Chapter 7: • Dungeon Of Treasures

"Fifteen minutes, Nephta!" Dunnam announced. "How long is it going to take you to break a damned Guard Spell? You are a Spellbreaker, are you not?"

Nephta shifted her focus from the Guard Spell on the large door to Dunnam, an agitated look on her face. "This one is different. It's stronger. Most likely made by a Summoner Mage."

"We knew it was going to be strong, that's why I hired you. But if you're gonna be as useless as a twig, then what was the point?"

Nephta shot him a prolonged glare, thinking of different ways that she could hurt him if she wanted to. Eventually, she decided that he wasn't worth her time and she continued trying to break the Guard Spell.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing all of her Essence on the magic shield. Spheris was still on the corner of the walls, watching her. It was his first time seeing magic in full use and he couldn't deny that he was a bit intrigued.

Nephta's fingers moved with precision, like she was searching for something in the shimmering azure hue the Guard Spell had manifested. The air crackled with sparks of magic as she continued to hack the magic wall, but it didn't seem like she was getting any closer.

"Bullocks!" Dunnam swore.

Spheris's eyes were yet to leave Nephta, he found himself admiring her skill even though it wasn't very impressive at the moment. Something... something about her reminded him of himself.

"If she was an ATN Level Bearer we would have already been inside." Spheris looked to his left to see that Jion was now standing beside him. He was so engrossed with what Nephta was doing that he hadn't noticed.

"What is that?" Spheris asked. "ATN Level Bearer?"

Jion gazed at him bizarrely. "My, you weren't kidding. You really don't know anything at all about the Mystiqarium."

"I know what the Mystiqarium is," Spheris replied in a defensive tone that was not deliberate.

"But you don't know what it entails." Jion said. "You don't know the difference between Mage Magic and Bearer Magic. I'm certain you don't even know what a Bearer is."

Feeling defeated, Spheris slowly looked away and turned to Nephta's direction. She was still struggling with the Guard Spell. "She is a Bearer, isn't she?"

Jion followed Spheris's eyes. "That she is. An Adept Level Bearer, sometimes called ADP's."

"She breaks Spells, finds a way to hack through them and unlocks them," Spheris said. "It's a very functional power for a thief."

"True," Jion concurred. "But don't let the situation at hand deceive you. Nephta is not just a thief, she has a story. One that will surprise you."

Spheris's gaze deepened on the Bearer as she continued to struggle with the Guard Spell. What could her story be? "What is an Incarnate?" he asked Jion.

"What?"

"Dunnam called her an Incarnate. What does that mean?

Jion suddenly looked dumbfounded, his gaze fixed on Spheris and a sense of bewilderment clouding his expression. "You are a very strange person, shadow walker," Jion said, concluding that he couldn't grapple with the sheer peculiarity that radiated from the Heathian boy.

Spheris sighed. "I've been told."

"Nephta!" Everyone heard Dunnam cry. "How much longer do you need to break a damn Guar— "

"I've got it."

Dunnam froze. "What?"

Everyone turned to her. A piercing crack tore through the magic shield and then it began to crumble, slowly disintegrating into tiny glass-like pieces. Spheris stood straight, he was completely taken by the sight. And not just him, the entire crew watched as the Guard Spell broke and then dissipated like mist in the morning sun.

But what they saw next was even more fascinating. Hundreds of wooden boxes, neatly arranged in rows and filled to the brim with gold callisters gleaming in the orange lights. Adjacent rows held boxes with silver callisters and boxes with bronze were right after.

Dunnam's eyes widened with unrestrained excitement. "Nephta, you truly are heaven-sent."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"By the Old and New Gods, look at all that gold! Silver, bronze... it's a bloody fortune!" His boisterous laughter echoed in the cavern as he slowly approached the glittering room of money. "This, my friends..." he turned to the rest of the thieves. "This is our ticket to a life of freedom. Whatever the hell we want!"

Jion couldn't hide his smirk, muttering, "Looks like the risk was worth it."

Spheris gazed at the treasure with a speeding heart beat. He had never seen so much money. So much money! It was right in front of him; the answer to all his prayers.

"Ay! What are we still waiting for?" Acko asked, pulling out the folding bags from his pocket. "Let's pack as many callisters and leave here richer than the Gods themselves."

"Oh, I like the way you think, Acko!" Dunnam laughed. "We're rich! We're so bloody r—"

Before the bounty hunter could finish his sentence, a gigantic monstrous head clamped its massive jaws around him out of nowhere. Spheris jerked in shock and Nephta gasped.

"Ahh! Ahh!" Dunnam cried, trying to wriggle himself free. But it was of no use, he was locked in between the sharp teeth of the monster. As the rest of the team started to take steps backward, the creature emerged slowly from the corner of the dungeon. "Ahhh!" Dunnam continued to yell. "Help me! Acko! Jion! Help!"

Acko and Jion didn't dare move, nobody did. Spheris couldn't blame them, one would be stupid to attempt saving Dunnam's life in this scenario. It would simply be suicide! This creature was colossal and fat. It had reptilian scales and barely any real skin at all, with giant muscular limbs that had big sharp claws. Bones were sticking over its body and its fat long tail had spikes that extended up to its nightmarish head.

The thieves couldn't move, they all stared in horror, their feets firmly rooted to the ground as fear danced in their skin. How dare they think it could have been this easy? A dungeon with millions of callisters only protected by a Summoner Mage's Guard Spell? Had they forgotten what lived in dungeons? Monsters!

Dunnam was still crying and yelling at the top of his voice for someone to save him. The monstrous creature didn't even seem perturbed at all from his screams. It tossed him into the air like a ragdoll. "No, no, no! Jion, please!" and swallowed him whole.

This time everyone except Spheris gasped, he was too busy thinking of how to escape this predicament. But how could he? He'd never seen such a creature before.

The creature stared down at the remaining four with a menacing presence, his eyes burning red and its saliva melting the ground as it dropped from his mouth. Then it roared!

The sound seemed to vibrate in their chests, sending shivers down their spine as the hot wind from its mouth burned against their skin.

"What the— what the hell is that thing?" Spheris asked with a shaky breath.

"It's a Hellbender," Jion replied, glancing fearfully at him. "And by the looks of it, it's very hungry."

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