Secrets Etched in Stone

"Good job, Lord Hugo."

Clara's voice was as steady as ever as she handed me a stamina potion, like she hadn't just watched me beat a dozen murder-lizards into reptilian soup.

Before me lay the pile of Vaernox I'd just...how should I put this..massacred?. Yeah, that felt about right. Massacred.

There had to be at least twelve of them, maybe thirteen if the half-one with the missing head still counted.

I'd killed them just as Sylvia and Clara had instructed me. Every strike measured, every movement according to the damn form charts they kept waving at me like I was in dance school.

Of course, I could've done it a lot easier. A little peek with Inspect, a few tricks here and there, and boom. No lizards, no sweat. But no, I had to "train properly" and "build foundational strength" and "earn it with your own hands", as if anyone builds muscle by choice.

So I turned the skill off. And I worked the sweat. I grunted, I rolled, I slashed, and even almost tripped on a tail once. Still counts as training, right?

With my best proud-and-not-at-all-tired smile plastered on, I looked toward Sylvia for that sweet, sweet praise.

And there it was. That smug.

Wider than mine.

Much wider.

Damn it.

I quickly turned away before she could say anything. Please don't say anything. Please let me have this moment. I literally just survived twelve lizard monsters, can I at least get a head-pat or—?

"Glad you looked this way," she said.

There it was.

That smug face. That smug voice. You'd think she won a medal. Or burned down a village and was proud of it.

"Why would I look that way? I'm blind," I replied, already preparing for the inevitable.

She didn't miss a beat. With a casual kick, she sent one of the Vaernox tails flopping across the battlefield like a broken whip.

"Are you jealous that I killed eleven more Vaernox than you?" she asked, her grin sharpening like she just earned bonus points for sass.

Nope. I am not giving her the satisfaction.

Just you wait, lady. You're only one breakthrough ahead of me. One little push. A tiny lead. I'll be there soon.

Out loud, I replied in my most gentlemanly tone, "Are you seriously competing with someone who just learned to jump?"

"Huuuuh? Excuses, excuses~" she sang.

I resisted the urge to throw a potion bottle at her head.

"You learn very fast, Lord Hugo," Sylvia said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear with that ever-so-elegant poise of hers.

Well… I take back that thing I said about chucking a potion bottle at her head. Just a little bit.

"But there is still a long way to go, though."

Yup. Definitely chucking one.

I exhaled lightly and turned Inspect back on. Instantly, the world around me flickered. Outlines shimmered over the corpses, and those colorful floating spheres appeared like overexcited fireflies with a mana addiction.

Blue. Red. And… oh great, white. The white ones wobbled like unstable mana bombs, and absorbing them felt like trying to inhale through a straw while sitting inside a tornado.

Red ones, on the other hand, went down smooth, barely a blip. The blue ones were somewhere in between, like swallowing cough syrup: unpleasant, but manageable.

One by one, I began to absorb them, feeling that familiar twitch of mana disturbances crawl up my arms. It wasn't painful, exactly…

I was crouched beside a particularly squishy Vaernox corpse when a timid voice piped up behind me.

"Um… hello?"

I glanced back to see a group of four adventurers. They looked… painfully average. Leather armor, slightly mismatched weapons, and eyes filled with polite desperation. A classic look.

"We're, uh, Team Crescent Bloom," said the girl in front. She was an elf, pretty, with silver hair tied up in a neat ponytail, and her pointy ears twitched every time she shifted weight.

I tried not to stare. Not because of respect or anything, but because something about the twitching ears made me want to poke one just to see her reaction.

For research purposes. I swear.

She continued, rubbing the back of her neck.

"We've… kind of been observing you for a while," she said, giving me an awkward smile while the two guys behind her did their best impression of frightened rabbits. "And, um, you didn't seem interested in the loot? Like the fangs or the poison bladders?"

She took a breath and then rushed out the question.

"So if you're really not interested… would it be alright if we bought them off you? For, like, half the usual market price?"

Half?

What do you mean, half, lady? I'm absolutely planning to loot them. Who said I'm not looting them?

I blinked slowly. I was planning to loot them eventually… maybe… okay fine, I wasn't. But still.

Before I could even open my mouth, Sylvia spoke with that graceful, disarming tone of hers.

"Oh, no problem," she said, smiling gently. "You can take them. We're not here for the loot."

Just Why. Why are you like this?

The elf's eyes widened in relief. "Thank you!" she said, bowing deeply. Her ponytail bounced, and those damn ears twitched again, taunting me. Just a little touch wouldn't hurt, right? Just a light poke?

No. Down, William. That's how noblemen get slapped by elves in public.

Sylvia raised her hand slightly and added, "Truly, it's no problem."

With that, the group got to work. And I had to admit, despite their awkward approach, they handled the dismembering like pros.

No unnecessary blood splatter, no wasteful sawing. They worked with surgical finesse. Even I felt a flicker of admiration.

"Have at it," I muttered under my breath and strolled away toward the edge of the battlefield.

One of the farthest Vaernox corpses, this one Sylvia had personally skewered with that ice-shimmering blade of hers, still had an outline dancing over it.

The sphere was about to drift away, and I hurried to reach it before the mana dissipated.

But just as I neared it, Inspect pulsed strangely.

What the—?

My eyes followed the path Inspect had projected. It didn't latch onto the corpse.

It drifted… toward the wall.

A translucent script materialized, glowing faintly in my vision.

[Entrance to the Sanctum of the Whispering Veil – Hidden]

Sanctum? Whispering Veil?

I stared at the ancient, dust-layered door embedded into the cavern wall. A strange pattern shimmered faintly on its surface, something between a glyph and a set of intertwining veins.

It pulsed, softly, almost as if breathing. I rubbed my chin, debating whether or not to touch the thing.

Then a voice behind me cut through my thoughts.

"There's a weird pattern on the door."

No shit, Sherlock.

I turned just in time to see the apparent captain of Team Crescent Bloom, tall, nerdy look, robes too clean for a dungeon, march right up and slap his palm against the glowing rune.

"Wait—no! Don't touch—"

Too late.

The rest of his team, along with Clara and Sylvia, stepped closer, curious about the sudden change.

I stood there, internally facepalming hard enough to bruise my soul. The guy turned back, clearly confused.

"Huh. That's weird," he said. "There's a strange pattern here but nothing's happening."

Yes, that's usually how cursed magic works. First it waits. Then it ruins your life.

The elf girl beside him tilted her head. "Could this be… a hidden sanctum?"

I blinked. Wait, she knew?

"I've heard stories," she continued, clearly excited. "About special-rank adventurers finding patterns like this and accidentally entering hidden sanctums. They usually contain rare artifacts. Low to mid-tier mostly. Of course, they're typically found on the much lower floors…almost near the last floor"

She kept rambling, her voice full of unfiltered enthusiasm. The ranger guy in their group lit up, eyes wide like he'd just spotted a pile of gold behind the door.

"Is this our chance?" he whispered.

All four of them looked like they'd won the lottery.

Nope. Not doing any of that crap. I was already halfway through planning my retreat when Sylvia's voice chimed in calmly.

"Sanctums usually reflect the monsters of the floor they're found on," she said. "So this one should contain Vaernox-type threats. You should give it a try."

No. Sylvia. No!

They nodded among themselves. That's when it hit me. They had no idea how to unlock it.

I checked Inspect, hoping for clarification. The system presented two paragraphs. Strange.

One: This pattern is a portal gate. Touching it activates a portal gate to a designated location.

Method of installation is through transport scrolls.

Two: It's a sanctum entry sigil.

To activate, one must pledge willingness to enter.

A party is defined as a group attacking the common prey.

If any one member from the party channels mana into the sigil, the entire party is considered to be pledging the willingness and is bound to the sanctum until it's cleared.

Bound. As in, magically locked in until they clear whatever's waiting inside?

Wait a second.

There are two patterns on this wall? A potal gate and sanctum entry sigil?

Something the elf girl said came echoing back to me.

"They're usually found on deeper floors..."

My eyes widened. No. No no no.

"GET AWAY FROM THERE!" I shouted.

Everyone froze at my sudden scream, except for Inspect, which flickered violently.

My vision suddenly turned blue. Not metaphorically. A bright, pulsing blue cone stretched across the cavern like a targeting line, its endpoint dead on the idiot who touched the glyph.

No time to explain.

I sprinted, grabbing him by the collar and shoving him aside just as I threw my sword up in defense. Judging by the wide trajectory of the attack, it might be an AoE type, so the impact should be low.

I braced myself for impact.

The tail landed.

BOOM.

A shockwave exploded as boulders shattered into powdered stone, and then..I wasn't there.

I was in Clara's arms, having been snatched from the impact zone midair like a sack of flour. I didn't even have time to be embarrassed. The sheer power behind that tail strike…

That monster… wasn't from this floor.

"EVERYONE BACK AWAY!" I yelled, voice cracking under the weight of raw panic.

The creature emerged from the settling dust. Its long tail twitched behind it, its body hunched and pulsating.

Its skin was rough like cracked stone, parts covered in scales, and its hands were massive, each finger tipped with claws that could shear through armor.

Then came the stench, blood, mold, and decay all rolled into one horrifying scent.

Inspect flared.

[Name: Vroth-Khaal]

Species: Ogre-type Aberrant

Grade: High-C

Attributes: Strength – B | Speed – D | Intelligence – F | Regeneration – B | Threat Level: Lethal

It has an intelligence stat?

Sylvia drew her sword immediately.

"THE FOUR OF YOU. BEHIND US!" I barked. "CAST SPELLS FROM BACKLINE. DO NOT MOVE FORWARD."

Their leader, who I now remembered was called Derren, snapped out of his trance and grabbed the girl beside him. The team began scrambling into position, but their eyes were still locked on the towering beast.

My knees trembled. My mind screamed at me to run.

Sylvia appeared beside me, her sword glinting cold and ready. I took a breath.

Okay William… Think. What's the best pos—

"I swear," Clara muttered as she stepped forward, "Just when I thought today was going to be peaceful."

She unsheathed a short dagger, her voice suddenly formal.

"Lord Hugo. Lady Sylvia. In case of unforeseen threats, if retreat is blocked, we engage with all force. That is the first rule."

She raised her blade.

"The second: in danger, there is always a margin for survival. Keep your heads clear."

"My duty is to protect you with my life, so look for that margin."

She stepped forward to face the ogre alone.

The monster's body trembled.

A spell circle formed in its palm.

Wait..what?

A spell?

Even if its intelligence was just an F, that still made it more dangerous than any other monster here. And then… the mana inside it surged, muscles expanding like balloons under pressure.

I could feel it. The ogre boosted itself, and the tail came swinging again.

We backed off.

Clara launched forward and slashed at the tail in clean arcs, carving through the flesh in narrow, precise cuts.

Blood sprayed.

She didn't cut it off entirely. Smart. Inspect showed it had "Regenerate Lost Organ." If she chopped it off, the bleeding would stop as the regeneration tries to bring back the lost organ.

So instead, she sliced it like filleting a fish, leaving open wounds that bled uncontrollably.

She was trying to outlast it by bleeding it dry.

I turned to the group behind us.

"Listen," I said, voice calm but firm. "Don't think about unnecessary stuff. That monster will not get to you. Focus fire from back here. Aim well. Coordinate."

I looked them each in the eyes.

"And above all else, DO NOT touch the pattern. Not with your hands. Not with your spells. Nothing. If you, or any of us, touches it, we're getting dragged into the sanctum. Understood?"

Derren swallowed visibly and nodded, conjuring a shard of ice. He turned and began issuing orders to his team.

Clara, meanwhile, was bouncing from wall to wall, a whirling blur of blades.

She wasn't just fast, she was surgical. Every cut she made weakened the monster. It roared, hurling boulders towards the four behind us, but Sylvia and I intercepted them, slicing them down midair.

The battle dragged.

Twenty minutes passed. Clara's movements slowed, but so had the monster. Blood pooled like a crimson lake. I didn't even register the gore anymore. The floor might as well have always been red.

Then the monster staggered, blinking. Its gaze swept the battlefield as if searching for something… and landed on something.

A Vaernox. Crushed by debris, still twitching.

The monster lunged, grabbed it, and squeezed.

The Vaernox popped like a balloon. Blood splashed across its face and body. It soaked in it.

Then it turned.

And looked directly at me.

It smiled.

Moldy teeth, a fungal stench, red-stained eyes.

Something felt off.. why is it smiling like it has just sealed our fate by killing the Vaernox?

Then the point I carelessly disregarded from Inspect's information resurfaced.... The criteria to be considered a party..

"Oh no. No no no," I whispered.

"CLARA!" I screamed. "Don't let it near the glyph!"

She turned, caught off-guard by my tone. She moved to intercept.

The ogre hurled the Vaernox's corpse toward Clara. Clara dodged, but the splash of blood blurred her vision for a split second.

The ogre turned around and flashed its tail violently. The tail struck Clara mid-air. "ahhackk.". Rocks flew violently all around.

CRACK.

Clara crashed into the wall. "ugh.."

I ran with all my might and caught Clara just in time before she crash-landed onto the floor.

Sylvia cut the rocks that flew towards us with precision.

"Clara.." I said, clutching her frame in my hands.

Then the ogre reached forward.

Touched the pattern.

And the world lit up.

A massive teleportation circle exploded beneath us, swallowing everything.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

"...You call that F-grade intelligence?" I muttered.

Then everything went white.

And we were gone.