Chapter 569 - 568: The Teaching Institution

Chapter 569: Chapter 568: The Teaching Institution

After a day of rest, Gray Squad led Colin and the others up the mountain ridge early the next morning. It took them just over ten minutes to reach the site of the Ancient Empire ruins.

Colin gazed at the Ancient Empire ruins before him.

The ruins were situated at the bottom of a valley, appearing as nothing more than an Ordinary, circular stone platform. It was bare of any Arrays, text, or patterns—nothing worth a second glance.

The stone bricks composing the platform were severely weathered by the ages, covered in cracks and loose stones.

"This is the place." The Mage took out his pipe again. "To be honest, I don’t think there’s anything special here. No Magic Radiance, no Construct Devices, no items, objects, or creatures of any note."

He created a small flame at his fingertip, lighting the tobacco in his pipe.

After taking a deep drag from his pipe and exhaling a puff of white smoke, he said, "But I hear you people can find something different here. So, please, be my guest."

Colin nodded and walked toward the center of the stone platform.

The others saw this and followed suit, with both squads stepping onto the platform together.

However, even after they were standing in the middle of the platform, nothing happened. The surroundings remained as quiet as ever.

Colin tilted his head to look at the little owl on his shoulder.

The little creature was the same as ever, showing no reaction whatsoever. It just stared with its big eyes, looking left and right like a little fool.

As he thought this, a wave of indignation and hurt washed over him, an emotion that must have come from the little owl.

’Er, fine, you’re not a fool.’

Colin thought to himself, then felt it was a bit strange for a Mage to be apologizing to his own Familiar.

Finally, he added in his mind, ’Can you sense anything strange? Nod if you can, blink if you can’t.’

The little owl promptly blinked.

’Fine, I guess I’m on my own now.’

Colin recalled his discovery back in the Undercity ruins; he figured these ruins might also require him to enter his Sword Dance to be activated.

But before that...

Colin pulled the Fragmented Historical Lens from his coin purse and looked down at the ruins. As he focused, a line of small text slowly materialized on the lens.

"This site is a ruin of the Ancient Empire, a result of the collaboration between some Imperial People and the Elves. It appears to be a facility for training Murmurers."

Colin then repeated the words from the lens to his companions.

"So it’s a training ground?" Kase looked around. "Doesn’t it even have a roof to keep out the rain?"

"Perhaps the walls collapsed over time, or rockslides from the ridge buried the structure itself. We might be standing on the roof right now," Ale said, carefully observing her surroundings.

"I remember last time, in the Elf ruins in the Undercity, there was no reaction at first either. It wasn’t until I entered my Sword Dance that something strange happened," Colin said, drawing Burning Blood from his hip.

"Get ready. I’m starting now."

With a flicker of intent, Colin instantly entered his Sword Dance.

’Since this is a training ground, this shouldn’t be dangerous,’ he thought. ’No sane person would place lethal traps in a training facility, right?’

The moment he entered his Sword Dance, he clearly felt the hilt in his hand begin to vibrate faintly. At the same time, a vibration with a similar rhythm pulsed up from the ground beneath his feet.

"It’s really happening. Let’s hope nothing goes..."

Dorn’s voice reached his ears.

Just then, Colin blinked involuntarily. When he opened his eyes again, the scene before him had transformed into a world of black, white, and gray—the view afforded by Darkvision.

"...wrong?"

Only then did the last word of Dorn’s sentence reach his ears.

Colin turned his head to look.

Through the Night Vision Lens of his Helmet, he could see his teammates were still around him, but the members of Gray Squad had not been Teleported along with them.

The group looked around in confusion.

The scene before their eyes was no longer the stone platform in the valley, but a room constructed from stone bricks.

It was pitch-black all around, without a single trace of light.

Directly in front of the squad was the entrance to a descending staircase. In every other direction were cold, hard walls. There were no doors or windows, not even a tiny hole.

Kase took the Battle Axe from his back and snorted. "Knew it would be something like this. No big surprise. Let the monsters in here bring it on!"

"Keep your voice down!" Dorn quickly smacked the other man’s arm.

"We don’t even know if there are monsters here yet. Didn’t I just tell you? This place seems to be some kind of training ground," Colin said.

He then opened his Spellbook and began to cast Sending, targeting the Mage from Gray Squad.

But the moment the Magic completed, the Magic Radiance surrounding the Spellbook began to tremble violently. Then, with a soft PUFF, it shattered into countless motes of light and dissipated into the air.

"My Sending spell... seems to have failed." Colin frowned, gently closing the Spellbook in his hands.

This was a very serious situation.

The Sending spell had only a five percent chance of failure even when transmitting messages across planes. For the Magic to fail now meant one thing, at the very least: they were definitely not in their original world anymore.

"That means we can’t contact the outside world, right?" Dorn asked.

The moment he finished speaking, an uneasy atmosphere began to spread.

Being Teleported by an ancient Magic to a place with no connection to the outside world... anyone would be distraught in such a situation.

Dorn glanced at Colin’s face, then nudged his arm. "Don’t look like that. We followed you here willingly. Don’t feel like you’ve dragged us down with you."

Standing nearby, Ale nodded. "I feel the same way."

"Just like our trip to the Endless Wilderness," Orelia added with a smile.

"Enough of all this. We’re heading down the stairs next, right?" Kase grumbled from the side.

His thoughts seen through, Colin smiled and said, "Alright, let’s get moving then."

"Stay behind me. Our exploration of this Dungeon officially starts now."

As Dorn spoke, Colin drew the Dagger from his belt. Orelia saw this and, with unspoken understanding, stepped forward to cast Light on the blade.

As the Divine Art took hold, a dim yellow glow illuminated their surroundings.

"Time is flowing normally," Dorn said, glancing at his pocket watch. He then took out a small packet of Wind-Ear Powder and poured some into each of his ears.

The powder’s effect was just as its name suggested. Although it had no Magic Radiance, it did indeed enhance a person’s hearing.

"Alright, let’s move out. We’ll keep the same pace we used in the Undercity," Dorn said, leading the others down the spiral staircase.