Faced with the sudden disappearance of the statue, Adrestia, who had not been elated at any point, could no longer maintain her calm facade and immediately let out a confused voice
"W-What... wait... how? That doesn't make any sense, how...", as for the reason for his fuss, it was a little different from what one would expect, "How the hell do you already know how to use the storage space?"
"I haven't even had time to teach you that yet"
Nikolai blinked blankly, not expecting such a reaction."Well, what can I say... it's pretty intuitive". He commented a little awkwardly, while expanding a certain screen in his status
🎒 « Storage Space» 🎒
-Allows the host to store any objects in a particular sub-space
-Storage Conditions: Direct contact, Inanimate objects only
-Current Sub-space capacity: 15 m³
"No, don't do that! You can't just go around guessing things like that, it's my job to explain these kinds of things to you!"
As if he couldn't hear the goddess' complaints, Nikolai closed his eyes, immediately feeling an extra presence in your consciousness. As he focused his thoughts on this, he saw a strange space that seemed to be inside a void, surrounded only by darkness. In one of the corners of the room, there was the statue that was in front of him just a few moments ago – That was his storage space
Looking at the huge empty space at his disposal, Nikolai's eyes lit up as an idea came over him
"Wait, what if…"
"What? What if what? I'm your guide here, but to help you I need to know your plans... Hey, don't ignore me!"
Ignoring his so-called guide, Nikolai quickly walked through the room, which without the presence of the lamp, was now much darker, being illuminated only by some luminescent stones embedded in the floor. Not caring about the darkness, he approached one of the walls, and placing his hands under one of the murals he murmured:
"Collect!"
Following the statue's example, the mural immediately disappeared, being stored in one of the corners of its storage space, revealing a rough stone wall full of irregularities, hidden behind it, that is, the cave wall
"Yes, it worked!"
"Oh, I see that's your plan. Yeah, it will work...please proceed"
As if he hadn't heard the Goddess's brazen words, and not having found what he was looking for, Nikolai then proceed to move around the room, towards the next mural and repeating his actions also storing this one
"Collect! Hmm, that's not it either... Next!"
"Collect!"
Thus, as if possessed, Nikolai spent the next few minutes running around the room while touching the murals and transferring them to his storage space, stacking them, one on top of the other to save space. Having more than a hundred meters in diameter the room had dozens of murals, but even so, the former assassin didn't give up and continued repeating his actions mechanically like a robot
"Collect!"
"Collect!"
"Collect!"
…
"Collect! Oh, I finally found it! Damn, me and my shit luck", he complained, having found what he was looking for only after storing all the murals, "Well, I was right in the end"
Just before becoming distracted by the statue, Nikolai had thought of the theory that the exit to the room should be in one of the murals. That was just a logical conclusion, the scene in front of him demonstrated that he was right, as behind the last mural, there was an entrance dug into the stone wall of the cave, connected to a long stone staircase
Having a tight deadline, which was getting shorter with each passing second, Nikolai didn't hesitate and ran upstairs
"Let's get out of that place!"
Truth be told, the reason for the chamber's exit is not easily found within the chamber. It's not because she was secret or anything like that. Instead, the reason that led its designers to build it as it is, merging it with the rest of the murals, was purely out of aesthetic sense, not wanting to destroy the design of the chamber. As for someone getting lost and not finding a way out, that never crossed their minds
After all, how can anyone forget where the door they just entered is?
They never expected that one day someone would survive the fall from the abyss and become trapped in the room. In other words, the whole situation was in some ways created by Nikolai's bad luck!
As he climbed the stone staircase, Nikolai saw his surroundings change rapidly, from the rough stone walls of the cave, to the delicate white marble walls that covered the temple. Not only that, but on the way he came across several rooms, such as simple but elegant furniture, small delicate sculptures and beautiful paintings
Faced with these fancy objects and with magical storage in hand, Nikolai's gamer instinct kicked in. Then, without the slightest qualms or hesitation, he began storing the items one by one
From the furniture, chandeliers, tablecloths and works of art, to the marble slabs on the walls. Normally the process of removing the plates from the walls would be very complicated and time-consuming, but thanks to the storage feature, all Nikolai needed was a simple touch
Completely cleaning the place in the little time he had, was not just an empty dream for Nikolai
"I think the Supreme Thief System would have suited you better"
She said in a low voice as she watched a cheerful Nikolai ruthlessly looting the place, like a child who has just received a bunch of sweets. Of course, taking into account the various scars that deformed his face, this pure and childish expression became much more macabre and frightening
Still, apparently the goddess had a different opinion about that
"Fufufu, as expected, he is kinda cute. Let's add this moment to my collection… Click! Click! Click!"
Just like that, with Adrestia distracted and no one to stop Nikolai. He indulged himself in this newfound hobby of dismantling.
Thinking positively, Nikolai was luck that none of the artisans responsible for building the temple were'nt on site to witness such a scene. Otherwise, they would use all their strength to hunt down this demon who had dared to desecrate and destroy their masterpiece
…
...
The time then passed, as Nikolai found himself admiring two huge stone doors. These doors had a very familiar design, being identical to the ones he saw at the entrance to the temple, with the characteristic snake mark carved on it surface
[Time limit: 00:30:51]
"Wow, those stairs were longer than I imagined"
Nikolai focused on the space connected to his mind, visualizing his storage space.
Unlike before, hundreds and hundreds of objects covered the strange room, furthermore due to his foresight in stacking the items, even after he had spent the last few hours raiding the place, his still had about a 1/3 left
"You know, wouldn't have taken so long if you hadn't gone back to remove the stairwell tiles too"
"I really regret doing all this"
"You know, you don't sound convincing at all when you talk smiling like that"
"Hahaha~ don't worry about details like that, my darling"
Once he was sure he hadn't really left anything behind, Nikolai walked over and headed toward the door
"Hallo, I'm back guys!"
He shouted after stealing the doors, feeling it was the right thing to say in this situation. Obviously... and luckily for him, he received any response back, as after get rid of the intruders, the statues fell asleep again
According to Adrestia, despite appearing to be simple statues, their true identity is much more complex than that. No, they were creations of immeasurable value, also known as... The Greatest, omnicompetent with limitless efficiency magical lifeform, or, for short, G.O.L.E.M
Regardless of their name, it is impossible to deny that golems are the pinnacle of magical engineering, second only to homunculi in terms of complexity. There are several types of golems, each with a different purpose, from domestic golems, responsible for cleaning and maintenance to toses optimized for combat
As one can imagine, the golems protecting the temple belong to this last category
Finally taking a closer look, he immediately notices that although they looked like simple statues from afar, they were quite different from the ones he found throughout the temple. As not only did they have a simpler design, without unnecessary details such as clothes or other adornments. These statues also had a series of joints scattered around their bodies, anticipating the wide-ranging movements they would make when they went into combat mode
He looked at the golems for a few more seconds, before turning his gaze to another object, a black orb that was in the center of the room. This object was emitting intense and powerful energy fluctuations as it floated peacefully, like an orbiting planet. This strange orb was called the labyrinth's core. And it was the major key for Nikolai to leave this place