23 Museum

After his tiresome endeavor, Uriel found himself tossing and turning on his bed. He was thinking on all the possible ways of using his trait, but making a small utility knife disappear and reappear was almost the same as carrying it like he had been doing up until that moment.

'I need to understand why does my trait only work with my old swiss army knife. If it has to do with how meaningful it is for me it could work on some of my belongings too. I need to find out what else can I make disappear.'

After closing his eyes flashes of a striking building came up to his mind and, by focusing on it, the picture cleared and became more vivid. The sight of the magnificent building was so dazzling Uriel almost got up from the bed. 'Now this is my kind of dream' he thought.

Tall marble pillars and the huge entrance made him feel insignificant, as if he was an uninvited guest or someone who didn't pay the entrance fee, but since it was his dream he could do whatever he wanted. He ventured up the unadorned stony staircase to get inside and was greeted by the most impressive museum he could ever dream about. In fact, even if he attempted to, he doubted he could make something like that building up.

'It must be a recreation of all the pictures of museums I've seen in my life, good job brain!' He thought excitedly. The anticipation of what marvels his mind would show him almost drove him nuts, but he still advanced inside.

He didn't possess a body inside his dream, it was just an ethereal point of view as if he was watching a video recording. Everything shone in a golden light, the marbled walls, the beautiful tiles, even the distant ceiling. Dreaming of a museum like that was the best experience an archaeologist could ever hope for and Uriel was no exception. Even if it was all fake, he still wanted to see what mysteries lied inside.

There were several luxurious pedestals and, as he ventured inside, they became more and more grand as if building up the anticipation. There was, however, a problem with the beautiful museum.

It was empty.

There were no frescoes, no tapestries, no artifacts, no relics, nothing.

Just when Uriel realized this and was about to get disappointed, he came into the main exposition room. At its entrance there was a sign covered in ancient scriptures, but he was too excited to see the artifacts and ignored it remembering that people inside a dream cannot read.

There stood an incredibly marvelous pedestal. A true work of art on its own, it's surface was covered in eye catching carvings and yet, the artifact on top of it stood out even more.

Uriel gazed at it in disbelief it was... The artifact was...

"Hey Uriel, are you awake?" Sam whispered.

"No, I'm dreaming, don't bother me." He scoffed.

"Oh, okay then." Sam fell silent and turned over on the bed in front of Uriel's.

'How rude, interrupt someone's dreams like that... anyway, why is my pocket knife on top of the pedestal?' Uriel wondered.

"Wait!" he said out loud without daring to open his eyes. "Sam, can you hear me?"

"Shut up, let us sleep!" One of their roommates complained.

"Yes, I can hear you, why are you being so loud?" Sam replied in a whisper.

"That's it! I'm not asleep!" Uriel said out loud, this time receiving a pillow to the face for being too loud, but it was worth it because now he was sure he wasn't dreaming.

Excitedly, Uriel came back to the museum and stared at the artifact on top of the pedestal. It was his swiss army knife, not the real one, but the one stored inside his make believe museum. He studied the knife for a long while and, when he couldn't find anything new and was about to give up, he lowered his gaze to look at the carvings on the pillar.

They looked like writing, but he couldn't be sure because they looked similar, yet different to any ancient language he knew. They were similar to runes, but also to hieroglyphics and even to rough pictographs similar to those found in prehistoric caverns.

Then everything became clear to him, it was the ancient alphabet he had theorized about for so long. It couldn't be a figment of his imagination because he didn't know how to read it, but he was certain that there was meaning behind it. Trying to decipher the carvings on the pedestal and looking at them from all sides, finally something clicked. Now that he was in front of an item he was familiar with, he searched specifically for the word "knife". Unraveling the ancient language turned out to be an impossible feat, but that didn't stop him from trying over and over.

'I wish I had something to write on, it would be so much easier if I was able to take notes.'

Thinking about writing made him remember the sign at the entrance and that gave him an idea.

'Considering this is a museum, it's only obvious that the entrance says what kind of exhibition this is.' The language on the sign was the same that was carved on the pillars and, although he was unable to speak it, after deciphering the alphabet he knew instinctively the meaning of the words and now he was able to read them.

'Pre apocalyptic era exhibition' Uriel finally succeeded in reading what the sign said. The fact that an era was called 'pre apocalyptic' was all Uriel needed to confirm his theory that he was in the post apocalyptic era. But all this went over his head as he was too excited to care, he simply ran towards the knife and started reading.

[Artifact] Swiss army knife: The most convenient of all knives, known for its versatility and durability. Its use was widespread among campers and people who enjoyed outdoor activities.

[Passive] While inside the museum it provides a slight physical boost.

'This is incredible! My trait is not useless at all! If I find more artifacts I'll be able to become stronger and get even more artifacts. I could fill this museum completely! This is the best possible trait I could have wished for!'

Archaeology, the passion of Uriel's life, is the study of human history through items, artifacts and all sorts of remains. A trait like that was nothing short of a dream come true for him and he couldn't believe his luck.

'Who cares about shooting fire, invisibility, flight or whatever, I can become stronger by simply storing artifacts!' Bursting with Joy he felt like crying.

There was, however, a downside to his trait and it wasn't long until he figured it out.

'Dammit! Where am I supposed to get more artifacts? I'm so poor I was barely able to survive up to this point, there's no chance that someone like me can get into an auction and buy stuff. If I could do that I'd be swimming in all sorts of artifacts already.'

This realization would have been depressing for anyone, but Uriel wouldn't let something like that throw him down. No other person would have worked so hard to find the truth behind a trait as complex as his' and he was certain that he would be able to think of something.

After all the physical exhaustion caused by his many experiments and the mental effort he just made, Uriel got sleepy and ended up falling asleep, for real this time.

He would have overslept just like usual, if not for Sam kicking him out of bed.

"Wake up or the hot water will run out." Sam whispered to avoid waking up the rest of the students.

Without the need for a second call, Uriel got up and headed towards the showers.

"Why did you wake me up?" He asked.

"I want to ask you something. Medusa... I saw you guys walking together the other day, are you two close?" Sam probed.

"Close? I wouldn't put it that way, we're friends... that's all." Sam's face brightened up at Uriel's reply.

"Then you wouldn't mind hooking us up together, would you? If you become my wingman I'll totally wake you up everyday!"

"Uh, sure... but I don't know if she'll be interested in you, all I can do is maybe give you her number, but the rest would be on you." Uriel shrugged and then glared at Sam. "Anything else?"

"No, why do you ask?" Uriel replied, completely unaware on Medusa's feelings towards him

"Because I want to take a shower..." Uriel replied.

"Oh, sure! sure!" Sam said awkwardly as he left Uriel alone, and he was finally able to catch a pleasant hot shower on his dorm.