Metal groaned. The massive vault door rumbled, gears grinding as it slowly began to open. Ben and Elvira exchanged glances. Ben clicked his tongue. "Tch. Annoying bastard." A bitter feeling settled in his chest. The way things ended didn't sit right with him. He felt like they were just being toyed with. "So this is how those so-called caretaker ruins go?" His voice carried a trace of frustration. "Feels like it's just playing with us."
Both of them knew the truth. That knight could have kept fighting. Worse, it was getting stronger. That eerie energy alone was enough to set off every warning in Ben's mind. Mocking gestures aside, it was clear something wasn't right. Elvira, deep in thought, spoke after a moment. "That energy… it feels similar to the one coming from your artifact."
Ben frowned. He pulled out his pickaxe, scrutinizing it from every angle. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find anything that resembled what the knight had released. After a few more seconds, he sighed and dissipated the weapon, shifting his gaze toward the vault. "Forget it. Let's see what kind of reward we're getting first." The more he thought about it, the more confusing it got. No point in wasting time. He would focus on what was in front of him.
Elvira, however, wasn't ready to let it go. A strange curiosity burned inside her. That knight's last action… it wasn't something simple. It didn't feel like some pre-programmed response. "What do you think about its last gesture?" she asked.
Ben raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what a thumbs-down and middle finger mean?"
Elvira shook her head.
Ben was about to say something, but then realization hit him. It actually made sense. Completely different culture. Different species. No reason for them to know something like that. "I've never read anything about those," Elvira admitted. "But I feel like it was trying to communicate with you."
Ben snorted. Remembering the gesture only reignited his frustration. His teeth ground together. "He was mocking me," he muttered. "Basically, he thinks my fighting strength is trash. That I only survived because of luck. Next time we meet, he's gonna make sure to show me how strong he really is."
Elvira blinked. "That much from just two gestures?" The way she looked at him was more amazement than doubt. Two simple motions, and Ben had pieced together an entire message. For her, it was something fascinating.
As an Aetheris, her race had never struggled with communication. They used telepathy as naturally as breathing, sending thoughts through magic. Gestures, subtle body language—they had little use for such things. Her people's communication had remained unchanged for generations. It wasn't something she had ever questioned. "Doesn't that mean he stopped not because of his will but something else?"
Ben gave a small nod. "That's what I'm thinking." He crossed his arms, his gaze lingering on the space where the knight had vanished. "Just a theory, but maybe that thing wasn't just some mindless guardian. Maybe there was a soul in there, something with its own personality. Could be artificial, something man-made like a Ai… or it could've been an actual human soul."
Elvira frowned, absorbing his words. "A soul?"
"Yeah," Ben said, rubbing his chin. "Those cube monsters… they fuse together to form bodies, right? If that knight was made from them, then whatever 'will' it had was probably bound to this ruin."
A thoughtful silence stretched between them before Elvira tilted her head. "What is an 'AI'?"
Ben blinked. "You don't know what AI is?"
Elvira shook her head. "It's not a term I've ever encountered."
Ben exhaled, clicking his tongue. "AI is like… an artificial mind. A machine that thinks, but not really. It follows orders, acts like it's alive, but it's just programmed responses. Some can learn, adapt, even feel like they have emotions, but at the end of the day, they're not real. Just code and instructions."
Elvira's brows furrowed. "So… like a golem's core?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah, kinda. You know how you can program a golem's core with attack patterns to make it move the way you want? It's the same idea, but instead of magic, it's done with lines of code and electrical signals." He paused, then added, "Probably capable of more complex stuff too." Elvira's reaction made him realize something. Golems in her world weren't capable of true adaptability. They could only follow pre-determined tasks, running commands like a mindless machine with no ability to adjust on their own.
Elvira's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "That sounds fascinating. How does it work?"
Ben scratched the back of his head. "Honestly, just look through my memories later. I don't know much myself. I'm just repeating what I heard from others."
Before Elvira could press further, a deep mechanical groan echoed through the chamber. The vault door had fully opened. A long hallway stretched beyond it, its walls, ceiling, and floor all made of metal plates, just like the dome where Ben had fought. However, Ben's attention wasn't on the passage ahead. He glanced around the dome they were in, scanning the area carefully. The scars from their battle were gone. Every crack, every mark left behind by their attacks had vanished. The once-damaged floor and walls looked pristine, as if the fight had never happened. Not even a single speck of dust remained. His brows furrowed. 'Wasn't this place covered in dust before?' Something had changed. The ruin must have activated some kind of function the moment they entered.
Elvira's voice snapped him from his thoughts. "Why are you standing there dazing, my beloved? Let's go. Don't you want to see what kind of reward awaits us?"
Ben exhaled. "Yeah, yeah… just don't get your hopes up." A bitter smile tugged at his lips. "For all we know, it's just gonna be some joke item." His mind wandered back to the familiar game-like atmosphere of this place. The mocking knight, the absurd trial, the way the entire ruin felt like one big setup. A deadly joke. One that could kill anyone who played along. Regardless, both of them stepped forward, heading inside.