Chapter 92: Low-level God-slaying Spell
March 7, 2015
Author: Floating Tower
There are many hidden compartments and secret rooms inside the ruins.
This is related to the habits of people in the current world, whether they are nobles or wizards, many like to arrange hidden compartments in their homes to store things. This habit is similar to the ancient wealthy landlords in the Central Plains who liked to dig cellars to store gold and silver; some even placed hidden compartments in locations that are utterly unimaginable to others. Therefore, during adventures in underground ruins, it is essential to have a teammate with exceptional search skills and a keen intuition for treasure locations, and such people are typically played by wanderers.
A teammate with intuition akin to a treasure mouse is also very popular during adventures in wild ruins!
Soren’s intuition is not particularly strong.
To be precise, he has almost no intuitive talents; he relies entirely on careful observation and his wealth of past experiences to notice that the wall was slightly off, with different marks at the seams and a slightly lighter color. He then tapped the wall with his hand; a hollow wall can be felt with just a tap, and then he directly used his curved blade to carve it open. For ruins that are too ancient, it’s not very realistic to search for the location to activate mechanisms since they may have already been completely damaged.
Back then, Soren had just started his journey and was blocked for a long time by the hidden compartment of a statue and could not find a way to open it.
In the end, it was a barbarian among his companions who came with an axe, and they discovered that the mechanism of the hidden compartment was already damaged. If they did not use brute force to open it, they would not find the opening mechanism even if they searched for a lifetime outside. Thus, Soren began to study the aesthetics of brute force, mastering the skills of violent demolition during his exploration of underground ruins, where the key is to destroy the mechanism without damaging the contents inside. This has proven to be a very useful skill, with significant effects in many underground ruins.
“Ding ding dang!”
Soren tapped around the box carefully, confirming it didn’t seem to be any kind of trap device, and then began to prepare to pick the lock. However, he had just inserted the lock-picking tool and fiddled with it a couple of times before pulling it out again. He took hold of the hilt of the legendary curved blade, Icebane, and smashed it directly against the locked position of the box, striking it three times in succession until the box’s lock was finally smashed open.
Soren turned his head to glance at Vivian. The little girl was slightly agape. She had seen her brother use skillful methods to pick locks before, but she had never seen him smash one open so violently. After all, the previous Soren considered himself a brilliant thief, and his strength wasn’t as great as it is now. Soren turned to Vivian and said slowly, “The lock inside has rusted and cannot be opened at all.”
“Be careful and step back a bit.”
“I wonder if there are any traps inside.”
Vivian nodded gently and then took a small step back.
There is a saying in adventures — “Smash locks, smash doors, smash boxes. Guarantees with repairs, replacements, and not dying.”
Soren placed the box on the ground carefully and opened it, hearing no sound of mechanisms being triggered and no spells activating; it appeared to be just an ordinary box. The mechanisms and traps are unpredictable. He has become accustomed to being cautious, knowing that many wanderers have capsized in the gutters. There wasn’t much inside the box; Soren saw two gemstones, one was a diamond, and the other was a red agate. Then there was a spell scroll and an empty crystal bottle.
“Next.”
Soren threw the diamond and the red agate to Vivian behind him. The little girl caught them with her hands, her beautiful big eyes squinting into crescent moons as she smiled, wiping the dust off the gemstones with her sleeve before putting them away. Vivian loved gemstones. Whether it was diamonds, emeralds, or agate, she liked these things very much. The little girl already filled a small box, part given by Soren, the other part from robbing the pirate leader beneath.
But mainly, it was Lilian who would do such things!
In response, Lilian retorted, “But I’m the Fear Witch! If I don’t have a lot of gemstones, wouldn’t that be very embarrassing? So, yours is mine, and mine is still mine! … Uh-huh. Just like that! …”
………………
The bottle was empty.
It might have held some potion in the past; however, this type of crystal bottle uses an oak stopper, and the potion inside had probably evaporated long ago. Even if the potion was still there, Soren wouldn’t dare to taste it; it must be a potion from at least a century ago. There were indeed people who died confusedly after daring to taste an alchemical potion from a sunken ruin a thousand years old, resulting in immediate death from poisoning. One of Soren’s rules for adventuring is resolutely not to consume anything found in underground ruins.
Including water!
The spell scroll was preserved quite well, which surprised Soren somewhat because the materials used for spell scrolls must be very good to have lasted so long. He opened the spell scroll carefully, fearing it would tear from too much force, but it seemed that Soren had worried too much; this scroll was made of unknown leather, and now it felt quite durable.
This might be a high-level spell scroll!
Thinking of this, a hint of surprise and expectation appeared on Soren’s face because the value of high-level spell scrolls is astonishing. If he got one, it would make the trip worthwhile.
However.
When he saw the markings etched on the spell scroll, a look of disappointment involuntarily appeared on Soren’s face.
The markings on the spell scroll indicate the level of the recorded spell.
This is a third-level spell scroll, as there are three intersecting marks on the upper corner; generally, no one would intentionally mess this up, so this spell scroll should just be a third-level spell.
Third-level spell.
It doesn’t seem to hold much value!
Soren had already bought a batch of spell scrolls from the City of Wealth, including quite a few third-level spells, and quite possibly this one was one he had bought before. But just when Soren looked at the spell scroll before him, he suddenly felt a bit blank, as he actually couldn’t understand the symbols on it. This seemed to be a spell scroll from the Arcane Empire era, written in a rather difficult-to-understand spell Language. This kind of scroll is like an anti-theft mark; you can activate it for use, but it’s hard to replicate or copy it.
Seems complicated?!
This was Soren’s first thought because there was no need for third-level spells to use a secret language unless it belongs to a very special powerful spell or someone’s unique spell. Spells are not immutable; many times they are innovated and changed, but the commonly circulated spells mostly remain the same, and very few unique self-created spells spread out. For example, the spell “Duncan’s Sword” that wizards commonly use now was originally a unique spell that gradually spread to other wizards later.
Can’t understand?
No problem!
Soren could take it back and study it slowly; moreover, Vivian was right beside him. His inability to understand didn’t mean Vivian wouldn’t understand. Soren carefully took the spell scroll and handed it to the little girl beside him, saying solemnly, “Vivian! See if you can understand the symbols on it! This seems to be a special spell scroll.”
Huh?
The little girl received it upon hearing this, frowned as she flipped through it, and then said softly, “Brother! It’s all written in spell cryptic language; I can’t understand most of it, but I recognize the name of this spell.”
“Mayoufu Meteor! …”
“This seems to be a third-level spell, and it’s named after a meteor. It looks quite powerful, doesn’t it?”
………………
Mayoufu Meteor?!
When Soren heard the name of this spell, his entire body shook involuntarily.
Then a hint of surprise appeared on his face as he murmured, “No wonder! No wonder! It’s actually this spell! No wonder it needs to be recorded in secret language! …”
A third-level God-slaying spell.
The legendary — “Mayoufu Meteor!”
The reason Soren has such a profound impression of this third-level spell is simple: because someone once used it to successfully slay a god, eliminating the first demigod lich that appeared during the Saint’s Cataclysm era, and it was the first demigod lich to be killed through a higher-level challenge! “Mayoufu Meteor” thereby gained great renown and almost became the top over-level challenge spell among low-level spells, as well as being the only low-level spell capable of breaking through a deity’s law force field!
“Mayoufu Meteor [Transmutation, Change]: The spellcaster creates miniature fire meteors in their hand. This magical creation is regarded as a +5 extraordinary weapon and can deal an explosion damage of 3 + spell strength to the target, as well as an additional 3 points of fire damage. The number of miniature fire meteors created equals the spell level +1, and the spellcaster cannot use other weapons to fight until all miniature fire meteors are consumed.”
A spell that doesn’t seem very eye-catching.
From a damage perspective, it simply cannot compare to Fireball Spell, as a high-level spellcaster’s Fireball might reach nearly a hundred points of spell damage. However, “Mayoufu Meteor” has a particularly unique aspect: it belongs to magical creations, regarded as a +5 extraordinary weapon, and even a demigod lich cannot resist the explosive damage it causes. In terms of damage penetration, even Icebane in Soren’s hand cannot match Mayoufu Meteor, which is why it is also called “Dragon-slaying Meteor Fire.”
Because it can break through the dragon’s scale protection, the effect is similar to a grenade explosion; wherever it hits a giant dragon, a small dent would appear.
In the end.
Another reason why it was sought after by countless people at that time is that it really looks very cool when cast.
The spellcaster’s hands become enveloped in flames, forming two small fire meteors that float in the position of their palms. While attacking, the spellcaster throws them, and the fire meteors whistle out, exploding violently upon contact with the target. At the same time, new fire meteors are automatically generated in the spellcaster’s hands until the number of fire meteors created by the spell reaches its limit.
One can imagine the scene of wizards throwing fire meteors from heights.
It’s truly impressive.
Unfortunately, this spell is not that easy to learn; it has always been classified as a rare spell.
……………… (To be continued ~^~)
