Chapter 91: Forbidden Insight

Standing at the base of the stone pit that had been strewn with the gorey evidence of Porkchop’s battle with the Cystic Failure, Kaius stood at the edge of a particularly large pool of viscera and bile.

The pooling fluid in his boots from cutting open the corpse of the monster had been forgotten, his focus on the artefact that Porkchop had spotted in the mess.

Kaius grinned as he looked at the grey leather satchel that had flown free from the corpse of the Champion, the bile that had spilled free from the chest of the oversized teratoma giving the artefact a wide berth.

“Thank the gods it had some kind of cleanliness enchantment, eh?” He said, leaning forward to hook the point of his blade through the carry handle of the bag. He moved carefully, not wanting to slip into the puddle as he pulled back from his stretch.

“Check it up stairs?” Kaius asked, looking over to Porkchop. “It stinks down here.”

“Yes please.” Porkchop replied, eager to get away from the caustic scent of biowaste, alchemy and bile.

Taking a moment to clean his blade and return it to its sheath, Kaius led the way up the stairs. Taking the steps two at a time, his eyes kept drifting to the bag he held, finding it difficult to resist simply identifying the artefact that he had found. He didn’t though, it would be unsporting to take a peak without waiting for Porkchop to be ready.

That said, he did wonder what there was to the artefact. In his heart of hearts he hoped it was a spatial bag, though he knew that even if something was leaning on the scales for them that was highly unlikely. They were rare finds in the Depths, something that even experienced delvers who explored far deeper than layer two would be lucky to get at all. Yet if something was shifting their drops in their favour, what else could it be? He could think of no other artefact in the shape of a bag that would actually prove useful for them.

Reaching the top of the staircase, Kaius rushed onto the wide stone gangway that lined the edge of the massive pit. He took a seat, patting the ground insistently for Porkchop to join him.

“Ready to find out what it is?” He asked, turning the bag over curiously. Opening it was tempting, but it would ruin the surprise.

Porkchop grunted, excitement and curiosity flowing over their link. Kaius grinned and focused his True Sight on the item.

Ixian Self-packing Dimensional Tent:

Uncommon

You want the good stuff, eh? I know just the thing. It’s factory made, but one of those fancy ones where every line worker is a skilled artisan. Easy to carry, easy to pitch and repack, and it should keep you warm and hidden while you’re out of the city. Not here! Outside if you want to test it. Nearly ruined my displays, yeesh.

Made from dimensionally attuned materials, this bag contains a self pitching tent designed to provide a safe harbour out in the wilds. Trigger with mana and stand back. Objects left in the tent are vented out when repacked.

Depths-wrought Artefact

Auxiliary Equipment (Tent)

Camouflage II, Shroud I, Weather Resistance I, Self Repair I, Self Cleaning I

Kaius stared at the description of the item in confusion, before looking back to the boxy grey leather satchel. He turned it over in his hands, confused. This was their loot? It was a little… odd. He couldn’t exactly see how it would help them at all.

“Well? Is it one of those fancy dimensional bags?” Porkchop asked expectantly, leaning forward to prod him with his nose.

“Not…exactly?” Kaius said with a shrug.

“What the hells is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s a tent.” He replied.

“A tent?” Porkchop asked in disbelief.

“A tent.” Kaius nodded.

“What the hells good will a tent do for us?” Porkchop growled, staring at the bag like it had betrayed him personally.

“Well, I mean, it’s not exactly ideal. Gods knows I would have preferred something that will actually help us in a fight, but having a camouflage comfortable tent that can pack away like this will actually be pretty handy. Especially when we get out of here and end up travelling cross country.”

“It’s a bloody tent, Kaius,” Porkchop growled. “I don’t care if it can turn bloody invisible. I killed that Champion solo and I wanted a trophy. A tent is not a trophy.”

Kaius laughed, giving his friend a commiserating patt on the shoulder. “I know, buddy, but you know this might mean that we never have to sleep without a mattress again right?”

Porkchop stilled at his words, mulling them over. “Maybe I shouldn’t be so hasty. A tent isn’t so bad. Should we go test it out? There was a fair bit of open space in the lab we entered here from.” Porkchop said, suddenly a whole lot calmer when a comfortable place to sleep was put on the table.

“Lets.” Kaius said with a grin, grabbing the small bag by its carry handle as he pushed himself up to his feet.

They walked back to the laboratory space that they had entered the Champion arena from. It was a wide open space, a row of desks lining one of the walls, with a strip of tanks full of bubbling black liquid adjacent to them. Thankfully, they’d managed to kill the room’s resident flayed horror relatively quickly when they had first entered, relegating the pool of viscera and strewn flesh to a single corner of the room. It left them plenty of clean stonework to test their tent out on.

“Might want to stand back a bit, the description mentioned that.” He warned Porkchop as he strode purposefully to the centre of the room. Porkchop halted just past the doorway, looking on with curiosity as he set the bag down.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Leaning on his mana manipulation, he felt the artefact immediately. It had some sort of inscription, waiting for a trigger. He instinctively knew that all it would take was a little touch of mana and it would activate, no channelling or infusion necessary. All the mana it needed was already there. He imagined that it must draw it in from the atmosphere. Something to consider, if it meant that the tent needed to recharge for a while before use.

Leaving the bag where it sat, he backed away until he stood next to Porkchop. If he didn’t have Mana Manipulation he would have needed to be within touching distance. Something that might have caused issues depending on the severity of the description’s warning.

He reached out with his skill, triggering the formation on the artefact.