Chapter 291
When Zeke opened the chest, there was a blue crystal sphere and a badge I had never seen before inside.
‘What is this?’
Zeke examined the badge first.
There was a badge symbolizing the sun at the dungeon entrance, but the badge inside the chest was of a different shape.
‘Is this the moon?’
A badge of the moon, not the sun, was inside the chest.
Zeke tried to examine the information about the moon’s badge with his dragon’s eye.
[FAILED TO SEARCH FOR INFORMATION.]
‘The system couldn’t find information. What is this?’
Zeke speculated that it might be related to Theia, the moon goddess.
‘They said Theia’s temple was in Rome. Maybe I can find something out there.’
Zeke set aside the moon’s badge and looked into the information about the blue crystal sphere.
―Millennium Frost Crystal Information―
Description: The essence of coldness condensed and solidified by cold energy over ten thousand years.
Unique Ability: Undetermined.
Special Notes: Currently inactive.
“A millennium frost crystal? I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
It was still in an inactive state, so its unique ability had not yet appeared.
Zeke first stored the frost crystal in his inventory.
Then he took out the special random box he received as a reward for defeating the Queen of Ice and opened it.
Inside the box was a black cloak with a subtle glow.
―Cloak Information―
Description: A cloak that can block all kinds of cold and heat, and can also deflect blade attacks.
Unique Ability: Resistant to cold and heat, sword-proof.
Special Notes: Highly flexible. Owned by Jerome Lloyd, the Knight of Wisdom.
Zeke was surprised when he saw the cloak’s information.
‘Jerome Lloyd, one of the Knights of the Clock Tower.’
Jerome, one of the twelve knights of the Hero King, was a knight who greatly helped in the founding of the Chronos Kingdom with his wise advice.
Zeke smiled satisfactorily looking at Jerome’s cloak.
‘Being able to block attacks and stop cold and heat. This will be incredibly useful.’
Zeke tried on Jerome’s cloak.
It fit snugly to his body and had a good fit. He liked that it maintained an appropriate temperature.
Moreover, with the sword-proof ability, it seemed sufficient for defense.
After checking all the item information, Zeke said to Richmond.
“Richmond, look for other paths around here.”
Richmond, who was skilled at exploring the natural maze of the Hoshgar Laboratory, nodded and took out his staff, waving it around before heading towards the back.
“I feel something over here.”
Richmond pointed to an area filled with snow and ice.
Zeke raised flames, instantly melting the snow and ice.
With his increasing skill in Elemental Sword, Zeke had gained some control over his power.
SWOOSH!
As the accumulated snow and ice melted, a hidden door was revealed.
Zeke approached and modified the system to allow manual opening and closing before opening the door.
Inside the door, a corridor stretched out.
‘The Great mage’s laboratory must be this way.’
Having come this far, he couldn’t just leave without finding the Great magess laboratory.
Moreover, since he had found and opened the door, Zeke needed to obtain the Great mage’s legacy before the Nirvana side could explore it.
He walked down the corridor without hesitation, with Richmond.
Unlike the previous area, no cold air was flowing.
Looking around with a puzzled expression, Zeke discovered wet water marks scattered throughout the corridor.
‘Is this because I defeated the Queen of Ice?’
It seemed that with the sealed Queen of Ice gone, the cold-attribute monsters residing here had also disappeared.
At that moment, Richmond spoke to Zeke.
“Master, about that ancient artifact I mentioned before.”
“What ancient artifact are you talking about?”
“Huh? Didn’t I tell you before? I discovered a strange ancient artifact in the Undead Maze.”
It seemed Richmond was referring to the ancient artifact he had been rambling about when Zeke had cut off the message before.
He nodded as if he knew.
“Oh, that artifact. So what about it?”
“It seems the appearance of the Undead might be because of this ancient artifact.”
Zeke tilted his head at Richmond’s words.
“Undead appearing because of an ancient artifact? What are you talking about?”
“I can’t be certain since I’ve never seen it before, but the energy emanating from it doesn’t seem like a typical artifact.”
“Hmm, an artifact that creates natural Undead. Do you have it now?”
Richmond shook his head vigorously.
“N-no way. Randomly touching such an artifact might instantly cause my soul to disappear.”
Zeke nodded at Richmond’s words.
It was best not to touch something that looked dangerous.
Richmond was wiser than Hades, who had been bound for three thousand years, about not carelessly disturbing ancient relics.
“Did you confirm what kind of artifact this ancient relic is?”
Richmond pondered the question carefully.
“It was buried in the ground and had such a strong energy that I couldn’t examine it closely, but… at a glance, it looked similar to an incense burner.”
“An incense burner. It’s more likely to be a magical tool rather than a typical artifact.”
The power embedded in ancient magical artifacts or relics where spirits slumbered was often stronger than magically enchanted artifacts.
The problem was that such relics were difficult to control and would try to consume or manipulate their user.
Zeke praised Richmond.
“Mage’s are usually curious and rush in without thinking, but you did well by not trying to carelessly extract it.”
“HEHE, I didn’t survive 500 years for nothing. Like the crown I gave you before, I ran various tests to ensure it was safe before keeping it.”
“Come to think of it, you first gave me the Lubern crown. Where did you obtain that?”
“Remember the dungeon where I was staying? When I discovered it, there were traces of people, and as I settled there, I discovered a cleverly hidden secret location. When I opened it, the crown was inside.”
“A secret location…”
Zeke suspected the dungeon Richmond stayed in was a refuge for the Lubern bloodline.
‘The Dawn Society where my mother was might have created such refuges everywhere to save the Lubern bloodline.’
Zeke decided that after finishing things in Atens, he would visit Baranaon and examine the incense burner Richmond mentioned.
While organizing his plan and walking down the corridor, Zeke felt magical energy ahead.
Richmond also seemed to sense something and spoke to Zeke.
“Master, this looks like a Nirvana boundary magic circle.”
“Looks like the Great mage’s laboratory is this way.”
Zeke spread his magic sealing technique to penetrate the boundary magic circle.
WHOOSH!
Inside the boundary magic circle was a wide cavity.
Surprisingly, dozens of golems were crouched against one wall of the cavity.
Richmond approached the golems in amazement.
“Wow! Master, look at this. There are so many golems. But something seems different.”
As Zeke approached to examine them, he saw what Richmond meant – the golems were not in a typical form.
“What an unusual shape. This looks like it’s made for digging.”
Richmond’s eyes sparkled.
“Master, these seem to be dungeon exploration golems.”
“Dungeon exploration golems? Such a thing exists?”
“These golems move on their own, digging earth and removing stones.”
“Using expensive golems for such tasks? Unbelievable.”
“Isn’t it possible for Nirvana?”
Zeke nodded affirmatively to Richmond’s words.
At the same time, he realized there were quite a few advantages to using golems for dungeon exploration.
‘More efficient than using workers. No risk of human casualties.’
While undead could achieve similar effects, they would continuously consume mana.
Zeke approached the laboratory door while Richmond examined the construction golems.
As expected, a defensive magic circle was in place.
A mage’s laboratory required tight security, and carelessly touching it could cause the entire lab to explode.
“Richmond! Come and try to disable this!”
Richmond quickly ran over and examined the security magic circle.
“Can you open it?”
“This is my specialty. In the past, when I needed experimental materials, I would secretly break into storage security magic.”
“Very good. Go ahead and open it.”
Richmond carefully examined the magic circle on the door, then sent his magic to dispel it.
WHOOSH!
As the magic circle was dispelled, the patterns glowing on the door’s surface disappeared.
“PHEW, it’s done.”
“Excellent, Richmond.”
Zeke had grown to trust Richmond a bit more than before.
When he opened the door and entered the laboratory, it was surprisingly clean and dust-free for a place that had been locked for so long.
At the same time, it felt somewhat ordinary for a Great mage’s laboratory.
There weren’t many instruments, and the bookshelves seemed sparsely populated.
‘Quite tidy for a mage.’
The laboratory’s owner seemed to be a rare, neat mage, as uncommon as a knight without competitive spirit.
Suddenly, Richmond exclaimed in a surprised voice.
“M-master, look at that!”
Following Richmond’s pointed direction, Zeke was astonished to see a mummified figure in a robe sitting in one corner of the laboratory.
Zeke approached the mummy cautiously.
Upon examination, it appeared the mummy had been writing something at the desk before collapsing to the floor.
Zeke examined the mummy’s condition.
‘Clutching his heart. Did he die from a heart attack?’
He looked at the journal on the desk.
The journal ended with those words.
Zeke shook his head looking at the fallen wizard.
‘Just like Michel. Was he searching for druids to obtain elixir ingredients? So that’s why Michel thought an elixir was here.’
Zeke carefully read through the mage’s journal from the beginning.
He found several pieces of information different from what Michel had mentioned.
First, the dead mage was a 7th circle wizard, not a 9th circle Great Wizard.
He was an ice-type sorcerer who had settled in this dungeon after coincidentally feeling an unusual cold energy.
He had completed his 8th circle magic while continuing his research here.
‘I think I saw similar information in a newsletter from my previous life.’
Not being a mage himself, Zeke only vaguely remembered hearing about a high-circle mage’s dungeon being discovered.
He continued reading the journal.
The dead mage had noticed abnormalities in his body while on the verge of becoming an 8th circle master and tried to treat himself, but the disease had progressed too far to be cured.
He had searched everywhere for a way to treat his body but failed every time.
He even sought treatment from the Lubern bloodline, but the illness did not improve.
‘Healing magic couldn’t cure this illness.’
Eventually, he decided on a mage-like solution: creating the legendary elixir to cure his disease.
True to a Nirvana wizard, he persistently researched and completed the elixir, but immediately realized upon completion that this elixir could not heal his own body.
Zeke looked up from the journal with a sympathetic expression and noticed a box on the desk.
Opening the box, he found two sealed bottles.
Zeke examined the bottles with his dragon’s eye.
―Elixir Information―
A rare reagent with the ability to harmonize substances that cannot typically react with each other.
Just as he expected, these were elixirs.
“He created two of these precious reagents. Was he also talented as an alchemist?”
Zeke stored the elixirs in his inventory.
Scanning the desk further, he found the mage’s notes on ice magic.
‘An 8th circle ice attribute magic would be quite rare. I’ll hold onto this.’
There were also quite a few artifacts left by the wizard.
After storing everything in his inventory, Zeke noticed a staff hanging on the wall that seemed to be the mage’s usual weapon.
The staff, embedded with blue gems, appeared to be a considerably valuable artifact.
Zeke pointed to the staff and asked Richmond.
“Richmond, could you use this staff to cast ice-type magic?”
Richmond shook his head.
“I’m a necromancer, so I can’t use elemental magic.”
Zeke looked disappointed. None of the mage’s he had with him could use ice-type magic.
Suddenly, an idea struck Zeke.
Looking at the mage’s mummy, he asked Richmond,
“Richmond. Could you possibly turn this guy into an undead?”
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