Fractured God

While Tibaut couldn't see Ezekiel, he could certainly feel him tapping on his shoulder. It wasn't odd to see why. A few feet in front of them they spotted a torch attached to the wall. Several torches were starting to line the wall.

Ezekiel put his hand to his head and started to shake his hand.

"Looks like we can't depend on the darkness anymore." He stated.

While they had now lost an element of stealth, if they did run into trouble they wouldn't have to fight completely within the dark.

While exploring this place Tibaut was amazed by the immense vastness of it. They had been going through this place for about 40 minutes-ish if his internal clock was right.

It didn't just seem like the people who built this place did so to simply hide. It was like they were crafting an entire society down. They had passed multiple rooms that looked like living spaces although it seemed they had made most furnishings out of dirt.

They even made their beds out of dirt (although from his time living in the wild, he wondered why they didn't simply sleep on the ground instead of going through the effort of making a dirt bed).

Soon they approached a few kobolds that appeared to be engaged in some social activity of some kind (they were sniffing each other for some reason). They appeared to be really into it as they either paid no attention to or were completely oblivious to the pair of adventurers.

As they were close together Ezekiel had an idea. He drew his sword and within an instant got in their range through his magic and was barely able to slice them both in half with his sword slamming into the wall. He quickly stomped their heads to make sure they wouldn't be able to whimper for help.

Even though they were monsters Tibaut couldn't help but feel sorry for how brutally they were killed. Ezekiel however had a mild smile on his face.

Tibaut quickly rationalized that if killing monsters was part of your job requirement you'd eventually learn to enjoy it.

Ezekiel then placed his sword on his shoulder and asked Tibaut "Pretty cool, right?"

Tibaut gave a vague sound of affirmation and they continued on their way.

"Still, are you sure you should be using that?" Asked Tibaut.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Well, it's just that, Elizabeth said that wasn't your main weapon. You do seem pretty calm, but this is still a life-or-death situation. Is it okay for you to hold back?" Tibaut asked him with mild concern.

"Eh, it's not like I can change it out now. 'Sides this is way more fun. I wouldn't have been able to get the kill back there if I used a knife now, would I?"

"Fun?"

"Yeah fun, I don't think I'd have as much fun using a knife since I'm so used to it. Honestly, whenever I use that thing I go straight into work mode. I don't take any time to think up strategies or try to improve myself when I use that thing. I'll just do the same things I'm used to doing and eventually win. Honestly, it makes me feel like one of those automatic golems."

("This bastard's just humble bragging now.") Tibaut thought while not trying to let his annoyance be noticeable.

Soon they noticed the sound of multiple footsteps moving around. Due to them approaching the two paths of a T-shaped hallway, they weren't immediately spotted.

However, if they didn't move soon they would be. Ezekiel looked at the hallway they were in and noticed there were two living spaces in the area. He looked at one that was a few metres ahead and rushed towards it dragging Tibaut in tow. While the one on the other side was slightly closer they made it nonetheless.

"Dumbass," Tibaut whispered to him.

"I'm not the one who lagged behind, shithead." He whispered back.

They began to sling insults at each other before quieting down as the footsteps approached. To nobody's surprise, it was a group of kobolds seemingly patrolling the area. After they left, Tibaut left the dark room.

"How long till they find the bodies?"

The man still in the darkness responded.

"In the worst case, ten minutes."

Tibaut gave a sigh. Fighting a bunch of short bipedal warrior dogs in a somewhat cramped hallway with his magic didn't seem ideal.

He had martial arts but the idea of defeating, from the sounds of the walking, 20+ using only his hands seemed about as arduous as writing a singular sentence on a chalkboard three hundred times.

He would very much prefer to zip on out of here before they realised however it seemed as though Ezekiel was not of the same mind, as it looked like he was bumbling around in the dark room.

"What are you doing in there, we gotta go!" Tibaut impatiently hurried him.

While stepping out of the dark room, he appeared to have a piece of paper in his hand.

While Tibaut was starting to have odd assumptions about what he was doing in there, Ezekiel soon explained about the piece of paper in hand.

"I knew I felt something odd while I was in there. Searching for something in the dark is a lot harder than you'd think."

"Okay, why were you searching around in the dark for a piece of paper?"

"Well you know, it could be something from the people who built this place. I'm pretty sure some historian somewhere would buy it for a decent amount."

Tibaut put his hand to his forehead and sighed at the display of greed shown before him. ("Well from what I can tell most adventurers here are broke so it isn't too surprising I guess.")

Ezekiel then read the paper and put it in his pocket.

"Hehe, I think this is more valuable than I thought."

Tibaut quickly wondered if he was somehow an appraiser then quickly dropped the idea after remembering who Ezekiel was. The paper was probably just in good condition.