To Coach Liv’s right, Beau wore the heavy armor of a defender with a round shield in one hand and a double-sided axe in the other. Ben half expected the weapon master in training to be outfitted similarly to his Handler, but he seemed content to go with what he knew.

  “Now, as you know by now, this will be what we are now calling a Heroic Lair. It will have increased difficulty. It will change what they know about it in drastic ways. We have done the best we can to prepare the team, but once we get inside, it will be on each of you to find a way to survive,” Coach Liv said, giving them a similar warning to what he gave them last time.

  “This is normally a five-day lair, expect it to double that length or more. I’ve made sure Mister Belov has enough supplies to feed all of us twice that long. No one is going to starve if I have any say in the matter. Remember, this is a trap and maze-type lair. Do not go rushing blindly ahead. Slow and steady, check for traps everywhere. Be wary of dead ends. And for the love of the Gods, if you don’t think you can disarm a trap you find, don’t try to disarm it. Ask for help, am I clear?”

  No one said anything; Coach Liv had been preaching all of this since the first Lair Team class after the Bog Rodent Lair. “But enough chatting, let’s get to it.”

  Coach Liv entered, followed by Ben's Handler, and then by Beau. After that, the students started filing in, and just like last time, Ben made sure he stepped inside right next to Al.

  Welcome to the Gauntlet . . . Heroic Presences detected . . . difficulty rating increased. Reach the end of the Gauntlet within twenty-four hours. Good Luck!

  The starting area shifted as Ben finished reading the message. A shorter time to complete the lair was not something they had discussed. The room changed from a box with a door to a circular room with eleven doors.

  Coach Liv cursed, a sentiment echoed by everyone, though few vocalized it.

  With the shortened time, Ben knew they couldn’t stand around long, but the scents coming from each door matched each of them. That suggested a personalized lair run. Too late to worry about that now. Ben walked up to one of the doors, “Coach Liv, this one is yours.” He moved to the next, “Comrade Robin,” and continued pointing out who each door belonged to according to their scent.

  Ben skipped the next door as it was his. That meant the last door went to, “Coach Beau.”

  “No time to dawdle with such a short time limit,” Coach Liv said, “I hope I see you all on the other side. Good luck.” And with that, he opened his door and vanished.

  Ben watched as the other students approached their doors, vanishing one by one, some more hesitant than others until it was just Ben and Signore Barducci.

  “See you on the other side,” his Handler said kindly before he opened his door and vanished.

  Ben opened his own door and stepped through.

  Chapter 33 – The Gauntlet

  As soon as Ben stepped through the door, the entrance was replaced by a solid wall, lit by a single torch. Opposite where the door once stood was a spiral staircase going down. Ben ventured to the first step and tried to look down, but only darkness awaited him.

  He held his breath and cocked his head to the side, straining to detect any movement or sound coming from the depths below him. All he heard was the echoing of his own pulse in his ears and the faint crackle of the torch flames. Ben slowly opened his eyes and scanned the tight, cramped space that was illuminated only by the lone torch. There was nothing but him, the torch, and a sense of foreboding.

  Ben looked from the torch back to the stairs that plunged into darkness and decided that if the lair was giving him the light source, then he would be foolish not to take it with him. He took the torch from the iron holder, and the holder shifted, making something click behind him. Then he felt a stream of air as if the pressure had been let out of something. Ben hadn’t detected a trap when he took the torch, and yet he had a feeling he had inadvertently disarmed a trap or set one off. Disarming traps had two functions: first, it gave them the know-how to disarm most simple traps. Second, it allowed them to detect traps. That he couldn't detect a trap was a problem.

  Ben frowned and reminded himself to check everything. This gauntlet was all about traps, or it normally was. He gingerly advanced, scanning each stair cautiously before taking a step. He inspected the treads for any signs of wear or scraping around the edges where the steps met the wall. Though it was a slow process, Ben knew he couldn't afford to make a mistake. Six steps down, he noticed an anomaly - a single step that seemed out of place. It was linked to something, but he couldn’t tell what, and he couldn’t disarm it. He was about to jump over it when he remembered he needed to also check the step after it, which ended up not being trapped, at least not that he could sense through the skill. Carefully, he stepped around it, skirting to the next step before continuing his descent, vigilant for any more signs of danger.

  As Ben slowly descended the spiraling staircase, he found a strange landing without a door or any other set of stairs. On the wall, there was an iron torch holder, minus a torch, identical to the one he had taken his torch from back at the top. It appeared to have some sort of mechanism built into it, though Ben couldn't make out what it did. Knowing he'd need his torch for whatever lay below, he tried every trick he knew to make the mechanism work, yet nothing seemed to activate it - except for placing the torch into it. With a heavy heart, Ben reluctantly slid the torch into the holder. There was an audible click, followed by a sound like gas being released.

  Suddenly, from above him came a loud clap of wood on wood, followed by another and another, before long, there was rapid clapping coming closer and closer. With nowhere else to go, Ben backed as far away from the stairs as he could, yet he didn't smell anything coming for him.

  Just moments later, he realized it was the stairs themselves that were clapping together in an eerie rhythm. One after another they stacked on top of each other until finally all of them were neatly stacked at the bottom. But right as the last stair settled in place, there was a loud creak and crack of wood breaking. Suddenly the stairs broke through the floor beneath, leaving a gaping hole full of darkness below but with a small reward chest on the other side.

  Ben almost jumped the hole without checking for traps. He quickly reminded himself of where he was and took a safer approach. He didn’t find any obvious traps, but something still felt off to him. He threw a flechette, butt first. It smacked into the chest. There was no reaction from the chest, but upon bouncing off the flooring in front of the chest, the floor gave way, clattering into the hole. Ben listened for the sound of wood hitting and was greeted almost immediately, which meant it wasn’t much of a drop. Unfortunately, it was still dark down there.

  Ben looked back at the torch. It had served its purpose, which meant he should be able to use it again, right? He checked the torch for traps again but found none and removed it from the holder, glad to have his free light source back.

  He held the torch over the hole and peered downward. It was only two or three meters down. Directly below the original hole was a flat stone landing area. In the area where his flechette and the other bit of flooring landed were a bed of sharp stone spikes.

  Ben still wanted the chest but didn’t see any way of getting to it. He didn’t have any skills that could get him to it. He supposed he could try to lasso it with the rope in his bag, but he didn’t have a skill for that either. However, thinking of the rope gave him another idea. He had the skill Macramé, which could be used to make nets. He didn’t have the twine to do that, but he did have a mystic skill that might work.

  Ben had played around with Shadow Weaving a little on his own but hadn’t really found a use for the skill. It had great utility but wasn’t much good in a fight. Yet utility was exactly what he needed now. Using both skills together was surprisingly effective. With his first net made and ready, he threw it... and missed. The net landed next to the chest, and it didn’t even open, so he doubted it would have caught the chest anyway. He tried a few more times before he realized he was probably doing something wrong. Knowing the clock was running, he told himself he would only try five more times... then five more after that when he almost caught the chest. Then he finally netted the chest and dragged it free of the ledge it sat upon.

  The chest was heavier than he thought it would be. It nearly pulled him down into the hole. Instead, he hauled his shadow-made net up and pulled the chest onto the floor next to him. He let his Shadow Weaving construct disperse, leaving him with a small brass-banded reward chest.

  Ben opened the chest and found a pair of goggles with green lenses. He’d never seen anything like it before. He gave the goggles a sniff and smelled the unique tang of magic wafting off them. He wasn’t sure exactly what the goggles would do, but he couldn’t wait to find out. He slipped them onto his head and over his eyes, and the world turned green and strangely well-lit. He looked around and winced when he looked at the torch; it was much brighter when viewed through the goggles. That was when he figured out what they did. They gave him dark vision or night vision... green vision? It was something like that. It meant he no longer needed the torch, unless there was another holder that required it.

  Unsure if he still needed it, Ben took the torch and dropped down to the next level. He was met with a stone floor and walls. They appeared rough-hewn but were actually smooth to the touch. He looked down the path but only saw more stone as the path gently curved to the right. By that point, the view turned blurry because of his eyesight. What he thought was a curve to the right just as easily could have been a curve to the left. Still, he really liked the goggles.

  He tried listening for anything ahead and smelled for it as well but found nothing but stone. The goggles did one other thing for him. Despite the green tint it gave everything, there was enough variation in hue to see when something didn’t match everything else. The small dark green stones that mostly blended into the surrounding rock would have been almost impossible to see without the goggles. Ben really hoped everyone else found the goggles, if they were even taking the same gauntlet.

  He examined the dark green stone on the floor much more closely. It was a pressure plate and a devious one with how well it blended in. Then he examined one of the dark green stones on the wall. It was not a pressure plate but a spike that went deep into the wall. Putting two and two together, he figured out they were connected. Ben looked down the long passageway again. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of pressure plates lining the floor.

  He kneeled and examined the closest pressure plate again. He thought he could probably disarm it, but looking at the sheer volume, he decided it was best just to avoid them.

  Ben kept his focus on the floor as he picked his way down the path, his Footwork skill making it easier. The deeper he went, the more pressure plates there were until there were more pressure plates than safe places to step. As he got closer to the end, he was forced to leap across a large expanse of the pressure plates, landing on a spot just large enough for one foot before he leaped again to the next spot. It was getting more and more dangerous the further down the tunnel he went until it ended abruptly at a stone wall that climbed straight up into darkness.

  The stone wall was pockmarked with handholds that indicated he was meant to climb the wall. Looking at the daunting wall above him, he wished he’d learned the Climbing Skill. He looked at the first of the handholds and checked for a trap but didn’t find anything. He checked several more but still found nothing. He frowned at the wall and looked for the top but couldn’t see it with his limited vision. There was also no way to climb and carry the torch, and he didn’t dare drop it to the ground covered in pressure plates that were just waiting to kill him if he did. He sighed, he put the torch in his mouth to keep it lit, got a good grip on the first of the handholds, and started climbing.

  He tested every handhold as he climbed, which slowed him down a little, but it was better safe than sorry. Naturally, it couldn’t have been as easy as just climbing.

  Ben had no idea how far up he would need to go, but the sooner he moved up, the better. It seemed easy enough. There were multiple handholds within easy reach. He grabbed one overhead, looked at his feet and stepped up to the next foothold. He repeated with his other hand and foot. He moved one handhold and foothold at a time, slowly making progress.

  He reached for the next handhold and began moving his foot when he felt a shudder in the stone he’d just grabbed. It gave way, and he swung out from the wall, barely hanging on to the fixed handhold. He let go of the bad handhold, letting it fall then scrambled to get a grip of the previous handhold. He gasped and panted from the sudden exertion as his feet tried to find their places on the wall.

  A second later, the rock he dropped hit the ground and bounced. He saw orange flashes of light from below where the rock had set off some of the pressure plates.

  He stayed still for a minute, trying to rest, except his arms and legs were just getting more tired. He grunted and forced himself to continue.

  With every step and grab of a new foot or handhold, a timer started counting down in the back of his mind, urging him to keep moving. It got more difficult the further he climbed as the handholds got further and further apart. He promised himself he would learn the Climbing skill if he made it out of this alive, if only to make it easier the next time he needed to climb something, like a city wall or some rich kin’s house he would rob.

  He panted through clenched teeth as he lunged for the next grip, swinging out, then swinging back and heaving to reach the next handhold above him. Not for the first time, he wished he had just left the torch behind. He was so concentrated on reaching the next grip he didn’t notice the ledge just two meters above him until he was grasping at it and heaving himself over. He spat the torch out of his mouth, letting it roll away from the ledge, leaving him panting for breath. He was sweating profusely and was once again thankful for the goggles that kept it out of his eyes.

  He’d made it. He was through the tunnel and up the wall. He was also utterly exhausted. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a savory bun, one of his magically infused ones, and stuffed it in his mouth, feeling the energy flood his body as it converted the magic. It wasn’t instant relief, but it was a gentle flow into his tired muscles. He finished it off with a cool drink of water from a canteen he kept in his bag.

  Ben laid there for a while until he felt like he’d rested enough. Finally, he looked around the ledge to see what was next for me. He was greeted first by a reward chest about a meter away. Once again, he had to temper himself from running for the reward. He gently tossed a flechette at the box where it bounced off harmlessly and clattered to the stone floor where nothing happened. Satisfied there was no immediate trap, he moved to the reward chest and checked it over before popping the lid and being greeted by the familiar sight of a skill stone, a rope, hammer, and some kind of spikes with hoops on the ends. He frowned and picked up the stone.

  Skill stone – Rock Climbing – Would you like to learn the Uncommon Skill Rock Climbing?

  He grumbled about how it was a little late coming before he accepted the skill, which told him the spikes were called pitons, which were meant to be hammered into rocks as one climbed. Again, too little too late. Still, it would be good to have them for future use. There was no telling if there wouldn’t be another wall that needed to be climbed before he finished the Gauntlet.

  Sighing, he put the other climbing supplies away in his satchel and looked for the next step. The iron ring torch holder in the wall clued him in. He picked up the torch from the ground and slid it into the holder. The holder shifted, and the sound of stone grinding behind him made him turn swiftly.

  The wall opposite the torch holder slid down, opening a new passage, at the end of which he could see light. He turned back to take the torch, but as soon as it left the holder, the wall slid back into place. He was sad to lose the free torch that had served him so well, but it seemed this was where they parted ways.

  He started into the hall, keeping a wary eye open for any traps but found none. At the end of the hall was a circular stone room with a stone block in the center. And of course, there were no doors leading out of the room, which meant this was a puzzle.

  As soon as he stepped into the room, the tunnel behind him suddenly collapsed, filling with stone, and ensuring he couldn’t retreat.

  He heard stone grinding again and sighed. It was coming from the stone block in the center, which was unfolding . . . and standing up . . . into a two-meter-tall humanoid rock monster. A loud vibration shook from its chest and emerged from its mouth in a roar.

  He cursed as he activated his Shadow Blade skill to create a pair of knives. As soon as they were in hand, he rushed forward, letting his Shadow Cloak skill cover him. He wasn’t sure how good this monster’s senses were, but anything he could do to avoid detection could only work to his advantage.

  He slipped easily between the monster’s legs, his daggers lashing out at the stone, generating sparks but failing to do any damage. As he ran through, the rock slab monster tried to body slam him, seeming to know where he was despite his active Shadow Cloak. He barely dodged clear then had to dive away as it rolled, hammering down with large stone chunks he assumed were its arms and legs.

  As he came up from his roll, he finally saw the monster’s weakness, if only for a brief second. When it rolled, the stones of its body separated slightly. In those cracks, he saw a glowing brown orb.

  After rolling, the monster was slow to push back up to its feet. He tried leaping on its back and hacking through the stone, targeting the cracks. Each stab yielded a couple rock chips. If that was all he was going to get, then he would be at this for days. He didn’t have days.