Part 15: The Miner and the Mystery of the Pyramid

Part 15:
The Miner and the
Mystery of the Pyramid

 

THE BLINDING LIGHT of the sun illuminated the desert. Alan paved a road made of marble through the sand with his shovel while the rest of the party followed in the carriage.

As they traveled, Julia began to speak of a local legend. According to her, the pyramid they were headed to had been built to imprison an ancient dragon.

“Over 300 years ago, this used to be grassland. Then a Divine Dragon with wings massive enough to block out the sun emerged from the depths of hell and laid waste to the earth with its fire breath, completely incinerating the grasslands. This is the Legend of Rahal.”

“Hrm, and you’re saying that dragon sleeps within the pyramid?”

Julia nodded her head. “I…believe it’s really there.” When she first approached the pyramid as the chosen sacrifice, she’d heard its voice. The ancient dragon had filled the young girl with incomprehensible terror, despite only being a voice in the wind.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes, I am. When the dragon appears, I must be present.”

Julia’s Ritual of Water Summoning had originally been a technique to create a water barrier that could defend against the dragon’s fire breath. She was certain the party would need her assistance.

The girl gripped her blue shovel.

“I… I can’t stop shaking, but…” She had to do what she had to do. Alan had saved both her and her people. He had saved everything that meant anything to her. “I have to be brave. I’m going to fight alongside you.”

“...Well, just don’t push yourself too hard. Hey, Catria?”

“What?”

“We’re not prioritizing safety first this time. We’re going to do things the normal way.”

“Huh, fine with me… Wait, wait! You’re not fooling me!” Catria knew that Alan’s “normal” couldn’t possibly be the same as hers.

“No, seriously. I want this to be a mission that any of us could complete on our own. When we conquered Riften, I realized something. Shovel rookies can’t create Shovel Soldiers or put up barriers around a dungeon.”

“Shouldn’t that have been the first thing you realized?”

“And so, I thought to myself: we still have five orbs left, right? It’s entirely possible that in the future, we’ll be acting separately and will have to traverse dungeons on our own. And if that’s the case, I want to teach you how to handle one with techniques that are within your grasp.”

“Hrm, i-is that so…? Huh.” Catria couldn’t say she was opposed to the idea. There was something terribly heroic and almost romantic about exploring a pyramid in search of a legendary orb. “Okay, fine. So what’s the deal?”

Once he and Catria had come to an agreement, Alan remounted the carriage. Inside, Lithisia had a scroll open on the floor and was in the process of jotting something down. Next to her, Alice was drawing a picture.

“I’ll have you know, I’ve only ever drawn for Father!”

“Don’t worry! You’re way more talented than me! Good luck!”

“...What are you two doing?”

“Ah, Sir Miner! Heh heh, well, you see…” Lithisia wore the smile of a young, embarrassed maiden. “Alice and I are shoveling down the Shovel Faith scripture!”

Well then.

“...Oh.” Alan had given up. All he could do was let out a deep sigh, leaving her to her madness. But then, Lithisia’s expression suddenly changed.

“Um.” She gazed at Alan, looking concerned. “E-excuse me… Um, Sir Miner? Are you perhaps displeased with the scripture?”

“Hm.”

“Er, if you are, I, well…”

This was his chance. He could finally tell her how he truly felt about all of this madness. But as he looked at the princess, Alan hesitated. She was staring at him with the gentle eyes of a fifteen-year-old girl. There was no sign of her usual stubbornness. If he told her to nix all this religion stuff, she probably would. But was that the right move?

At the end of the day, Lithisia always looked like she was having the time of her life whenever she spoke of shovels. Could Alan really take that joy away from her?

“Sir Miner…” Lithisia waited quietly for his response, as if she were praying.

Alan was incapable of willingly plunging this young girl into the depths of despair. It’s not like she’s hurting anyone. Sure, the future of Rostir, no, the continent, was up in the air, but as long as he made sure she didn’t do anything irreversible, what harm was there in letting her be?

And so, Alan placed his hand on her head and gently patted it. “Don’t give me that look. I don’t mind.”

Lithisia’s smile returned in a flash. “R-really?!”

She looked like a young child. It was enough to put a smile on even Alan’s mug. “But, well, let me say this much. Try to keep the weird shovelisms to a minimum, okay?”

“Oh my gosh! I’m so so sorry for being a weird shovelism princess! Um, could it be that I don’t quite understand the meaning of shoveling the way I thought I did?”

“If anything, you’ve gone far past its original meaning.”

“I-In that case…” Lithisia covered her mouth with her shovel, her cheeks bright red with embarrassment. “Um, after we find the orb, if it’s okay with you… c-could you teach me how to shovel properly one more time…?”

A few seconds of silence followed. Quite frankly, Alan didn’t really understand where Lithisia was coming from, but he did recognize that he was the root of the issue. It was his responsibility to see this through to the end. And so, he replied, “Sure. Once we get out of Desertopia, I’ll put your nose to the grindstone.”

“Grind?! Oh gosh…”

Lithisia shivered. Her body was trembling. She bowed her head repeatedly to Alan as tears ran down her cheeks. “Thank you so much! I’m shovely happy…!”

“I get the feeling this sickness of hers is only going to get worse….” Alice sighed.

“Alan, the pyramid is in sight,” Catria yelled from outside.

The miner gripped his shovel. “Watch carefully, Catria. As long as one has a shovel, anyone can delve deep within ruins.”

The knight felt a cold bead of sweat run down her back. Somehow, she had a bad feeling about those words of his.

 

***

 

The first obstacle was the entrance. The pyramid had no door to speak of—each side of the building was a flat wall with no way to get in.

“‘Call upon the name of our ancient enemy, lest the way remain closed.’ That’s what the legend says,” Julia offered.

“So it’s a riddle!” Catria was fascinated. A secret password to open a secret door! This was a true adventure.

“Hrm, a riddle, eh? Time to bust the old shovel out.” Alan used his shovel to write “name of our ancient enemy” into the sand. He then scooped that sand aside to reveal a stone underneath, with the word “Glaurung” carved into it. The second Alan said that name out loud, a part of the pyramid’s wall slid to the side.

A hidden passage.

“Hey…” Catria’s voice issued from the very pit of her stomach.

“You dig out the truth. This is one shovel technique that anyone can use.” If they’re a shovel user, that is. “This is one of the basics. Don’t tell me you can’t do it?”

“Of course I can’t!”

“Catria, don’t say that until you’ve at least tried. C’mon. Give it a shot.”

“It’s impossible! I’m just an ordinary person! I’m not even like the princess!”

“C-can we maybe get a move on…?”

Julia’s timid plea spurred them to continue. But the path ahead was dark, dank, and narrow, and the only source of illumination was the light coming off the tip of Alan’s shovel.

“Shovel Light. Dungeons are dark places, so you need light to scare off the terrors lurking within.”

“The fact that this doesn’t even surprise me anymore makes me fear for my future.”

Thanks to Julia’s knowledge of the old legends, the party had a fair idea of where they were headed. After proceeding into the depths of the pyramid for a while, they hit a dead end with five buttons embedded in the wall. Next to the buttons were directions written in an ancient language. This was clearly the key to solving yet another puzzle.

“Are you going to dig up the truth with your shovel again?”

“No. I don’t need to. This is much simpler.” Alan quickly used the blade of his shovel to pry the buttons free of the wall. Attached to the back of each button was a series of wires woven together in a complex fashion. “I’m going to analyze how this is all wired together.”

The light in Catria’s eyes vanished.

“There are physical lines and magical lines. Regardless of which one you’re dealing with, your shovel can make hidden wiring visible. In this case, the wiring going up into the ceiling and the floor connects to traps, so the middle button is the correct answer.”

Could this even be described as dungeon delving anymore?

“Whew, this one was really simple. Catria, as long as you have a shovel on you, you can do this.”

“No, I can’t!”

“Catria, give it a try. That’s an order.”

“URGH!”

Catria couldn’t object. She’d vowed to be Lithisia’s loyal servant until the day she died. And so, dejected, she poked at the wall with her shovel.

But then…

The image of all five buttons and their wiring appeared in her mind, clear as day.

“WHAAAAAAA?!” She’d actually done it. Had she already been that contaminated by this shovel nonsense?!

“Catria, remember. You’re a wielder of the Holy Knight Shovel.”

“I’m so proud of you! I always believed in you!”

“No, no, no! This is madness! I’m a swordswoman, not a shovel user!”

“You’re both! You’re a Shovel Knight!”

“Can we please hurry up?!”

With the correct button pressed, the party proceeded forward. Using Alan’s shovel to guide them, they made a beeline straight for the innermost sanctum of the pyramid. Erected in the midst of an otherwise open space stood an ancient, elaborately carved door, guarded by a statue of a sphinx.

“Intruder, I have a question to ask of you.” A bestial voice echoed throughout the room.

“Another riddle… You gonna dig this one up with your shovel?”

“No. The sphinx statue is judging this one. If we solve this the wrong way, it’ll attack.”

“You mean you can’t just shovel your way out of everything?!”

“Hush. Here comes the riddle. Make sure you listen carefully.”

“It has four legs in the morn, two in the day, and three at night. What is it?”

“Hold up. Even I know this one.” Just as the gears in Catria’s head began to turn…

“A shovel!” Lithisia shouted. “I mean, the shovel I saw in my dream this morning crawled on four legs. As for during the day, well, Alan’s Shovel Soldiers have two legs! And then at night, well, it’s too embarrassing for me to say out loud, but…” Lithisia’s cheeks grew pink. “Anyway! The answer is ‘shovel’! I know I’m not wrong!”

The sphinx was silent. Despite being a stone statue, it was...sweating?! It almost looked like it was emitting a silent cry for help.

“...You mean she’s not wrong?” Catria whispered, once she’d finally regained consciousness (after blacking out for a moment).

“There is more than one possible answer to the riddle. As long as the guardian accepts the answer, we’re good to go.”

“You’re telling me it accepted ‘shovel’ as a proper answer...?”

“It kind of made sense.”

“In what world?!”

The sphinx was sweating bullets at this point. At long last, it managed to form words. “...Human… The shovel you speak of… Is it not a human being?”

It’s checking her answer?!

“I suppose you could say it is. The very concept of humanity is contained within the notion of the shovel, after all!”

“...In other words, one might say your answer is… a ‘human’?”

“No, I’d say my answer is ‘shovel’.”

…

“The answer is ‘shovel’.”

Lithisia sounded perfectly confident. Meanwhile, the sphinx statue began to tremble minutely. Someone, anyone, please save me, said the look on its face. Eventually, it spoke again.

“I accept defeat.”

A baritone rumbling filled the air as the statue hastily withdrew back into the wall, and the magnificently carved door creaked open. Lithisia held up her shovel victoriously. “I did it! I won, Sir Miner!”

Indeed, her shovel had defeated the riddle. Somehow. “I had no idea a shovel could be used like that. Amazing work, Lithisia.”

“Amazing?! O-oh my gosh…”

“Catria, do you think you can learn that technique?”

“I don’t think anyone but the princess could ever pull that off.” There was nothing for Catria to learn from this dungeon run. “Anyway, where’s the orb? Is that it?”

“Y-yes, it should be sitting right on the… Huh?!”

Julia immediately went tense all over. The Red Orb was indeed sitting in the center of the vault, but it was bathed in a dark miasma. The room was glowing with immense heat, as if it were filled with magma. And then, the very next instant—

ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!!!

A terrible, soul-rending howl filled the room. Alan quickly jumped in front of the girl and slashed his shovel through the air. The sheer force of the sound wave was deflected by his tool, but the words made their way through nonetheless.

“I have attained the power of the treasure and awakened.”

The roar was powerful enough to shake the very foundations of the world. And it was unmistakably the language of dragons.

It was then that the pyramid split.

Alan immediately threw up a shield barrier. Everything within the barrier was protected from all harm, but whatever existed outside of it was destroyed by the sheer power of the creature’s roar. Stones flurried through the air like a kind of storm. Mighty sound waves crashed into equally intense heat waves, turning the environment outside the shield barrier into the very picture of hell.

This was nothing, however, compared to the overwhelming presence above them. Alan and the party all looked up at once. The pyramid was long gone, but the sky was still obscured from sight. Why?

Because colossal red wings had filled the entirety of their field of vision.

“That’s a real dragon?!” Catria cried out.

“?!” Julia was frozen in fear. This was just like the first time she’d arrived at the entrance of the pyramid, alone, to sacrifice herself. This was the voice she’d heard. The voice that caused her to collapse in fear, be overcome by despair, and abandon all her responsibilities in order to flee.

But this time—

I… I…!

Julia gripped her blue shovel. It was time to repay Alan for all that he had done for her.

“Sir Alan! Allow me!” she said, and stepped in front of the miner.

“NNNAAAROOOAAAAAAAAR!!!”

The creature inhaled deeply, preparing to unleash its deadly fire breath upon the party. It was unmistakably a real, true dragon. All of the hairs on Julia’s body stood on end. Her mind was a disordered mess. She was terrified. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to run.

But with one clang of her shovel, Julia banished all of those thoughts.

“Sir Alan! ALAN! ALAN!!”

Within Julia’s eyes was the shining light of courage. In her left hand, she held a shovel. In her right hand, she grasped the edge of her robe. She began to dance with all the grace and elegance expected of a priestess. She was scared, and she was terrified, but she buried those feelings with her shovel and danced like her life depended on it.

A high-pitched sound rang through the air as a thick, blue wall shielded Alan and the others. This was the Rahal Tribe’s secret technique, originally designed to protect against the dragon’s breath—the Water Wall.

“I did it…!” Julia had finally repaid her debt to Alan! But just as she started to smile—

“Quite the annoyance.” The dragon whipped its head. ZAP! And just like that, Julia’s Water Wall vanished.

“What?!”

“Magic Erasure, eh?” Alan said, calmly assessing the situation. Elder dragons possessed magical powers far beyond that of any human. They could eliminate a barrier with a single breath.

“Fool. What an ignorant, powerless, pitiful insect you are.” The dragon’s voice rang directly in their minds. Julia was frozen still. She’d thought she’d finally made herself useful, but now, she understood she was in way over her head.

“Ah… Ahhh…” Tears began to fall from her eyes to the ground. Tears of despair.

“Death is all that awaits you, pitiful insect.”

The beast unleashed its scorching hot breath in a flash of blinding light. Julia stood still. She was overwhelmed. The dragon was right; she was just a pitiful insect, and she was going to die here without a hope of fighting back. Humanity could never hope to defeat a creature like this. It had the power to rule the world.

But just then—

“Well done, Julia.”

Alan made his move.

“DIG!”

A flash of light burst from the head of his shovel. The legendary dragon’s torrent of fire was deflected ever so slightly to the side, almost as if it had intentionally missed Alan and the others. It spilled into the desert sands instead, immolating everything it touched.

Alan and Julia were unscathed.

“Dimensional Shoveling.”

By shoveling the very matter of space itself, Alan was able to create a dimensional rift that affected the breath’s vector, thereby changing its trajectory. It was an anti-dragon-breath technique that he’d developed specifically to deal with elder dragons. And since it wasn’t magical in nature , the dragon’s Magic Erasure ability was ineffective against it.

“Huh…?” Julia’s jaw was on the floor. Alan flashed her a smile.

“It was thanks to you that I discovered one of its abilities.”

“Wait, what?”

“You did well to not succumb to fear.”

Julia looked up at Alan with tears in her eyes. In that moment, he seemed to her to be just as mighty—no, mightier even—than the dragon.

“You can leave the rest to me.” Alan gripped his shovel. “Just give me three minutes.”

“Sir Miner and his patented threshovdragking!” (Three-minute shovel dragon cooking!)

“That is definitely not a word.”

“You dare raise your weapon against me?” The dragon lowered its gaze toward the miner, releasing a growl that sounded like a guttural chuckle. “Foolish man. Humans cannot hope to stand against my kind. That is the law of this world.”

Alan grinned in response. “You’re right. Men cannot defeat dragons. However…there are exceptions.”

“What?”

KA-CHOOM!

A blue aura began to surround Alan’s shovel.

“One only need to turn the tide with a shovel.”

Alan was accumulating Shovel Power, building it up to hitherto unseen levels of intensity. The dragon’s eyes glowed with sudden caution at this strange aura, which even it did not recognize. “What is that?”

“My shovel. It can pierce everything that ever has been or will be. Including—”

The tip of the shovel began to glow. This was the same light by which the miner had dug his way through the underworld.

“Even gods and dragons,” Alan stated with determination.