Chapter 362 The Ruined Palace

Chapter 362 The Ruined Palace

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/Step.../

/Thud!/

After walking for half an hour in the darkness, the ground seemingly began to change, prompting Dale to tap his foot around as he felt something was off.

"Hm?... This is... Stone?" Dale asked as he tapped his foot on the ground

"Can you be more specific, I can't quite see the ground from my angle and I'm pretty sure we're surrounded by those."

"It's different, this is... Smooth stone."

Dale crouched, using his gauntlets to wipe some of the dirt and dust from the ground, revealing an old, clear ceramic tile.

To show this to David, he unwrapped him from his waist.

"Oho? This is rather unusual, it seems to be a piece of ceramic, a tile to be precise."

"Try clearing more of the dirt, see if there's more." He asked as he raised an eyebrow

Dale did as he was told, already planning to do such a thing from the beginning.

He cleared the dirt around him, revealing several more tiles, connected to form a greater, somewhat dim pattern. They seemed to have something else painted on them but it was borderline impossible to see due to the dirt stains.

"Ohoho... This is getting really good... A path of ceramic tiles..." David said with curious words

"That's not only it." Dale added as he pointed at the walls and ceiling

"There are signs of old metal lights and other tiles on the walls, this place was deeply decorated. I imagine the dirt came from the Ants moving around the place."

"This place could've been a tunnel, but the Ants shoved dirt on the walls to reinforce the path, hiding its true appearance."

'Since they only cared about the path, the walls remain mostly untouched aside from the dirt on them, the ceiling items are a bit bent here and there, likely from the Ants bumping into them.'

"To think there was such a place deep down at Resko... It gives me bad vibes, it reminds me of my days in the Catacombs." David said with disgust as his eyes turned cold

"From the looks of it, this place isn't that old, likely built during Resko's time, these tiles are quite similar to other ones I've seen used in the Church in the past. He added as his eyes focused on the darkness ahead of them

"No ancient mystery to be uncovered here, just a piece of the past waiting to be uncovered."

"Onwards kid, let's figure out what this place was used for and if there's anything good still inside before we move on."

"We ought to do it fast... This place gives me the shivers, maybe it was built by the same people who built that place, I've cursed them numerous times you see..."

"Hm... I don't hear much around us so... I'll pick up the pace." Dale said as he strapped back David to his waist before he quickened his pace, dashing across the darkness

The decorated hallway went for a few hundred meters before finally coming to a sudden halt, leading to a wide, open room...

"This is..."

"Exactly what I expected from a bunch of wizards..."

Both Dale and David were each without words to describe what they saw.

A massive cavern with a ceiling dozens of meters high appeared before them!

So wide and large it was it possessed its own, small ecosystem.

With a lake by the side with a waterfall and a forest spreading throughout its expanse, the cavern was full of life with birds and critters moving around the place from bush to bush.

Tall mushroom trees, together with thousands of vines grew on the cavern's walls...

"That seems to be the case, I could be wrong, but on a surface analysis, this is what it feels like."

"A bummer... Then the only option is to follow the Ants."

"Yeah."

The Ant's trail went through the sides of the Palace, it was pretty evident as the grass had been completely cut off in that region.

Following the trail led them to the source of their food and their goal for today's little adventure.

/Shine.../

/Cha cha cha!/

A massive glowing crystal mounted atop a strange metallic apparatus seemed to be 'feeding' thousands of critters and plants around them!

"What... Is... This?" Dale asked as he had difficulty processing what he was seeing

The Crystal was light blue, in fact, it was somewhat similar to the Crystal Qrubin was sealed within, albeit different from the latter, the crystal seemed to be 'sweating', a strange kind of pale blue liquid that formed a massive pool around it.

Around the crystal, strange insects gulped down the solution in large droves like pumps, with dozens of ants surrounding them, grabbing small solid clumps of matter from holes in their bodies, like disgusting protein bars...

With that look alone, after holding down his disgust, Dale understood where the Ant's food came from, it was from these strange ants that were processing that strange liquid into an energy bar.

Above that, the Ants weren't the only ones with the idea of settling near the crystal for sustenance.

Thousands of plants took hold throughout the crystal's body, directly absorbing the solution as it dripped down to the lake.

/Splash!/

From time to time, Dale also saw strange fish jumping from the pale blue water.

None of the creatures seemed to be fighting each other in this unique environment as there was more than enough for all.

"Do you... Have any idea as to what this could be?" Dale asked as he looked at David

"I really don't... And I'm trying my hardest to."

"In any case, I don't need to remind you not to drink that do I? It's best left untouched until we figure out what it actually is."

"I'm not that reckless."

Before approaching the crystal, Dale turned back, looking at the back portion of the stone Palace.

There, he saw an opening covered by large blades of grass...

"Maybe we'll find an answer over there, let's ignore this for now."

'This is getting strange, just what is this place? Why go over so much trouble to make all of this?'

'Were the people of the past looking for this? Why did they keep it here? There are clear signs the crystal was placed upon that metal base, there had to be a reason for that.'

'It makes me think if there are other strange anomalies buried in the Sands of time...'

"You're doing it again! Stop thinking! Get your ass over there! My curiosity is killing me." David said out loud as his eyes shone in golden light

"Calm down a little, the crystal's going nowhere..." Dale said as he rolled his eyes

/Shush.../

Pushing the grassy blades aside, Dale delved inside the opening of the stony palace.

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Notes