Tunnel Rat

Chapter 117: Tunnels and Traps

This was an old tunnel, and unused for a long time. Milo had a lot of experience moving through dusty ductwork and unused corridors. Dust would settle slowly based on air movement. Small spiderwebs picked up dust as well. Milo estimated at least one decade since anyone had been here, and probably more like 30 to 40 years, which matched the level of decay of the corpse, whoever he had been.

The floor was very smooth, but the sides and roof showed the mark of the picks that had been used to carve through the stone. They had used good picks. A pick made out of low tier materials like iron or steel would slowly chip away at this stone. The walls showed markings where the picks had gone deep into the stone, breaking off larger pieces. Dark steel or maybe something a little better. His own pick was superior to what had cut these tunnels, but not by much.

He slowly padded forward, careful to check for traps. Patience and perception paid off. Twice he found tripwires near the floor. Three times he found pressure plates hidden in the floor. Looking at the patterns the picks had made helped him find them. The patterns on the walls where the traps mechanisms had been hidden were slightly off. You'd need to have a lot of experience mining and a good eye. Milo had both.

Of course, that meant he missed one as the tunnel came down to a T. Stepping over a tripwire, he felt the slight give in the floor and heard a soft 'click'. Instantly he jumped without knowing why, avoiding a razor-edged blade that swung out from the wall. He grabbed the walls, and moved back to safety before disabling the traps and moving forward even slower that before. He reached the T, and pondered which way to go. He felt that the left tunnel would take him towards the barracks and mining area, while the right would head in the direction of the marketplace. He chose left and began his slow advance.

The left tunnel had even more dust in it, but thankfully less traps. It led to a small room with a hidden door in the far wall. This door was very small, just enough for someone his size to crawl through. The room itself was only a dozen feet in either direction and had probably been a small cave that was expanded. Stone benches lined two walls, and a series of hooks were set in wall. Several old cloaks and tunics hung from them, dry and brittle with age.

Milo was suddenly famished and weak. His stomach felt empty. He dug quickly into his pack for bread and dried fruit. He felt silly, of course he was starving! He had lain on his cot, sick, sweating out whatever poison had been in his system. He was surprised he was only needing food just now. Probably how bad he had smelled had killed any need for food. He slowly muched his food, and looked at his notifications. He was overjoyed to see that his little pudding stowaway was gone. Any gratitude he had for it for helping him escape from the airship was countered by nearly having his bones dissolved. It was like having a timebomb living inside of him. Good riddance. And better - getting rid of it has raised his toughness and regeneration, so he was better than he had been.

Better in several ways, in fact, with his skills going up. He wasn't sure how he felt about his upgrade to his looks. Probably no one would notice. He was happy to see his skills were going up, and he'd even gained 5 core skill points. It almost made waking up stinky worth it. Almost, but not quite.

He took a better look at what was in the ring. Several black and grey cloaks, black tunics, dark leather belts, soft black slippers, all in need of a wash. There was also a cute pair of pink slippers that looked like weasels, complete with whiskers. They were even magical.

Adorable Baby Weasel Slippers

One Size Fits All: Feet getting bigger as you grow up? No worries! These expand to fit even the largest of feet!

Nigh Invulnerable! Hard to damage, won't wear out. If something can hurt these slippers, you probably don't have feet anymore!

Weasels are on the job: 50% of the time you would trip and fall, you don't! Trust the weasels!

Handy for runny away from spiders, but Milo wasn't sure about the color. He put them back in the ring and pulled out the jewelry. All of it looked valuable, but didn't seem magical when he used his Identify skill, until he came to the last ring. This one was a delicate ring of bright silver with a pattern of leaves carved into the ring. On the inside of the ring was a series of runes that Milo didn't know. He memorized them the best he could, and copied them to his journal.

Fae Ring of the Dance

Those mortals which accept this ring and pay it's price will gain great boons from the Fae who crafted it long ago.

-The skill: Dancing is granted to the mortal who wears this ring. This is a permanent gain after 1 hour of dancing.

-On a day when the owner had danced for at least one hour, that mortal will gain the perk: Grace of the Fae (+4 agility)

-If a day passes without dancing, not only will the mortal lose Grace of the Fae, but will be cursed with clumsiness, reducing their agility to 0 for 3 days. Only by dancing each of those days will the curse be removed.

The ring may not be removed unless its owner has danced for seven days in a row, and clicks their heels three times saying "Last Dance...Last Dance...Last Dance...".

The ring was interesting, to say the least. Milo was hazy on what a Fae was, but they made neat rings. He put it back into the storage ring. He didn't have time to stop and dance for an hour. Refreshed, he took a look at the small exit. It was actually a short tunnel, only two feet long, with a hidden door and a way to peek out. Peering into the area beyond, Milo saw a round cave with an assortment of pillows and a bed of rags. On a small shelf was a child's drawing of a guard next to someone smaller. The large mound of rags shifted....

Larry had been sleeping, when his large ears heard something nearby.

Was it a spider? No, Larry only heard the pitter-pat of two feet. Spiders had more than two.

Was it Sneaky Guy? No, he didn't come visit Larry anymore, and he smelled of sweat and cheese and mushrooms.

Was it Justin?! No, it didn't smell like Justin. It smelled like someone very clean, with just a little bit of oil and bone.

Was it Tallsqueak? Had Tallsqueak come to visit Larry at Larry's house?

Someone knocked at Larry's door to Larry's house that Larry hadn't known was there. "Can Tallsqueak come in?"

Larry bounced up and down excitedly, only falling once! "YES! Tallsqueak can come in!

A little door in the rock opened. A secret door! Tallsqueak came through the door, but he looked different. And he smelled clean! Larry ran and picked up his friend before Tallsqueak could stand up.

"Shiny Fur! Tallsqueak has Shiny Fur! It's so fluffy and shiny! So fluffy!" It was a long time before Milo could convince Larry to set him down and quit petting him.