Chapter 21: Chapter 20- The Tombs of Nazlock (3)

“The Tombs of Nazlock? I’ve never heard of this place or name before. Have you?” I asked curiously.

“No. There are no races called Nazlock in the tower and no important individual has this name either. However, according to the writings on the walls inside, the Nazlocks were a race who has been invited to the tower just like the humans.”

“Interesting. What are the treasures you found inside?”

“None. There is a small chamber inside that contains several doors, but I could not go through these doors even after using my spells. My guess is that guides are not able to get inside without their hosts.”

“What about the monsters? Are there any?” I asked cautiously.

“I did not find any. But I would assume that there are quite a few hiding behind the doors.”

The tunnel was dark humid. I had to rely on Levi’s instructions to make it through. Fortunately, when I reached the end of the tunnel, I noticed a faint red glow at the centre of the chamber the tunnel was connected to. It was a large firestone; an ore capable of emitting both heat and light. Firestones were generally cut into small piece and used for cooking or heating homes during winter. However, the firestone at the centre of the room was a single giant crystal; It was as tall as I was but the light it was emitting was dull and weak. It was clear that the firestone had been dug out a long time ago.

“Is this the place? The chamber is not that big. I am a little bit disappointed.” I said as I sat at the end of the tunnel. I did not dare to step on the floor tiles of the room yet. This was a secret area; an unexplored place full of treasures. The greatest mistake one could make in this place was to lower one’s guard; anything in this chamber could be a trap.

I grabbed a couple of mana stones from my storage belt. The pouch attached to it could contain up to 1m³ of items. Then, I held my breath as I tossed the mana stones across the room.

“Tic. Tic. Tic.”

The crystalline sound of the mana stones falling onto the cold floor tiles echoed across the chamber.

‘Nothing happened. No traps… at least for now.’

I grabbed my spear from my storage belt and started poking the floor tiles. As I checked every corner of the chamber, I picked up the mana stones I threw earlier. Checking for traps has always been nerve-wracking; I hated to do it, but I knew I could not skip this important step. In general, this task was left to hunters with the Psychic element. These hunters could probe an entire room with their mental sense and locate the traps in an instant. Unfortunately, I was not gifted in this element.

‘Looks like this chamber is safe. It does not contain any traps.’

I let out a sigh of relief but remained on my guards. One side of the chamber was connected to the tunnel I came from. On the other side, there were three closed doors with various symbols and marks engraved in them. The two remaining walls were full of writings and paintings. A large portion of the writings and paintings had slowly been damaged over time, but a few legible portions remained.

[This shall be the last and most glorious monuments of the Nazlocks. I, Vhersha Nazlock, the tenth, shall construct these tombs to honour my ancestors. I beg for mercy… I have shamed myself… The glory of the Nazlock Empire will come to an end with my hands… The great migration has been a mistake… I was promised wealth and prosperity but what we got was this barren land, surrounded by hostile forces… The mountain was barely enough to sustain my people…]

[Life was hard, especially with the other forces harassing us on a daily basis… Soon, the mountain ran dry of any resources it once had… I suspected it was a move made by jealous hostile forces... Our yearly harvest slowly shrank... My people grew weaker… Dissatisfaction grew and many Nazlocks left us.]

[Following the advice of the Great Priest, I ordered the excavation of the mountain. We suspected that something was corrupting our only fertile land and we needed to get rid of it. My people got to work and every day, I could see the mountain getting flatter. The process was long and tedious… But we failed to find the source of corruption.]

[I could feel the anger and frustration in my people. We had completely destroyed our only source of food and yet, found nothing to explain the decrease in fertility… The Great Priest got angry… I was blamed for everything that went wrong; for choosing to migrate here instead of fighting the enemies who were invading our homeland.]

[“The ancestors are angry that you left them behind!” The great priest argued. I was angry but the great priest held a substantial amount of power. I gave him an ultimatum… The Nazlocks got together one last time to build this monument to honour our ancestors. The results surprised me. The day after the construction was complete, my people suddenly became stronger and healthier. Even I felt the change.]

[The Great Priest has been right. As soon as we acknowledged our ancestors, our strength returned. However, our fertile land had been lost in the process. In the end, we turned our weapons toward the hostile forces. What was there to fear now that we were overflowing with power… We were victorious and my people returned with food, wealth, and power. We plundered our neighbours, growing our strength. Unfortunately, this period of prosperity did not last for long.]

[We realised that we have been tricked. The Great Priest has been too proud. The increase in our strength did not come from our ancestors but rather from the Great Priest himself. He was burning his own vitality to strengthen us, ashamed of having failed twice. He soon passed away and brought with him our momentary increase in strength.]

[The moral was low. The Nazlocks have lost everything. I converted the useless monument we built earlier into my own tomb. I brought my family with me and sealed it off from the outside world. Now that our strength was gone, we have once again become the target of the hostile forces.]

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[I write these words in the hope that a descendant of the Nazlocks will survive through the difficult times and return…]

I read through the writings on the wall, gaining an understanding of the Nazlocks and this tomb. “Did you read these before?”

“Only the beginning. Is there a point in reading the complaints of a fallen king? To me, it just looks like a race who failed to pass the zeroth floor of the tower. They are not worth mentioning.” Levi snorted.

“That is true. But there’s useful information in these words. Considering that the writer of these words lived here for a little while, we can conclude that there is only a limited number of traps. It should be safe to move forward with what I have.”

My eyes fell on the firestone at the centre of the room. Had it been in its prime, it would have been a valuable treasure. But now that is was nearing the end of its lifespan, the firestone was useless.

‘It’s just too bad.’

I shook my head and faced the three stone doors. A few words were carved into the stone.

“Slaves and Workers”

“Commoners and Soldiers”

“Nobles and Royals”

‘Looks like the Nazlocks also divided themselves into classes.’ I stared at the strange symbols engraved into the doors. Thanks to the tower, I could perfectly understand their meaning.

‘The most logical choice right now is to explore the Slaves and Workers section of the tomb. They may contain the least amount of treasures, but they are also the safest.’

“You said you cannot go through the doors?” I asked Levi curiously.

The fairy flew next to a door a pressed his hand against it. “Yes. See? My hand cannot go through, even if I use the Phantom spell, it won’t let me enter. And in terms of physical strength, I am not strong enough to push it.”

I paused as I examined the situation. Despite the small appearance of the fairies, they were by no means physically weak; Levi could even carry me while flying if he wanted.

“Could it be that you just pushed the door and did not twist the handle?” I said, after noticing the round knob.

“This handle? I tried but it does not go down when I press onto it. You can try if you don’t believe me.” Levi replied.

I did as he said and a few moments later, the stone door was pushed open, revealing a dark and creepy corridor. Levi was shocked. Our eyes met awkwardly.

“How? I tried to use the handle before.” Levi argued weakly. As he spoke, his face was slowly taking a shade of red.

“Well… Did you try twisting it? The handle is round so clearly, you need to twist it, not pull or anything.”

“…”

“…”

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