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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Two Hundred Seventy-Three:
Before he had the chance to further explore the ruins, he had already weakened to a certain extent.
Thus, he had no choice but to return to the place he had left initially, planning to recuperate while seeking a solution.
Fortunately, after just a few decades, Freya unexpectedly appeared before him, bringing him a glimmer of hope.
Moreover, Freya speculated that the staff Glenor had her retrieve was likely an incredibly precious item for him.
However, an item that would be highly valued by at least a Fourth-Level Wizard was probably beyond her understanding.
Freya replaced the stopper back into the Test Tube and murmured to herself.
"Aside from the harsh environment within the Saharul Volcano Ruins, there are many bizarre and dangerous traps or creatures. Fortunately, most of them have been destroyed by Glenor. I believe as long as I follow the route in his memory, I shouldn't encounter any issues. Perhaps I might even find some valuable items in those ruins."
In Glenor's memory, although he had scavenged most of the Cursed Items while exploring the ruins and found the most important database, he had not obtained much from that database due to the alien creature and had directly made a wise choice to escape after being injured.
Thus, nothing from that precious database had been touched by anyone.
If Freya still didn't understand what to do in this situation, then her age combined with her current experience would have been for naught.
"Besides preparing fire element resistance items, I also need to gather some supplies. A place where even an Archmage of at least level four nearly fell is dangerous. Even if that creature has been released, there may still be other unknown threats inside. Fortunately, their current supply depot should be mostly open to me."
Having spent so much time in the Rune Department of Cloud City, she had learned quite a bit about runes. However, due to time constraints and the precious nature of Rune Type resources, she had not been able to put her knowledge into practice.
This opportunity was perfect for her to conduct some practical experiments; she believed Glenor's resource reserves would not mind.
...
Three months later.
In a vast forest, a silver carriage was slowly making its way along a forest path.
The silver paint of the carriage had a metallic sheen, and it was pulled by two White Steeds, which were much taller than ordinary warhorses.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice that the bodies of these horses were not covered in fur but rather composed of fine scales.
The occasional sunlight filtering through the trees reflected a faint glow.
Sitting upright in the carriage, Freya was using a slender knife to engrave a piece of snow-white stone.
Each time she touched the stone with the knife, it emitted a subtle white light, and Freya's expression was particularly serious, even more so than when she had carved the Rune Tower.
As time passed, intricate patterns of runes began to cover the surface of the snow-white stone, radiating a strong energy aura under Freya's focused attention.
"Ding!"
When Freya completed her final stroke, a crisp sound suddenly emanated from the stone, and the energy aura that had been radiating surged violently.
Feeling this aura, Freya calmly extended a finger and gently tapped the center of the stone.
Immediately, the overwhelming energy aura emitted by the stone began to be gathered and compressed until it finally settled down completely.
"Finally finished!"
Looking at the now tranquil Rune Stone with satisfaction, Freya held it in her hand and softly murmured an incantation.
The originally fist-sized white stone began to slowly shrink and transform, gradually taking on the shape of a snow-white ring resting in her palm.
After playing with the transformed Rune Stone ring for a moment, she directly slipped it onto her finger.
At that moment, eight of her ten fingers were adorned with rings of the same style, differing only in color.
Gently rotating a ring on her thumb, Freya squinted slightly.
"Now, even if I encounter something tricky, I should be able to escape."
The precious Rune Stone is considered a high-grade material even in Cloud City, and items made from Rune Stones have a significant failure rate. However, once successfully crafted, their power is evidently strong.
Although Freya intentionally made this item a one-time consumable, it would still fetch a good price if sold or traded.
She had obtained nearly twenty Rune Stones from Glenor and ultimately crafted eight rings as an efficient result; a regular wizard would likely have produced even fewer.
However, for Freya's financial situation back in Cloud City, this was not something to worry about.
Moreover, in addition to the Rune Stones, Freya possessed other valuable items as well.
For a moment, Freya felt that all her equipment was so luxurious that even the scions of prominent families might not have such extravagance.
The magically modified carriage was stable and did not feel bumpy.
She gently pulled back the curtain, revealing a vast expanse of dark green forest outside, permeated with a faint scent of decaying wood.
It had been two and a half months since she left Sister City. With the speed of the two white-scaled horses, they had already covered half the distance to the Dis Mountain Range.
"According to the route remembered by Glenor, we should be almost there."
Freya looked up at the dim sky obscured by the lush foliage above.
A few birds adorned with colorful feathers chirped as they flew past.
Suddenly, a flurry of gray snowflakes began to drift down through the gaps in the leaves overhead.
Seeing the snowflakes, Freya's pupils contracted slightly. She extended her hand and pointed at one of the snowflakes. A gust of Azure Wind swiftly obeyed her command and brought the snowflake into her palm.
However, as the strange snowflake touched her palm, it turned into a fine powder, accompanied by a faint scent of sulfur.
"This is volcanic ash."
She brushed off the powder from her hand and gazed into the distance.
In the forest, resembling a green ocean, a small black dot slowly appeared on what seemed like the horizon.
As she approached, more black or gray snowflakes began to accumulate, and the surrounding trees grew taller.
It seemed that even the temperature had slightly increased.
Freya tugged at her robe and lowered the curtain of the carriage.
"It seems that in two or three more hours we will completely reach Saruhah Volcano. I remember there was a town nearby where we could rest and replenish some food. I just hope that town still exists after all these years."
Two hours later.
Freya's carriage gradually entered that ordinary town from her memory.
The simple wooden houses looked quite old, lined up in two rows with a road paved with gray stones in between.
People dressed in linen walked about, and upon seeing Freya's Silver Carriage, they revealed curious expressions.
Freya's gaze swept over those pedestrians and surprisingly found that most of them had relatively high physical fitness. Although they were not at Knight Level, they were comparable to ordinary soldiers.
Moreover, these individuals were mostly young or middle-aged men; even the women appeared quite strong.
Freya sat in the driver's seat of the carriage and quickly arrived at a food shop according to her memory.
Seeing Freya step down from the carriage, the shopkeeper immediately broke into a hearty smile.
"Excuse me, what would you like to order? I have bread, pies, venison jerky, mushroom soup, and some regular fruit wine. Will you be dining here or taking it to go?"
Freya glanced at the Boss, who seemed somewhat familiar to Glenor in her memory.
In her recollection, this Boss was just a kid, but in front of Freya, he appeared as a portly man nearing old age.
This made Freya feel an uncomfortable sense of dissonance.
Retracting her gaze, she handed over a few copper coins and calmly said, "I'll have two portions of venison jerky and some plain water, to go."
"Sure thing, no problem!"
Quickly taking the coins, the Boss busied himself with the order.
Freya stood in front of the shop and turned to look toward the west side of the town.
In her view, a massive black mountain range loomed quietly in the distance. The base of the mountains was visible, but above that were thick clouds and white snow.
Through the layer of White Mist, Freya vaguely saw a faint plume of smoke rising into the air. She knew that was the crater of Saharul Volcano.
If she remembered correctly, just below that crater was the entrance to the ruins.
This left Freya somewhat puzzled; what kind of feelings did Glenor have when he went to the volcano and discovered the ruins in such a remote place?
"Customer, your order is ready."
While she was lost in thought, the Boss handed Freya her packed food.
"Thank you." After receiving her order, Freya suddenly pointed toward the massive mountain range in the distance and asked.
“Boss, have you lived here long? Has this volcano ever erupted?”
“Of course it has,” Boss replied immediately upon hearing Freya's question. “It erupted when I was five years old, and it seemed like the whole place collapsed. I'm sixty-five now, and I've never seen anything like it since. It was as if some monster came out from inside. If it weren't for my father, I probably would have died there too.”
“Sixty years ago?” Freya frowned. “What happened afterward?”
“After that? People discovered that the lava from the volcano had black stones in it that could be sold for money, so everyone started mining. The town that was destroyed slowly rebuilt itself, but only young men lived here; women and children couldn't get close.”
“I see.” She nodded in understanding. “That really is fortunate.”
Based on this timeline, it seemed Glenor had found the entrance to the ruins sixty years ago.
Boss, upon being questioned by her, sized her up and thought to himself.
“Could it be that you, guest, also plan to visit this volcano?”
“What?” Freya raised her head in confusion at Boss's words. “Are you saying that besides me, others have also inquired about this volcano?”
“Two days ago, three people came here to buy supplies and asked me for the specific route to the volcano. They were wearing robes like yours, but theirs were black,” Boss said honestly.
“Are you sure there were only three people? No one else?” Freya asked seriously.
“Yes.”
“…”
Without a word, Freya slightly narrowed her eyes.
From her deduction, those three must also be going privately; otherwise, if they were from the Wizard Organization, they would have already sent a large group to explore.
However, even so, this was not what Freya wanted to see.
"Perhaps they stumbled upon the entrance to the ancient ruins by chance, but the dangers within are immense. Unlike me, they lack specific information about the risks involved. I'm just worried that those three might accidentally trigger some mechanism and cause the volcano to erupt again, which would be disastrous."
With that thought in mind, she decided not to rest and immediately set off.
She quickly walked over to the Silver Carriage, mounted it, and pulled on the Reins.
The White-scaled Horse neighed and galloped towards the Saharul Volcano.
After a while.
As the surrounding forest gradually disappeared, large patches of Black Ash-colored rocky material appeared before Freya. In some areas, steam was rising, and she could feel the heat emanating from it.
This was either solidified or semi-solidified lava.
Even with the magical enhancements of the White-scaled Horse, it could not proceed any further.
Freya dismounted from the carriage and let it find a place to wait. She then looked around before heading straight in another direction.
According to Glenor's memory, although this volcano was highly active, it generally did not erupt recklessly. Therefore, while the surrounding lava looked terrifying, it was not a significant challenge for Freya.
A gentle Azure breeze slowly enveloped her, shielding her from the heat.
After about ten minutes of walking, Freya found a relatively normal path.
This was one of the few routes that could lead up the volcano.
However, at this moment, there were six chaotic footprints scattered along this path.
Looking at these footprints, Freya paused briefly before expressionlessly continuing down the path.
This road was surrounded by the massive volcano. As she climbed rapidly, the previously oppressive heat began to feel refreshing.
Gray particles began to drift through the air, making Freya's entire field of vision appear hazy.
She lightly sniffed the particle-filled air, a sour and foul odor reminiscent of decaying meat filled her nostrils. Freya frowned and quickly covered her mouth and nose.
"Is it toxic?"
She took out a green seed from the pouch at her waist, crushed it, and sprinkled it around her mouth and nose. A faint green energy Force Field enveloped the area.
"If I hadn't been prepared, it would have taken some effort."
After feeling the refreshing scent of mint as she breathed, she continued onward.
Aside from the harsh environment, there were no dangers outside Sahalu, and with Freya's body fused through her sense of air, climbing this volcano was not tiring for her.
However, after passing through the misty ash zone, Freya felt the surrounding temperature drop suddenly.
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