Chapter 120: The power of the Origin 1

“Yes.”

At the sound of the voice from within, Joko could not help trembling slightly. She answered in a meek, submissive tone, then lowered Kent and Daphne to the ground and began leading them slowly toward the castle.

The closer they came to the castle, the more intensely Kent felt an invisible pressure bearing down upon his soul. It was as though he were standing naked beneath the blazing sun, with nowhere to hide and not a single secret left concealed.

Suppressing his growing unease, Kent began examining the castle’s architecture.

The cavern surrounding the castle was still illuminated by a soft glow. As he glanced around, however, he could not help sighing inwardly at the sheer waste of the precious gemstones scattered throughout the place.

The entire floor was paved with enormous slabs of obsidian, a material renowned for its ability to obstruct mental power, its exceptional resistance to magic, and its extraordinary hardness.

And these were no ordinary pieces of obsidian. Massive slabs had been laid flat across the ground, covering the floor as though the material were nothing more than common paving stone.

What kind of wealth and power would it take to accomplish something like this?

Even in the world above, obsidian was an exceedingly precious building material. The entire Mage Guild was constructed from it, while only a handful of the most important buildings within the imperial palace incorporated obsidian into their architecture.

The reason was simple. Obsidian was incredibly hard and difficult to work with. Shaping and polishing it into suitable building materials required enormous effort and expense. Using it to pave an entire floor would cost a fortune.

But then Kent reconsidered.

What did money even mean in a place like this?

He could hardly imagine how many tormented souls had been sacrificed to create such a place.

While his thoughts wandered, Joko had already led him closer to the castle. Seeing the enormous structure from such a short distance was an overwhelming experience. It inspired nothing but awe.

“Refined iron?”

As Kent approached the castle, he examined its dull gray walls. The color was not quite like that of ordinary stone. Instead, the surface was marked with scattered yellowish-brown spots.

Rust.

The realization struck him, and he could not help exclaiming in astonishment.

“Move along! So what if it’s refined iron?” Joko snapped, turning to glare at him in annoyance.

Yet despite her harsh words, a trace of fear could be seen on her pale face.

Ever since Kent had first encountered her, he had rarely seen her display any emotion at all. If even someone like Joko was frightened, then the being who dwelled within this castle must be...

Kent did not dare pursue the thought.

Hearing his exclamation, Daphne examined the walls as well before exchanging a glance with Kent. Both wore expressions of astonishment.

Refined iron was no ordinary material. Producing it required repeated hammering and purification, and even a skilled dwarven blacksmith could produce no more than fifteen kilograms in a single day.

And that was only the beginning. Melting such quantities of refined iron and casting them into the walls of an enormous castle would require an engineering effort on an almost unimaginable scale.

Just how much refined iron had been used to construct this place?

For reference, the lowest grade of iron was black iron, which was black in color. Refined iron was gray-white, while fine steel possessed a silvery-white sheen.

Once they entered the castle, Kent and Daphne were even more astonished.

Countless gemstones had been embedded in the walls, filling the interior with brilliant light. Most were low-grade magical gemstones, but even so, their sheer number was staggering.

There were green magic stones that enhanced perception, toughening stones that increased stamina, healing stones that amplified the effects of healing magic, and many other varieties besides.

Kent could hardly keep his eyes off them.

If he could get his hands on even a fraction of these treasures, it would be an incredible windfall.

Unfortunately, the gemstones lining the walls were all low-grade varieties. In this world, low-grade gemstones were essentially considered inferior-quality stones, while those of superior quality were classified as high-grade gemstones.

Joko, however, showed no intention of taking them upstairs into the castle.

Instead, she led Kent and Daphne toward a winding stone staircase that descended into the depths below.

The stairs spiraled steadily downward, leading them into the mysterious underground levels beneath the castle.

“Good grief! There are so many magical traps here!”

Walking behind Joko with Daphne, Kent could not help exclaiming in astonishment as he watched the countless magic arrays lining the stone staircase. Every so often, faint flashes of magical light flickered across their surfaces.

Magic arrays required extremely rare and precious materials to construct. Yet in the several hundred meters of passageway they had already traversed, Kent had sensed no fewer than dozens of them—or rather, he had noticed their presence only indirectly. His own senses were nowhere near sharp enough to detect the arrays themselves. It was only when a magical glow occasionally flickered across the walls that he realized they were there.

Fortunately, the traps were currently deactivated. The brief flashes of light were merely the residual glow of their dormant magic. Had they been active, Kent could hardly imagine how many times he would already have died along the way.

What puzzled him, however, was Joko’s behavior. Ever since they had entered the cavern, the Phantom Wraith had been unusually obedient, behaving almost like a mindless puppet. She had not so much as dared to put on airs.

Even stranger, Kent had not seen a single guard anywhere inside the castle.

But after taking another look at the countless magical traps surrounding them, he could not help giving a wry smile.

With so many traps protecting the place, why would anyone need guards? Besides, if even a powerful Phantom Wraith like Joko was terrified of the being who dwelled here, what kind of guard could possibly be of any use?

“Go inside on your own. You’ll be told what to do once you’re in there.”

Joko led Kent and Daphne to the entrance of a passageway, tossed out those words, and immediately turned to leave.

She departed at a remarkably swift pace, as though she could not wait to get away from the place.

Kent and Daphne exchanged a glance.

At first, Kent had intended to seize the opportunity to slip away quietly. But the moment Joko left, the magical traps along the staircase leading back up suddenly began emitting dazzling flashes of multicolored light.

It was the unmistakable sign that the traps were activating.

The staircase behind them soon looked much as it had before, but Kent knew better than to test his luck by venturing back up there.

He had no choice but to remain where he was, staring into the pitch-black passageway ahead.

“Keep moving. Do not stop.”

The sudden voice startled both Kent and Daphne. Daphne immediately tightened her arms around Kent, clinging to him in fright.

Kent, meanwhile, felt a bone-chilling sensation sweep across his body. Goosebumps rose all over his skin.

His heart sank.

A tremendously powerful wave of mental energy had just swept over him.

Under the force of that immense psychic presence, Kent felt as though his own mental power were nothing more than a tiny boat tossed about on a raging sea, struggling helplessly against the towering waves.

Fortunately, the overwhelming pressure passed almost as soon as it had arrived.

Even so, Kent was already drenched in cold sweat.

Daphne, however, seemed to have felt nothing at all.

The reason was simple: Kent was a mage, and his mental power was far greater than Daphne’s. He was already a Level Three mage, which allowed him to sense the terrifying force that had just passed over them. Daphne’s level, by contrast, was simply too low for her to perceive it.

It was rather like the difference between a young boy and an infant when confronted by an armed criminal pointing a gun at them. The boy would be terrified, fully aware of the danger, while the infant might not even understand what was happening and could conceivably try to bite the gunman.

Daphne’s strength was simply too limited for her to comprehend the full extent of the threat.

Kent, on the other hand, was already regretting his decision to take part in this damned trial.

If only he had known that it would lead him into so much trouble, he would never have come here in the first place!

As he continued walking forward, Kent grumbled inwardly to himself.

Originally, he had planned to use his silver tongue to coax a few details out of the mysterious being everyone called the old fellow. If he could learn something about the creature’s identity and strength, he might at least have a better idea of what he was dealing with.

But after experiencing that terrifying sweep of mental energy, Kent had lost all desire to try his luck.

What if the old fellow had a bad temper? A single Psychic Shock from such a being might be enough to reduce him to a complete idiot.

The old saying that knowing yourself and your enemy ensures victory in a hundred battles did not seem particularly applicable in this world.

Here, the one with the biggest fist made the rules.

After thinking it over, Kent decided that keeping his mouth shut was by far the wisest course of action.

Of course, if he could simply make a clean getaway, he would not hesitate for a second to do so.

Unfortunately, escaping was easier said than done.