A sight to take in
His only option seemed to be climbing the pillars so he threw his torch up estimating a height of ten feet. Turning to the closest pillar he locked his arms and legs around it and crawled upwards.
As the railing was held abundant endorsements he found enough grip to climb over it and reach the gallery.
He could only hope it wasn't locked as he saw the door he hoped for. It was exactly above the one he came in through. Picking up the torch he went towards it and turned the knob.
With a clicking sound the door opened.
Standing in a luscious hallway with countless slim pillars he had no idea where to go next. It was lit bright enough for him to overlook it fully.
That way he could spot it the moment he heard the all so familiar sounds. A skeever rushed for him from his left front.
This time he used his hammer like a golf club and swung from his low right. It connected properly and even before he could hear the splattering from the left corner he received the notification of another 17 XP.
'Seems like I can one-hit even the stronger ones if I get a clean hit.'
Pondering where to go next he spotted a staircase upwards to his right front. Reaching its base around a pillar he found another staircase next to it leading downwards. He decided to try climbing upwards like he did until then. Arriving at the top he turned around a corner and could only see a long stone paved passage. All doors he found were locked. As he had no other choice he went back down to the hallway and checked the stairs downwards. He cursed his luck as the door at the bottom of said stairs was also locked.
Inspecting the hallway he was in again he thought about searching for keys. After his experiences until now he was afraid this would bring him some unwanted surprises.
Then he saw through a cage-like lattice on his left what seemed to be another staircase. As he passed the lattice he glanced down through it to see a rough walled passage at least 10 feet below him.
Reaching the stairs on the right he immediately climbed it. It ended in the next passage. Asking himself how big this building might be he walked down the long straight passageway. Passing another locked door he arrived at a right corner.
The following passageway was even longer. Halfway down he found two big doors opposite to each other. Both had been locked so he went further down the passage. Reaching the end he finally found a open door to his left.
The room he entered was messy. Broken bottles and test tubes lay on the ground and what seemed to be some chemistry desk. The shelves holding books, reagents and parchments had crashed down. Only the spiral staircase in the rear right corner seemed to have endured the passage of time. Hopefully.
The only thing he could confirm until now additionally to the game-like system he had received was that he ended up in a long abandoned place.
Picking up the only two still filled test tubes he carefully walked towards the spiral staircase. He was still barefoot and cutting his soles with the glass shards would endanger further explorations. Stepping on the first stair he made sure the whole thing wouldn't crumble midways. The metal creaked and each step shook a little but the climb was safe.
What he arrived in was a study. A big desk in one corner, bookshelves on two walls and a small chandelier hanging from the roof. The shelves where stacked with old papers, books and scrolls. In the corners next to the desk were doors. Next to the left one was another door which was open.
He checked the door in the right corner first as it was the closest. As it was locked he slowly crossed the room and went through the open door.
He found himself in a peculiar living room. The back left wall was rough black stone while the furniture looked baroque. Two couches and a small desk stood in the middle of the room while the walls were lined with cupboards.
Straight ahead he spotted another door an one on the wall to his right. Not seeing anything of interest he went to the door on the opposite wall.
Turning the knob and opening the door he entered a bedroom. The luxurious bed and wardrobes looked like the ones rest of the furniture. A small lamp on the bedside table illuminated the cave-like looking room.
Only now did he notice that he had dropped his torch two levels below as the last skeever attacked.
Not minding it much as he wouldn't go back down there he went to the wardrobe. His tattered linen rags were blood smeared and did stink from the beginning.
Inside he only found a pair of slippers and some long robes. No shirts or Pants could be seen.
'Who the fuck has only bathrobes in his wardrobe?'
Picking one of the luxurious looking robes and the slippers he parted with his rags. After snatching the Oil-lamp-looking light source he went to the door to find it slightly open.
Reprimanding himself for this slip he opened it and entered another hallway with pillars. Straight ahead was a long staircase up. The hallway was illuminated through the doorway at the top.
To his right he could see the doors he had passed in the last rooms. On his left the hallway went further down parallel to the stairway. For the first time in this whole endeavor he could hear noises other than those of the skeevers and whatever was in the cells down in the dungeon. Remembering those noises the ones now seemed similar. Whatever it was he didn't want to find out. It should have been trapped or it would have shown itself for sure.
Swiftly walking towards the stairs he saw a giant safe-door through a lattice gate on the wall to his left. Not minding the vault in the slightest he quickly climbed the stairs.
As he went through the doorway he was dumbstruck. He found himself in a throne room. Although it was heavily damaged it didn't loose its glory.
The gothic styled bows and sculpted skulls looked eerie combined with the big dim chandeliers. But the high roof and the big throne slightly to his right granted the spacious hall its dignity.
Not having heard any noise or seen any movement he dared to go towards the center. As he passed the big pillar on his left on his way towards the throne he saw the cause of all this damage.
On the throne sat a skeleton wearing similar robes to himself. Its skull was split and fixed to the backrest by a big ass greatsword. A creepy staff was still firmly held by its right hand, the left loosely laying on the armrest.
Opposite to it he found a crater and charred floor. Countless bones scattered all over the room. Before the crater lay a skeleton wearing a cheesy looking armor perforated by dozens of bone-splinters.
Next to it was what caught his eyes first. A women was trapped in a giant blue glowing ice block. All he could see was she had wavy dark hair and a bombshell figure. Inspecting her further he saw she had her eyes still open wide. They were glowing green and vertically slit.
Further at the back he found another skeleton leaning against a pillar. This one was short but had a burly figure considering its tattered leather armor. On its head it wore steampunk looking goggles and broken rifle in its right Hand.
As he reached the center before the throne he got another surprise. New Notifications popped up one after another
***
Quest:
'flee your prison' cleared!
100 XP
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***
Level up!
You reached level 1
***
***
Inventory Unlocked!
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***
Quest-line:
A new Life (2)
updating Object:
arm yourself!
store at least 10 rare Items
***
Clearing the four screens he looked around to find something that seemed to be of worth. As completing quests seemed to give a decent amount of experience-points he got eager to complete those missions.
Walking to the small skeleton that seemed to have been a Dwarf he searched it for anything of worth. The first thing he he thought about were the goggle on its head. But a small purple bag fixed at its girdle caught his eyes. He reached out to grab it.
__________
Bag of holding (soulbound)
cannot be equipped
do you want to store it?
[Yes] [No]
__________
'So cliche...'
He instantly chose [Yes] and the bag vanished from the girdle.
***
Quest:
A new Life (2)
stored 1/10 rare Items
***
He couldn't help but grin. Quickly looking back onto the Dwarf he saw a silver-blue cloth beneath its armor. The cloth seemed to glow. As he tried to pull it free and came into contact a new notification reached him.
__________
Mithril Shirt (soulbound)
cannot be equipped
do you want to store it?
[Yes] [No]
__________
As he chose [yes] again the next notification he had anticipated came into his view.
***
Quest:
A new Life (2)
- stored 2/10 rare Items
***
Next he looked at the boots this skeleton wouldn't need anymore. They were equally tattered as the rest of its armor but seemed at least wearable. As he gripped them and pulled them off the bones he was slightly disappointed not to get any notification.
At least the boots did fit and he was no longer barefoot.
Not seeing any useful looking items on the Dwarf he reached out for the goggles. They were way heavier than he thought and the lenses started to glow green the moment he touched them.
Again he received no notification.
'Maybe not worth it'
Casually putting them on his vision changed immediately. Even the darkest corners of the throne room could be seen clearly though in shades of green. Rune like figures blinked in the middle of his field of view. After some seconds they changed to -[Scanning...]- . The moment the letters vanished he saw a small cross jumping to each object he was looking at.
As he pulled the goggles off a new notification greeted him.
***
Skill integrated:
Nightvision
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***
Skill integrated:
Analyze lvl.1
***