The friends stood in a broad hallway with doors on both sides. It was surprisingly quiet. Suddenly a young girl in the clothes of a student came around the corner at a crossing up front.
"Oh no. Oh no. I'm late."
Carrying two books she ran past the friends with a worried expression, running into one of the doors.
"Watch out!"
Balm was surprised, shouting a warning. But the young student didn't react. As she was just about to collide with the door, the wood suddenly blurred and disappeared, revealing the view at a big classroom. As soon as the student entered, the door reappeared.
Cyclone snorted, earning her an angry glare from Balm. The blond mage quickly explained:
"Don't worry, I'm only laughing because I made the exact same mistake the first time I came here."
"I am not surprised. Who would expect the doors to be illusions?", said Radiant Shield.
"Why even have doors in the first place? Seems unnecessary."
"Perhaps so you know where to go? If it were only walls, how would you find the illusion?"
"Well…"
The friends conversed a bit more, joking about the doors and marvelling at the extraordinary academy. It didn't take long until they reached the crossing in the hallway where the young student came from earlier. To the front were some broad stairs leading up to the second floor, while the right and left led to more classrooms before turning another corner.
Cyclone glanced at the compass and led her friends to the front. But after setting a foot on the first stair she suddenly stopped.
"Wait! The needle changed!"
"What? Why would it change? Did it switch targets?"
"I don't think so. I guess we went past our target?"
Cyclone's forehead wrinkled as she turned around. She retraced her steps, coming back to the crossing. A moment later the needle suddenly turned again.
Eyes lighting up Cyclone began to walk in small circles within the crossing, figuring something out:
"It's here! The compass points towards this spot!"
The rest of the friends also came back. Balm joined Cyclone, walking in circles together with her while trying to solve the puzzle:
"I don't think we are met with an illusion again. But there is no void here. So, it is either above or below us! However, here, the hallway has no ceiling below the third floor, creating an open gallery. But we also don't see any stairs going down towards a basement. So… where should we go?"
Cyclone and Balm were both brooding. Studying their surroundings they spotted no immediate clue. However, not far away an old man was sitting on a bench. With a pointy hat and long beard, he looked like the stereotypical mage. His eyes were focused on a book, looking deeply focused.
Hesitating for a moment Cyclone still decided to disturb him. She stepped up to the mage, speaking carefully:
"Sorry. Sir. Can I ask you a quick question please?"
"Huh?"
The old man only reacted after a second looking around before stopping his eyes on Cyclone. Noticing her robes he immediately showed the smile of a benevolent teacher:
"Child, what do you need? If you have a question about magic, you found the right person! I, Three-star professor Zeuv Ferann, am known far and wide for my wisdom!"
The old man stroked his beard, seemingly very pleased with himself. Cyclone nodded thankfully, hiding her sceptical feelings.
"Thank you. You see, professor, we have a very important mission. Someone tasked us with finding objects related to the void and we have a strong clue that there is one here in the academy."
When Cyclone stopped speaking, she could see how the old man's face gradually soured. Her thoughts moved and she hastily added:
"This is all perfectly legal, of course! We don't have any bad intentions! We even defeated a void dweller!"
Luckily, the professor's expression improved again but he still shook his head.
"You have to be mistaken, child. There can't be anything related to the void in the academy."
"Really? But… our compass says so."
"Well, I don't know how accurate your compass is. The academy used to experiment with void-related items, but the headmaster has prohibited these experiments a few years ago. Perhaps there are still some traces of void energy in the walls, but it would be too minute to cause any danger."
"Ahh. And where were these experiments held? Can we take a look?"
"I don't think you will be able to find anything. But these experiments were held in the laboratories below us. You can try your luck."
"Thank you very much, professor! One last question though… How do we get to the laboratories?"
"Oh, just follow the hallway. Take the last door to the right. You will find a staircase."
"Thank you!"
Cyclone smiled brightly, greatly thankful. She turned back towards her friends, who showed her a few thumb-ups. Liam was glad to see that his friends knew how to figure these things out by themselves, showing that their game sense was improving.
Next, the party followed the professor's instructions. They went left at the crossing, turned another corner and walked towards the end of the hallway. They approached the door, which disappeared upon contact and revealed a spiralling staircase.
"I don't know if I can get used to those doors…"
Silent Acacia mumbled under his breath while following the others. Their footsteps echoed from the stone walls as they went down. Soon, they reached the lower floor. Here, there was one main corridor branching off into many smaller ones.
The friends followed the compass. They walked along the main corridor for a bit until the needle began to move. After a few tests they determined that the needle kept pointing towards the centre of the floor.
Walking around for a bit longer Liam and his friends realized that there was only a single door leading to their target, coming from the main corridor. This wouldn't have been a problem if the door wasn't blocked by a guard.
The situation made the friends a bit sceptical. Why would the door be blocked? Did it hide a secret?
Cyclone narrowed her eyes as she whispered to her friends:
"What should we do? Do we need to fight?"
"I would advise against it…", answered Quickstep with a solemn voice.
"Why?"
"Have you checked its status?"
Cyclone shook her head, quickly doing so. She wrinkled her face reading the information.
[Greater Golem Guardian
Rank: ???
Level: ???
HP: ???/???]
Approaching level fifty the players had a feeling that they were getting closer to the truly powerful ranks. Thus, it was quite shocking that a seemingly simple golem was of such a high level that the players couldn't even see it.
With a body made from stone the golem sat on his butt, leaning his back against the door. He had his legs folded, knees close to his body. Together with his slightly dull face he even looked a little cute. But to the friends he appeared to be an insurmountable obstacle.
After pondering for a bit Balm came up with the simplest solution:
"Why don't we just ask him to let us through?"
"Well… it's worth a try. He shouldn't attack us straight away, right?"
The friends quickly came to a decision. Since the golem was of such a high level, though, they put security first and sent Silver Blade with her charisma. The female tank didn't show any fear as she approached the golem.
"Hello!"
"Greetings… little nephilim…"
The golem's voice was slow, and it contained a hint of kindness, greatly easing the party's worries.
"Mister golem guardian. We are a group of adventurers on a very important mission to fight the void, and we have clues that there might be void energy in the room behind you. Would it be possible to let us take a look?"
"I am… guarding this door."
"Yes. Exactly. And it would be great if you could just go a few steps to the side. What do you say?"
"No."
Silver Blade blinked, not expecting the golem to reject her so straightforwardly.
"Well… is there anything we could do for you? You could let us pass in exchange. We are expert adventurers, we will accomplish whatever quest you hand us!"
"No… no quests. Too weak…"
"So… we need to come back stronger?"
"Yes… want a quest from me? You need to be much… stronger. But why… do you want a quest from me?"
"Didn't I say that? I hoped you might let us in, like in exchange… you know."
"But if you want to enter… you only need… a visitor pass."
Silver Blade was taken aback, seeking confirmation:
"A visitor pass? That's a thing?"
"Naturally. Get a… rank three visitor pass and I… will let you in."
"Great! Where do we get that pass?"
"I think… ask High Professor Atrol of Belfhi."
Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up. An image of a kind old man in plain robes came to their minds. High Professor Atrol was no stranger to them! He was the person handing out the quests in front of the third dungeon!