Chapter 64: Ruins of the Dwarf Kingdom
"Be careful!"
On the cliff, Eric missed a step, a loose stone crumbling beneath his boot, but Kurtz noticed in time and pulled him back, preventing him from falling into the abyss below, where jagged rocks waited like teeth.
"Phew! You scared me!"
After regaining his footing, Eric's heart pounded wildly, sweat beading on his forehead despite the mountain chill. If he had fallen, he would probably have become Eric paste.
Perhaps only Kurtz and Serie, who knew levitation magic, could ensure their safety in such treacherous terrain.
"Do we have no other path?"
After calming down, Eric spoke, his voice still shaky. Their group was currently inside the Dwarf Ruins, navigating paths that hadn't been kept up in decades.
"Of course there are, but monsters guard those places. This place is safer."
To prevent Eric from falling again, Kurtz released several vines and threw one to him, the magical plant responding to his will.
"Tie this on."
"Is it long enough?" Eric muttered, examining the relatively short vine with scepticism.
Kurtz manipulated the vine, and in the blink of an eye, it grew dozens of meters long, the magical growth defying natural laws.
Then Kurtz looked at Eric without speaking, one eyebrow raised in amusement.
This was a vine generated by magic; it could be as long as he wanted, and it was incredibly sturdy, better than any safety rope.
Eric saw this and tied the vine around his waist with an awkward smile, feeling foolish for questioning magical limitations.
"You guys tie them on, too."
"Is your magic power enough?" Norn hesitated, concern evident in his weathered features.
To guard against monsters in this area, everyone was conserving magic power; otherwise, they wouldn't have expended so much effort climbing this cliff instead of simply flying up.
"It's fine."
Seeing Kurtz's confidence, Norn and Somo no longer hesitated and tied the vines around their waists.
This eased the anxiety in their hearts as they prepared for the dangerous crossing.
"I'll scout ahead. Wait for the signal."
Kurtz and Serie exchanged glances, silent communication passing between them, then he leapt off the cliff, activating levitation magic just as he began to fall.
The airflow supported his body, then he glided along the rock face with practised ease.
Kurtz had only recently learned this trick and hadn't yet created flying magic he could control as he wished.
If he had known this mountain peak was so steep, he might have created flying magic first, and after he and Serie had both learned it, then come to explore.
But now that they were here, there was no reason to give up when they were so close to their goal.
"How convenient…" Eric muttered enviously, watching Kurtz manoeuvre through the air with apparent effortlessness.
Norn heard his muttering and said indifferently, though with a hint of teasing, "Then you should hurry up and learn it! Kurtz won't refuse to teach you!"
"Cough, cough, I'll try my best!"
Since Norn stopped studying advanced magic, his life had been quite leisurely. Every day, he just researched basic magic and wrote magic books, finding simple satisfaction in the steady work.
Eric was confused. Could Norn really make something special out of just a basic Light Arrow and defensive magic?
But he didn't dare ask.
After all, this guy was in charge of the team's meals.
If you provoke him, you might not have dinner tonight.
Why did Lord Kurtz teach all his skills and secret recipes to Norn, making himself completely dependent on him for decent food?
There wasn't much time for Eric to lament. A moment later, a faint blue light appeared on the opposite bank, cutting through the mountain mist.
This was Kurtz's signal.
Serie saw this and cast levitation magic, but she didn't cross; instead, she signalled for the others to go first with a gesture that brooked no argument.
So Norn started to move.
With the vine tied around his waist, he climbed the rock face using both hands and feet, his movements careful and deliberate, but when a strong gust of wind blew, his right foot suddenly slipped on the smooth stone!
"Careful!" Somo quickly tightened the vine, his powerful grip preventing disaster. Seeing this, Serie stopped her forward movement, ready to intervene if needed.
Norn was suspended in mid-air, cold sweat soaking his back despite the cool mountain air.
He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves, and found a foothold again.
After a difficult climb that tested every muscle in his body, he finally reached the opposite bank, and Kurtz pulled him up with strong, steady hands.
"My turn!" Eric swallowed nervously and began to climb, imitating Norn's careful movements.
But he had only climbed halfway when his arms began trembling from strain. He suddenly remembered that he seemed to have neglected his physical training recently, spending too much time practising magic and not enough time maintaining his body.
However, he had no time to hesitate. Just as he was about to continue climbing, the rock he was gripping with his right hand suddenly cracked with an ominous grinding sound!
"Help me!"
Even though he knew he was tied to a vine, his survival instinct made Eric shout out, his voice echoing off the stone walls.
Fortunately, Serie had been watching with hawk-like attention. To prevent this guy from experiencing the thrill of aerial bungee jumping, she immediately came to his side and, grabbing him by the back of his collar like a wayward cat, directly brought him to the opposite bank.
"Th-thanks…" Eric slumped to the ground, his face pale and his hands still shaking from the near-death experience.
Serie said coldly, though her eyes showed a flicker of concern, "What are you afraid of when you're tied to a vine? Besides, your physical fitness is terrible!"
Fortunately, Eric's shouting did not alert the monsters below; otherwise, all their painstaking secret infiltration would have been wasted.
"You still need to practice your courage!" Kurtz patted him on the shoulder, his tone supportive despite the mild rebuke.
"Less nonsense! Since you can carry people, why didn't you just carry me over earlier?"
"You are too heavy!" Kurtz said helplessly, though his tone held no honest criticism, "For every increase in weight, the magic power consumed by levitation magic increases several times. Otherwise, I would have flown you up directly long ago. Why bother climbing with such effort?"
"Alright!"
Knowing what was going on, Eric said nothing more; after all, he was complaining to mask his embarrassment.
When it was Somo's turn, the Dwarf found it challenging. His short arms and legs were a disadvantage in this terrain, and sometimes it was hard for him to grip rocks that seemed designed for taller climbers.
"Use this." Kurtz cast a spell to summon magic to his side and threw over the Holy Sword, its weight somehow manageable in his magical grip. "Insert it into the rock face as a fulcrum."
Somo immediately understood and laughed, his beard bristling with amusement, "Is it really okay to use a Holy Sword as a climbing tool?"
"Only a Holy Sword that can be useful is good. Climb with confidence, I'm watching."
Somo stopped talking, grabbed the Holy Sword, and began to climb with renewed determination.
The Holy Sword, which should have been incredibly heavy, felt strangely light, but Somo had no time to pay attention to that peculiarity.
His astonishing strength was now fully displayed.
Each time the Holy Sword was inserted into the rock face, it sparked dramatically, thus "carving" out a path step by step with careful precision that would have impressed any stonemason.
When all five had safely arrived, breathing heavily from their exertions, what appeared before them was an entrance covered by centuries-old vines.
Kurtz pushed aside the vegetation, revealing the stone door hidden within like a secret from long ago.
"A secret passage of the Dwarf Kingdom." Somo examined the emblem on the stone door with reverent fingers, his voice heavy with ancestral memory, "We've found the right place."
This was information the group had obtained from Duller during their preparations.
As one of the survivors of the Dwarf Kingdom's disaster, he naturally knew about this secret passage, one of the few who remembered the old ways.
Therefore, he exchanged this information with Kurtz and the others.
If Kurtz and the others could successfully delve into the Dwarf Ruins, Duller hoped they could search for the legendary Holy Sword, said to be able to harm gods, a weapon of myths and desperate hopes.
Or rather, Duller wanted them to verify whether this Holy Sword truly existed, or if it was merely another legend born from desperation.
Kurtz naturally agreed to this request.
After all, he himself was very curious about it, and the prospect of such a discovery made the dangerous journey worthwhile.
__________________
Check out more than 30+ chapters right now! 🔥
👉 patreon.com/Mr UmU
https://www.patreon.com/Mr_UmU
__________________