Chapter 12: Trapped Games

“I don’t suppose you could open the chest Gnat?” I asked.

“No,” the skeletal bat replied curtly.

“Why not?” I persisted. “I mean it’s not like poison should affect an undead, right?”

Even though he had no face, Gnat managed to convey the impression that he was scowling. “Our Pact does not allow me to aid you in that manner,” he said grumpily.

I scratched my head. I didn’t recall seeing anything in the Pact that forbid the bat from aiding me in out of combat situations. Still, I had no means of forcing Gnat to help me.

Letting the matter lie, I turned my attention back to the chest. Like the ones in the other rooms, the chest was a simple top-lidded box with no locking mechanism. My gaze drifted to the two corpses. The poison darts had been driven upwards into the humans’ necks, which suggested the darts had been fired from below.

The trap must have been triggered when they lifted the chest’s lid. I bit the inside of my lip. Assuming that was how the trap mechanism worked, it should be simple enough to defeat it.

But if I am wrong…

I quelled my doubts and got to work. First, I grabbed the humans by their legs and gingerly dragged them away from the chest. Then I set about removing the poison darts from their necks.

I did not do anything so foolish as use my bare fingers, of course. Stripping off both candidates’ white shirts, I cut them into long strips with my sword.

With my hands wrapped in my makeshift cotton gloves, I removed the two darts and wrapped them securely in cotton strips of their own. Given how potent the darts’ poison must have been to fell their victims so quickly, I was betting that some of the poison still remained on the darts. Which if it was true, would make them very useful indeed.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I completed my work and had both darts secured in rolls of cotton cloth.

You have acquired two used darts coated with an unknown toxin.

I smiled at the Game’s confirmation of my suspicion. “Good,” I breathed. With the first half of my labor completed, I set about the second half of my plan.

Removing my thief’s cloak, I lay flat on the floor with my back pressed against the ground. I wrapped the cloak around my right arm, shielding my bare flesh as much as possible in its thick layers of fabric.

Then I drew my shortsword and inched closer to the trapped chest. Placing myself to the chest’s left—and hopefully out the dart’s line of fire—I slowly extended the sword in my right hand and wedged it under the lid. The sword tip slid into place without resistance.

I held my breath, waiting.

Long seconds passed and nothing happened. Tentatively, I pushed my sword in deeper and forced the lid to open an inch further.

I stopped again, waiting.

Still the trap did not trigger.

Growing bolder, I angled the sword in my hand downwards and gradually levered the lid open further.

A second passed. Then another. And just as I began to think the trap was no longer active, a metallic ping echoed resoundingly loud in the silence.

I froze. Moving slowly, I turned to study the room’s far end. That was where the sound had come from. After a moment, I spotted the gleam of a dart on the floor. The sound I had heard was the dart impacting against the chamber’s stone walls.

I grinned. I had done it. Pushing down on my sword again, I flipped open the chest’s lid all the way. Two more pings echoed through the room as a pair of darts flew across the chamber. I gave it another minute before rising to my haunches and peering warily into the chest.

Congratulations, Michael! You have successfully opened a booby-trapped chest without falling victim to its lethal toxins and have gained experience. You have reached level 2! You have 1 attribute point available.

My grin split into a broad smile. “Well, well, isn’t that nice,” I murmured. I hadn’t expected to gain any experience in the process of opening the chest, but I would take it. Turning my attention downwards, I studied the chest’s contents.

It held only a few items. Reaching inside, I removed them one at a time.

You have acquired 2 minor healing potions. Each item restores your health by: 10%. You have acquired a backpack. This item can hold up to: 10kg. You have acquired a pack of six field rations. This item can be consumed to replenish stamina slowly over time. You have acquired one flask filled with water. This item can be consumed to replenish stamina slowly over time.

The loot was slightly disappointing, but useful nonetheless. Holding up one of the healing potions, I studied it. The potion was in a stoppered stone vial that looked like it could survive hard use. The water flask looked similarly durable.

Next, I inspected one of the field rations. Opening the foil-like wrapping covering it, I sniffed at the ration’s contents delicately. It was odorless.

I only hope it is not tasteless as well. While I felt no pangs of hunger at the moment, I hadn’t eaten since arriving on this world, and I knew sooner or later, I would be grateful for having the rations.

Lastly, I inspected the backpack. It was a plain brown leather bag of sturdy construction that I could carry easily across my shoulders. Handy, I thought.

~~~

It took me only a few minutes to store all the loot in my new backpack. When I was done, I moved to the right side of the room, and studied the corridor leading away from it.

Like the first passage, the new corridor continued unerringly straight and was interspersed with rooms on either side. But the second corridor did not terminate in a room. Instead, at its far end, I made out what appeared to be a four-way intersection.

I didn’t step into the second corridor immediately. I placed myself in the right corner of the room and sat down cross-legged. Rubbing at my chin, I pondered what I had seen of the dungeon so far.

Goblins and traps.

I still had no idea how I would fare in combat against the goblins—and I wasn’t exactly eager to find out—but what worried me more than the goblins was the thought of encountering further traps. With the goblins at least, I would have enough forewarning, but with a trap? Would I fall prey to one and die just as suddenly as the two victims claimed by this room’s trap?

“Gnat,” I asked after a moment’s thought. “How do I spot traps?”

“There are skills and abilities that let you do so,” the skeletal bat replied.

“But I don’t have any of them,” I protested.

Gnat chuckled. “Then you are out of luck, I’m afraid.”

I sighed.

“You can try to look at things really hard,” the bat suggested unhelpfully.

I ignored his poor attempt at wit. “What about Perception?” I asked.

“What about it?” Gnat responded.

“Will it allow me to detect a trap before I trigger it?”

“Not normally, no,” Gnat said. “Perception will help you spot oddities in your surroundings, but on its own the attribute will not give you the knowledge necessary to determine the source of the strangeness. Although,” the bat admitted, “all skills required for trap detection are Perception based.”

I frowned. Noticing an oddity, but not being able to divine its source did not sound all that helpful. Still, doing so would at least provide me with some forewarning of danger. And some warning is better than none.

My new level had given me an attribute point to spend, and at the moment, investing it in Perception seemed the wisest course. “How do I use my available attribute point?” I asked.

“Simply will your request to the Adjudicator,” Gnat said succinctly.

I grunted. Of course, I thought. How else? But before I finalized my decision, I needed to inspect my profile in more detail. Closing my eyes, I willed the Game to display my player data.

Player Profile: Michael

Level: 2. Rank: 0. Current Health: 100%.

Stamina: 100%. Mana: 100%. Psi: 100%.

Species: Human. Lives Remaining: 3.

Attributes

Available: 1 point.

Strength: 0. Constitution: 0. Dexterity: 2. Perception: 0. Mind: 0. Magic: 0. and Faith: 0.

Classes

Primary Class: Scout (basic).

Secondary Class: None.

Tertiary Class: None.

Traits

Undead familiar: +1 to necromancy rank.

Nimble: +2 Dexterity.

Skills

Available skill slots: 3.

Dodging (current level: 1. max level:20. governing attribute: Dexterity. Type: basic).

Sneaking (current level: 1. max level:20. governing attribute: Dexterity. Type: basic).

Shortswords (current level: 1. max level:20. governing attribute: Dexterity. Type: basic).

Abilities

None.

Equipped

1 common thief’s cloak (+3 sneaking).

1 basic steel shortsword (+10% damage).

Backpack Contents

6 x field rations.

1 x flask of water.

2 x used poison darts.

3 x unused poison darts.

2 x minor healing potions.

I took a moment to study the information the Adjudicator provided. Everything appeared fairly self-explanatory, and I saw nothing inconsistent with the various explanations I'd been given thus far.

Without delaying further, I willed my Perception to increase.

Your Perception has increased to rank 1. Your level cap for perception-based skills has increased to: 10.

I opened my eyes and looked around. The world appeared different. The change was nearly imperceptible, but somehow the room’s shadows seemed less deep and the details on the bricks on the far wall less blurred. My eyesight has grown sharper, I thought.

I wrinkled my nose. Was it my imagination or had the stink of the corpses worsened? No, my smell has improved, too. One by one, I inspected my other senses and noticed a change in them too. I smiled in satisfaction and rose to my feet.

Feeling better equipped to face the dungeon’s challenges, I stepped into the second corridor.