Durin stared at the stone-carved ring in his hand and noticed that a small circle of pure silver metal was strangely exposed on its inner band.
Because it might have endured some impacts during combat, the originally intact and smooth inner band was now slightly warped.
This clearly indicated that it was a pure silver metal band wrapped in black iron, with the black iron serving as a disguise, equivalent to being covered in a thick layer of foil.
Normally, no flaws would be visible, but once subjected to a huge impact, because the two metals don't fuse, displacement and cracks would naturally appear.
Durin used his fingernail to catch the crack, applied slight force, and tore open a slit in the black iron layer. With another pull, like tearing tin foil, the entire outer layer of black iron was peeled off.
The exposed core was a pure silver metal ring carved with an olive branch pattern. Durin placed it in his palm; the ring looked completely ordinary from the outside, unadorned, like a simple pure silver ring.
But Durin could sense that this ring was of unusual value, as its inner band was carved with a miniature composite rune, clearly indicating it was a magical item!
Could this ring release spells?
Durin immediately felt a surge of excitement, his gaze grew fervent, and he tentatively channeled magic and spiritual energy into it.
The next moment, the miniature composite rune carved on the inner band of the pure silver ring instantly lit up, and then a blank screen appeared in Durin's field of vision.
The space within this screen was not large, approximately 0.5 cubic meters, containing only three books and a blueprint wrapped with fine hemp rope. From the surface, they appeared relatively new.
This is... a Storage Ring?
Durin was extremely surprised; he hadn't expected such an incredibly valuable magical item as a Storage Ring to be found on a deceased necromancer. It was a pleasant surprise.
Typically, Storage Rings can hold anywhere from a few cubic meters to thousands of cubic meters, but they cannot store living beings with life characteristics.
Although this Storage Ring only had a space of half a cubic meter, its price would certainly be considerable.
The main point was that this item was often priceless.
As Durin enveloped the three books with his spiritual energy, the first book instantly appeared in his hands. So, Durin began to flip through the book as he walked towards the cemetery's iron gate.
The first book was a rather thick volume with an iron cover. Upon opening it, Durin's eyes met with dense, strange characters, but he didn't recognize them.
These characters were crooked and seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist. When this book was opened, Durin, who had not yet left the cemetery, even felt faint, subtle sounds beginning to emerge beside his ears, sounds he couldn't understand.
It was like the buzzing of mosquitoes by his ear when sleeping in summer, causing irritation.
The paper inside, judging by the feel to his fingers, seemed to be made from cut and tanned parchment, making it fireproof, waterproof, and tear-resistant.
But as he continued to flip through, until he saw three different composite rune models appear in the book, Durin realized it was a spellbook.
The descriptions and explanations of the first two spells were still recorded in strange characters. Their spell composite rune models were clearly more difficult than Mage Armor by more than one level; their complexity was constructed from three basic runes, and the connection methods were varied and intricate, making Durin's head spin.
As he understood it, these connection methods were like circuits that originally used only series connections suddenly switching to using both series and parallel connections together.
The last spell was recorded in Noxus characters; it was a spell called Frost Slow. The composite rune model of this spell was of the same category as the Mage Armor composite rune model, both belonging to two basic runes merged together, making it an entry-level spell.
This type of spell is commonly referred to as a first-ring spell, a threshold for novice mages to learn.
The second book was an extremely thick volume; Durin needed both hands to hold it. This book had consistently thick, large covers. Durin estimated it contained about three to four hundred pages, all made of paper. Upon careful examination, there were two types of characters inside: one was the strange characters seen in the previous book, and the second was the familiar Noxus characters.
The Noxus characters then annotated and translated these strange characters. Durin raised an eyebrow; was this thick book a language translation book?
On the first page after opening it, the top line of strange characters was annotated by Noxus characters as: Ochnun, an evil language that belongs to no living being. This is the whisper of the dead, the resonance of souls; every necromancer must master Ochnun.
Durin walked out of the cemetery and began to retrace his steps towards Mobil Street.
Before long, a sliver of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon, and the land gradually brightened, turning a pale blue.
Durin continued to read the third book. This was a very ordinary diary, recording the events of the deceased necromancer's life.
It wasn't until Durin was almost at Mobil Street that he finally finished reading the diary. It turned out that the special zombie he had faced, holding a staff, was a mage in life and became a Lich after death.
His name was Usama, a mage from a century ago. He was born in the northern part of Shurima, living in Belzhun.
The nobles of that city had long voluntarily pledged allegiance to the great empire of Noxus, and under the nobles' compulsion, he learned Noxus characters.
But Usama had grown up listening to his neighbor's grandfather recount the glory of the Ancient Shurima Empire, which ignited in him a strong desire for historical pursuit. He began as a Scholar, excavating Ancient Shurima characters, delving deep into the southern Great Sai Desert, exploring one buried ancient tomb after another.
It wasn't until he encountered Ochnun in an ancient tomb that he gloriously ascended from a Scholar to a necromancer.
However, this language of the dead plunged Usama, who had once pursued the glory of the Ancient Shurima Empire, into a state of mental frenzy. He began to travel Runeterra, attempting to master more Ochnun. He transformed from wanting to revive Ancient Shurima into welcoming the king of the realm of the dead.
However, this madness also brought misfortune to Usama; learning this language of the dead shortened his lifespan and caused his body to decline.
With his end approaching, Usama decided to activate a forbidden spell, one that could potentially transform a dying person into a Lich to achieve resurrection.
Through his careful selection, the city of Piltover became his first choice. This city had a certain order, no strong individuals, revered technology, and wasn't very sensitive to magic. It didn't promote cremation and held a certain respect for the dead, never easily destroying graves.
Combining these many conditions, he believed that after a hundred years, he would resurrect and return as a powerful Lich, and this city would then become his base of operations, from which he would then excavate the items he had buried in the southern Great Sai Desert during his lifetime.
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