Chapter 67: CH 66: First of the Two Paths

The clone was in front of the torch, floating and providing light into the dark path leading deeper. The clone also has a couple of light weapons floating around both to give more light as Lawrence was squinting to see anything.

Once they left the long passageway, a large circular space with water flowing from the top can be seen. Lawrence forced the clone to crouch as he lowered the torch. Since any place with running water can be a place where countless beast lives and get their water, there might be monsters or those abominations around. Lawrence can hear the audible sounds of something sipping water. He raised his head to find a large black moose creature with bright blue antlers stemming from its head. It would be a normal moose if it wasn’t twice as large and had horns in the shape of pointed spears. The name of the monster is the glowing spear moose, a four-star beast whose main way of attacking is charging with its spear-like antlers and ramming its victims to the wall. It’s typically used by beast tamers as a substitute for a battering ram as a wave of this moose crushes any barriers it comes into contact with. Even a 5-star warrior would still be gravely injured if hit by this monstrosity.

It was calmly sipping on the lake as Lawrence willed his gravity mana before pointing his right arm at the spear moose. The moose started floating in the air as it looked around confused at what was happening. Lawrence immediately stood up before chucking the Gungnir right into its body, slamming into its chest and penetrating the muscles as the moose shrieked in pain. Without missing a beat, the clone immediately aimed a couple of moonlight beams at the moose. Killing it immediately as its skin froze and its blood dripped at its wounds. The carcass falls to the ground as both Lawrence and the clone inspected it. There aren’t any signs of magic in its carcass and its blood is red. Signaling that it wasn’t an abomination. This means that not all monsters will be an abomination that can explode upon death.

Looking around, there are two paths leading deeper into the cave. One with a thick black aura covering its entrance and one that has lit wooden torches attached to the side.

The clone glanced at Lawrence, seemingly waiting for his decision.

"We'll head to the torched-lit path, to see if there's someone there."

"You reckon there are any treasures in that path?" Lawrence shook his head at the clone's question. It seems unlikely but not impossible but it's better to have low expectations than get disappointed.

An hour into their trek and they didn't find anything yet. It was oddly silent as the fire blazing in the torch continued. They must have walked at least a couple of miles but the torches continued to light the path.

Another hour passed and still nothing

Another hour yet nothing

Again, an hour passed and they still haven't seen a speck of anything, no creatures, no bugs, hell, there wasn't even a sound echoing in the path. It was a mundane walk and Lawrence decided to abruptly stop. There's a chance that they are currently in an illusion as he started inspecting the ground, the wooden torch, and even the fire.

Upon a minute of inspection, he touched the fire only for it to not burn his skin and consecutively, broke the spell as the surroundings started cracking like mirrors and bursting into pieces. Lawrence immediately found himself chained to a large piece of rock as the clone was just waking up beside him. He was in a large cavern with a wooden hut in the middle. Torches surrounded the cavern with no paths leading anywhere. It was a closed cavern, there wasn't even a hole in the ceiling for a way to get out.

Suddenly, an old man wearing simple brown garb appeared with a stick in his hand, aiding him in walking. The crooked old man smiled at Lawrence.

"Such a naive kid. Not even noticing my simple illusion for hours. If I was wicked, you wouldn't even wake up"

Lawrence's anger welled in his heart as he gazed at the old man. He didn't even notice the illusion until it has been hours. He has gone reliant on Luke's ability to automatically break illusions that he didn't seek a way for him to be able to do so. In the end, he was still relying on others. Annoyed, he glanced at the old man before gritting his teeth. He resolved that after this tournament, he would look for an artifact that can break illusions.

The old man snickered at Lawrence's expression.

"So what do you want? There is no way that you spared our lives for nothing. Are you the one behind the abominations?"

"Hmm, I wonder." The old man started walking away as Lawrence tried getting out of the chains only for them to get tighter.

"It's a waste of time to get out of that chain. It restricts movement and stops the mana from circulating" the old man looked back. He was right, no matter how Lawrence willed his gravity mana through his right arm. It wouldn't work. Still, using the spell reflect which uses aura, the chains were pushed back to their limits before breaking into pieces. Lawrence immediately called back his Gungnir as it flew from inside the hut and into his hand.

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Without missing a beat, he used the spell attract as the old man was hurriedly sucked into his direction before activating the mark of weakness. Stabbing forward, the old man was wounded right in his stomach only for him to vanish into a mist. As the old man stood a few meters away with a carefree smile.

"Nice try kid" the old man chuckled before stepping forward and a magic circle appeared beneath his feet. A stone golem emerged in front of him. Standing for 10 meters and overlooking everything. A stone Warhammer is fixed in its hand.

"Defeat my summon and I'll let you go," the old man said with amusement as the stone golem started charging forward with its intense strength and lightning-quick speed. It took merely a second before reaching Lawrence as it abruptly stopped and raised its Warhammer before slamming it down at Lawrence.

Activating the teleportation ring, Lawrence appeared a few meters away before opening both of his palms as he started casting the spell black hole. A raging void appeared in between his hands as the gravity around him swelled and twisted.

"Cover me!" Lawrence shouted as the clone nodded. Wielding the black spear in his hand, the clone attacked the golem with moonlight beams to get its attention. The moonlight beams penetrated the stone exterior of the golem but it simply regenerated back. A common trick that every golem has.

Now that the clone got the stone golem's attention, he readied himself and stood his ground. A silver glow emanated from the spear as the golem smacked the clone with its massive Warhammer. Only for it to be reflected, pushing the golem a few inches away. The golem slammed and smashed its Warhammer but it was always reflected by the shaft of the spear. Creating a cacophony of sounds with every slam creating a loud booming noise and shaking the cave with the golem's strength baring at the clone's spear. The clone can hope that the spear won't break as he can't afford to take his eyes away from the golem and its incoming Warhammer. Ready to smash him to pieces.

The old man was impressed as no clone should be able to receive the attacks of his summon head-on. Yet here it is, his summon having a hard time even pushing the clone away.

Lawrence has finished creating the black hole as he immediately throws it in the direction of the stone golem. Making sure that it would hit, he activated the spell attract right at the stone golem. Pulling it away from the clone and into the incoming black hole.

An immense amount of aura is getting siphoned as Lawrence desperately pulled the stone golem into the black hole. Upon contact with the black hole, the golem was getting consumed by it piece by piece as the stone golem regenerated but it was useless. The black hole annihilated every piece of stone that comes into contact as it pulled the golem closer and closer until it exploded into sharp shards of stone. Still, it was a fruitless endeavor as the gravity coming from the black hole pulled back the shards of stones. Consuming its desperate last attack.

Once the black hole vanished from the lack of mana, not a single piece of the golem can be found anywhere.

Lawrence sighed as he didn't think that a golem would be able to do a suicide attack. If it exploded anywhere near him, he would be riddled with wounds and slashes. It was lucky that he used the spell black hole.

He glanced at the old man who remained standing with a carefree smile. It seemed that the old man wasn't bothered by him killing his summon at all. Still, the old man is an enigma. This character never appeared in the novel nor he can perceive what star he is. The only thing he knows is that the old man has a terrifying amount of mana circling his body endlessly.

"What a surprise. I didn't think that you were capable of handling my stone golem. Still, my words stay true. I will release you now." The old man tapped his walking stick on the ground and a large magic circle appeared. Lawrence blinked and he already found himself standing directly at the two paths heading deeper. It seemed that he was teleported back into the large cavern where they killed the spear moose as its carcass still lingered near the lake.

"So what do we do now?" The clone asked who appeared beside him, staring at the two paths. Lawrence sighed before gazing at the path smothered with a black aura. There was no use heading back at the old man since he might imprison them if they returned.

"We should rest for now. Regain our lost aura and mana. We should head down to the other path covered with that black aura" Lawrence decided. The clone nodded as the both of them started setting up the tents and creating a campfire.

Staring at the burning embers, Lawrence started planning what he will do after the tournament. Whether he wins or loses, he will have to gather three artifacts. The eye of Satya, Parts of the Fallen Slayer's armor, and the other parts of the Yggdrasil's roots.

The eye of Satya is an artifact that weakens the effect of any illusion magic to a certain degree. It was discovered by Cain yet it was put into the back burner by the use of his op system which just gave him resistance to illusion magic. Meanwhile, the Fallen Slayer's armor is an armor that boasts high magical and physical defense while giving the wearer a boost in speed and strength the more injured the wearer is. Currently, only the chest piece and the arm guard can be found on the human continent while the rest of the armor is in the central continent. Lastly, the Yggdrasil roots are needed to hopefully awaken Gungnir. He already has one but he has no idea where to find the rest. He can try asking Arryn but it might be dangerous since the Yggdrasil is a sensitive topic for any elves. So he has no choice but to scour any information in the Grand Library of the Fayez, the oldest library on the five continents. The library is comprised fully of information, knowledge, and any topic under the sky. Great scholars regularly publish their life's work in the library for everyone with an interest in attaining knowledge.

Lawrence grabs a few stacks of wood before burning it into the campfire as the night approaches and the shine of the moon entered the cavern. Filling Lawrence with an indescribable feeling of calmness washing over him.