Chapter 64 Royal Ruins: One Treasure Chest Per Person
Outside the black pine forest, imperial guards in armor stood silently outside the ruins. It was not yet time for the ruins to open, and the teachers and students of Gracia were waiting outside.
Surprisingly, many students came to participate in the Royal Ruins Expedition. Ancia even saw some dwarf classmates, whom she rarely saw. "I thought they wouldn't leave the forge."
Heligaluo explained, "For students who are not chosen by the Magisters, working for the Empire is also a good option. The dwarves' homeland is harsh and cold, and many dwarves choose to leave the snowy mountains."
Teacher Diana announced, "Team play is allowed during the Royal Ruins Expedition, but rankings will be based on the cumulative points earned over three days for clearing levels and obtaining treasure chests solo. The map has been distributed to everyone; please challenge according to your individual strength. If you get stuck in a level, you can use telepathy to notify the teacher to help you out, and your points will be calculated on the spot."
The Imperial Guards parted to make way, and the students filed in.
Ancia unfolded the map, which marked the recommended star rating and points for each location. The higher the point, the more dangerous the level. She skipped over the easy three-star class levels and looked directly at the level with the highest point. "Shall we clear the ancient stone wall first?"
The other three had no objections.
The ancient stone wall was merely the first gate to this labyrinth. Lush vines completely obscured the stone wall, which a fire mage could easily burn away. Skalk, however, tried to chop down the vines, but to little avail.
A green light flashed in Erlan's hand as magic surged towards the vines on the stone wall. The vines receded like a tide, revealing the stone wall. He gave a soft hum, his gaze towards Ancia filled with pride, but when he realized Ancia's attention was completely focused on the stone wall, his face darkened.
Ancia's gaze was drawn to the mysterious runes on the stone wall, and she sensed a familiarity among the intricate inscriptions. After a brief moment of thought, she channeled her magic along the group of inscriptions that represented "open," and the stone wall slowly parted to the sides, emitting a low, grinding sound.
"Alright, we can enter the maze now." She looked at the shadowy maze passage with satisfaction and entered first.
The walls of the maze weren't very high, and Skark easily pushed off, trying to climb up to observe the route. But just as he climbed halfway up, the top of the wall, which he could already touch, suddenly extended upwards.
Skalk climbed two more steps, and the wall grew taller again.
Heligalo: "This maze should be one where you can't take shortcuts; you can only find the right path by following the proper route."
Erlan clicked his tongue, withdrew the magic in his hand, and was about to use brute force to break through.
Heligalo said casually, "It's alright, let's go. I'll remember all the routes."
They soon came to the first fork in the road. Ancia patted Airan on the shoulder and asked, "God of Gamblers, which way should we choose?"
Airlan casually pointed, "To the right."
Follow the right path to the end, which is a dead end, but there is an unopened treasure chest at the end.
Ancia sighed, "...He really is the God of Gamblers, always lucky."
Ellan was somewhat embarrassed and angry. "So what if it's a dead end? A bronze treasure chest is worth at least five points."
Ancia stepped forward and opened it, revealing a set of melee gauntlets, which she tossed directly to Skalk.
They returned to the fork in the road and set off again. Soon after, a new fork in the road appeared before them, and Ancia patted Erlan on the shoulder again.
Airland: "Left side, I think it's the left side."
Ancia nodded. "Okay, let's go, to the right."
This time there was no dead end, but as soon as they turned the corner, a group of wandering rock golems charged straight at them.
"Discipline - Binding." Heligalo's control landed on the lead puppet. As soon as it paused, the puppets behind it crashed into it, knocking it to the ground.
The puppet had no compassion and continued to charge forward, stepping on the bodies of its companions.
Skark had already rushed in front of the puppet, his scimitar blocking the puppet's stone arm, sparks flying from the friction between the metal and stone.
The maze passages were narrow, making it difficult for Erlan to fire his arrows. So he simply stood at the back and cast wood magic. Thorns sprouted from the ground and trapped the legs of the rock golems. Unfortunately, the thorns could not pierce the rock golems' defenses, and the toxins inside were ineffective against them.
"The Mark of Light".
Ancia's Light Mark magic has been upgraded, enabling her to automatically mark the most vulnerable parts of enemies. A flash of golden light appeared, and the puppet at the front was marked on the back of its neck.
Skark grinned. "So this is the core weakness." He dodged the charge of the golems behind him, leaped up by stepping on the arm of a rock golem, flames erupting from his scimitar as he plunged it into the back of the neck of the golem below.
With its core shattered, the puppet crumbled and vanished into thin air. Ancia no longer needed to apply the Light Mark to the remaining rock golems; all attacks were directed at their weak point, the core, clearing the passage.
The puppet disappeared, and a silver treasure chest appeared in its place, worth twice the points of the bronze treasure chest, totaling ten points.
Anciya casually reached into the silver treasure chest and took out a skincare set, the latest model from the Eternal City.
Airland cleared his throat. "Give this to me."
At another fork in the road, Ancia stopped asking questions, randomly chose a direction, and started walking. As long as Herigalo could remember all the routes they had taken, they would definitely reach their destination.
Fortunately, the passage wasn't a dead end, but a flock of birds flew above it. Skalk tentatively stepped into the passage, and the birds immediately began to flap their wings and chirp. The sound waves spread, and the accompanying mental attack made Skalk's mind jolted, causing him to cover his ears in pain.
He quickly retreated, watching the flock of birds warily. "They're so high up, I can't kill them all at once."
Erlan counted his arrows. "If we can't retrieve them, we won't have enough."
Heligaluo pondered for a moment, then estimated the length of the passage. "Ancia, is ten seconds enough for you to run across?"
Ancia: "Not enough, but Skalke is enough; he can carry me across."
Heligalo nodded, stood at the edge of the passage, and began to chant the Light of Silence. After a full minute of charging, a torrential rain of light descended upon the flock of birds, enveloping all the birds in a state of magic suppression.
Without hesitation, Skalk had already carried Ancia on his back and rushed to the other end of the passage. Heligalo was the last to leave the passage. As soon as he stepped out, the flock of birds overhead began to emit dizzying bird calls again.
Ancia jumped down, "Treasure chest! The treasure chest is still inside!"
Heligalo's light rope lashed out, hooking out a golden treasure chest and pulling out a passage.
Ancia rubbed her hands excitedly, "Golden treasure chest, twenty points!" She pulled out a storage book from it, which was enchanted with paper that would never wear out. Only Heligalo hadn't gotten anything yet, so she simply handed it to him.
Heligalo took the storage book and said with a smile, "Thank you, that's exactly what I needed."
After navigating a passage riddled with traps and navigating three dead ends, they finally emerged from the maze.
On the first day, only they went straight to the maze; the rest planned to challenge the maze with the highest score on the last day, so that even if they failed, it wouldn't delay their exploration of other levels.
Skulk wasn't done playing yet. "Where to next? The level with the second-highest score?"
Ancia opened the map, and suddenly a faint magical fluctuation came from the northwest of the maze. It was weak but cold. She looked up sharply in that direction.
Heligalo asked, "What's wrong? Is there a problem over there?"
The other two were completely unaware, only she noticed it. Was it just her imagination?
Ancia pointed to the northwest. "I feel like there's something over there." She looked down at the map and found that the northwest corner of the maze was a blank area. This area was not large and was surrounded by the edge of the Black Pine Forest ruins and the maze. It seemed to be just an unused area.
Heligalo: "According to the records, that area of the royal ruins was never used from the beginning."
Airland squinted and looked over there. "The plants over there are growing fairly normally."
Skulker said nonchalantly, "Since you think there's a problem, go and take a look. Your perception is much sharper than ours."
When Ancia reached the northwest corner of the maze, she discovered that it was shrouded in mist, and there was still a long distance between her and the magical fluctuations she sensed.
Heligalo frowned. "According to the map scale, the actual distance we've traveled is larger than the area shown on the map. Something's not right here."
They continued along the mist, but a barrier blocked their path.
Arlan reached out to touch it, and the barrier immediately repelled his magic. He raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. A ruin that is only open for three days a year would use such a tight protective barrier, especially in an area that is not marked on the map."
Once the barrier is set up, only those who meet certain conditions or possess the barrier key can enter. Obviously, none of them meet these conditions.
Ancia sensed that dark, cold magical fluctuation again. Although it only appeared for a brief moment, she was certain it was inside the barrier. Today was Friday, the day Marquis Moreno regularly went to the Black Pine Forest Ruins. Could he be inside the barrier?
She hadn't yet learned how to break the barrier's formation, so she quickly checked her system inventory for any potentially useful magical items. Finally, her gaze fell on the Embrace of Shadows.
"If you can sever all shackles, then you should be able to break through barriers as well, right?"
Ancia murmured to herself, drew her Shadow Embrace, and aimed the thin, cicada-wing-like blade at the barrier. Its extreme sharpness instantly slashed a crack in the barrier.
They successfully crossed the barrier and saw the true face behind the mist.
The ancient stone wall had been newly carved out and covered with a heavy metal door. A faint, cloying sweet smell filled the air, which was somewhat nauseating.
Ancia's intuition told her to open the door, but as soon as she took a step forward, a cold command came from behind her.
"stop!"
Velien emerged from the mist with a squad of royal guards fully clad in heavy armor and armed with weapons, blocking their retreat.
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Author's Note: Double updates until next Wednesday, two chapters each day [cat emoji]
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