Kaden quickly moved into the darkness of the tunnel. It was only partially collapsed, but still mostly open. He wondered for a moment, if there was another entrance somewhere, since there was such a cold breeze that way or was it perhaps just how the remnant was.
Nothing seemed to live in the remnant. No smaller beasts, not even bugs, not even moss or mold. Everything was just cold and gray. It was like the place was devoid of life. There was that constant coldness he felt and whispering. Still, he did not feel it was dangerous at least not for the time being. Not that he was planning on staying in the remnant long term. Though, he guessed it had to be possible, if that Trohin had done it.
It seemed that the name, Trohin, was very well known among the saints. Perhaps he was some kind of known criminal that had been hunted down? Probably even major criminal. A minor character would not hide within forest of beasts and build a hideout inside a remnant like this one.
As he was thinking of these things, Kaden noticed there were some connections to other tunnels that had not collapsed. Still, he decided to keep following the cold air.
Suddenly he started seeing a glow in the darkness.
“Damn”, Kaden cursed and jumped as much to the side as he could. Luckily there was room. Another of the ghost machnines passed by silently. The wind intensified as it did, but nothing else happened.
It seemed the machine had been noticed by the saint group too. They were in the tunnel too. Kaden wondered, if he could avoid or split them up by the points where tunnels connected. The place was probably a labyrinth. He could easily kill a few separated people. Even so, he could not think of a way to accomplish that and continued forward.
----
“What are these things?” Said one of the saints after the machine passed them.
“Who knows, probably ghosts of ancients that have been here for far too long”, replied another.
“Everyone quiet!” Said their leader as he stared deeper in the tunnel. He had sent a few balls of light a bit deeper, but they could not reach too far. He squinted and listened.
“Calen, what is it now?” Said the guy who was leader of the other group. “These things come and go in relatively predictable way. If we stand here, we will waste time.”
“Why are you in such a rush, Arvan?” Calen replied and kept staring into the distance and then continued. “I have a feeling we are not alone.”
“Maybe a beast?” Arvan replied in dismissing voice.
Calen looked at Arvan like he was an idiot. “Which beast do you think would live here? Have you yet spotted anything remotely living here?”
“Then why do you think we are not alone?” Arvan countered.
“There is an occassional echo and its not the whispers around us”, Calen said. “It is hard to see any footprints in here, but some rocks seem like they have turned around slightly. Recently. Something or someone is here and got here before us.”
It has to be noted that Calen was an expert tracker. He and his team could basically be called adventurers or perhaps mercenaries. They took whatever jobs seemed to pay well and after acquiring news of Trohin’s old hiding place, they went for it.
“I don’t see it”, Arvan said and looked around. “But, if there is anyone here trying to snatch everything from under our noses, I’ll have them regret it.”
“It can’t be helped”, Calen said. “Whoever sold that location to the merchant priests made this basically public knowledge, if one had enough money for it. Everyone, be prepared.”
---
Kaden continued along the tunnels that seemed to extend forever. He had already figured out that this remnant was likely part of some transportation method that the ancients had used. Such enormous construction. How were these tunnels built? Mana had not existed during the times of the ancients. Magic allows so many things, but still all the people could do now was to imitate what ancients had built. Perhaps by raw power, at higher stages of cultivation, one could be beyond whatever ancients had, but it was still incredible what thad been built in the distant past.
“Could this entire area have been part of a city once?” Kaden thought. “Something like this would not be built for a small place. What size does city need to be that building these tunnels would be worth it? Yet, right now its all wilderness above ground. So much had been lost to the passing of time.”
Still, one had to remember that the ancients had brought about their own doom. Now what remained of them, seemed to wander these tunnels as ghosts over and over again.
Kaden eventually reached a portion of the tunnels that seemed different. Like a part of earth had been cut out, leaving a large opening. It had perhaps been part of a similar area as the entrace, but something had happened to it and it had become much larger.
He decided to search the area. There seemed to be only tunnels and these stopping points for the machines. If ghosts came and left periodically, it would be a problem to live there.
It seemed a very good idea. The environment was completely different. The creepiness was not gone, but it was not the transportation tunnels with ghosts anymore, but instead opened into smaller pathways going deeper.
Kaden found out the smaller tunnels were a labyrinth. They crisscrossed across each other all the time and extended into wider area. It felt like it was not built by humans, but it wasn’t natural either. Could it be some kind of random effect by mana?
Suddenly he realized a problem.
“This place is weird, I’m losing my sense of direction”, Kaden noticed. Mana was acting weird.
The tunnels were probably caused by mana, but the actual effect inside did not feel related. Kaden was not sure how he knew that. He decided to stop and observe. He might get lost inside the tunnels otherwise. Then he realized everything after inspecting his surroundings more carefully.
“Simple formations”, he thought.
He examined the walls and rocks. He found embedded formations and they were not even directly visible. Small and relatively simple ones, comprised only of few seals. With great effort Kaden might be able to create them correctly. As far as he could tell they made mana swirl around in chaotic way and push someones mana related senses to go random directions.
After examining more of those formations, Kaden noted that the direction was not entirely random. They were like clashing waves that came from one direction. It was meant to keep people and things out of some direction. Yet, only because Kaden had looked at enough of Angis’s notes and was able to inspect structure of materials, he could detect the formations or even tell they were formations. To begin with he had to think and notice it. It would likely take much longer for someone who had no idea of formations to realize what was happening.
“Could this be it?” Kaden ignored the feelings his senses gave him and moved by examining the formations only. There was one reason he could think of that someone would build formations like these. It would be Trohin’s hideout! It was hidden within the labyrinthine area.
It took some time to always look for the next set of formations and determine their direction, but eventually Kaden found a doorway. He was rather suspicious of everything he found. What other defenses would there be? What if he turned into dust upon entering the door? He tried, just in case, to throw a few rocks in and even looked for more formations, but found none. Then he stepped in.
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As soon as he stepped across the door, the entire area lit up. For a moment he freaked out, but realized it was just some lights activating automatically by some means. He calmed down and looked around.
It was a somewhat dusty room. There were work benches for a few different crafts, even a cold forge. There were crystals and bottles of glass, of which some had things inside them. Also some kind of machines. It looked like some kind of a laboratory or a workshop. Probably both.
There were also other doors leading to side rooms. One had a few empty cages in them. Another one was clearly some kind of storage room, but it too was completely empty.
“At least the main room has things”, Kaden muttered as he looked back at the main room.
There was a pot made of metal with a lid on top of it. It seemed to connect everywhere with formation lines. Kaden looked inside and found it filled with those crystals he had bumped into already a several times. Supposedly money, information storage and now, as far as he could tell, energy source. Most of the crystals in the pot were already dim. Some he had looked like stones condensed with mana, but others that he had seen, like the ones in the pot, were more like pure crystal than rocks. They were probably higher quality.
Kaden took most of them and left some inside so the place wouldn’t run out of power while he was there.
He found others on the table and they were filled with useful information. Some very useful, in fact!
Trohin was a necromancer! He had tried studying the ghosts in order to control them and see, if they could be used outside of the remnant. There were several curses of wasted time as he had found out they were not really ghosts, but more like… distorted memories, as far as Kaden understood what Trohin was saying. They were the terror of countless people as they were being unmade during the cataclysm.
Yet, not all Trohin’s effort was wasted. He had observed how the ghosts consumed things once they were triggered. Apparently it resembled an old and common necromancy spell ‘Life Leech’, but instead dragged not just life related mana, but everything. Kaden had seen it, the victims didn’t just dry out and mummify, they basically turned to dust as their internal structure broke apart.
Kaden rejoiced as he looked at the detailed instruction on how to cast a spell that Trohin had dubbed simply as ‘Devour’ spell. Trohin had planned on making the spell part of his legacy and that his name would be forever tied to creating it. It seemed he never had the time to spread it before he perished, though.
It was not even a difficult spell and would be stronger the more power caster used. In other words it would remain usable as a magic cultivator grows in power.
“I only need a touch and I can devour mana and flesh from my targets”, Kaden rejoiced as he did his best to memorize the entire spell. “I can restore myself during and after fight!”
Kaden had decided he would learn Devour and make it his first actual spell!
There was more information on Trohin’s necromancy experiments, but nothing that he found useful about them. Trohin had also some attempts at creating magic items and weapons. Kaden collected the schematics. There were also some metals left around the forge, but as he inspected them, he did not know what they were. He noted their internal structure having little to no flaws.
Kaden might have attempted to heat up the forge, but he did not have time to do so nor he knew enough of his materials to use them. He took with him tools in case he ever finds a better place.
On the wall, Kaden saw some necklaces. From the information he had read, he knew they were magic tools that Trohin had used to avoid being detected by the ghosts. Trohin had not messed around with them. They were, in fact, more dangerous than Kaden had realized. Even Trohin had once almost died. They will eventually get attracted to living things and unmake them.
He put one of the necklaces on and then took the last ones and put them in his pouch. What if the one he was wearing broke?
Kaden looked around in the laboratory for more things he could use and then he noticed something in a dark corner.
It was an altar, but he did not recognize it immediately. He was thinking of kicking it down and possibly pissing on the said place of worship, but as he moved closer to do so, he finally realized it was not any common altar.
“This Trohin...”, Kaden muttered as he stood there and examined the altar from distance.
Being a necromancer, Trohin probably had not been the nicest people around. While not illegal, many of its uses were. What was illegal everywhere was what Kaden was staring at. The altar had dark chains tied to a twisted effigy. This was an altar to the God of Lies. It seems Trohin had been a worshipper of this dark god.
“That right, gods betray each other too”, Kaden though. He felt good about seeing another confirmation for his beliefs. “It only makes sense that they are just as destestable as their followers.”
Out of a whim, Kaden decided that he would leave the unholy altar in its place. Just to mock the other gods. Then he noticed something that didn’t seem to be part of the altar or the effigy. A small black and shiny object, shaped like a slice cut from something round.
Kaden picked it up, but to his surprise he could not inspect the material at all. His senses would simply not penetrate it. Mana simply got blocked on its surface. On a closer look its edges had small hooks like it was supposed to connect to something. Perhaps like a puzzle?
Other than that, small lines went across the surface, but they didn’t look like formation lines Kaden knew.
He found no other pieces, but decided to keep the object anyway. He didn’t care, if the twisted god didn’t like him stealing from his altar. God of Lies was just another god. He didn’t give a shit. As for his reasons, Kaden was quite interested in the material. This was the first time he had found something that he could not inspect. Perhaps it was valuable!
He stopped his ruminations as he started hearing voices from the labyrinth outside. Enemies were coming for him.
Considering the labyrinth, it would be extremely easy to avoid everyone in it. There were not enough of them to cover the entire area. Perhaps the entrance was being guarded, but a few people would be far easier to deal with than all of them. Still, he wanted to kill them all if possible.
Kaden looked around.
“I could try that!” He though to himself.
In truth, Kaden was not sure, if it would work, but he wanted to try. He stuffed some of those crystals back in the pot and then started drawing some extra formation lines to adjust the old ones. Altering a formation while its working was said to weaken formations structure in Angis’s notes, possibly even breaking more fragile ones. Obviously with proper design that could be avoided and there were formations that could be altered on the fly like combat formations.
The power distribution of the laboratory was not such formation, but as Kaden looped portion of it back to itself, it only crackled a bit, but nothing more. The pot itself started humming.
“Its going to overload soon.” Kaden looked at his handiwork with joy. “Can’t really time it or say how big its going to be, but I should be fine hiding in the labyrinth.”
Kaden left the laboratory and quickly hid inside the labyrinth out of the path he expected people to come from, but close enough that he could see. He wanted to watch the saints die.
The sounds came closer.
“Just follow me”, said a voice. “This is one of Trohin’s tricks we already know. Do not get confused by these formations! This is the place we have been looking for!”
Kaden watched the group of people slowly follow one person through the labyrinth tunnels. They followed the formations inside the same way he had. They moved in ordered manner and were prepared to fight at any moment. Were they expecting a fight? He wondered, if they had noticed he had come in before them.
Excitement was rising. Kaden was grinning as he watched the group move closer to the laboratory. Then they noticed it and soon after they went in. A moment and the he heard shouting and a few people ran out.
*KABOOM*
Black smoke was ejected from the doorway along with several more people. Mustering all his willpower he managed to not make himself laugh. A few people had avoided the explosion and seemed relatively unharmed.
“I’ll kill you!! Whoever you are I will kill you!!!” Shouts sounded out from inside the laboratory and some more people came out. There were some injuries, but not fatal ones. “I know you are there somewhere!!”
Kaden frowned. Had he failed? Crap.
“Fine, I’ll make it out slowly. They can keep their pathetic lives for now”, Kaden thought and began to move out silently within the tunnels. Even if there was a search, it would be hard to look at every nook and cranny.
That was Kaden’s Plan B, but even it was going south as he watched glowing shapes float into the tunnel. Ghosts! Something had attracted them!
The expressionless ghosts with their big and dark round eyes and mouths were soon noticed by the saints too who shouted warnings to everyone else. It seemed, there had not been even a single fatality from the explosion, just injuries.
Kaden felt coldness as one of the ghosts passed nearby. It stopped and looked at him for a short moment, but then continued away. At least the necklace worked! Hah, luckily he took them all. The ghosts would kill all the saints.
The first saints outside did nothing. Using magic would just trigger the ghosts. But it was futile! Ghosts had already been triggered by something. These first saints were attacked and they began screaming as their life was slowly being torn away from them.
“Oh, it must be the explosion after all!” Kaden suddenly realized. “It must have released a lot of mana and that was noticed by the ghosts. None of the formations that hid this place are working either. It was succesfull plan after all! Ah..Ahahaahahahaha!”
Kaden couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he watched the ghosts tear into the helpless saints who were being turned into dust one by one.
But all good things come to an end eventually. Small remaining group came from the laboratory under some kind of shield. It seemed they had managed to come up with a counter measure to the ghosts. The ghosts only stared at the shield, but did not act.
“It’s working!” Said the caster of the spell. “My theory was right! It takes some time to cast this, but I can maintain it at this size for a time! Once the ghosts lose connection to whatever mana they sensed, they lose interest!”
Some of the ghosts disapeared in the thin air while some continued wandering aimlessly in the area.
Kaden ceased his laughter and cursed instead. It was time to leave.