An Ancient Place Lost in Time part 1
It took Atlas a couple of minutes to reach the highest level of that endless tunnel, but what he found in front of him was just a pile of rubble...
"So that's why no one has ever found this ancient place. Probably, the entrance was occluded by rubble long ago."
That discovery did not restrain the adventurer, for splitting a few rocks was much easier than climbing that steep wall. So, without delay, he gripped his faithful companion, ready for an arduous battle.
"Hehe... Dear friend, it looks like you will have to work hard..."
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
The exit was definitely beyond the rocks. So, without fear, Atlas began to smash those obnoxious rocks as if behind them was a mountain of treasure waiting to be unearthed.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
The faithful companion succeeded admirably in shattering every obstacle, but the young man was worried about the noise generated by the repeated pickaxing.
After all, behind that pile of rocks could have been goblins lusting for human flesh, a delicacy for those disgusting monsters.
But how could he stop if the only way out of that damned place was over that pile of rocks?
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
After almost an hour, the tool shattered the last obstacle with a decisive blow, but what lay around was a way shrouded in darkness.
"So... the hoist leads to another underground room. Somehow, I consider myself lucky. If the room is well sealed, all that commotion has been mitigated here."
Placing the pickaxe back in its usual place, Atlas lit the torch to illuminate that dark room and continued on his way.
Unfortunately, the weak light generated by the torch was not enough to illuminate the room, so the only way to find the exit was to walk blindly into that world abandoned by the gods.
The floor of that place was not made of stone but composed of long blocks of a smooth and imperfection-free material.
In addition, small and large boulders were scattered everywhere along the way.
There was one bizarre thing.
Given the poor condition of that place, it was evident that in ancient times, that room had been devastated by a terrible battle.
But then, why was there not a single skeleton in sight? Or the remains of any living thing?
Was it possible that the place had been abandoned by all its inhabitants before it was buried by time?
Atlas thought about many things, but he limited himself to that because it was pointless to digress too much about stories that had long since ended.
After a few minutes of searching, nothing particular came up.
Atlas found nothing besides debris and a few immense columns of the same material as the floor.
"I have to stop walking around. Who knows how big this room is... Maybe if I can find the wall, I can turn the lighting back on like I did."
Since searching the surroundings had yielded no results, Atlas looked around for a moment and then walked off in one direction.
With all that debris scattered everywhere, Atlas could not run, so it took him some time to reach a wall.
At first, he didn't pay much attention to it, but when the young man raised his torch slightly, those particular black crystal containers became visible.
"Finally... I can light up the whole room if I can provide enough power."
Once found what he was looking for, Atlas reached out his hand toward the small opening, but the black crystal was missing.
"Heck... If it fell, it would be impossible to find it in all this rubble."
The young man looked everywhere, but besides the debris, he found nothing, so he decided to flank the wall in search of the following device.
After a hundred steps, he finally found the next stone, but the black crystal was missing.
Atlas did not give up and instead continued the search.
Unfortunately, the following stones were also missing the crystal, and in the end, the young man slightly lost his mind...
"Where on earth did they go?"
The mystery surrounding that strange place deepened, but Atlas found it impossible to find answers, so he continued his search, driven by curiosity.
After all, this was his first adventure, and it was not going so badly.
Indeed, he had risked death several times on the way, but could it seriously be called a worthy adventure if it lacked the slightest thrill?
The young man searched for something that might provide answers for a long time, and finally, after a tedious search, something interesting appeared before him.
"It's massive... I wonder, what is it?"
Ding!
Ding!
Atlas struck the giant piece of metal with the toe of his boot, and a strange noise spread throughout the room.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The sound bounced along the walls for a long time, and at one point, a very deafening noise shook the quiet of the room.
BANG!!!
The adventurer's pointing blow had not been decisive, however, perhaps because of the long time-lapse, the giant piece of metal fell forward.
"What a piece of junk... The metal plate is largely destroyed. You can't even make out its original shape. Hmm... With this immense size, it could be anything. Maybe it's an old door...if I'm lucky, I'll find another room further on..."
The young man briefly analyzed the metal object but, finding nothing relevant, continued walking.
"Hmm? What about this?"
After a while, Atlas came across another object. Said object was slightly smaller than the one found earlier.
"Another piece of metal? Hmm... it looks like a giant rectangular shield, but with this size, who could possibly use it?"
Many races lived in a world of Oblivion, each with its own particular characteristics, but even the Barbarian race was not big enough for this strange object.
"Heck... There are even supports in the center, similar to a handle... Maybe... maybe, it's seriously a shield. But that's impossible!"
Puzzled by the discovery, Atlas continued to analyze the object, "Incredible... there are also marks left behind by the Chaos Runes. Of course, it is an Artifact, but what creature could use such an imposing tool?"
The young man searched the area around the strange object but found nothing besides the usual rocky debris and iron pieces.
"Hmm... Perhaps the first metal plate was not a door..."
New doubts and questions appeared inside the young man's mind, magnifying the mystery around the ancient ruin.
Rocks and small metal slabs were everywhere, but a way out of the damn cemetery was still hidden.
A few hours passed, and exhausted from the journey, Atlas stopped temporarily.
"Surely, it's been more than a day since I started the journey. I'd better rest for a while."