— Listen carefully… what we're about to do might be the hardest part.
— The hardest in what way?
His gaze swept across the narrow walls surrounding them.
— Do you remember when you were a child, when you'd brace your arms between two narrow walls and climb upward?
A brief silence followed.
— What we're going to do is similar… but not each on our own—together.
— I don't understand.
— We'll press our backs against each other, interlock our arms, and climb upward using the force of our legs.
Arthur looked around, trying to imagine the method.
— Do we have another option?
— …No, unless you'd prefer to be found by Lumière guards and taken as a slave.
They moved to the middle of the narrow space. Back to back, they locked arms with each other. Eric held the torch between his teeth, then they pushed their feet against the walls.
Muttering from the side of his mouth:
— Ready?
Just as they were about to push, a strong shove from Arthur caused them both to lose balance and fall together.
— Ahh… alright, it's fine. Not everything works on the first try.
When they tried to climb again, Arthur couldn't even keep his legs fixed against the wall, tension and anxiety clearly showing on him.
— Arthur, you need to stay calm, my friend. Don't overthink it—just push slowly, and I'll support you.
Eric's words seemed to help Arthur calm down a little. On their third attempt, they finally managed to coordinate their movements.
And the ascent began.
The motion relied on creating strong friction to push themselves upward. The pressure on their legs was immense, and every step tore heavy breaths from them. Still, they kept climbing.
Step… then another…
They neared the upper opening.
Eric tossed the torch into the entrance and placed his foot on the edge, but it wasn't enough.
— Arthur… push with everything you've got… I can't hold on any longer!
Arthur lunged forward with all his strength against the wall, generating a rebound force that propelled Eric into the opening. But his balance faltered for a moment, and he began to slip back.
Before he could fall, Eric's arm shot out, catching him and pulling him inside.
— Welcome to the second underground level.
He grabbed the torch and walked into the passage ahead, which appeared to be a wide corridor. He ran his hand along the edge of the wall, examining the surface.
— What are you doing?
— In places like this, ordinary torches aren't used. Lumière uses a different lighting system… you won't see it anywhere else.
His hands continued searching until they stopped at a carving etched with strange symbols.
— Found it. This is a seal that activates when it senses the ether energy of Lumière soldiers.
— And what is that?
— Ether energy is used to power machines and devices in Lumière. These lanterns are an example of that. You'd understand it if you specialized in magic… but that won't be a problem for me.
A faint energy gathered in his palm, then he passed it over the carving.
The symbol glowed with a pink light, and suddenly the space ahead of them lit up. Lanterns hanging in a regular pattern ignited, revealing what stretched before them.
What appeared was not what they had expected.
A vast storage area, stretching endlessly, filled with large and small crates stacked in complex arrangements resembling a maze.
Eric moved forward slowly, examining the place.
— Well… this isn't what I expected to see.
He unfolded the map again, but what lay before him didn't match what was drawn.
He folded it back and put it away.
— Anyway… let's move.
The two advanced cautiously through the intertwined passages, where doors and crates overlapped in confusing ways. Some of the doors on the sides hinted at mystery.
Eric paused for a moment, studying the paths ahead.
— Let's split up for a bit and check what's behind these doors before going deeper.
Arthur glanced around quickly:
— They don't seem important… probably just storage rooms.
Eric nodded but placed a cautious hand on Arthur's shoulder from behind:
— Just a quick look won't hurt. You take your side, I'll take mine—but stay alert at all times. It's still possible we're not alone here.
On Eric's side, there were three consecutive doors. He opened the first to find a soldier equipment room, filled with weapons and white armor bearing Lumière's emblem. He looked at it indifferently.
— Useless.
On the other side, Arthur stood before two doors. When he pulled the handle of the first, it broke off in his hand.
— What the hell is this place?
Eric entered the second door and found a workshop for manufacturing lanterns and torches. He approached a box filled with easy-to-light torches and took two that fit in his bag. The third door was tightly locked.
The two returned to the meeting point.
— How was it on your side?
— Nothing important, really… what about you?
— The first door had a broken handle.
— And the second?
— A storage room for dried food.
Eric raised his gaze, expecting little:
— Alright… let's move on.
They continued forward, and everything around them seemed different from what Eric had recorded.
Eric suddenly stopped, carefully reconsidering his decisions, while Arthur noticed his behavior.
— What's wrong, Eric?
— …To be honest, everything I planned outside this place was precise. But from this point on, I have no idea.
— Hah, what?! You're saying you want to back out because you ran out of ideas?
— What I'm saying is, in the worst case, I don't want to drag you into whatever lies ahead. But right now, I doubt you want to go back by climbing dozens of meters like we did earlier.
Before this place changed, I clearly remember there was an exit leading upward, but it's deep inside here.
— Hmm… you'd better find a solution.
— But what's strange is how the shape of the storage changed in such a short time.
...
They later passed through a long, curved corridor that ended at two entrances facing each other. Arthur took the initiative toward the front entrance.
— I'll check what's ahead.
Moments later, he returned.
— Well?
— Locked.
They then headed toward the second entrance. It was a long corridor that grew narrower as they advanced, ending at a rusty iron door locked with metal chains. Eric took out a thick metal plier he had picked up earlier and handed it to Arthur.
— Try gripping the end of the chain, twist it, then push with force.
Arthur stepped forward, wedged the pliers into the chains, and began twisting until it stopped turning, then pushed with all his strength. A sharp metallic sound echoed as the chain snapped—and the pliers shattered in his hands.
— …Broke it. Well, it doesn't matter. Tools exposed to constant heat and pressure lose their strength over time.
Eric stepped forward first toward the door.
— Let that be a lesson for you.
After passing through the last door, the two found themselves facing a large, tall gate engraved with intertwined lines forming a mysterious symbol.
Arthur stepped forward, inspecting the edges of the door.
— Strange… there's no keyhole here.
Eric scanned the area until his eyes fell on a stone pedestal topped with a rectangular panel. It bore a symbol identical to the one on the door, but divided into nine cubes. Glowing green lines flowed through it, stopping midway where a cube was missing.
— Arthur, come take a look at this.
Arthur approached and examined the panel.
— Looks like a puzzle.
Silence lingered for a moment before Arthur spoke:
— What do you think?
— I think this energy… it's ether. It has to flow through all the lines of the symbol for the door to open.
— But there's a missing cube, which means the flow can't complete.
Arthur glanced around.
— And it doesn't look like we'll find it nearby.
…
Eric began searching around for anything resembling the cube, while Arthur on the other side measured the size of one with his eyes.
He took out his knife, knelt down, and cut a piece from the wooden floor. Then he carefully shaped it to match the missing cube. After that, he carved lines into it to mimic the symbol.
After a few moments, he lifted the wooden piece.
Eric noticed what he was doing and said:
— Hmm… clever idea. It might work, since the puzzle depends on the flow of ether, not the material of the cube itself.
— Let's try it then.
Eric placed the wooden cube into the panel. The ether energy flowed through the lines and entered the cube—but stopped before completing the path.
Eric pulled the piece out, examined it, then looked at the symbol.
— The angles of the lines aren't sharp enough.
He quickly adjusted the carvings, then placed the cube again.
This time, the ether flowed smoothly through the wooden cube and continued across the rest of the symbol. The entire panel glowed, then the door's symbol flashed several times before the gate opened from above, revealing what lay beyond.
Behind that massive gate, darkness loomed, swallowing everything inside.
— Wait, Arthur.
Eric took one of the torches from his bag—the ones he had taken earlier—and handed one to Arthur.
— Take this. It's an easy-light torch—just pull the cord that blocks the oil, quickly, and it will ignite.
Eric stepped forward first. The moment he took his first step, the hanging lanterns burst into light all at once, flooding the place with brightness.
Before them was revealed a vast rectangular hall, almost empty… except for long shelves stretching endlessly, arranged in rows and filled with a massive number of books. In the center of the hall, a long black line divided it into two halves.
Arthur walked toward one of the shelves and pulled out a book.
— Isn't this a strange place for a library?
Eric remained standing, his face tense as he observed the rows of books.
— Indeed… this place has been manipulated since the moment we decided to enter.
— So what now?
— When I said we might encounter one of Lumière's elite soldiers here guarding a jewel, from what I've seen so far, I'm sure we won't face anything like that here. What I fear more is that a third party has already been here—and knows about the jewel.
Eric moved between the shelves, examining the spaces between them until he noticed a faint white light behind one of them.
He removed several books, revealing a pull handle with a glowing white stone at its center.
Arthur hurried over, surprised.
— What did you find—
— Quickly, go and clear the books off the shelves on the other side as much as you can.
Arthur understood and moved to the opposite side. The two began knocking books down one after another. Soon, the hall filled with the sound of them hitting the ground.
After a short while, the truth was revealed.
Five pull handles, distributed on both sides:
On the right: white, blue, silver.
On the left: red, black, gold.
— What do these handles mean?
— Hmm… looks like a puzzle. Lumière's system uses mechanisms like these to block intruders, but they're obvious to soldiers. The point is, there's a hidden door.
— So it's easy for you.
— Not exactly… I've had training in this kind of puzzle, but I didn't go too deep into it. We'll try first.
Eric pulled the white handle. It stayed down, but when Arthur randomly pulled another one, both snapped back up.
— Does that mean it's wrong?
Unexpectedly, the large stone gate behind them slammed shut.
Both Eric and Arthur turned, noticing an hourglass that had appeared beside the gate.
— Psychological tricks… heh, Lumière's games. I think we have to solve this puzzle quickly.
Arthur examined the handles and the sequence of colors.
— It looks like these colors are linked somehow.
Eric followed what Arthur pointed out.
— And the point is to pull two handles that are connected by color.
Eric turned toward the hourglass and saw that a quarter of the sand had already fallen.
— And we should pull two handles at the same time to save time without overthinking.
— There are three on one side, and the rest on the other… that means we'll split.
— Yes… but no need to rush. I don't know the consequences of making a mistake in this puzzle.
A brief silence followed.
…
After a few moments of thought, the two separated, each on one side of the hall, a few meters apart, with three differently colored handles on each side.
— Arthur, can you hear me?
— Yes.
— Let's try… you take blue, I'll take red.
Arthur placed his hand on the blue handle, hesitation visible on him, while Eric steadied his hand on the red handle. Their eyes met for a brief moment—that was the signal.
They pulled the handles at the same time.
The handles remained fixed in their lower positions without snapping back.
Arthur quickly rushed toward Eric.
— Did we do it?
— It seems so.
— But what's the story behind the color connections?
Eric fell silent for a few seconds, gathering his thoughts.
— Lumière's security system isn't this simple… most likely, we're dealing with an old system.
The color connections may be tied to meanings rooted in their history; blue and red could point to more than one thing. For now, we still have four colors left.
— Is black linked to white?
— We see that in other civilizations, but in Lumière, white is usually associated with gold—the symbol of light. It's clear in their armor, their emblems, even their buildings. And honestly… I'm not completely certain about the rest.
Arthur returned to his side, his hand on the white handle.
On the other side, Eric hesitated between black and gold.
Then the handles were pulled: Arthur pulled white, and Eric pulled gold. Both settled into place without anything happening.
Eric let out a long sigh.
— Then… only black and silver remain. But what's the connection between them?
Fragments of scattered memories began to surface in the depths of his mind.
He paused for a moment… then placed his hand on the black handle and pulled it.
Arthur noticed, and immediately followed by pulling the silver handle.
— Black and silver…
Eric's eyes widened suddenly as realization struck him. He tried to push the black handle back quickly, then rushed toward Arthur, shouting:
— No, Arthur!!! Don't pull—
But it was too late.
The moment the silver handle was pulled, a heavy rumble echoed, and a massive wall descended from above the hall, splitting it into two halves along the black line. At the same time, all the lanterns went out instantly, plunging both sides into complete darkness.
Each of them remained isolated on one side, unable to see or hear the other.
---
— Damn it!!
Eric slammed his fist against the wall in front of him in the darkness, a mix of anger and tension filling his chest.
— Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it…
The last strike was the strongest of them all.
He leaned his back against the wall and sat down on the ground, trying to process the situation.
— Alright… I need to calm down. Think… think of something… how am I going to get out of here?
He pulled a quick-light torch from his bag and yanked the cord, igniting it in the darkness.
— Luckily, the space is a bit wide… enough for me to catch my breath.
Bad luck… silver and black… that means everything tied to misfortune and decay in Lumière. I think the puzzle itself is a trap…
Eric covered his face with his palm and let out a long breath.
— How could I forget this…
He looked back at the massive wall that had fallen moments ago.
— There's no way I can break through that with my sword… huh.
---
On the other side, the atmosphere was quiet.
Arthur lit the torch Eric had given him earlier. His mind was still trying to process what had happened and how Lumière's system worked.
He drew his knife and struck the wall several times, trying to cut through it, but the wall was solid and unyielding.
— Useless… Arthur muttered.
He stepped back, scanning his surroundings with anxious eyes, then moved toward shelves filled with books, desperately searching for anything that might hint at an exit or a solution.
As he ran his left hand along a shelf, a sudden clicking sound echoed, followed by sharp pain shooting through his fingers. Arthur tried to pull his hand back but couldn't—it was stuck in something. He cleared the books around it and discovered a trap shaped like a serrated jaw, blood seeping between his fingers.
— Yeah… this is exactly what I was afraid of… he muttered, his voice strained.
The sudden pain made him drop the torch, but luckily he caught it before it could ignite the surrounding books.
Arthur noticed the trap was attached to a chain no longer than half a meter, fixed at the base of the wall, leaving him unable to move from his spot.
He held the torch between his teeth, then leaned his shoulder against the shelves in front of him, using his weight to push hard in an attempt to break them. It was difficult, but after several repeated attempts, the lower shelves finally broke.
He cleared them away with effort, creating some space, then let out an exhausted breath…
At least now, he could sit.
...
(Yes… I clearly remember the number of protocols I trained on during my service in Lumière's army.)
Seventeen years ago, in the desert of Lumière under the blazing sun, military drills were held in a vast field. Eric was among a guard unit training on the procedures to open the "secret door."
The group gathered around their commander, who began speaking firmly:
— Listen carefully. Before you is an open model of the puzzle system you'll face to reach the secret door. Any questions?
One soldier raised his hand.
— What's the point of puzzles if there are locks and keys, sir?
— Simply put, there is no lock that thieves cannot open. But the country holds important items that must not be stolen. So engineers developed a new protection method, supposedly more secure—and this is it.
Before them stood what looked like a normal rectangular room, with simple furniture, four walls, and no ceiling except for a long wall suspended above the center.
— This security system hides the door, while there are buttons in the form of pull handles hidden throughout the room's furniture. You'll have to find them. Spread out.
The group dispersed, including Eric, searching for the handles:
— Found one!
— Me too!
— Here's one!
There were six handles in different colors, three on each side of the room.
The commander stepped to the center and asked:
— Does it seem clear what you need to do?
From a distance, the sound of a whistle signaled a short break.
— Alright, it's break time. Try to use it to think of a solution.
While Eric stood aside thinking, he overheard two soldiers talking:
— What do you think about the colors?
— They seem connected.
— I think if you see black and silver on two handles, don't pull them at all!
— Why?
— Because black and silver mean bad luck, my friend. Nothing good happens when those two come together.
The soldiers split up and tried pulling the handles randomly, but they snapped back into place once released.
— Indeed, it won't open like that. You need to think about how to solve this simple puzzle.
(I remember I requested exemption from this test for some reason, but before I left, I heard something from the commander.)
One soldier asked nervously:
— What if we get the puzzle wrong, sir?
The commander answered calmly:
— In that case, the wall in the middle of the room will drop, and you'll be trapped there until the guards arrive. But don't worry—the engineers accounted for the possibility of guards making mistakes, so they designed a backup exit.
The soldier asked:
— And what is that exit?
— Let's just say… try searching around the room for any weak point. Once the first thing is found, it'll be easier for the second.
.
In the next moment, in the darkness lit only by Eric's torch, the commander's words echoed in his mind:
(try searching around the room for any weak point)
— What does that mean?
He stood up and began examining the room, running his hands along the walls—but everything felt solid as stone. Only one option remained: the floor.
He moved his foot across the ground, stepping over every part of the room, even into the corners. He ran his fingers along one corner, then suddenly stopped:
— Huh…
The layer of the floor in that corner felt weaker than the rest. He pulled out his knife and struck it, causing a small section to collapse into a hole about the size of a dog's head. He reached inside and felt something metallic with a handle.
He grabbed it firmly and pulled—it slid smoothly, as if designed for that exact purpose. When he pulled it out, it turned out to be an activation lever, different from the colored handles.
Eric pulled it, expecting the path to finally open…
But nothing happened.
— What?! Wasn't this the solution?
He struck the ground in frustration, then looked back toward the wall that separated him from Arthur.
— Or is there another lever like this on Arthur's side?
...
Arthur was pulling at the chain in sudden bursts, trying to break it, but each attempt only brought pain to his arms.
— Come on… he muttered through his teeth.
He fixed the chain against a stone, then gripped his knife and struck the metal base with its handle. Repeated, forceful blows—but the thick chain refused to break. He stopped when he realized it was useless.
After minutes of thinking, he heard a faint rumbling from a corner illuminated by the torchlight, and noticed a small crack forming, revealing a lever-shaped pull handle.
— Am I supposed to pull this?
He tried to reach it, but the chain limited his movement by a few centimeters—enough to prevent him from applying force. He tried several times to use his knife to pull it, but all attempts failed.
He stepped back and looked at the trap, then at his hand.
— Do they expect me to cut off my hand?
He wiped his face with his palm and exhaled deeply.
— How do I break metal?
That thought suddenly reminded him of something he had once heard but paid little attention to at the time.
Arthur took the torch and placed it under the chain, trying to heat the metal. To increase the heat, he tore pages from the books and fed them into the fire, covering his face with his shirt to shield himself from the rising smoke.
After a while, the chain turned a glowing metallic red. He gripped his knife and struck the base of the metal at its weakest point. With another precise strike, he finally managed to break the chain and free himself from the trap.
He quickly moved to the lever and pulled it.
...
In the darkness, Eric watched the flame of his torch, waiting for the last drops of oil to run out and fade away—and indeed, the torch went out, the very hope he had of escaping.
But Arthur suddenly saw the lanterns light up again, and the wall that had separated him from Eric began to rise until it vanished. From afar, Arthur caught sight of Eric.
— Welcome back, Eric.
Eric quickly got up and rushed toward Arthur.
— Arthur, are you alright, my friend?
Eric noticed Arthur's hand, covered in dried blood, so he took out a bandage roll from his pocket and handed it to him.
Arthur wrapped it around his hand:
— So...What's next?
Moments later, they both heard the sound of the bookshelves moving, opening a wide passage between them leading downward.
— This is it. Let's go.
The two stepped toward the final entrance, heading toward their goal. After a few steps, they found themselves in a room resembling a cave, partially dark, its sides filled with items and weapons preserved behind glass—each piece more valuable than the last.
Eric stood in the center of the room.
— Do you see it, Arthur?
Arthur turned to where he pointed and saw a small gem the size of a grape, glowing with a purple hue mixed with pink, preserved behind glass atop a stone pedestal.
— Isn't it beautiful…
Arthur stepped forward and reached toward the glass, but as he tried to touch it, something like a barrier prevented him from reaching the gem.
— Something like this was expected.
Eric approached and took out a small knife engraved with strange symbols.
— Most of these items are protected by an energy barrier invisible to some—but I can see it clearly.
Eric stabbed the barrier with his knife. A circular green light appeared around the gem for a few seconds, then faded. He removed the glass and gently picked up the gem between his fingers, examining its shape.
On the other side, Arthur caught a foul, disgusting smell.
— Ugh… do you smell that?
He moved toward the source until he reached—
Arthur's eyebrows rose when he saw a half-decomposed corpse, a knife lodged in one of its eyes. As he lifted his head to warn Eric, he spotted an arm in the distance throwing something.
— Watch out!!!_
A sharp metallic sound rang out. Fortunately, Eric managed to deflect the projectile with his sword just in time.
Eric turned toward the darkness:
— Who's there!?
...…
Tense moments passed, then the sound of footsteps approached, accompanied by a faint laugh and a strange voice.
— Strangers, do you know how long I've been waiting here to meet you?
Slowly, the man's figure emerged—a man in combat attire unlike Lumière's, with half his face covered by a scarf like that worn by thieves.
— I arrived here long ago. I overcame everything on my own, and I've been watching you the entire time. You were impressive…
but what I lacked was something to remove that barrier, and I couldn't find anything like it.
The stranger continued advancing, while Eric stood firmly against him:
— And so I waited for a genius to arrive here and remove that obstacle for me.
The stranger drew a slender sword from his back as he kept walking forward.
— Thank you, gentlemen… but I have no more need for you.
— Really? Your first strike wasn't very successful.
— Not successful?.. You should take a look at your companion.
— What—what are you implying…
When Eric turned toward Arthur, he saw the knife he had deflected earlier lodged in Arthur's right shoulder.
.
—I wasn't aiming for you … .
.
Eric returned to his stance, his eyes filled with hatred toward the stranger. The latter mirrored him, his sharp, wide eyes gleaming as they locked onto Eric—
for a few moments before the fight.