Klara D-Rank Heliohapt Job: Ruins and Language

Spoiler:

Klara arrived at the gate. Her next job was something a bit more fun than hunting sandworms. So apparently there were people who could read the ancient picture text of the people who used to rule these lands. It was no god language, but just one lost to history. They called themselves the Historical Society and Klara was just plain giddy with excitement under her white hooded cloak. It was a shame that she did not have the courage to ask to officially join them. Looking through temples and stuff seemed like a complete blast. The only reason she was able to take the job was because a flier was posted due to them not having enough capable adventurer bodies. Pointing to a flier was a lot easier than asking to join a group.
134/500

The girl was not the only person here. Apparently two other people were tasked to join her. Two older teens, one boy and the other a girl. The boy wore large glasses and had a shield on his back while the girl held a mace. Klara wondered if they were adventurers but the two were quick to correct her. They both were researchers. The boy studied languages and the girl was a healer who studied topics such as anatomy, pharmaceutical sciences, and other big words that Klara did not know. Though Klara kept her mouth shut regarding asking what those things were. She did not want to look dumber than she probably already did and lower her own value. Also, the wanderer already warned her about the murdering of curious cats… though maybe that was a lie.
271/500

With their brief introduction of qualifications out the way, there was no time to talk any further. Klara thought it was a bit rude to not share names but that's how people were when they did not value you. With a pout hidden under her hood, she led the way holding on to her staff with a bag of travel provisions. Her job was to get them to the Temple safely so the boy could translate and identify things of value to take back. The girl was there to take care of any injuries should something bad happen. In other words, their weapons were decoration and Klara was going to be the only combatant. She did not mind but… she hoped their ego did not get in the way.
400/500

The place they were heading to was called the Pyramid of Tutankhamun. Klara mumbled the name multiple times to try and get the pronunciation correct but it was pretty difficult and she was getting nervous about the other two chastising her for it. It was not fair that they probably had years no… centuries of practice while she just only heard of it. Fortunately for her, she was still in the lead so the “researchers” couldn’t see her pouting. They spoke about various things about the Pharaoh which Klara did her best to try and follow. Their vocabulary was much larger than hers and sometimes they went into rants which sounded like gibberish but one thing was for certain. Despite how valuable one must have been to get a pyramid, he did not seem like a great guy.

538/500

It took 5 days to reach the pyramid. One day was lost to a sandstorm but otherwise they moved slowly in order to properly track their location while traveling through the desert. While the two teens knew “how” to travel through the desert, Klara’s expertises overshine their knowledge in this area and the girl was proud to not only bring value to this “team” but to also keep the two eager researchers in line and from rushing them to a slow death of being lost in the desert. It also felt good to speak over them and assert herself given their constant gloating. Though, she had to suffer being called the stupid nickname of Merc. It was not technically wrong but well… she felt like she could bring more to this team than a sword. She had a name… It had value.

680/500

The pyramid was quite large. It probably would take her an hour to scale the giant 3D triangle assuming she had good footing. What made it even more amazing, that the pyramid’s base was under the sand. Klara could not help but whistle as she tried to take it all in. This experience was clearly going to bring value to her life and add another page to her story of achievements. Now the next question was how to get in. It would not take long before one of the teens uncovers the doorway. It probably helped that he could actually read but Klara would not allow such a boring reason in her tale.

793/500

There was a block that, when pressed, released a mechanism. However the entrance would not open. Be it from the sand outside or just how old the pyramid was, it was stuck and they needed some muscle. Being a Fanalis, Klara started cracking her knuckles with a shit eating grin. The older girl rolled her eyes, not wanting to admit Klara’s value again. With a couple grunts and a deep breath. Klara managed to push open the block but there was a problem. The block was not catching or locking into place. As soon as she released it, it would close.

894/500

The two teens asked how long she could keep the door open and Klara gave it another shove. Despite how long she could, she was not going to stay here all day. They needed to figure something out. The two agreed as they did not want to enter any combat with anything dangerous, like poisonous snakes. Klara nearly lost her focus with the comment but just shouted at them to hurry up. The two rushed in and started scanning the room. After about a minute, Klara readied another complaint but before she could get to the second sentence, the older girl brought out a large piece of a stone pillar.

1004/500

The guy started pondering out loud about if the stone would keep the block from closing. Klara asked what would happen if the door closed in on them. The girl let out a grim prophecy of darkness, starvation, and betrayal. Klara felt a sudden well of energy spout out of her but she was coached to trust the plan and slowly let the block close. Even if it broke through the stone and locked them in, they would easily find a way out. If all else failed, they had brute force. Eventually Klara let go and tested her own fate. The stone pillar cracked but it kept the river of sunlight flowing.

1116/500

Their idea worked, and the girl was quick to remind Klara about her qualifications. Klara rolled her eyes, remembering the people she was dealing with and how she should be more conservative with any compliments. It really sucked too as exploration and discovery were probably her favorite things in the world and this was going to be the coolest thing she had ever done. All of that was being tainted by 2 egotistical older teens. They should be more humble like her. Either way, it was time to move forward and explore. Klara pulled out a torch from her sack and then sparked it into a small blaze. Then she started the march.

1229/500

The inside of the pyramid was best described as uncomfortable. The air was stuffy and barely breathable. Any bad step multiplied this discomfort as clouds of hibernating dust rushed into the air to assault your lungs. This was a lesson Klara had to learn the hard way and after about the third time, Klara wised up to pull out her desert scarf. The other two already had some sort of face protection though it did not hide their light giggling and small taunts. Like sure, the girl should have known better but who could think about such small things when discovery was at one's fingertips.

1334/500

The path would slowly dip down into a small slope. Klara would signal such, as they moved but deep inside her mind, she felt like the two already knew this or were whispering something stupid to taunt her. It was best not to worry about that as she was on a job but... the urge to look back was there. They would reach a fork in the path. One was a stairwell leading up... obviously... and the other was the slope down. It was at this point that they needed a plan. Though there was one concern all three had.

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That one thing was traps. Klara romanticized the idea of something happening like a big rock falling behind them and hidden darts flying out of the walls. Then she could pull them across and dodge everything before pulling them over a hole of snakes. However her story was filled with thousands of holes. For one thing, such a large rock would probably crush her along with any other valuable things in the place. The second thing was that if a dart was shot out randomly, she would probably get hit since she would not have time to react. Third, any snake pit would be filled with dead snakes.

1542/500

Klara was very disappointed in all of those points. She was confident in her abilities, her strength, her experience, and her value to this team. No rock, dart, or dead snake would stop that but she was brushed off. The "traps" they were worried about were trap doors, falling ceilings, or just age making parts of the pyramid unstable. Klara questioned the definition of traps which the two quickly debated over. Supposably she was right but then they reminded her of that entrance and how it tried to close on them and lock them in. Given the resistance, that would be a trap.

1645/500

Klara froze for a moment. She never thought about the entrance being a trap. A small fire burned in her chest as she did her best to contain her excitement in front of her two worst critics. The two critics were growing impatient with the talk and began pushing Klara to resume walking. Klara's gears were spinning though. Cycling through the bloat of stories the wanderer told her, she knew there was something in there that was haunting her, begging her to wait and hold the duo back. After all, if the entrance was a trap... then was this truly the way in?

1709/500

The three looked at each other for the first time as equal people without an answer, but discovery did not await those who idled in fear of the unknown. Treasure did not appear of those who did not take risk. Value was not given to those who dared not to succeed. The girl still could not shake the feeling though. However, she started leading the way down until a cloud of dust fell around them. The older girl mentioned a rumbling which slowly spread to the boy. Klara heard a crack from below. Unfortunately, it was too late for any more words.

1811/500

Klara wanted to call the researchers name to better coordinate but their ego combined with her stubbornness had them skip introductions. So she had to do her best to make up a nickname for them. Unfortunately for her, she was not mentally capable to do so and employed her own plan to keep them safe. Two ropes filled her hands but she froze from her tied tongue. The male teen realized the girl was trying to do something but he did understand why. That was until he looked down and saw the cracks in the ground. Unlike Klara, he was able to properly communicate.

1915/500

The first order went out. Klara was directed to throw the rope. This caught the female teenager's attention where she bounced between Klara and her own surroundings. She could not identify the issue and there was no time for explanations. Klara threw the two ropes. The boy caught it but before the girl could catch it, the cracking grew louder. More dust flew into the air but now small stones from the ceiling  met the dirty air before punching down on the ground blocking the rope from reaching the girl. The boy screamed for his sister and reached out to her.

2017/500

The ground under the female teen splintered off and Klara was forced to keep her grip on the boy's lifeline less he joined her. The ground was beginning to crumble. A powerful tug pulled him back and put him on his ass. Klara threw him onto her shoulder and sprinted down the unknown path. She did not stop for his screaming, his demands, nor his threats. If they were going to get out alive or even save his sister, they needed to stay alive. The man did not want to hear it however, Klara knew it was her inability to act that caused this. So, she just had to fix it. She had to show her value.


2135/500

Klara continued to descend until the path led onto a wall. The two looked at each other and then looked at the crumbling path. They managed to put some distance between the crumbling floor but it was still crawling towards them. So in a last ditch effort, Klara ran back up the hallway. She was not sure what would happen but she thought that if she could break the floor before the crack could reach them, maybe that would prevent the spreading. There was a possibility that it would only cause more of the floor to crumble but they had no other options.

2238/500

The girl raised her leg and then stomped out, pushing the edge of her foot toward the direction of the crack. Cracks spread under here but the ground beyond her foot crumbled and fell through. The crack that chased them stopped. They were safe but now what were they going to do next? Looking behind her, she saw the brother running up behind her terrified. There was no ego, no overconfidence, no calm demeanor. Only panic filled his face. Seeing Klara was fine did not lessen this though. After all, they still had an emergency objective. It was time to rescue the sister.

2341/500

In order to do this, they needed to combine their strengths. Klara grabbed the brother and forced him to look at her. Pulling her hood down, she looked him in the eye. She was not a researcher nor was she experienced in how pyramids actually worked. He however was. He needed to calm down and think about what just happened. He needed to come up with a plan so they could push forward to save his sister. She had the heavy lifting taken care of. This story needed a happy ending for it to have the value she wanted after all.

2442/500

The boy had no qualms with saying how stupid the girl sounded. Klara puffed her cheeks with the bitter sweet moment. Clearly he had not given up on his ego nor saving his sister. He pulled out a knife and started drawing on the ground. Based on what happened, he deduced that they did not run into a trap. Instead, it was just badly supported floors that weakened from wear and tear. It was possible that this hallway could have been storage as they passed a stairwell heading upward. Another theory was that this was a hidden entrance which could explain why it was so poorly secured.

2549/500

Klara nodded pointlessly. She had no understanding of why most of this mattered but it was a bit disappointing that this was not a trap and instead was just shoddy design, but a person's life was more important than a cool story. Still, Klara wondered why differentiating between being a trap or not mattered. The brother let out a sigh and started pushing Klara to the edge she made. The difference was this. If this was a trap, his sister would be in a situation designed to kill her. With a shoddy design, it was possible she was trapped in another room.

2651/500

Klara gave a more confident nod so the brother continued. Drawing in the sand, he made a triangle and a small circle representing the entrance. Klara immediately became confused as she did not remember climbing up the pyramid. They were at the bottom. The brother sighed and drew the sand as a line leading Klara to realize that the pyramid was buried. The brother resisted the urge to slow clap and resumed his point. With how easy the floor crumbled, it was possible that there was a really large floor under them. They had to find a way to that floor.

2752/500