Chapter 138
“YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!”
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My cry of triumph echoed from the hole . I wiped at the dirt on my cheek, in effect, smearing it further . But I didn’t care about that at all . After all…
After all…!
I had finally discovered the underground entrance!
“How could I not be happy! I want to tell Daniela! Yes!!”
I had to concentrate the power of Legs of the Forest Wolf to a small point in the hole a few times…it sounds simple, but it was actually very hard on me . I had to remove a lot of the soft dirt first, and there was so much of it .
I was positively exhausted after just a few rounds of that . And using the skill was hard on my nerves, causing me mental exhaustion as well . And yet I continued to dig until my hands hit something hard .
Frantically, I brushed away the dirt to reveal a hatch . There was a kind of circular door with a handle, the kind you might see in a submarine . It was buried in the ground . What on earth could it be, if not an entrance?
And that was how I found the door to the hidden area .
In any case, that was the reason for my cry of triumph . But I had only just discovered the door . Now, I would go inside .
“Alright…here we go…!”
I grabbed the handle with both hands and tried to turn it . …But it would not be turned . Was I pulling the wrong way? I tried the other direction . And then it turned . There was a hiss as the old air below joined the the air of the surface . The space that had been locked away for a thousand years was there, but it did not smell particularly strange . I guess it was the effect of the preservation magic .
Still, I was glad that it opened . It could very well have been a door that was locked to anyone who was not a descendant of the old elves . I was quite relieved to see that the ancient elves were big-hearted in that regard .
I lifted the door and saw that there was a ladder inside . There were lines carved into the walls that let off a dim glow . I would not need a lantern then .
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But I was cautious as I went in, as there was no telling what might be waiting inside . And so I descended the latter slowly . Even after touching it, the material of the ladder was a mystery to me .
Clang . Clang . The metallic sounds echoed as I descended . It took about three minutes until my feet hit the ground . When I was standing on my two feet, I turned away from the ladder to see that there was a straight path leading out up ahead . There were no other paths . This was the kind of linear map you might find in a shitty video game .
In any case, I used Presence Detection as I made my way forward . Unsurprisingly, there were no living things to detect, all I could sense was the environment preservation magic . It was likely due to the magic that this place still existed like this . Powerful stuff .
As I continued to walk, I saw that there was a door to my side . But the path still continued on ahead… But I suppose I could take a little detour and explore . Checking every room I come across is the Asagi way, so I wasn’t going to pass it .
“Excuse me…”
I turned the doorknob and pushed . It was not locked and there didn’t seem to be any traps . The room inside was the size of four and a half tatami mats . There was a pile of things against the back wall .
It would be the most embarrassing thing if I entered the room, the door closed, and I was locked in forever . And so I was sure to open the door as wide as I could and fix it in place with ice . Once I was sure it was secure, I moved deeper into the room .
There were lines of glowing light along the walls of the room like in the hallway, and so I could see clearly . I could see what was piled up .
“Huhhh…crazy…”
The things that were all piled up there, were dolls . They weren’t moving, but they were the type that could move on their own . Automata, I think . The bones were completely visible on some, while others had a skin-like material covering them . I didn’t know how they worked, so turning them on would not be possible . But this was definitely something that would excite researchers and enthusiasts . Though, they were thrown in a pile as if they had no importance .
“Ohh…”
One of them…looked to be in especially good condition, and so I pulled it out for inspection . It had no visible damage . Its arms and legs were not twisted in impossible directions . It was good as new . By the way, it was a female model . This was most evident by the lack of clothing and rather questionable level of detail in the anatomy . Well, perhaps it was used for such things . Maybe the ancient elves were enormous perverts .
“I wish I could take this with me… But not sure if I have the courage to carry this and walk out there . ”
It was a naked body that wasn’t breathing . I would look like a murderer . Even if it was a doll, I couldn’t be so careless with it . Things that were dead and motionless could be stored in the hollow bag, but if this thing moved… I wonder what would happen? Could a moving object be stored?
“I have many questions, but I have to move along for now . ”
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Well, maybe by the time I came back I would have the nerve to take it with me . And so I took it out of the room and left it in the hallway . There were other undamaged dolls as well…but I wouldn’t be able to carry more than one .
“Alright, let’s go . ”
I deactivated the magic and closed the door . For a moment I wondered if taking it out and closing the door would turn the thing on, but it didn’t . Maybe it was the environment protection . In any case, I would leave it for now .
Click . Click . My leather boots rang on the floor . I felt like I had walked for a while, but there were no more side doors and no traps . It just continued without change until it finally stopped .
There was a door much like the last one right in front of me .
“Is this the treasure room?”
I slowly touched the doorknob . It was neither cold nor hot . There was no static electricity . Very welcoming, I must say .
And so I turned it and pushed the door open .
“Uhh…?!”
What had just been a few lines of light were now numerous as they drew patterns on the walls, floor, and ceiling . The increased brightness forced me to narrow my eyes . After a while, the white faded and my eyes adjusted .
This room was slightly bigger than the other . About six tatami mats . Perhaps the ancient elves liked their rooms to be cozier? Were they cozy-loving perverts?
“Ah…”
There was a box in the center of the bright room . A long box . Did it contain a sword then?
I could not hide my excitement as my heart began to beat quickly . I couldn’t help that it rang loudly in my ears . But all thoughts of that were quickly swept away as I knelt in front of the box, and with shaking hands, reached out to touch it .
Then the lines on the ground began to shine brighter and extend towards the box . They surrounded it once before connecting .
When the lines met, there was a small click, and the box opened .
“…”
I gulped . Then I picked up the lid and set it to the side . As for what was inside…
“………………………hm?”
There were two pairs of glasses .
“Glglasses?
The long box contained two of them side by side . One had a frameless design and the other had a light green square frame . The green looked familiar . The mysterious metal .
“My eyesight isn’t bad, but…”
I tried picking one up . It was an ancient treasure, after all…and so I slowly put the square frame glasses on . Then I looked around the room, but there didn’t seem to be a difference . It was like putting on a pair of fake glasses .
“Well, that’s a disappointment…”
My shoulders slump as I looked down at the hand on my lap . It was horribly dirty after all the digging . I sighed and wondered what to do next, when something very strange happened .
My hand…well, the gauntlet . A line ran along the surface and then letters appeared .
“‘Ice Dragon Gauntlet . ’ …I know that!”
Wait .
“Oh, does this appraise things?”
Other worlds and appraising . Appraising and other worlds . I’ve never actually seen anything being appraised before . I didn’t really think it was done here .
However, these glasses were a magical appraising tool .
“Yesss!!”
I shouted in triumph for the third time today . I was very happy to be able to bring back something good for Daniela .
It took me quite a while to finish appraising all of my equipment . However, I learned a few things by doing it .
The first was that these glasses did not require any magic to use . I discovered this by using the glasses to look at each other . The lenses were made of magical stone . Void ore . That is what they were made of .
And I also realized that looking at something closely gave you even more detailed explanations about it . For instance, this is what it looked like for the Ice Dragon Gauntlet .
‘Ice Dragon Gauntlet . Gauntlet made of Ice dragon hide and black steel . Slightly raises the power of ice magic . Raises resistance to fire magic . ’
Something like that . This feature was rather brilliant, and it even appraised the lenses of the appraisal glasses . According to the results, there was a special magic pattern carved into the lens that allowed for the appraising of objects .
It used the mana in the air to work, which meant the user’s magic did not deplete .
“This is great…!”
I was very pleased with what I had uncovered . I was sure that Daniela would be pleased as well . It was great luck that there were two of them .
“After all, I’ll get to see Daniela wearing glasses!”