Chapter 375: 375. The WIlderness Beneath

“Ready yet?” Dallion asked, keeping watch in at the end of the cross-corridor.

So far, they had spent over a week wandering the arena’s realm, seeking places that seemed unusual. Even with Lux’s help, the process was long and arduous, not to mention that they had to fight the constant hunger that had started to grow.

Finally, after everything, they had found what they were looking for: a vast chasm leading to a set of tunnels deep underground. Instantly, Vend was able to tell that this was a section that wasn’t revealed to ordinary people. The presence of an underground lake suggested that the section had flowing water through it. All that work, however, had turned out to be the easy part. Matching the realm to the corresponding architecture had proven to be far trickier.

“This would go a lot faster if I can talk to Nox,” Dallion whispered, glancing over his shoulder.

“A lot faster to getting us caught,” the elite replied, slowly slicing through a section of floor with the Nox dagger.

Even with the crackling’s leveling up, the dagger still lacked the ability to slice through stone. In order to succeed, Vend had to keep sliding its edge along the same outline over and over again. At one point, there was a barely audible crack.

“Almost done,” Vend said, pressing against the dagger just enough to go through. After considerable deliberation, he had decided that the best breach point was from a service staircase. Visitors stayed away, and the guards had been informed that Vend and Dallion would be mending sections of the arena.

The calm with which Vend proceeded suggested that he had done this before. Not batting an eye, he “carved” half the step in the staircase, then stopped.

“Come here,” the elite said. “I need you to hold this so it doesn’t fall in.”

“Huh?” Dallion blinked.

“Nothing to worry about. You should be able to handle it at your level. Just make sure your hands don’t slip.”

Great, Dallion thought. Taking one final look in all directions to make sure no one was approaching, he joined Vent at the bottom of the staircase. He would have been a lot more confident if he were still able to talk to the guardian of the step. Now there was the risk that the meddling had annoyed the item, causing it to slip out of his fingers in vengeance.

“Here and here.” Vend pointed to both sides of the step. “Just hold it for now. I’ll tell you when to lift.”

“Are you sure you’ve done this before?” Dallion went to the step above, then bent down and pressed against the piece of marble.

“Many times,” Vend replied casually. The scarier part was that he didn’t seem to be lying.

Bit by bit, the remaining parts were cut out. Dallion could hear the faint crumbling sound. At least this indicated that they had been right about the entry point. Thinking about it, the stairway probably had originally continued down unimpeded—most likely during the original excavation process. At some point, a decision was made to seal it off, hastily at that.

For a moment Dallion wondered how such a secret could be kept. The original construction of the arena had probably involved thousands of people, if not tens of thousands. At least some of them should have talked. Then, however, he remembered the effects limiting echoes had back in Dherma village. Could it be that this was where the old village chief had gotten the idea from? If there were still people with echoes inside them fifty years ago, it would be a reason for him to start fearing the cities as well as use the knowledge to his advantage.

“Ready?” Vend asked.

Dallion nodded. With extreme precision, the elite sliced off the final segment of the step. A final crack was heard, after which Dallion felt the full weight of the block. For the slightest of moments, the image of the step slipping away went through his mind. Panicked, he lifted it up quickly… at which point his flingers slipped.

“No!” Dallion shouted.

The step, however, didn’t fall. With his usual speed, Vend had managed to let go of the Nox dagger and catch it underneath. An expression of annoyance and disappointment conveyed his thoughts better than a two-hour shouting match.

“Next time you mess up,” Vend whispered. “Just keep quiet.”

“Good advice,” a familiar voice said.

Both Vend and Dallion glanced in the direction of its source to see none other than Euryale. The gorgon was standing there, arms crossed, observing both of them, and the corridor behind her. Dallion didn’t need music skills to tell that she was more than a bit displeased.

“The moment I heard there were problems down here, I suspected it might be you two idiots,” she said. “Are you in enough trouble already?”

“A bit,” Dallion replied.

“Not much,” Vend said almost simultaneously. For a moment, the two looked at each other, then back at the gorgon. “We’re on to something,” Vend continued. “This time it’s real.”

Euryale didn’t seem overly convinced.

“There are tunnels down there that shouldn’t exist,” Dallion said. He had the good sense not to try and sway her with his music skills. “We’re already made an opening. You can tell the guards and the overseer, or you can let us do this.”

The snakes on the gorgon’s head didn’t budge. That was her tell that she had come to a decision she’d likely regret. Dallion held his breath. If things went the way he feared he might have to do something he’d later regret.

“I’ll do neither,” Euryale said. “Someone needs to save your asses. I’m going with you.” And before anyone could protest, she went to the step and picked it up as if it were made of cork. “Go ahead.”

A minute later, the staircase appeared to be in the same state it had always been. There was no sign of Vend, Dallion, or Euryale. Anyone would think that everything was fine… unless they carefully examined the lowest step in the staircase. Doing so would reveal that it was, in fact, loose and held in place by a few daggers wedged in from below.

Meanwhile, the trio continued their descent beyond the sealed off point of the staircase. A blue flame provided enough light for them to see, courtesy of Lux and the kaleidervisto.

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“You really think there are ruins beneath the arena?” Euryale asked. She had been told the short version of their theory. As a hunter, however, she was even more skeptical than Vend had been. “If I had known, that would have made my life a lot easier. I wouldn’t have had to wander about in search for artifacts.”

“There’s no guarantee there are any,” Vend said, an unusual note of annoyance in his voice. “All we know is that there might be ruins, not that there’s anything useful in that.”

“And you’re basing all that on a single ring somewhere beneath the Performer’s Plaza? It could have been just a well.”

“I don’t remember any well.”

“It wasn’t a well,” Dallion said firmly. “I would have known.” He couldn’t reveal that he had asked a few building guardians about the possibility, but he was getting tired of the pointless arguments. “Either way, we’ll soon find out.”

The staircase ended in a wide chamber, reminding Dallion of the layout in smaller sphere items. A maze of tunnels and corridors went on from there, with no indication what was going on. Occasionally, they would come across canals of water or pits of waste. Any type of signs or markers were noticeably absent, making it impossible to say where beneath the city they were. However, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they had moved bay beyond the arena.

“I have to take my blocker ring off,” Dallion said.

“That’s too risky,” Eury was quick to note. “The moment you, the Lord Mayor, the countess, and who knows who else will know you’re somewhere you’re not supposed to be.”

“I don’t think so. The star wouldn’t risk putting an item in a place where it would be seen.”

“You’re being reckless again.”

“No, hear me out.” Dallion clenched his fist behind his back. “Each domain has its boundaries. Buildings don’t stretch into the domain of other buildings, just as they don’t continue beyond their foundations. Isn’t it the same for areas? I know the smaller ones are like bubbles within the city domain.”

“There’s only wilderness beyond the city domain,” Vend joined in. “The tunnel is clearly made by someone, so it must be part of a domain.”

“Ruins don’t have domains,” Euryale said. “They are corpses of cities, so are part of the wilderness.”

The description caused for a few moments of silence to form.

“You never told me that,” Vend said.

“I didn’t have any reason to.” The gorgon moved closer to the nearest wall, then took out a dagger the size of a thumb and stuck it in. Nothing happened. “No guardian,” she said, causing Dallion to shiver at the thought. ”Could be wilderness ruins, or could be something broken to the point that it has no guardian.” A cluster of snakes focused on Dallion. “It’s your call.”

There was no other option, and everyone knew it. They had been walking throughout the tunnels for hours and still had nothing to show for it. At best, they could point at something that wasn’t supposed to exist; or, as Eury had found in her rather cruel method, that they could have gone into the wilderness. Without hesitation, he pulled off the blocker ring.

Nil? Dallion asked.

Oh, I’m here, dear boy. Just give me a moment to access the situation. Definitely not the approach I would have taken, but then again, I’m used to it.

Helpful advice only, Nil. I’m under a bit of pressure.

Well, all the advice I could give you is that you indeed appear to be in the wilderness. To be honest, I wasn’t aware of the tunnels myself, but I can see the logic. One thing I think you’re wrong about is the discovery of the ruins. I don’t think they were discovered while buildings were being constructed. I think the city was built here to take advantage of the fact. Just consider the noble districts. It was assumed that they hired hunters to get the stones for their homes from ruins in the wilderness. That is, in fact, quite true… now. But what about when the city was established? All that valuable material lying around. Stones that were almost indestructible and had no guardians, not to mention the items that could have been found within. Like, say, the world sword?

Something clicked in Dallion’s mind. Several things, in fact.

The backer who gave the sword for exploration was the Lord Mayor?

You’re still thinking too small, dear boy. Dallion could feel the echo smile. When Nerosal was being built, there were far fewer settlements in this region. Fewer human ones, at least. It’s doubtful that there were counties back then. Also, consider human nature. If you were the ruler of this domain and you discovered a city of ancient ruins, what would you do?

Send my troops and build a military camp.

Quite right. And that camp would eventually turn into a thriving city. But is that all?

The question made Dallion think. He knew that the answer was obvious, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t come up with anything that felt right.

Nobility is based on awakening level, the old echo continued. That in turn, is strongly influenced by items. You’ve seen how much easier it is to complete trials with a harpsisword compared to a common short sword. Not to mention that awakening items are far more common in the area than one might think. Knowing that, who would you trust to be in charge of this newly established military camp?

Dallion’s eyes widened with surprise.

No one, he said. I’d go there myself. Then, when everything of value has been found and secured, I’d move back to my capital. All the items would be inherited by my successors.

Most definitely

The Archduke, Dallion said. The guild’s backer is Archduke Lanitol of Wetie Province.

An interesting possibility, don’t you think?

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