Chapter 572 - 571: Invisible Guardian

Chapter 572: Chapter 571: Invisible Guardian

"Sorry," Colin said, quickly canceling the Enlarge Person on himself and returning to his normal size.

He looked at his companions.

Kase had a few bruises from the catapult. Dorn had a bit of a nosebleed from having his brain overstimulated, and his Leather Armor had gained several new white scuff marks. The other two were basically unscathed.

These minor injuries were negligible.

"Let’s check the surrounding rooms first," Colin said. "I’m guessing they’re the soldiers’ barracks, so there probably won’t be anything special. We should mainly look for any preserved records or information."

The others agreed, and the team split up to check the rooms on both sides of the hall.

Colin went into a room on the left and took a careful look around.

Just as he’d predicted, it was a series of partitioned dormitories. Alcoves carved into the walls served as beds, and they were covered with rotted bedding.

The rooms all had a similar layout. Behind the innermost stone door on the left was a corridor with three separate rooms branching off it.

There was nothing special in these rooms, either. The floors were covered with completely rotten wood and miscellaneous debris.

The end of the hallway was blocked by collapsed stone blocks. It looked like it had once led somewhere else.

After finishing his inspection, Colin searched the Centurions’ rooms and quickly found some rolled-up lead plates.

The lead plates were densely engraved with letters that looked about seventy percent similar to those used in the modern Common Language.

"Should we take these with us?" Kase asked, looking at the lead plates.

"That won’t be necessary. Let me see what’s written on them first." As he spoke, Colin took out the Fragmented Historical Lens and looked through it at the lead plates on the floor.

Common Language letters immediately appeared on the lens, superimposing themselves over the original script.

’It can even translate writing that’s thousands of years old,’ Colin thought. ’Just what you’d expect from something made with an Aboleth’s brain.’

He read them carefully. Most of what was recorded on the lead plates were things like patrol rosters, supply requisitions, and monster sightings. There was basically nothing of any real value.

After reading them carefully, Colin spoke up. "I have some good news. The plates vaguely mention this location. I think we’re still somewhere around the Witch’s Hammer Mountain Range, but there’s a Range Magic spell in the area interfering with Sending."

"Then let’s just keep moving forward," Dorn said. "We won’t figure out what’s going on until we’ve thoroughly explored this place, at least."

"Who cares what’s going on? We gotta collect the valuables first!" Kase clamored from the side.

The group got to their feet and began taking stock of the valuable loot on the Skeletons, thoroughly searching the rooms as they went.

Before long, they’d found a great deal of rusted, ancient coins. Based on past experience, these would be quite popular with antique dealers.

In addition, the Muscle Chest Armor from the Skeleton Centurion still bore a damaged Enchantment. Donkexes wouldn’t turn down this kind of Armor, and it would definitely fetch a good price once it was refurbished.

After gathering their things, the team moved on.

Beyond the stone door in the main hall was a long corridor. The group advanced, searching the rooms on either side as they went. Most of these rooms had iron nameplates with engraved lettering by their doors.

Most of the rooms were living areas—bedrooms, a mess hall, a library, training rooms, and the like. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

The rooms were arranged in an orderly manner, mostly situated around the main corridor through which they had first entered.

Perhaps the students here had been poor, or maybe most of the coins were buried beneath the broken tables and chairs. In any case, they found far fewer valuables here than they had in the main hall.

Since this was the living quarters, there were almost no traps, and the Skeletons in this area were all completely inactive, which gave Dorn a rare chance to relax.

Additionally, some deep slash marks were carved into the walls of the rooms and hallways.

Colin guessed that the camp had been attacked at some point, and these were the marks left from the battle.

Judging from the depth of the cuts, their opponents must have been quite powerful.

Searching as they went, the group finally reached the end of the main corridor.

Here, a large door stood in complete ruin.

Beyond the door was a large, cylindrical hall. A current of water flowed in a circle around the room’s perimeter. In the center of the hall was a round, stone platform, which was completely empty.

The moment he saw the door, Colin was struck by a sudden sense of dread.

Beside him, Orelia also touched the Shield in her hand, as if she too had sensed something.

"Hold on."

As he spoke, Colin glanced at the little owl on his shoulder, then shifted his vision to see through its eyes.

The instant his vision shifted, his view brightened considerably.

At the same time, a massive creature appeared in the middle of the stone platform.

The creature was about two meters tall. Its body resembled a tangled mass of pythons, formed from countless intertwined, thigh-thick tendrils.

Colin tried to get a better look, but even through the owl’s eyes, he could only make out a hazy silhouette.

The fact that it was only visible through the owl’s eyes meant the creature was invisible.

Colin switched back to his own vision.

He slowly raised a hand, gesturing for the others to fall back. The group immediately retreated into the mess hall they had passed through earlier.

"What was that about?" Dorn asked in confusion.

"There’s something invisible lurking in that hall, but it doesn’t seem to have followed us out." After speaking, Colin described what he had seen.

Ale, standing beside him, asked tentatively, "It sounds like an Air Elemental. I think it might be an Invisible Stalker. What do you think?"

"I think so, too," Colin nodded.

Dorn scratched his bald head. "Hm? I’ve heard that some Mages summon Elemental Creatures from the Air Elemental Plane to hunt down their enemies. Those creatures can maintain a state of Invisibility at all times and can constantly track their targets. You don’t mean that’s what we’re dealing with, do you?"

Colin nodded silently.

"Sounds like a Death Deity to me," Kase said.

"The good news is that it barely uses Magic and doesn’t have any other strange abilities," Colin said.

Ale continued, "The bad news is that despite that, they’re still the number one choice for Mages who want to assassinate someone. From a pragmatic perspective, these creatures must be quite reliable."