Supreme Magus

Lith left before the Wyalon family was done with their breakfast, leaving Iriel no time for small talk. He took off, taking the quickest route to the Broken Spine, the discontinuous mountain range where the dungeon was located.

Lith flew at an optimal altitude, which allowed him to safely scout the area around him with Life Vision and identify underground monstersʼ nests. He had to make sure the creatures werenʼt preparing a big attack, otherwise he might have been forced to retreat during the raid to protect the city.

For a Ranger the number of slain creatures was but a secondary achievement, the real source of merits was the survival rate of those they are tasked to protect. Monsters needed only days to become fully grown, while a single artisan needed decades to be trained.

ʼAnother good thing about Kamila, is that ever since we got together youʼve stopped pushing me toward every girl we meet.ʼ Lith inwardly grinned.

ʼWell, that doesnʼt mean I donʼt feel bad for Iriel. For once you could help someone without getting laid as your hidden agenda.ʼ Solus rebukes.

ʼYeah, right. Going from princess of nowhere to a big city would be a death sentence to her unless someone takes care of her. I can already picture how any sane woman would react if I brought home an 18 year old girl.ʼ

Solus couldnʼt retort anymore. Even if Solus could read Lithʼs thoughts, in Kamilaʼs shoes she would still kick his ass.

The area was clear of any life form, monster or otherwise. Like the Baron had reported to Lith, animals and magical beasts had left the area. Those who had failed to notice their presence because of hibernation, were all dead.

Once Lith reached the Broken Spine, he didnʼt head directly towards the known entrances, but scouted the area to determine how smart and powerful his opponents were.

ʼI donʼt like this.ʼ Solus thought. ʼMy mana sense detects a series of powerful arrays both above and below the ground. Not only have I never seen most of them, but they also form an elaborate framework.

ʼMonsters arenʼt supposed to be able to craft something so complicated, let alone in such a limited time frame.ʼ

Lith nodded as he read the floating runes, trying to make a sense out of them.

After moving all the Warden books in their possession inside Soluspedia, they were able to identify at least the function of the unknown arrays.

ʼTheir design is very old.ʼ Lith pondered. ʼNone of them are designed to be offensive or defensive. I can see cloaking, containment, and even amplifying arrays.

ʼThe kind which are used for a secret lab, not a fortress. I canʼt short circuit them and get rid of the monsters in one fell swoop, they are all the permanent kind. To do that Iʼd need to tamper with the mana crystals fueling them, but they are likely to be scattered all over the Broken Spine.

ʼJudging by the size of these arrays, the dungeon extends throughout the whole area. I donʼt think that even a Balor could perform such monumental work.ʼ

ʼDo you want to call for backup?ʼ Solus asked.

ʼAnd lose my loot?ʼ Lith sneered. ʼIf this really is the secret lab of an ancient mage, finders keepers. At least as long as Iʼm the only one who knows it.ʼ

Thanks to his exploration, he found several entry points to the dungeon, most of which were unguarded. Lith noticed that while the edges of the caves were rough and so was the surface of the corridors leading inside, the tunnels were smooth and flawless.

ʼTo dig through so many meters of rock with their bare hands must have taken them months!ʼ Solus was horrified noticing the claw marks and bloodstains along the exits.

ʼThe most likely hypothesis is that they must have been imprisoned here for a long time and they only recently managed to escape.

ʼThen why are they still holed up in here?ʼ Lith thought. ʼMore importantly, what the heck did they eat until they escaped? Both an orc shaman and a Balor could easily dig their way out. Why did neither of them take care of the exits?ʼ

There were far more questions than answers, but Lithʼs loot sense was tingling. An orc shaman meant another huge mana crystal, while a Balor refusing to leave could only mean that the creature was after something precious.

Balors were smart enough to collect magical items to compensate for their innate shortcomings, but like all monsters, they had no dimensional items. They couldnʼt easily transport something fragile or huge, whereas Lith had no such problem.

Lith kept his greed in check as Solusʼs words about the Abominations echoed in his head. He found a guarded entrance and unleashed a pack of undead wolves on the unfortunate goblins on duty.

They screamed and died like common goblins, without showing any sign of mutation or special abilities. Lith remained hidden in the shadows as his minions feasted on the corpses.

ʼIf those goblins are like the wargs, the Abomination inside of them should react to their deaths and call for reinforcements.ʼ Lith thought, but even after several minutes, no one appeared.

During that time, he studied the goblinsʼ clothes and equipment. They were well dressed, wearing cotton shirts, leather pants and shoes. The most intriguing thing was the coat of arms on their clothes, representing a black tower set ablaze with a golden crown on top of it.

Even their weapons, lances and bucklers, were made of good quality metal. Their master had even had them customized to a goblinʼs proportions.

Once Lith was certain that no enemy was coming his way, he sent the undead pack inside as a diversion while he entered from one of the unguarded entrances. The corridor went deep underground, leading to what was definitely not a dungeon, but rather a home.

Monsters had no use for doors, magical lights or tags to identify each room. There were even signs at every crossroad, pointing toward different zones.

ʼIf only I could read this gibberish!ʼ Lith inwardly griped after following one of them at random and finding the biggest glass workshop he had ever seen. There were vials, beakers, and many components for alchemical apparatus of every shape and size.

His anger faded after noticing they were all of the highest grade and storing some of them inside his pocket dimension.

Suddenly, the link between Lith and his minions disappeared. What worried him was that they didnʼt die fighting, someone had slaughtered them all in just a couple of seconds.

ʼUndead are hard to kill and monsters are dumb. Could they have been so unlucky to meet the shaman? If so, he could have drained the darkness element from them for an easy kill.ʼ The explanation worked, yet it wasnʼt enough to put Lithʼs paranoia at ease.

He moved toward the direction from which he had last sensed the undead wolves, checking every door on his way. Unluckily, most of them were locked and even more unluckily, not by a simple lock.

Lith had no time to crack them open one by one, not with so many enemies roaming around nor with Life Vision telling him that there was nothing inside that had a strong magical aura.