Chapter 20: Curios Of The World
The chest sat beneath the red-violet sky, half-embedded in the roots of a warped, slanted tree. It wasn't there moments ago. Its presence warped the air around it, like heat radiating off the pavement, subtle yet constant. Etched into its wooden surface were spiraling sigils that shifted with every glance.
A new kind of treasure chest than the one she saw before.
Kivas stood a safe distance from it, arms folded, her foot tapping with unease. "Nope. Absolutely not. I don't like that thing."
Samael, calm as ever, stepped up beside her with her usual smirk. "Worried?"
"Yeah, most definitely." Kivas voice was flat but wary. "Weird chest randomly spawning out of nowhere, just outside our shelter. I've seen this horror movie before."
"We call these kinds of chests as Curios, for your information."
"I just called them trauma boxes."
"They are a kind of environmental anomaly, yes," Samael said. "Curios are born from Fathomi itself. The world crafts them when conflict and interaction reach a certain threshold. It's Fathomi's way of keeping things... interesting."
"Fathomi sounds like a sassy bitch," Kivas uttered, squinting at the box like it might bite her. "So these Curios are like little reward crates that pop up when something important happens?"
"Well, they just appeared for many reasons from time to time." Samael replied. "Each Curio has something within. An item, a boon, sometimes a curse. Their contents vary—bizarre, powerful, or utterly mundane."
"And let me guess," Kivas muttered, "they come with a trap."