Chapter 73: The Corridor

Whoosh!

Dean lit the torch in front of the corridor, took it down from the wall, and carefully explored while recalling the story told by Prince Fendel. He certainly didn’t completely believe Prince Fendel’s account, which was driven by some psychological motive; he relied more on his own experience and skills.

Just like before.

Turning around, Dean scanned the scene again. The Alpha Wolves circled the Square but dared not cross the line, growling in their throats with a sound resembling a wolf’s howl.

It was low, yet full of provocation.

Thanks to the Secret Spell Island of the Free Federation, he had learned some simple Wolf language from a Wizard. Of course, there was a cost, as he served as a test subject for three weeks. Actually, it was precisely because he became a test subject that he could learn this Wolf language.

Because, as Bait, he had to understand the movements of the Wolf Pack.

Living experiments were not difficult for Wizards to accept, and in fact, many participated in them.

After all, nothing was more effective and direct than this.

Woof! Woof!

Hearing Dean’s low, provocative growl, the Alpha Wolf growled back.

As the Alpha Wolf of a pack, he naturally had his own dignity. Any challenger would certainly have a bad end, the best being forced to leave the pack with a maimed body and eventually die somewhere; most challengers died right then and were eaten by the pack.

Facing the Alpha Wolf’s roar, Dean gave a low response, then turned and squeezed into the corridor that could only fit three people. He didn’t need to worry about the Alpha Wolf following; he had heard strong anger in that roar. Unlike human patience,

Beasts did not know how to endure, even Fierce Beasts of the Silver Level.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The sound of arrows breaking the air rang out from behind again, causing Dean’s steps to speed up once more. ‘The corridor was very long. Although it could fit three people, two brave warriors from my team stepped forward and advanced carefully. There was nothing in the first half, which surprised us, and that was the start of the tragedy… In the second half, the trapdoors and stone spears caused my two brave warriors to lose their lives!’

Dean clearly remembered the sadness on Fendel’s face when he said these words.

Dean no longer cared whether it was true or false.

However, the other’s description of the corridor gave Dean enough information. After Dean’s inspection, he could confirm that Fendel had not lied about the corridor here.

At least, just as Prince Goth had said, there were no traps in the first half of the corridor.

What about the second half?

Dean stopped, gently touched the floor in front of him, and felt the looseness. He immediately moved to another stone. The passage, which could only fit three people, was definitely not wide, which gave Dean enough time to find the right Path.

Moving forward step by step, testing step by step.

Compared to his previous speed, Dean’s speed was undoubtedly very low now, but the Alpha Wolf did not catch up.

Undoubtedly, the traps in the first half of the corridor made the Alpha Wolf suspicious.

After all, anyone who experienced the Square filled with arrows would not feel at ease when suddenly presented with a very safe environment; their first feeling would be trembling with fear.

Because they could not confirm if this was another trap.

And when they truly confirmed that there were no traps here, the real trap appeared. Caught off guard, casualties were inevitable.

“The work of a Thief Master!”

Dean evaluated the trap arrangement like this.

It wasn’t because the trap’s power was so great; simply the mastery of psychology was enough to surprise anyone.

Coupled with these powerful and reasonable traps, the title “Master” was not an empty boast.

The arrows in the Tomb Square undoubtedly prevented large groups of people from entering.

The entry of smaller groups was obviously also restricted in this corridor. The corridor that could only fit three people was not because it could only be built that way, but because under such a corridor, the mechanisms here could play the greatest role.

Touching the loose stone slabs all around, Dean couldn’t help but sigh.

Clearly, every slab here was a trap.

Whether he stepped on any slab, he would either be pierced by stone spears or fall into the abyss of the trapdoors.

To solve the current trouble, he could only jump, but no one could guarantee that the next slab would be safe!

The only lucky thing was that the slabs in front were three feet square, with three in a row.

Undoubtedly, this was the opportunity left for latercomers by the Thief Master who created this place!

Dean drew a Knight Sword of Steel and explored the slabs ahead. A Knight Sword of Steel with a blade length of 4.1 feet was clearly enough to use as a ‘walking stick’ to probe the way.

However, Dean became even more careful.

Because, based on his past experience, if he didn’t control the force properly and accidentally triggered the mechanism, the trigger point would definitely be where he stood, or even include some safe positions behind him. No mechanism remains unchanged, especially those by a Thief Master, which were constantly changing and headache-inducing.

Steadily, Dean tested the floorboards to be jumped over one by one, but the results made him frown.

Even the floorboards to be jumped over were all traps.

And the same was true for the next layer.

After testing all the floorboards reachable with his arm plus the Knight Sword of Steel, Dean’s brows were already knitted together. Clearly, the current situation was specially designed.

“To prevent the appearance of polearms?”

Dean thought silently.

At this moment, Dean could be certain that not only the row in front of him, but also the next three or four rows, were all traps.

Although the width here limited the use of polearms, it did not mean that users of polearms would not enter here. If they did, the design here would be useless. Therefore, the designer of the mechanisms simply designed a twelve-foot “full trap” area in this section.

After all, even polearms rarely exceeded ten feet in length, and even some heavy spears claimed to be ‘Dragon Spears’ were only thirteen or fourteen feet long.

Similarly, those decorative weapons that had little practical use could never appear here.

The Armory and the Honor Guard were where those things belonged.

“Gambling on luck?”

Dean’s eyes began to squint slightly as he scanned the three slabs twelve feet away. For Dean, this choice was obviously unacceptable.

One in three probability seemed not small.

But when linked to Health, it clearly required caution.

Moreover, Dean usually didn’t like to gamble on luck. He didn’t think he had particularly good luck; in fact, in quite a few instances, Dean’s luck was always the worst.

So, he needed a more secure method.

And this was obviously not too difficult for Dean.

Dean first weighed the two Longswords in his hands, then estimated the distance between him and the slabs ahead.

A distance of twelve feet was naturally difficult for ordinary people, but not a problem for Dean. Although jumping directly from a standing position was a bit hard, adding one or two steps of run-up was not very difficult. The two slabs connected behind him were safe, plus the nine-foot run-up distance under his feet, which was enough for Dean.

The Knight Sword of Steel in his left hand was thrown out by Dean, and Dean’s whole body leaped up.

Swoosh!

The Knight Sword of Steel falling from the air inserted steadily into the slab, and then the seemingly thick slab was pierced through.

Undoubtedly, this was a flexible trapdoor, not an ordinary stone slab.

And this was also Dean’s landing spot.

However, Dean did not land with both feet truly on the ground, but first grabbed the hilt of the Knight Sword of Steel inserted into the slab with both hands.

Creak…

As Dean’s weight appeared, the trapdoor immediately began to turn. However, it was jammed by the Knight Sword of Steel halfway through the flip.

The Knight Sword of Steel, with a blade length of 4.1 feet, was intentionally thrown by Dean. Facing a three-foot square slab, once the blade was inserted in the middle, being jammed was only natural.

Dean took this buffer time to tightly grasp the top edge of the trapdoor with both hands, pressing his chest and abdomen tightly against the slab.

Hoo, hoo.

Dean took two deep breaths to adjust the Stamina consumed by his previous jump, and then, like a circus acrobat, he leaped onto the top edge of the trapdoor. His two feet tightly pressed against the top edge of the trapdoor, which was less than three fingers wide, to maintain his balance.