Dragon Maken War

Chapter 118 - Guide's Gift (4)

6

“I think it should be around here somewhere…….”

On the next morning, Yuren led the party to a cave located halfway up a mountain. The road up was winding, and numerous boulders were piled upon other.  It was difficult to locate the entrance to the cave.

“Mmm.  It’s here.  I’m sure of it.”

“What’s supposed to be here?”

“I don’t know.”

“…….”

Everyone looked at Yuren as if they wanted to hit him.  Kairen sighed as he spoke to Leticia.

“I can’t believe you trusted this guy enough to make him your companion.”

“…sometimes I do regret my decision.  I’m happy that there are more people, who feel the same way as me.”

Leticia grumbled.  After she started traveling with Yuren, she had become frequently annoyed by his attitude.

Yuren laughed.

“Ah, well.  I just know that something good is here….  I don’t know how else I should explain this.  How unfortunate.”

“I sometimes wish you were a poor speaker.  Just shut up, and lead us from the front.”

When Leticia growled her words, Yuren shrugged his shoulders.  He was the at the forefront of the group as he led the party into the cave.  He put up a ball of light that would precede him, then he used his Flight magic to float through the air.

“The guide said there are magical traps here.  It’ll activate if you step on it, so please avoid doing so.  I’m also using a Detection magic, but there might be some traps that I might not be able to find.  So everyone should be careful….  Do you mind if I place the Flight spell on all of you?”

Yuren hesitated before he asked the question.  The act of placing the Flight spell on others could be seen as a precursor for him to double cross the party.  While in mid-air, the Magician had complete control over their subject, so they had no idea what he’ll do.

However, Azell didn’t worry over it.  He nodded his head.

“Do it.”

“Are you sure?”

“My sword is faster than whatever you can do.”

“…wow.  That hurts as little bit.”

“I can’t say I trust you, because you haven’t earned enough of my trust for me to so.”

“Still, couldn’t you have said it in a more roundabout way?”

Yuren grumbled as he placed the Flight spell on the whole party except Laura.  The party entered the cave, while they floated 30 cm up in the air.

The cave entrance was very steep.  However, after a certain point, the steep slope leveled out, and the cave gradually expanded in size. Azell was astonished.

“We would have been in deep trouble if we just charged in here.”

“There is unquestionably a lot of magical spells placed in here.”

Even Kairen was astonished.  The magical traps were perfectly hidden.  Still, Yuren’s Detection magic revealed their existence.  The spell shouldn’t have revealed every one of them, but an incredible amount of traps were detected, while they traveled for 200 meters.

This was one thing Azell could do nothing about.  If he focused, he could tell that there were magic spells around him, and he could sense that the spells were dangerous.  However, he couldn’t give any detailed information about the magic spells.  He couldn’t disable them either.  This was the territory of the Magicians.

“I’m pretty sure there are magic spells that aren't reacting to the Detection spell.  How are you evading those?”

“I have the Key spell.   We just have to avoid the magic spells that will activate when we step on it.  We just have to avoid the area of detection.  The rest….”

“I don’t think it is easy as you make it out to seem.”

“The guide gave me a sketch of the set up, and he told me the Key spell.”

“…….”

Azell looked at Yuren as if to say he found Yuren’s words to be dubious.  If one thought logically, Yuren or his acquaintances had probably made this place.  There was a possibility that their party was being lured into a trap….

‘On the other hand, he doesn’t look like the type to be good at acting.’

At this point, he really was curious about Yuren’s identity.  Actually, he wanted to know the identity of the guide…..  

The party continued forward.  There were so many traps that the progress was slow.  Still, the tension went down a notch, because they didn’t encounter any danger.

“Is it around 300 meters?  This place is pretty deep.”

It was hard to estimate the distance they had travelled, but Azell knew the exact distance to the entrance.  However, his wariness kept increasing.

Woo-oohng…….

Suddenly, Azell felt a magical energy rise up from within him.

‘Vitan’s Chalice?’

Vitan’s Chalice was reacting to something in his surrounding.  It was as if it was trying to tell him something.  When Azell focused on the sensation, he became aware of a fact.

“…I see.”

“What’s wrong?”

Kairen asked a question  Azell clicked his tongue.

“It’s very clever.  We haven’t even descended 30 meters yet.”

“What?”

Everyone looked at Azell in surprised.  Azell looked at Yuren as he asked a question.

“You knew about this?”

“I was curious as to when you were going to realize it.  It took me awhile to realize it too…  I’ve been trying to access the magic directly to open the lock…  How did you find out?”

“The Vitan’s Chalice alerted me to it. If not, I might have either found out about it at a much later time or I might have not known about it at all.”

“What are you guys talking about?  Please explain it to us.”

Kairen was frustrated, so he spoke up.  Azell spoke.

“We’ve entered into a distorted space.  This cave is only 30 meters long, yet the space was distorted to make us go around in circles….  It is made in a very clever way.  I didn’t even feel the trace of this magic.”

Azell shivered.  This place was made by someone with incredible skills.  This person was a high rank magician, who was able to manipulate space.  It was very rare to see a magician skilled enough to distort a fixed space, and mess with the sense of space.   He was skillful enough to make Azell feel as if he had traveled 10 times the original distance….

‘He is dangerous.’

The Vitan’s Chalice was probably frustrated that its owner hadn’t known what was going on, so it gave him the answer.  At the same time, this put Azell on alert.  He hadn’t known he was inside a magic spell until he was actually in it.  This meant a trap could be sprung without him knowing about it.  They might already be in a trap.  Azell was about to bring out the Vitan’s Chalice when Yuren spoke.

“You don’t have to bring out your Dragon weapon.  The lock has been released.  I just have to open the door, and we’ll be able to exit this place.”

“How long has it been since you unlocked it?”

“It’s been about 10 minutes.”

“…you were watching us roam around?”

“I was curious as to when you’ll realize it.  I was going to watch you all for five more minutes then I would have released the spell.”

“…….”

“Don’t be angry.  I thought it was a great opportunity to check out the abilities of my comrades.”

Azell flinched at those words.  Yuren looked at Azell quizzically, and Azell saw an image superimposed on Yuren.

“What is it?”

“…you just reminded me of someone I knew.”

He had wanted to smack Yuren, and his actions reminded Azell of Carlos.  Before they became best friends, Carlos always used to test Azell using various methods.  Even in difficult situations he could stop at any time, Carlos just observed the situation.  He watched to see how far Azell could be pushed, and he spoke in a patronizing manner when everything was wrapped up.  At such times, Azell had wanted to beat up Carlos.

At that moment, Yuren looked like Carlos.  The fact that their faces looked similar added to the similarity.

‘Is he really Carlos’ descendant?’

Azell thought about the past, and it happened when he was in a state of confusion.  

Something suddenly stimulated Azell’s senses.

“…mmm?”

At the same time, Yuren dispelled the magic that was distorting the space. A haze formed, and the landscape curved to form an entirely different surrounding..

“This is…….”

Everyone looked at their surrounding in surprise.  They were at the end of the cave before they knew it.  It wasn’t that large of a space, and in the middle, there was a pillar letting out a low blue light.  Within it….

“Is that a magical armor?

There was a set of white armor arranged inside.

Azell’s expression turned peculiar when he saw it.

“This…  Is this...”

At that moment, Yuren stepped in front of the armor, and he spun on his heels.  Then he opened his arms wide as if he was an actor from a theater troupe.  He spoke dramatically.

“This is the gift that the guide wanted me to give you.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“Of course, I have no idea!”

“…….”

“Well, by the look of it, isn’t it a really good magical armor?”

“Mmmm.”

Azell looked at the armor with a complicated expression on his face.  

At that moment, Laura spoke up.

“White Dragon armor?”

“Huh?”

Everyone turned to look at her.  Laura stared at the armor as she spoke.

“This looks similar to the White Dragon armor worn by Azell Karzark.”

“…….”

This was the reason why Azell had a complicated expression on his face.  This armor looked like the one he had worn during the Dragon Demon war.

7

At the time of the Dragon Demon war, Azell had pretty much worn magic battle-gear all over his body.  The White Dragon armor used Dragon’s bones as framework.  The Dragon’s scales were melted and it was combined with magic metal.  This armor and helmet was made using these ingredients.

“White Dragon armor….”

Azell approached the armor.  Then he looked at his surrounding before he spoke.

“Mmm.  Is it ok if I touch it?”

“All the magic spells were disabled.  The armor might be able to determine if a person is worthy to be its owner.”

“It is a magic gear that has self-awareness?”

“Maybe.  It’s probably not smart.  It probably has a faint instinct it can act on.”

Aside from the Dragon weapons, there were magical gears out there that possessed self-awareness.  They were able to choose worthy owners.  It seemed this armor was such an item.

Azell spoke.

“This isn’t the White Dragon armor.”

“Huh?  But…  It looks the same.”

Laura titled her head in puzzlement.

“You’ve actually seen the White Dragon armor before?”

“I’ve only seen it in the records.  It is the same as the one in the recorded image.”

Kairen butted into the conversation.

“I’ve also seen the portrait of Azell Karzark, and the design looks similar…  Why are you so sure that it isn’t the real thing?”

“The White Dragon armor isn’t an item that possess self-awareness.  I’m sure about that.”

The White Dragon armor had not been made for Azell in the first place.  It was an equipment he stole from his enemy.  When he obtained it, he had given it to the smith to resize it.  However, there were no other requirements in using that particular equipment.

“However, it seems someone really made an exact replica of the White Dragon armor.”

Azell carefully picked up the helmet placed on top of the armor.  At the same time, something swept over his senses.

‘Mmmm?’

Azsell reflexively tried to shield his senses, but he gave up on it.   He realized a magical thought contained within the helmet was flowing into his senses.

-Hmm.  Can you hear my voice?

From within Azell, someone’s voice rang out.

Azell had heard this voice once before.

‘…Carlos?’

It was similar to the thought manifestation of the old Carlos he met inside the ruin of the Balan Forest.  When Azell saw him, he spoke.

‘You are the one, who left this behind for me.  Even after you lost all your hair, you are reliable….’

-If you can hear my voice, the person to acquire this item must be Azell.

The thought manifestation of Carlos ignored Azell’s words as it spoke what it had to say.  

Azell realized it when he saw Carlos’ behavior.