Chương 78: , First Battle Magic

Inside the dragon's lair, Frilian, clutching a magic book, was arguing vehemently with Philon.

Shaen immediately spotted the name of the magic book: [Magic that allows one to see through clothes]

"This is a very useful magic book."

"It's a strange grimoire!"

"It's very useful, Nafiren. Think about it, if the clothing and range of perception are right, you can detect whether the other person is hiding a weapon..."

Philon puffed out his cheeks, clearly determined not to listen.

With a serious expression, Shane extended his hand to Frillie:

"Frilian, Philen is right, this magic book isn't very good. Let me keep it for you."

Philon turned to look at Shane, his face full of suspicion.

"Neither of you are allowed to take it!"

"Philan, don't you trust me?"

Xia En was shocked and looked heartbroken.

Philon ignored her completely, saying, "In this matter, I only trust myself."

The grimoire's title was written in "Ancient Elvish," which Shutark couldn't understand. He looked at the three arguing people with a bewildered expression, "It's just a grimoire..."

Ultimately, Philon emerged victorious.

Frillie was a little frustrated.

Just then, her gaze swept over the pile of treasures, and she pulled out a somewhat tattered piece of parchment.

"Shane, come and see what this is?"

Shaen's gaze swept over it, and there was a drawing with many strange symbols on it. On it was written a line of words in ancient Elvish language: The key to opening the treasure vault door: three circles to the left, three circles to the right.

Is this a treasure map?

Shane and Frilian exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of excitement in each other's eyes.

A treasure map found in the dragon's lair, with the key to the treasure vault written on it—what are we waiting for? Let's go!

After packing all the junk from the nest into their backpacks, the four of them followed the route drawn on the parchment to the aforementioned treasure vault.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"The map drawn on this map, although a bit blurry, looks like the [Likel Canyon] where we are now."

Xia En stood at a fork in the road, staring at the map, trying hard to make sense of it.

Philon used his [Flight Magic] to fly high into the canyon, helping Shane observe the direction.

"Mr. Shane seems to be on the left."

The group walked through the intricate ravines of the canyon.

Previously, due to the presence of the [Red Mirror Dragon], there were no low-level monsters in the vicinity, which saved a lot of time in clearing the path.

However, the tall, steep cliffs in the canyon, and the frequent branching paths, meant that their progress was not much faster.

Finally, as evening approached, they arrived at the destination marked on the map.

"But there's nothing here."

Shutark looked around and continued, "Is it a prank treasure map?"

Shain circled the target point, but like Shutark, found nothing.

Frilian stroked her chin, lost in thought.

"The writing in ancient Elvish language is definitely not the prank of an ordinary human child, but we can't rule out the possibility that it's the prank of an Elvish child..."

"Elves have children?" Shutark quipped.

"... If you put it that way, I really haven't seen any of my kind for hundreds of years. Maybe there really aren't any children left."

Shutark was shocked.

"How can you speak so calmly..."

"Lady Frillien, this is a very serious matter..."

"Is that so?"

Xia En ignored the chatter of the group and stood at the location marked on the map, frowning and deep in thought.

The target location was correct; it was right beneath his feet, marked with a five-pointed star symbol that read "Treasure Vault." But why was the ground so flat and ordinary in reality?

He stomped his foot, firmly.

This is weird...

As he pondered, he unconsciously paced around the target point, turning three times clockwise from the left and then turning back to the right counterclockwise three times.

"Could it be that because so much time has passed, the landscape has changed, and the treasure vault is gone?"

Just as he was thinking this, everything suddenly went black before his eyes.

Ding-ling-dang-lang.

A noise interrupted the conversation of several people.

Frillie turned around and saw that where Shane had been standing was now empty, with only a pile of clothes, a backpack, and a sword on the ground.

"Where's Xia En?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Xia En is numb.

He rummaged through the gold coins at his feet while searching for something to cover his body.

In the instant before his eyes went black, he understood what had happened.

His unconscious spinning motion triggered the key to unlocking the treasure vault: three circles to the left and three circles to the right.

At first, I thought it was some kind of riddle, or a clue to a puzzle that needed to be solved. But after all that, it just turns out it's really just spinning in circles...

Which elf drew that treasure map? How insidious!

And what kind of bizarre way was this to get in? Why did they strip me naked?

Splash!

The gold coins at his feet were stepped on and tilted down.

Xia En felt a pang of heartache.

Without his backpack, he was completely naked and could only look at the gold coins with envy, unable to take a single one with him.

If he hadn't already collected a huge amount of junk from the Red Mirror Dragon's lair, including some valuable ores, which was at least a small gain, he would definitely be crying his eyes out while holding this pile of gold coins.

After calming himself down, he began to carefully examine the "treasure trove" he was in.

It was a simple, square cellar.

The ground was covered with gold coins, and there was nothing else besides that.

and many more?

It seems there are still some.

His legs trudged through the pile of gold coins until he reached a corner of the cellar.

Another piece of parchment?

However, unlike the previous one, this parchment, when unfolded, was over a meter long, covered with a dense collection of research theories written in the language of the ancient elves, as well as numerous magical spell diagrams.

It is clearly a magic notebook.

It's too complicated; Shane can't understand it.

But none of that matters; he has an entry for "great wisdom appearing as foolishness."

Complex magical formulas and theoretical knowledge can be simplified into easy-to-understand "terms". By mastering the terms, one can quickly learn the corresponding magic.

In an instant, a string of simple and clear words appeared before Xia En's eyes— One against three Type: Battle Magic Effect: "Collusion" with three targets, briefly borrow the most prominent attribute from the colluding target and add it to yourself. The effect lasts for 30 minutes.

Status: Not learned!!!

Xia En was shocked.

[Strong luck] did not disappoint.

What is this? This is a cheat code for fighting! One-on-one? No, it's you taking on three.

Without hesitation, he immediately separated them with a thought.

The parchment then disintegrated.

A tiny point of light transformed into a magical particle and merged into his body.

A familiar feeling arose; his blood began to boil, and a strange, indescribable comfort shot from his tailbone straight to his head.

"Ah, that's the feeling..."

Xia Enqing couldn't help but close her eyes, savoring the lingering afterglow.

When he opened his eyes again, he was dumbfounded.

The gold coins scattered all over the ground vanished without a trace, and a huge six-pointed star magic circle appeared out of thin air on the ground in front of him.

Swah—— A blinding white light shot out from the magic circle.