, almost bored. The stone groaned open just like before, revealing the dark passage beyond. No need for theatrics this time - he had work to do. The treasure chamber opened. After battling the motion sickness from the short travel, he wove [Light Sphere] after [Light Sphere], sending them to hover at different heights throughout the chamber. Each new light revealed more wonders. Every small sound made him tense, ready to bolt, but the chamber remained as silent as before.

Under the constellation of floating lights, he could finally appreciate the true scope of the treasury. Mountains of gold coins formed the foundation, but it was what lay scattered among them that took his breath away. Rubies as big as his fist, sapphires that seemed to contain entire oceans, emeralds that put the forest's deepest greens to shame. Ancient weapons caught his eye - a lance of silver color, its length perfectly balanced as he gave it an experimental thrust.

"Whoa!" he yelped as the lance suddenly elongated in his grip, nearly doubling its length.

"[Identify]" [Item: Horizon's Reach (Class S) Type: Enchanted Weapon Status: Active Properties: Length manipulation, Piercing Enhancement] He carefully set it down, moving on to an S-class warhammer that crackled with barely contained lightning when he lifted it. The weapon was beautiful, but so heavy he could barely swing it properly. [Item: Storm's Voice (Class S) Type: Enchanted Weapon Status: Active Properties: Lightning Enhancement, Thunder Strike] A set of throwing knives caught his attention next.

[Item: Seeker's Set (Class A) Type: Enchanted Weapons Status: Active Properties: Target Tracking, Return to Wielder]"[Identify], [Identify], [Identify]," he muttered, moving from weapon to weapon. A-class, S-class, even a few that were clearly masterwork pieces. He tested a few more - a mace that left frost in its wake, twin short swords that moved like they were alive, a bow that didn't seem to need arrows. But in the end, he regretfully set them aside.

He already had Flamebrand, and these treasures, magnificent as they were, would just take up space he needed for more practical loot.

"I'll come back for you, my preciouses," he whispered to the weapons, patting the frost mace one last time.

"That's a promise." The rest of his systematic search yielded results faster than expected. A cluster of pure mana crystals, their azure depths still swirling with power after centuries. Those went straight into the first bag. A delicate chain of white gold with tiny pearls. Oooh. Expensive. Into the bag.

"Hello, what's this?" Adom brushed aside a cascade of gold coins to reveal an ornate box inlaid with opal. Inside, nested in aged velvet, lay a set of rings, around a dozen, that made his instincts practically sing. The rings were light, their dark metallic sheen unmistakable.

"Is that Starfallen steel?" he whispered in disbelief. The metal was usually reserved for ancestral weapons, passed down through noble families for generations. To find rings made of it...

"[Identify]" [Item: Starfallen Steel Ring (Class SS) Type: Accessory Status: Normal Properties: Made of starfallen steel] Even without enchantments, these rings were worth a small fortune just for their material alone. Those would need proper examination later, but for now - into the bag they went. Two hours later, his bags were bulging with selected treasures: gems that still held magical charge, mana crystals that radiated power, and enough gold coins to make even a duke blush.

Adom stood in the middle of the chamber, surrounded by disturbed piles of wealth, and had a moment of perfect clarity.

"Damn. I'm rich," he stated flatly to no one in particular, the absurdity of it finally hitting him. But there, at the heart of this sea of riches, something caught his eye. His earlier rummaging must have shifted enough of the treasure to reveal it - a light, brighter and purer than his magical spheres, seemed to pulse gently from beneath where a pile of coins had been. Adom made his way carefully through the treasure, sending small avalanches of coins cascading with each step.

As he got closer, he could see it was a necklace - a delicate silver chain supporting a crystal that seemed to hold daylight itself. His hand trembled slightly as he picked it up. The gem was warm to the touch, almost alive.

"[Identify]," he whispered.

"Celestium," he yelped, nearly dropping the necklace.

"A genuine Celestium crystal!" These stones were found only in the deepest mines of the Far North, where dwarves and humans had waged countless wars over mining rights. A single Celestium crystal could finance a kingdom's war efforts for years, but their true value lay in their properties. They were known to be the most efficient mana storage medium ever discovered, capable of holding vast amounts of magical energy without degradation.

Folk tales spoke of even greater powers - the ability to seal away primordial beings like demons, umbra, phoenixes, and dragons. Some legends claimed the ancient heroes had used Celestium to imprison creatures that threatened to destroy the world itself. Adom found himself strangely drawn to the crystal, its subtle warmth seeping into his fingers. Just to be safe...

"System, is there anything sealed in this crystal?" [No entities detected within the Celestium crystal.]"Phew," he laughed nervously, tucking the necklace carefully into his most secure bag.

"Guess folk tales are just folk tales after all." Adom pulled out his pocket watch, squinting at its face in the magical light. Yep. It was definitely time to wrap things up. He'd already found more than he'd dreamed of, enough to treat Sam and Eren to every fine restaurant in the Thousand Isles. Maybe even buy one of those restaurants, he thought with a grin. He'd come back for those masterwork weapons another time.

For now, he needed to get out and update the concealment runes outside, make sure this place stayed hidden. No sense in getting greedy and- Something glinted in his peripheral vision, far in a corner he hadn't explored yet. Adom sighed heavily. He was literally in the process of leaving, and now this? Still... His curiosity won out.

Making his way over, his search finally brought him to a shadowy corner of the chamber where [Identify] suddenly flashed: [Ancient runic array (purpose: concealment)] Adom froze, eyes narrowing, hand hovering mid-reach. The same type of rune as the one at the entrance. His fingers traced the familiar leprechaun spiral pattern, following the lines of the Endless Return. The craftsmanship was identical - same artist, probably.

His thoughts immediately went to the last hidden chamber he'd uncovered - and the rather large, rather angry serpent that had been waiting inside. He should probably leave it alone. He should definitely focus on gathering the treasures he could already see and getting out. He stared at the rune. But what if...? Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. Though in his case, it was more like "curiosity repeatedly put the cat in mortal danger, and the cat somehow kept coming back for more."

So Adom stood there, studying the rune, mind racing.

"There's no confirmation something dangerous is even in there." But even as he thought it, he knew better. This was a sealed gate in an ancient treasury, protected by the same runes that had hidden a giant serpent. Of course there was something behind it. He rolled his shoulders, feeling the day's fatigue. No, who was he kidding? He'd come here already tired, and nothing guaranteed that whatever waited behind this door wouldn't be beyond him even at full strength.

"I could always come back later..." The thought rang hollow. Between the illness, the Undertow mess waiting outside, and everything else crashing down around him, when exactly would 'later' be?

"Ugh.." Adom's frustrated sigh echoed through the chamber, sending dust cascading from the shadows above. Several coins tumbled down a nearby pile, their tinkling somehow adding to his frustration. A silence.

"Yeah, no," he muttered.

"Not doing this today. I choose life." He'd barely taken three steps when a pulse of pure light suddenly filled the chamber behind him. Adom spun around, hands raised defensively.

"I didn't even touch anything..." he protested to the empty air. The rune suddenly pulsed with a discordant light that made Adom's senses scream in warning. The pattern was destabilizing, but not in the usual way of a failing spell. This was... deliberate. Engineered. His eyes widened as he recognized the dissolution sequence - a variation of the Architects' Gambit, a failsafe used in the most secure magical vaults. The principle was simple and merciless: once initiated, a magical sequence had to be completed.

Failure to complete the intended action - in this case, walking through that door - would trigger the failsafe, either shunting everything it contained into a pocket dimension or destroying it entirely. Either way: Anything behind that door, permanently lost. The ancient mages weren't known for leaving loose ends.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," he said flatly, watching the rune's light begin to fluctuate.

"Really? A completion compulsion sequence? That's just... that's just mean." Adom glanced between the massive piles of treasure and the glowing doorway. Something clicked in his mind.

"Wait... the records said they found 500, 000 gold pieces here, but this is..." He looked at the mountains of wealth surrounding him.

"No, that can't be right. Only whatever's behind that door would vanish, not what's out here in the main chamber..." A soft, almost imperceptible 'hsssss' whispered through the air. A 'hssss'? Adom didn't even turn around. Didn't hesitate. Didn't think. He just ran. [Push]! The spell launched him forward as the hissing grew louder behind him. His feet barely touched the ground as he propelled himself through the chamber, coins scattering in his wake. [Push]!

Another burst of speed as the hissing intensified, closer now. Too close. [PUSH]! As the presence loomed directly behind him, Adom spun mid-flight, fingers already weaving the familiar pattern. Lightning crackled between his hands.

"[Thunderbolt]!" The spell exploded from his palms just as something massive lunged from the darkness. For a split second, the lightning illuminated a nightmare of stone and crystal - then the blast hit, sending chunks of rock flying. The recoil combined with his [Push] momentum threw Adom backward through the tunnel. He managed to twist in the air, rolling as he hit the ground. The impact knocked the wind from his lungs, but nothing felt broken. Small victories. A grinding sound echoed through the chamber.

Adom looked up. And up. And up.

"What is it with giant snakes?" he wheezed, scrambling backward. But this wasn't exactly a snake. The thing rising before him was a twisted mockery of one, its serpentine form carved from living stone, connected to the door. White light spilled from its partially opened maw like liquid moonlight. Its crystal eyes blazed with that same light. The stone serpent's head tilted at an impossible angle, joints grinding like millstones as it studied him. That movement - so fluid, so wrong - sent chills down Adom's spine.

It reminded him of something he'd seen in an old manuscript, an illustration of... He didn't finish the thought. The creature's maw opened wider, that dead white light pouring out like a waterfall. Adom turned and ran. His legs burned as he sprinted through the chamber, fatigue from his earlier run catching up at the worst possible moment. Behind him, stone scraped against stone as the monster gave chase, its massive body flowing across the ground like liquid rock. [Push]!

The spell gave him another burst of speed, but he could hear the thing gaining. His chest felt like it was on fire. Too slow. He was too slow, too tired, and that thing was too fast. The entrance seemed impossibly far away. The snake's head twitched. Not the subtle play of light on crystal he'd seen before. This was actual movement. Smoother than last time. Alive. Stone grinding against stone in a way that stone absolutely should not move.

The rune flared brilliant white - not the prismatic shimmer of before, but a harsh, dead light that made his teeth ache. Wrong. This was wrong. The dissolution sequence shouldn't look like- The massive serpent's head snapped toward him with impossible speed, crystal eyes now blazing with that same white light. Its jaw unhinged with a sound like breaking granite.

"FUC-" was all Adom managed before the stone serpent struck. He tried to dodge, tried to raise a shield, tried to do anything - but his body seemed frozen, caught in that terrible white glare. The last thing he saw was an impossible maw of stone and light rushing toward him, and his last coherent thought was a bitter appreciation for the irony: he'd finally made the smart choice, and it hadn't mattered at all. Then the stone jaws closed around him, and everything went white.