BXBX NOVEL Chapter 156: The Vault (6)
"Didn\'t you say you wanted to witness a good show?" I replied with a smirk. "It\'s about to come now."
As I continued picking up the cores, I glanced at her. "You must have seen quite a few strong people while traveling with my master, haven\'t you?"
Vitaliara tilted her head, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully before she nodded. [Indeed, I\'ve met many strong people—mages, warriors, even those who dabbled in darker arts.]
I chuckled softly. "Have you ever thought about what they all have in common?"
Vitaliara paused, considering my question. [Common? Well,] she mused, [talent, of course. Hard work, training, and... maybe an unshakable determination?] Her voice was thoughtful, though not entirely convinced by her own answer.
I shook my head, a small smile playing on my lips as I reached for another core. "No, that\'s not it."
[Oh?] Her curiosity was piqued. [Then what?]
"It\'s not just talent or hard work," I said, standing up and brushing the dust off my hands. "The one thing that most strong people have in common… is that nearly all of them have some sort of weird quirk."
Vitaliara blinked in surprise. [A quirk?] She tilted her head, a bit of amusement creeping into her voice. [Explain.]
I laughed softly as I tossed a core into my pouch. "Think about it. My master said he met a mage with a strange obsession with perfecting one single spell for decades, even though everyone told him it wasn\'t necessary.
He also said that he met a swordsman once who refused to use anything but the oldest, most rusted blades he could find—he said they had more \'character.\' And well, he himself was also quite a bit..."
Vitaliara\'s eyes widened in realization, the pieces clicking together. [Ah, I see now. They\'re all a little… eccentric.]
"Exactly," I said, nodding. "On the path of strength, it is quite hard to stay sane, after all."
[That is...] Vitaliara trailed off, clearly thinking deeply about what I\'d said.
I let the silence linger for a moment before speaking again, my tone casual. "So, what do you think Arlen Morrowind\'s quirk is?"
Vitaliara blinked, clearly taken aback by the question. [His quirk?] she repeated, her voice laced with confusion. [I… don\'t know. What could it be? He was an Archmage, one of the strongest mages of his time. Surely his focus was on something grand, something important, right?]
I chuckled, shaking my head. "Come on, you must\'ve noticed it already."
She tilted her head, clearly searching for an answer but coming up short. [Noticed what? I can\'t say I\'ve seen anything that stands out…]
"The small details," I said, a knowing smile creeping onto my lips. "It\'s all in the details. Puzzles would be the right word for it."
[Puzzles?] Vitaliara sounded even more confused now, though there was a hint of realization creeping into her voice. [Wait… you mean all of this, the traps, the illusions, even the way the dungeon is structured, it\'s like a giant puzzle?]
I nodded, tossing another core into my pouch. "Exactly. Arlen Morrowind wasn\'t just obsessed with raw power or grand displays of magic. His quirk was puzzles—small, intricate details hidden in plain sight. His dungeons are all about testing not just your strength but your mind. He wanted to see if those who entered his domain could think their way out of a trap, not just fight their way out."
Vitaliara\'s eyes widened in understanding, her voice carrying a newfound respect. [So, everything here has been a test, a puzzle for us to solve.]
"Precisely," I said. "And we\'ve been solving it piece by piece. That\'s his quirk. It\'s not about brute strength or overwhelming power. It\'s about outsmarting the game he\'s laid out in front of us."
I looked toward the path ahead, feeling the weight of the cores in my pouch. "Now all that is left is the need to figure out the final piece of this puzzle."
Vitaliara looked around, her gaze scanning the chamber as the illusions continued to swirl around us. Her expression was a mix of confusion and curiosity. [What\'s the puzzle now, then? I don\'t see anything out of place.]
I smirked, already knowing the answer. "Details," I said simply, my voice calm as I knelt down, retrieving the core of the first monster I had killed. "It\'s always the details—things we tend to overlook."
[Details?] she repeated, still not quite grasping the concept.
I smiled as I carefully slipped the core into my spatial ring alongside the others. "Think about it. Why did I keep all these cores in order? Why not just store them randomly?"
Vitaliara\'s eyes flickered with understanding but still lacked complete clarity. [Wait… you kept them in order? Why?]
"This," I said, standing up and brushing the dust from my knees. I moved toward the area where I had first entered the dungeon, the illusions still dancing around us, but they were nothing more than distractions now. My focus was on the ground beneath my feet, the small details that most would have ignored in the chaos of the fight.
Finally, I reached the spot—right where I had first stepped into this chamber. And there, almost imperceptible, was a small cavity carved into the stone floor. It was perfectly shaped as if waiting for something specific to be placed inside.
I knelt down and held the core above the cavity.
"This is why," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, before gently placing the core into the small space. It fit perfectly, without any wasted room. As soon as the core clicked into place, a faint hum resonated through the chamber, the illusions around us flickering for a moment.
The faint hum from the chamber reverberated through the air, and for a split second, I saw it—parts of the illusion flickered, edges becoming hazy before they slowly began to dissolve.
Vitaliara mumbled under her breath, her eyes narrowing as she observed the changes. [The cores… they need to be put in order?]
I smiled at her quick deduction. "You\'re catching on fast," I said with a nod.
Without hesitation, I reached for the second core stored in my spatial ring. This puzzle, this sequence—it wasn\'t a mystery to me. I knew it well, thanks to the novel. The male lead of the Magic Tower had stumbled upon it after countless attempts, trial, and error that nearly drove him mad. But I had the advantage. I didn\'t need to fumble through different combinations or test the wrong answers.
I knew the order.
Holding the second core, I moved toward the next spot in line. The illusions around me still danced, but I could sense their presence weakening. They were no longer the threat they once seemed, just shadows clinging to the magic of the dungeon.
"This part was frustrating for the protagonist," I muttered, more to myself than to Vitaliara. "He spent weeks figuring out the right sequence."
[Protagonist?] Vitaliara repeated, astonished.
"Ah…..Don\'t mind me."
Sometimes, such slip-ups can be made, but it is always better to be careful in the future when such things occur.
TOK!
I placed the second core into another small cavity on the floor, identical to the first. As soon as it clicked into place, the hum returned, stronger this time. Another section of the illusion faded, unraveling like a loose thread.
With quiet confidence, I stood and moved toward the next spot, already reaching for the third core. The path was clear in my mind, thanks to the knowledge from the novel. I didn\'t need to guess—I just needed to follow the steps that had already been laid out.
"We\'re almost there," I said, more to myself as I prepared to place the next core.
One by one, I placed the cores into their destined locations, each fitting perfectly into its small cavity. The hum of the dungeon\'s magic grew louder with each core, and the illusions continued to flicker and fade. The path was clear in my mind, the sequence from the novel guiding me step by step.
"To the right," I muttered, reaching for the third core and moving toward the next spot. I could almost hear the protagonist\'s frustration in my mind as I remembered how many times he had tried and failed. But I didn\'t have to go through the same torment. I knew exactly what to do.
TOK!
The third core clicked into place, and another section of the illusion unraveled, like threads coming loose from an old tapestry.
"To the one on the right center," I whispered to myself as I moved to the fourth core, slipping it into the next cavity without hesitation. The hum grew stronger, almost resonating through the floor beneath my feet. The dungeon was responding, slowly revealing its true form.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh cores followed in quick succession, each one placed without any space wasted.
With the last core in hand, I made my way to the final cavity, the one that would complete the sequence and fully dispel the illusions. The magic in the chamber seemed to hold its breath, as if waiting for this moment.
"Here we go," I muttered, placing the final core into its slot.
As soon as it clicked into place, the hum transformed into a deep, resonant vibration, and in an instant, the remaining illusions shattered. The false monsters, the distortions in the air—all of it vanished, leaving the chamber bathed in a soft, ethereal glow.
The puzzle was complete.