Chapter 12 Chapter 12

For several seconds, nobody moved as Kael, Gareth, and Adrian stared at the staircase in stunned silence before Adrian slowly raised a finger and pointed at it.

“Did we break something important?”

“We?” Gareth repeated.

“You touched the wall.”

“You were hanging from the ceiling.”

"I wasn't there voluntarily."

"You walked into the trap."

"The trap and I remember that event very differently."

Kael ignored both of them, his attention remained fixed on the hidden passage.

This staircase shouldn’t exist. The ruin already contained enough surprises.

Now there was an entirely hidden section buried under it. Another reminder that the future was no longer behaving properly.

A cold feeling settled in his stomach.

The further history drifted from his memories, the less useful those memories became.

And that was very dangerous.

However, Adrian immediately ruined the mood.

“So are we going down there?”

Gareth looked at him.

"Do you enjoy walking into places designed to kill people?"

"No."

Gareth blinked.

"Then why are you smiling?"

Adrian looked down.

"That is an excellent question." He paused. "And one I would rather not examine too closely."

A few minutes later, the three descended into the hidden chamber.

Ancient torches suddenly ignited along the walls. Golden light flooded the darkness.

Then all three froze.

Treasure filled the hidden chamber in staggering amounts, with ancient coins scattered across the floor, jewels glittering from broken chests, weapons resting upon stone racks, and rare materials stacked in forgotten corners untouched by time.

Even Kael stopped breathing for a moment because this wasn’t a treasure room.

This was a fortune.

A kingdom could fund an army with this much wealth. A noble family could dominate an entire province.

And according to every memory Kael possessed……

This place shouldn’t exist.

Adrian’s jaw dropped, Gareth’s jaw dropped, and even Kael found himself momentarily speechless as the sheer scale of the treasure spread before them.

“It appears,” Gareth said carefully, “that today has improved significantly.”

Adrian immediately ran toward the treasure.

Kael grabbed the back of his shirt.

The boy stopped moving.

“Why?”

“Because this is an ancient ruin.”

“So?”

“There are traps.”

Adrian looked offended. “You think I’d fall for another trap?”

All three slowly looked upward.

The rope from the previous trap still dangled from Adrian’s ankle.

The teenager sighed. “Fine. That’s fair.”

Kael released him, then he began studying the room.

Every treasure vault possessed protection mechanisms. Every ancient civilization did the same thing.

The problem was finding them.

The walls contained dozens of strange symbols. Ancient runes, hidden triggers and complicated mechanisms.

Kael crouched beside one of them.

His eyes narrowed.

Arcturus Vale’s teachings covered military history, logistics, strategy, and architecture.

Some of those lessons suddenly became useful.

“The western wall controls the central mechanism,” Kael muttered.

“What does that mean?” Adrian asked.

“It means don’t touch anything.”

Gareth nodded.

“Good advice.”

Adrian nodded too, then immediately touched something.

A loud click echoed through the chamber.

Everyone froze.

Nothing happened.

Adrian smiled. “See?”

Then a hidden compartment opened beside him. Inside sat a pouch filled with silver coins.

Kael, Gareth, and Adrian stared at the newly revealed compartment, and after several long moments, the teenager could only blink in disbelief.

“I….. I did that accidentally.”

"Of course you did."

"I feel like nobody appreciates how impressive that is."

"Nobody does."

The old hunter began laughing.

Kael returned to studying the walls. Surely that had been coincidence, it had to be.

Ten minutes later he was still analyzing a complex puzzle carved into a stone pillar.

Ancient symbols covered the surface. Rotating pieces, hidden patterns.

A complicated locking mechanism.

Kael carefully adjusted one section after another, methodically working through the puzzle as his frustration steadily grew when the mechanism stubbornly refused to open.

Beside him, Adrian wandered around the chamber. Then he leaned against a random wall.

A deep rumble echoed throughout the chamber.

Kael froze.

The wall slid open.

A secret passage appeared. The puzzle immediately unlocked itself.

Gareth nearly fell over laughing and Kael slowly turned toward Adrian.

The teenager looked horrified.

“I didn’t mean to.”

"How?"

"I don't know."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have."

Gareth wiped tears from his eyes.

“This might be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Kael was beginning to question reality itself.

Every rule of treasure hunting had apparently surrendered the moment Adrian entered the ruin.

The rest of the exploration continued exactly as badly.

Adrian accidentally avoided pressure plates. Accidentally discovered hidden compartments.

Accidentally found valuable materials.

At one point he tripped and the fall revealed another hidden cache.

Kael was no longer surprised.

He was simply tired, the true disaster emerged when Gareth started encouraging him.

"What happens if you pull that lever?"

Adrian squinted at it.

"I don't think I should."

"Neither do I."

Adrian looked at him.

"Then why did you ask?"

"Curiosity."

Adrian pulled the lever.

Nothing exploded instead, another treasure compartment opened.

Gareth laughed.

Hours later, after searching most of the chamber, they finally reached the central platform.

Unlike the surrounding treasure, this section remained untouched.

Ancient stone pillars surrounded a raised pedestal. 

Resting upon it was a small silver crystal that emitted a faint glow, causing Kael’s expression to change the moment he saw it. 

He recognized the artifact not from history or books, but from the future itself.

The artifact was called the Echo Crystal.

An extremely rare relic capable of storing memories, messages, and fragments of knowledge.

Even in Kael’s previous life, these relics were nearly impossible to find.

Slowly, he approached the pedestal while the crystal remained still.

Adrian peered over his shoulder.

“It looks expensive.”

“It is.”

"Can we sell it?"

"No."

"What if we really need money?"

"Still no."

"What if we need a lot of money?"

Kael slowly looked at him.

"How much money do you think this thing is worth?"

Adrian considered it.

"Enough to make me ask stupid questions."

The world was full of unreasonable people. Kael carefully reached forward.

The moment his fingers touched the crystal, silver light flashed across the chamber.

Everyone stepped back.

The artifact floated into the air. Ancient energy swirled around it.

Kael frowned, this wasn’t supposed to happen.

The crystal rotated slowly, its light intensified then it turned toward Adrian.

Adrian pointed at himself.

"Why is it looking at me?"

Nobody answered.

Adrian pointed at himself.

"I would like the record to show that I did absolutely nothing."

Gareth folded his arms.

"That's never stopped trouble before."

The crystal suddenly pulsed.

Once, twice, three times. 

Then a beam of silver light shot directly toward Adrian Falk.