Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Let’s take a look inside. ” Lin Li looked away from the two unlucky bandits and toward the mine as he became interested in what was inside. He quickly chanted, releasing an Illuminating Spell before leading Ysera and Gerian inside the mineshaft.
Perhaps because it was morning, the air in the cave was unusually cold, and even Lin Li sneezed a couple of times when they entered. Rubbing his nose, he slowly walked into the depths of the cave under the guidance of the Illuminating Spell. The excavation Gerian had ordered was quite effective; the mouth of the cave had only been wide enough for a mine cart to pass through, but now, thanks to the hundreds of workers, it could even fit a chariot.
The three soon saw a flat plot of land after entering—this was the place Gerian had mentioned hearing the sound from. There was a huge crater in the middle of the land, with freshly dug earth lining the sides of it. Tools of all sorts were scattered around on the ground; the place was messy and unorganized, probably due to the workers rushing outside after they saw something happen.
Lin Li maintained the Illuminating Spell as he carefully walked into the crater, and saw a slanted tunnel extend far ahead. It was effective to have many workers indeed—they had dug a tunnel a few hundred meters long in a few days’ time. The trio walked for about five minutes before seeing a light ahead.
A tightly shut door lay at the end of the tunnel; there were lamps on either side of the door, probably left there by the workers. The oil was running out now, and the fire from the lamps flickered weakly in the dark.
“Hang on, don’t come over yet. “Lin Li waved away the Illuminating Spell, and chanted a spell as he laid a Mental Protection Field in front of the door.
Indeed…
The stone door was filled with strange symbols; they looked crooked and messy, just like a child’s doodles. Gerian and Ysera gave it a few glances before they looked elsewhere as these things were too difficult for them to comprehend.
However, it was a different story when Lin Li saw it.
“Impressive…”
Even Lin Li who was a Guru of Inscription himself marveled at it as he stood outside the tightly shut door. This Song of Death mageweath was worthy of his admiration indeed. While it looked messy, it was easy to spot once you looked closely. Its messiness was planned as it helped reduce the conflicts that might arise between various flows of magic by diverting magic circuits so as to minimize the waste of mana. The six magic nodes also formed a natural system which allowed the flowing magic to be recycled again. In order to have such thought and technique, the person who made this had to be a Master, if not a Guru, of Inscription.
“Is this door powerful?” Gerian asked when he saw Lin Li’s frown. “Why don’t I get a few mages and have them blow the door up!”
“President Gerian, I don’t think that’ll be a good idea… ” Ysera gulped nervously. The tunnel was freshly dug, and the proper supporting frames had not yet been installed—if they were to blow up this place with magic, it would surely collapse. Then, it might take another three days for the workers to dig them out of the debris…
“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something… ” Lin Li shook his head as his gaze remained on the door. The structure of a Song of Death mageweath was not complicated; the key was the six magic nodes. As long as he destroyed one of them, the mageweath would be destroyed, but he did not dare take the risk for now. Most Masters of Inscription would lay traps at the magic source of the mageweath, or have it self-destruct or attack… Anyway, they’d make life difficult for anybody who dared to destroy the mageweath. The one who laid down the mageweath might’ve been a Necromancer, so Lin Li did not dare to take any risks all the more. If the trap at the magic source was so strong that it collapsed the tunnel, were they going to wait for the workers to dig them out?
As he was a Guru of Inscription, the Song of Death mageweath did not take up too much of Lin Li’s time even though it was a little tricky. With a deep hum, an idea came to Lin Li. He chanted a spell, and a blue light appeared in his palm. This was a Magic Suppression spell that had been used by mages in a fight—it suppressed the explosion of magic and served to protect the mage. It was similar to Element Annihilation in its use, except that it could be used in more ways. It couldn’t be helped; Element Annihilation was inflexible, and only a Guru level Inscriber had a chance to expand its usage. Magic Suppression spell was more flexible, and it could even help block an attack from behind once with concentration.
Of course, Lin Li was not trying to block an attack from behind—he was trying to block the trap on the magic source.
“Step back just in case… ” Lin Li did not say what would happen, but his expression was enough to scare Ysera and Gerian into taking a few steps backward.
Seeing that the two knew how powerful it could be, Lin Li smiled in satisfaction before he brought the blue light in his palm to the door.
“Felic, be careful!” Even though Gerian cowered at the back, he still remembered to remind Lin Li.
“Don’t worry, ” Lin Li assured Gerian with a wave of his hand.
The Song of Death mageweath on the door was not unlike what Lin Li imagined it to be. Well thought out magic circuit and precise magic nodes made the mageweath’s structure impenetrable. As he stood in front of the door, Lin Li could clearly feel a suppressed and dark magical wave lingering around him. That was the strength of the Song of Death; if anyone fell into it, they would be trapped in endless nightmares, while negative emotions and scary hallucinations would keep haunting them. Its effect on one’s mental strength was worse—even an Archmage might be rendered helpless by a touch of the Song of Death, much less the two bandits…
Lin Li would have just gone ahead usually.
While the Song of Death was powerful, it only attacked one’s mental strength, and a creature like Lin Li would not be afraid of that. He had been able to withstand Old Merlin’s mental attack at only level-8; hence, it would be less of a threat to him now that he was at level-16.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that now.
The Thousand Miles of Ice at the Black Water River Bay had hurt his inner strength too much, and his mental strength had yet to recover fully. Any mistake would cost him his life. Lin Li did not wish to become schizophrenic, either.
Hence, he cautiously wielded the Magic Suppression spell and inched forward, looking for a spot the trap might explode from.
This was a deceivingly simple process as Magic Suppression spell was different from common magic. The slower the movement, the more taxing it was as every move in position meant he had to filter the magical waves around him again and calculate the most suitable elemental sequencing. The figures he calculated were basically astronomical given that Lin Li moved at a snail’s pace and had to exert mana that was more than enough to exhaust any Archmage. Only a creature with incredibly powerful mental strength and limitless mana like Lin Li could manage to maintain a Magic Suppression spell at such a slow pace.
“That’s right, it should be here!” Lin Li heaved a long sigh of relief when the blue ball of light stopped at the center of the six magic nodes. This should be right. Lin Li did not even do another elemental sequencing, as he could guess the end result. Well, he was an Inscriber, and one of the best at that—he was more or less able to guess what an Inscriber was thinking when they laid down a mageweath.
Just like with the trap in front of him—it was right in the center of six magic nodes, and if it exploded, it’d immediately be supported by the six nodes, and thus make it more powerful and of a greater scale than if the trap was placed elsewhere.
Lin Li inhaled deeply before fixing the Magic Suppression spell in the center, and started chanting spells hurriedly.
As the chanting echoed, so did a crisp sound.
The Eye of Decay fell on the magic node, and the latter was destroyed in a second. Since the connecting node was gone, the magical waves that escaped the magic circuit filled the tunnel. Before Gerian and Ysera realized what was going on, the ball of light in Lin Li’s hand suddenly lit up, and they saw lumps of blue combining with lumps of black in a flash…
“Damn it, Rage of the Natural Disaster?” Gerian almost bit his tongue—this was a true Rage of the Natural Disaster, a legendary level-18 Necromagic. Even the Pope of the Ledin Kingdom had been injured by one when he was younger. To think he would have such an honor to see its incredible power unfold in a mineshaft…
