Chapter Fifty: Anti-Detection Cloak
The spoils of war invigorated the other individuals significantly.
After dismantling the High-level Construct Golem’s body, Soren began to survey the nearby terrain, noting that many areas had collapsed and been buried. The only passage led north, which was not Soren’s intended direction. The range of the underground ruins was vast since it was a sunken city, but accessible areas were limited, unless a substantial workforce was arranged to excavate the city. Such an undertaking would be challenging even in the twenty-first century, so exploration primarily focused on the core regions.
“Bring the workers down.”
After surveying the nearby terrain, Soren approached a thick wall and said in a deep voice, “Breaking through here should allow us to enter the interior. Let them bring tools and dig little by little; we can’t use explosives here.”
The light in the square was already quite strong.
Torches illuminated the area, and the monsters had mostly been cleared away.
The Eastern Dance Maiden quickly went to call the workers down, and after a while, dozens of workers timidly descended on a rope. They glanced at their surroundings, their faces still filled with fear. However, they had no choice; under the commands of the professionists, the workers began to dig the side wall. The rhythmic sounds of their knocks echoed within the underground ruins, as if the vibrations startled something from deeper within. Suddenly, there was a faint tremor and a soul-piercing aura emanating from below.
Balroth Fire Demon (Biological Level 27)!
The Balroth Fire Demon, sealed in the depths of the underground ruins, felt the tremors above but could not leave its binding range. Only Soren and the Eastern Dance Maiden knew exactly what lay beneath, but they wisely chose to remain silent, as such a presence was better kept from others. The workers, frightened by the slight disturbance, hesitated for a moment before being urged to continue their work; Soren could not afford to linger here for too long.
“There seems to be something down here!” muttered a bearded Dwarf Warrior.
The Eastern Ronin glanced at him and said solemnly, “There must be something below in a place like this. We’d better move quickly.”
After spending about an hour,
they finally carved out a passage. Unlike the square, the space inside was very narrow, with dilapidated buildings supporting gaps inside that only allowed one person to pass at a time. Leading the way, as always, was Soren; his main objective was to obtain the Anti-Detection Cloak. Hence, he directed the route towards the general area where it was located. This legendary equipment was stored in a special room, which was once likely owned by a powerful professionist, but now housed a difficult monster.
This monster had once wiped out the adventurer party that initially explored here!
Afterward,
the adventurers researched how to deal with it.
Since Soren had come here, he had a good idea of how to eliminate it, though he might have to pay a small price.
The rugged passage gradually opened up.
This indicated that Soren had entered a different area, likely the noble residential district of the city, where even in ruins, the buildings displayed exquisite craftsmanship, with many marble columns nearby. The most conspicuous structure in this area was a tall house, one of the few buildings preserved relatively intact. From the side, he could see three Iron Golems, whose surfaces were severely rusted and appeared to be low-tier Puppet Golems. Having lost their energy source, they were now completely inoperative.
“Be careful!”
Soren glanced around and said solemnly, “There seems to be a presence of undead here.”
Upon hearing him, the others on site tensed up.
There were indeed undead present.
However, they were not ordinary undead. Soren knew what was here before his arrival.
—Ancient Mummy (Challenge Level 18)!
Mummies are a common type of undead creature. Some are artificially created mummies, while others arise naturally for certain reasons.
The desert is the most likely place for mummies to appear.
These undead creatures are not very difficult to deal with. A standard adventurer party can easily defeat them.
However!
If an undead creature is labeled as “Ancient,” it becomes quite challenging to deal with.
“Ancient Mummy (Greater Undead) (Fifth Tier).”
“Challenge Level 18, Individual Level 22, possesses spell-like abilities.”
“Maximum attributes 25 points. Minimum attributes 15 points, total attribute values 100-115 points.”
“Specialties: Greater Undead Traits, Negative Energy Corruption, Spell-like Abilities, Immune to Normal Weapons.”
“Challenge Difficulty: B+.”
………………
It was the Ancient Mummy that had caused the first group of adventurers to perish here, a powerful undead born from a unique geographical environment.
Soren carefully observed his surroundings.
He knew there was an Ancient Mummy here, but he was uncertain where it was hiding.
The group spread out to form a defensive formation, inching closer to the building ahead, not knowing which point connected to the outside. There was a faint breeze, accompanied by a chilling sensation.
Whoosh!
A strange silhouette darted through the darkness ahead.
Soren’s mind immediately sharpened, tightening his grip on the Curved Blade Icebane, and he said in a deep voice, “There’s a monster nearby!”
A small amount of muted light.
Whether it was the Curved Blade Icebane sensing something or a particular aura elevating it, the legendary blade emitted a faint glow as if encountering ice.
This is a weapon on alert!
Since the awakening of the legendary sword Icebane, it seemed to have gained some unique functions.
Extinguishing flames.
Emitting a dazzling silver flow upon encountering temperatures below zero.
And sounding a warning when evil creatures are nearby.
“Be careful.”
Others involuntarily tightened their grips on their weapons, with some casting fleeting glances at Soren’s sword, and a glimmer of greed flashed in some eyes. After all, legendary weapons are exceedingly rare, and Soren’s sword, when activated, would immediately alert others that it was of legendary status.
Whoosh!
The strange wind sound returned.
A shadow flashed in the darkness; the Ancient Mummy was unlike other undead. It actually moved quite quickly. At its tier, it had become a legendary-level monster, no longer constrained by typical undead limitations. Moreover, it had become immune to normal weapon attacks, but fortunately, none of the professionists present wielded basic equipment.
“It’s a mummy!”
The Eastern Dance Maiden bent down and picked up a scrap of something from the ground, her face changing slightly as she said, “This must have dropped from it.”
It was a crumpled, dry strip of cloth.
Who knew how long it had been preserved, but it emanated a foul odor.
“It should be a high-tier mummy!”
The Desert Warrior, knowledgeable about mummies, estimated he had encountered some before and said solemnly, “With such speed, it might not be easy to deal with!”
The mummy did not rush to attack.
It seemed to possess a decent level of intelligence, realizing that this group of adventurers was not so easy to handle.
Soren’s gaze shifted, and he said in a deep voice, “You all stay here and be vigilant; I will try to lure it out.”
—”Hide from View.”
His figure gradually melded into the darkness. However, he was not tracking the Ancient Mummy but quietly sneaking toward the building ahead.
That was where the legendary equipment, the Anti-Detection Cloak, was located.
Soren had come here specifically for this equipment, which was undoubtedly a god-tier item for Wanderers. Now that he found the spot, it was essential to secure it first.
Hearing Soren’s words, the others immediately formed a defensive position.
Soren then stealthily advanced. He quietly slipped into the room through a broken window; he clearly remembered there was a secret chamber inside where the Anti-Detection Cloak was kept. However, there was a magical trap on the chest, and forcing it open would trigger a Disintegration spell.
There was no way around it.
This was a relic from the Arcane Empire era. The traps here were all at a high level, and even at his peak, Soren would find it challenging to disarm them.
However, it was not completely impossible!
Knowing the trap’s type made disarming it much easier.
Creak.
A faint sound emerged.
Soren quietly entered the secret chamber and immediately saw many items. The bookshelf had turned to dust over time, but most of the well-preserved items were at the extraordinary level, including some alchemical tools, several unknown potions, a dark green robe (a mage robe), and a uniquely textured staff. The most notable item was undoubtedly the chest in the corner; it was the most valuable item here and the only piece of legendary equipment.
The chest had a special enchantment process.
Even after thousands of years, it remained intact.
Silver-white metal.
Its surface bore strange patterns, inscribed with magical runes. Any attempts to forcibly damage the chest would trigger the magical trap, making it incredibly difficult to open through brute force.
The adventurer team that discovered it originally could only have their warrior smash it open as they were unable to disarm the magical trap.
Ultimately, that warrior was directly disintegrated!
—”Disintegration Spell (Sixth Ring Spell)!”
“Disintegration Spell (Transmutation): When this spell is cast, it shoots a green ray at the target, potentially dealing 240 points of spell damage! It can directly disintegrate non-living material, affect force field effects, and any enemy struck by Disintegration must make a forced saving throw; failure to pass may result in disintegration, while passing will reduce part of the damage.”
This magical trap was of extremely high level!
The warrior who initially opened it was a high-tier defense warrior, around Profession Level 16. In an instant, both he and his equipment were disintegrated.
Even now, Soren had little confidence to withstand it.
However.
The Disintegration spell has a flaw; it only affects the first target it strikes.
Soren could hardly disarm this magical trap unless his trap disarming skill exceeded 200 points, so the only way to open the chest was to gamble on the Disintegration spell breaking or avoid this attack by transdimensional means.
He rotated in place.
Then Soren subtly moved the bookshelf slightly, perfectly shrouding himself in shadows while picking up an alchemical crystal bottle.
1, 2, 3!…
Soren took a deep breath and swung the Curved Blade Icebane down onto the chest before him.
Clang!
With a muffled thud echoing, Soren immediately released the crystal bottle in his hand, his figure blurring in the shadows, reappearing one meter away.
—”Shadow Leap!”
A green ray manifested, striking where Soren was just standing, and then the crystal bottle he dropped was disintegrated, vanishing like melted ice and snow.
“It broke through!”
A strange wind sound came from outside, and the commotion attracted the roaming Ancient Mummy. Without a second thought, Soren violently smashed open the chest in front of him, not bothering with other items, and immediately donned a pitch-black cloak over himself.
Anti-Detection Cloak!
He had finally gotten ahead and obtained this god-tier equipment for Wanderers!
“Item Type: Anti-Detection Cloak
Item Level: [Third Tier Legendary Item]
Item Description: This is a legendary cloak! Anyone who wears it, upon entering a stealth invisibility state, will not be discovered by any spells. It can immunize all detection spells unless it is worn by a creature with a natural ability to see through invisibility; even the saint avatars of deities cannot detect those wearing it through detection spells. However, it is not without limitations; although this legendary cloak allows immunity to detection spells, it cannot obscure other disturbances during stealth invisibility.
Equipment Requirements: None.
Equipment Effect 1: Stealth +30.
Equipment Effect 2: [Anti-Detection Field], immune to any detection-related spells; enemies cannot use spells to see through the invisibility of the wearer of this legendary equipment.”
………………
Soren’s figure disappeared into the shadows.
The abilities provided by this legendary equipment were not extensive; aside from the ‘Anti-Detection Field’, it only added an extra 30 points to stealth abilities.
However, this was already a significant boon for Soren!
After donning this cloak, he could once again move stealthily without leaving any traces, as if he had fully integrated into the darkness.
Creak!
A faint noise resounded.
A shadow gradually approached from outside, and the figure of the Ancient Mummy appeared outside the secret chamber, yet it failed to detect Soren at all, looking around in confusion.
Undead possess a certain sense of invisible detection!
But after wearing the Anti-Detection Cloak, only creatures with innate [True Sight] can discover Soren’s presence.
………………(To be continued ~^~)
