Chapter 95 - The Vampire's Crypt - I

"Oh, we might get lucky and get a vampire soul then." Alvira spoke up with an excited tone.

"There are probably treasures down there, how would you suggest we split them?" The samurai wannabe Zankoku asked Merlin.

"I'm perfectly happy with rolling need or greed, or free for all if you want to do it that way." Merlin answered, "I've got some pretty good daggers, so I'll pass on weapons. I'm mostly looking for armour suited for a thief, but I'll gladly take any trinkets nobody else wants."

"Need or greed works for us." Zankoku said before he began poking around the air.

Nobody else could see your display windows unless you messed around with your privacy settings. Most people kept it as the default setting which was invisible. Others found it awkward to be seen doing strange actions like a mime, so they allowed the window be visible but set it so that everything on the window remained hidden.

Most rankers kept theirs invisible, especially those who focused on stealth, because nothing stood out in the dark corner of a cave quite like a bright inventory window.

「You have been invited to "Zankoku's" party, would you like to join?」

Merlin accepted the party invite, and everyone's names turned green, signalling to him that they were allies.

Merlin poked his head down the creepy staircase that was once hidden under the altar, and when he breathed in, he could smell a strong scent of death, decay and the rusty scent of blood.

"It smells pretty bad down there, hey Legolas are you gonna be ok?" Merlin asked while turning to the redhead archer.

The username floating above the head of the woman Merlin called Legolas was "Nora". It took a second for Nora to realise Merlin was talking about her, she seemed confused at first but when she took a few steps closer she could smell the strong scent of blood.

"It doesn't seem like you're good with this sort of thing, so there's your heads up, it might be gross down there." Merlin warned before turning back towards the staircase. "I'll go first if that's okay with you guys."

Merlin received a nod of approval from everyone, so he slowly made his way down the staircase. Fragments of the shattered altar were being crushed under his feet as he walked down a couple steps, the staircase wrapped around slightly before opening up into the first room.

The scent of blood and death grew even stronger as he stepped into the first room. The room was only illuminated by the faint moonlight that was leaking in through the staircase, so Merlin began chanting and summoned the small ball of light as usual.

"Alright it seems safe, come in." Merlin said while looking around the room, there was a strange black puddle to his left as he entered the room, so he steered clear of it.

The other four made their way into the room, and immediately noticed the black puddle as well. While avoiding the puddle, they began searching the room for treasures or secrets, but ended up finding nothing. So with that disappointment out of the way, they approached the rickety wooden door that led into the next room.

Merlin pressed his ear to the door, and he heard faint clanging sounds, it sounded like chains being tugged on and dragged along the stone floor.

"I hear movement, but it doesn't sound like it's coming from the next room, maybe a room over." Merlin whispered to the party. "It sounds like chains being whipped around."

He reached his hand towards the door handle and gently turned it while trying to feel for any resistance in the door handle. He wasn't expecting a nasty trap, but he didn't expect vampires either, so he was more suspicious than he usually would be.

The rest of the party seemed to be getting impatient while watching Merlin slowly turn the handle while cowering behind the wall beside it, but their thoughts changed when Merlin suddenly had a look of surprise on his face. As Merlin began sliding the door open, he heard a faint click and he felt a slight resistance in the door, like something was barely pulling on the other side.

"Hey guys, do you know what a spring-gun is? Or a shotgun door trap." Merlin asked the group before signalling everyone to move towards the wall with his other hand. 

Once everyone was off to one side, Merlin swung the door open before retreating behind the wall. A rain of arrows flew through the doorway, colliding with the staircase on the other side of the room. Merlin caught sight of a familiar red tint on a couple of the arrows, while the rest seemed to just be normal.

"An arrow trap and shield-punishers... This crypt is definitely out of place, something strange is going on here." Merlin mumbled to himself before poking his head into the other room, he quickly inspected the arrow trap from a distance. "It looks like the trap is spent, no automatic reload."

Once they heard that, everyone stepped away from the wall. Their expressions were a mix of surprised and relieved, and it seemed as though they were now more thankful that Merlin took his time.

"Alvira, you're going to be the thief of your party, aren't you?" Merlin asked, remembering that she attacked him with a dagger. Alvira nodded her head in response, to which he continued. "Alright, well disarming traps is going to be your most important skill. This will get covered again once you enter the thieves guild, but it's good to learn ahead of time."

Merlin walked over to the arrows that were shot out, most were destroyed during their impact with the stone steps but a couple survived. Merlin picked out a handful of arrows, two of which had the red tint, the rest were just normal.

"Nora, these two arrows are special, notice the red tint. These are ignition arrows, and they'll set anything that they hit on fire as long as the target is flammable, this includes wooden shields and fabrics. We only have two so make them count." Merlin handed her the two arrows, which she put in her quiver. He handed her the pile of normal arrows as well. "And these are just temporary arrows, you should use those before your regular arrows."

Merlin was a little worried that they would think of him as bossy if he kept this up, but he just wanted to help them out a little. This group was competent, and they had pretty good teamwork from what he saw earlier, so Merlin considered them worth pointing in the right direction. The best part was that they were friendly to his group, it was hard finding trustworthy allies with potential.

The group walked into the next room, and Nora turned around immediately as if she were going to be sick. This room was full of bones, some seemed to be wolf bones, while others were clearly human.

There were two mostly eaten skeletons hanging from chains on the other side of the room, and a black puddle underneath them. Merlin confirmed his prior thoughts that the black ooze was just old blood, which is why the place reeked so heavily of rust.

Merlin took a look around the room, making sure not to step on any bones. There were a few weapons laying about, but none of them were considered items by the system. They didn't look to be in good condition anyway, most being chipped or bent if they weren't coated in blood and rust. There were a few supply crates laying around, and upon peaking in it just seemed to be scraps of rotten meat.

"Well, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is where they feed the ghouls." Merlin commented as he walked over to the arrow trap.

"They clearly aren't picky with their food." Tiny retorted, he slowly made his way over to one of the two doors that lead further into the crypt.

The rest of the group followed Tiny, who had chosen to walk towards the door on the right side of the room, rather than the one opposite to it on the left, Merlin stopped inspecting the arrow trap and walked towards them.

Merlin noticed that Nora didn't seem to be feeling well. He was worried for her, this was the worst kind of place for her to be in. Virtual reality could potentially work as some kind of exposure therapy for her, but it was best done in moderation. Where she was right now was clearly overwhelming her, so Merlin wanted to get this over with quickly.

"I can hear chains being rattled around. This room has someone, or something in it." Alvira whispered to the group. She had her ear to the door, just like Merlin had done with the first door.

Merlin thought it was cute that she was mimicking him, he had told her to learn but he expected her to just watch what he was doing, not try it immediately for herself. He didn't hate people who were dedicated on improving themselves.

"What were you doing with the door last time?" Alvira asked him, her eyes gleaming with interest.

"I was turning the handle while trying to feel for any resistance, like a tripwire or other mechanism connected to it." Merlin tried explaining as simply as he could, but it was rather difficult without practice in a safe environment. "I'd recommend watching first, it'll be easier to explain if you see it."

Alvira moved aside and let Merlin get into position. She stood on the opposite side to him where she would be able to hear a click if there was one. Merlin began repeating his previous actions, slowly turning the doorknob while feeling for any resistance. 

This time however, Merlin didn't hear the click, and there didn't seem to be any resistance, so he opened the door slowly, enough to peak inside.

Inside the room was incredibly dark, but from what little light was bleeding in, Merlin could see what he thought to be a few ghouls chained up to the wall.

"No traps, but it looks like we've got ghouls inside, but they're chained up." Merlin whispered to the group, who all started peaking inside, opening the door up a little each time, eventually the door was practically open and Merlin's light illuminated the room.

"What the hell is going on here?" Alvira asked while staring at the ghouls from the doorway.

Nobody in the group wanted to be the first one to walk in, so Merlin took the lead again. As he stepped into the room, the ghouls noticed him and began struggling against their chains.. They looked like they were being starved, perhaps someone was trying to train these ghouls.