Chapter 104 - Treasure room
I walked over to the Minotaur’s severed head and immediately noticed something embedded inside its forehead.
A massive red crystal.
My eyes lit up.
So this must be the gem Isabella mentioned.
I pulled out Eclipse and carefully dug the crystal out of the Minotaur’s head.
Once it was free, I held it up and examined it curiously.
Luna walked over beside me and looked at it as well.
I tilted my head.
"Is this valuable?"
Luna stared at me for a moment.
Then she laughed.
"Didn’t you listen to Big Sister Isabella?"
"She clearly said this is the key to opening the treasure room."
I froze.
"Oh..."
"Right."
"I completely forgot about that."
I immediately looked around.
"Then where’s the treasure room?"
"Let’s go!"
"There must be amazing treasure inside!"
Before I could take another step, Amy walked over and lightly tapped me on the forehead.
"Calm down."
"No one’s going to steal your precious loot."
The others laughed.
Isabella smiled and pointed toward one of the large doors deeper inside the chamber.
"It’s over there."
My eyes immediately lit up.
"Let’s go!"
I quickly headed in that direction.
Luna followed right beside me.
When we reached the door, we found a massive stone entrance with a carving of a Minotaur engraved across its surface.
However, something was missing.
The Minotaur’s head was completely empty.
There was a small slot in the center.
Exactly the right size for the red gemstone we had just obtained.
I looked toward Luna.
Her eyes were shining with excitement.
I smiled and held the gemstone out toward her.
"Here."
"You place it."
Luna blinked.
"Really?"
Her large blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
After seeing that expression...
How could I possibly say no?
I nodded.
"Yeah."
"Go ahead."
Luna happily took the gemstone from my hand.
She carefully placed it into the slot.
For a moment...
Nothing happened.
Then—
Click.
A small button emerged from the floor.
I blinked.
Then another one appeared.
And another.
Soon, several buttons had emerged from the ground in front of the door.
I looked toward Isabella.
She was standing a short distance away with Amy and Elena.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"That’s a puzzle."
"You’ll need to solve it if you want to open the door."
She crossed her arms.
"Good luck."
Amy and Elena chuckled.
I looked at Luna.
Luna looked at me.
Our eyes met.
A moment later, determination appeared in both of our eyes.
"Let’s do this."
Luna nodded seriously.
Then she suddenly asked—
"So..."
"How should we cheat?"
I almost stumbled.
She had somehow said exactly what I had been thinking.
I coughed awkwardly.
"Cheat?"
"Who said anything about cheating?"
"We’ll solve it properly."
I leaned closer to her and lowered my voice.
"...I’ll use my perception."
"I can sense the correct buttons."
"I’ll tell you which ones to step on."
"You solve the puzzle."
Luna’s eyes immediately lit up.
"That’s a genius idea!"
I grinned.
"Exactly."
I activated my perception.
The moment I examined the puzzle, the answer became obvious.
The creator had clearly designed the mechanism to be solved by carefully reading the ancient inscriptions around it.
Unfortunately for them...
I had perception.
I could simply sense the correct pattern.
If the person who created this puzzle saw what I was doing...
They might cough up blood and die from frustration.
I quietly pointed toward the first correct button.
"That one."
Luna stepped onto it.
"Next."
She moved to another.
Then another.
I continued guiding her through the sequence.
On the other side, Isabella had clearly heard our entire conversation.
She covered her mouth and laughed.
"They’re having way too much fun."
Amy shook her head.
"Look at that brat."
"He’s shamelessly cheating while claiming he’s solving it legitimately."
Elena laughed.
Isabella smiled.
"Technically, he isn’t lying."
"He’s using his abilities to solve the puzzle."
"That isn’t cheating."
Amy raised an eyebrow.
"If he had a preloaded map of the entire ruin, then I’d call that cheating."
Isabella chuckled.
"Fair enough."
Meanwhile, I pointed toward the final button.
"That one."
Luna stepped onto it.
Click.
The entire chamber suddenly fell silent.
Then—
Rumble...
The massive stone door began to tremble.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
It began to open.
Luna and I stared at it with anticipation.
Behind us, Isabella, Amy, and Elena walked over.
Isabella smiled.
"You two are certainly having fun, aren’t you?"
Luna and I immediately nodded.
"Yeah!"
"This is really fun!"
"It feels like a vacation!"
Elena burst out laughing.
"Don’t say that in front of anyone else."
"They might beat you two up."
"Thousands of people have died exploring ruins like this."
Luna and I looked at each other.
Then we quietly smiled.
We didn’t say anything.
Our attention was completely focused on what lay beyond the door.
Finally—
The door opened completely.
A dark chamber was revealed beyond it.
I immediately took a step forward.
But Isabella stopped us.
"Wait."
"Don’t rush in."
"They could have hidden traps inside the treasure room too."
I confidently shook my head.
"I already checked."
"There aren’t any traps I can detect."
Isabella nodded.
"I believe you."
"But we’re still going to be careful."
She picked up a small stone and threw it into the room.
Nothing happened.
She waited a few seconds before carefully entering first.
Her platinum mana surrounded her body as she checked every corner of the room.
After confirming that there was no danger, she turned toward us.
"It’s safe."
"Come in."
The moment we received permission—
Luna and I rushed inside.
My eyes immediately widened.
Gold.
Gems.
Jewelry.
Ancient weapons.
Various treasures were scattered throughout the room.
My eyes practically sparkled.
"This..."
"There’s so much!"
Luna looked around in amazement.
We immediately began examining everything one item at a time.
There were several books.
Three skill scrolls.
Various strange artifacts.
And countless treasures whose purposes we didn’t even understand.
Then—
Something caught my attention.
A sword.
I immediately pointed toward it.
"Luna."
"Look!"
"A sword!"
"Let’s see if it’s any good."
Luna walked over beside me.
The sword was resting against an old stone pedestal.
Spider webs covered its sheath.
It looked as though no one had touched it for countless years.
I stared at it curiously.
"Is this thing even usable?"
I reached toward the sword.
"Let’s find out."
I carefully grabbed the sheath.
Then slowly prepared to draw the blade.
I slowly drew the sword from its sheath.
The moment the blade was completely exposed, my eyes widened.
It was beautiful.
The blade itself was incredibly refined, with a strange elegance that immediately caught my attention.
Yet...
Something about it felt familiar.
I frowned.
Have I seen this sword before?
A vague memory surfaced in the back of my mind.
A sword spirit.
A powerful sword that the protagonist eventually obtained.
A weapon that granted him an inheritance and became the foundation of one of his most powerful sword arts.
But...
I couldn’t remember the details.
I couldn’t even remember where the protagonist had obtained it.
No.
It can’t be this.
This is just a ruin.
I quickly dismissed the thought.
There was no reason to assume this was the same sword.
While I was thinking, Luna had already completely unsheathed the blade.
Then—
A strange black smoke suddenly poured from it.
My instincts immediately screamed.
Without thinking, I grabbed the sword from Luna’s hands and threw it away.
The blade landed several meters away.
Everyone immediately turned toward me.
Amy, Elena, and Isabella quickly approached.
"What happened?"
"What is that dark smoke?"
I looked toward the sword.
"I didn’t know that would happen when we unsheathed it."
Isabella narrowed her eyes and carefully examined the sword.
The black smoke continued to spread.
Then—
Something began forming above the blade.
A phantom slowly emerged from the darkness.
An old man.
His translucent body floated above the sword, his expression solemn and ancient.
I stared at him for a moment.
Then I looked toward Luna.
"...Is that a ghost?"
Luna calmly looked at the phantom.
"I don’t know either."
She thought for a moment.
"Should I attack it with a Light Spear and see what happens?"
I looked at her.
"That sounds like a good idea."
"After your attack, I’ll try using Devour on it."
"If it’s a soul or some kind of energy..."
"Maybe I can absorb it and convert it into energy."
My eyes began to shine with curiosity.
"Let’s make an experiment."
Luna’s eyes immediately lit up.
"That’s a wonderful idea!"
Isabella stared at the two of us.
For a moment, she couldn’t help wondering if this was really the same Luna she knew.
She still remembered how afraid Luna used to be of darkness.
And now...
She was standing face-to-face with what was essentially a ghost and calmly discussing how to experiment on it.
Amy watched the two of us with an amused expression.
Meanwhile, the phantom had heard our entire conversation.
A shiver ran through its translucent body.
Are these children...
Or demon children?
The phantom finally cleared its throat.
"Ahem."
His deep voice echoed throughout the chamber.
"I am the master of this ruin."
"You have successfully completed the challenges I left behind."
"I left a fragment of my soul here so that someone worthy could eventually inherit my swordsmanship."
The old man looked toward me.
His gaze fell upon Eclipse.
He nodded approvingly.
"You appear to take good care of your weapon."
"And judging by your performance..."
"You have passed my test."
"I shall therefore grant you my swordsmanship."
I immediately raised a hand.
"No thanks, old man."
Silence.
The phantom froze.
His expression slowly changed from pride...
To confusion.
"...What did you say?"
I looked at him seriously.
"I don’t need it."
Another silence descended over the treasure room.
The old man’s expression became completely blank.
"...You..."
"I spent centuries waiting for someone worthy to appear..."
"And you..."
He pointed at me with a trembling finger.
"...don’t want it?"
I nodded.
"No."
"I don’t need another sword art."
The phantom stared at me as if his entire existence had just been insulted.
Luna covered her mouth.
Her shoulders began shaking.
Amy immediately turned away.
Even Isabella looked like she was struggling not to laugh.
And for several seconds...
Nobody said anything.
The ancient sword spirit had clearly never imagined that his greatest inheritance would be rejected so casually.