Chapter 69 - Nice
Seeing that neither of them intended to continue the conversation, Blurak lost interest and the ground trembled slightly as he laid back down to sleep.
Now that Blurak wasn’t intervening. Ed carefully scooted past him and made his way towards the carvings on the boulder which were being clearly illuminated by the bright crystals inside of the cavern.
‘Here we go!’ Ed yelled excitedly in his mind as he approached the carvings.
[Hieroglyphs]
The pictures tell a story.
Ed had used his deduction skill on the boulder as he finally reached the carvings on the large boulder. But he couldn’t help but be confused upon discovering that they were nothing more than history.
Ed inspected the primitive carvings. His deduction indicated that it was a story or rather history that the hieroglyphs held. He saw what seemed to be 3 planes stacked on top of each other. It created a picture of a clear divide. Goblins and orcs were separated, each had their own… floors perhaps?
‘This is only my interpretation, I can’t be sure…’ He couldn’t help but feel bitter. There was the knowledge it just wasn’t what he wanted. Maybe he had set his expectations far too high.
‘No, hold on…’ Vorgarag clearly indicated that it was knowledge on magic, or at least suggested that that was what could be found there. So why were there only hieroglyphs? Ed thought deeply about the issue.
‘It was moved wasn’t it?’ Ed took another look at the blueish boulder. Although it was similar to the rest of the room it seemed entirely out of place. It was also touching the cavern’s walls meaning that Ed couldn’t see what might lie behind it.
“I should move it” Ed said out loud as he nodded to himself.
He chose to not use brute force however as he was afraid to damage the writings, there was no merit to that approach other than testing one’s strength. Ed carefully manipulated the ground similar to how the lich had when it tried to kick him out of its abode. Given that the boulder simply laid on top of the ground and was not connected to it it was a working approach.
After about 10 seconds, Ed stopped manipulating the hard rock and the large boulder could be circled entirely. Ed’s eyes shone with expectation as he walked behind it.
‘Let it be more spells!’ Ed’s repertoire felt extremely lacking. He could no longer shame the magician for having only 3 spells they seemed to be pretty hard to come across, or at least for a dungeon mob that was indeed the case.
[Runic Carvings]
Magic knowledge of the shaman ancestors.
‘Nice!’ Ed yelled in his mind. It was exactly what he hoped for.
***
It was a chilly morning, and the residents of Arbor town were going about their usual business. The only exception was the members taking part in the undead dungeon expedition. Unlike last time, many B-class adventurers of all shapes and sizes were gathered together. There were even three well-known A-class adventurers including Samuel.
For an organization such as the Freedom Union, this could already be considered mobilizing a sizable force. A-class adventurers were the pinnacle of society in the Begliwick continent, nobody had managed to surpass that standard although some were said to be infinitely close to discovering that new realm.
The disparity in skill between A-class adventurers at the peak and the bottom was quite substantial. As a matter of fact, Samuel was well aware of this. It was all the more reason why he wanted to get stronger. He hadn’t even reached the peak of his own realm! Still, he doesn’t regret stopping his journey to settle down. Whether he could make it to the peak was unknown in the first place, he was not in a position to take risks.
‘Yet here I am’ Samuel thought as he geared up.
He was wearing a silver suit of armor made out of magic metals, it was from his adventuring days. Even though he hadn’t used it in a long time the suit looked as good as new. Samuel was used to polishing it on a nearly daily basis, his loving care allowed it to emit a lustrous sheen.
Samuel stretched a bit, magic metals were quite comfortable and malleable.
He then felt somebody tap his shoulder and turned around only to meet a familiar face, it was Felix the so-called flame prodigy.
“What are you doing here?” Samuel asked puzzled as he sized up the suited up Felix.
After recovering, the first thing the count had done was forcefully take his son back home. There was no way he would allow Felix to come back. In that case, why was he suited up?
Felix knew what Samuel was thinking but he had no intention to clear his doubts, it was because he had run away from home. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“I want to join the expedition.” He said resolutely with a hint of animosity.
Samuel thought this would be the question but before he could come to an answer he was approached by Miller, Khal’s trusted subordinate.
“Mr. Oakley, Clarys and Drake are both ready to set off. The other B-class adventurers are also ready.” Miller reported. He must be indirectly informing him to hurry up Samuel thought.
“Give me a minute” Samuel dismissed Miller who promptly left although he seemed as if he would count the time.
Samuel turned towards the expectant Felix and replied simply.
“No.” Samuel would be a fool not to know that admitting him into the team meant trouble. Did he actually learn anything from his last failure? Samuel couldn’t help but ask internally.
Felix was however unwilling to give up. He was used to getting what he wanted and he had already sworn to take revenge on the dungeon.
“I know that you guys are still accepting adventurers, you can’t deny my entry!” Felix’s words were true. Until they finally leave Arbor town the Freedom Union was still issuing the quest.
“Then why don’t you join through there?” Retorted Samuel. He wasn’t a fool, why would Felix approach him if he hadn’t already been rejected? His father had most likely pulled some strings to prevent Felix from taking quests without his approval.
“Samuel right? It is a pleasure to meet you.” Before both sides could continue their conversation, they were interrupted by a sharp-looking man.
It was one of the A-class adventurers, Drake Vermillion. They hadn’t talked to one another yet as Drake had only arrived less than an hour ago. Although Samuel was in charge of the expedition, Drake didn’t seem to show him much respect calling him by his first name on their first meeting.
Under normal circumstances that would be frowned upon but being an A-class himself, Samuel was well aware that the person before him was capable of beating him at the very least 8 times out of 10.
“Drake Vermillion right? I’ve heard you’ve tussled with a wyvern before, that must have been very exciting.” To most people, those words might sound ridiculous but Drake was an expert of unarmed combat. His fiery fists were said to be able to punch through the hardest of metal, a wyvern’s scales seemed to be on that list as well based on the fact that Drake was standing before Samuel at the moment.
“Yeah, it was. I’ve heard about you before as well. Still, I know I came a bit later than expected so I might not be in the best position to say this but… What’s the hold-up?” Drake’s purpose in coming over was likely to ask this question, it seemed he originally didn’t even think to get to know him
“It’s nothing much, I almost have it settled. We will be leaving soon” Samuel said casually. He was going to quickly dismiss Felix but…
“Drake Vermillion! I am a big fan! If possible I want to learn more from you, Sir!” Felix had spoken up from behind Samuel, his words full of praises.
“Is that so? Mmmm… It does seem like you focus on the fire element. Ok, you can follow me then.” Vermillion scrutinized Felix one more time before nodding to himself. It just so happened that he needed someone to talk to and seeing how enthusiastic the young man was he couldn’t help but take him along.
“Drake, with all due respect, he isn’t part of our expedition team.” Samuel said hiding his anger.
How could he not know what Felix was planning? Felix wasn’t one to easily submit, the way he sang praises of Vermillion was a blatant hoax. Not only that but wasn’t this ignoring his authority? Prodigy or not there had to be limits.
“It’s alright, he seems to be pretty strong and he is already suited up. Let’s just go.” Vermillion also didn’t seem to care too much about his authority.
“I was appointed as the leader of this expedition so I need to make sure there are no variables, I hope you understand.” After suffering years of abuse at the hands of his father and his family Samuel was accustomed to reining in his anger. He was thus able to speak politely even under such circumstances.
“I am pretty sure that B-class adventurers are still up for hire, it’s all alright. Let’s go, we shouldn’t waste more time.” With those arguably arrogant words, Drake turned to leave as Felix stuck next to him like glue. Samuel couldn’t help but take a deep breath to calm down his turbulent emotions.
‘I won’t let you have it easy since you insist on coming then’ Samuel decided to be maliciously compliant towards Felix’s antics.
Samuel then met up with the other A-class adventurer, the illustrious Clarys Goodful. Her healing skills were top-notch and highly sought after. It was surprising that the Union managed to bring someone like her into the party.
Their chat was brief as Clarys was as diligent as she was beautiful and they thus had a chance to talk much earlier. Don’t let Samuel’s wife know that though.
The expedition left as the sun neared noon.
Soon after their departure, a portal opened up from which exited an old man. It was Eon.
“It seems I missed them” He said to himself.