First Entry

"Okay, I accept." Leo didn't shirk away from this responsibility.

"Aha! Alright!" Judy raised her arms and cheered to the sky, attracting quite a bit of attention on the street.

Near the side, Sarah was unable to resist raising a small smile upon watching her friend becoming excited for the prospect of food. Alex, however, simply chose to remain silent out of embarrassment for his friend.

"Ahem... Right then, we probably shouldn't be sticking around here," Judy said after calming down from her excitement. "I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm planning on buying a proper dress for the occasion."

"Ohh, me too," Sarah added happily. "Other than my priestess robes, I haven't actually worn any dresses before. I can imagine that it will be a fun experience."

"Hm, in that case, I know a really nice shop that sells some decent brands." Judy gestured to the side of the street with her hand. "How about I help pick some out for you?" she suggested with consideration.

Considering that the restaurants they'll visit will likely cater to those of high status, being in decent wear would certainly prevent one from sticking out. And in Sarah's case, it would probably be for the best if someone more experienced can help her choose the proper sets of clothing to buy.

After the team spent their time making future plans, they eventually bid farewell as everyone began preparing for the next few days.

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Splitting away from his friends, Leo walked back to his rented residence with a light gait. Trailing behind was a [Levitating Plate] that carried his belongings, as well as a few new possessions he gained from the recent quest.

When he finally managed to make it back into his room, Leo breathed out a sigh of relief; he too was also a bit tired from the long adventure that occurred this week. Despite being only his second quest, the danger he faced in the Frozen Hell felt quite similar to when he confronted the Goblin King.

'Though this time, I was fighting a giant golem. And all by myself, too."

Recalling the sequence of events of his latest expedition, Leo quickly decided to record them down for future reference.

After relieving himself of the magic sword and pouch at his waist, he headed over to a desk in the room before laying down the book he bought a couple days ago.

"Might as well get started on this thing first," Leo said to himself. "It can help me prepare for the report, anyways."

Taking out a pen and ink, he opened the cover and started writing on the blank section of the first page.

'Property of the Adventurer, Leo Ester.'

After signing his name, he then flipped over to the second page that was marked with lines.

"Let's see." Leo tapped his chin, thinking of a title. "For simplicity's sake, I should probably just call it 'Entry 1'."

Believing that there was no need for anything too complicated or fancy, he wrote this title on the top part of the page. Then, thinking for a few more seconds, Leo also wrote down the date underneath.

'Entry 1

July. 20, 1050

'Exploration into the Frozen Hell:

'A place seemingly wrapped in an eternal blizzard, it surprisingly holds an inner section that is completely devoid of weather. Although it is still susceptible to the magical curse that freezes everything within its lands, this hidden location is surprisingly beautiful, with miraculous features that suggest at another hidden magical phenomenon...'

Specific details of the images that Leo witnessed were printed towards the middle half of the page.

'--I suspect that this section is likely in the center of the Frozen Hell. But this theory is merely as a result of personal experience. My exploration started around the periphery, and I merely travelled in a single direction that carried me deeper into the depths...'

His entire journey upon entering was completely described, incorporating even the minor details about his experiments conducted with the phoenix feather.

'--When I traversed the inner section, there was an ominous mausoleum that was erected through the hazy surface, seemingly unaffected by the effects of the Frozen Hell...'

Following next, Leo briefly wrote about his battles with the golems and the sight of the strange ritual. He chose not to record all the actions that occurred, as he felt they were unnecessary to the diary.

'--In the end, the origins of this ancient structure are still extremely dubious. Based on the art pieces discovered, did the elves have a hand in its construction? Or was it some other race...?'

After writing down his hypotheses, Leo finally stopped and proceeded to conclude his first diary entry. Flipping over to the next few pages, he drew the magic circles depicting the unique spatial array that was recorded by him and Namur's mages. Once finished, he stood up and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Whew, alright then." Leo stretched his shoulders before pacing around the room to gather some separate parchment. "Time to work on the report."

He spent the next half an hour writing down a portion of the details he recorded on his diary while incorporating some of the prepared accounts that he already discussed with Chieftain Namur. It was agreed upon between the two that the abilities of the phoenix feather should be kept a secret from outsiders. Thus the report left out pieces of information detailing Leo's entire journey starting from the periphery, presenting the fake impression that he only utilized the outer spatial array to enter into an unexpected building that was protected from the terrifying effects of the Frozen Hell.

----------

When the report was finally completed, it was already past noon for the day. It should currently be time for him to eat lunch.

His stomach rumbling, Leo ended up opening some snacks that he got as part of the gifts he received from Namur and his daughter.

"Mhmm, this is an interesting taste. Is it a mix of berries?" Leo commented while taking a bite of a dried slab of meat.

'I forgot what this snack is called, but I believe Walter said that it is an important staple food for most beastmen travelers in the Frozen Plains. Supposedly, it can be treated like a full-course meal.'

After taking a few more small bites, Leo miraculously found himself feeling much fuller than before. With his hunger being satiated, he decided to conduct some other activities that have been plaguing his mind.

Sitting down on the edge of his bed, Leo brought the magic core he recovered from his quest right in front of him.

"Hhmmm... Could the result of the golem's intelligence have come from this thing?" Leo pondered.

Since he didn't get many opportunities to study it back when he had been partying yesterday, Leo was very curious about this particular item. He had a hypothesis that it was the key for the golem's lifelike impression that hasn't been seen in all other manners of its kind.

Granted, Leo heard that the research into artificially producing sentience was already something being touched upon to this day, with the rumors even stating that it had been successfully achieved by certain groups of mages (though there is currently no evidence to support this claim). Nevertheless, regardless if the rumors proved true, Leo still persisted in his belief that this magic item may hold vast secrets that could advance the current technology of magic.

'That mausoleum may have actually originated from another advanced species of an ancient era... Well, I guess I'll have to find another opportunity before I explore this possibility. For now I should just focus on what I have right in front of me.'

Appraising the magic core that almost appeared to be made of glass (similar to the magic orb that got broken in the mausoleum) Leo was able to detect complicated compositions of mana held inside. During this time, he felt as if he was peering at several trails of fractured lines that roamed in numerous directions, constantly intertwining and intersecting to form new symbols composed of mana.

A few seconds passed while this happened. A few seconds was all it took for Leo to become mentally exhausted from the appraising.

"Huuuu..." Leo breathed a steady stream of air while laying his back on the bed.

'I don't think I have enough knowledge to completely comprehend this. Looks like I won't be able to build a golem model of my own for the time being.'

He originally had plans on utilizing this magic core to construct a personal helper for his team for future quests, but it seems like the current situation was beyond his capabilities. Simply observing the core was already giving him headaches.

"Should I have joined that Golem Assembly club one of my teachers established?" Leo traced back his memories of Halo Academy.

'Golem creation is supposedly a sub-branch study of the Enchantment magic system. However, my teachers have always stated that the two particular fields often possess different focuses that separate them into independent subjects.

'Looks like this souvenir is going to become wasted in my hands.'

Leo stared up at the ceiling while deciding on what to do with this spoil of war.

'Selling it to the right people would most certainly garner a lot of money; magic cores are already heavily expensive, so what kind of price should I label this?'

Aware that his finances is going to take a severe hit thanks to the deal his friends made, this idea became highly attractive to him.