Chapter 455: The Safety Deposit Box
Chapter 455: The Safety Deposit Box
Ren was certain he had just witnessed something. However, when he tried to sense it again, the presence had disappeared without a trace.
Logically, with his perception, it was impossible for him not to detect anything in a room of over a hundred square meters. Yet, strangely, the presence had vanished into thin air.
"Patriarch, I sense something amiss. Be cautious," Ren whispered to Moriah, who was about to enter the room.
Moriah had just opened the door, so she didn't notice the fleeting shadow inside the room. However, after experiencing several crises, her trust in Ren had significantly increased.
Hearing Ren's warning, Moriah's expression turned serious. "What is it?"
"I just saw a shadow," Ren replied.
"A vengeful spirit? That's highly possible," Moriah said.
Nevertheless, having come this far, they weren't about to give up.
Aware of the potential danger within the room, they proceeded with caution. First, they cast defensive spells, and then they propped the door open with a hardened fine gold bar, securing it to the wall with multiple metal clasps.
This way, if they needed to make a quick escape, they could do so without hesitation.
As they stepped into the room, they realized it was over a hundred square meters in size. Straight ahead was a row of bookshelves, and to the left was a reception area with a tea table and four sofa chairs.
Further inside was a massive desk. "Indeed, it's worthy of the Patriarch's room."
Just then, Ren seemed to sense something, and he abruptly turned to face the door behind him. A faint blue shadow stood there, resembling a human figure wearing a butler's uniform. Its features were clear, appearing to be in its forties or fifties, but its expression was odd, and its gaze was fixed intently on Ren and Moriah.
"Intruders, this is the master's room," the shadow spoke, not with sound but through a mental force that conveyed its message.
Ren and Moriah exchanged a glance, surprised by this communication.
Could the shadow be the lingering spirit of someone who had survived in this form? That would be troublesome.
Logically, a place without people should be considered a ruin, and with a 'person' present, it was clear that they were the intruders.
"You shouldn't have come here. Now that you're here, surrender and await the master's judgment upon his return!" the shadow's mental force conveyed again.
Surrender and judgment? Ren was speechless. After all, this was a site that had been abandoned for thousands of years, and exploring it was a normal endeavor.
As Ren and Moriah were about to respond, the shadow suddenly reached out towards them.
Instantly, two peculiar pale blue arrows shot towards them.
"Hmm? They resemble Ice Arrow spells, but the energy fluctuations don't match ice magic," Ren observed.
Both Ren and Moriah had defensive spells like Steel Armor protecting them, but they chose to dodge instead of withstanding the unknown effects of the magic.
However, faced with the shadow's unprovoked attack, Ren immediately retaliated.
As Ren raised his hand, a massive silver metal net infused with a silver glow rushed towards the pale blue figure.
Expecting the figure to either cast a defensive spell or dodge, Ren was astonished when it did neither.
The silver net passed right through the figure, leaving a fine mesh pattern on the stone wall behind it.
Strangely, the figure's pale blue body trembled like a disturbed stream, emitting a faint glow as if the water had been stirred. Then, it returned to normal.
It seemed that Ren's spell had caused no harm to the figure.
Or perhaps it had, but the damage was negligible. This didn't make sense; spirits were typically immune to physical attacks but not to magical energy attacks.
The metal energy particles attached to the cutting net should have inflicted significant damage, even to a spirit.
"Hmm? Even spirits shouldn't be immune to magical damage," Moriah frowned, her voice filled with confusion.
She, too, had noticed the anomaly.
Moriah was well aware of the power of Ren's cutting net spell, and its failure to cause any harm was utterly illogical.
"Let me try," Moriah said.
She cast a Water Arrow spell, and with a wave of her hand, the water arrow shot towards the mysterious shadow.
"Sizzle!"
The pale blue apparition rippled like water once more, similar to when Reyn cast his Metal Grid spell. The water arrows passed through it, but it was evident that they didn't inflict much damage.
"Swish!"
At the same time, Reyn threw a metal short spear at the apparition. The spear pierced through it and embedded itself in the wall behind, with a 'sizzle', causing no harm.
This scene caused both of them to furrow their brows.
The sorcery seemed weak, and physical attacks were utterly useless. How were they supposed to fight this? It was as if the apparition had an enhanced version of the 'Etherealization' skill, but with a much higher damage reduction rate, negating at least ninety percent of the incoming harm.
Although Reyn and Moriah's attacks were mostly ineffective, their actions seemed to further enrage the entity.
"Outsiders, you're provoking us. Perhaps, even before my master returns, I'll deal with you myself!" The mental shockwaves conveyed its message.
The pale blue apparition launched two pale blue arrow attacks toward Reyn and Moriah.
This time, Reyn could clearly sense that the entity's attack was peculiar. The blue energy arrows were impure, like tangled yarn, and within the ice-based energy, there seemed to be chaotic radiation.
When these blue arrows struck the wooden bookshelf, it instantly appeared to decay.
The bizarre effect of the attack furrowed both their brows.
On one hand, it was hard to predict the consequences of being hit by this attack, and on the other, if they couldn't stop it, the precious scrolls and books on the shelves might be damaged, resulting in a significant loss.
Their findings from exploring the ruins would be greatly diminished, or they might even return empty-handed.
Moriah dodged the entity's attacks while quickly saying to Reyn, "It seems we have only one option. The entity isn't entirely immune to sorcery. We can attack with high-frequency spells, and over time, the small damages will accumulate."
"Patriarch, let me try again!" Reyn's eyes gleamed.
Moriah was puzzled but quickly nodded, sidestepping to cast Wind Blade and Fireball spells from different schools of magic.
This was to distract the pale blue entity and create a better opportunity for Reyn to attack, and also to test which school of magic the entity was more sensitive to.
"Hmm?"
He glanced sideways and saw Reyn casting the Metal Grid spell again, looking perplexed.
Didn't they just try that?
It had little effect!
Why was Reyn trying again? But this time, as the silver metal net penetrated the entity, its face contorted in fear.
Moriah could clearly see that the entity's form became more transparent, and its energy fluctuations weakened.
"This..." Moriah's mouth hung open, wanting to ask something but unsure where to begin.
If Reyn's previous strength was due to his dragon transformation, it was understandable. But what just happened? The same silver metal grid spell that initially had no effect now seemed incredibly potent.
"Damn invaders! You're taking advantage of my master's absence to bully me, his servant."
"However, do you think you've won? Although I'm far inferior to my master, I have my own strengths! Blizzard!"
As the entity's face twisted in fear and anger, its mental waves conveyed two messages. It raised its hands, and a large blue cloud began to form at the top of the room.
"Quick, Reyn! Blizzard is an area-of-effect spell. We might be fine, but these ancient books..." Moriah's expression darkened with worry.
"Mhm!"
Having witnessed the effectiveness of Dragon Soul Strike, Reyn was confident.
From now on, it was just a matter of consuming more psychic energy.
True damage was indeed a game-changer.
As Reyn's fingers moved, dense silver nets shot toward the pale green apparition.
The entity seemed to instinctively sense the danger and tried to retreat, but it was already casting the Blizzard spell, an area-of-effect spell, and Reyn's spells were instantaneous.
"Shh! Shh! Shh!"
In less than a second, nine fine silver metal nets pierced through the body in quick succession.
The pale blue ethereal shadow also continued to ripple like water, fading away. Finally, the other party intermittently uttered, "Just wait! Wait for my master to return from the New Continent, and he will find you all and kill you one by one!"
"The New Continent?" Ren's expression turned thoughtful.
"Yes, thousands of years ago, the New Continent where the Eagle Federation is located had just been discovered. Judging from this, the Valzig Ruins incident must have occurred during the Great Exploration Era."
"During the Great Exploration Era, most wizarding schools sent out exploration teams of various sizes to the New Continent. Some wizarding schools even mobilized all their members."
"It seems that the Patriarch of the Valzig School at that time must have also gone to the New Continent. Moreover, from the evidence before us, he never returned."
"Yes, at least he didn't come back here again. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many books left untouched on his desk and bookshelves." Moria spoke while pointing at the various books on the shelves.
"Right, Patriarch, if that thing was a phantom, why didn't we encounter such strange phantoms in the other rooms?" Ren had a question.
"I think that thing should be a mutated phantom after being exposed to radiation. I think we can temporarily call it a Radiant Phantom." Moria furrowed her brows in thought.
"The conditions for forming this type of Radiant Phantom should be quite strict."
"Look at the defensive sorcery array on the floor of this room, which weakens the intensity of the radiation. Moreover, the person in front of us was at least a Second Tier Liquidation Tier wizard; otherwise, he wouldn't have mastered the Blizzard, a Second Tier spell."
"Additionally, with the obsession before death, several factors reached a certain balance, resulting in this peculiar phantom."
"I wonder if the ice-based talent is a necessary condition for forming this type of Radiant Phantom." Moria quickly analyzed while pondering.
"But that's not the main point. We can slowly research this later. Ren, quickly, check if these books are damaged." Moria called out to Ren with a smile.
A few minutes later, both of them couldn't hide their disappointment.
"These books are damaged too."
"Yes, that makes sense. There is still radiation here; it's just that the intensity has been weakened. These books and scrolls couldn't have survived either." Moria sighed.
Hearing Moria's words, Ren agreed, but he still felt a sense of reluctance in his heart. After all, this was the room of the school's Patriarch.
If they couldn't find anything here, the chances of finding anything in the other rooms were even lower.
However, at this moment, Ren suddenly thought of something.
He quickly walked behind the desk, and a smile spread across his face.
He was genuinely happy.
"Patriarch, there's a safety deposit box here."
"Hmm?"
"A safety deposit box?"
Moria immediately walked over.
"Yes! How could I have not thought of that? Something like an advanced meditation technique wouldn't be casually left on a bookshelf."
Moria saw a safety deposit box under the desk and slapped her thigh in excitement.
As she took out the antique brass key again, the safety deposit box clicked open a few seconds later. Inside were two scrolls, a leather-bound diary, and a crystal.
Moria, with an excited expression, quickly took out one of the scrolls.
"It's not damaged! Great!" Moria exclaimed with excitement as she held the scroll.
Ren couldn't help but smile as well.
Moria carefully unfurled the scroll.
"Found it! This is it! This scroll records the advanced meditation technique of the Steel Heart from the first to the fourth level!"
Both Moria and Ren were metal mages, and their excitement was evident as they found the fourth level of this advanced meditation technique.
Ren's face also lit up with joy.
He hadn't expected to find it in the office after failing to locate it in the warehouse and the archives.
Indeed, site exploration should be handled by professionals or led by them; otherwise, he might have left after searching the warehouse and archives.
Right, since the first scroll was so important, what about the second one?
Ren immediately focused his attention on the second scroll.
(End of Chapter)
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