Warlock Apprentice

Sanders’ deduction, although incorporating the two guesses of the Tree Spirit, is more convincing than a unilateral conclusion.

Because it has been confirmed that this knight’s armor must have appeared in the ruins within the last century, the person who brought it here must have used a hidden passage that nobody knows about. Otherwise, if they entered through the main door, it would certainly trigger the sealing.

Since there is a hidden passage in this ruin, then it’s not surprising that there could be hidden rooms as well.

The Tree Spirit pondered for a moment and looked at Sanders: ”I agree with your deduction. However, the biggest question now is, where is this hidden passage to the outside world?”

”We can attempt to find the hidden passage later.” Rhein spoke; when the ruins were sealed several hundred years ago, he was also invited by the Tree Spirit to search for the so-called hidden room, because at that time he was skeptical about the existence of the hidden room, he didn’t take it seriously. Although this time he still doesn’t know if there’s a hidden room, it’s certain that there is a hidden passage. Anything that has occurred must have left traces, and with this established fact, searching will be much easier than blindly searching.

Rhein paused: ”Let’s put the hidden passage aside for a moment; I’m more curious about who this outsider is that entered the ruins within the past century.”

”Without surprises, it should be the owner of the ruins.” Angel stated the answer everyone had in mind.

The Tree Spirit nodded: ”Only the owner of the ruins, or someone related to the ruin’s owner, might know about the hidden passage.”

They currently know of only two figures as possible owners: one is the unknown creator of the ruins, the other is Tizarro.

According to Angel’s thought, it shouldn’t be Tizarro; he tends to favor the original owner of the ruins.

Tizarro is Dumatin’s mentor; he left the Southern Domain long ago. And according to Tizarro’s casual handbook, although he inferred the existence of hidden rooms through some details, he seemed to never find the location of that hidden room.

As for the first owner of the ruin, he created these ruins, so it’s reasonable he designed the hidden passage and entered through it.

Another crucial piece of information is the alchemy magic pattern on the knight’s armor.

Though none of them know the information about the original owner of the ruins, from the distribution of rooms within the ruins and the layout of precise instruments in the laboratory, it can be seen that he was an Alchemist.

As an Alchemist, it might be the case that he drew the alchemy magic pattern on the knight’s armor.

Angel expressed his analysis, and the Tree Spirit agreed: ”Indeed, the one who brought the knight’s armor in is most likely the ruin’s original owner.”

”That makes us outsiders instead, after all, he created the ruins.” Angel shook his head in awe.

”That’s not entirely correct; if the original owner truly returned, he would surely notice Tizarro’s traces in the ruins, and definitely observe the ruins had been sealed. He neither cared nor touched the sealed restraints or added mechanisms here... from my perspective, there’s only one possibility.” The Tree Spirit spread his hands, shrugging: ”He himself does not care at all about this alchemy laboratory, you could even say he’s already forsaken this place.”

What the Tree Spirit said also makes sense; many wizards often leave behind laboratories in various places; these laboratories are temporary, and leaving essentially equates to abandoning them, disregarding whoever enters afterward. Still, the question remains... ”Then why did he come back?”

”Who knows, perhaps he was merely passing by and came in to have a look.”

”Besides what thoughts he may have, at least now these pieces of information are confirmed.” Rhein interjected in their conversation: ”Irrelevant speculations can be temporarily set aside; coincidentally, the star-gazing day isn’t over, I’ll take a more thorough look at these ruins.”

Rhein’s words implied that this time, he is going to inspect the ruins seriously.

The Tree Spirit and Sanders both supported the idea of thoroughly investigating the ruins. Although this seems trivial to them, since they have time on their hands, it’s better to have something to do.

Next, they entered search time.

However, their so-called search wasn’t lighting lanterns and searching every nook and cranny bit by bit. They still gathered in the study; Rhein closed his eyes, released the Eye of Truth, which roamed through every corner of the ruins; Sanders released several Magic Falcons as his extended vision to search for anomalies within the ruins. Angel also converted his spiritual power into tentacles to explore various places in the ruins.

As for the Tree Spirit... he did nothing; after all, he’s merely a spiritual body avatar and can’t do much.

Even though the Tree Spirit did nothing, his babbling never ceased from beginning to end.

Initially, he was analyzing the various oddities of the ruins and speculating about the identity of the first Alchemist. But once the analysis reached a certain point and there was nothing more to say, he began his routine narrative of misfortunes.

As for the content of his grievances, it naturally revolved around the matter of the tea party venue.

With Rhein present, the Tree Spirit’s complaints became more intense, and to highlight his plight, he continuously lamented.

Topics such as ”Lianna’s unreasonable behavior,” ”I will be seriously injured if I open an internal space,” and ”Troves plotting against the Life Pool if I do open an internal space” were repeated.

Perhaps having grown weary of the Tree Spirit’s babbling, Rhein, despite having his eyes closed to control the Eye of Truth, replied: ”You can rest assured about opening the internal space, I’ll personally stand guard at the Life Pool during the tea party, ensuring no outsiders enter.”

Upon hearing that Rhein sided with Lianna again, the Tree Spirit was somewhat alarmed: ”You can guard the Life Pool, but forget about opening the internal space; you know well, if I open an internal space, I’ll face significant backlash.”

Speaking of backlash, Rhein paused slightly, for the Tree Spirit was indeed correct; opening a space within the core of the tree to accommodate a gathering would certainly backfire, however...

”Backlash indeed exists, but with the magnitude of the Eternal Tree, it can still be endured, at most requiring one or two years of recuperation.”

One or two years, for the Eternal Tree whose lifespan is counted in millennia, is indeed inconsequential.

”Even if only one or two years, that time is still precious. If during that period, the Mirror World is attacked, the consequences would be severe.” The Tree Spirit continued to argue logically.

”Those are words you could use to fool other wizards.” Rhein spoke softly with closed eyes: ”One or two years of recuperation won’t affect your combat power one bit. Even if an attack does happen, we would be there to handle it.”

The Tree Spirit: ”But...”

”Drop the ’but’; trading one or two years of recuperation for hosting a Wizards’ Realm event is well worth it. Besides, you know, each tea party host holds certain hidden rights, and if utilized well, through this event, you can gather significant information that’s advantageous to the Barbarian Cave.”

Rhein certainly knew how displeased the Tree Spirit was, but the tea party was essential to the Barbarian Cave, not just for showing strength, but for acquiring substantial benefits.

”Moreover, if you truly don’t wish to open the internal space, a substitute location must be found. You know, our Barbarian Cave is situated in a barren plateau; all we can present is the Mirror World.”

”And within the Mirror World, the most optimal, magical power-rich, and controllable location is the Eternal Tree itself.”