Chapter 104 Accidental Discovery

"I'm only kidding, I don't even know how I would put that on a scale other than it being low effort." Clara giggled, as the reactions from Shaman and Elysia were priceless.

Shaman and Elysia let out a sigh of relief as they were worried about having to fight her if she lost control after Himeko's influence was gone.

"Anyway we should get going, the faster we get to the boss the quicker I can go all out." Clara turned towards the cathedral and started walking towards the front door.

"Well someone is eager." Shaman grabbed Elysia's hand and followed Clara's lead with wolfy bringing up the rear.

The group stood in front of massive twin metal doors with skulls engraved and no handle in sight.

Failing to find a proper handle, Clara decided to just kick down the door. Little did she know all she had to do was push.

The metal doors flung open with one slightly coming off its hinges. Clara's kick had also shook the cathedral slightly causing some unlit candles in the hall to fall over.

Shaman had face palmed as she was about to speak up but it was too late.

"Oh, my bad." Clara let out a nervous laugh and scratched her head out of embarrassment. Shaman let out a sigh and continued forward into the cathedral in search of the entrance to the deeper part of the dungeon.

The cathedral was dark as none of the candles were lit and the only thing illuminating the area was the giant crystal at the top of the dungeon which gave them rather low visibility.

The cathedral was a massive hall with pillars to either side, shaped as skeletons holding up the ceiling. On the other end of the cathedral was a stained glass window that showed a skeleton raising his sword in the air.

Elysia wasn't pleased with how dark it was, so she went around lighting the candles with her fire which brightened up the cathedral's walls. Rows of disorganized seats could be clearly seen now and different imagery of what seemed to be a skeleton god adorned the now well lit walls.

"Maybe it's the boss we will be fighting." Elysia was examining the sculptures and depictions of the skeleton god which showed it as more of a warrior rather than a priest.

"That's odd. Compared to your standard cathedral, everything here seems far more focused on violence and war, but to each their own I suppose." Elysia, who had seen a cathedral outside the dungeon due to how long she's been in human territories, could not help but make comparisons as the cathedrals up above were a lot more elegant and peaceful.

Clara had taken a less practical approach and began to swing on a chandelier full of candles. Instead of being helpful she had decided to have a little fun.

The chains that held up the chandelier were rusted, which was a little concerning but the rest felt that since it was Clara doing it, it should be fine.

Although Shaman was a little annoyed, she was also relieved as she felt like Clara was being more useful by not getting in their way.

Wolfy however was utilizing his nose to investigate every part of the cathedral, trying to find anything smelling different than the musty old building.

Shaman's initial guess was for the entrance to be hidden under the pedestal at the other end of the cathedral, so she made her way over to it.

'If my time playing video games has taught me anything, it's that secret entrances are always the most obvious, especially since this is a dungeon so surely it is under the pedestal.' Shaman drew on her gamer knowledge and began to examine the pedestal in front of her which was a concrete slab with a red carpet on top of it.

Shaman kneeled on the floor to see if she could feel any draft coming from underneath and fortunately her guess was right as she could slightly feel a cold wind come from below.

"Wolfy can you come over here and sniff this out." Shaman wanted Wolfy to sniff out anything unusual as they did not know what could be under it.

Wolfy dashed over quickly and slightly slid on the concrete before coming to a stop right next to Shaman. He began to sniff the ground around the pedestal but as soon as he started he recoiled back.

"Ughhh smells like rotting corpses, how the hell can you not smell that?" Wolfy was repulsed and almost wanted to vomit.

"I guess your nose is just that good." Shaman was a little surprised she did not smell it as it seemed like a very strong smell.

"Elysia! We found the entrance, we just need to find a way to open it. That or we can try to blast right through it." Shaman yelled out to Elyisa which also caught the attention of Clara.

Clara jumped off the chandelier but her foot caught on the edge, causing her to pull the chandelier down with her. Instead of breaking like expected a mechanism could be heard and a section of the floor started to open.

Floor and pedestal alike began to move, revealing a hidden staircase.

Shaman was confused about what had caused it all, but when she turned and saw Clara hanging from the chandelier by her feet and the moving chains on the ceiling, she got her answer.

'How the hell were we meant to figure that out?' Shaman sighed in disbelief as for some reason the chandelier was the trigger for the hidden entrance.

Elysia walked over watching the upside down Clara hanging off the Chandelier and could not help but laugh at her.

"HEY!!! Don't just laugh, help me out here!!" Clara did not appreciate she was getting laughed at and waved her hands in protest.

"Sorry, no can do, looks like we will fight the boss ourselves while you hang out." Shaman turned to the stairs and as soon as Clara saw her leave she instantly used her lighting to get herself to the ground.

Clara quickly ran up and jumped down the stairs passing Shaman but when she landed on the staircase her nose was assaulted by the smell of corpses.

"Oh what the hell." Clara instantly covered her nose and began to cough as the smell was overbearing.

Shaman climbed down with Elysia and Wolfy, covering them in a wind barrier which made the smell bearable. When they walked past Clara, Shaman extended the range to cover her as well, allowing her to recover.

*cough* "Th-thank you." *Cough cough* Clara still coughed her lungs out but still made sure to stick near the group.

"Next time, don't be so rash Clara, otherwise next time it might not be just a bad smell." Shaman enjoyed teasing Clara, but was also trying to indirectly warn her not to blindly charge in head first.

"I- I understand." Clara realized that she had been acting a bit reckless as she forgot that dungeons can be rather dangerous and not just a playground.

*

The smell eventually dissipated, but they never really discovered what caused it which confused the group. On the other hand, they were somewhat relieved they would never have to find out

The group made their way down the stairs till they reached the bottom and were met with the same looking hallway that they ran through before fighting the skeleton night.

Shaman recognizing this began to feel a little dizzy and the walls started to distort.

'Shit not this again, you can do this Shaman, it's just a damn hallway.' Shaman tried convincing herself and shook her head which had helped a little with the dizziness.

Elysia could see that Shaman was not feeling too well and could not help but stress out, worrying that Shaman might not be able to handle the encounter.

Shaman started to wobble as she walked deeper into the hallway making Elysia even more concerned. After walking for a few more minutes yet still not having been disturbed by any skeletons, unlike their last time, the end of the hallway could finally be seen, causing Shaman to stop in her tracks.

'Maybe I shouldn't have come back.'