Inside the cave.
Rosie followed the halfling, Emily, squeezing sideways through a narrow rock crevice.
The jagged edges of stone on either side poked sharply against her shoulders and back, hurting even through her linen gambeson.
In a few exceptionally tight spots, she had to unbuckle her backpack, push it through first, and then inch her body sideways through the gap.
Emily, on the other hand, navigated the passage with ease, barely needing to turn sideways at all, while calling back to urge her on. “Hurry up, hurry up!”
Easy for you to say, Rosie cursed silently.
Once past the crevice, the tunnel became somewhat easier to walk through.
Though still narrow and winding, at least she no longer had to scrape herself against the rock face.
Emily was clearly thoroughly familiar with the route, treading through the dark as if on level ground. She navigated a few more turns and ducked beneath a low stone archway.
Then, the space ahead suddenly brightened.
Rosie paused, instinctively squinting her eyes.
There was an entire hidden cavern inside.
This was a subterranean chamber enclosed by the mountain, several times larger than the hall where the goblins had gathered.
Most surprising was the cavern's ceiling—an irregular fissure spanned the dome, looking as if someone had split the mountain open with a giant axe.
Light spilled down through the gap, striking the central area of the cavern to form a shaft of illumination filled with floating specks of dust.
Though the fissure wasn't particularly wide, and the light entering was insufficient to illuminate the entire cavern, it was bright enough for someone who had been walking underground for a while.
Rosie snuffed out her torch against the ground before looking up to inspect this so-called “ancient gnome ruins.”
Then, she fell silent.
This was quite a far cry from the “ruins” she had envisioned.
In her imagination, ancient ruins ought to be grand, mysterious structures:
Towering stone pillars, crumbling archways, stone walls carved with reliefs, and ancient statues covered in vines and moss...
In short, the kind of place that screamed “there's good loot inside” at a single glance.
Yet the so-called ruins before her consisted only of mostly collapsed, dilapidated walls standing lopsided among piles of rubble and weeds.
The highest wall barely reached her chest, its top covered in dark green moss and lichen.
Rubble of various sizes was scattered across the ground, bearing faint traces of having once been worked by tools.
Apart from that, there was only a square stone platform in the center of the cavern.
It appeared to be made of the same stone as the ruined walls—a grayish-white material with a fine, grainy texture.
That was it.
Standing at the edge of the cavern, Rosie swept her gaze over the crumbling walls one by one before finally settling on the platform, a deep sense of disappointment welling up inside her.
What damn use are these broken rocks?
She had zero interest in archaeology.
She wasn't a scholar, a historian, or a seeker of knowledge who had come to unravel the secrets of ancient civilizations.
She was just a dirt-poor adventurer who wanted to hunt treasure and get rich.
Emily seemed to read her mind.
The halfling walked up beside Rosie, stood on tiptoe to pat her, and said with a touch of pride in her voice, “What you see is just the surface stuff.”
She pointed a finger at the ground as she spoke. “The real ruins are underground.”
Rosie glanced down at the ground beneath her feet, then back at Emily. “Underground ruins? Doesn't that just mean there's nothing here? You can't seriously expect me to stay here and dig with you, can you?”
Without any surveying equipment, manpower, or heavy tools, trying to excavate an ancient ruin with just the two of them was pure fantasy.
Emily chuckled, as if expecting that response. “Of course not by digging.”
She turned and walked toward the area scattered with rubble and ruined walls, explaining as she went, “Ancient gnome civilization was extremely advanced. They didn't dig downward layer by layer like dwarves. They had a much smarter way. Once we find it, we can enter the ruins directly.”
Saying this, Emily bent over and began inspecting the surroundings.
“How long have you been looking?” Rosie asked.
“Not that long, about ten days,” Emily replied casually.
Rosie paused.
Ten days.
She stared at Emily's back before asking with feigned nonchalance, “How did you find this place anyway?”
Busy inspecting the stone, Emily blurted out without thinking, “Oh, the goblins brought me here.”
Realizing what she had just blurted out, her movements stiffened. She spun around abruptly, her stubby arms waving frantically in front of her chest. “Ah... no! I just had the goblins lead the way! Their stealing really had nothing to do with me! Really!”
Watching her flustered state as if she were about to jump up and down, Rosie said, “Alright, I believe you.”
If the halfling hadn't had the goblins lead the way, the goblins wouldn't have gone stealing, she wouldn't have taken the commission, and she wouldn't have met the halfling...
Was it coincidence, or fate...?
Besides, since she had already taken the quest, she ought to at least locate the actual entrance to the ruins first.
“Searching alone is too slow,” Rosie said. “Let me help you look. Are there any specific features? You have to tell me what we're looking for.”
“To be honest, I'm not entirely sure either...” Emily rubbed her hands together awkwardly. “Ancient gnome mechanisms are intricately designed, and styles varied greatly across different eras. If you see any strange markings or patterns, just call me over to take a look.”
Rosie nodded and began examining the cavern as well.
Starting from the outermost ruined wall, she slowly walked a lap along the edge of the cavern.
She crouched down at every stone that bore signs of craftsmanship, inspecting it and running her hands over the surface.
After completing the circuit, Rosie couldn't find anything that resembled an “entrance switch.”
She stood in the center of the cavern, her gaze settling once again on the square stone platform.
She stared at the platform for a long moment, an idea gradually coalescing in her mind.
At first glance, she had assumed it was some sort of sacrificial altar.
But what if she looked at it from a different perspective?
An elevator?
Rosie's eyes lit up.
It was as if a closed window had suddenly snapped open in her mind.
She stepped quickly over to the platform and re-examined its structure:
A square shape, a flat surface, straight edges, and smooth sides.
Furthermore, it was positioned in the most prominent spot at the center of the cavern, surrounded by broken walls arranged in a ring—almost as if intentionally protecting or framing the platform.
“Huh? Did you find something?” Emily jogged over from the other side, looking up at her.
“What have you been assuming this platform is?” Rosie asked, pointing at the stone structure.
Emily tilted her head in thought. “Just a platform... Maybe an altar that ancient gnomes used to place sacrificial offerings? Or perhaps the pedestal for some kind of monument? Emily checked its surface earlier; there were no inscriptions or patterns, just a smooth stone platform.”
“Don't you think it resembles something specific?” Rosie interrupted.
Emily blinked. “Resembles what?”
“An elevator,” Rosie said.
“An elevator? What's that?” Emily asked.
Rosie opened her mouth, then suddenly realized.
An elevator was a concept from her previous life.
“It's... a platform that can move up and down.”
Rosie gestured with her hands.
“You stand on it, and it carries you down or up.”
Emily's eyes sparkled. “Ah! I understand what you mean! You're saying this is a mobile platform!”
“Why didn't Emily think of that before! Emily was looking for switches and secret doors the whole time and never considered that the entrance itself might be the platform!”
She immediately pulled tools from her waist pouch and began carefully probing along the seams around the edge of the stone platform.
Rosie stood aside, watching Emily scurry around the stone platform like a mole.
A moment later, Emily gasped in delight.
“Found it! Found it! Emily found the switch for the mobile platform!”
Rosie immediately hurried over and squatted beside Emily.
In a corner of the stone platform, Emily had pried open a cover plate roughly the size of a palm.
The cover plate was made of the exact same material as the platform, and the seam was so fine that without probing carefully with tools, one would never notice it could be opened.
Beneath the cover plate lay two triangular switches embedded side by side in a groove.
One was an upright triangle pointing up, while the other was an inverted triangle pointing down.
They appeared to be crafted from a dark grey metal with a matte, brushed texture.
Even after lying in this cavern for who knew how many years, there was no rust or corrosion on them.
“How do we use this?” Emily tilted her head, studying the two triangular switches.
Rosie looked at the two switches, her mind working fast.
“I guess the triangle pointing up is for rising, and pointing down is for descending.”
She added, “Though this thing might already be bro—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Emily had already extended a finger and pressed the inverted triangle switch.
Click.
A crisp mechanical click echoed from within the stone platform.
It was a soft sound, yet remarkably clear in the spacious cavern.
The second half of Rosie's sentence—“ken”—stuck in her throat.
Immediately after, rumble!
A low rumbling sound reverberated from beneath their feet.
The platform began to vibrate violently, sending loose pebbles clattering and hopping across the surface.
“Holy shit! What's going on?” Rosie blurted out.
The stone platform changed abruptly.
A faint blue light rose from the surface of the platform, enveloping both Rosie and Emily.
“What is this?!” Rosie shouted at Emily.
“Spatial teleportation?! This is spatial teleportation technology! The ancient gnomes actually mastered this technology!”
Emily's voice echoed beside her, thick with a mix of shock and exhilaration.
“What teleportation?! Explain...!”
Before Rosie could finish her sentence—
The blue light flashed violently.
The cavern fell silent once more.
Sunlight streamed down at an angle through the ceiling fissure, casting its beam onto the empty center of the cavern.
The stone platform remained right where it was—square and quiet.
It was as though the two figures, one tall and one small, had never existed in this space at all.
Rate on N.U.
