by Zhuang Bifan
However, this second was incomparably precious to Lin Li.
A single second was neither long nor short, yet it was sufficient for Lin Li to release a sliver of mana and activate the Brand Of Dusk on his finger.
An elemental channel materialized in the dark void of the sky; in an instant, the world fell into silence even though it was restless with the death aura just a moment ago. It was like a rock sinking into the ocean, but the ripples disappeared without a trace before they had the chance to form.
Everything happened too quickly for anyone to react.
It felt like a dream for Gerian and Ysera—everything ended in a flash before it even had the chance to start before they saw the black rays of the Rage of the Natural Disaster explode violently and disappear. The event's speed made it all too surreal.
"It… It's gone?" Gerian stared open-mouthed at the stone door, his chubby face full of disbelief.
"It's gone… "
"Just like that? "
"…" Lin Li almost sat on the ground. Just like that? he thought. Sh*t, if I didn't use the Magic Suppression spell earlier on, this mineshaft might have collapsed thanks to the Rage of the Natural Disaster. "Just like that"? Only that damned fatty could say that…
Between the back and forths of the two, a faint noise came from the tightly shut cave door.
"Swish, swish…" As the faint noise echoed in their ears, the cave door had already started to tremble lightly. Sand and dirt trickled down from the freshly dug tunnel's ceiling; then, to the trio's pleasant surprise, the tightly shut cave door began to slowly open…
An endless gloom lay on the other side of the cave door. Standing in the dim light, Lin Li furiously rubbed his eyes, but he could still only barely make out the outline of what lay ahead. There seemed to be a long and narrow tunnel, stretching beyond what they could see. As Lin Li stood outside the cave door, he could not help but imagine a bloodthirsty beast in front of him. Perhaps due to the old age, layers of algae grew on the thick slabs of stones that made up the floor, thus giving them the cold and slimy feel of a python's scales.
The moment the cave door opened, they caught a whiff of rancid smell of decay coming from the tunnel. The rancid smell was comparable to that of the skeletons in the Shadowglen: thick and dense, as though the smell had somehow solidified into something. Maybe it was due to the opened cave door, but the chilling wind sweeping past their ears only added on to their terror in this tenebrous setting.
"Shall we go in and take a look?" Ysera whispered after swallowing his saliva with difficulty.
"Nonsense, the door is already open—don't tell me we're going back? Say, Ysera, when did you become such a coward?" Lin Li barely opened his mouth when Gerian cut in. His chubby face was filled with such excitement that one would think there was an unclothed beauty standing before them instead of a gloomy cave.
"Be careful." Lin Li could not help feeling perplexed upon seeing the eager Gerian. This rascal really doesn't know what's good for him; his mana has already been shattered, yet he is still the first to dive into everything. God, how can he be so reckless in such a place? All you need is a couple of traps for this fatso to fall into…
"Don't worry…" Gerian was hardly aware of the danger. With a wave of his hand, the middle-aged fatty sauntered off into the tunnel. However, as soon as he stepped foot into it, the smile on his face stiffened.
"Crunch… "
A very normal sound rang out, yet in this gloomy setting, it set off everyone's nerves.
"What happened?" Lin Li chased anxiously while grasping the Aether Staff tightly, ready to save Gerian with his magic the moment something was off.
"I'm… I'm fine. " Gerian barely managed a smile that seemed worse than a grimace even in this dim light. "It's just… I… for God's sake, I might have stepped on something… "
"What?"
Lin Li hurriedly uttered two lines, and released the Illuminating Spell.
Thanks to the blinding lights, Lin Li finally saw everything clearly. He did not know whether to laugh or cry in that instant. Maybe it was because of Gerian's awful luck, but he had stepped on a skeleton. Then again, in this tenebrous setting, coupled with the periodic gusts of chilling wind, it made sense that even the bravest man would be in shock having stepped on a skeleton.
"This…" Lin Li brushed his nose, and sheepishly explained, "I forgot to mention earlier, but the Song of Death mageweath relies on the power of death to work. So, I guess what you are stepping on is the source of the Song of Death mageweath… "
"Sh*t, it almost scared the living lights out of me… "
"Why don't I lead the way instead…" Lin Li held the Illuminating Spell while leading the two into the tunnel.
This was one scary looking tunnel…
The trio carefully proceeded, yet despite walking for around 10 minutes, they still could not see the end.
Only when Lin Li started yawning did the three of them finally see a greenish light coming from the distance. From where they were, the speck of light reminded them of a vigil light as it flickered in the air, sending a chill running down their spines…
Only, the three could not find it in themselves to care at this point anymore—they would go ahead even if there was a whole graveyard lying in front of them, much less a vigil light.
As the three of them went nearer, the speck of light grew brighter as well.
When Lin Li could finally see the speck of light clearly, he could not help but to draw a mouthful of cold air at the sight…
"F*ck…" It was a Gem of Curse.
Legend had it that the Gem of Curse only existed within the rare Heavenly Mithril, and even then they were few in numbers. One the size of a fingertip was enough for a Necromancer to summon tens and thousands of the Undead. Even in the Endless World, Lin Li had only read of it in various books, and the gem usually appeared along a scary tale even in those circ.u.mstances. Maybe some Necromancer used a Gem of Curse to summon thousands of the Undead and murdered a few tribes, or an ambitious Lich embedded one of these gems in his life case in order to become immensely powerful, and should the brave fail to stop him in time, he would use this power to destroy the universe, etc., etc…
There were numerous tales surrounding the Gems of Curse, but their only similarity was that their powers were terrifying…
That was right, the power of the Gems of Curse could only be described as "terrifying".
"Well, looks like this joke got out of hand… " Lin Li swallowed his saliva with difficulty; even just staring at the Gem of Curse made his breathing speed up.
That couldn't be helped—this Gem of Curse was too big, so big it was unbelievable.
If the Dragon's Eye on the Aether Staff was a lucky find, then this Gem of Curse could only be a miracle…
The Gem of Curse was the size of a fist. It floated quietly, radiating green light. The surging Death Energy was much stronger than the one at the Shadowglen, in the war of thousands of the Undead. As Lin Li stood there, he began to unconsciously reach for the Gem of Curse. It was truly a priceless treasure, and at the hands of a Master of the Five Arts, it could even be turned into a god-tier magical equipment.
However, just as he reached out halfway, Lin Li gritted his teeth, and hurriedly withdrew his hand.
"No!" Just before he got hold of the Gem of Curse, Lin Li suddenly realized that something was amiss. It made no sense for this Gem of Curse to be here, silently floating in the air just as though it had appeared out of nowhere, without any force to protect it.
In normal circ.u.mstances, abnormal meant something was wrong.
"What is it?" As Gerian witnessed everything, he could not help feeling confused for a second. He was not aware of how precious the Gem of Curse was, but he knew that the young man before him was not just any other man—if something could entice him so strongly, it had to be a treasure of immeasurable value.
Hence, Gerian was immensely curious as to why this young man gave up on the treasure lying right in fr
ont of him
"Nothing… " With that said, Lin Li had no mind to explain this right now, and merely shook his head. Setting his sight somewhere else, he said, "Let's take a look first."
Only at this point did Lin Li realize that this was an empty stone room with two exits. One was the long and narrow tunnel, and the other was opposite the tunnel. From a distance, it looked like a stone door left ajar, but from the center of the stone room, it looked like there was a speck of green light hovering around…
"My God, so that's what it is… " When Lin Li saw the speck of green light, he had a eureka moment. No wonder he found the Gem of Curse strange—he had thought that the green light came from the Gem of Curse at first, but never expected that this was actually a mageweath.
Chapter 293 - Blood Oath
Three Six-pointed Star Arrays were laid out one after another, and together formed a complicated many-sided shape. This was a disaster energy field without question—its sole purpose was to distill Death Energy before re-classifying it to sustain the operation of magical equipment like the Psychic Tower and the Great Graveyard. Anyway, this was a mageweath that a top-notch Necromancer had to master. On certain levels, the disaster energy field acted like a heart and controlled everything; once this heart stopped, the world it ran would also fall into nothing.
Hence, Lin Li withdrew his hand…
Lin Li knew that the mine probably hid more than just simple treasures. For the Gem of Curse and the disaster energy field to appear at the same time, this might just be the burial ground of some powerful Necromancer. This was no child's play; the burial ground of a top-notch Necromancer meant powerful magical equipment of all kinds, signified the life's work of the Necromancer, and meant the presence of a strong summoned creature deep in sleep at the moment. None of these could be trumped by a bit of treasure.
Plucking the Gem of Curse from the disaster energy field was not a difficult feat, but it might take away their chance to continue exploring. Who knew, they might lose the opportunity to stumble upon a treasure cove of magical gemstones because of this—now that would be something to regret.
With one last look at the Gem of Curse, Lin Li pushed open the phony stone door meant as a disguise while gritting his teeth.
"…" Never did Lin Li think that there would be such a vast difference between what lay on both sides of the door. Once he pushed the door open, it was like there were two different worlds in the mineshaft—a quiet stone room on one side, and a gloomy and terrifying graveyard on the other side. Looking into the distance, all he could see were numerous tombstones and the flickering light of vigil lights, coupled with the whimpering cry of the blowing wind. It was a bone-chilling sight.
As they walked into the big graveyard, Lin Li thought he had returned to the nest of Azardas, the Dragon of Destruction. The graveyard was nested within the spacious mountains, and one look told them that there must have been thousands of tombstones in the graveyard. In the center of these tombstones, there lay a massive ancient mausoleum. The architectural style of the mausoleum looked to be around a thousand years old to Lin Li as he looked at it from a distance. The kingdom of the High Elves had just fallen then, and many things like the arts and architecture in Anril contained remnants of the Dark Ages.
The faint light of the vigil lights hovered above the mausoleum like green fireflies; it looked like a sea of green from a distance. The wind blew high and low on the vast mountainside, forming a mix of whimpers and groans that raised the hair on their backs.
As they weaved through the numerous tombstones, bits of skeletons could be seen scattered around. Their ghastly white added to the eeriness of the place.
The mausoleum at the center of the graveyard was the only exception as it oozed magnificence and grandeur. Standing before it, the trio could see a faint light coming from within it…
"If there's really a treasure here, I'm afraid this is where it is hidden…" Lin Li turned back to the other two from where he stood in front of the mausoleum. "Shall we go take a look? "
"Of course!" Gerian replied without a second thought.
"Well… erm, I guess we could go take a look…" Ysera was apprehensive, but seeing that Gerian already decided on it, he did not dare to protest for fear of displeasing the middle-aged fatty.
"But this door…" Gerian said, feeling sheepish all of a sudden. "Would it be like the one outside?"
"This door should be fine…" Lin Li scrutinized it before leading the two forward after he had ascertained that there was no mageweath laid down around it.
Lin Li was correct as the door was alright. It gave way with just a light push, only creaking lightly in the process.
Then…
Light shone through the mausoleum's door—suddenly, all Lin Li could see was light that shone like glittering gold, just as if he was basking in the afternoon sun.
"My God…"
Lin Li was no stranger to money, for the wealth he'd held in the Endless World could only be described as astronomical. In the Anril world, he enjoyed the same comfort, for he easily earned more than a million in gold coins at an auction selling the Arcane Magic Potion. Gerian even had to get him a crystal card at the Glittergold Bank.
Well, those were just numbers…
Lin Li had never thought that the result could be so astounding when the numbers were translated into actual objects. The main entrance of the mausoleum led to a spacious hall around the size of a football field, with heaps of gold coins scattered around it; they varied in size, but resembled hills nonetheless. Red and green gems peeked through the sea of glittery gold, covering the hall in a dreamy light…
"F*ck, we've hit the jackpot…" Gerian's pupils dilated slowly, his beady eyes resembling gold coins more and more as he looked at the glittery gold hills. Face flushed and breathing hastened, he would have pounced on all the treasures if it were not for Lin Li's tight hold on him.
"Be careful, I sense something amiss here…" For some reason, Lin Li frowned as he stared upon the mountains of gold.
"What's wrong?"
"Hell, I don't know, either…" Maybe it was the setting, or the fact that they were currently in a spooky graveyard, but Lin Li could not help but feel unsettled. Even though there were mountains of gold right in front of him, he could not wave away the uneasiness, feeling as though they were being watched by some eyes hiding in the dark.
This feeling occurred twice to him after coming into Anril: once in the Nightmare Mountains, and the other time in the Shadowglen. While nothing terrible happened each time, Lin Li believed that his hunch was right, and the time might just not be ripe even though nothing out of the norm happened.
All in all, it was an unsettling feeling.
Besides, Lin Li felt a familiar presence coming from within the mountains of gold.
Compared to the unsettling feeling, Lin Li was more concerned about this familiar presence.
Truth be told, Lin Li had already felt this presence the moment he had broken the Song of Death and opened the tightly shut stone door. It almost felt like a blood connection that transcended even time and space, like a brand on the soul, the clarity of it undeniable no matter the distance between them.
It was especially strong when Lin Li approached the mausoleum, just as though a voice right next to his ear was calling him.
Lin Li , however, was unable to recall what could be so familiar that it would feel like a blood connection to him…
The trace of suspicion lingered on his mind until a small noise came from deep within the mountains of gold…
"Be careful!" Lin Li realized he was in trouble just as the noise sounded. A sudden noise coming from a mausoleum sealed for the past thousand years… What could it be besides the damned Undead creatures?
Indeed…
No sooner had Lin Li's warning been issued than a heap of gold coins scattered, and a dozen skeletons wielding rusted machetes came tumbling through the gold coins in the air.
"Damn it, it's these things again!" Lin
Li felt a headache coming; he could never seem to rid himself of the Undead creatures ever since the fight at the Shadowglen. Time and again, from the Shadowglen to Blackhills Town, and from Alanna to Jarrosus, the damned Undead creatures pursued him relentlessly like a nightmare he could never free himself from.
A pity he did not have the time to ponder further.
While a dozen Skeletal Warriors brushed the gold coins aside and charged forward, noises could be heard from the nearby piles of gold. All of a sudden, the gold coins rained down as the noises continued like swarms of locusts chewing away at crop fields. Ysera paled at the sight—sure, it was not his first encounter with the Undead, but in such numbers… that was a first. Judging from the massive size of this hall, they would be doomed if every heap of gold coins hid Skeletal Warriors.
"Retreat to the door!" Lin Li prompted his dumbfounded companions as he wielded the Aether Staff.
"Oh…" Ysera found himself breaking out of his trance at Lin Li's warning. From their position at the center of the great hall, they would be surrounded if Skeletal Warriors emerged from every pile of gold…
Gerian and Ysera hurriedly retreated out of the mausoleum as Lin Li held the Aether Staff tightly, spilling verses after verses of intelligible spells. The Dragon's Eye atop the magic staff gleamed as a sea of light started spreading; he managed to stop the Skeletal Warriors that continued pressing closer with a blazing fire.
After using the Wall of Fire spell, Lin Li took a few steps back, and quickly began his recitations with his back pressed against the cool stone wall.
Ever since he mastered many core magical mantras in the Aurora Square, Lin Li was able to reach a level of great completion with his skills. Right now, he could wield any magic below level-10 with ease, be it shortening the time taken to cast it or changing its magical elements. With a little bit of risk, even a level-10 magic could be cast in the blink of an eye…
Given the twisted nature with which he cast magic, conjuring Flaming Storm, a level-8 magic, needless to say, was as easy as breathing for him. As the spells tumbled out of his mouth swiftly, numerous fiery dragons pounced on the Skeletal Warriors, each brandishing their fangs and claws.