It was almost akin to a magical experience. The cold fresh wind from outside was suddenly replaced with warm humidity.
But not only was the humidity changed, but the entire surroundings changed into a hall of a dark castle. Ancient torches burned bright, brightening the space.
" Whoaaa, is this teleportation?" Rowan was stunned as he surveyed his surroundings. His grip on his gun became more sturdy.
Spencer's nose twitched as he saw the three pathways before him, each darkened and the same as the other two.
" It looks like someone came before us." Spencer spoke in a low voice. " I can smell blood."
Picking one path, Spencer walked before Rowan. " Stay near me, young master. I really feel we shouldn't be here, but… At least I can protect you here."
" Look there!"
Barely had they gone a hundred meters in the passage, Rowan shouted. Spencer and Rowan looked and saw there were three corpses on the the floor lying cold.
But the thing was, they weren't human corpses.
" Those look like goblins." Rowan was stunned. How could a modern person who stayed on the internet for years can't recognize the most common RPG monster?
" Someone must have killed them. They all died from dagger wounds. Swift and precise movements, like an assassin." Spencer squatted down as he saw the green blood oozing from the wound.
" Look, that person even cut their ears." Rowan pointed out. Spencer nodded, " I have heard that materials from strange monsters can be used to craft various things. Maybe that person knows about it?"
" But, I guess I found one usable thing."
Besides the goblins lay three crude weapons. Spencer picked the rusty looking sword without any hesitation.
" Haah, I should have brought mine with me." Spencer sighed. " I guess this will work for now."
" Young Master, should we still go forward?"
Rowan almost laughed when he heard Spencer's question. " It's even better to go forward now. After all, we got a fellow benefactor clearing our way for us."
Spencer's eyes shone with understanding as he couldn't help but throw a thumbs up to Rowan. " Aha, I really forgot about it. Young Master is sharp."
" Now, let's go."
As they followed, Rowan realized there were many traps and monsters hidden in the passage. However, now the traps are used and the monsters are dead. Almost all corpses were from goblins the size of a tweleve year old child.
Soon enough, they reached another hall, more spacious and tidy compared to the others. When Rowan looked around, he saw that their path was the only entrance to this hall.
' Does that mean the other two paths might be the real traps?' Rowan's mind raced as he surveyed the hall.
The hall was filled with five murals, each of which depicted a warrior holding a weapon. Five murals held five weapons: sword, bow, spear, mace, and dagger.
As Rowan has already gotten the achievement of
His eyes were inspecting the room rather than rushing forward. Suddenly, he found an unkempt stone slab lying in the corner. With a thought, he walked towards the slab and rubbed it clean. Rowan's finger could trace some engravings on it.
" Young Master, you found something?"
Rowan nodded, " Looks like something is written here."
Spencer was surprised as he also saw it, " But what kind of language is it? I have never seen it."
" This… I think I can understand a bit."
Rowan used his "Myriad Treasure Appraisal> skill as he tried to understand the slab. However, to his surprise, although he managed to learn a lot about the stone slab, he could only understand a fraction of what was written.
" Secrets…Murals…Pathways…"
Rowan got up as he looked back at the murals. " I think this means that there is some secret in those murals."
Spencer and Rowan looked at the murals intently. However, other than the difference of weapons, nothing was different among them.
Walking up, Rowan touched the murals one by one. With his skills, appraising the murals was an easy task.
But when Rowan touched the mural that held the bow, his brows furrowed. ' Although it look same, the stone which is used to carve is different than other four.'
' Not to mention, the other four murals felt dense, but this one is… it seems a bit hollow inside?'
Suddenly, Rowan realized that the bow in the mural's hand was detachable. With a swift motion, he took out the stone bow. But then, nothing happened.
" Strange, I think this mural is the key here. But what is it that we are missing?" Rowan muttered.
" Young Master, I think I know it." Spencer's eyes became deep as he walked towards the mural. In the mural's hand, he placed the sword he got from the goblin.
*KRRRRRRR*
It sounded like someone was dragging a stone on the ground. Slowly, with a gritting noise, a small path appeared before them.
" Did you notice, Young Master? The goblins we encountered had all four types of weapons depicted on the mural." Spencer explained. " However, they didn't use a bow, did they?"
Rowan's eyes shone when he heard such clever reasoning." Uncle Spencer, you are really smart!"
" Hehe, let's go inside, Young Master."
[ Ding! User has uncovered a mystery using his knowledge of words. Achievement
[ Ding! User gets
[Language Proficiency: With this, one can instantly be proficient in every language. Time and effort learning a new language decreases drastically. Skill works better when it's used with other similar skills]
A gleeful smile flashed on Rowan's face as he saw the status window pop. Soon enough, they reached a stone door. Spencer placed his palm on the door as he pushed it.
*GRRRKKKK*
As the stone door slowly opened, a flash of golden light stunned both of them.
" Ho-Holy shit!"
Both Rowan and Spencer were stunned when they saw the room. It was filled with a small heap of gold, along with a weapon rack and a chest.
" Is this some hidden room or something?" Rowan mumbled as he stepped forward. Squatting down before the gold, he picked a handful of coins.
*CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!*
" Ahhh, the sound of clashing gold." Rowan couldn't help but giggle like a kid. Spencer moved towards the weapon rack as he touched the swords.
" Now this is a decent weapon, on par with mine."
Spencer pulled out a long sword tapered forward, shining bright like polished silver. The hilt was wrapped with leather, giving it a perfect grip.
" Look at this."
Rather than going to the chest, Rowan's eyes fell on the wall, where a set of instructions was written. However, with his new skill, Rowan can read it completely.
" With this, the mechanism should be at…"
His fingers traced across the wall till they stopped at a particular brick.
*KRRRRKKK*
Spencer was speechless when he saw another door opening. " Young Master, how many secret doors are you going to open?"
Rowan shrugged. " I didn't make them, did I?"
Holding his new sword, Spencer and Rowan walked into the new passage.
Suddenly, Spencer's eyes narrowed as he held Rowan. " Something…Something up there."
Rowan and Spencer saw a bright hall outside the passage, with a single throne in the middle. On the throne sat a goblin, tall as an average man.
However, what the goblin held wasn't any weapon, but a wooden staff with a gem embedded on top. With eyes closed and a lack of movement, the goblin appeared to be sleeping.
" That thing…That must be the boss or something?" Rowan guessed. " But it's sleeping, which means it's unaware of our presence."
" Uncle Spencer, what do you think? Can you take it out?"
Spencer grinned as his eyes flickered with a murderous light.
" Fighting might be troublesome, but sneak attacking? I am sure I can do that."