In the morning, I found Arahnia and asked her if she knew someone who could reliably draw maps for me. She beat around the bush for a while but ultimately told me she knew someone.
The one Arahnia referred me to was one of the young caretakers of a nearby orphanage. The lady's name was Isetta, 18 years of age, and according to Arahnia, she was proficient in cartography. She was also conveniently searching for jobs right now.
I went to find her and ask if she wanted to draw maps for me. She was confused at first but when I mentioned Arahnia, she accepted without further hesitation. Before setting out, we returned to the guild and got a pen and paper. When Arahnia returned with a backpack full of mapping supplies, Isetta suddenly hugged her.
"What are you doing Isetta?"
"I'm hugging you, you dummy. Thanks for getting me this job."
While those two were having their lovey-dovey cuddle session, I sent a mental message to Aurelia informing her about my progress. Then, Isetta and I left the guild.
"So, how are we getting to those ruins?"
"We are flying there."
Before she could react, I lifted her in a princess carry and shot into the sky while using an invisibility spell to keep us hidden. Isetta's screams faded as we zoomed across the sky. I touched down next to the ruin's entrance and set Isetta down.
"What was that! How can you fly without wings?!!"
"I believe you call it magic, yes?"
"Oh, right... I forgot mages could fly too..."
Without further ado, we entered the ruins. The whole structure was a massive dome made of white marble but due to the passing of time moss and other greenery had covered most of the outside. On the inside were met with a maze of hallways that seemed to follow no visible pattern.
As we moved deeper inside, the sunlight soon didn't reach us anymore and was replaced by glowing crystals inlaid into the walls. While we were walking, I was scanning the place for any interesting clues. I wasn't quite sure yet but based on what I'd seen so far I guessed that this place was once a tower of trial.
Well, more of a dome of trial in this case but following the same system. In other words, this structure was built by a past civilization to test the mettle of their people. If I guessed correctly, we should run into some nasty traps pretty soon.
I heard it before I saw it. With an audible click, a marble tile below Isetta's shoe sank by a few centimeters and a hidden mechanism behind the walls sprung to life. From between the seams of the marble blocks the wall was built with, a long scythe-like blade sprang out. A shrill sound was made as the blade tore through the air, aiming right for us.
Best to avoid that. I wrapped my arm around Isetta's hip and jumped. The blade was aimed to dissect us slightly above the waistline so I effortlessly skipped over it. After landing, I sped forward a bit to evade the blades that returned and reentered the seams.
"Make sure to add a note here describing the trap and how it works. This place is rather nasty if you aren't prepared."
Isetta gave me a nod and started writing on the map. I took a look at her map and compared it with the one I'd made in my mind. Her proportions were a little off but that was to be expected. Apart from that, the map looked clean and well made.
We continued and my suspicion about what this place was confirmed more and more. Not long after another tile sank in but beneath me this time. The moment it began to move I'd shifted my weight to the other leg and kept my foot hovering in place but the tile sank regardless.
So the mechanism didn't rely on weight but touch? I was confused as to how exactly the mechanism was activated. It couldn't be weight but touch was such an unreliable sense. How did they make sure it only activated when a person passed?
Well, I'd worry about that later, for now, the ceiling above us came swinging down. I could dodge again but I was curious what would happen if I forcefully resisted the trap. As the ceiling swung down I stretched out one hand and pushed back.
The force behind the swing was astonishingly great. Sure, I was stronger but I wasn't a good measure for strength. I held the ceiling in place for a while and it swung back up to wait for the next one who came through. Once again we continued.
A series of traps followed but I resorted to raw power to overpower most of them while Isetta dutifully recorded everything down on her map. Finally, we cleared the long hallway and entered a circular room with ten gates leading away from it. There was also a monolith with a tent next to it in the middle of the room.
From within the tent, a kind-looking woman approached us. She must have heard us enter the room.
"I assume you are new here? Congratulations on clearing the entry path! Even if you know what the traps are, they are still very dangerous."
She probably thought we had paid for a map of the entry path making things easier. We hadn't but I wasn't interested in telling her.
"We managed."
"That's great! We really need more people to map this place out. I am from the explorer guild and was sent here to share some of our knowledge with you. The gate you came through is the only exit known of, apart from that there are nine other gates. All of them were entered by explorers but only the ones who entered those directly beside the exit returned."
"Thank you for telling us. We'll rest here for a while before deciding where to go."
"Sure thing but please try not to get yourselves killed."
The lady turned around and went back into her tent. I walked forward and stopped before the monolith. This was very interesting!
"Excuse me but I don't think it's a good idea to head into any of those gates. That lady was a B-rank explorer so the danger must be unimaginable! I can understand if you won't pay me."
"Chickening out on me already? We'll enter one of the gates eventually but for today I think it's best if we returned. I lost track of time and it's already way past noon. Lunchtime!"
I grabbed Isetta's shoulder and teleported back to the guild. She seemed pretty shocked but I ignored it and pushed her over to Aurelia's office.
"Hey Aurelia, had any lunch yet? We might not need the sustenance but it would be beneficial if we try to eat three meals a day."
"Don't pretend like you didn't skip breakfast in the morning too! Admit it, you just want me to cook since you are too lazy to do it yourself."
"So what? Getting off cooking duty was the reason I taught you how to do it in the first place. Also, since I will provide the ingredients it is only fair that you do some work too."
When I said I was providing the ingredients, her eyes lit up and she led us to the kitchen. Lunch consisted of golden-scaled wyvern meat that looked and tasted like high-class and giant chicken wings and some fruits I had picked up.
"How did your exploration of the ruins go?"
"Those ruins are a tower of trial from a past civilization that specialized in mind and soul magic. Just that those idiots found it funny to build downward instead of upward."
"Interesting, but we should first take care of the auction tomorrow before you go exploring."