Chapter 25. The sewers (2)

Chapter 25. The sewers (2)

Arth's sewer was a dungeon that was discovered relatively early in the game, and it was also a place that had lots of rumors about it.

All the rumors connected to one thing- The suspicion of an undiscovered Lizardmen colony in the sewers.

There were some reasons behind these rumors.

First of all, it was the biggest waterway in the whole Althiem empire, and moreover, it was a dungeon. It gives a reason for people to suspect that there was something hidden there.

Secondly, there was no boss monster in the dungeon.

One could find countless Lizardmen, but there was no boss monster in the whole sewer.

This fact had already been confirmed by many guilds and parties.

The third and most important reason was the golden Lizardman statue in front of Ian.

Various people have suspected that the statue was the key to finding the Lizardman colony. There are three of these statues in the whole sewers.

All of them are made of gold. The only difference was that all the statues are in different poses.

"If you look carefully at it, there's a lever inside the mouth of the statue. If you pull it, it will make a clicking sound like this."

Click!

Wayn said as he got close to the golden Lizardman statue and put his hands inside his mouth, then he pulled the lever, and a clicking sound came out.

But even after pulling the lever, nothing happened.

"Why is nothing happening?"

Ria asked, unable to hide her curiosity. Ian and Clara also had the same question in mind.

"Yes, that's the problem. There are three of these golden statues inside the whole sewer, but even after pulling the lever, nothing will happen."

Although Wayn just wanted to show off, he also had done his fair share of information gathering.

"So, the statues are just for show?"

"I don't know. Various guilds are looking into a method to make it work. They are suspicious that the statues are the key to open the door to a Lizardman colony."

'I read something about it on the forums.'

As Ian was playing Ark, he was also keeping a close eye on the forums and the item transaction sites.

He wanted to know all the information related to Ark. Information gathering was one of the things that Ian gave value to.

"The statues are famous, but we would only waste our time inspecting them."

Clara and Ria also thought the same. There was no reason to stay here and waste their time. It was better to hunt some more Lizardman.

Even various guilds were unable to find a way to solve the puzzle of the statues, there was no way that they would be able to solve it.

But someone was staring at the statue.

"Ian, what happened? Let's go ahead."

Clara urged him to walk further, and Ian sheepishly replied to her.

"Yes, I'm coming."

Although he said that, he was thinking about something inside his heart.

'There's something more to the statues!'

* * *

Kkang! Tak!

Ian blocked the sword of the Lizardman with the stick part of his spear. Then, he kicked the chest of the Lizardman and finished him up with a stab.

'It's one Lizardman down.'

Currently, they were fighting with four Lizardmen at the same time.

It was a hard fight, but Ian was sure that they would be able to win.

Swish! Swish!

From the back, Wayn kept firing arrows and using his skills to give support and additional damage to the attacks made by Clara and Ian.

"Ria, buff me up with protection."

"Yes."

Protection!

It was a magic spell that created a light transparent shield around a player's body. It was a rare skill that not many clerics could use.

As Ria used the skill on Ian, a white transparent shield appeared on his side.

'I don't have to fear anything now.'

Ian thought as he increased his attacks. As there was a shield protecting him, he could go all out.

Swish! Thrust!

Ian didn't bother about dodging or attacking as he swiftly thrust his spear directly into the head of one of the Lizardman.

The Lizardman died, but it was not the end.

Ian quickly summoned the Blaze dagger in his hand and threw it straight between the eyes of another Lizardman.

The Blaze dagger had gone old because it couldn't keep up with his level, but it was still a useful weapon that could be used as a throwing dagger.

Plunge!

Because of his accuracy, the Blaze dagger directly plunged into the Lizardman's eyes, blinding him in the process.

It was an easy win for Ian after that!

The last Lizardman was taken care of by Clara. It was a relatively easy win for them now.

"As expected of Ian, you are able to handle three Lizardman at once."

"Yes, you are really amazing!"

Clara and Ria said with stars in her eyes.

Seeing Ian's battle prowess, their theory of him being a pro gamer was getting stronger and stronger.

Ian just smiled as he was already getting numb to the praise!

'He's the same as a ranker.'

On the other side, Wayn was getting more and more impressed with Ian's combat ability. He had already forgotten the jealousy he felt inside his heart at the beginning of their journey.

He even thought that Ian was the same as a ranker.

One of his friends is in a guild with a ranker. So, he had the privilege to hunt with a ranker once, and it was an unbelievable experience for him.

But for some reason, Wayn was starting to feel that Ian was better than that ranker.

With those thoughts in his heart, he followed Ian and the others.

* * *

"Kiyaakk!!"

With that painful cry, another Lizardman died under the Thales spear. Ian didn't even know how many Lizardmen he had killed till now.

'Finally!!'

Ian cheered in his heart when he saw that level up message. After hunting the Lizardmen for 2 hours, he had finally leveled up to 33.

Not only him but, Clara had also leveled up to 30, and Ria up to level 29. Wayn had also exceeded his level and went up to 34.

It was a high leveling speed, mainly because they were quick to get familiar with the Lizardman.

The fight was easier and faster after that.

"We are again in front of the statue."

As Ian was allocating his stats, he suddenly heard Clara's shout. He raised his head and realized that another golden statue was in front of them.

It was the third and the last statue they had encountered!!

They have already encountered the other two statues while hunting the Lizardman.

"It's the same as the other two. Only the pose is different."

Wayn said as he looked over at the statue. He wondered what the puzzle behind the statues was.

"Why don't we log out now. We have already hunted in the sewers for a long time."

Wayn was feeling tired after hunting the Lizardman for hours. There was a slight pain in his hands after firing arrows for so long.

"Yes, we should end it here."

"Yeah, my mom will scold me if I stay inside the game for a long time."

Both Clara and Ria agreed to him, but as they were going to ask about Ian's opinion, they suddenly saw Ian walking up to the statue.

"Ian, what are you doing?"

"I am going to try something. I think I found out the puzzle behind the statues."

Since encountering the first statue, Ian was thinking about them. He has a feeling that the statues were indeed the key to get to the Lizardman colony.

After observing all the three statues, Ian indeed noticed something strange.

Click!

Ian pulled the lever inside the mouth of the golden Lizardman statue.

There was a clicking sound, but just like before, nothing new happened. It was as if the statue was fake.

"Nothing happened. I don't think there's something behind the statues."

"Yes, maybe the rumors about the Lizardmen colony was just a lie. All rumors can't be trusted anyway."

Wayn and Clara tried to make Ian give up, but there was someone who was closely watching him all along. It was the cleric, Ria.

"Ian, is there something inside the pool?"

"Yes, there is indeed something there."

Ian said, staring at the pool near the statue. Water from the sewers had gathered together to form a pool.

At first glance, no one would be suspicious of it, but Ian didn't think like that. It was because there were some similarities between all the statues.

It was the pool!

Besides every statue, there is a pool.

Ian was sure that it was not just a coincidence. That's why Ian decided to see for himself if his reasoning was right or not.

He de-equipped his equipment and got ready to dive into the pool.

"Ian, what are you doing?"

"Don't be crazy. I don't think there will be something in the pool."

Clara and Wayn tried to stop him, but he shrugged his shoulders and replied.

"I will know once I dive in it. Just don't let any other player come here before that."

Arth's sewers were not an instance dungeon. That's why they can meet other players here too.

Although, the chances of that were low because of the massive scale of the sewers. It was still better to be careful, in case someone really came.

Splash!

With a splashing sound, Ian dived into the sewers. The pool was more in-depth and more extended than he had thought.

However, Ian wouldn't drown.

Ian was a proficient swimmer, and because he was currently a game character, he could swim for a long time.

He could even get the swimming skill and the underwater diving skill if he stayed in the water for too long.

'I wish I had something like a flashlight with me.'

It was dark, and it was difficult to see in the water.

Despite that, Ian pressed forward as he continued his search to find something like an entrance or a door in the pool.

It didn't take much time for him to find it.

He saw a faint strand of light. Ian quickly headed towards it and found something like a cave.

"Phew!"

His face surfaced from the water, and he inhaled deeply to catch his breath. Ian looked around the cave, and his face brightened with joy.

It was because he found a door with peculiar green characters inscribed on it.

Even at first glance, it seemed clear that this door was special. It was also not closed, so Ian was able to see that there was something like a damp area inside the door.

He thought about going inside, but suddenly, the door began to close with a clicking sound.

Click!

'It's approximately around 5 minutes since I pulled the lever.'

Ian gauged that it would take around 5 minutes for the door to close after he had pulled the lever.

He had to travel to the cave before that.

'Let's go to the surface.'

Ian traveled to the surface after that.

There, he was met with the eyes of Clara, Ria, and Wayn. They were staring at him as if asking, 'Did you find anything or not?'.

Ian smiled as he said.

"I think I found the Lizardmen colony."

There was no need to hide it from the three of them. Ian found them trustworthy, and he would need their help if he wanted to hunt in the Lizardmen colony.

"You really found it?!!"

"Yeah, there's a door inside a cave in the pool."

As expected, their reactions were full of shock and surprise. They would have never thought that the entrance to the Lizardman colony would be in the pool.

At the same, they were curious about how Ian had solved the puzzle of the statues.

"How did you solve the puzzle of the statue?"

Clara couldn't help but ask Ian.

"First of all, there was something common with all the three statues; they all had a pool beside them. Secondly, there was a small ripple in the pool when I pulled the lever."

The ripple was too small that no one will find it strange, but Ian was keeping an eye on the pool, so he was able to notice it.

All three of them were shocked when they heard that. They couldn't help but gape in amazement at Ian's observation skills.

"Let's go to the Lizardman colony now."

Ian said as he pointed at the pool, but Ria shook her head and said.

"Umm, sorry, I have to log out, or my mom will scold me."

With her in the lead, Clara and Wayn also said.

"Yes, I have something to do too."

"My hands are hurting from firing too many arrows. So, I don't think I will be able to go on."

They all have apologetic expressions on their faces as they said sorry to Ian.

'Well, I can't do anything about it.'

Ian sighed as he decided to end it for today. They have been hunting for many hours anyway.

'I have to go somewhere anyway.'

Ian thought as he bid farewell to everyone. He reminded them to not talk about the Lizardmen colony with anyone, as leaking out valuable information would be harmful to them.

They would lose out on precious treasures If that happened.