Part Seventy-Eight

Alicia calmed down quick enough. It was just the shock of the moment catching up to her. Considering that her actions had saved a number of lives, she had nothing to be ashamed of. Heck, even Brad and his friends were only alive due to her quick thinking. There was no way anyone in the fort was going to survive that flame pillar. Well, there might be one exception.

Speaking of, where is the Archmage? He’s usually running around directing the other NPCs in repairing the fort. Actually, I haven’t seen him or the Commander all day. You’d think the two in charge of the damn fort would at least try to fight when monsters attack us directly. They did it before, so why not this time? I’ve got an odd feeling about this.

Alicia wanted to stay at the infirmary for the time being, so I bid her goodbye and left in search of answers. Answers I suspected that wouldn’t be easy to find. I spent the next hour wandering the fort, asking random mercenaries and NPCs if they’d seen the pair of leaders. The former usually didn’t have a clue, or wouldn’t even talk to me in the first place. But it was the NPCs that truly gave me pause.

Every single one gave me the same reaction: a blank stare. It was like their minds just shut down, and they couldn’t comprehend what I’d said. They’d just wordlessly walk away after a few quiet moments. I even tried asking the quartermaster, the highest ranking NPC besides the two leaders, but I got no response from him either.

I then switched tactics, deciding to look in the most obvious places I could. I checked the conference room, the mages’ quarters, the armory, and the officer quarters in the central tower, but found no traces of them. It was like they’d simply vanished.

Finally, I checked the underground space beneath the central tower. There were actually a number of rooms down here aside from the jail, which I had no intention of going near. I didn’t want to see the pitiful state Finnél’s cronies were in.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I came down here. There’s just a crap ton of storage rooms. Empty crates and barrels abound, but no signs of the NPCs. This is getting frustrating. Where the hell did they get-. What’s that?

A glimpse of light from the corner of my vision had caught my attention. Especially so once I turned around and found no obvious light source whatsoever.

Hm, interesting. Mysterious lights? Sounds like a clue.

The light I’d only half-glimpsed had been coming from behind a stack of crates. Shifting them out of the way was easy, figuring out the source of the light wasn’t. While I wasn’t certain why there was light here, I could actually feel mana from beyond the wall now, making me certain that there was something there.

I tried searching the wall for hidden switches or levers, but came up empty.

Goddamnit! Didn’t I say that I hate puzzles!? Why can’t real life be like Scooby-Doo? All I’d need to do then would be to lean against the right bookshelf, or sit on a rock, and a secret passage would open. Haah, guess it’s the hard way for me. What else is new?

***

[Brad's POV]

“Aaaaaa. Oh God, it hurts.”

Every inch of his body felt like it was on fire. His mouth and throat were incredibly dry, so much so that he’d kill for a drink of water. And his lungs, oh his lungs. It felt like he was standing inside of an inferno, breathing in the heat and flames.

Oh wait, I nearly was, wasn’t I? Ooooh.

“Oh, you’re awake? Good, that means the treatment is working.”

An NPC healer came into view. The man was holding a clipboard of all things, as he peered down at him, acting very much like a doctor. And Brad had an instinctive distrust of doctors, so the sight caused him to try and get away. Which only disturbed his injuries.

His vision flashed white as every burn on his body flared at the same time. The pain was extraordinary, nearly enough to knock him back out. Nearly.

After what felt like an eternity of white-hot agony, the pain graciously faded away, and he somehow clung to consciousness. His vision soon cleared again, letting him finally look around. He was relieved to see his friends were okay, but disheartened that they were hospitalized as well. He hoped Alicia had escaped the flames at least.

A few minutes passed where the only sounds in the infirmary were the moans of the injured, when someone else walked over to his bed. He quickly recognized the woman as the sole healer among the mercenaries. It was hard not to recognize her. She was probably the most famous person in the fort by now.

“Um, hi. Can you hear me? Or actually, can you talk?”

“Y-yeah.”

His voice was barely audible, and raspy as all hell. But he could talk, which meant he could communicate with her. There was something he needed to know.

“W-where's, Alicia?”

“Hm? Oh, she went to go look for Michael, I think. I’m not actually sure why though.”

Ah. Again? He knew that the two of them were friends, and that there wasn’t anything between him and Alicia either, but it didn’t stop a twinge of jealousy all the same. Even though he knew that she’d prioritize her teammate over him, he didn’t have to like it.

Kalia completely missed the changes in his expression, and simply kept working her magic on him. Brad could feel small tingles of magic echoing through his body, tracing and encompassing his burns. And the longer this went on, the grimmer Kalia’s expression became.

“Are you okay? You look worried. Should I be worried?”

“No, no. It’s fine, we’ve got it under control now. You’ll be up and on your way before you know it!”

Kalia’s expression wasn’t as optimistic as she sounded, and for a good reason. Brad’s injuries were worse than she’d first suspected. They’d barely begun to heal, even after over an hour of treatment. She’d even gone so far as to set up another [Soothing Aura], but progress was still minimal. It was like the residual heat in the burns refused to go away. At this rate, it could take several days before they were healthy enough to move.

***

In the end, it took me fifteen freaking minutes to figure it out. Goddamnit! Why!? Why is it always a random light fixture!? In what timeline does that even make sense!?

It was an affixed torch twenty yards down the corridor that triggered the hidden door. I’ve mentioned it before, right? That I absolutely hate puzzles. So why do I keep finding them?

Nothing immediately came out of the doorway, so I cautiously poked my head around the corner. The mysterious glow I’d noticed suffused the room on the other side, though I couldn’t see much of anything else.

It might be a bit late to think this now, but should I actually be doing this? I have no clue what could be on the other side of this wall. I don’t think there’ll be a monster, but traps are a definite possibility. Hm, let’s do it. I’m too curious to back off now.

I tentatively slipped through the doorway, and took in the sight on the other side. The room itself looked like any other in the fort, only it was ovular and about thirty feet long. A stairway opened up on the opposite side of the room from me, though the source of the light was to my left.

The only things of interest in the room were the empty archway, big enough for me to comfortably stand beneath, and the waist-high pedestal beside it. I hesitated to approach the gateway, until I realized that I could Analyze it.

Gate of Rebirth

Rank: ???

Description: A gateway that resurrects the NPCs of Fort Aries six hours after they die. As a critical piece of the Fort's infrastructure, the Dungeon Scenario will fail if the Gate is destroyed.

The gateway also serves as the entrance to the Lair of the Dungeon’s Sub-Boss.

Reviving NPCs: 324 Soldiers, 42 Mages, Archmage Aliver, Commander Argoth,

“…… What the fuck?”

Well, at least its not dangerous. I’m not sure if it was a good thing to find this or not. At least now I know what the fail conditions of the Scenario are. But what’s this about a Sub-Boss? Ugh, this is too much. Let’s just take a closer look. That pedestal looks suspicious.

Ignoring all the questions the Gate had brought with it, I got closer to examine the pedestal. The top of it had a rather intricate design, though I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. I think something’s supposed to be slotted here. This looks like the reverse of a pattern, though I don’t know what. But what’s with these two deeper grooves? What am I supposed to do, put coins in them?

It was obvious that putting something here would open the Sub-Boss’s Lair, but I didn’t know what I needed. The depression was too big for the disk I’d found before, plus it didn’t have the right patterns. Welp, I’m stumped. Again, I suck at puzzles. Maybe I’ll go find Kalia or Alicia, they seem like they would be good at puzzles. I need to tell people about this place anyway. Leaving something so important secret seems stupid, though I will try to plunder it before the others.

***

[Kalia’s POV]

“So that’s what’s happening. Is there anything we can do for them?”

“I’m afraid not miss. We’d need Grade-11 magic to dispel the lingering effects of the monster’s magic. The best thing we can do for them is to keep reapplying your Ritual until the burns heal naturally.”

“I see. Well thank you anyway.”

“It’s alright miss. It’s part of my job. I just wish I had more skill so I could take some of the burden from you. It’s not right for one person to bear all that weight.”

“No, it’s fine. This is the only way I can really contribute to the defense.”

“Ah, if only more people thought like you. Then the world would be a better place.”

The lead healer left after that, leaving Kalia alone while she maintained the effect of [Soothing Aura]. She didn’t actually need to do this, but it helped to increase the efficiency and lifespan of the spell. It also gave her time to practice Blessing Magic as well.

Haaah, I really wish I wasn’t so powerless here. I never expected for there to be ways to make injuries resistant to Healing Magic. It’s a dastardly tactic.

It had taken the combined efforts of her, the lead healer, and several other mages to figure it out. In the end, they’d identified the Wyvern’s spell as the Fire Magic Ritual [Funeral Pyre]. The spell aside, the problem stemmed from the qualities of Fire Magic Rituals. Every Ritual imbued the spell with the concept of flame, which made injuries caused by the spells to retain their residual heat, and even resist healing.

I’m just glad that it wasn’t worse. The mages said that some of the Rituals never stop burning. The whole fort could’ve burned down if that was the case.

Unfortunately, she’d become too preoccupied to notice she had visitors.

“There she is. I told you guys she was in here.”

“Fine, fine, you were right.”

She looked up upon hearing the voices, voices she knew. The group who’d just entered the infirmary were one of those that Braddock had recruited for the Dungeon run. She didn’t really know them that well, but they were technically her allies, so she tried to greet them politely.

“Can I help you?”

“For starters, you can help us oust that senile geezer. Guy’s a lunatic if he thought this was a good idea. After that, well we’ll see.”

She didn’t like the looks he or those behind him were giving her, or what they’d said for that matter. Sure, things hadn’t gone the way Braddock intended, but that certainly wasn’t reason to stab him in the back. Especially not after all he’d done for them. Her expression went ice-cold.

“I’d never do something like that, and neither will you. Have you forgotten what he’s done for all of-.”

“That doesn’t matter! That idiot's gonna get us all killed! If you know what’s good for you, you’l-!”

“You’ll what? Play charades?”

Just before the man could begin truly ranting, someone spoke up from behind them, their voice filled with malice. The men, and Kalia, all whipped around to look at the speaker.

“So, is it Braddock who’ll get you all killed, or you?”

Considering that he was wearing his helmet and the black coat he’d recently gotten, and was holding the unsheathed black sword, Michael definitely cut a menacing figure. And since all of the men had seen him fight, they knew he could cut them down in an instant if they made the wrong move here.

“Heheheh, you certainly wouldn’t be about to do anything foolish, would you? Because we all know how it’ll end.”

“C-come on, it’s not worth it!”

The men's will to resist broke, and they all but fled the infirmary, tripping on each other in their haste to get out. They all broke into a full sprint once they were through the door.

“Hahah, guess that idiotic nickname is good for something after all. Those idiots looked like they were about to shit themselves.”

“Michael! You shouldn’t laugh at other people’s misfortune. And threatening them isn’t right either.”

“Eh, I don’t know. I may have only caught the tail-end of that, but the mood wasn’t exactly conducive to a friendly chat. Sometimes words fail, and then you’ll need a big stick. I just used the stick first.”

“That may be so, but it still doesn’t mean you can just threaten anyone you like! Civilization is built on civility, and without it, we’re no better than animals.”

“Eh, I beg to differ. Civility only works when both sides want to be civil. So what happened? I’m pretty sure those guys are supposed to be your allies, right?”

“Yeah, it’s-. I’d rather not talk about it. But thanks, you did help me.”

“Eh, you’ve helped me too. Speaking of which, I may have something of interest, if you’d be willing to come with me.”

Huh?