章 253: Thief-ery

"W-what in Oblivion was that!?" Medresi exclaims, unsure if she could believe what she'd just seen.

Michael shrugs, "Magic?"

The Dark Elf quickly shakes her head, "No! There's no magic that I know of that could do any of that!..." she turns to the girls, "For any of you! You didn't even channel Magicka!? Is it those wands?" she asks, attempting to snatch at one, only for Michael to grab the annoying woman's arm and pull them away from the girls. "Keep your hands to yourself, or you'll be going home empty-handed, literally. I will cut your hands off." he warns, causing her ashen skin to pale slightly as she backs away. "As for our abilities? I doubt you know of every magic in existence, so get over yourself and stop asking questions."

...

He turns away from the shocked and still angry-looking Dunmer and towards Tiffania and Illococoo, "As for you two?" he rests a hand on their heads and messes up their hair, "Good job!"

The girls smile at his praise, none stopping him from patting their heads as a typical woman would.

With that, the group heads deeper into the dungeon, walking out into a large room that had a few collapsed doors, and three intact doors barred with large metal spikes. It looked as if some mechanism would lower them, but, it'd probably lead to some wild goose chase through a labyrinth... Michael was well aware of how dungeons were laid out in Skyrim... There's a front exit, which would force you to go through the entire thing, fighting hoards of undead and dodging traps... Or the back exit, which would lead directly to the 'boss room'.

The trio walk over to the biggest and most grand barred door, it being the most obvious way forward. Medresi was already grumbling under her breath, "Damned Nords, couldn't just have my treasure laid out, ready and waiting for me?"

Michael chuckles at her words, "Well, if it were that easy then someone else would have taken it by now. Still, I'm not taking the long way around this place." he says, summoning the Book of Heroes and opening the inventory, pulling out a steel chisel, lock picks and other tools he'd been taught to use by Riki.

He could probably just Blink to the other side of the barred door, but that'd leave the others here waiting for him. He doubted anyone, especially Medresi, would allow that... Not without throwing a tantrum at least.

He walks over to the side of the barred door and uses the chisel to tap the stones comprising the wall. He does this for a couple of minutes until he feels a faint difference compared to the rest. He nods to himself and starts hammering the chisel with a mallet, steadily breaking away the stone.

The others watch as shards of stone come away bit by bit, until eventually the chisel breaks through into some sort of hollow area. Michael takes a peek inside, his new [Legacy of the Tahlin] skill granting him good enough dark vision to see inside.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." he murmurs to himself, quickly identifying the mechanism... It was akin to a pneumatic piston that would hold up the spikes while magical energy was powered through it. Well, kinda, channelling magical energy through it would lower the spikes, meaning if the mechanism were ever damaged or turned off, the spikes wouldn't be able to be lowered.

And, it just so happened that his chiselling had damaged a part of it, severing its connection to wherever the switch was... Fortunately, there was an easy fix to this. He shoves his hand inside and channels magic through it causing the spikes to lower, he waves his companions inside, "Go one, I'll join you once you're through."

Once they were through, he lets go of the mechanism, causing the spikes to raise and the girls to panic... Only for him to just Blink through the bars to join them. "See? Easy."

Again, Medresi looked like she had some questions, none of which he would be willing to answer, which she probably saw on his face... So she just stays quiet as they walk through the double doors, entering into a small room with a treasure chest sitting at the end of it.

The Dark Elf's face beams as she begins unconsciously stepping towards it, "Finally! My treasure!" she exclaims, only for Michael to shove her to the side just as she stands on a floor trap.

A circular part of the floor where Medresi had been standing rises, punching into the roof where large spikes had been positioned to skewer anyone standing on it. The trap doesn't lower once activated however, which was good considering the entrance to the real trap room was under the raised platform.

"A-are you alright?" Tiffania asks as she helps the Dark Elf to her feet, the woman visibly trembling as she looks up at the ceiling.

"Y-you saved me... Thank you..." she says, sending a grateful look at Michael.

Michael just shrugs at her however, walking around to the treasure chest that'd almost gotten the woman killed. He opens it and barely holds back his laughter as he sees what's inside. "You almost died... For two gold..."

...

Medresi shuffles over to it and places a hand over her mouth as examines the contents of the chest, her skin taking a particularly green tint, as if she were about to vomit.

"I'd ask if it was worth it, but I think we already know the answer to that." he says, leaving the woman to brood as he, Tiffania, and Illococoo descend down the spiralling stairs into the true treasure room.

Once at the bottom, the trio is greeted by a large long room with a familiar wall at the end of it, another stone coffin sitting below it...