Chapter 579 - 578: The Test’s Reward

Chapter 579: Chapter 578: The Test’s Reward

"Colin, my friend, don’t you go turning into one of those," Kase said, panting heavily. "If you did, you’d deal with all the enemies yourself. There’d be nothing left for the rest of us to fight."

"Let’s not joke about that. We don’t know if the Ghost from behind that stone door is going to come after us." Colin leaned on [Burning Blood], slowly getting to his feet. The wound on his thigh throbbed with a pain that made his scalp tingle.

A moment later, Ale’s [Wall of Fire] dissipated.

The fiercely burning wall of fire vanished in an instant, leaving the corridor behind it completely empty. Not even a shadow remained.

Dorn, still lying on the ground, craned his neck to look and said cheerfully, "What’s that saying again? ’Fellas, we graduated!’ I finally get why those Drow are so happy when they graduate from their Swordsmanship Academies."

Just then, Orelia came to Colin’s side and began using Divine Art to heal his wound.

In no time, the hideous gash on his thigh closed and healed.

Colin looked at her and asked, "How much divine power do you have left, Orelia?"

Orelia looked dazed for a moment, as if only half-awake, then whispered, "Not much left, Mr. Colin."

"Then we’ll stick to the plan. Let’s head back and get some sleep first," Colin said. "I don’t want to face another opponent like that one while we’re exhausted. If that happens, we’re as good as dead."

The others didn’t reply. As if by unspoken agreement, they silently got to their feet and prepared to head back.

Before they left, Dorn took a moment to gather the dust left behind by the dead Ghost, which was supposedly a material for crafting Magic Items.

Only after he was finished did the party set out.

"By the way, Ale," Colin asked, trudging onward wearily, "does what just happened mean you can cast Tier Four Magic now?"

"That’s right. That was [Wall of Fire]," said Ale. "I felt we were in real danger, so the blood in my veins started to boil, and I was suddenly able to learn that Magic."

"A Mage with an Elf soul for a tutor and a Warlock whose Casting Ability levels up whenever she gets excited... Our party certainly has a bright future ahead," Dorn quipped from the side.

"I practice controlling the elements on my own time, too."

"But I’ve only ever seen you practicing archery. Unless you don’t need sleep and you’re secretly practicing all night."

After Dorn said this, Ale lowered her head and said nothing more.

The rest of the party was in no mood to chat, either. They returned to their previous campsite in silence. In their exhausted state, no one felt like cooking a stew. They just chewed on some dry rations, hastily pitched their tents for a short rest, and then headed back to the great hall.

The hall looked exactly as they had left it.

Colin and the others cautiously approached a small door at the far end of the hall.

Beyond the door lay another corridor, lined on both sides with open doorways.

Dorn cautiously advanced, peering into the first few doorways before moving to the end of the corridor to examine the large door there.

After a long moment, he waved the others forward.

The rest of the party moved up to join him.

Colin stepped up to one of the doorways and peered inside.

The room beyond appeared to have been a rather luxurious single bedroom. Judging from the rotten debris scattered across the floor, it had probably once been furnished with a table, chairs, a bathtub, and a screen.

"I’m guessing these were the examiners’ quarters," Colin called out to the others. "There might be something valuable left inside."

"Tell me something I don’t know," Dorn said, already stepping into one of the rooms to start rummaging for loot. "There seems to be a strange Magic Array behind the door at the end of the hall. You go check it out in a bit. That’s a job for you Mages."

Colin grunted in acknowledgement. He stopped just as he was about to enter a room and instead walked to the chamber at the end of the corridor.

Just as Dorn had said, there was indeed a Magic Array in the room.

Colin took out the [Fragmented Historical Lens] and began to study the array piece by piece.

The structure of the inscriptions was similar in format to modern [Teleportation Arrays].

Of course, that might sound like a strange way to put it. After all, modern Curse Magic drew heavily from the techniques of the Ancient Empire, a fact most people either didn’t know or didn’t care about.

He wasn’t sure how long had passed before he finally figured out the Array’s function.

He breathed a sigh of relief and tucked the lens into a pouch at his waist.

When he looked up, he found the rest of the party standing nearby, watching him.

"Are you finished?" Dorn asked, his arms crossed.

"I think Colin should take a little longer," Ale said. "I’d rather not get teleported to the Nine Floors of Hell and be torn to pieces by Demons alongside a certain Dwarf."

"Oh, give me a break. You say ’Dwarf’ like it’s an insult."

"Alright, you two, stop bickering."

Colin stood up, realizing his legs were starting to go numb.

’I must have been squatting here for over ten minutes,’ he thought. ’I was so focused I didn’t even realize it.’

"This Array is safe. The destination seems to be set for the entrance where we first arrived. We just need to activate the switch and it will send us back to the Surface. What’s interesting is that there is indeed something around here blocking [Sending]..."

"Okay, as long as we know how to get out, that’s all that matters. We don’t care about wizard tricks." Kase glanced at Colin’s face, then added, "Now, do you want to hear about the valuable junk we found or not?"

At the mention of that, Colin suddenly lost all interest in discussing dry magical theory.

He urged them on, "Alright, let’s see it."

Dorn promptly produced two dust-covered golden candlesticks. Kase, for his part, brought out what looked to be an exquisite tapestry. It seemed to be woven from metallic thread and was dotted with grimy Gemstones, giving it an ancient appearance.

Ale, standing to the side, then pulled out a dozen or so silver Small Knives. From their shape, they were likely used for engraving on lead plates. Orelia, meanwhile, cheerfully presented a Small Silver Box embellished with Gold.

"You found all this?" Colin couldn’t help but grin.

"We’ll have to be careful selling this haul. Those Antique Dealers will definitely try to lowball us," Ale said. "But even so, counting the Antique Coins we found outside, I think getting over two thousand Gold Coins for everything won’t be hard at all."

She gazed at the Small Knives in her hand as she spoke, as if admiring a work of art.

"Speaking of which, Morel never actually said how much he was paying us, did he?" Colin said. "Either way, I’m already looking forward to the day we get back to Thousand Masts City. But... were there no Magic Items?"