89 An Unexpected Find

"What's this?" asked Luuk suddenly.

Luuk, who was still in the forest with Graham, suddenly felt a faint, strange presence coming from the distance. He looked at Graham and the latter seemed to have felt it as well.

"I don't know. Let's check it out. It's coming from that way." replied Graham.

Both of them went deeper into the forest cautiously, avoiding dried branches to prevent a lot of noise. They walked on the forest ground while carefully observing their surroundings to try to spot the source of the presence.

"Can you use your divination?" asked Luuk whisperingly to Graham who was walking close to him.

"I can if the presence stays long enough, otherwise it will be gone by the time I'm finished," he replied matter-of-factly.

The two of them kept moving forward and the presence got stronger little by little the deeper they went into the forest. It was not a dangerous presence that they were feeling, but rather, one that was trying to conceal itself but failed. That was why the two of them were curious.

They walked past a big tree and arrived at a small creek with a small waterfall. The presence seemed to be coming from somewhere across the river so they had to cross it. However, neither Graham nor Luuk wanted to get into the creek because it was cold, and getting wet would be unpleasant. They both stood beside it.

"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order the water to stop flowing!"

He finished chanting and his voice was carried by the wind, and with it, the water in the creek froze in place, slowly creating a dry path for them to cross. Since it was a small creek and the current was not strong, Graham's Order could stop it for several seconds, giving them enough time to get to the other side safely.

"What a convenient ability," complimented Luuk.

"Thanks. It's really about how creative we are with its application. You could probably steal the water's property of making us wet," replied Graham.

Luuk didn't think about it, but he didn't know if it would work. Graham's suggestion, however, made him rethink the way he used his abilities. He should think outside the box more.

The two men continued making their way towards the source of the presence, which had gotten fainter instead of stronger now. It made them confused because it should be the other way around because they were sure they were going the right direction.

The forest became lusher around them, with leaves both on the trees and covering the soil below. There were shrubberies and mushrooms growing wild in their surroundings, with a lot more animal activities than before. Rabbits, squirrels, and deer were busy eating as much as they could in preparation for the coming winter, also in the Republic of Tulp, winter had never been harsh.

They had been following the trail leading to the presence for about thirty minutes now and had been pretty deep inside the forest than normal people would usually dare to go. They weren't worried about getting lost, however, because of Graham's ability to do divination. They didn't feel any danger either so far, although they still kept their guard up the whole time.

After walking and almost running for so long, they finally arrived at a cave that was covered entirely by vines. They wouldn't have known that there was a cave there if not for the presence that was now completely gone. The last time they felt it, it came from inside the cave, which was how they found out about it in the first place.

"It's coming from inside, isn't it?" Luuk tried to confirm.

Graham nodded and stayed still on his spot. He took out his lighter and lit a fire to do divination before venturing farther. He concentrated on the flame and repeated a question in his mind.

'What is inside this cave?'

Once he repeated the question enough times, the flame in his hand burned brighter and formed an image that slowly grew bigger until in his eye it was as big as a cinema screen. It showed the inside of the cave, which appeared to be very dark but the fact that the image was formed by fire made it look brighter. The cave floor was rocky and there were a lot of both stalactites and stalagmites protruding from the floor and the ceiling. However, they couldn't see the source of the strange presence anywhere in the image. After that, it slowly disappeared and the flame turned normal.

Luuk stared at Graham in confusion, but the latter also didn't seem to understand.

"So there is nothing inside?" asked Luuk in disbelief.

The presence he had felt was real, and Graham had also felt it, so it couldn't have been just his imagination.

Graham looked back at the flame in front of him and focused on it. He asked a question for the second time and repeated it.

'Is it dangerous to go inside the cave?'

The flame from his lighter showed a paper being burned until it slowly turned into ash. The fact that the paper burned entirely meant that going into the cave was dangerous, but judging from the rate at which the paper burned, the danger was not mortal. After that, the image disappeared.

"Val, what do you think? It's dangerous inside but I couldn't see anything through the previous divination. Does it mean whatever is inside is stronger than us? But the danger level is manageable. I don't understand..." he muttered quietly.

Luuk, who saw the divination but couldn't hear the question being asked, didn't understand what he saw this time. Previously, he could judge from context but now it only showed paper burning. He turned to Graham and asked.

"What did you ask? What does it mean?"

"I asked if it is dangerous to get in, and the answer is yes, although we won't be killed if we still do it," he replied patiently. He realized that Luuk wasn't familiar with paper burning divination.

Graham put the lighter back inside his pocket took a comfortable position on the ground, under a tree. He sat down with his back leaning against the tree and closed his eyes. Since the forest was peaceful and the situation was not urgent, he didn't need the feel to use Order on himself; he would just try to sleep naturally. It took him almost five minutes to completely fall asleep with Luuk watching the whole process, but Graham didn't mind. It was already time for his partner to know about his switching with Valentine, although he would tell him nothing else.

Not long after Graham fell asleep, Valentine woke up and got up from his position while cleaning the dirt off his coat. Luuk, who felt that the person's aura had changed, got curious and asked.

"You're not the same person, are you?"

Valentine stared at Luuk coldly and shrugged.

"I'm the same person. What do you mean?" he said casually.

Luuk had always noticed the subtle differences, but seeing the whole process from one to the other made them more apparent. Luuk had noticed that Graham's tone of voice was gentler than Valentine's coarse tone. The way they walked was also different. Graham walked more confidently, while Valentine's way of walking could be described as stealthy and secretive. However, since the other party didn't want to answer, Luuk didn't press the topic further.

Valentine readied his gun with the paralysis bullets inside the chamber while Luuk got his pocket knife out. After that, the two men carefully moved the vines aside and entered the dark cave. Both of them had their night vision activated, so the darkness didn't bother them at all.

The floor of the cave was wet and slippery, so they had to walk carefully not to slip. It was even more difficult since they were not wearing the proper shoes for cave exploration; both of them had sneakers on, which were enough but not the best option.

Valentine moved at the front although he was the one with a gun. Luuk stayed at the back so that he would have time to control the enemy. It had been their usual battle formation since Luuk learned how to use his ability to steal the enemy's intentions.

Besides stalactites and stalagmites and the occasional water drops, there was nothing of importance in that part of the cave, so they had to go deeper. Every step they took consumed a lot of energy and concentration because of the terrain. In that kind of situation, a fight would be disadvantageous.

"What do you think we'll find here?" asked Luuk curiously.

"I really have no idea, but stay alert; there is danger in here," replied Valentine.

They walked deeper and deeper into the cave and the temperature continued to drop and while the moisture in the air rose. The cave became wider and wider as they went and the cave ceiling got higher. It evoked a feeling of insignificance in Luuk's heart, and also slight fear for being in such a large and endless space.

"I feel uncomfortable here," he said whisperingly, but his voice was loud enough to create an echo in the dark chamber.

"That's understandable. I also feel slightly the same," replied Valentine honestly.

In the deathly silent cave, the sound of water dripping in the distance and their own breathing relieved them, reminding them that they were still alive. Although the chamber was large, even too large, it felt suffocating. The deeper they went, the walls and ceiling began to disappear even though they had the help of night vision to see. Without concentrating hard, it would be easy to get lost in that place, and if panic struck, it could even be impossible to find a way out. They kept walking in the same direction, trying carefully not to accidentally make a turn; it was difficult to walk in a straight line without any visual aid to help.

"I guess that means there is a limit to our night vision," said Valentine rationally. It was a way for him not to get lost in his own thought and forgetting which way to go.

"I also think so. In the city, there is always something to obstruct our vision. But here, there is nothing at all, so we can see the maximum distance the vision allows us," replied Luuk analytically.

Their voice reverberated in the dark before disappearing.

They kept on walking which felt like forever, although it was in fact only less than thirty minutes. Finally, the walls became visible and the ceiling was above them again. They felt relieved right away. However, the discomfort they felt was replaced by curiosity in an instant because of what they saw in front of them.

"I'm sure this is manmade," said Luuk with slight disbelief.

Valentine nodded, but Luuk didn't see it because his eyes were fixated to the sight before him.

The two men were standing in front of ancient pillars with carvings of unfamiliar faces, which appeared to be the guardian of the place. There were a total of nine pillars, each with a different face carved into it.

"I think this might be a ruin of some sort," said Valentine.

"Should we go in?" asked Luuk. He was very eager to know what was inside.

"We should, but be very careful. This place didn't appear in divination, which means it's protected," replied Valentine with a serious tone.

Valentine and Luuk walked past the nine pillars and into the space beyond. Slowly, the cave walls were replaced by manmade walls that looked really old and were in bad condition. They walked deeper into the ruin and saw a corridor with unlit candles on the floor. The corridor itself was rather spacious, enough for five people to walk side by side, and at the end of the corridor, there looked to be a chamber.

The two men cautiously went into the chamber and carefully observed their surroundings. It appeared to be the main room of the ruin, with an altar in the middle and numerous unlit candles scattered around on the floor. On the altar, there was a stain that might have been blood, but they were not sure since the color had faded because of age. Their attention was then drawn by a skeleton sitting against the wall on the right side of the chamber.

The skeleton was still wearing what remained of its clothes, which appeared to be some kind of robe. The skull of the skeleton was crushed on one side, which probably had been the cause of death. There was no weapon on the skeleton's hands, nor on the ground nearby. Either the skeleton had none in the first place, or it had been stolen. The skeleton must have been a normal human in life, since a Contractbound's death would turn their bodies into ashes, leaving nothing behind but a scroll and a sacrificial material.

Valentine walked closer to the skeleton to inspect it, with Luuk following closely behind him. Then, something caught his eye. It was the belt that the skeleton was wearing, which gave off the same strange presence that had led them there, but quickly faded. Valentine took it off the skeleton and picked it up, inspecting it closely. The belt appeared to be made of leather, but which kind, he didn't know; it was a pale color, similar to a human skin tone. The buckle was white and seemed to be made of bones. Valentine felt spiritual energy coming from the belt, which meant that it was most likely an enchanted piece of equipment.

"Is that the thing giving off the presence?" asked Luuk while looking at the belt carefully.

"Yes. I will use divination later to appraise it," replied Valentine, and then rolled the belt into a circle. He didn't want to risk wearing it without knowing its effect.

"Let's see around some more. Maybe we'll find other valuable things," suggested Luuk.

Valentine nodded in agreement with the suggestion. He got up from his crouching position and stuffed the rolled belt inside his coat pocket securely. His coat was now getting heavier for all the stuff he had inside, including the dead Jeweller's valuables. He followed Luuk who had gone up ahead. They didn't walk for long before they stopped in their tracks and stared at the peculiar sight in front of them.

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