Prolo Hawthorne stared at the box. "Professor, what if the first letters of these words have some significance? Q, D, C, A—could they form something?"
Dean Bruce's mind stirred. "That's an interesting idea. Could it be an abbreviation for a magic spell? Or perhaps a mark related to a specific location in this castle?"
Krupp perked up. "Then let's quickly try using these letters to form some possible spells."
They began experimenting with various combinations, reciting different incantations, but none of them worked.
Dean Bruce, feeling a bit discouraged, said, "Looks like it's not that simple. Let's analyze these words again."
At that moment, Prolo Hawthorne noticed that the runes on the box seemed to flicker faintly as they spoke the spells.
"Professor, look! The runes are moving!" Prolo Hawthorne exclaimed.
Dean Bruce examined the box closely. "This has to be significant. Could it be that we're on the right track with the spell direction but just have the wrong combination?"
Krupp said, "Then let's try a different arrangement and see what happens."
They started rearranging the letters, testing new combinations of the incantations. Suddenly, when Krupp spoke the combination "CADQ," the runes on the box flared with a brilliant light.
"It's reacting!" Dean Bruce exclaimed, his excitement palpable.
But the light flashed only briefly, and the spikes on the walls grew more intense.
"What's happening? Is it still not enough?" Prolo Hawthorne asked, panic creeping into his voice.
Dean Bruce stared at the box. "Maybe this is just the first step. We need more clues to move forward."
Just then, they noticed new patterns appearing on the walls—what looked like shapes of constellations.
"Could these constellations be related to the riddle?" Krupp asked, puzzled.
Dean Bruce studied the patterns. "It's possible. These might be another clue. We need to figure out how these constellations relate to those words."
Prolo Hawthorne pointed at one of the constellations. "Professor, this constellation looks like a sword. Could it be related to 'Clear wind and bright moon,' specifically the 'wind' part? Because wind can be as sharp as a sword."
Dean Bruce nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense. Then what about this constellation, which looks like a water ladle? Could it be tied to 'Clear rain falls' and the 'rain'?"
Krupp thought for a moment and added, "But what about 'Broken bridge and lingering snow'? Which constellation matches that? Could it be the one shaped like a broken bridge?"
Dean Bruce's eyes lit up. "That's possible! Let's follow this line of thought and see if we can reinterpret those words based on the arrangement or characteristics of the constellations."
As they were deep in their research, they suddenly heard a heavy, rumbling sound, as if some massive mechanism was being activated.
"This is bad. We don't have much time. We need to figure this out fast," Dean Bruce said anxiously.
Prolo Hawthorne looked at the constellation patterns and suddenly shouted, "Professor, look! The lines connecting these constellations seem to form some strange shapes. Could that be a clue?"
Dean Bruce followed his finger and looked at the shapes. "That shape looks like... a magic circle? Could it be that we need to cast a spell in the pattern of this circle to open the box?"
Krupp frowned. "But how do the elements of this magic circle correspond to those words?"
"What's wrong?" Krupp asked. "Is there a problem?"
Dean Bruce nodded. "Look at these letters."
Dean Bruce pointed to a few faintly visible letters in the image. "These letters—'Z, X, C, V'—they look like some sort of code or clue. They definitely didn't appear here by accident."
Prolo Hawthorne leaned closer to inspect. He scratched his head. "Professor, could this be the password for accessing a special area? Like the riddle on the box before?"
Krupp frowned, thinking hard. "But these letters don't make any sense. Unlike before, there's no recognizable word to link them to. Could they be markers for some kind of magic circle?"
Dean Bruce shook his head. "I don't think so. Magic circle markers typically wouldn't use such a random letter combination. It might have something to do with a mechanism or passage in the Black Hole's headquarters."
As they spoke, the image flickered again. The scene changed, revealing a massive stone door, covered in strange symbols. The letters "Z, X, C, V" were flashing above the stone door.
"Look, it's connected to the stone door!" Prolo Hawthorne shouted.
Dean Bruce carefully examined the symbols on the door. "These symbols look like an ancient runic language. I've seen something similar in the guild's archives, but it's not exactly the same. We'll need to study it more closely."
Krupp said, "Then let's quickly record these symbols. Maybe we can find a way to decode them."
The three of them hurriedly began writing down the symbols from the stone door. However, just as they had jotted down only a few, the walls around them began to move again, emitting a deep, rumbling sound.
"This is bad. Another mechanism's been activated!" Dean Bruce said, his voice tense.
Prolo Hawthorne gripped his magic wand nervously. "Professor, what do you think it is this time?"
Suddenly, black smoke began pouring out from the cracks in the walls. The smoke spread quickly, filling the room with a sharp, acrid scent.
"This smoke is poisonous!" Dean Bruce shouted. "Quick, use wind magic to blow it away!"
Prolo Hawthorne quickly cast wind magic, and a strong gust of wind howled through the room, but the smoke only seemed to gather more densely, as if unaffected by the wind.
Seeing this, Krupp drew his longsword. "It seems magic isn't working on this smoke. Let me try cutting through it with my sword!" With that, he swung his sword into the smoke. The blade shimmered with a golden light, cutting through the smoke nearby, but the smoke quickly regrouped.
"This isn't working. We need to find the source of the smoke!" Dean Bruce said.
They began to feel their way through the smoke, searching for the source. Suddenly, Prolo Hawthorne slipped and almost fell.
"Be careful!" Dean Bruce reached out to steady him. Looking down, he noticed strange patterns etched into the floor. These patterns seemed to be guiding the flow of the smoke. Experience more content on m v|l e'-novelhall.net
"Look at these patterns," Dean Bruce said. "The smoke is probably following these lines, coming from somewhere specific."
Krupp followed the direction of the patterns and found a small hole in a corner, from which the smoke was continuously pouring out.
"Over here!" Krupp called.
Dean Bruce walked over and carefully examined the hole. "There are traces of magical seals around the hole. It looks like we can't just break it open; we'll need to find a way to undo the seal."
Prolo Hawthorne looked at the hole and asked, "Professor, do you think this has something to do with those symbols or letters?"
Dean Bruce thought for a moment. "It's possible. Let's go back and take another look at the symbols and letters we recorded. There might be a clue hidden there."