Oolong and the Acid Trap

As Ryan stepped into the rightmost fork, a sudden intuition struck him. That sensation of being secretly watched and scrutinized surged once more. Ever since he had entered the ruins, Ryan had been plagued by this strange feeling. He had initially dismissed it as a mere illusion, but now, as the group separated, this uncomfortable sense of déjà vu grew increasingly intense.

Ryan continued to walk forward steadily, feigning indifference. He swung his hand naturally to signal the half-elf ranger behind him, while simultaneously reaching into his sleeve to retrieve a scroll from his Traveler Space, clutching it firmly in his palm.

Passing a corner as if nothing were amiss, Ryan tore open the "Dispel Invisibility" scroll. He unleashed this spell—the bane of every thief—and simultaneously flicked his Cold Iron Staff. With the aid of the perfect-grade sapphire set at its tip, he cast a massive orb of light, shooting it toward the corner where he felt that lingering sense of unease. Having done this, Ryan quickly chanted an incantation, his Magic Missile—a spell with a guaranteed hit effect—ready to be unleashed.

Jelona, behind Ryan, had already notched an arrow onto her longbow. The taut string was drawn like a full moon as she aimed cautiously at the spot illuminated by Ryan's light spell. At such close range, Jelona was confident that no matter how agile a thief might be, they could not dodge her armor-piercing, stone-shattering shot.

Yet, a scene that made Ryan feel incredibly awkward unfolded. The white orb of light clinging to the corner of the corridor emitted a soft yet bright glow, revealing every speck of dust on the surrounding walls and floor, but there was not a single soul in sight. The effect of "Dispel Invisibility" had already taken hold, yet there was absolutely no movement.

Startled by the series of actions from Ryan and Jelona, the dwarf and the barbarian tightened their grips on their great shields and weapons, looking around nervously. The dwarf spoke up, asking Ryan, "What happened? Where is the enemy?"

Ryan's mouth twitched slightly, leaving him between laughter and tears. The air seemed thick with an awkward atmosphere. The handsome, blonde-haired youth stared at the empty corner of the stone wall, feeling so embarrassed he could practically dig a duplex villa into the floor with his toes.

Just then, Jelona also cast a puzzled glance at Ryan, who was staring blankly at the smooth stone wall. Ryan had no choice but to snap out of his self-doubt; he had to bravely face the humiliating reality he could not escape.

He canceled the magic in his hand, gave an awkward smile, and said, "It's nothing. I might just be too sensitive; I overreacted a bit."

Hearing this, the dwarf, who had been on high alert, and the barbarian warrior, who had been ready to fight, lowered their weapons and let out a sigh of relief. The blunt dwarf said without a second thought, "You scared me, Ryan. Don't be so nervous. Although this is your first time exploring ruins, rest assured, we are professionals. Next time, don't just tear up a scroll; it's too expensive!"

On the continent of Faerûn, spellcasting professionals are revered as "Mage Lords." These powerful individuals, who master the mysteries of the elements, wantonly alter the forms of matter, peer into the wonders of the planes, and create profound miracles, truly live up to that title.

However, that is the stature reserved for high-ranking or legendary figures. Most low-level casters are still struggling with the exorbitant costs of learning arcane magic.

While magic is wondrous and profound, it adheres strictly to the principle of "you get what you pay for." Tossing out a single Magic Missile scroll costs thirty Gold Talons, and that is merely the price for a basic first-circle spell. If one were to copy and learn from a spell model scroll, the price would multiply several times over.

Of course, some are deterred by such high costs and turn to the path of the cleric or druid. After all, divine magic is still the power of spells, isn't it? But those who think this way are still too young. Learning cleric skills requires various rituals to please the gods, and whether it is the "Blessing of the Gods" ritual or the "Gift of Nature" festival, you can forget about it without at least 500 Gold Talons for materials.

Naturally, if you join a temple and choose to worship a deity, the cost of learning will indeed be partially covered by the temple, but a single ritual still requires around 300 Gold Talons, which is by no means a small sum.

Regarding this situation, Ryan silently quoted the famous saying of a mysterious big shot from his previous life: "Pay to play, or don't play at all."

This was why the dwarf shield-bearer felt such heartache over Ryan wasting a "Dispel Invisibility" scroll. Even though it wasn't his own money, watching Ryan decisively burn through a large sum of Gold Talons made the dwarf feel that throwing the money into the water just to hear a splash would have been more meaningful.

Ryan nodded to acknowledge the dwarf and took out a new scroll to hold in his hand.

Though Ryan was usually frugal, counting every penny and firmly believing that even a mosquito's leg had meat on it, he still retained the traditional thriftiness of his ancient homeland deep in his bones. However, when it came to his own life, Ryan would never be careless. No matter how precious something was, it had to be used when necessary; what use was money if you were dead?

The reason Ryan favored spell scrolls was precisely because they saved spell slots and allowed for the casting of spells without the need for tedious and complex procedures. As a "hamster-like" collector and a squishy mage-alchemist, Ryan felt he was well-prepared with consumables.

The dwarf watched Ryan's actions, his hand tightening on his lush beard. He was speechless at Ryan's spendthrift behavior, but before he could speak, he was interrupted by the half-elf ranger at his side.

Jelona looked at Ryan with a hint of worry and concern. Understanding that Ryan would not act without reason, she shared his concerns and cut off the dwarf's grumbling to get to the point: "Alright, Ryan is just being safe. Let's be careful from here on out. Let's continue moving forward; we shouldn't let those people from the Mages Guild get ahead of us."

Especially that annoying red-haired woman, Jelona added silently in her heart.

Ryan checked the wall and floor illuminated by the Light Spell, confirming that he might, perhaps, have truly been overly suspicious and sensitive. Suppressing the unease in his heart, he agreed with Jelona and stood up to move forward once more.

As the Light Spell was canceled, the stone walls of the corridor returned to the gloom.

Once the group had walked far away, a strange, large eyeball emerged from the top of the smooth stone wall in the darkness. The massive black pupil rotated a few times, looking at the departing figures of the mages, as if mocking them in silence.

As they delved deeper into the fork, the eerie atmosphere grew more intense.

Jelona breathed a sigh of relief when a steel gate appeared at the end of the path. Located deep within the dark, gloomy corridors of the mountain range, the environment felt particularly oppressive to the half-elf who had grown up in the forest. She constantly felt as if the rock layers above her head might suddenly collapse, and the narrow space restricted the ranger's movements. Now that this grueling journey was about to end, the half-elf relaxed, but just as she was about to step forward, Ryan stopped her.

"Wait, something is wrong." The blonde youth's brows furrowed slightly as he stared at the floor in front of the door, deep in thought.

"According to the lessons learned from my years of playing various Souls-like RPGs and the experience gained from various adventure logs, there is a 90% chance of a 'door-opening kill' or some nasty trap in a place like this," Ryan muttered to himself while rubbing his smooth chin.

Jelona looked at the thoughtful Ryan, confused. Just as she was about to ask, she saw Ryan begin to chant an incantation to cast a spell.

Following a surge of magical fluctuations, several spots on the floor in front of the iron gate and on the walls beside it began to glow with magical fluorescence. Ryan revealed a satisfied smile and laughed happily: "Hahaha, as expected, where there is a bottleneck, there is a trap. Thanks for the training, Old Man Miyazaki."

Ryan observed the traps before him with great interest. He used a spell to summon an Unseen Servant and commanded it to carry a heavy stone onto the trap.

As the Unseen Servant stepped into the trap's range, a green liquid sprayed rapidly from the wall facing them, completely engulfing the Unseen Servant in the splash zone.

A "hissing" sound followed as the highly corrosive liquid eroded the Unseen Servant and the stone it held, causing ripples of distortion. The Unseen Servant could no longer maintain its form and was dispelled, leaving behind a stone pitted with corrosion and many uneven little holes in the surrounding ground.

Ryan smacked his lips, looking at the trap before him, grateful for his own caution. Otherwise, an Acid Trap of this power could easily have caused the team to suffer heavy injuries or even casualties.

Traps, the bane of all adventurers, were common in various ruin explorations. Many traps were designed with an adult's body weight as the trigger standard.

There were two types of designs for acid traps: one involved setting up a magic circle that released an acid arrow when an adventurer stepped on the spot, and the other was a physical trap that used a trigger device to fire refined acid stored in a mechanism once someone tripped it. What Ryan and his group had encountered was the former.

It was precisely for this reason that every mature adventurer team had an experienced and skilled thief. They relied on their professional intuition to judge whether a trap existed. However, the probability of low-level thieves discovering traps was tragically low, and even if they did, not every thief was proficient in the skills required to disarm them. Every year, countless scouts and thieves died after discovering traps but failing to disarm them.

Therefore, in the world of adventurers, a skilled, battle-hardened, and experienced thief was always a welcome presence. If they happened to be a light-footed halfling, that was even better.

Of course, if—and I mean if—your team had a "Mage Lord" capable of casting the "Detect Traps" spell, you could treat everything said above as nonsense. Mage Lords are the gods of all!

PS: Could everyone please help like Ryan and Yefalin? I want to get Ryan's official account soon. Thank you all, love you guys.