Chapter 149: Proving Your Ancestry
The space behind the door was a deep, thick darkness. At first, Jacks enhanced senses didnt pick up the slightest hint of light coming from beyond.
Thankfully, they had a torch. Jack waved it before the door, revealing a new corridor, but it was nothing like the tunnels theyd been traversing so far. This one was smooth. Sharp. Carved by tools. There was a slight slope downward but no steps.
Jack gulped. So, he said, are you coming?
We cant just turn back now Right? Nauja asked. Her voice and rising chest betrayed a mix of exhilaration and fear. A hidden passage connected to her ancestors under the Forbidden Cave It didnt get much more adventurous than that.
Brock was unbothered. He raised a fist and cheered, then impatiently motioned for Jack to get going.
He laughed and obliged.
The tunnel was deeper than his torchlight could reach. As he took three steps in, nothing happened. He kept walking, at any point expecting a monster to leap from the shadows. He couldnt shake the feeling that he was walking into the innards of some leviathan.
Brock followed him, making ooh and ahh sounds at the corridor, and Nauja brought up the rear. The moment she stepped through, the door behind them smashed shut with a terrible boom that made them all jump.
What the fuck? Jack exclaimed.
That The door closed, Nauja said in shock.
I can see that. You didnt close it?
No, it justclosed.
They exchanged a look, seeing the fear in each others faces. When Nauja tried to push, nothing happened, and there was no engraving or Dao vacuum on this side.
What a good omen, Jack said bitterly.
Do you think this is what happened to the delvers who found this place? Nauja asked, looking around warily. They were trapped here forever?
Jack looked around again. Now, he understood why the walls were made of metal. He could have punched his way through rock, given time. But through this He knocked on a wall, feeling sturdiness beneath. The door was equally impregnable.
I think were stuck, he said.
However, Brock shook his head. No, he replied. He pointed down into the darkness.
Oh, how could I forget about that, Jack replied sarcastically, slapping his forehead, while Brock nodded sagely.
Not much choice, Nauja said. We were heading down, anyway.
I guess. Well, no point waiting. Lets go.
With that, they turned and walked further in. Jack was at the front, Nauja at the back, and Brock in the middle. The door soon disappeared behind them, leaving them flanked by darkness. There were no side passages to follow, only one straight line heading downward at an angle.
Where do you think this leads? Jack asked, his voice low by instinct.
Honestly? No idea, Nauja replied in the same near-whisper.
A few minutes later, the tunnel opened up. They couldnt see where it led, only that their torchlight reached no walls. It could be a chamber stretching for miles in every direction, or just ten feet.
Suddenly, the world flared with light. They had to cover their eyes, used as they were to the darkness. Jack grabbed Brock and jumped to the side, dodging whatever attack might be coming. Nauja jumped the other way, stifling a cry as she landed on her broken arm.
There was no attack, however. When their eyes adjusted a moment later, all they met was a wide, empty room.
It looked like a fancy Earth basement. Flat, electrical lights were plastered in equal rows on the ceiling, illuminating the room, while the marble floor was gray, flat, and strikingly clean. The walls were made of some dark metal that looked light to the touch, almost like plastic, and they were curved, shaping the room as a rectangle that someone had pulled air into until it almost burst.
It looked so much like something he may find on Earth, that Jack was momentarily stunned. Going from the primordial environment of Trial Planet to this was a leap that took him some time to process.
Next to him, Nauja was also stunned, but for different reasons.
What is this magic? she said, gawking at the ceiling lights. The torches They do not dance. And they have the wrong color.
Its called electricity, Jack explained. What you see is glass with a thin iron cord behind it, through which courses power with enough intensity to make it glow without burning.
Wow, she repeated, observing the lights for a moment longer before turning to the floor and walls.
Jacks attention, however, was arrested by something else. The room was empty, roughly a hundred feet long, fifty wide, and twenty tall. However, there was writing on the back wall. It wasnt carved into the metal. It resembled projected computer text, though there was no projector in sight.
All it said was, Scan nothing.
Whats that supposed to mean? he asked. Suddenly, a new row of text appeared under the first one, as if the letters were surfacing from behind the wall.
Prove yourselves or die.
How nice, he said. More things trying to kill us.
What? Only now did Nauja notice the writing. What does that say?
What?
I cant read. What does that say?
She didnt seem bashful about it, so Jack didnt react, either. It made sense. Why would she need to read in the jungle?
It says to scan nothing, and to prove ourselves or die.
Her eyes narrowed. What does that mean?
Its when you stop living.
She threw him a cold stare. Jack laughed.
I have no idea either, he said. The scan nothing part could only mean the System scan we can do at things. Thats all I can think of. Either that, or it expects us to carry around scanners, which we do not.
Why not scan things?
How am I supposed to know?
And what about that second part? To prove ourselves?
Well, I also dont know He looked around, licking his lips. But I suppose were about to find out.
He expected something to happen at the cue of his words. Disappointingly, nothing did. No enemies jumping at them, no traps springing, no suspicious sounds. Nothing.
Belatedly, he noticed there was no other door in the room.
Do we have to find a way out or die of thirst? Or asphyxiation? he wondered incredulously. Okay, I take it back. Send in the things that want to kill us. Just underestimate us, so we kill them instead.
What are you talking about?
Nothing. Im just bantering against a wall.
At least there were no corpses here, so if delvers had made it past the door, they had made it past this room as well.
Maybe the way out has something to do with that thing? Nauja suddenly said.
What thing? He followed her pointing finger. Oh! Right under the letters was something he hadnt noticed before. A device, of sorts, embedded in the wall.
Lets take a look, Nauja said.
Just be careful.
I know.
They inched their way across the room, keeping an eye out for any trap or ambush. Tripwires, pressure plates, poisoned darts, illusions They looked out for anything but found nothing. The room was as empty as it appeared.
Eventually, they made it to the back, right under the letters. Jack could now see that each of them was the length of his arm.
Embedded in the wall under them was a Well, a disappointingly primitive contraption. A short metal protrusion extended from the wall, with a small groove at its end, facing up. Directly above it was another protrusion, this one ending in a sharp needlepoint.
Whats that? Jack asked. Perhaps I should break it.
Nauja glared.
Ill keep making the same joke until you stop glaring, he warned her.
Its like we have to put something in that groove, she said, ignoring him. But what? And why the needle?
Jack reached out to touch the groove, but there was no Dao vacuum. He shook his head.
You know, Nauja said slowly, deliberating her words, this reminds me of something that exists deeper inside Trial Planet: trials.
Trials?
Yes The delvers talk about them a lot. They start appearing from the fifth ring down: testing grounds that reward those who complete them. Supposedly, they are the main allure of Trial Planet, besides the conqueror titles.
Really? Jack raised a brow. This is interesting.
It is. Trial rewards are supposed to range from impressive to world-shattering. If this is a trial, that would be great for usbut, as I said, trials arent supposed to exist before the fifth ring. She threw him a quick glance. And they have nothing to do with the Ancients.
Hmm. Are you saying we discovered a hidden trial?
I dont know She shook her head, hesitation all over her face. The door, this riddle, the instructions on the wall It all seems to match, but the ring and Ancients dont. It should be impossible. I dont know. If this is a trial, there could be something extremely valuable at the end. But maybe its something completely different.
Extremely valuable, Jack repeated. His chest burst with hope. His goaldefeating the planetary overseer within a yearwas almost impossible. Extremely valuable treasures were exactly what he needed. Well, only one way to find out. But how do we solve thisneedle-groove thingy?
He gazed at the two protrusions in thought, as did Nauja.
Suddenly, Brock tapped Jacks waist. When he turned to look, the brorilla pointed at the needle and mimed pricking his finger.
Oh! Jack said, eyes flashing with understanding. Brocks right. It does look like a finger-pricking device. A drop of blood comes out, then falls into the groove. Ive seen that before.
Really? Where? Nauja asked curiously.
TV.
She looked on blankly.
Delver stuff, he corrected, to which she nodded.
But why would this machine want our blood?
Good question. It said we have to prove ourselves Hmm.
Maybe that we are humans? Nauja tried. Not robots?
Why would it care about that?
I dont know. What else could it want?
Hmm. Maybe it will test our blood for something. He thought back to his lab, where they liked to put liquids in testing tubes and examined them thoroughly. This groove didnt look like a tube, but they also used small bowls to collect liquids. Then, they just had to use a dropper or needle to move it wherever. Maybe it really wants to see if we are humans?
That was strangely speciesist, and it also didnt make much sense.
I know! Nauja exclaimed, raising a finger. It wants to see if we are Ancient!
What?
Think about it. The door depicted the Ancients. Trial Planet was constructed and used by the Ancients for millions of years before somehow appearing in your galaxy. If this place was a secret, it makes sense that theyd only want their people accessing it. Right?
Hmm. Right. That makes sense. And you are a direct descendant!
She smiled widely, ear to ear. She seemed very excited to contribute to something other than hunting and killing dinosaurs.
Wait, Jack said. Does this mean that, if I wasnt here with a barbarian, I couldnt get past? That cant be right.
It would explain why no delver ever made it back.
I guess. A shiver went down his spine. So you should prick your finger there, he continued, pointing at the needle. Go for it.
Okay, she said, placing her finger by the needle. She paused. But what if thats not it?
I dont see what else it could be. That thing is out for blood, and there is nothing in mine thats better than yours.
Youre right, I guess.
Brock gave her a big thumbs-up, encouraging her. Taking a deep breath, Nauja pushed her finger against the needle.
Despite her enhanced skin, it broke through without any resistance whatsoever. A thick, red droplet tumbled down as Nauja retracted her finger.
The blood landed on the groove with a soft plop. Nothing happened for a moment. Then, it drained down, absorbed into the metal until it all disappeared.
Wow, Jack said. I have no idea if this is technology or magic. Maybe both.
The letters above them flickered and changed. They were sucked back into the wall, and when they returned, the second line was different. A third one had appeared, too. It now said,
Scan nothing.
Ancient blood confirmed.
Initiating test.
Initiating? But we just finished it.
What does it say, what does it say? Nauja asked excitedly. Jack translated quickly while looking around. Nothing happened for a moment.
Then, blue light gathered, and a creature appeared in the middle of the room. It was a goblin.
Kekekeke, it laughed, licking its long, clawed fingers. Humans. I bity! I eaty!
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