Both Tirus and Rick proceeded to march forward.
"Tirus, wait, let me rest first!" Rick requested Tirus to which he replied, "Hm, here take it." and threw a healing potion.
"Wa… Wait, I can't take it, I don't have enough money for this!" Rick exclaimed.
"No worries, I have a lot of them."
Tirus was a rational person, he knew that he must get Rick's help to survive here, so giving him one or two potions wasn't a big deal.
"What's the point of having a lot of potions with you if you don't use them in times of need."
They continued walking and arrived in another hall, this hall was 1/10th of the size of the previous one.
Tirus used Hawke to see if there were any monsters here as well but didn't find any. Sighing in relief, they continued.
*Bruuum*
As soon as they stepped into the room, the doors automatically closed as white fog started emerging from the corners of the room.
[Beep! Detected lethal toxins in the air]
[Expel? Yes/No]
"Yes!" Tirus gave the A.I. chip an immediate command as the toxins were expelled from his body.
Alas, Rick wasn't the same.
"Tirus… I…feel groggy!" Rick exclaimed in horror.
"A.I. chip, scan."
[Beep! Toxins have been analyzed. The toxins are a slow acting one.]
"How long can Rick last for?" He inquired calmly.
[Calculating…the target will die within 2 hours 3 minutes] The A.I. chip completed the scan and gave Tirus the data.
"Rick, don't worry, I don't think they'll….have an immediate….effect." Tirus said, while pretending to be influenced by the toxin.
"Hm, okay….but now…what?" Rick asked while gasping for air, evidently having trouble breathing.
"I don't….know." Tirus said while checking the walls, hoping that there was a secret door.
"Hey look!…. I found a….pathway to another…room." Tirus said 'weakly'.
Both Tirus and Rick rushed to the next room so as to not inhale any more of the toxin.
"Ti…Tirus I vision is getting blurry!" Rick said while panicking.
"Ahhhhh!"
Both of them screamed in unison as they abruptly fell into a pit which they didn't see due to it being hidden.
*Splash*
They continued to fall for another 30 minutes until they landed in a pool with crystal clear water.
Fortunately, Tirus had the sunlight ruby, the defensive artifact, which created a semi-transparent force field around him to protect him from the impact.
Rick turned into his hulk form to save his life at the last moment.
"Welcome, my inheritor!"
"I, the nameless wanderer, congratulate you on surviving until this point."
"You have reached this point in this inheritance ground means that you're both talented and lucky enough. I spent my entire life travelling the world, exploring, witnessing the wonders of this world, my journey has ended, but I wish to continue my legacy.
Now, slay the guardian, obtain the antidote for the poison, enter the next room, and inherit my fortune and knowledge!"
A deeply distorted voice could be heard from everywhere as a dark green figure manifested itself in front of Rick and Tirus.
"Shit!" Both of them exclaimed in unison as they got away from the dark figure.
It was an 8-meter tall humanoid golem with an unnaturally massive jaw and sharp teeth. It looked as if its body was indestructible, striking fear and hopelessness into the hearts of those who wished to fight it.
"It's do or die, then." Tirus thought as he made his resolve.
Rick, who was still in his transfigured form also understood the severity of the situation as he rushed to fight the golem head on.
Soon, a great battle ensued, Rick consumed a strength potion to increase his physical to it's peak while punching the dark green golem until his flesh was mangled and bones could be seen. It was a gruesome sight.
"Shadow bind"
"Fireball"
"Thunder spear"
….
A multitude of spells were used by Tirus as the A.I. chip gave him a prompt.
[Beep! Target's physical composition scanned.
The target's flesh can be used as an antidote to the toxin in the host's companion's body.]
"Rick, bite-off it's finger!" Tirus shouted as loud as he could while rushing towards the dark green golem.
"What? Why?" Rick asked in confusion.
"Just do it" was the answer he got in response.
Rick bit the golem's finger off as Tirus instructed him to. And as soon as he swallowed the finger, he instantly felt his find becoming clearer than before.
*Bam*
*Shii*
Both Tirus and Rick started attacking the golem with full power as it's core in its chest was revealed.
"Rick, distract it!" Tirus howled as Rick jumped on the golem's face and started punching it fiercely.
*Pak*
A sound akin to a balloon exploding could be heard as Rick's entire lower body was destroyed by the golem.
'Hundred strikes of death.' Tirus howled in his head as he used his family's secret sword technique on the golem's core.
One hundred strikes was something that signified that the practitioner had already perfected the 'Hundred strikes of death' technique and reached the realm of a grand knight. Even duke Mason, Tirus's father, was only able to perform 60 or so strikes.
It looked as if 100 bullets from a sniper rifle were shot at once as Tirus attacked at an unnaturally high speed, and thus the golem's core was destroyed.
*Boom*
The sound of a massive explosion could be heard as the golem's entire body exploded. Destroying even what remained of Rick, but Tirus survived due to his magic treasure, the sunlight ruby.
The golem was destroyed, Rick was dead, and now only Tirus remained alive out of the trio that entered this inheritance ground.
To be continued….