D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 2022: Chapter 2022 Poisonous Trail

— Kat —

After learning more about explosives they decided to move on. Kat did take the chance with spawning an eyeball to get an exact picture of what Jared and Melody looked like, and they’d learnt a lot of information. They just weren’t sure how much of it was relevant. Jared and Melody were now off to visit Jared’s girlfriend. There was a temptation to follow them… but from the conversations they’d overheard it was clear she lived up on the surface. So that was something the guards could follow up on.

Moving through the room was easier then it had been. Perhaps they were getting a bit cocky, but with Lily more secure in her shadow swapping trick they could move faster through the room and avoid people simply by keeping on the move. They’d gone over the map with Ramor, and Appoline’s room was somewhat well known. At the very least the general area of it.

They had a few close encounters in the corridors, but sneaking around so much had taught them that ’close’ still meant they were completely unseen. It didn’t matter if someone walked below you while you were hiding on the ceiling if they didn’t look up. Sure it was still tense but nobody even glanced to the sides. Everyone was focused on moving to wherever they wanted to be.

When they got to the instructors’ quarters, they found actual security for the first time. The door was locked… and that didn’t matter at all to a pair of intruders that could sneak underneath the door. They only knew it was locked because they happened to get there just after a male instructor left the room, and they could hear the lock shutting behind them. *Hmm…*

[What? I can see you hiding the information of what’s bothering you just to make a point. Why are we stopping?]

*Well, I’m just wondering if a basic lock is the only thing they’d use on a door meant to protect the instructors in a thieves guild? Like, surely thievery would be expected and encouraged, if not against the instructors. Is it going to be enchanted?*

[That’s… hmm…] Lily extended her senses to cover the door and found no trace of any sort of magical energy on it. [It really should have something on it but as far as I can feel… it’s just a door.]

*Well that’s… ideal but also not?*

[Because it’s weird we can’t see anything?]

*Yeah, it makes me feel like there’s a trap here we just can’t see?*

[Perhaps the instructors are expected to do most of the room defences themselves? Like this door isn’t enchanted but they each have their own enchanting over the doors or have filled it with traps?]

*Alright. Can you sense if they’ve magicked the doors from this side?*

[Maybe with more practice? I think I’d be pretty likely to miss any intentionally subtle enchantments through walls and stuff.]

*What if the enchantments are IN the walls? Like part of the insulation or something?*

[That’s… hmm… I don’t actually know. Pretty sure this is solid stone… but yeah if it’s not that could be a worry?]

*Yeah not ideal. I guess I’ll go ahead. They shouldn’t be able to detect me. I have no mana and no body.*

[Yeah, but it’s going to be the next step that’s a problem.] Kat gave a mental shrug and floated around the door as droplets of water. Pushing out into the corridor revealed a moderately long corridor with nobody in it. Kat was able to watch the entire area with her mist no problem. Giving Lily the tentative all clear, Lily shifted into the room and glanced around. [Now… where do we go?]

*Yeah I’m not sure. The doors are numbered sure, but we don’t know which of them belong to Appoline. Can you smell any like… herbs and stuff?*

[No… I think these doors are enchanted to keep the smells in, and possibly sound to along with other things. I can’t hear anything behind any of these doors. Smell… that’s a bit harder to tell but I think that’s being blocked? There are some old herbal scents in the corridor that are clearer because of the lack of traffic but… hmm…]

*Try to use that to find the right door I suppose.* Kat thought as she debated on if it would be worth trying to sneak into other rooms. It was probably safe, but all of the teachers here were more skilled. Theoretically anyway. Her mist form was good, and for people not paying attention or with lower levels of perception, basically undetectable.

The issue was, she still moved as droplets of noticeable water if you were paying attention. Separating into a true mist would fog up the hallway, so she was closer to a collection of raindrops that spread themselves out at regular intervals. Visible if you knew what to look for, but not something your eyes would normally track. Especially not when placed against walls or in corners. Kat could potentially spread out even more… but then she wouldn’t really be able to see anything without ’condensing’ back into a more visible mist.

The risk here was that seeing a line of water droplets slowly creep into your room would be a big give away that something was wrong. Of course… if they were asleep instead it would be a great chance to check out the rooms. The problem was, with the rooms enchanted to keep the sound trapped there was no way to KNOW for sure what was happening without checking.

Meanwhile, Lily was sniffing at the air and trying to work out which door had the herbiest smell. It was quickly clear that most of the corridor had the scent, and that the door had to be towards the back… but once she reached the end it became much less clear. Neither door had a higher concentration of the remnants, and both residents, or who Lily assumed were the residents, had strong perfume. Which of the two was carrying the herbs? Lily had no idea.

[I think it’s got to be one of the last two doors here.]

*Is there anything else it could be?*

[Well I suppose there could be a secret laboratory behind the wall or something.] Kat waited for a few seconds. [Shit that sounds annoyingly possible doesn’t it?]

*Well you seem to think there’s only two people who live at the end. So is there really space for a third?*

[No probably not… but there doesn’t have to be. Can you check both rooms to see how big they are? Because if they’re too small for a full alchemy lab then I’m going to be there’s some secret lab. You should be safe even with the enchantments so I’m not too worried.]

Kat gave a figurative nod and headed under the door to the left first. Kat considered checking both at the same time, but it felt like splitting her focus like that was just asking for trouble. The room on the left was something close to eighty percent bed. There was a small desk squeezed into the corner, and the closet was part of the wall… but the rest of the room was taken up by a MASSIVE bed.

Kat didn’t know what size it counted as, because it was about fifty percent larger than a King-sized bed back home. There wasn’t anyone currently using it, thankfully, but there were a bunch of pillows around. It was neatly made up and seemed like way too much for one person, but if Lily only smelt two sources of perfume in the area… maybe they just really enjoyed the space? Kat had no idea.

There was, arguably, more to investigate but for now Kat was just confirming things. Sending a mental map of the room to Lily, she moved along to the other room. This one had a much more reasonably sized bed. It was still Queen-sized so it wasn’t small, but it didn’t eat the entire room’s space just be existing. It still took up a good chunk, with the rest being a desk and several bookshelves. Notably, neither room had any alchemy equipment out on display. *Shit. There’s a secret room somewhere here isn’t there.*

[Yup. I’d be willing to bet quite a large sum of money that the secret room is behind the wall, and perhaps below us a bit. Though mostly behind the wall here. The problem with that, is I have no idea where the entrance could be. It’s possible it’s just here in the corridor, or in whichever room belongs to Appoline. It might also be the case that the button or whatever that unlocks the door is somewhere else entirely. This… could be a real problem.]

*Do you think you could find it with your shadows? Maybe look for seems or something and I see if I can squeeze in?*

[It’s… possible. Though with magic they can reset the door to a stone wall. Just as an example… but an annoying one.]

*Hmmmmmmmmmmmm……*