From Yu Yu's bird's-eye view, the whole city was dead silent except for the big rat just now.
A dead city.
Lynn's expression remained unfazed as she sketched a map on the ground. "Endea's small. Back in the Golden Age, it was a viscount's fief under the Monsoon Duchy."
"It was known for a rare herb, moonlight grass, supposedly a key ingredient in Spirit potions."
"Rumor has it the magic circle even built a research tower here."
"Of course, nothing's left now."
She pointed at her sketch. "Look, the city's split into three districts. Upper District housed the viscount and retainers; Middle District was for citizens; Lower District, the slums."
Through her mage eye, Yu Yu saw the city tiered into three levels, sloping from high to low, each larger than the last, like terraced fields—Lynn's three districts.
Lynn: "This place was excavated for about thirty years before the magic circle mostly abandoned it."
"Small and mid-tier anomalies that could be killed were dealt with."
"Now, only 'Masquerade,' 'Death Knell,' and 'Editor' remain."
"'Editor' is a high-tier anomaly, sealed by the magic circle in the viscount's manor. 'Masquerade' should be dormant. Only 'Death Knell' is active."
"Death Knell?"
"A sound-sensitive anomaly," Lynn said. "Story goes, it came from a late-stage depressive musician. After going deaf, her obsession twisted her into an anomaly. At its peak, it shrouded half the Monsoon Duchy. Pioneers found its core, 'Death Knell,' but now…"
Dong—
Lynn hushed, "Listen, it's here."
Yu Yu crouched beside her, following Lynn's gaze, eyes clear and focused. Besides that 'Eerie Sound,' this was her second encounter with an anomaly's core.
Wang Rui wasn't a core—she didn't count.
A square, ornate box floated in midair, drifting slowly. Every so often, it emitted a long, resonant dong, then continued its glide. Lynn kept sketching, her scratches soft against the ground. She marked the city gate and two small squares in the Lower District.
When Death Knell finally drifted away, Lynn spoke. "Its power's faded. As long as we don't blatantly talk, it can't touch us."
"Back then, even wind through hair could rouse it, pulling you into its domain for assimilation."
"Not anymore. The magic circle detained its core. This is just a shell."
"Even if we talk and get dragged into its domain, we can break out with force."
Yu Yu thought of 'Symphony,' the S-class anomaly ravaging overseas.
"Are these anomalies common?"
Lynn considered. "Strictly, yeah."
"But anomalies are complex. No two share the same rule."
"Even if the anomaly holding a rule is weak, no second appears."
"Early Pioneers learned the hard way—killing weak anomalies birthed stronger ones under the same rule. They got smarter."
"Seal, weaken, or detain."
"Top Pioneers even use anomalies to fight anomalies," Lynn's face lit up. "Can you imagine? We can wield anomalies against them!"
Yu Yu blinked. "Like sealed artifacts?"
Lynn nodded fiercely. "Exactly! You've heard, right?"
"One day, we'll reclaim our homeland."
Her emerald eyes sparkled, gazing afar. "Ancestors' Sylvan Bay, Mistveil Mountains, Dreamless Isle—all will be ours again."
Yu Yu, unable to relate, propped her chin. "What're these two cookies you drew?"
Lynn snapped back. "Underground passage entrances."
"The nobles of Endea are mentally ill. They always build duplicates of everything, and they have to be symmetrical."
"The underground's the same," Lynn groaned. "Last time, I entered the left one, mapped half before a swarm of annoying automatons blocked me."
"Automatons?" Yu Yu enunciated slowly.
Lynn: "Your magic circle's mess."
"Even though it has fallen into such decline and all the related technologies have been lost, those creations are still active all over the continent. As long as your magic circle is active, there are such things."
Yu Yu was floored. "Take me to see."
Lynn led her expertly into the underground passage. The underground might've once been pristine, but centuries left it decayed and collapsed, many paths blocked. Lynn pulled out her half-drawn map, weaving through twists and turns.
Yu Yu, disliking the dark, idly lit wall-mounted magic lamps along the way. The candlelight cantrip's cost was negligible to her. Most lamp casings endured, faintly enchanted to extend candlelight's duration. These basic enchanted lamps lined both walls, one every few steps. The magic circle back then seemed richer than now.
Lynn glanced back twice. "Bored? Saving no Spirit?"
Yu Yu: "Don't need to. Recovers faster than I spend."
Lighting nonstop, she pushed candlelight to mastery. Skill proficiency had four tiers: novice, proficient, adept, mastery.
Candlelight, a cantrip, lacked attack power, with a short mastery bar. Adept-to-mastery took 800 casts. Yu Yu used it often at home, hitting mastery now.
[Choose candlelight mastery I]
[Spell potency] [Instant cast (already instant)] [Spell delay] [Spell outreach] [Spell expanse]
Yu Yu examined each.
Huh?
How potent could candlelight get? Twenty watts to forty?
Instant cast was grayed out—she'd unlocked it at proficient.
Delay?
It already lasted 15 minutes from adept.
Outreach?
Casting candlelight farther wouldn't make it a fireball!
Expanse?
Wider range? That's decent.
Torn between a brighter bulb or wider glow, Yu Yu shrugged.
Coin toss it is.
Eyes closed, she flipped, then peeked.
Fine, spell potency.
Lynn turned. "Why's it so bright?"
Candlelight was once a soft, drifting glow, gentle and warm.
Now it was a domineering CEO—blazing, piercing, obnoxiously present.
But undeniably bright.
Two candlelights turned the passage daylight-clear, every wall scratch, floor moss, and… bone fragment starkly visible.
Ew… bones?
Yu Yu: "Candlelight just leveled up."
Lynn, not getting it, glanced back. "It's really bright."
"Bright's bad?"
Lynn looked around, nodding hard. "It's great. I feel alive."
"It's just ahead," she said. "There's a magic circle control method nearby, but I can't read it."
They reached an iron gate, flanked by two small rooms.
Lynn pointed left. "That's a rest room, but it's rotted."
Yu Yu peered from the door. Half-collapsed, a broken stone pillar rolled to the entrance.
Searching, she lobbed a mega-bulb candlelight, lighting a wall lamp instantly.
Lynn teased, "Why're you so lamp-obsessed?"
Yu Yu shot back, "Who doesn't love lights? Name one."
Lynn: "Darkvision solves it."
Yu Yu gave her a pitying look. "Candlelight? Instant, zero cost. Darkvision? First-ring, needs chanting, 30 Spirit. Am I dumb?"
Lynn muttered, "You'll need to handle darkness without lights someday."
Yu Yu spun. "I love lights."
Outargued, Lynn joined her.
One mega-bulb lit the room like noon.
Every detail popped.
Scattered metal cups and plates littered the floor, rusted.
A table, half-swallowed by collapsed earth, stood beside a fallen chair.
The unburied half held two metal cabinets. Yu Yu mused, "Lynn, anything in those?"
"In a dump like this?" Lynn scoffed.
"Just check."
Grudgingly, Lynn opened one, recoiling with a grimace. "See for yourself."
Yu Yu peeked—gray-black hangers, decayed clothes reduced to ash at the cabinet's base, and a few rotted shoes…
"Fine," Yu Yu sighed, "doomsday for the trash party."
No loot? Was this a life worth living?
Lynn caught that, face darkening. "Yu, you're a spellcaster. How're you more shameless than me?"
Yu Yu: "You don't get it—hamster party joy."
Lynn: "…Wasn't it trash party?"
Yu Yu: "Same vibe."
In the right room, another mega-bulb flared.
Daylight.jpg
"What's this?"
"File cabinets?" Yu Yu gaped. "Why's this not decayed?"
Lynn leaned on the doorframe, not entering. "Ask your magic circle. Who knows what they did?"
Yu Yu grabbed a book, flipping it open.
Jackpot—a diary.
[My thesis was rejected!!!]
[Reason? Too similar to Joel's. Unbelievable… How dare he publish before his mentor?! Using MY work?!]
[Damn Joel. Should've never taken him! He can *** rot in hell! … (a page of illegible rants—Yu Yu guessed curses)]
[I'll keep researching. I MUST open that door! Go, Yami! The centurion core method's behind it!]
[Two months, still no luck with the ritual gate. Steps one and two done, but the sequence? Why'd ancient spellcasters love spell puzzles?]
[I'm losing it! Earthquake! Earthquake! Always earthquakes! One wrong move, and it quakes! I'll be buried alive! Seniors, no more puzzles!!]
[Finally cracked step three. Cried tears of joy.]
[Endea just opened. No one knows a restoration school lab was here! I found it first! Get the centurion core method, and I'm a High Stewards! Damn Joel **** … (hundreds of omitted words)]
Next were hand-drawn schematics. Yu Yu studied them.
Spirit circuits?
This 'Yami' Senior drew with finesse. Yu Yu was hooked.
What's a ritual gate?
Restoration school? The magic circle had that?
Centurion core? Lynn's automatons?
Endea was newly opened, so Yami wasn't Golden Age—likely post-Dark Age.
She aimed for 'High Stewards.'
"When did Endea open?" Yu Yu asked.
Lynn thought. "Over two centuries ago. Dug for nearly thirty years, then mostly abandoned. Only newbies like me poke around."
Yu Yu frowned. "With the magic circle's power, they missed this tunnel in thirty years?"
Lynn: "Third-rate city. They grabbed what they wanted and left. We're scavenging."
"Or it wouldn't have taken thirty years."
"Back then, Endea wasn't the only city opened. The magic circle hadn't retreated to the Allen Peninsula—way stronger than now."
Yu Yu was lost. "Stronger then?"
Lynn shrugged, reluctant. "Hate to admit, but this is the magic circle's weakest era since the Golden Age."
Yu Yu: "…"
This is weak?
Finishing the diary, Yu Yu scanned other books—texts on puzzles, ritual gates, spell cycles, and ancient spellcaster rituals.
Yu Yu: "…"
This dig was too professional.
"Can't we get in?" she asked, itching.
Lynn: "Sure, I can push the door, but those automatons don't feel pain. I can handle dozens, but there's hundreds visible."
"My sword'd dull. They're tough," she said. "Plus, there might be advanced ones. I'm not stupid."
Last time, she'd peeked, given up, and returned to Silver Moon.
The longer out, the higher the corruption. She wasn't dumb.
Yu Yu stuffed the diary in her bag, freezing.
[Forgotten Time] (Reward: Unknown)
A translucent blue figure appeared, greeting casually, "Hey, kid, new assistant from the magic circle, right?"
"Whoa, this place is trashed."
Lynn, lounging at the door, gaped, her emerald eyes wide with shock.
Yu Yu: "Senior, you're…"
Moments later, Yami, the high-tier spellcaster, grasped her fate.
She slumped, crestfallen. "I knew it. Buried by those damn earthquakes."
Yu Yu swallowed, stunned by the turn. "So, Senior, any wishes?"
"Wishes?" Yami perked slightly, her blurry face lifting. "I want to see what's behind that door!"
Task updated.
[Forgotten Time] (Unlock the ritual gate)
Yu Yu: "Know how to handle the automatons?"
"Fight?" Yami blinked. "Why fight?"
"These cuties protect spellcasters. Just a tiny tweak," she coached. "See that button? Press it, and they'll collapse."
She shrugged. "Sadly, automaton crafting and control methods are lost, or we wouldn't be this helpless."
Her hand slapped a machine Yu Yu thought was decor, revealing rows of colored buttons.
Yu Yu, watching, pressed the one Yami indicated.
Lynn peered inside, awed. "They're down."
She pushed the iron gate and stepped in.
Yu Yu crouched, inspecting.
About calf-high, they rolled on spherical bases, with simple upper bodies—two sword-like arms and a torso.
Brassy, unadorned.
Yu Yu touched one.
[Obtained 'Low-Tier Automaton Lever' ×3]
She touched another, then another.
[Obtained 'Low-Tier Automaton Part' ×1]
[Obtained 'Low-Tier Automaton Core' ×1]
She couldn't stop.
Lynn, baffled, asked, "What're you doing?"
Yami, equally puzzled, said, "Why pet these pups? They're the lowest-tier automatons, and their spell core method's lost…"
Yu Yu: "Scavenging!"
Ignoring them, she touched every automaton, amassing a bag of mystery parts, face glowing.
So fun! Better than monster loot!
Lynn: "…"
Yami: "…"
At the second door, they disabled more automatons the same way. Watching Yu Yu loot, they grew numb.
"My body's probably here," Yami muttered, drifting forward. "Oh, my premium auto-casting staff! No wonder I couldn't find it."
Lynn looked up, spotting the staff lodged in the ceiling.
Meanwhile, Yu Yu looted her way over.
"Hey, looting my bag's fine, but can you not strip me?" Yami griped. "Leave me some dignity?"
Lynn, yanking the staff free, glanced down to see Yu Yu had stripped the corpse bare…
Snapping out of her scavenging fever, Yu Yu laughed awkwardly. "Senior, I got carried away…"
But the Senior was just bones now… nothing scandalous left…
Look, this skull—so smooth, so cute.
Moments later, Yu Yu sulked in a corner.
She actually thinks skulls are cute!
Is she crazy!
She checked her panel—
Corruption: 7
Alright, time for a red vial.
Yu Yu downed one to calm down.
Lynn, spooked, buried her face in her arm, stifling laughter.
Yami: "It's a bit creepy, but I didn't mind you tossing my skull. Aren't you satisfied?"
Yu Yu inhaled deeply. "Enough, Senior. Let's go crack that puzzle."
Sis, you're bones! Stop with the humor!!!