(MC POV)
All of us were making our way through the relatively wide tunnels of the cave.
For some reason, my disciples felt rather tense after that confrontation with those two self-proclaimed 'sword gods'. Were they intimidated by them? No, that can't be. Then why?
Oh, of course, they're just concerned about the traps found in this cave, silly me.
"Master, pressure trap in front of us," Brendan warned, pointing to a part of the floor that looks no different from the rest of the floor.
I patted his head, "Well spotted, Brendan."
His eye for details as an alchemist is helping him greatly in spotting the traps here.
He blushed at my praise and quickly scrambled back to the rest of the group with his head down.
So cute.
I highlighted the part of the floor he pointed out with a circle of light so that my disciples knew where it was and could avoid stepping on it.
Naturally, I knew where each and every trap was but I'm letting my disciples lead the way as practice for them. Unless the trap they come across was especially deadly, I won't warn them about any traps that were in the way.
So far, they have yet to trigger any traps so I haven't had the chance to step up yet. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.
But with Brendan's eyes, Manami and Kiyomi's sensitive nose and Elaria's handheld scanner, I don't think they will run into any problems.
…
Ok the last one is a little bit of a cheat but I'll allow it since she made it herself.
We have yet to even reach the maze this place was infamous for so they shouldn't let down their guards yet.
Right as that thought crossed my mind, the sound of several traps being triggered rang out behind us.
All of us turned back to see the two self-proclaimed sword gods from before rushing past the traps to get to us. Seeing that the both of them were not naked anymore, they must have storage rings that have additional sets of clothes stored in them.
Eris immediately moved herself to stand in front of me, her hand resting on her sword's hilt.
I sensed that the two of them didn't have hostile intentions so I waved my hand at Eris, letting her know to relax.
The man didn't notice the pressure trap we had just avoided and stepped right on top of it.
A torrent of water poured down directly on top of them but they drew their swords and slashed upwards, deflecting the water away from them.
I was wondering what made them so confident to challenge the vault but I guess their titles were at least warranted according to the power levels of this Plane.
At the sight of their swords, my disciples became wary again and kept their eyes on them even after they had sheathed their swords.
Both of them stopped in front of me, their eyes darting towards Eris for a moment before moving back to me.
"Could we know your good name?" The 'sword goddess' Jian asked with a slight bow of her head.
Well at least they fixed their tone so I'll indulge them to see what they want.
"Master Lin of Heaven Sect. They are my disciples," I answered curtly.
"Heaven Sect… Forgive my ignorance but I have never heard of this Sect," The 'sword god' Dao bowed his head.
Oh? Look at them being so respectful. You'd think it was because they respect the way of the sword and thus show me that respect since Eris bested them.
Come on now, remember where we are. This is the Cloud Plane where everyone only looks out for themselves and are basically pieces of trash, these two are definitely no different either.
They're trying to curry favour with me to either steal Eris's and my sword techniques or kill us when our backs are turned, I didn't even need omniscience to tell me that I was right.
Trust me, I speak from experience.
I tilted my chin at him, "It's a place that is out of your reach, so it makes sense that you've never heard of it."
I could see his jaw clench and unclench for a split second.
Dao boy bowed his head a little lower, "I see… It seems I am truly ignorant about the world… I may be inadequate, but would Master Lin consider taking me in as a disciple of yours? I have various treasures and contacts I can offer you in exchange."
The Jian girl also bowed her head quickly, "The same goes for me as well, Master Lin! I promise to devote my life to serving you!"
What a farce.
"I am not accepting anymore disciples, so no."
Unperturbed by my rejection, the Dao boy quickly raised his head, "In that case, could we just accompany you on the journey through this cave? We do not want any treasures, we just want to see with our own eyes the power you possess so we may better train ourselves?"
"Please make use of us however you see fit!" The woman added.
Well it's really painfully obvious what they intend to do but I'll just play along for now because I find them so pitiful.
"Very well. You can follow us."
My disciples were surprised by my decision but made no sounds of protest.
The two 'sword gods' also looked surprised that I had accepted their request but quickly recovered and offered their thanks.
No doubt if I had rejected them, they would decide to just follow us from a distance anyway so it's better that they're somewhere within my physical slapping distance.
With them joining our group, we resumed navigating through the tunnels and watching out for traps along the way.
As we continued to move, Manami slowly dropped back to walk beside me.
"Why did Master accept their suggestion to accompany us?"
I smiled at her question, "Because I find them a little interesting, that's all."
"Ara, ara? Is that so? Ufufufu~ I understand, Master~" Manami giggled before rejoining the rest of the group.
Hmm… Not sure what she meant by that? I thought she might ask more questions to ascertain what I meant but it seemed like my answer was enough for her? She was even whispering it to the rest of my disciples who nodded in understanding too.
For some reason, they were sending weird glances at our two additions after that. It looked like they were eyeing them like pieces of meat.
Oh well, that's not important anyway, I'm more interested in the vault right now.
I'm quite curious about this sword that the two of them were hoping to get though. I know there are a lot of treasures stored inside here but I refrained from finding out exactly what was inside.
You know, it's like not wanting to know what's inside your present until it was time to open them.
The only thing I allowed omniscience to tell me is that the items inside it will be very beneficial for my disciples in attaining godhood.
Now the only question is whether these two 'sword gods' will betray us before or after we reach the vault?
