Master Of None

Chapter 2367: 2367. Like A Poison

Once in the air, the ruins that Walker knew were proven to be much further gone than he could tell.

The tower which had been broken that remained within the center had been surrounded by a decent amount of open space. Afterwards, there were many smaller wooden buildings with some stone mixed in. but now, there were way more stone buildings.

The wooden rotting buildings that survived because they were affected by the unique state of the ruined city had finally been agitated enough from battle sand from the change in the area again that they crumbled. The remnants were just piles of further rotting wood that could not be properly maintained by the undead mana around.

There was also not a force of strength that was maintaining them. The immortal king had the undead so what maintained the falling apart buildings as they moved about? While imperfect because a proper focus was not given, it was still something. Just enough to keep them standing.

The structure of the ruined city was clever now. The large street which had been filled in by rubble over time showed that the efficiency was high. Something that Genesis could actually learn from. Even if Walker wanted to ignore it out of spite.

Then there were the larger buildings which had clear faded markings of runes. Runes that he could vaguely feel pulled some mana into them to maintain the rune formations and whatever the urnes had once done.

Since these larger stone buildings remained, Walker could tell that they were once much more important than the others. Their size prompted him to think of them as storage areas the very same that were made for food storage. And that was most likely the case.

Yet, for the immortal chasing race, they did not focus on food. So if not that, then what could it be?

Test subjects.

They would have had many of their trapped test subjects isolated in places all through their city. That way the researchers could go and collect or store their experimental subjects at any time. Whether it was to get rid of them, or to start a brand new experiment. It was perfect access that allowed them to keep developing.

That was one of the issues. The immortal chasing race had been evil and done a lot of evil because of their twisted desire to be immortal and never die. That had pushed them to learn so much from their horrendous acts and allowed them to gain much more strength over time. So much so that they had built a much more established city than Walker had realized.

There were also places that had clearly been left open. What might have been fields of herbs or for training and testing? Whatever it was, Walker could sense somewhat different mana flows. The strange shapes in the soil proved that something might be underneath. Whether it was going to be roots or not, he could check for herbs from ancient times that had been awakened as well.

They already knew that there was a very high chance that a lot of what was left from ancient times could be found alive and thriving. Monsters that had gone dormant had already been an issue. Ancient plants had begun to grow from seeds or roots already. Then there were even ancient races like the cloud fairies who had been isolated because of powerful individuals.

All proof and a chance that there was more waiting within these now larger true ruins of an ancient race.

Stepping down from the air, Walker made sure that all the map makers were able to land calmly. He had used a decent amount of wind mana to keep them floating in place. Yet, he didnʼt feel the least bit tired. He had actually managed to replenish more mana than he had used which could be called extraordinary.

It was all the times he had been learning and manipulating his mana that were paying off. However, he still didnʼt like the feeling around here. The undead mana was a mix of life and death mana he could not place. His sense for death mana was still very minimal. Being able to counter it with life mana might be possible, but that was just in case a large amount was there.

If he had to counter life mana, all bets were off. Walker would have to hope that whatever happened he would have a better control of life mana than whatever he was battling again. That was just his simple truth right now. Not that he was certain life mana could be sued against someone. He wouldnʼt be surprised though.

”There are more zombies around. All of them seem like they are monsters that traveled the general area and came here after the lands returned to the size they should have been. I bet that with this, there will be even more monsters we have not expected from the undead too. Not to mention whatever else appears as more mana comes in to the world. We just had another bridge to the elemental planes open.” Walkerʼs stress felt higher and higher as he learned more.

The fact that just a battle here had spurred the replenishment of enough mana to return this entire area to how it was in ancient times told them a lot. Other areas might be stuck too. Waiting for the mana from the elemental planes to flow through and return it properly. How many ruins had they found so far that were only part of their true size?

”While you were gone we have trouble.” Alice pointed at some degrading bodies. They were different monsters, they looked like zombified felines of some kind.

”Lady Alice used light to purify them and they began to rot much faster. I believe that they had a dark affinity before they became undead. They were nearly whole bodies so I can assume they were influenced by something larger or potentially living here when the undead mana became too dense for them.”

The report of a scout matched what had happened and another theory that Walker had. ”Undead mana can act like a poison for people without proper resistances. Meaning we have to send everyone back. Especially those…” Walker trailed off while he was noticing the lack of someone. Well, someone.

”Where did that group go and why are there four scouts missing too?” He could count and notice that there were multiple scouts and the adventurer group missing. Even a few of the assassins in training who had been guarding had disappeared too. Meaning that they had all gone to patrol or explore.

No one said anything. As up to the last few moments they had thought there were only weaker undead in the area. Nothing major to threaten them or others who were weaker than them. Especially since the adventurer group would be in a larger group now to protect and be prepared for whatever was around them. Safety in numbers.

But that would do nothing against the undead mana which might act as poison to them. Even their larger numbers could not raise their levels and adjust their resistances to manas as a whole. ”We are going to get them and start bringing them out. Their battle healer wonʼt have enough mana and knowledge to be able to give them all some buffs to resist mana flow from around them or even be able to use purify skills on all of their bodies. Anyone weaker needs to leave the area now.”

Looking at the map makers made them all understand. They were strong and had resistances to be able to go to more dangerous areas and create their maps. Whoever, map makers were not born fighters. Therefore, They could not constantly resist and handle the fighting. Meaning that they had to be escorted away from the safety of everything. Any younger members of the remaining group were also being led away.

Alice stayed right next to Walker. She was humming slightly which made some light mana gather and move around everyoneʼs body. It was her way of testing to see if a little song of purification could affect everyone.

It was slight, but everyoneʼs faces grew a little warmer. None of them had even realized they grew slightly paler as they had come in to this undead mana Infused area. It had been just enough to cause them to weaken but gradually. Their resistance were high enough.

If they stayed here for longer it might be worse. If the younger members stayed… Walker didnʼt even want to consider it. They already had some proof that even living monsters could become undead by staying here too long. Their darkness affinity had ended up working against them and causing internal decay which worked together with the undead mana.

”Letʼs get moving. Alice will keep a small song going the whole time.” She nodded to Walker while staying close to him.

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