Underground Altar

It took only two minutes to clean up the rest of the goblin horde.

Some had tried to escape the onslaught, while others either surrendered or charged forward to kill off their invaders. In the end, however, none of them were left alive.

Alex and Sarah committed the most to this extermination. The former ruthlessly hacked down many of the goblins' bodies while the latter used [Light Barrier] to prevent any from escaping through the entrance.

Occasionally, Judy would help out as well. Although she was not as exhausted as Leo, she had still used up quite a lot of energy and mana beforehand. Luckily, she had been previously standing close to Sarah, who had lent her a great deal of support, or else she would have needed to take a break from the battle.

Leo did the least amount of work overall, but none of the other adventurers minded. From their perspective, just casting out one or two spells would already be very generous in his condition.

After finally taking care of the last goblin, everyone sighed in relief and started inspecting one another.

"How exactly did you manage to survive?" Sarah asked Alex as the latter was currently removing parts of his armor from his body.

After being hit by the spiked club, there were some bits of bent metal that protruded into his skin, making Alex feel slightly uncomfortable as he moved. Most of the armor had been previously enchanted by Leo, but it was now no longer usable anymore. The shield itself was also shattered completely, and could only be left for scrap.

As he took off his front chest plate, traces of a specific pouch were shown to be embedded within.

"It was thanks to Leo," Alex explained to his friends' surprise, "Before I had been hit, he had managed to secretly throw his pouch onto my body just as the Goblin King's attack was about to connect.

"I believe a healing potion had been stored inside."

Alex took out parts of the pouch from the metal plate and found pieces of broken glass stuck through it.

They all turned towards Leo who nodded in confirmation.

"I initially planned to tell you guys," Leo explained, "But when I discovered that there was a healer in your team, I felt that it had been unnecessary."

"I see," Judy's expression relaxed as she contemplated on what would've happened had he not carried the healing potion, "That was truly an amazingly thought out plan. You must be really talented at quick-thinking."

"Haha, only sometimes," Leo answered awkwardly as he fidgeted with his magic sword's handle. The sense of fear was still lingering inside him as he recalled the recent events. Had Alex not arrived sooner, would he still be alive?

Sarah looked around and decided to heal each of her companions.

"Well, just to make sure that everyone is still in good condition..." Sarah casted [Miracle Cure] on all of her teammates, excluding herself. A warm, white light shrouded around them as they soon found themselves completely revitalized.

Only after confirming that there weren't any hidden injuries did she eventually choose to recover her own body.

"Do you all think we should finally leave this place?" Judy asked after everyone was healed.

"Uh, how about we observe this cavern for a little while longer?" Leo suggested as he looked at the surroundings. Other than the indent in the wall which Alex had made, and the torches that were still placed around, the walls of the cavern appeared to be unblemished. "Don't we still need to find the other adventurers?"

"Well, yes, but..." Sarah spoke uncertainly, "Perhaps we might actually need to go back to the guild this time.

"I know this contradicts what I said earlier, but I'm no longer sure if it is still safe for us to keep staying here."

Leo could see fear and guilt flash across her face, and this feeling also spread to the others. It appears that the recent events have discouraged everyone's resolve to continue exploring.

A discussion once again ensued amongst their team. After crossing paths with the Goblin King, the majority are now quite hesitant to stay in this ruin and wanted to leave this place immediately to get more helpers outside.

In the end, Leo managed to convince them that they should at least explore this cavern before leaving. He says that he'll be the only one to investigate the area using [Seismic Sense] and the rest can simply loot the corpses of the goblins while still sticking close to him. If anything suspicious occurs, they can all move together to escape when necessary.

Out of sheer reluctance, Alex decided to accept the proposition. They did originally agree on coming here to save the other adventurers, and he currently felt very trusting of Leo's opinion now that the latter had saved his life.

Nevertheless, precautions were still taken. As Leo used [Seismic Sense] to detect any concealed spaces on the walls and floor, Sarah would be on the lookout beside him for any unexpected changes. Alex and Judy were only three meters away from them as they were looting the goblin corpses. Altogether, the four of them rotated around the cavern while keeping an eye on each other and the surroundings.

Of the goblin corpses, only the Goblin King had anything worth taking. In a sewn up pocket, there was an enchanted bracelet with the powers of a healing ability. It was of such high quality that Leo himself, having temporarily stopped his search to inspect the item, admitted that the craftsmanship was several levels ahead of his own.

Finally, after everybody reached the very back of the cavern, Leo located a camouflaged door that opened into a secret chamber.

There was nothing very elaborate about the hidden entrance, and the door could simply be pushed open if one pressed their hand in the correct position. The interior was dark and reeked of all kinds of nauseous odors. Only vague outlines could be seen from just outside the entrance.

Covering their noses, Leo cast [Light Orb] to brighten their vision while Judy used wind magic to dispel some of the terrible smell, but even after some time the terrible smell still lingered. Afterwards, everyone decided to carefully inspect inside and soon discovered huge crates of treasure and magic items.

Beside the crates, there was a brutally beaten man who was tied up in knots and leaning his back against the wall. He appeared to be unconscious and was bleeding in various places. It was assumed he was male based on the outline, but the person had severe bruises on both his body and face that made it difficult to determine his identity.

Getting closer, Alex decided to lead the front again to prepare for any sudden traps. Thankfully, however, there was none in this room. The interior of this chamber was discovered to be completely secure.

When they got closer to observe the brutalized man, Sarah decided to cast a healing spell to recover only part of his injuries. If the man was actually an enemy, then they would kill him immediately.

A second after he was healed, the man startling woke up and tried to speak.

"N-no mo-more..." he stuttered while sobbing uncontrollably. There was a slight rasp when he spoke, suggesting severe internal injuries in the chest area.

"I'll tel-tell you... ever-everything..." the man suddenly stopped speaking. He looked in shock as he surveyed the appearances of those around him. Due to his badly bruised face, his eyes were nearly squeezed shut and made it difficult for him to make astute observations. It took a dozen seconds before he started to realize that there were humans in his vicinity.

Tears of joy started to well up in his eyes. He was finally saved!

Sarah glanced at her teammates before kneeling down a few feet away from the man to initiate contact.

"Hello, my name's Sarah. My friends and I are a group of adventurers. May I ask who you are?"

The man gasped and struggled to stop himself from crying as he answered.

"My name i-is Marwyn and I ha-happen to be a mage."

"Are you a fellow adventurer, Marwyn?"

"Y-yes! I accepted a mission to explore this ruin from the Adventurer's Guild.

"My team found some of the treasure in these crates bef-before..."

As he reached this point, Marwyn started sobbing again, even more uncontrollably than before.

Sarah let him take his time. Everyone waited till Marwyn was able to speak up again.

"The-they tortured me. All my friends were either captured or killed. And even the ones who had been cap-captured were ev-eventually executed by the goblins."

"Was there a reason why the goblins did that?" Sarah asked.

"Ye-yes!" Marwyn breathed in a few more times before continuing, "They wanted us to teach them knowledge. They actually wanted to learn our skills and spells!"

Hearing this, Sarah and her team became startled. It appeared that they managed to uncover a part of the mystery over the origins of the unique nature of these strange goblins.

Marwyn explained, "W-we didn't understand why at first, but after a few of them started ca-casting spells, we realized that they were actually able to learn magic! They k-kept us alive so long as we could teach them new knowledge."

Sarah probed, "So why have the rest of them died?"

Marwyn looked down at his knees. His face was hidden from their view.

"Some members of my team either didn't have m-much knowledge to give or the knowledge they had were al-already known, so the goblins ki-killed them after they were determined to be useless. But as for the rest... they refused to te-teach the goblins any further."

There was shame in his eyes as his tears stopped flowing.

"So... they died to prevent their captors from improving, right?" Judy guessed, "But, you didn't make the same decision."

There was some accusation in her tone.

"That... that was because they were tor-torturing me!" Marwyn cried out in denial, "I was too afraid to die! But I was ex-expecting that other adventurers would have come here anyway. I told my companions that we would eventually be sa-saved if we waited out a bit, but they didn't listen!"

"Probably because they knew that the goblins would grow too strong for the others to beat!" Judy's eyes were blazing with rage.

Marwyn shrunk back in fear. His body began shaking under the woman's furious gaze.

"Judy..." Sarah stood up and tried to calm her friend down.

"Because of him, Alex nearly died!" Judy yelled out, "We would have had an easier time if the goblins weren't so strong. It's partially his fault that we were all nearly wiped out!"

"The-there were other people captured before me!" Marwyn attempted to justify his actions. His chest still hurt from the immense pain but he chose to ignore it as he continued explaining, "They-they taught the goblins for an even longer period than my group! And so-some were even the first ones to teach them! It was only after they t-took enough time to contemplate d-did they decide to give up and die!

"I have only been here for less than a f-few days!"

"But you still chose to help them!" Judy was not about to give up arguing.

"Hey, stop," this time, Alex intervened. His voice possessed a soft tone, "Let's not dwell on this. We should be focusing on our quest, alright."

"But-"

"I also share some of your sentiments," Leo interjected, "But I do agree that we should stop trying to pin the blame. We have other matters to worry about."

Judy still looked as if she wanted to say something, but the look from Sarah's gaze finally calmed her down. She kept quiet and waited for the interrogation to end.

"So, uh, is there really no one else that's alive?" Sarah asked again, carefully, "Do you know where the other adventurers' bodies are kept?"

"Their bodies..." Marwyn suddenly became unsettled, "Th-they were put in an underground altar. It's hidden through a se-secret passageway placed in the middle of this room."

There was an extremely disturbed expression on his face. The emotion was even more potent than any of his previous ones.

"Are there any traps?"

Marwyn only shook his head.

"None that I know of."

----------

It only took Leo a few seconds before finding the trapdoor Marwyn mentioned. It was old and worn, possessing no special qualities that could be identified, and led into another hidden chamber.

Their team discussed for a brief moment before deciding to take Marwyn along with them in case he had any ulterior motives.

After taking a minute to observe for any traps, Leo was the first person to enter before gesturing towards the others.

"It's clear."

There was a staircase that led a few meters downwards into an underground cellar. It's walls were damp and contained traces of stone and soil. The area housed several corpses dressed in various outfits. The bodies were crowded around a glowing device that stood on the surface of a small wooden table; the scene resembled some kind of strange ritual.

"My god." Leo gasped.

Once he saw the full interior of the hidden chamber, shock was plastered on his face.

The glowing object on the table was in the shape of a stone brick. The emitted light bathed its surroundings in several different colors at once, like that of a rainbow. Blood from the corpses placed near the device were somehow flowing directly into it through the air.

Leo felt like the glowing device somewhat resembled the block of painted stone he had discovered when he first entered into this ruin.

"What is that?" Alex asked after coming down. He was carrying the tied up Marwyn in his arms, who was staying silent but repressed.

Right behind him, Sarah and Judy were also agape after spotting this strange object.

"No idea." Leo said while slowly moving closer and drawing his sword. As an enchanter, he wanted to detect any traces of magic placed on this object.

"Be careful." His allies called out.

"Don't worry, I already checked for traps." Leo waved his hand before carefully approaching the corpses.

As he surveyed the table, the rotting scent of the dead bodies nearly overwhelmed him. It explained why the above chamber they previously entered had continued to smell so horribly despite their efforts.

"What the..."

Once Leo stood in front of it, he realized that he could not detect any enchantments whatsoever on this glowing device. This was quite abnormal.