All the statues had some sort of glyphs on them. I walked toward the statue of the scholar and touched the glyphs on the book he carried. Blue lights appeared across the ceiling, trailing toward doors with writing alongside them that shot out from the scripts around each doorway. Most of the lights were blue, but one was white. I followed that line and approached a pair of decently fortified doors. I tried to unlock them, but it was no use.

  Instead, I broke the wall close to the doors and walked through. I unlocked the door from the inside and used my power to rebuild the wall I had just destroyed. It wasn't easy to break; it was really fucking steady and blocked most of my blow, even though I put a lot of power into it. At that point, it would have been easier to just break the door, but I think both were enchanted anyway, and the wall was easier to repair with my power than trying to figure out how to rebuild the lock.

  I looked around the place I had broken into and saw shelves and bookcases that reached the ceiling. The room wasn't even close to small. It made sense; books and scrolls are expensive, and these were not ordinary ones. Too bad I cannot read them anyway... yet.

  I looked around for a few minutes and probably would have stayed longer if not for the fact that I didn't want to fall behind Naruuk. I went back to the statues and looked at their glyphs. If their character represented what would happen when activated, then the knight would probably show quarters for nobility, warriors, and servants. The mage statue would either activate something, cast an illusion, or disable one. The backs of the praying woman and the demon were also glyphed. The woman probably represented shrines and gardens, and the demon most likely led to the dungeons and monsters—or activated something dangerous.

  I wondered if I should activate it, knowing it would probably sting Naruuk in his ass. I smiled just thinking about it, but I decided that reaching the vault or the source of power was more important. Even though he was my ally, I believed that if either of us found something of great value, we would keep it without sharing.

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  I pressed the glyph on the mage’s staff, and a pathway revealed itself: stairs leading up into what looked like thin air. I walked forward and checked if I could get onto them... it turned out to be just air. I checked the other statues for something I might have missed and realized there was a tiny glyph on the king’s crown. I pressed my finger to it, and stairs started appearing, connecting to the previous stairs I couldn't reach before. Grand double doors with glyphs and ornaments appeared as well. I walked toward them and tried to open them... nothing.

  I started to get frustrated and decided to blow them the fuck up. I charged my hand with power and created a ball of dark fire with lightning crackling within it, and I threw it at the door. Immense power rushed forward, and when it hit, I heard a sound so powerful it was like a mountain falling apart. I flew backward and hit the wall.

  When I was conscious again, I looked at the door. It was smoldered a bit, but other than that, it was still in good condition. If I couldn't break through them even with that much power, I might have to find another way in. I looked at the king’s statue and saw that his hand looked like it was supposed to be grabbing something. I guess I am supposed to find something, and the stairs the mage statue revealed definitely lead somewhere. I just have to find out where, and what I need to unlock the gate.

  I hovered toward the demon statue, wanting to test exactly what it did, and pressed my hand onto the glyph on its back. In that second, I felt shadows rising and illusions blocking the light as the gate closed. The hall was still illuminated on my side, but behind a wall of illusion, I saw vast darkness and figures hiding in the shadows, prepared to attack. The place I needed to explore hadn't changed; it didn't feel like magic had gone there, as it was likely already dangerous.

  I thought about disabling it, but after consideration, I decided to leave it on. I was still a little pissed at Naruuk, and I hoped that seeing him with half-burned armor down to his boots would help my mood. I smiled as I thought about it and proceeded forward, up the stairs.