In a different section inside the large building, Selene continued her exploits, scoring various natural treasures and resources as well as fighting some creatures that crossed her path along with the guard assigned to her for her 'protection.'
Her decision to split from the others was largely due to the decision she made when they failed to kill James the first time and the reaction the Royals had.
The situation had stripped her of almost all the authority she once had as without House Allan standing, she had no standing.
Waiting for things to get better and hoping that Alaric's circle of friends would welcome her with open arms was all but a fanciful dream.
If she believed in that nonsense, she wouldn't have stabbed James in the back. She could feel her significance in the noble circle chip away as the days went by.
'I have to prepare contingencies in case everything falls apart.' She thought at the time.
Normally, she wouldn't have followed the others here, but things happened the way they did. She was not willing to fall into a situation where she would be left with nothing to her name.
Before Selene and the guard she knew as Thoran, stood at the edge of what appeared to be a staircase leading deeper into the depths of the building.
The surrounding darkness and the quietness of the area made the air coming from the depths feel ominous and chilling.
*Gulp*
'Good thing I have a guard with me.' She smiled inwardly.
Selene turned to her guard and gestured for him to venture in first.
"That's what you're here for, right?"
Her response killed the words Thoren wanted to say. With a defeated sigh, he looked around the vicinity and then retrieved his sword before descending the stairs.
Selene remained at the back and just observed. "Go on. I'll be behind you." She instructed when Thoren looked behind only to see her at the edge.
Her expression left no room for refusal. She may not be of House Brightwind, but she most definitely could order the men around, especially when they were told to protect her.
Thoren turned back and adopted a stern face as he composed himself to shake off his nerves. He continued his descent and soon, disappeared into the darkness.
Several minutes later of no activity, Selene also descended and when she arrived at the bottom, her eyes widened in surprise that was quickly replaced with palpable excitement.
Thoren was the same but managed to reel in his excitement as this was the big trove everyone was searching for.
"The man inheritance."
Selene muttered as she slowly stepped forward with trembling hands. Thoren on the other hand retrieved his communication crystal and contacted the others to come as quickly as possible.
In the kind of situation he was in, there was no chance of hiding it. Others would stumble on this place sooner or later, and it was in their best interest to be one of the first ones here.
In the space the two found themselves was an extremely large cavern space that while dark, was lit up enough for people of their calibre to see clearly.
There was nothing fancy about the large opened space beside the barred-off section behind a transparent barrier at the very end where troves of artefacts of all kinds, spells, vials of potions of unknown effects and more.
Selene approached the barrier with wary steps. She was excited by what she was seeing, but that did not eliminate the element of caution in her movements.
No one leaves their treasures in the open with there being some kind of catch. The barrier itself spoke volumes of that. But there could be lurking dangers around.
Her eyes darted left and right but spotted nothing unusual and finally arrived at the barrier separating her from the hundreds if not thousands of magical resources of all kinds.
Without touching the barrier, she moved around along the barrier to see if she could spot any opening, a hint of how to break through and get whatever was in there.
'But it can't be that easy.' Her brows furrowed with caution.
Coming here, she had fought her own share of monsters, some she could name, others, she had no clue.
There were some that she had to outrun and fortunately for her and Thoran, those monsters were location-bound.
Many minutes later, she came back to her starting point, finding nothing different and without looking behind she asked.
"Are the others coming?"
"Yes, Lady Selene. There should be here any moment from now." He replied with eyes burning with greed and desire, making no effort to hide it.
The things in there would be enough to secure someone's rise to the peak of power.
Even if not as a paragon as those haven't been seen for hundreds of years, he believed it would be enough to raise anyone's level to the next best thing.
'Maybe if we could monopolize everything in here, the rise of the Solene Kingdom would be all but guaranteed.'
He turned to look back at the entrance, noticing just how wide it was. There was no way they could hold back thousands of people when the price was right before their eyes.
A commotion drew their attention to the staircase where they could make out faint whispers of some people talking.
Thoren furrowed his brows not liking people finding the place so soon. His hands slowly moved to his side where his sword rested.
"Don't bother. It will only make you a public enemy." Selene advised when she understood Thoren's line of thought from his actions.
"…" Thoren's hand came to a stop realizing she was right. He took deep breaths to calm his rising greed.
"Careful, Sorin. There could be dangers lurking down there…" A male voice came from the stairs as the sound of disharmonized footsteps slowly increased.
'Hm. There should be at least six of them.'
He didn't like those numbers. Selene may have stopped him from taking drastic actions, but what is stopping them from doing the same? After all, moments ago, he was thinking of how to monopolize what was here.
'This could turn bloody before anything even begins.'
Selene turned to Thoren and gestured for them to move to the edges to avoid any conflict if possible. Naturally, she was by no means weak.
If there was one thing she had under her sleeve, it was her skills as a fighter mage. Thoren understood and the two stepped back.
"Whoa! I knew it!"
The first person to settle their eyes on the wonders ahead exclaimed loudly and without hesitation bolted forward, leaving their company shocked and in fright.
"SORIN!
"DAMMNIT!"
However, when the others saw why their friend behaved the way she did, froze in their tracks. They couldn't believe what they were seeing and completely forgot about their friend.
"Fuck! It's barred in."
For the one known as Sorin, she went as far as touching the barrier without any hesitation, showing no glimpse of caution in her actions.
'Idiots like these die off quickly. But how did they even make it this far?'
Selene wondered watching the group of seven people rush forward without checking their environment first. They were right there, yet the morons didn't even bother to look.
Thoren shot a glance at Selene's direction and she instantly noticed it.
"No. If they are here, there are bound to be more." She spoke again.
And true to her words, more and more people stumbled on this place, some guided by their parties, others following the common trial.
Soon the entire space was crawling with people.
"Impressive."
Varek muttered to his party after they found their way here. But there was still no sign of James.
'There are more people coming here the more the news spreads.'
"This looks like something that would only open p once a certain condition is met."
"Yeah. Maybe when everyone arrives here?" Caelum suggested and the rest nodded as that was how things looked like.
Nothing that the people had tried so far worked.
Some people had even attacked the barrier, but not even a ripple was generated from that action, and while it scared the living hell of them, everyone held their breaths in anticipation until it got old with no signs of cracking or evening dispelling.
'I'll definitely find them here.'
Zarek thought as he too arrived on the scene. With more enemies gathered in one place and no allies in sight, there was no telling what was in store for James and probably Thalia...
As more and more people arrived, waiting for the barrier to come down, James and Thalia were on their own mission to discover where the path that opened up to them moments later led.
The two noticed the mannequins quiver for a second before they abruptly turned back to their previous position.
"Not disturbing at all." Thalia gulped with a fearful expression.
She turned to James who had his eyes glued to the opening in the floor that had stairs leading deeper.
'I don't like this one bit.'
"Don't worry, we'll be fine," James assured sensing Thalia's gaze. "Stay close and on guard."