Chapter 65: Deep into the Ruins
Looking at the stone door in front of him, Kurtz turned his gaze to Somo with a mix of hope and uncertainty.
According to Duller, only a Dwarf could open this stone door.
Although Somo was a Dwarf without a beard and allergic to alcohol, he was still a Dwarf by blood, and thus qualified to open this stone door, or at least, they hoped so.
Somo took a deep breath, his hand trembling slightly as he stood before the stone door. There was a minor groove on it, worn smooth by countless hands over the centuries. After he placed his palm against the cold stone, a magic circle appeared, pulsing with old power.
The stone door slowly opened with a grinding sound that echoed through the mountain passage.
"I thought at least someone from the Dwarf royal family would be needed to open this door. I didn't expect just any Dwarf could do it!" Eric said, confused by the ease of it.
"Dwarves believe in strength. As long as one is strong enough, they can be the Dwarf King. Besides, this stone door is just one of countless back doors, so naturally, there won't be many limits."
Norn explained from the side, his voice carrying hard-won knowledge.
Through his adventures in the past two years, he had learned much about different races, especially during his stay in that Dwarf city, where he mixed with Dwarves daily, sharing meals and stories around their great forges.
He also learned much about the Dwarf's First Kingdom and its sad fall.
"It's precisely because there weren't hard opening conditions that many Dwarves escaped. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been the Eight Great Clans later on," Kurtz said, though his tone carried unease.
There were many odd points surrounding the end of the First Dwarf Kingdom.
Even if they faced a sudden attack from a monster army, the entire royal family couldn't die out overnight. The speed and completeness of the destruction suggested something more planned, more deliberate.
Could it be that all the Demon Races on the continent were involved?
But that was the only possibility that made sense.
Now, the Elf Forest was facing the same situation, and even the separated Elf Kingdom was similar; after all, the two were originally one. Without the Elf Forest, there would be no Elf Kingdom.
The only good thing was that those Elves were not the only race; they also had the help of Dwarves and the Skywing Clan.
Surely, nothing would happen, right?
A bad feeling appeared again, as if he dimly sensed something dark on the horizon, a pattern he couldn't quite grasp but felt in his bones.
Kurtz didn't know what was happening, but the feeling stuck like a shadow.
"Are you spacing out?"
Serie noticed Kurtz's distraction, turned her head, and stared at him with those old golden eyes, asking with concern barely hidden beneath her usual coolness.
"Oh, maybe I'm sleep-deprived. Let's go, let's go in!"
Serie didn't say anything more, though she filed away his strange mood for later thought. She cast a small light spell, and with Somo leading the way, everyone stepped inside.
After passing through the stone door, they arrived at a deep, dark passage that seemed to swallow their light.
Built into the walls were special ores, similar to glowing pearls, that gave off a faint blue light in the darkness, like distant stars. Even after centuries of wear, they still gave off leftover heat, proof of dwarven skill.
With the help of this faint light, the complex network of forks ahead became visible, a maze designed by worried builders.
"Why did these Dwarves build so many forks? Can they tell them apart?"
Looking at the branching paths in front of him, Eric felt his head swell with confusion.
"Indeed, it's like a prairie dog's burrow."
Kurtz also agreed, mainly because there were so many similar-looking passages that it was confusing even for someone with his spatial awareness.
"What is that? I've never heard of such a creature."
Serie found that she always heard things from Kurtz that she had never heard of before, despite her vast experience. She had hundreds of years of experience, plus the knowledge she had heard from her Elf elders.
She initially thought she had a good understanding of this world, but Kurtz's appearance made her realise something unsettling.
She still had a long way to go to understand this world, or perhaps there were worlds beyond her knowledge entirely.
She was very curious: what kind of place was Kurtz's homeland, on the other side of the sea?
"Nothing, just assume I'm talking nonsense."
Kurtz thought for a moment and decided not to explain this creature. After all, there was a real Dwarf in their team who might take offence.
Although this Dwarf was also quite unlike a traditional Dwarf in many ways.
Luckily, Somo didn't mind Kurtz's strange comparison and was constantly searching for something in the passage, his fingers tracing worn symbols on the walls.
Finally, he stopped before a passage with special markings carved deep into the stone.
"It should be here," Somo touched the markings on the wall with respectful fingers.
"This is a Dwarf miner's mark. Our village has this mark, and it usually shows that ahead is the central area."
"Nice job!" Eric gave Somo a thumbs up, real relief evident in his voice.
It was good they had Somo the Dwarf in the team. Otherwise, with so many confusing passages, it would take them an unknown amount of time and effort to explore, assuming they didn't get hopelessly lost.
Eric's praise made Somo very embarrassed, a flush creeping up his neck.
"Let's go!"
Kurtz urged them forward, excitement overriding caution. He was already impatient to know how many secrets were buried in this ruin.
Everyone proceeded along the passage, their footsteps echoing softly despite their efforts to remain quiet. As soon as they turned the corner, they all stopped without thinking, horror freezing them in place.
Because in the cave ahead, countless Demon Spiders were thickly coiled on their webs, creating a nightmare wall of silk and hard shells. Besides the newly hatched ones scurrying like living nightmares, the smallest were the size of a hound.
"There are too many!" Eric gasped, his voice barely a whisper.
Even Serie frowned, her usual calm cracking. She felt a mental dislike of these ugly and disgusting creatures, their multiple eyes gleaming with evil intelligence.
"Can I kill them?" She raised her hand, and a magic circle began to appear, power crackling at her fingertips.
"Let's not! If we alarm more monsters, things will get hard."
Kurtz quickly stopped her, reaching out to gently lower her hand, lest Serie, in a fit of passion, really attract every monster in the ruins.
"Damn it..." Somo lowered his voice to barely audible levels.
"These guys can not only spit venom, but their webs are also very tough. They are arguably the most troublesome monsters."
Before, in the village, Somo had fought against these Demon Spiders and bore the scars to prove it.
Luckily, there were only a few Demon Spiders that appeared at that time, and they were within a manageable range. But even so, a few Dwarves were scratched by these Demon Spiders when they weren't careful, and the venom had left permanent marks.
Now, facing such a large number of Demon Spiders, he felt very nervous, old wounds aching in phantom pain.
Kurtz also frowned deeply, his mind racing through possibilities. Logically, there should be far fewer monsters here.
They hadn't even reached the core area yet and had already encountered so many monsters. If there were even more in the core area, their mission might be impossible.
"How about using a detection spell?" He suggested to Serie, though he already suspected her answer.
Serie shook her head: "It's unclear if there are any Demon Races here that are sensitive to magic power. Once we activate a detection spell, it's like telling them we've intruded."
Currently, Kurtz's group was still secretly infiltrating, coupled with the aura-hiding magic Kurtz had researched, so as long as they didn't actively attack, ordinary monsters wouldn't discover them.
The principle of detection magic is to spread magic power, and after encountering a life form, send the information back, just like radar waves.
A problem arises from this.
If they encountered a Demon Race sensitive to magic power, then this detection magic would instead expose their presence like a beacon in the darkness.
This was also an important reason why Kurtz and Serie had not activated detection magic; stealth was their only advantage in this situation.
"Should we go around?"
"Yes."
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Kurtz and Serie began to cast spells at the same time, their magic weaving together in careful harmony.
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