Chapter 580 - 579: Familiar Surface

"Haven't you noticed? There are signs of a fight all over the place. I think someone must have attacked this place," Dorn said.

"Are you sure?"

"I swear on my beard."

Colin lowered his head.

Dorn was definitely an expert in this area. Besides, Colin had also felt something was off on their way here.

'But when I first passed the Murmurer's trial, the information on my Skills Panel said the Silent Sword Skill itself was developed by Elves to fight a certain type of enemy. It wouldn't be strange for a place that trains Murmurers to be attacked by that very enemy...'

While Colin was lost in thought, Dorn carefully placed the two golden candlesticks on the ground.

Then he turned and took out a ridiculously tattered book, on top of which sat a silver ring.

Colin looked up at the ring.

[Mind Shield Ring / Rare-Level Magic Ring]

[Mind Shield: When wearing this ring, all Mind Damage taken is reduced by two points. Any mind-controlling effects, such as Charm, domination, or possession, will have a harder time affecting you. Your Exemption rolls against this type of Magic increase by 4.]

The ring's general effect was to reduce the Mind Damage the wearer took and make Charm or control-type Magic less likely to succeed.

'An effect like this is actually perfect for me,' Colin thought.

He had a particularly hard time resisting an opponent's mind-control Magic; he'd even fallen prey to a simple Tier One spell like Command.

'Of course, you could say this is a weakness for every Murmurer. This ring was probably standard equipment for the ones who lived here.'

It was a good thing the Ghost hadn't been wearing this ring before the fight. Otherwise, it would have been an even tougher opponent.

Seeing Colin staring only at the ring, Dorn clapped a hand on the book beneath it and bellowed, "The main event is what's underneath, Colin."

Colin glanced at the thick, rotting book underneath. 'What kind of book could survive for thousands of years?'

He asked in surprise, "Is this that creature's Spellbook?"

"I have a feeling this is Donkexes's Spellbook. You can use those glasses of yours to check," Dorn said.

Colin quickly reached for it but, afraid of destroying the book, carefully took it from Dorn's hands. He then quickly pulled his glasses from his coin purse, sat on the ground, and began to carefully examine its contents.

He had good reason to be so excited.

Mages could learn Magic from Magic Scrolls because the scrolls contained Magic Models. Spellbooks, similarly, recorded the formulas for Casting and the Magic Models themselves.

This meant that if he could get his hands on a Mage's Spellbook, Colin could learn any spell recorded inside that was within his ability.

'So what exactly was that spell the Ghost used to nearly take down all five of us? Is it recorded in this Spellbook?'

'The cuts on my body are still aching. If I can learn that spell, this trip will have been more than worth it.'

Seeing their companion's eagerness, the others exchanged a look and stood quietly to the side, waiting for him to finish.

After flipping to the first page, Colin was fairly certain it was a Spellbook that had been treated with a Gentle Repose spell. However, due to its immense age, the Enchantment had almost completely worn off.

Due to its extreme age, many of the pages were damaged, making it impossible to decipher what was written. Furthermore, much of the content was similar to Magic Colin had already learned and wasn't particularly valuable.

Even so, Colin still found a few spells he hadn't learned.

Among them were a Cantrip, [Thunder Sword]; a Tier Four Magic, [Any Door]; and finally, a Tier Five Magic called [Steel Wind Slash].

Colin took a closer look.

He let out a sigh of relief only after confirming that [Steel Wind Slash] was the spell the Ghost had just cast.

Ale, squatting beside Colin, asked, "Did you find the one you were looking for, Colin?"

"I found it," Colin said. "Can we take a detour on the way back? I'd like to go to the nearest city to buy some Magic Materials. If possible, I'll learn this spell on the road."

He glanced around and added awkwardly, "Sorry to keep you all waiting. I'll see if I can activate this Array now and send us back up."

"Lots of Shamans are like that. We're used to it, anyway," Kase snorted.

Colin then got up and tinkered with something nearby for a moment.

A moment later, the Array inside the room lit up, beginning to emit a faint blue glow.

"The good news is that the Array here is still relatively intact, and its internal energy is stable."

The moment Colin finished speaking, the Array on the floor began to flicker like a shorting-out lightbulb. Seeing this, he scrambled into the Array.

A blink later, a dry, cold wisp of air tickled his nostrils.

When Colin opened his eyes again, the scene before him had changed back to the ruins of the Ancient Empire they had just seen.

"Why did you all disappear for a moment? Were you Teleported somewhere?" The Mage's voice came from behind them.

Colin turned to see the members of Gray Squad standing there, watching them.

He asked, "How long were we gone?"

"About a minute," the Elf replied.

"A minute? We were down there for days!" Kase shouted.

The Elf immediately shot back, "So you have to argue with everything I say, is that it? You short-lived mortal."

"He's not just trying to pick a fight this time. We really were down there for a long time," Colin said, pointing to the two golden candlesticks in Dorn's hands. "We couldn't have just conjured these out of thin air, could we?"

"Looks like you had a decent haul," the Mage said, stretching languidly. "That means our mission is complete. When do you plan on leaving, Colin?"

"We'll set out tomorrow. Down there, we..."

"Don't," the Mage interrupted before Colin could finish. "I have no desire to know any secrets from some ancient ruins. Don't you dare say another word about it to me."

"Er... all right," Colin said.

"Don't take it personally. I'm not angry with you, I'm just a cautious person," the Mage continued. "Knowing things like that does us no good. Ignorance is the wiser choice here."

"Right, don't mind him. Most Mages have a screw loose," the Elf said, then suddenly seemed to realize what they'd said. "Er... not you, of course. So, shall we head back to camp now? We could have a little victory feast."

"Don't worry about it, I'm used to how Elves talk," Colin said. "Let's head back, then."

After that, the group followed the mountain path back to the cave where they had made camp.

Gray Squad produced a remarkably well-preserved ham, apparently serious about holding their "victory feast."