Taking over the Abyss

59- Rigged From The Start

You'd returned to the Akademiya when night came around as requested. You may have been a little late, since you couldn't exactly look out a window to check if it was getting dark or not. Stepping into the House of Daena with Leiptr following in your shadow, your attention was caught by what sounded like a lecture. Glancing over with mild interest, you nearly tripped over your own foot, doing a double take.

HATSUNE MIKU??

Stunned, you decided that Azar and Dottore could suck it and wandered over to get a better look. To your disappointment, it was not Hatsune Miku. Sure looked like her though. Hearing her lecturing the sizeable group of students about the technology from King Deshret's era you decided to stick around a little. That was one of the main things you were looking into, and she clearly knew what she was talking about.

"And as I was saying, the mechanisms within these ruins can be extremely dangerous if unprepared. One should never approach unless you have enough confidence in your ability to free yourself. Traveling with others is a necessity, as is common sense and a basic understanding of the types of puzzles these artifacts usually contain," she instructed, brushing a bright-blue pigtail out of her face.

One of the students raised their hands, "Faruzan, do you have any experience with these artifacts? What sort of puzzle is the most common?"

"Hm?" The newly-dubbed Faruzan placed her hands on her hips, "Sorry, what was that? I'm afraid I didn't quite your question clearly..."

"O- oh, right," the student stuttered, fidgeting for a moment before repeating themselves, "Madame Faruzan, of all the puzzle mechanisms, which is the most common?"

"A good question, my dear student," Faruzan praised them, before taking a moment to pause, "I'm afraid it's not one that can be answered so easily. In my experiences, the most common are ones merely requiring you to light up crystals in a certain pattern to release the locks. But, how many people have been trapped within these mechanisms and have never been able to escape? There could be one we haven't discovered, simply because it has never been solved."

The student seemed fairly satisfied with the answer, "I see. Thank you. I'll... stay away from the desert, I think."

"Suit yourself," Faruzan shrugged, not caring too much, "But unless you're delving into areas that haven't been cleared by the Akademiya, the odds are that you're unlikely to encounter anything substantial, much less the sort that can seal you inside of it. Even then, in areas that have been cleared, those that can trap you will at most require you to do some simple sort of puzzle. I would advise staying away from even those areas if turning a cube in your mind is too much to ask."

"They cut you off from the Akasha, don't they? The mechanisms, I mean," another student asked. Faruzan nodded.

"They cut you off from the rest of the world, not just the Akasha," she expanded on what the student had said, "Food, water, and rest become things you simply don't need while trapped in one of those King Deshret artifacts."

You debated asking a question, but you also didn't want any of the students to discover that you didn't actually attend the Akademiya, so you just decided to lurk in the background. Hopefully somebody would ask a good question.

"Madame Faruzan, why do you dress like my grandma?" Lo and behold, the students were not asking good questions.

An annoyed scowl twisted onto Faruzan's face as she crossed her arms over her chest. You heard the sound of her heel tapping against the tile flooring, able to sense that she was upset about that. As she should be, that question was rude as hell.

Within the minute, Faruzan began scolding the student loudly, "Where's your sense of basic decency?! Who asks that sort of question when I'm trying to give a lecture on a topic widely ignored by the Akademiya?! And for your information, I don't dress like your granny! My style of dressing is classic, and it's always been fashionable!"