> Your group has defeated [Adult Taratect Warrior (Level 95-105, Rank 4)] x 6
> Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
> Essence Absorption collected 48 ES
>
> Reached Level 94 (Rank 4, +1 level)
> Gained: 4 ES
After a few hours of exploration and ambushes, we found no nests in the buildings we checked on the outside of the square.
Most of them were half crumbling and I had little faith in their structural integrity. Some collapses looked somewhat recent as well. The walkway itself was two stories high and in a bad shape. The inner wall was frequently interrupted by windows and doors to access the smaller courtyards between buildings. Some sections had two levels where they connected the second floors of two adjacent buildings. There had to have been stairs at some points if the piles of rubble were any indication. The wall facing outwards was continuous on the first floor but had frequent windows on the second.
From the number of spiders we encountered, it looked like the outer square was used only for patrols or transit. Workers came and went through the openings in the walls with their cargo, their destination was further in. The density of spiders in the outer buildings was fairly easy to sneak around and ambush but I had a feeling that, the closer to the center we went, the stronger and more numerous the spiders would become.
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The night started to approach and exhaustion was starting to creep up. We had two options, the first was to retreat back to the jungle and make camp there, the second was to find a safe corner inside the buildings and to do the same.
I toyed with the second idea but in the end, we sneaked out to the edge of the forest. Vel shaped one of the trees to allow us to set up inside the trunk and covered everything with thick foliage.
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Our plan to explore the inner parts of the ruins involved passing through the rooftops. The taratect presence was very light there compared to the ground level. I assumed they didn't like the angled roofs. With the size of my sphere, which had grown to thirty meters, I would be able to scout most buildings from top to bottom without the need to enter them.
The Chameleon spell I had created the previous day would make long range detection harder. As the name implied, it provided camouflage to the caster or target. It didn't work perfectly unless you were standing still but at a distance, the hazy appearance would still make our presence hard to detect. To communicate, since we would both be semi-invisible, I would maintain a telepathic network between us like the previous day.
To further increase our stealth, I purchased the Mystic Aura skill to be able to share my shadow Mystic Enhancement with Vel.
> Purchased Skill Mystic Aura at rank 3, level 20 for 26 ES
I created several more psychic spells as well, Dominate had shown the power of mind altering spells in combat. Dream Lotus was a multi-target sleep spell that became harder to break the longer the targets were under its influence. Dream Eater did heavy damage to a target which was asleep. Mayhem created illusions for the targets that made them attack their allies.
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Avoiding the occasional patrol, we made our way to a half-destroyed storehouse on the outside. Vel used her plant growth to make us a temporary ladder to the second floor. From there, we went through a hole in the roof. I made certain to check where we stepped. Most of the cloister roof was in relatively good shape but certain parts were weakened and danger sense warned me against stepping on them.
The first building we checked was a dormitory. Many small rooms of the same size connected with a central hallway on each floor. In some of them, I spotted the remnants of some furniture that had miraculously survived until today.
On the way to the second building, a patrol almost spotted us but I managed to use Major Illusion to hide us as a pile of rubble. The spiders weren't all that smart and didn't question its presence on the roof.
The second building was a refectory with an attached kitchen. Not much had survived there either except for the long stone tables and benches. The taratects had commandeered this building to build a small nest, the large open space was filled with webs where dozens of eggs were tended to by workers. Warriors were watching out for threats and patrolled the inside and outside with zeal.
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Vel and I didn't linger by the building too long and left as soon as I confirmed the absence of any secret passages. The next building was yet another dormitory. Then, we found a library. Most books and shelves they had sat on were long gone. Near the top of the building however, I found the first hidden room.
The library consisted of a circular building with a domed ceiling flanked by two smaller annexes. At the top of the dome was a smaller circular room which was protected by still active enchantments. Vel and I climbed to the edge of the roof and entered through one of the windows. It led to a stone walkway which ran all around the central chamber.
From there, we took a small stairway that led us below the small office at the very top. I climbed the stone ladder and placed my right hand on the trapdoor. The key in my bracer unlocked the enchantments. I pushed it open and I stepped up. The small office was relatively spartan. A desk made of dark wood stood facing a window while several bookshelves decorated the walls behind it.
Most of them were empty but a few books, written in the same script we had seen before, were present and still intact. A few trinkets were present as well. Some kinds of instruments or tools from the runes on them. Their enchantments had long since decayed. I stored everything in my necklace before moving on to the desk, where the real prize lay.
Another part of the Ravri set was in one of the drawers. It was inside a wooden box with a velvety cushion like the others. This one was a metallic cube about the size of my palm. On every side were intricately engraved spell circles. Through my sphere, I could see the inside of the cube. Several spheres of crystal were embedded inside of each other like Russian nesting dolls. Eight metallic corners gave it its final shape.
> [Ravri Ritual Focus (Bound, Durability, Levitation, Magic Focus, Magic Enhancement, ???; Nature, Divine)]
"Well, looks like I found my own focus," I said.
"More from that mysterious set I presume?" Vel remarked.
"Yes, it's tuned to nature and divine magic. And more question marks as well."
"Do you think this is the full set?"
"Maybe," I shrugged, "I don't know many parts there are."
> Bound Item [Ravri Ritual Focus] for 250 MP
Once the focus was bound, I felt it connect to me. Even without Psychokinesis, I could move the cube near me. I channeled mana and tried to cast a spell, the magic flowed much more smoothly and the spell felt stronger from the amount of mana I put in.
"A focus really makes a difference," I said. "I feel like I've been casting spells underwater until now."
"That's … a good way to put it," Vel said.
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The remainder of the buildings between the third and second walkways yielded nothing. Offices and a small chapel, the last one of which hosted another nest. It was about mid-day. We decided to hide in one of the offices to take a small lunch break consisting of trail rations. It wasn't the best food I'd had so far but we didn't want to attract any attention, which meant no cooking.
Once the short break was over, we moved on to the second cloister roof. Connected to this one were only five buildings. What looked like a second library and dormitory if the styles were consistent, two unknowns, and a large cathedral. That last one expanded through the innermost cloister and into the central courtyard.
'Let's check the cathedral last,' I said through telepathic communication, 'I have a feeling it's teeming with taratects, even possibly the queen herself.'
'The library first,' Vel proposed, 'it's the closest.'
It was a good plan. I made sure to renew our chameleon spells and we stealthily made our way to the domed building. Its construction was similar to the previous one but larger. A sealed office was present at the top as well.
Our first problem was that a nest had taken over the central rotunda. The webs didn’t extend too high but a few still encroached on the walkway. We carefully went around the outside and climbed the roof half-way up where we entered through a window. I was thankful it hadn't rained recently or that would have been impossible.
Not a single watcher clued in to our presence and we proceeded to the trapdoor. The key worked without issues and we entered the office. It was larger than the previous one. The desk was positioned facing the bookcases this time with the window at the back of whoever had sat there. I collected the few books and trinkets present before I honed in on the desk.
The box was larger this time and contained a beautifully crafted circlet. Four purple gems were embedded in the front, two large ones at the center flanked by two smaller once.
> [Ravri Ritual Circlet (Bound, Durability, Mental Defense, ???)]
"I didn't expect to find so many parts of the set here," I said.
"What does this one do?"
"Mental defense, and question marks."
"I guess whoever made those didn't want their high ranking members to get influenced."
"As good an explanation as any," I shrugged, "I won't say no to the extra defenses."
> Bound item Ravri Ritual Circlet for 250 MP