Chapter 84 - Buried Castle (1)

A narrow tunnel that, at first glance, didn’t look interesting at all, nothing worth exploring.

"Are you absolutely sure we’re in the right place?" Arthur asked.

Leonard looked offended by the question.

"You’re doubting me? Look, I spend hours and hours of my day reading, studying, taking notes. You could say I’m a scholar, yes, that’s the word. Maybe a bit of a knowledge pervert?"

He laughed to himself. "Pervert for knowledge only, of course. And that’s exactly why you can’t doubt my research. I worked really hard to find this place."

Arthur looked at him and shook his head.

’This guy is a little nuts.’

He wasn’t the only one who thought so. Yuki, who was already the same level as Arthur and visibly bigger, starting to weigh on his shoulder, said the same thing. "This guy is seriously nuts. But nuts doesn’t mean he’s lying."

Leonard saw Yuki and his eyes went wide.

"A tamed beast? That one looks interesting too. Powerful, yes, with potential."

"You don’t have a tamed beast?" Arthur asked, turning to look at Leonard as they walked side by side through the dark tunnel.

"Nope, not for now. I focus so much on my studies that I know I’d neglect my beast, so I don’t have one. Not right now."

Yuki shook his small snake head, joining the conversation.

"I totally agree. Sometimes I need a little swim, and this jerk is always off messing around with pretty girls and never takes me to a river or a lake."

"Hey, what’s this about messing around with pretty girls?"

Arthur was scared Leonard would see him as a pervert. He shifted his eyes from Yuki to Leonard, who had a smug grin on his face.

"Enjoying life, huh, my friend?" he said, slapping Arthur on the shoulder. "That blonde with you was really pretty. With all due respect, of course."

Ignoring Leonard’s comments, and worse, having to put up with him talking nonstop, the two kept moving through the tunnel until they reached a door.

The difference between the door and the rest of the mine was obvious. The door was made of stone, but a different kind, with a slightly greenish color. There were drawings and inscriptions carved into it, unique, nothing like the ornaments people used these days.

"This is the door that takes us to where the treasure is. And the dragon. See this stone? It’s found at the bottom of the ocean, and it can withstand attacks from level 100 people! Super tough. And these drawings here were made by an artist who worked for this dragon, back on that other continent I told you about."

Leonard could talk a lot, and spout a lot of nonsense too, but the man had knowledge, that much was undeniable. When he talked about this stuff, Arthur found it interesting and paid close attention.

"Is this door special? Does it only open with Soul Artisan energy or something?" Arthur asked, running his hand over the drawings.

He remembered the other ruin where he’d found a dragon, so he figured it would work the same way. He ended up with a dumb look on his face when Leonard pulled a key out of his spatial bag.

"We open it with a key. That’s usually how doors work, you know? You just put it in the keyhole, turn it, and voilà, it’s open."

Leonard wasn’t trying to be rude with that explanation, but he sure sounded like it. Arthur just nodded and said a simple, "Got it."

The door opened as soon as the key turned. The two of them went through, and Leonard closed it behind them. The first thing they saw was a huge castle, built inside the mountain, as if the castle had been built first and the mountain had started growing around it.

It was impressive, way more than that castle Arthur had seen inside the dungeon. At the same time, it was strange to look at. Crooked, and inside a mountain, some parts of the castle had collapsed or even ended up upside down, which gave the place a bizarre look.

The human brain struggled to make sense of a place that weird.

"From what I know, the dragon is in a library somewhere deep down. I have no idea what to expect in here, to be honest with you. Let’s prepare for the worst."

Leonard pulled out another staff and held it ready to attack. They walked across a bridge. Arthur peeked down. It was so deep he couldn’t see the bottom, just an immense darkness, an abyss that led to the underworld.

He got too close to the edge, and under his weight it started to tremble slightly, a few small rocks falling into the abyss. Arthur quickly stepped away from the edge, and moments later, the section where he’d been standing gave way and fell into the dark.

"Wow, that was close. Did you know that stone can hold up to 10 times your weight? Maybe the years and lack of maintenance made it give out. They say this castle was built over 2,000 years ago."

Arthur gave him a serious look.

"I almost fell to my death and you’re talking about how much weight the stone slab could hold?"

"My bad. I zone out sometimes. Let’s keep going..."

They crossed the bridge, then the gate, and finally reached the castle door. The castle was tall, surrounded by several towers and a wall. Arthur kept wondering what the hell was holding the castle up so it didn’t fall into the abyss.

In front of the door, they spotted the first creatures. Two gargoyles, standing on either side of the entrance. Leonard put a hand in front of Arthur’s chest, telling him to stop walking.

"See those gargoyles? Usually they’re just decorations to make the place look nice, but against intruders, they turn into guardians. If we get close, they’ll probably come to life and attack us."

This time the information didn’t shock Arthur at all. It was obvious the gargoyles were enemies, the classic monster you’d find in castles like this.

Leonard, staff in hand, began channeling a fireball, aiming at one of the gargoyles. Arthur took out his bow, activated his Stealth to boost his damage by 100%, and channeled his Sniping Shot toward the same gargoyle Leonard was targeting.

"You turn invisible? Cool, cool. Did you donate an item for that skill?"

"Yes," Arthur said curtly, focused on his attack.

They both hit the same gargoyle.

[1,122 damage dealt]

That was the damage Arthur dealt. After all, the gargoyle was a higher level than him, probably close to level 35.

Leonard’s damage, on the other hand, was sky high with that staff. The fireball hit the gargoyle and blew it apart instantly. The blast also caught the gargoyle next to it, dealing area damage.

[Leonard dealt 5,600 damage]

[Leonard dealt 4,100 damage]

The second gargoyle took less damage and stayed alive. It opened its mouth and let out a deafening screech, then charged at them.

At the same time, 10 more gargoyles leaped off the castle roof, landing in front of the main door.

"Were you expecting this, knowledge pervert?" Arthur asked, his hand sweating cold.

"Yeah, this part didn’t make it into my calculations..."