Chapter 16 : Identify

He maintained [Identify] as a constant thread of magic while his eyes scanned the chamber methodically. The skill's feedback was concerning - multiple magical signatures, some he'd never encountered before. Ancient protections, probably. No one left this much wealth unguarded.

His hand found the ruby-studded sword, lifting it carefully. The balance was surprisingly good.

[Item: Flamebrand Sword (Class S)

Type: Enchanted Weapon

Status: Active

Properties: Unknown]

Better than nothing.

He kept his casting hand free - in his experience, magic was always more reliable than steel. The [Flame] spell still hovered above him, casting moving shadows that made everything more uncertain.

Another movement in the darkness. Then another, from a different direction. The coins shifted somewhere to his left with a gentle tinkling sound.

He was in the open. Exposed. Amateur mistake.

Slowly, deliberately, Adom began moving backward toward the nearest wall. Keep your back covered. Control what can approach you. Basic combat principles he'd read lifetime ago.

The magical signatures were getting stronger. Or closer.

Something slithered in the darkness.

The chamber suddenly felt a lot smaller, and the shadows a lot deeper.

Adom canceled [Flame]. Relative darkness swallowed him for a heartbeat. In that same instant, he wove [Fireball], launching it high into the air above.

The chamber exploded with light, and time stopped.

There was no time to see all the details, but one thing Adom was sure of.

Snake. Massive snake. Jaws open. Coming straight for him—

Adom's body moved before his mind could process. Pure instinct threw him sideways as the massive head struck. The impact shook the chamber, stone cracking where he'd stood a fraction of a second before. Coins sprayed everywhere like metallic rain.

Adom rolled to his feet, already weaving another [Fireball], this one with enough power to drain half his mana. The spell struck the creature's scales with a thunderous roar. The beast screamed - a sound that belonged in nightmares - as flames engulfed its head. There was no smell. No smoke.

The first fireball above was fading. In its dying light, Adom spotted an archway across the chamber.

He ran.

Gold coins scattered under his feet, treacherous as marbles. Behind him, the creature thrashed, its massive body sending treasures flying. Something hot brushed his back - its breath? Poison? He didn't want to know.

"Shit shit shit shit—"

He vaulted over a fallen pillar, nearly lost his footing on landing. The archway seemed impossibly far. The sound of scales on coins grew closer. Too close.

A fang caught his shirt, almost ripping it away. Adom didn't look back. Looking back meant death. The archway was just ahead, ten steps away, five—

The beast lunged. Adom dove forward, rolling through the arch as massive jaws snapped shut behind him. He scrambled to his feet, running blindly into the darkness beyond, the creature's frustrated roar echoing off the walls.

"What—" Adom gasped for air, "—the actual hell?!"

He wove [Flame] with shaking hands, nearly botching the spell. The light revealed stone corridors branching in multiple directions.

"A maze?!" His voice cracked. "A MAZE?! That idiot shepherd just found some gold in a cave my ASS!" He stumbled forward, still trying to catch his breath. "Nobody said anything about a giant snake! Or a labyrinth! Or—" Another roar echoed through the corridors, making him jump. "Or THAT!"

The sound of something massive moving through stone tunnels came from... everywhere? Nowhere? The maze's acoustics made it impossible to tell.

"If I survive this," he wheezed, picking a direction at random, "I'm finding that shepherd and—" He caught his foot on an uneven stone, barely keeping his balance. "And I don't know what I'll do, but it'll involve a very long conversation about the difference between 'I found some treasure' and 'THERE'S A GIANT SNAKE GUARDING IT IN A MAZE!'"

Another roar, closer this time. Or was it? Damn these echoes.

"And what kind of idiot am I?!" He turned a corner, then another. "Oh look, a mysterious rune and a sealed cave! Let's just walk right in! Brilliant, Adom. Absolutely brilliant!"

Adom slumped against a wall, chest heaving. No. Panic wasn't helping. Panic would get him killed. He needed to think.

He forced his breathing to slow, trying to quiet his thundering heart. Think. Analyze. Solve.

The crystal had transported him directly to the treasury. No path in, just... there. Which meant finding his way back to the entrance wasn't an option - there might not even be one. And now he was in a maze with...

Another distant roar. Right. That.

"Okay," he whispered, organizing his thoughts. "Facts. That fireball was strong enough to kill a horse. It's still alive. Probably resistant to fire magic." He grimaced. "Would've been nice to know that before using half my mana."

The sound of something large moving through stone echoed again.

"Can't fight it. Can't outrun it forever. Can't find an exit I don't know exists." He closed his eyes, thinking. "There has to be a way out. Nobody builds something like this without an escape route. The crystal brought me in, so..."

He opened his eyes. "There has to be another crystal."

The question was: how to find it before that thing found him?

As Adom caught his breath, something moved in his flame's light. He instinctively tensed, but it was too small to be the snake.

[Creature: Cave Hopper

Type: Indigenous Maze Dweller

Status: Alert]

The creature looked like a rabbit, if rabbits had evolved in darkness - pale, with oversized ears and eyes that reflected his flame's light. It froze upon seeing him.

"You survive down here," Adom whispered. "You must know safe places..."

The hopper bolted. Without thinking, Adom followed. These creatures always knew where to hide, where predators couldn't reach. The hopper bounded ahead, surprisingly fast. Adom's [Flame] bobbed as he ran, casting wild shadows that made following harder.

"Wait, you little—"

The ground vanished.

There was a moment of weightlessness, a sharp intake of breath, and then—

Impact. Pain shot through his side as he tumbled down a steep slope. His [Flame] spell flickered out. Something cracked under him - multiple somethings. He rolled to a stop in complete darkness, groaning.

When Adom rewove [Flame], the light revealed what had broken his fall. Bones. Hundreds of them. Small ones, large ones, complete skeletons and scattered remains. Some belonged to cave hoppers. Others to creatures he didn't recognize. All picked clean.

His hand had landed in a ribcage big enough to belong to a deer.

"Oh no," he breathed, scrambling to his feet. A skull rolled away, disappearing into a pile of other bones. The chamber wasn't large, but every inch of floor was covered in remains. This wasn't just a pit - it was a feeding ground.

Something moved in the tunnel above.

The sound of scales on stone grew closer.

"Hsssssssssssss..."

The sound made his blood freeze. Adom's hand found the sword in the darkness, gripping it tight. He adjusted his glasses while his heart hammered so hard he could hear it over the rattling of disturbed bones beneath his feet.

Two enormous eyes appeared in the tunnel above, reflecting his flame's light like mirrors. Adom quickly used [Identify] while preparing [Barrier].

[Creature: White Wyrm

Level: 10

Life force: 500/500

Type: Guardian

Status: Enraged]

The eyes drew closer. Adom's grip on the sword tightened. Wait for it. Let it commit to the strike. Don't waste energy on useless movements.

A massive head emerged from the tunnel, scales gleaming dully in the flame light. The creature's mouth opened, revealing rows of teeth longer than daggers. Muscles tensed along its neck.

Adom's breath seemed unnaturally loud in the sudden silence.

The wyrm struck.

[Barrier] flared to life as Adom dove sideways. Fangs scraped against magic with a sound like nails on glass. The beast's head smashed into the bone-covered floor where he'd stood.

Now.

Adom swung the sword with everything he had, aiming for the creature's neck—

The blade bounced off scales with a metallic clang.

"Oh, that's not fair."

The wyrm's head snapped toward him, jaws opening wide.

Adom rolled through bones as massive jaws snapped shut where he'd been. His mind raced through facts like flipping pages:

Immune to steel. Immune to fire. But it reared back from the flames. Why? Why fear something that can't hurt you?

The wyrm's head tracked his movement. Those eyes. If he could just—

He grabbed a handful of small bones, hurling them at the creature's face while weaving [Fireball]. Not a massive one - just enough to—

The beast's head jerked back instinctively from the flying debris. Perfect.

Adom launched the fireball directly at its eyes, already moving, already reaching for the sword again. The flames wouldn't hurt it, but the light, the surprise—

The wyrm reared back, exactly as he'd hoped. Adom charged forward, sword aimed for those massive eyes—

Something massive swept his legs. The world spun. His newly made [Barrier] shattered like glass.

[-24 Life Force]

[Status: You Suffered A Moderate Injury]

Adom slammed into a pile of bones, air rushing from his lungs. His glasses cracked. Pain exploded across his ribs. The sword clattered away somewhere.

"Hssssssssssss!"

The wyrm thrashed wildly, still blinded by the fireball's light. Its massive body whipped around the chamber, smashing into walls. A rib cage larger than Adom went flying.

Then he saw it.

Through cracked glasses, he watched the beast's underbelly scrape across a jagged bone. A tiny cut appeared.

[-0.5 Life Force] (499.5/500)

Adom's eyes widened. He spotted a narrow crevice leading up out of the pit.

"Alright," he whispered, scrambling toward it. A plan crystallized in his mind.

"[Pull]!" Adom's hand shot out, magic yanking the sword through scattered bones just as the wyrm's jaws struck.

He caught the blade and dove into the crevice, brushing past plant leaves that partly obscured the narrow opening. Fangs scraped stone inches behind him, the beast's frustrated roar vibrating through the rock itself. Too narrow for it to follow.

The sound of the massive body thrashing against the opening echoed after him as he climbed. But he kept going. He had a weakness to exploit now.