Chapter 291
Opening the chest, he found a blue crystal orb and an insignia of a design he had never seen before.
"What is this?"
Zeke examined the insignia first.
The entrance to the dungeon had been marked with an insignia symbolizing the sun, but the one inside the chest had a different design.
'Is this... the moon?'
An insignia of the moon, not the sun, was inside the chest.
Zeke used his Dragon's Eye to view the information on the moon insignia.
[Failed to retrieve information.]
'The System can't find any information on it? What is this thing?'
Looking at the moon insignia, Zeke speculated that it might be related to Theia, the Goddess of the Moon.
'The temple of the Goddess Theia was said to be in Rome. I might be able to find something if I go there.'
Zeke stored the moon insignia and then looked at the information for the blue crystal orb.
Information: Ten Thousand Year Ice Crystal
Description: The very essence of cold, formed from the gathering of chilled energy over ten thousand years.
Unique Ability: Undetermined.
Special Note: Currently in an inactive state.
"A Ten Thousand Year Ice Crystal? I've never seen anything like this."
Since it was still inactive, its unique ability hadn't been revealed. For now, Zeke placed the Ice Crystal into his inventory.
He then took out and opened the Special Random Box he had received as a reward for defeating the Queen of Snow.
Inside the box was a black cloak that gave off a faint glow.
Information: Cloak
Description: A cloak that can block all forms of cold and heat, and can also defend against the attacks of bladed weapons.
Unique Abilities: Impervious to Cold and Heat, Impervious to Blades.
Special Note: Highly flexible. The property of the Wise Knight, Jerome Lloyd.
Zeke was surprised when he read the cloak's information.
'The Wise Knight, Jerome Lloyd? He's one of the Knights of the Clock Tower.'
Jerome, one of the Hero-King's twelve knights, was known for the wise counsel that greatly aided in the founding of the Chronos Kingdom.
Zeke smiled with satisfaction as he looked at Jerome's cloak.
"It can block attacks and negate both cold and heat. This will be incredibly useful."
Pleased, Zeke tried on Jerome's cloak. It fit his body perfectly, was comfortable to wear, and he liked how it maintained an appropriate temperature. With the added ability of being impervious to blades, it seemed more than sufficient for defense.
After checking all the item information, Zeke spoke to Richmond.
"Richmond, see if you can find any other paths around here."
Richmond had become an expert at finding paths while exploring the natural labyrinth of Hoshigar's Laboratory. He nodded, took out his staff, and after waving it around, pointed toward the back.
"I sense something in this direction, Master!"
Richmond was pointing to a place where snow and ice were piled high.
Zeke conjured a flame, melting the snow and ice in an instant. As his proficiency with the Elemental Sword grew, Zeke had gained a certain degree of control over his power.
Drip, drip!
As the piled-up snow and ice melted, a hidden door was revealed behind it.
Zeke approached it and, once again using the System to enable manual operation, he opened the door.
Inside, another long corridor stretched out before them.
'It seems the Archmage's laboratory is in this direction.'
Having come this far, he couldn't just leave without seeing the Archmage's laboratory. Besides, now that he had found and opened the door, Zeke had to get the Archmage's legacy before the Nirvana faction could explore the area.
Without hesitation, he led Richmond down the corridor.
Unlike the previous area, there was no chill in the air. Looking around with a curious expression, Zeke noticed pools of water all over the corridor.
'Is it because I defeated the Queen of Snow?'
It seemed that with the sealed Queen of Snow gone, the ice-attribute monsters that had resided here had vanished along with her.
Just then, Richmond spoke to Zeke.
"Master, speaking of which, about that ancient relic I mentioned before."
"An ancient relic? What are you talking about?"
"Huh? I told you about it then, didn't I? I said I found a strange ancient relic in the Undead Labyrinth."
It seemed the ancient relic was what Richmond had been rambling on about when Zeke had cut off the message.
He nodded as if he knew all along.
"Ah, you mean that. Right, the ancient relic. What about it?"
"It seems the undead may have been created because of that ancient relic."
Zeke tilted his head at Richmond's words.
"The undead were created by an ancient relic? What does that mean?"
"I can't be certain since it's the first time I've ever seen it, but the aura emanating from it didn't feel like that of a normal artifact."
"Hmm, an artifact that creates natural undead. Do you have it with you now?"
Richmond shook his head vigorously.
"O-Of course not! If I were to carelessly touch such a relic, my soul could be instantly extinguished, you know!"
Zeke nodded at Richmond's words. The best course of action was not to touch things that seemed dangerous.
This was Richmond, wiser than Hades who had been foolishly sealed for three thousand years after carelessly touching an ancient ruin.
"And did you confirm what form the ancient relic has?"
At Zeke's question, Richmond pondered for a moment.
"It was buried in the ground and its aura was so strong that I couldn't get a close look, but… at a glance, it looked similar to a censer, Master."
"A censer, you say. It's more likely to be a ritual tool than a typical artifact."
The power dwelling in ancient ritual tools or relics containing slumbering spirits was often stronger than that of enchanted artifacts. The problem was that such relics were difficult to control and had a tendency to consume or manipulate their users.
Zeke praised Richmond.
"Mages are usually driven by curiosity and rush in headfirst. The fact that you didn't try to carelessly dig that up was an excellent decision."
"Hehe, there's a reason I've survived for 500 years, Master. Even that crown I gave you back then, I held onto it only after running all sorts of tests to make sure it was safe."
"Come to think of it, you did give me the Crown of Lubern when we first met. Where did you get that, anyway?"
"You know the dungeon I was staying in? When I first discovered it, there were traces of people having been there. As I lived there, I found a cleverly hidden secret area. When I opened it, the crown was inside."
"A secret area..."
Zeke surmised that the dungeon Richmond had stayed in was likely a refuge for the Lubern bloodline.
'It's possible my mother's Dawn Society created such shelters in various places to save the members of the Lubern bloodline.'
Zeke decided that once things in Aten were settled, he would go to Varanaon and take a look at the censer Richmond had mentioned.
As he was organizing his plans while walking down the corridor, Zeke sensed magical energy up ahead.
Richmond, having sensed something as well, said to Zeke,
"Master, this is a Nirvana-style boundary magic circle."
"It seems the Archmage's laboratory is in this direction."
Zeke deployed his Mana Sealing Technique and broke through the boundary magic circle.
Vwoooong!
Inside the magic circle was a wide, open cavern.
Surprisingly, dozens of golems were huddled against one of the cavern walls.
Richmond approached the golems in amazement.
"Wow! Master, look at this! There are so many golems. But they look a little different, don't they?"
At Richmond's words, Zeke also went closer to inspect them and saw that, just as he'd said, the golems were different from the usual kind.
"They have a strange shape. These look like they're made for digging."
Richmond's eyes sparkled.
"Master, I think these are dungeon exploration golems."
"Dungeon exploration golems? Such things exist?"
"These golems move on their own to dig soil and clear away rocks."
"Using expensive golems for such a task. That's hard to believe."
"Wouldn't it be possible for Nirvana?"
Zeke nodded in agreement at Richmond's words. On second thought, there were quite a few advantages to having golems explore a dungeon.
'It would certainly be more efficient than using laborers. And there's no risk of casualties.'
While undead could produce a similar effect, they had the disadvantage of constantly consuming mana.
Zeke left Richmond to examine the construction golems and approached the laboratory door. As expected, it was protected by a defense magic circle. Security was crucial for a mage's laboratory; tampering with it carelessly could cause the entire lab to explode.
"Richmond! Come over here and disarm this."
Richmond scurried over and examined the security magic circle on the laboratory door.
"Can you open it?"
"I'm an expert at this sort of thing, Master. In the old days, when I was short on experiment materials, I used to bypass the security magic on the warehouse and secretly swipe things."
"How very trustworthy. Now, hurry up and open it."
Richmond examined the magic circle on the door from various angles, then sent his mana into it, disabling the circle.
Vwoooong!
As the magic circle was disarmed, the glowing patterns on the surface of the laboratory door vanished.
"Phew, it's done."
"Excellent work, Richmond."
Zeke found himself trusting Richmond a little more than before.
He opened the door and stepped into the laboratory. For a room that had been locked for so long, it was quite pleasant and not at all dusty. At the same time, it felt rather ordinary for an Archmage's laboratory. There wasn't much equipment, and the number of books on the shelves felt small.
'Tidy for a mage.'
It seemed the owner of the lab, the Archmage, was a tidy mage—a creature as rare as a knight with no competitive spirit.
Just then, Richmond let out a shocked cry, having discovered something.
"M-Master, that!"
Zeke looked in the direction Richmond was pointing and was stunned to see a mummy in a robe lying in a corner of the laboratory.
Warily, Zeke approached the mummy.
Upon inspection, it looked as though the mummy had died while writing something at the desk before collapsing onto the floor.
Zeke examined the mummy's condition.
'He's clutching his heart. Did he die of a heart attack?'
He examined the journal left on the desk.
<...With the last ingredient I finally obtained from the druids, I was able to complete the Elixir. However... only after its completion did I realize. The Elixir cannot cure my disease. The Elixir is an essential ingredient needed to create the Philosopher's Stone. With a Philosopher's Stone, it might be possible to reconstruct my old and diseased body. But for that, my time has already...>
The journal entry ended there.
Zeke looked at the fallen mage and shook his head.
'He made the same mistake as Michel. He went to the druids to get ingredients for the Elixir. So that's why Michel thought the Elixir was here.'
Zeke read through the mage's journal from the beginning. As he looked through it, he found a few pieces of information that were different from what Michel had said.
First, the deceased mage was not a 9-Circle Archmage, but a 7-Circle Mage.
He was a Sorcerer who used ice-based magic and had stumbled upon this dungeon by chance, sensing an unusual cold energy leaking from it. He settled here to conduct his research. Through his continued research in this place, he was able to complete 8-Circle magic.
'I think I read something similar in a newsletter from my past life.'
Since Zeke wasn't a mage, he didn't know the specifics of the magic, only remembering that the dungeon of a high-circle mage had been discovered.
He continued reading the journal.
The deceased mage, on the verge of becoming an 8-Circle Master, had noticed something wrong with his body. He tried to treat it, but the disease had already progressed too far for anything to be done.
He searched far and wide for a cure but failed every time. He even sought treatment from the Lubern bloodline, but the illness did not improve.
'A general healing spell wouldn't have been able to cure the disease.'
In the end, he decided to find a solution befitting a mage. He would create the legendary panacea, the Elixir, and cure himself.
With the tenacity expected of a Nirvana mage, he researched obsessively and succeeded in creating the Elixir, but immediately after, he realized the potion could not cure his body.
With a look of pity, Zeke tore his eyes from the journal. He scanned the surroundings and found a box on the desk. Opening it, he found two sealed bottles inside.
Zeke checked the bottles with his Dragon's Eye.
-Information: Elixir
A rare reagent that has the effect of making non-reactive substances harmonize with each other.
It was the Elixir, just as he had expected.
"To think he made two of this precious reagent. He must have been a talented alchemist as well."
Zeke stored the Elixirs in his inventory.
Scanning the desk further, he found a grimoire containing the ice magic left behind by the mage.
'8-Circle ice-attribute magic must be quite rare. I should take this for now.'
Besides that, there were quite a few other artifacts the mage had left behind.
After putting everything into his inventory, Zeke noticed a staff hanging on the wall, which seemed to be the one the mage normally used. The staff, embedded with a blue jewel, looked to be a considerably valuable artifact.
Zeke pointed to the staff and asked Richmond,
"Richmond, could you use this staff to cast ice magic?"
Richmond shook his head.
"I'm a Necromancer, so I can't use elemental magic, Master."
Zeke's face fell with disappointment at Richmond's answer. None of the mages under his command could use ice-based magic.
Just then, a thought popped into Zeke's head.
He looked at the mage's mummy and then said to Richmond,
"Richmond. By any chance... could you turn this man into an undead?"