443 Opening the Brass Doors (1/2)

The stone dial was starting to make less sense as Zero tried to solve it. Sure, they could shift pieces around but without a guide or knowing what it did, was there really a need to solve this?

”Perhaps we should come back to this later,” Zero told his assistants who agreed.

”I'll continue to try moving them around with Mii. You should probably join Truen to see if they've managed to get to the door. According to the minimap, they are probably already exploring the east gate.”

Betrayed that his friend didn't inform him about the success on his side, Zero sulked and complained to Truen over the party call function. Truen didn't entertain Zero's whining and felt a childish side in him retort that it was only fair.

”You cut us off in Poop Lord's dungeon, before this. I'm simply taking the initiative to scout ahead with Jermine. Don't worry, unlike you, we have not cleared the first trial or wiped out the entire dungeon.”

With that, Zero fell silent. Although he was frustrated, he couldn't help but feel guilty when Truen put it this way.

They agreed to meet up at the entrance and Zero found the tunnel that Jermine dug. It was a lot wider than the one she dug before they found the dungeon and Zero was thankful for the headroom. He met up with Jermine and Truen quickly, the gate was very deep down and Truen must have used magic to light the area going down. The air had also gotten chillier by the time Zero was face to face with the huge eastern gate.

”Truen!”

Jermine was resting when she heard Zero's voice. The mole beast girl stiffened slightly. Was Truen going to tell him about her unpleasant conduct and ill-intentions? Sure, she didn't exactly betray the magic contract signed but she still considered getting out of the deal. The contract was vague and Jermine was only tasked with navigation. Nothing was mentioned about her participation, actively or otherwise, during their travel. technically, navigating through the ruins didn't count as part of her job scope. However, Truen's arrows were going to get her faster than the magic contract could. If he breathed a word about it to Zero, Jermine didn't know if they would still want to keep their end of the bargain to help her reunite with her family.

Zero sensed the strange tension but ignored it for now. There were more urgent things to care about now. The first trial wasn't going too well and Zero stared at the door.

”What's with this brass door? Did you try blasting it with magic or kicking it yet?”

Truen deadpanned. Zero was getting influenced by Venn a little too much. Those memories were not the most helpful ones and the archer sighed. ”I would advise against doing that. The brass door has a magic barrier and is full of traps. There is a very strange pillar by the door frame with many carvings. I can't read hieroglyphs and neither can Jermine. We're stuck at this point.”

As he brought the light further down the pillar to look at more symbols, Zero started to think that some of them looked familiar.

”This is...” he stared at one that resembled a broken wing. Why did this symbol look so familiar?

While Zero tried to recall where he'd seen it, Jermine anxiously looked at the brass doors. They were reacting crazily to something ever since they entered but the mole girl couldn't understand what was going on. The magical output kept fluctuating greatly even though nobody was doing anything to them.

”Ah! I got it!”

The sudden shout made Jermine jump and Truen quickly went over. ”What is it?”

With a grin, Zero beckoned for Truen to follow him. They went to the other pillar and Zero pointed at some symbols.

”This, that and this are repeated. Over there, this, this, these three and that all the way up there are symbols I've seen before.”

Impressed, Truen nodded. ”So what does it say?”

Zero blinked. ”It doesn't say anything. That's the thing. I don't know the other symbols but I've definitely seen these symbols before. Wii and Mii are still working on it.”

Confused, the archer looked at his friend. Zero didn't look like he was still under the influence of an illusion spell but he couldn't understand what Zero was talking about.

”The stone dial has these symbols.”

Jermine listened to Zero try to explain what he saw and where the symbols came from while Truen struggled to make sense of the words coming out of Zero's mouth.

”What stone dial? Why are Mii and Wii playing jigsaw with it? I didn't see a stone dial coming down here. What are you talking about?”

”Not here!” Zero groaned in frustration. ”Outside. Mii and Wii are outside. I told you I saw something fun and went to check it out, that was the stone dial! It has one missing piece and all the other stone pieces can move into the empty spot. Every stone puzzle has a symbol like the ones on the pillar. Not all the symbols are there but I've seen them before.”

While the friends bickered, Jermine wondered if she should speak up. At this rate, these boys were not going to get the job done. She didn't really like the idea of being stuck in the dangerous ruins for longer than she had to be and if her idea worked, she might be able to redeem herself with Truen.

Gathering courage, Jermine timidly raised her hand. ”Um... Excuse me, can I say something?”