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RSTUM 91
🕑 Added 2023-05-29 22:30:31 +0000 UTC91: The Book of Rhyme (1)
Vadim Igorson, son of the Tsarina of Dwarf Cave Empire of Dandaros, a Prince among his people, and a senior mercenary who held the position of chief for 8 long years at the Hall of Mercenaries in Karanberg.
At the height of that man's career, he was the leader and figurehead of Reign, a very large and influential Mercenary Group that had many nobles and famous warriors from every place across the continent. They participated in wars, politics, rebellions, and succession battles.
In other words, Vadim had so many accomplishments under his platinum belt that would make him a legend of his own. But for the last few days, that Dwarf stood bewildered at the accomplishments and the talents of an 18-year-old human. Today in particular, they battled a sea serpent in an illusion trap, fought a powerful water mage whose identity is surely troublesome, and now they are delving deep in a cave which was a dead end… until Leon said otherwise.
"Open, Sesame!"
Just like the phrase said in front of the magic cave from the tale of Alibaba, Leon said those words and the cave was at his beck and call.
The ground vibrated and Vadim went into a full-vigilance mood. Without even him feeling it, the way they came from started to become higher and higher as if it was getting disconnected from the cave chamber they were in.
"WE MUST HURRY BACK!"
"Wait!"
Vadim wanted to grab Leon and run but the latter was firmly standing to the ground.
"A lift! The entire chamber is a lift." Leon said with a gleeful expression, "It works on hydraulic pressure. Look at the pillars."
The four pillars around the floor inscription were not just there to secure the cave's ceiling from collapsing but to hold together the floor as it descends.
And the vibrations of the floor turned into a growling shake. Its level kept descending meter by meter until they were around 20 meters below the level they were on. At that moment, the pillars and the walls around them appeared wet and covered with a thick layer of algae that seems to have been shaved off with the floor descending.
"Heh!" Leon laughed, "I told you, water and hydraulic pressure. Who's crazy enough to build all this?"
"Blasted hell! If me hair went gray after this, I'm blaming ya, Lad!" Vadim couldn't help but become more and more nervous now.
Vadim turned to look at Leon but before he turned away, he noticed Leon narrowing his eyes.
"What?" Vadim asked quickly.
"Wait." Leon replied.
In front of him, a few messages were being relayed.
< The main gate is malfunctioning! >
< Damage has been detected! >
< Please, manual override is required at the main gate. >
< The facility energy is failing! >
< The Obelisk Line is disconnected! >
< Unless power is supplied, most of the facility's functions will cease working. >
"Damn!" Leon exclaimed.
"What?" Vadim asked.
"I've managed to Read some of the Knowledge regarding this place." Leon replied.
"And?"
"I'm in shock." Leon said, "This ancient civilization… how advanced was it?"
Leon was bewildered but his bewilderment didn't just end at this whole facility and how advanced it seemed.
What seemed to have scared him the most and what made him take some steps forward despite the dangers was the fact that this place recognized the Ring of Horus, the ring that nobody else in the world can see.
If this location can recognize the Ring and if it has precautions against anyone with this unique Knowledge Magic spell called "Read", then it is pretty much connected to the reason behind his transmigration.
"Ancient Civilizations are a mystery, lad." Vadim said, "A very dangerous mystery at that. The Temple of Lights tends to get involved very passionately and they would send an entire army or form a religious campaign just to secure some of these ancient sites. Years later, they would establish temples on top of them to ward off visitors."
"I see. This is a very familiar practice." Leon replied but his focus was somewhere else.
He walked to the wall and then started using his hands to shave the remaining algae off them. Vadim understood without asking that Leon was trying to look for something behind the layer of algae until Vadim finally found it.
"Here, lad!" Vadim called.
Leon left what he was doing and ran to where Vadim then intensified the light on the wall.
"Step back!" Vadim said then as Leon stepped back, Vadim channeled his Mana through his hammer and created a stream of fire which he used to burn the algae off the wall faster than simply removing it by hand.
What was left after that, aside from the simple chars on the stone was what seemed to be a stone gate.
"Unlock this gate!"
*Clung!*
< The gate is unlocked! >
Vadim heard the deep sound coming from behind the stone gate, the same as Leon, and looked at him with wide eyes.
"That's a new trick."
"Let's hope it remains fun." Leon said and put his hands against the gate, "We've got to do a manual override."
"That's a word I understand." Vadim replied and followed Leon to push the gate.
Leon put all his weight against the gate and pushed with all his might. He could feel his muscles flexing and his joints cracking but the gate didn't move a single millimeter. Once Vadim put his strength on the gate, however, it was a different story.
The Dwarf didn't even put all his strength and the gate effortlessly opened.
"Stone hinges on carved cylinder pivots, classic." He even figured out the mechanism behind the gate that was made of heavy stone slaps.
However, once the two sides of the stone gate parted from each other, a gush of water flowed from inside and submerged the floor but not too high, almost to the point above their feet.
"A leakage?" Leon frowned.
"Prolly accumulated across the ages. This ruin can be a thousand years old." Vadim replied.
"Water is the enemy of proper excavation." Leon said with annoyance.
"You can't do water magic?" Vadim asked.
"Now that you mention it, I couldn't even find the opportunity to focus on the bastard Water Mage and copy it from him." Leon said as if he just discovered this incredible loss.
"Bah! Whatever, we'll think of something." Vadim made a ball of Light from his Light Mana and sent it beyond the gate.
The illumination situation with these two around was not a problem and they managed to see a long tunnel going deep in. Leon wasn't sure how to explore it properly with the lack of exploration equipment he's used to but the idea of leaving the door unguarded didn't sit well with him.
There was nothing he could do about it so he decided to step in and let fate decide.
Still, as he took the first step into the place, he could feel a light shiver running through his bones and looked behind to see Vadim struggling in the water that filled his boots.
Vadim looked up at Leon then turned his head back to see what Leon was looking at to find nothing. He turned to Leon again and questioned why he was looking back with his eyes but Leon just shrugged with a reluctant face.
He felt something… like a very faint… distant… presence.
But with Vadim here, he should have at least felt it too but that wasn't the case since Vadim seemed natural.
Leon looked at the path ahead and pushed forward in the water which he was curious of its nature. He even made the ball of light he manifested for illumination shine at the water to find that it was very stagnant.
"Hopefully we don't get any skin infection in this place… or worse, poisoned." Leon said.
"In this kind of environment, some mushrooms would grow that Dwarves find very tasty. We leak water into some of our caves for months to grow them." Vadim said.
"Mushroom farms?" Leon asked.
"Aye! Mushroom farms are popular among dwarves but Cave Fish… that's the real delicacy."
"I like fish." Leon said with a smile.
"You never really did." Vadim frowned.
"Do we need to go over this again?" Leon asked with a mocking tone.
"No." Vadim replied.
As the two ventured into the tunnel, they found it branching by other tunnels that led to a few large empty rooms. Leon could identify that these rooms were rather filled with wooden furniture and metal tools but the wood wilted away until it dissolved in the water with the passage of years and most of the metal tools rusted to disintegration.
What remained as evidence of that was the few remnants of shelves that survived the ages being hanged on walls and some of the stone furniture like stone chairs and stone tables. There was even glass that was mostly shattered but remained in some form of what seemed to be a laboratory and a few clay pots that survived in the dry part of the lab.
Of course all the contents of these things have long since turned to dust.
"What do you think?" Vadim asked, "I doubt we would find anything of value here unless it is magical."
"At least a thousand years have passed since anyone was in this place." Leon said, "The corroded wood and metal is one thing but the glass and pottery reveal a lot about the level of technology the owner of this place had."
"Yes, the craftsmanship of the glass seems fancy." Vadim nodded.
"Any organic material here wouldn't survive, sadly. There's a lot of moisture but the worst part isn't that." Leon said and looked around the walls, "This place was well-ventilated. If it was sealed properly, most of the corrosion would have slowed down greatly with the absence of oxygen but this doesn't seem to be the case."
"Oxy…gen?"
"An element of air which the living organisms need for breathing."
Leon felt a bit sad that nothing could be excavated here without the presence of a real expert on the field but he was here for tomb raiding at the moment. He turned back again and went ahead to the main tunnel.
"That's really underwhelming, lad. I thought this would be some viciously protected place but… meh!" Vadim walked beside Leon scratching his shoulder at ease but…
"WAAAH!"
"WAAAAH!"
Leon cried out and Vadim followed him in total panic.
"WHAT?! WHAT WAS THAT?" Leon shouted as he pointed deeper into the tunnel.
"What? What did you see?" Vadim asked.
"I don't know… it looked… strange!"
Leon wasn't sure what he just saw but he felt a presence that gripped his heart and he turned to see the shadow of something. Something that vanished away as soon as his eyes almost saw it.
"Hey! Steel yer nerves, lad! You almost made me shite meself!" Vadim had to breathe out heavily before making sure his hammer was in front of him.
Leon too readied the crossbow he stole from the Academy Camp, the Good Night, and was ready to draw his dagger if he needed to.
Relying on the Light they made with their elemental affinity to the Light, the two of them took the tunnel to the first turn until they arrived at a large circular chamber which seemed to be the inner sanctum of this place. At that moment, Leon and Vadim could see the culprit behind their jumpscares since they entered.
Across this large chamber, there were many orbs of light floating and glowing across the place without shedding a single ray of light on their surroundings. These things were so strange that you could only see them as cold and hovering balls of light but whatever around them was just enveloped in darkness which is completely against anything that has the nature of light.
"Holy Mother's Beard!" Vadim swore, "Will o' Wisps!"
Vadim seemed a bit taken but didn't lose his composure. Leon looked around and counted around 4 of these Will o' Whips. He only needed to Read whatever that is.
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[ Will o' Wisp ] < Malevolent Incorporeal Undead >
An undead spirit that is the leftover of an ancient undead. This undead can possess corporeal matter and animate it to defend its resting place when bothered. It has the following abilities:-
- Possession: the creature can animate any inanimate object that possesses no life as it merges itself within them.
- Leech Life: the creature can drain its target vitality when passing through them.
- Invisibility: the creature can turn invisible by shutting off its light until it attacks or possesses.
- Incorporeal Nature: the creature is immune to physical attacks with mundane weapons and can only be harmed by magical attacks.
————————————————————
Because Leon curiously Read the Will o' Wisp, the hovering wisps seemed to have sensed his magic wavelength and reacted to it.
"That's one problematic fucker!" Leon whispered.
"You read it then… here goes our element of surprise." Vadim sighed lightly and aimed his hand forward.
This is about to be the first time Leon encounters the Undead.
