Chapter 304 - 304 The Tranquil Shrine
Finding themselves in a hidden tunnel, Marcus and Mrazivy, began following down its path.
The tunnel itself was carved in a perfect rectangle and was completely symmetrical down to the last detail. Even the softly glowing crystals in the ceiling were placed equal distance apart at the same intervals.
Naturally Mrazivy and Marcus wondered who or what could have made this place, but there was also another option in the back of their minds. Could this place be the entrance to a hidden dungeon?
Dungeons could occur anywhere, and it was not unheard of for them to be in hidden locations far from any civilization.
So, if Marcus and Mrazivy could discover a currently unknown dungeon, depending on its difficulty they could use it as a private training ground and gather all of its resources, or even bring it to the negotiation table to break off Mrazivy's arranged marriage.
They continued down the tunnel for around twenty minutes, the only sound being the flowing water on either side of them and their own footsteps.
But they were soon able to see a light ahead and the end of the tunnel was near.
With anticipation welling up inside them, they both began running towards the end wanting to see what lay beyond the tunnel.
And as they excited into the bright room that lay at the end neither of them was disappointed by how impressive it was.
It was a large room that was mostly filled with water creating a tranquil pond, and on the ceiling were large luminous crystals that gave the place a gentle light.
However, what was most impressive was the small shrine in the middle of the pond which had two crystal fountains on either side of it that were spraying water into the air.
The two of them continued to look around the area awestruck by its majesty.
'This place is incredible. If this is a dungeon it is far more impressive than the other two I have been seen. Certainly, the entrances' had imposing architecture, but they felt cold and like places of death. While here it is warm and serene.'
Once the two of them had their fill of just looking around the area, Mrazivy looked over towards Marcus and said, "Should we go and see what is in that shrine."
"Yeah, maybe we will find some type of treasure hidden inside."
With their excitement high both Marcus and Mrazivy began making their way over towards the shrine, that had a crystal bridge extending to it over the water.
Yet as they swiftly walked across the crystal bridge, Marcus, who had kept his life sense ability active the entire time they were down here, got a number of signals coming their way.
Nonetheless, his momentary apprehension vanished when he felt how weak the signals were and looked down to see a number of rainbow-colored fish swimming towards them.
This school of rainbow-colored fish curious as to who these visitors were, began swimming around the crystal bridge and poking their heads above the water to get a better look.
'Well, none of them are above level five so they should not posse any threat.'
After appraising each of the fish that had come up to them, Marcus was confident that they were not in any danger, and so he squatted down and put one of his hands into the water to see what the curious fishes would do.
And as he thought they came up and started looking at his hand being wary at first before one of the braver ones came up and nudged him.
All of the fish then began taking their turns inspecting the odd creature that had come into their domain.
Though once they had finished their inquiry the fish slowly disappeared back into the depths leaving Marcus and Mrazivy alone.
"I guess that means that there is probably nothing here for us to worry about." Mrazivy said after the rainbow fish swam away.
"What makes you think that Mraz." Marcus said with a bit of confusion.
The pond here was pretty deep and even he could not see the bottom, so he figured it was possible that there might be some powerful creatures down there.
"You saw those fish right, if there was anything that was eating or even just attacking them, they never would have come so close to you just out of curiosity. Therefore, it is unlikely that any powerful predatory creatures live here." Mrazivy said confident in her analyzes.
"Yeah, you are probably right, but we should not let our guard down, there could still be something around here that is a threat."
Even though the area seemed very peaceful Marcus still had a nagging feeling like danger could spring up on them at any time.
Nevertheless, they continued walking towards the shrine and soon came to its entrance and walking up the platform it was on, could finally see inside.
Click!
As soon as they got to the top of the shrine a loud clicking sound was heard from the inside and both Marcus and Mrazivy got ready for some type of trap.
However, no spinning blades, or poisoned arrow came flying towards them, and instead the interior of the shrine seemed to shift around.
A soft song then began to play as if the shrine was welcoming them.
With the momentary scare passed, Mrazivy and Marcus entered the shrine and found that along the walls was musical scores, and in the center was a pedestal with a lyre situated on top.
"I wonder what this place is. Maybe some sort of music enthusiast's hideout or something." Marcus said as he looked around at the room.
There were a few chairs and tables in one corner and the place seemed to be quite clean even though no one else was there.
"Hm, I do not know, but whoever, made this place must have been a genius. This entire building itself is and instrument and it is playing on its own. And the song is quite lovely though not quite on par with the one the crystals played." Mrazivy said as she investigated the mechanisms in the shrine.
They continued looking over the shrine but found nothing incredibly valuable or any hidden areas.
"Nope it is just a regular lyre. I would say its quality is top notch and it is made out of some type of wood I have never seen, but no visible enchantments and I do not feel any mana coming from it."
Both of them had been hoping that the lyre on the pedestal would be some sort of magical artifact, but alas it was simply just a normal instrument.
In fact, the only thing that was enchanted was the building itself, which was just one giant self-playing instrument.
Gugurggl!
Looking around Marcus tried to find the sudden sound that had broken the peaceful music being played and saw Mrazivy holding her stomach with an embarrassed expression on her face.
At this Marcus let out a slight chuckle and realized that they had been down here for several hours at this point, and while he could go without food Mrazivy needed to eat.
"Well, I can think of no better place to eat, how about we have dinner here."