"Any of you have any idea how we can open this?" I asked, but Chloe just shrugged as she leaned on the staff.

"I don't know, but I can feel the magic from there. It feels ancient," Chloe said as she looked at the carvings. "I have never seen anything like this before."

"Maybe I can help," Grace said as she stepped forward and placed her hand on the door. She closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating really hard before finally speaking again. "This door was created by a powerful mage many years ago to keep something sealed inside. The only way to open it is with a magical key that has been lost to time."

"So, how do we get in?" I asked, but Grace just shook her head.

"I will try to use magic to unlock it. Most of my magic is healing or utility, even at this level. I can't actually do much in the way of offense, but I will try," Grace said as she placed her hand on the door and started to glow.

A few minutes later, there was a click, and the door slowly opened with a creak. The three of us cautiously stepped inside, not knowing what to expect. When we stepped through the door, we found ourselves in a large room with a massive stone table in the center.

There were several old books and scrolls on the table, along with what looked like an ancient map. I walked over to the table and started to look at everything when I heard Chloe gasp from behind me.

"What is it?" I asked as I turned around, but she just pointed at something on the wall. There were dozens of skeletons hung up on the walls with their ribs showing and their skulls grinning. Some of them looked recent while others looked like they had been there for centuries. There was another door at the far end, but I wanted to look around before going forward.

"This place is creepy," Chloe said as she wrapped her arms around herself as Grace started to walk around the room, looking at everything. "What do you think is going on?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we need to be careful," I said as I turned back to the table and started to look at the map. It looked like this place was some kind of tomb or burial ground, but I wasn't sure. Maybe Grace would know more since she seemed to have a better handle on magic than Chloe or I did.

Suddenly, there was a loud screeching noise that echoed through the room, and we all turned around to see what it was. There was a large bird-like creature with leathery wings perched on one of the skeletons. It had beady eyes that stared at us menacingly as it hissed softly.

"I don't think that is good," Chloe said softly as she stepped closer to me for protection while Grace stepped forward bravely with her staff outstretched in front of her defensively, but I pulled her back as my gunblade formed in my hand.

"Don't worry, I got this," I said as I stepped forward with my blade at the ready. The creature screeched again and then flew at me with its razor-sharp claws outstretched.

I leaped to the side and slashed at it with my blade, but it was too quick and dodged out of the way. It flew around the room, staying just out of reach as I tried to slash at it. The creature obviously had a serious advantage in this confined space, and I knew that I needed to find some way to take it down quickly, or we were all going to die.

Just then, Grace stepped forward with her staff held out in front of her and started chanting something softly. A moment later a bright light shot from the tip of her staff and hit the creature square in the chest. The bird let out a loud screech as it fell from where it was perched onto the floor with a thud before lying still.

"What did you do?" Chloe asked as she ran over to Grace's side while I walked over to check on the creature cautiously, but Grace pulled her back.

"It is just stunned," She said, and I walked over and cut its head off.

I waited, but it didn't explode, so I put it away in my inventory. Since we had limited food, I would have to clean it later for food since we were trapped down here, but this was also the first non-mecha creature I had seen in this world. There was a good chance this place might hold some secrets and treasures. Since we were stuck down here, food and treasure were going to be the two biggest things. The next was getting stronger, but maybe that should go before treasure, but I had other reasons for wanting it.

If I got enough treasure before the end of this, I could pay off Chloe's debt, and I would be done with her. I was kind of feeling that Aquaria was the same way, and Helena was clearly. I just needed to look at this as gaining favors, and I would come collecting on them when I needed it. They might think that they are just helping themselves, but I was going to get my money's worth out of my investments. This was all just a big game, after all.

"What the hell was that?" Chloe asked as she looked at Grace, but Grace just shook her head.

"I am not sure, but we need to be careful," Grace said as she started to look around the room cautiously now herself. "There is obviously something more going on here than we realize."

"Let's keep moving forward," I said, now that I had decided how I planned on going forward. I was playing my own game from now on. "We can figure this stuff out later."

There was another door on the far side of the room, so we cautiously walked over to it. I put my hand on the door and pushed it open slowly as Grace held up her staff, ready to fight whatever was behind it. Luckily there wasn't anything lurking in wait for us, but there was a long stairwell that disappeared into the darkness below us.

"I don't like the looks of this," Chloe said nervously as she moved closer to me while Grace stepped up beside me with her staff at the ready. "What do you think is down there?"

"I'm not sure, but we need to find out," I said as I started down the stairs. "Chloe, you stay close behind me, and Grace, you watch our backs."