As he made his way down the dark staircase, Julian couldn't help but feel a slight sense of unease.
Whether it was because he was heading down into some creepy dungeon or not, it was hard to tell.
But with his crossbows loaded, he was prepared for an ambush. Yet the ambush never came. Within just a few minutes he reached the end of the staircase and was met with an open area.
It was like a tomb. Torches were scattered all around the room, still somehow lit. In the corners there were coffins, all of which carried a strong stench of miasma.
'Those are definitely the corpses of powerful evil spirits. But why are they down here?' Julian wondered, taking careful steps.
He inspected each of the coffins and they were all tightly sealed. However, what startled him the most was the fact that he could hear breathing.
Whoever was inside the coffins was alive.
Getting the memo, Julian decided to leave this cursed place.
But just then, in the corner of his eye, he spotted a tiny gap in the wall. When he looked at it from a certain angle, he saw a golden glow.
Curious, Julian approached the gap and peeked his eye through it. To his surprise, he spotted a glowing golden ring on the other side. It was plain, except for the lone crimson jewel atop it.
The ring was practically calling out to him. Let alone that, his instincts were telling him that this was a Soul Artifact. The first one he had ever seen.
He glanced around.
'And one that is in a very dangerous location... Odds are, the moment I take that ring, every single coffin is going to be unsealed and I'll be attacked.'
However, a Soul Artifact was something that completely elevated the power of an exorcist. Just getting his hands on one, no matter what it was, would make a huge difference.
So he began plotting, thinking of some solution where he could walk out of here with that Soul Artifact and not trigger the coffins.
'Sealing them tighter wouldn't do. Killing them while they're sealed? Like hell I could kill an awakened evil spirit with a simple steel bolt.'
In the end, he couldn't figure out any safe solutions. But that was when, amidst the silence, he heard a single step, then another. It was coming from the top of the staircase.
Julian stepped back from the Soul Artifact and hid behind one of the coffins.
'Could it be Adam? No... He's not someone who would go searching around for me. That means someone else is here. Could it be the ghouls from last time?'
The steps he was hearing resembled the ones he heard that time. Except there weren't multiple people now, only one.
Controlling his breathing, Julian waited for the being to reach the bottom, and when it did, he carefully peeked from behind the coffin.
There, he saw a young woman clad in white robes, holding a book in one hand and a short wand in the other. Her white hair was tied in a bun, and she wore round glasses over her hazel eyes.
More importantly, the tip of her wand emitted light as she scanned the room with great interest. She checked the coffins and then the walls.
Obviously, every time she got near him, he moved aside. Even if she was human, and more so some type of sorcerer exorcist, he couldn't take the risk of revealing himself.
After all, if push came to shove, he would grab the ring and run for the exit, leaving her to clean up after him.
The woman halted, then approached the hole in the wall. An excited look appeared on her face when she realized what it was.
Opening her book, she flipped through the pages, eventually stopping on a few. She chanted a few words in a language he couldn't understand. With springs in her steps, she walked up to each of the coffins and tapped on them, causing a thin membrane to appear around them.
'Is she reinforcing the seal?' Julian pondered, a faint smile appearing on his face. 'If that's the case...'
When she finished her reinforcement, she skipped back to the hole in the wall. Closing her book and stashing away her wand, the woman reached for what was on the other side of the wall.
But right as she was about to grasp the ring, a loud click resounded behind her, causing her to freeze.
Julian's hand was extended, and his knuckles were pressed into the back of her skull. With only a mere clench, he could blast a bolt straight through her brain.
Still, her body was toned, and her shoulders were full of muscle. He didn't dare to treat her like some delicate flower.
"Drop your book and your wand into the corner," Julian said.
"Seriously...?" the woman mumbled, her voice trembling. "I decided to explore for the first time in a while, and now I have someone threatening to kill me? Hey, while you're there behind me, can you pinch me? I think I'm dreaming."
'Is this woman stupid?'
Seeing that her chattiness was getting her nowhere, she grumbled and then swiftly tossed her book and wand to the side.
"There. Happy now, mysterious stranger?"
"..."
With the crossbow pointed at her head, he moved around her.
Her eyes followed his every move, and as the two held eye contact, Julian reached into the hole in the wall and snatched the ring. Since putting it on right now could possibly be dangerous, Julian simply held it tightly in his grasp.
The stench of miasma grew worse, but the coffins remained sealed.
"You know, mysterious stranger. I'm a little confused how you got past me. I was sure I used detection magic the moment I stepped inside," the woman said with a faint smile.
"We all have our secrets," Julian replied, and slowly stepped back.
In truth, if she really did use detection, then he wasn't sure why it didn't detect him. Maybe the strong miasma of the coffins intercepted her magic.
Either way, he reached the end of the room, stopping just before the staircase. Then he glanced back at the woman.
"Are you a part of some kind of camp?"
The woman raised a brow.
"Camp? Are you new here?"
"..."
Letting out a giggle, she continued:
"Well, let's just say if you step outside now, my teammates will kill you. That is, unless you give me the ring."
Hearing that, Julian froze, but then let out a sigh. No sane person would go down such a dangerous staircase alone.
That is, unless they had come alone.
So because of that, Julian decided to test his luck.
"I'll call your bluff."