The Strongest Spellblade

I looked at the ruined city in the light. The valley had a certain warmth to it and there was steam rising up into the air. The dungeon entrance was just ahead.

We hadn’t found anything useful in the ruined settlement. But this place was clearly a city of some kind. The metal buildings were still intact and there was even a circular layout for the streets.

Some of the buildings had collapsed and there was clear signs of battle damage. Trenches and ripped away portions. “A city,” I muttered while we all looked down at the lost city. “Definitely beastkin architecture.”

We made our way down into the ruined city. There was actual glass and the city was slightly warmer than its surroundings. I checked a place in the road where steam was coming out of and the surrounding ice sculptures that had formed from the steam.

“A story. Cities heated with steam,” Wild Tail said.

“Well it seems to still be functioning. Probably tapped into a volcano or some geothermal vents,” I said.

There was nothing of value left behind. Just the structures themselves, which would be too troublesome to move. We made our way to the main plaza. There was a statue in the center of the plaza, surrounded by a pool of heated water.

The statue was of a beastkin with a large hammer holding it up in the air. The statue was missing its head. Wild Tail leaned down to read the worn inscription at the base. “Force Claw, carved this city of Enduring Light expanding the frontier of the Beastkin Empire in the year 234.”

“Probably from the old Eldarin Calander. That puts it around 1,800 years old,” I said.

“The cold preserved it quite well,” Lanner said while reaching to touch the pool of water at the base of the statue. I quickly reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Don’t. It isn’t just water. I can tell with what little Alchemy I know. You put your hand in their, you will be screaming in pain,” I said. Lanner quickly drew it back.

“Surprised no one ever came back out here,” Wild Tail said.

“They probably forgot about this place, or it was lost to just stories, which faded in time. The demons have been taking out a lot of your people,” I said.

“Curse them,” Wild Tail said. He hadn’t gotten that animated before, but I could understand. He was seeing the remnants of the beastkin civilization before it had been completely ruined. He glanced at me, but I didn’t give any more commentary. While the beastkin blamed the Eldarin Empire and the humans for their failures, it was long ago. We weren’t going to easily uncover the truth.

Also, Wild Tail knew that attacking me would accomplish nothing. “The dungeon entrance is that way,” I said.

We left the statue and made our way towards a partially collapsed building. It took a day of work, moving various pieces of debris, but uncovered a dungeon entrance passage. I let out a sigh of relief.

“We descending today?” Lanner asked.

“Tomorrow. We will set up camp here at the entrance, explore these ruins tomorrow. And then descend after that,” I replied. While it was unlikely we would find anything, I didn’t want to pass up this opportunity. Also, my Danger Sense was completely quiet. If the demon was following us, its skill control was quite good.

The next day we began exploring the ruined city together. We weren’t splitting up. While it made exploring a lot slower, it was a matter of safety. Lanner and Wild Tail would struggle if they encountered trouble.

Several of the larger buildings were completely empty beyond basic furniture and some clothing. No gold, silver, or anything of value. Ozy let me know that he sensed some Mana lingering by one of the collapsed buildings.

I figured this building might have something, since Ozy was suggesting it. I carefully cut through the ruined metal, creating a path inside. I could have cut through a wall, but that was risky. I could trigger something or ruin what I was after. Clearing the debris wasn’t that much work.

There was bookcase with a glass door on the front. The frame of the glass door was made of silver and gold. It had minor value, but the books in the book case were much more interesting. I carefully opened up the glass door. There were no traps. There was just a preservation enchantment on the bookcase.

Weak enough to be overlooked by the demons who had probably removed everything else. Treatise of Supreme Legend Blood Snout. Hunter Versus Prey. Hammer Skills and Techniques. Basic Spell Skills.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

The rest of the books were personal journals. There were only four books in the bookcase that caught my interest. A book about a supreme legend was superior to other books talking about what adventurers had accomplished.

Hunter Versus Prey discussed various stealth and tracking skills and how they countered each other. Very useful in my opinion. Hammer Skills and Techniques was useful if I wanted that weapon skill. Not as useful.

Basic Spell Skills had several spell skills I already knew about. But it also contained the instructions for Solar Orb, Solar Strike, Conceal Presence, and Diffuse Mana. I took all the books for myself. Then we got to work on disassembling the bookcase door for its metal.

Book preservation enchantments were known. The only value left after taking the books was the metal itself. While not much, I wasn’t about to leave this treasure behind.

“I didn’t find anything else of value in this building,” Wild Tail said with a shake of his head.

“A shame. But this place has been picked quite clean.” Ozy hadn’t found anything else of interest in other partially collapsed buildings. If there was more treasure, then it was buried or hidden away.

It wasn’t worth our time searching for anything else. We returned to the dungeon entrance and set up camp there. Wild Tail and Lanner read the history books I had collected while I prepared dinner. They were mine, but if they wanted to read them, I didn’t mind.

“Lots of stuff about the beastkin Empire and adventuring during that time,” Lanner said as we ate.

“But nothing super useful?” I asked and he slowly nodded.

“Even the book about the supreme legend, didn’t have any secrets or a legacy,” he said.

“That is common. They are journals and records, not specifically compiled legacy books. You find anything Wild Tail?” I asked.

“My people have fallen a long way,” he said.

“It is unfortunate, but cultures can fade or be replaced. The Low Vostner and High Vostner civilizations are perfect examples of this,” I replied. I could tell he was depressed, seeing the ruins of his people.

For dinner, I added in a bit more spice, using up the last of it. “Hot,” Wild Tail said while fanning his mouth and I chuckled.

“Figured we should celebrate having survived all the way here. The dark season, demons, and the cold. Next stop the Eldarin continent,” I said.

“I won’t say no to no more cold,” Lanner replied.

“A fresh start,” Wild Tail said. I had explained how things worked on the Eldarin continent to him. While beastkin were rare, they weren’t unheard of. So, he would be able to find and connect with other beastkin.

I would also leave him some money so he could get started on a new life. I had very little money at the moment, since I had traded most of the metal to the gnomes, but once we got back I could trade the Mana cores I had left for more money.

“We will have to go deep in the dungeon to travel quicker,” I said.

“How deep?” Lanner asked.

“At least the 11th layer, probably the 13th or 14th if we can manage it,” I said. It was common knowledge that it was easier to travel about the dungeon the deeper one went. This was mostly due to the Last Bastion existing and legends going to it from all over the Eldarin continent.

“That is quite deep,” Lanner said.

“Well, hopefully that is as deep as we need to go,” I said, not wanting to say more about my skill. It was pointing at the dungeon entrance for a path to the Eldarin section of the dungeon, which was good.

“We might need to go deeper?” Wild Tail asked.

“My skill for navigating the dungeon isn’t precise. I will get the shortest route. And based on my experience that will be deeper,” I said.

“That is really deep,” Wild Tail said.

“We can handle it,” Lanner said, and I wanted to roll my eyes at that statement. He meant I could handle it while he provided a small bit of support. He still hadn’t unlocked a rapid wand recharging skill. Until he got that, he would be highly limited in combat.

But I didn’t say that or embarrass him. Let him be confident. He had enough experience to know how dangerous such things were. If he was a new adventurer, I would have said something. And Wild Tail wasn’t planning on becoming an adventurer, so there was no need to say anything to him either.

He would probably get a job as a laborer or miner most likely. If he was lucky, he might get some work in a forge. Regardless, he wasn’t going to be fighting in the dungeon. His metal staff was more for show since his combat skill was only Tier 1.

“If you say so,” Wild Tail said.

“Justin is really strong as you have seen,” Lanner said.

“Thank you for the compliment, but I am nowhere close to being a legend,” I said. I was closer in terms of skills than a lot of people. But the demons with their limited repertoire of skills were constrained by melee fighting.

Ozy was a strong counter to such fighters, slowing them down by altering the terrain. A shame that the tar hadn’t caught fire when I had been fighting the demon. That had been a combination we had planned out ahead of time. Unfortunately, the tar had all frozen.

I had a good idea of my combat ability. I couldn’t afford to overestimate myself. That was how adventurers died. They became overconfident.

Thinking about the next skills I should get, I didn’t feel a lot of pressure, since I had a way back home. I also had a lot of skills to work on. My mind drifted to Focused Pulse Strike.

That had been an impulsive decision to let it upgrade to a Tier 2 skill. There were arguments for and against it. But ultimately, while I was annoyed about skill, I wasn’t that constrained at the moment. I also didn’t want more skills that I had to work on.

I needed to work on the skills I had and keep up my skill count at just above Meldor’s Threshold of 70% ratio with my Mind stat. I could justify Pulse Strike, by saying it let me read others better or do rapid math. But ultimately, I just wanted to improve the skills I had.

Getting skills maximized at Tier 3 offered the possibility of interesting and unique Tier 4 skills. At least it made them easier to get. The soul skills weren’t urgent and improving all my skills would take a while.

Driving was annoying like Pulse Strike, but I would upgrade it when the time came as well. I had my three vice skills and I didn’t plan to get more. But I would enjoy the ones I had.

I could almost hear my mother nagging me at the moment about my choices. While things were rough right now, I had a way back. Ultimately, if I didn’t have a way back home, I wouldn’t have allowed Pulse Strike to upgrade. I might be a bit foolish, but I wasn’t a complete idiot.