Leaving the Ruin

When he first became an enchanter, Leo had obtained the [Enchanter's Appraisal] talent. It was something that all enchanters would gain during the beginnings of their career, and it served as a type of sixth sense that could allow the individual to determine whether an object had been enchanted by magic. If the level of the user was not too low, then they can even determine the quality, as well as the specific enchantments, of the object itself.

But no matter how hard Leo scrutinized the device, there was nothing he could find that even remotely resemble traces of magic. There weren't even any visible symbols or markings on the smooth surface of the glowing stone.

'But that's impossible... Even just by looking at it, there is clearly something abnormal going on!'

Leo absolutely refused to believe that this stone-shaped device was nothing extraordinary. Based on the fact that the goblins had kept it hidden underground, and were apparently offering deceased adventurers to it, there was no question that this object contained something uniquely special.

'Does the level of this item far exceed what I am currently able to appraise?'

In the past, he did have similar experiences before, but this was the first time Leo had ever encountered something that showed absolutely no traces of mana to his senses.

"Find anything?" Alex called out.

"Nothing that I can see..." Leo replied back uncertainly. "My senses only indicate that it is just an ordinary object."

"What?!" All his friends exclaimed in surprise.

Confusion spread among those behind him. Only Marwyn remained silent.

None of them had ever heard of anything so strange before. Could the device have some sort of power that can block the detection of an enchanter's abilities?

Seeing that he was getting nowhere with his observations, Leo decided to survey around the wooden table. As he got closer, he gradually noticed that a thick wire was connected to the back of the glowing device and was stuck to the very end of the chamber's wall.

But once eye contact was made, the glowing stone began emitting a strange sound.

Leo didn't hesitate to react and immediately used a spell to move backwards. He casted [Mage Shield] to block off half of the chamber to prevent his allies from getting hit by any potential trap.

The strange sound slightly resembled a bird's chirping and lasted only for two seconds before stopping. Once it did, the glowing object simply exploded into pieces, stopping the flow of blood from the human corpses placed nearby and extinguished the light that flooded around the chamber.

Silence lasted as Leo and his friends waited out of caution. Nothing came, however, as the chamber simply remained darker.

Sarah casted her own [Light Orb] and observed the dead bodies that were still rotting away.

She said, "Why don't we take them back with us? We don't have to move any closer to them; we can just use magic to get the corpses."

Leo thought for a moment before summoning some hooks and chains using [Earth Creation - Metal].

"Might as well," he said while looking at the remaining pieces of the device. Smoke and ash were billowing out of its insides. "But if possible, I would still like to take back parts of this thing for further study. Perhaps the guild could get some professionals to look into it."

The rest of their group, excluding Marwyn who was now slightly trembling, expressed their agreement.

----------

In the cavern where the Goblin King had perished, the entrance of its hidden chamber was pushed open from the inside.

Out came Leo, followed by his new companions.

Marwyn was still tied up and held by Alex.

Although their group felt that this beaten mage was no longer a threat, they were still very cautious in case he suddenly started acting violently. God knows the amount of trauma this man had experienced under the hands of the goblins.

Despite their mistrust to Marwyn, though, Sarah still felt that she needed to heal his remaining wounds. This was insisted due to her beliefs as a religious priestess. As a compromise, they added more constraints to him.

Tailing behind the group were two floating boards made of magic rising a few feet above the ground. One of them was carrying crates full of treasure and magic items, along with small pieces of the mysterious broken device, and the other held the dead bodies found in the underground chamber.

These boards were summoned using the Low tier spell [Levitating Plate]. Not only can they trail behind the caster, but they can also mold the size and shape of their surface area to support up to half a ton of weight. The latter function requires certain amounts of mana injected by the mage.

Both Leo and Judy had opted to carry all the things they've discovered back to the surface, hence they each summoned their own [Levitating Plate]. Judy had actually wanted to support the entire load, but Leo felt that it was more fair for him to share part of the weight. Although he had been exhausted previously, casting a Low level spell was nothing too strenuous for him.

As they walked by the scene of their recent battle, Leo glanced over at the wreckage around him. Heaps of goblin corpses and broken stone were widely scattered as a result of all the spells and skills that were unleashed in the cavern. Not too far away, he saw pieces of the pouch he had previously used to save Alex from near death.

Leo turned to Alex, who was still holding onto Marwyn, and suggested, "We should probably take the body of the Goblin King and one of the goblin mages. It's important that we let everyone know about what happened here."

Alex turned to glance at the giant headless corpse before nodding his head and walking over with Marwyn in tow.

Marwyn, however, took one glance at the fallen Goblin King and desperately tried to resist his captor.

"N-no-o..." He began sobbing again. "I don't- no... I DON'T WANT TO GET CLOSER! I don't want to get any closer...!"

Exasperated, Alex could only hand him to Judy before walking over to his defeated enemy and dragged it back to the [Levitating Plate]s. In addition, he also took the severed head.

"Which one should we put this guy on?" Alex asked. Nearby, Marwyn started quietly whimpering.

"With the treasures," Sarah answered promptly, "I don't think the fallen adventurers would appreciate being lumped with their enemy."

Alex shrugged at the sentimentality as he moved aside some treasures to make space. Only a moment later did he go back to get one of the goblin mages.

After some time, the group headed out of the cavern and left the cave tunnels which they had entered.

Suddenly, the rest of the ruin started shaking. It was a quiet and nearly unnoticeable movement that travelled throughout the entire underground structure.

Far away, the glowing lights and colors that were in the cavern started getting dimmer.

"Wha-what's happening?" Judy exclaimed as she felt the subtle changes around her.

Leo made an inference, "Perhaps that strange object we found might have been connected to the stability of this ruin?

"It's destruction might have triggered a collapse."

As he spoke, the lights ahead, which indicated the painted area Leo had passed through, were no longer clearly visible. Darkness was descending on their group.

"Not good." Alex said in worry, "If we don't leave now, who knows how long it'll take to find our way out? This area is huge!"

"Being lost might be the least of our worries," Sarah added. She started noticing that the trembling movement was slowly increasing in intensity. "We'll get buried alive if we don't leave soon. This ruin might end up caving in on us."

As the lights far ahead disappeared into darkness, the lights which came from the tunnels behind them were also gradually becoming dimmer.

Just as everyone started panicking, Leo casted [Light Orb] while recollecting his memories.

'That wire I dropped,' Leo thought, 'It should be around... here? No... there!'

After scanning the area with the magic light, he was able to spot a thin, silver reflection that gleamed off from the surface of a metal wire just a couple meters away.

"Guys!" Leo calmly called out to the group, "There's no need to worry. I just found our way out."

----------

A few minutes later...

Leo, Alex's team, and Marwyn each finally escaped the collapsing ruin and made their way onto the surface. Thanks to the metal wire, they were able to escape the ruin without incurring any delays.

Right after they escaped, they could still feel the shaking of the underground structure beneath their feet. Although it hasn't yet completely collapsed, Leo estimated that it would likely take less than ten minutes for the entire place to crumble inwards.

Now that they were finally free and out of danger, the group did not waste any time and chose to head back to Victoria City.

Leo had taken only three hours to travel to this area by himself, but for a group that's carrying certain items (and a traumatized mage), the time would likely be extended by up to another hour.

Along the way, everyone besides Marwyn decided to get more acquainted with each other.

Judy was the first to start. Walking closer to Leo, she asked him, "So are you really a first-time adventurer?"

Leo nodded as he responded, "Yes, this was the first ever quest I picked up. Although truth be told, I seriously did not expect it to have been so dangerous."

"It won't always be like that," Judy reassured him. "Today was indeed unexpected, but luckily we got quite a good haul from this mission."

She looked back at the crates that were being carried. Taking only a cursory glance at their contents, the group had already discovered a sizable amount of gold and jewelry. Magic items were also included, but they were few in number and only gathered in one crate. Some of them were tainted by a faint scent of blood, leading one to suspect that they may have belonged to the adventurers that'd been defeated by the Goblin King and his minions.

"By the way," Judy suddenly had a curious gaze, "Where did you learn your magic spells? You seem to be pretty proficient with fighting despite being only a beginner."

Leo didn't bother to hide anything. He answered, "I'm a graduate student from Halo Academy."

"Huh? Really? One of the most prestigious schools in this country?" Judy exclaimed with complicated emotions. A flash of melancholy appeared in her eyes.

Leo looked a little surprised at her subtle change. Did the young lady in front of him have a bad experience with magic schools?

"Uh, yeah. That's the one. I was taught some combat experience from an instructor named Gerald Armstrong.

"Are you okay, um, Judy?" As he spoke, Leo began noticing that Judy increasingly became more sullen.

"Oh, yes." Judy turned away. "Never mind me. You don't need to worry about it."

"...Alright then."

Leo didn't ask any further as he looked around at the trees beside their group.

After a moment, Sarah herself decided to join the conversation and asked, "Leo, mind if I ask what made you decide to be an adventurer?"

This was a much more personal question.

"To explore," Leo answered as he began recalling some past memories. "I've always wanted to experience the great magical events that have rooted themselves in our world. Ever since the Great Change, there were countless stories of different adventures occurring everywhere. The legends of old heroes resurfacing, the gods that have awakened anew, and even new locations that have sprouted up in our lands. When I was young, I had wanted to witness all of these things for myself.

"Becoming an adventurer was like a first step for me to reach this goal."

Of course, there was another more secretive reason to Leo's decision: to test his potential in this magical world. After satisfying his curiosity, he wanted to realize what kind of person he could possibly become.

It didn't seem like a very serious goal, and just thinking of it made him feel a little embarrassed. But he nevertheless still wanted to try. Ever since he was young, there was a hidden thirst inside of himself that wanted to explore his limits.