Chapter 91: 91: The Book of Rhyme (1)

Chapter 91: 91: The Book of Rhyme (1)

A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree''

Vadim Igorson, son of the Tsarina of the Cave Empire of Dandaros, a Prince among his people, and a senior mercenary who held the position of a Hall Chief for 8 long years at the Hall of Mercenaries in Karanberg.

At the height of that man's career, he was the leader and the figurehead of "Reign", a very large and influential Mercenary Group that had many nobles and famous warriors from every place across the continent. They participated in wars, politics, rebellions, and succession battles.

In other words, Vadim had so many accomplishments under his platinum belt that would make him a legend of his own. But for the last few days, that Dwarf stood bewildered at the accomplishments and the talents of an 18-year-old human.

Today in particular, they battled a sea serpent in an illusion formation, fought a powerful water mage whose identity is surely troublesome, and now they are delving deep in a cave which was a dead end until Leon said otherwise.

"Open, Sesame!"

Just like the phrase said in front of the magic cave from the tale of Alibaba, Leon said those words and the cave was at his beck and call.

The ground vibrated and Vadim went into a full-vigilance mood. Without even him feeling it, the way they came from started to become higher and higher as if it was getting disconnected from the cave chamber they were in.

"WE MUST HURRY BACK!"

"Wait!"

Vadim wanted to grab Leon and run but the latter was firmly standing to the ground.

"A lift! The entire chamber is a lift." Leon said with a gleeful expression, "It works on hydraulic pressure. Look at the pillars."

The four pillars around the floor inscription were not just there to secure the cave's ceiling from collapsing but to hold together the floor as it descends.

The vibrations of the floor turned into a growling shake. The floor kept descending meter by meter until they were around 20 meters below the level they were on. At that moment, the pillars and the walls around them appeared wet and covered with a thick layer of algae that seems to have been shaved off with the floor descending.

"Heh!" Leon laughed, "I told you, water and hydraulic pressure. Who's crazy enough to build all this?"

"Blasted hells! If me hair went gray after this, I'm blaming ya, Lad!" Vadim couldn't help but become more and more nervous now.

Vadim turned to look at Leon but before he turned away, he noticed Leon narrowing his eyes.

"What?" Vadim asked quickly.

"Wait." Leon replied.

In front of him, a few messages were being relayed.

< The Main Gate is malfunctioning! >

< Damage has been detected! >

< Manual Override is required at the Main Gate. >

< The facility energy is failing! >

< The Obelisk Line is Offline! >

< Unless power is supplied, most of the facility's functions will cease working. >

"Damn!" Leon exclaimed.

"What?" Vadim asked.

"I've managed to Read some of the Knowledge regarding this place." Leon replied.

"And?"

"I'm in shock." Leon said with a worried face before asking, "This ancient civilization how advanced was it?"

Leon was bewildered but his bewilderment didn't just end at this whole facility and how advanced it seemed.

What seemed to have scared him the most and what made him take some steps forward despite the dangers was the fact that this place recognized the Ring of Horus, the ring that nobody else in the world can see.

If this location can recognize the Ring and if it has precautions against anyone with this unique Knowledge Magic spell called "Read", then it is pretty much connected to the reason behind his transmigration.

"Ancient Civilizations are a mystery, lad. A very dangerous mystery at that. The Temple of Lights tends to get involved very passionately and they would send an entire army or form a religious campaign just to secure some of these ancient sites. Years later, they would establish temples on top of them to ward off visitors." Vadim said.

"I see. This is a very familiar practice." Leon replied but his focus was somewhere else.

What remained as evidence of that was the few remnants of shelves that survived the ages being hanged on walls and some of the stone furniture like stone benches and stone tables. There was even glass that was mostly shattered but remained in some form of what seemed to be a laboratory and a few clay pots that survived in the dry part of the lab.

Of course all the contents of these things have long since turned to dust.

"What do you think? I doubt we would find anything of value here unless it is magical." Vadim asked.

"At least a thousand years have passed since anyone was in this place." Leon said, "The corroded wood and metal are one thing but the glass and pottery reveal a lot about the level of technology the owner of this place had."

"Yes, the craftsmanship of the glass seems fancy." Vadim nodded.

"Any organic material here wouldn't survive, sadly. There's a lot of moisture but the worst part isn't that." Leon said and looked around the walls, "This place was well-ventilated. If it was sealed properly, most of the corrosion would have slowed down greatly with the absence of oxygen but this doesn't seem to be the case."

"Oxygen?"

"An element of air which the living organisms need for breathing."

Leon felt a bit sad that nothing could be excavated here without the presence of a real expert on the field but he was here for tomb raiding at the moment. He turned back again and went ahead to the main tunnel.

"That's really underwhelming, lad. I thought this would be some viciously protected place but meh!" Vadim walked beside Leon scratching his shoulder at ease but

"WAAAH!"

"WAAAAH!"

Leon cried out and Vadim followed him in total panic.

"WHAT?! WHAT WAS THAT?" Leon shouted as he pointed deeper into the tunnel.

"What? What did you see?" Vadim asked.

"I don't know it looked strange!"

Leon wasn't sure what he just saw but he felt a presence that gripped his heart and he turned to see the shadow of something. Something that vanished away as soon as his eyes almost saw it.

"Hey! Steel yer nerves, lad! You almost made me shit meself!" Vadim had to breathe out heavily before making sure his hammer was in front of him.

Leon too readied the crossbow he stole from the Academy Camp, the Goodnight, and was ready to draw his dagger if he needed to.

Relying on the Light they made with their elemental affinity to the Light, the two of them took the tunnel to the first turn until they arrived at a large circular chamber which seemed to be the inner sanctum of this place. At that moment, Leon and Vadim could see the culprit behind their jumpscares since they entered.

Across this large chamber, there were many orbs of light floating and glowing across the place without shedding a single ray of light on their surroundings. These things were so strange that you could only see them as cold and hovering balls of light but whatever around them was just enveloped in darkness, which is completely against anything that has the nature of light.

"Holy Mother's Beard!" Vadim swore, "Will o' Wisps!"

Vadim seemed a bit taken but didn't lose his composure. Leon looked around and counted around 4 of these Will o' Whips. He only needed to Read whatever that is.

[ Will o' Wisp ] < Malevolent Incorporeal Undead >

An undead spirit that is the leftover of an ancient undead. This undead can possess corporeal matter and animate it to defend its resting place when bothered. It has the following abilities:-

- Possession: the creature can animate any inanimate object that has no life as it merges itself within them.

- Leech Life: the creature can drain its living target vitality when passing through them.

- Invisibility: the creature can turn invisible by shutting off its light until it attacks or possesses.

- Incorporeal Nature: the creature is immune to the physical attacks of mundane weapons and can only be harmed by magical attacks.

Because Leon curiously Read the Will o' Wisp, the hovering wisps seemed to have sensed his magic wavelength and reacted to it.

"That's one problematic fucker!" Leon whispered.

"You read it then here goes our element of surprise." Vadim sighed lightly and aimed his hand forward.

This is about to be the first time Leon encounters what is going to be his favorite thing about this world the Undead.

A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree''

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