'Man I can't believe we took so little damage. Max has gotten incredibly powerful. His aura slashes were too fucking fast. Not surprised the monster got hit with a few.'
While thinking, Thomas accidentally rolled a red carpet with his foot in a hallway. He stumbled and saw something wooden. The floor was out of stone though. In fact, this carpet was the only carpet in the entire temple.
Curious, he moved the whole carpet away and inspected the wood.
It didn't have any protrusions that would give it away.
But it did have a line that one could put their fingers into.
So, Thomas did just that and tried to open it. And it worked.
A spiral staircase was beneath.
***
It's crazy how all of us got the damn wings."
"I mean, the bird did have six wings, so..."
"That makes sense."
Max sat down with the wounded Manuel.
"Our power has now greatly increased." Manuel said.
"Yeah, though the wings and the amount of projectiles is smaller."
"I really think no player party on the first floor can beat us now."
"Definitely not. I'm pretty sure Awakened monsters are mostly on floor two. It's just that some are scattered on this floor here and there."
"Man I can't wait to drink at a pub again."
"Hah, we'll fly off the mountain and over the forest straight to a drink."
"By the way, what else did you get?" I asked Manuel.
"I got its hide and its tooth."
"Awesome."
We sat in silence a bit before I decided to equip the Titan's core to inspect it more.
"What's that?"
"The only drop I received from the Epic boss."
"What about the sword and necklace?"
"Picked it up off a corpse."
"Okay...Well, then it must be something insanely good."
"No, I mean...I don't know. It's a key."
"That's strange."
Max held it in his hands and looked at every side of it. The core was black and white, ruined and uninteresting but he realized that at the bottom, there was a small, white protrusion. Its shape was oddly specific and complicated. It was uneven. But it didn't seem damaged. It looked like it was carved this way. Like a key?
"You think Thomas found anything?"
"Let's see. THOMAS!"
No answer.
They looked at each other and Max got up.
"Thomas?!"
Max called out again.
Worried, he began to look for him.
"Guys!"
"Thomas?"
"Come check this out!"
Max followed the source of the voice and arrived at the staircase, meeting the lively archer.
"Wait for me!"
Manuel came as well.
They went down.
After a minute, they stepped off the stairs onto a hard and flat surface.
The torches immediately activated once Max stepped on the floor.
They glowed blue and bright. They were stunned for a second.
It was a hallway. A somewhat wide but long hallway.
"Watch for traps." Max said.
The three players carefully walked forward. Even the possible existence of traps wouldn't stop them.
However, nothing attacked them and they safely reached a heavy door. It was made out of something metallic.
There was a small pedestal in front of the door.
"Let's try to break it." Manuel said.
Max grabbed his new Hero sword, infused it with his powerful aura and slashed at the door.
BIIIING! It almost seemed like the attack did no damage. As if the two metals canceled each other out. Max's sword fell out of the strong grip of his hand. He went back to pick it up and decided to look at the small pedestal.
It was so small that you would say it's used as a source of light. I inspected it carefully.
Carvings were on the black stone. In fact the entire hallway except the door was out of black stone.
Once Max put his eyes on the top he realized there was a small hole.
A thought appeared in his head.
"No way...It's too lucky."
Max equipped the Titan's core and tried to insert the white protrusion at the bottom into the small pedestal.
And it worked.
The heavy door started opening and his friends took a few steps back.
"No fucking way."
[You have received a title: Cursed or Blessed?]
[You have discovered a secret of this world!]
The vault was lit up with torches as soon as the trio stepped in.
Inside, it seemed like a vault storing precious things. The metal from the door was also the material for the walls, floor and ceiling. No one could break into this.
There were several dark pedestals containing various things.
Books, gems and things they don't know what to call.
The books were the closest to the entrance so Max went to check each one out.
"Us and the Stars"
"The Otherland"
He took all of them with my friends' consent.
They kept looking.
Max also picked up a gem.
After checking its description, he realized that it can be engraved into a weapon. It gives an attribute to aura that is in the weapon. This was something that many nobles and royalty used with their weapons. Max also realized this was the first Attribute Gem.
Max's friends split the other things between them and he went to the end of the vault.
He looked at the final treasure.
It was an armor.
Blue, lusterless, with a white cape showing a blue sigil Max doesn't recognize.
No helmet. The leggings were of the same color. The boots were black.
"Guys, may I get this armor?"
Thomas didn't really care as this armor wasn't fit for him.
However, Manuel...
He was hesitant to let it go.
In the end, he resigned.
"The next treasure we find is mine, Max."
"Of course. Thank you and I'm sorry. If you don't find an armor or shield I'll buy the best for you myself."
"Guys..." Thomas called out again.
Max and Manuel went to him.
He was holding an opened scroll.
It was...a map.
"Wait, what?!" Manuel showed shock.
Max looked carefully and realized that he doesn't recognize anything.
"Look!" Manuel pointed a finger at an island. Maybe a continent.
"Doesn't this look like the world on our maps?"
"Yeah..." Max confirmed it.
But then, what was the other area?
[You have discovered a major secret of this world!]
[It is not recommended to visit this area until you become an Elevated human.]
"Yeah, we won't check that out anytime soon."
Soon, the trio left the emptied, unknown vault.