End of the Magic Era - Chapter 501
Chapter 501: Cold Sweat
“Haha, if I’m not wrong, it should be like that…” Thorne smiled bitterly. He glanced at everyone, paused, and said, “I think you should know that every swordsman has special feelings towards swords and greatswords. I actually like to collect greatswords, there’s even a greatsword crafted by the 3rd dynasty’s royal workshop in my collection. It was said that the greatsword once belonged to an Imperial Guard Commander and I spent a small fortune to win it an auction…
“Unfortunately, although that greatsword is extremely sharp and its craftsmanship is excellent due to the peak materials used, it is still rusting from the passage of time. It has already been seriously damaged after a few millennia. After getting the greatsword, I took it to the Mercury Tower, ready to spend a great sum to ask a Master Alchemist to repair it. At that time, Sir Karon had already been a Master Alchemist for many years and was said to be at the peak of that rank, but even he was helpless when he saw that greatsword. He said that it was crafted with the techniques of the 3rd Dynasty’s royal workshop. These techniques were lost with the fall of the 3rd Dynasty…”
Ida and the others listened calmly, not at all feeling like Thorne was long-winded. They understood as they listened and their expressions became serious.
“The most important part was that the royal workshop’s techniques were unique to that era. In other words, only the Imperial Guards and the private imperial army were qualified to use these standardized greatswords. If ordinary people inadvertently obtained this kind of a greatsword and didn’t turn it over to higher authorities, they would receive the most severe imperil punishment once it was discovered…” After saying this, Thorne paused. “It looks like we weren’t the first to find this plane… It was the royal family of the 3rd Dynasty.”
Just as everyone was digesting the news, they heard an alarmed voice. “Come over here, quick! There is… There are a lot more here!”
It came from Lahn, the one that had found the broken sword. Instead of listening to Thorne’s story, he had continued digging in the snow, wanting to check if there was anything else below. And eventually, it turned out that there was.
“What? There are more?” Everyone walked over, puzzled. They couldn’t help being stunned when they saw all kinds of pitch-black greatswords in a one-meter deep hole. Some were intact, while some were damaged…
“Heavens, how could there be so many…” Thorne was the first to let out an alarmed shout. Because he could clearly see over ten greatswords laying down in the hole.
This meant that over ten Imperial Guards, or perhaps members of a private imperial army, met their ends on this Ice Field. As a 5th Rank Sword Saint, Thorne clearly knew that since time immemorial, every swordsman treasured their swords and treated them like a second life.
This was a rule for every swordsman.
When they officially became Swordsmen in their youth, their teacher would solemnly tell them that they had to treat their sword like a relative.
Unless it was completely inevitable, they would never abandon their sword…
What truly shocked Thorne was that…
The Imperial Guards and imperial soldiers had all been chosen very carefully in the 3rd Dynasty. They were all at least Sword Saints. And in the golden age of the 3rd Dynasty, an Imperial Guard Commander had the power of a Heaven Rank powerhouse.
Over ten Sword Saints fell here in the past… this shocked Thorne.
“Let’s excavate further and see if there is more…”
Thorne was still immersed in his shock and didn’t even know who made this suggestion. Everyone then got busy and mana fluctuations rose as light brown Earth Puppets were summoned to start digging.
“Rumble…”
But, after digging a bit, a part of the ice field shook before caving in, exposing a cave entrance.
“That’s…”
Lahn, the closest to the cave entrance, was staring fixedly at it with a look of surprise. Everyone followed suit and saw that the inside of the cave wasn’t dark at all… It was glistening.
Just like Lahn, everyone was shocked to see that golden light.
There were treasures and gold…
A large amount was piled up chaotically, and the countless glittering lights roused up their inner greed.
Even if they were existences that were already detached from the secular world…
They were still tempted and couldn’t move their eyes away.
The snow cave was very spacious and packed with valuables. Everyone noticed the pitch-black greatswords mixed among the valuables. There were over a hundred of them, and those were only the ones that were visible. This was a very shocking scene.
“How could there be so many?” Thorne looked at those pitch-black greatswords blurted that out in surprise. When the others heard him, they thought that he was surprised by all the treasure.
Although Thorne had been shocked by the wealth at first, what he truly cared about were those pitch-black greatswords.
Over a hundred of them…
This meant that there had once been over a hundred Imperial Guards here. Such a group wasn’t something an ordinary member of the royal family could gather. Only that era’s ruler could do so.
It might very well be the case that an emperor of the 3rd Dynasty sent numerous Imperial Guards to this ice plane. But something must have happened here, leading to the deaths of the Imperial Guards.
“It looks like an unknown secret has been buried here!” Thorne exclaimed. He looked at the inside of the cave, entranced.
But at this time, the silent Lin Yun came over. He thoughtfully looked at the snow cave and without any reluctance, he said to the others, “Hey, we have wasted a lot of time here, shouldn’t we hurry up?”
Hearing Lin Yun’s words, everyone became flabbergasted. After a brief period of silence, Lahn finally reacted. “High Mage Mafa, how could we just leave? This is an incredible fortune! If we bring it back, the power of our Merlin Family’s Planar Legion will dramatically increase. Shouldn’t we gather those valuables?”
Although this aged Archmage was annoyed after hearing Lin Yun’s words, he was also one to learn from his mistakes. His attitude towards Lin Yun had made a complete 180° and he was now very respectful to him.
After all, he had learnt of the young mage’s true strength not long ago and having his mana sealed had truly frightened him to death.
Since time immemorial, Noscent had always been a place where the strong prey on the weak. It was a world where the strong were respected.
He had previously provoked the young mage in every possible way, jealous of his status. After all, how could a 5th Rank High Mage become a Planar Commander?
Indeed, before being Mana Shackled, he had scorned the young mage’s status as Planar Commander.
Lahn himself was on the verge of becoming a 5th Rank Archmage, close to becoming a High Rank Archmage. Moreover, he had greatly contributed to the Merlin Family in the past decades. Whether it was in terms of experience, seniority, or strength, he was far above the young 5th Rank High Mage, but the latter had become a Commander.
He really felt that the Ancestral Land had been unfair.
Thus, even though he had no grudge against him, he set himself against the young mage the first time they met, as if he had lost all reason.
It was only a few hours ago that he learnt his mistakes.
Just how frighteningly powerful was he to easily suppress a 4th Rank Archmage? He should be comparable to a 7th Rank Archmage, or even higher…
As he thought of how he had been arrogant and rude in front of such a terrifying existence, he felt deep regret.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that provoking the young mage was truly courting death.
As for the young mage’s status as a Commander…
He no longer had any reason to be jealous, because he could now see that it was perfectly normal for such a powerful mage to become a Commander.
As his thought process reached this point, cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He humbled himself and respectfully expressed his opinion regarding the treasure they’d discovered.
But the young mage’s cold voice echoed once again. “Sir Lahn, did you not understand my words? Do you want me to repeat myself…?”
‘…What?’
Lahn froze, feeling that this didn’t make sense…
