Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 273 - 213 Someone Among Us Is a Stranger

Chapter 273: Chapter 213 Someone Among Us Is a Stranger

Oxen will drop dead from plowing the field, and the same principle applies to galloping horses.

The Ghostly Horse that had been sprinting at full load for a very long time finally couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed just before reaching the town in front of the Academy Gate.

Roger was the most heartbroken, as he thought he’d be able to subdue a new Monster. He was just about to take out the Elf Ball, but the Ghostly Horse left him and went away.

After feeling sad, he thought of reenacting the scene of a Knight burying his horse, but after the horse died, it simply turned to ash.

It made him look rather foolish as he had already dug half a pit...

Compared to him, no one else was interested in the well-being of the Ghostly Horse; the only thing they were interested in was the Reyalucaria Magic Academy.

However, before heading to the Academy for their adventure, Gapar suddenly suggested that they sit by the campfire for a while.

Turci and Hades didn’t really understand the significance of this behavior—after all, their journey of speed and passion hadn’t left them needing any rest—but they chose to respect Gapar’s opinion.

So, after a long journey, everyone returned to the blazing campfire outside the Academy Gate Town, using the warm flames to dispel the chill on their bodies.

Sitting beside the campfire, Gapar was naturally the most comfortable and content, followed by Roger. Both could claim they were familiar with the Sain Dungeon.

The former would often sit beside the campfire to bolster his spirits whenever he failed to obtain a Tear-Drop Embryo, while the latter, often chased when studying Monster ecology, would run to the safety of the campfire to catch his breath.

Thus, for both men, the campfire signified comfort and safety, or you could say it gave a similar feeling to most adventurers.

Unconsciously, Sain Dungeon had already left certain behavioral habits in some people.

As for Turci and her group, they didn’t really feel anything but found the campfire’s upgrade mechanism interesting.

She leaned in to observe the campfire and suddenly discovered something unusual.

"Is this... a bone?"

The flames of the campfire could be touched, and they seemed no different from normal fire—it just burns people.

For safety’s sake, Turci used Mage’s Hand to pick out a charred bone from the campfire and studied it carefully, then suddenly asked:

"Did anyone eat roasted meat?"

This question was baffling, as everyone had been together, and their food was nothing more than jerky and Physical Potions. If someone had been roasting meat, it would have been noticed immediately.

Each campfire’s fuel was exactly the same: ash and firewood, which seemed to never burn out. Every time they entered the Dungeon, they would glance at it, and the ashes and wood inside never changed.

So why was there a bone in the campfire? This was quite intriguing.

"This is a Bone Meat Tree bone," Gapar suddenly said. "It’s a specialty from the gourmet area, a tree with large chunks of meat on the bones, tasting just like regular roasted meat."

"Ah, that one." Turci was aware of it; the Magic Association had already received information about ingredients from the gourmet area, which included details about the Bone Meat Tree.

This was something that could make both Plant Scholars and alchemists scratch their heads in confusion; they had argued for a long time whether to classify it as an animal or a plant.

Plant Scholars were puzzled why a plant would grow meat, no matter how you analyzed it, it was really meat.

Alchemists couldn’t grasp how, after a lifetime of studying alchemy, meat unexpectedly grew on trees?

Alchemy, nonexistent! (Tragedy)

Cooks, however, were happy, because the taste of the Bone Meat Tree was just average roasted meat, with nothing special about it. It didn’t threaten their livelihood and could be processed and sold in restaurants.

For Gapar, such food was quite convenient. He’d grab some to eat when tired from slaying monsters in the Dungeon, so he recognized its bones at first glance.

By the way, his favorite was the topping fruit, which could grow various toppings for rice. Opening them always brought the thrill of opening a mystery box.

"We didn’t bring any boned meat with us, so..." Turci stood up and looked around. Everyone else understood what she meant.

Something, or someone, had also come to the town in front of the Academy not long ago, eaten a chunk of meat by the fire, and tossed the bone in as fuel!

"Could it be a Monster or something?" Roger suggested, but he dismissed the idea the moment he said it.

Because Monsters simply can’t enter the town in front of the Academy, places with warm firelight are off-limits to them, and how could Monsters from Lake Lienia get a specialty from the gourmet area?

So there was only one truth, a very odd answer that everyone found perplexing.

"Are there others here?"

But how could that be? They didn’t notice any strangers when they entered. Could they be invaders? Yet, there was no alert of an invasion.

Whoever or however these people came in, they didn’t seem to want to hide their tracks at all, as Gapar found several empty Potion bottles in an otherwise untouched house. Those items had definitely not been there before.

"There are at least four people, no, five," Turci’s eyes lit up with a glow of magic, followed by a regrettably shake of her head: "The tracks are over half an hour old, Tracking Magic is useless."

A weird sensation arose in everyone’s hearts.

But it was just a strange feeling, unable to comprehend how these people got in. Normally, one would be afraid to find strangers in their home, but...

Roger glanced at the Sword Saint and the professors, thinking that the ones who should be afraid are the strangers.

The little sideshow made everyone slightly more vigilant about their surroundings, and Roger even attempted to inquire with Curry whether he had seen any strangers.

The result was Curry staring straight at him, as if he was saying that they were the strangers themselves.

Well, it looks like there’s no hope with Curry.

Before setting off for the Magic Academy, Turci cleverly hid an Image Stone by the firepit. Combined with the transmission magic, it was enough to enable real-time monitoring of the place.

If only they had an Envoy Demon that could share its vision, it would save the trouble of setting up the Image Stone.

"Are we ready? Let’s set out."

Gapar once again took the Ghost Rider’s beloved horse, and the four riders once more displayed what could be called speed and passion, methodically strategizing their way towards the mountainous path to the Magic Academy.

The Ghost Rider, whose horse had been taken, initiated a monster chase after the group. However, as they approached the Magic Academy, the monsters simultaneously stopped in their tracks, as if afraid to get any closer.

"Clang clang bang bang..."

The intense sounds of battle accompanied by the enemies’ roars, and they charged into the fray once again.

"How odd. Why does it feel like there are the same number of soldiers as before?" Roger voiced his confusion.

A well-known rule of the Sain Dungeon was that as long as you don’t die, the monsters you’ve killed will not respawn until the next day, regardless of how far you run.

And yet, they had clearly eradicated all the enemies during their last visit, so why were they now facing a full force again?

Strange, many details of Lake Lienia differed from the original areas of Sain Dungeon. What was going on?

[Academy Phosphorite Key]

[The key to unlocking Reyalucaria Magic Academy’s magical seal]

[The phosphorite automatically memorizes its users, with each key remembering up to five people. The Academy does not wish for too many unrelated individuals to approach]

A maximum of five people could be memorized, and there were four of them—luckily.

Gapar led the way with the key in hand, while everyone followed closely behind. As the Phosphorite Key emitted light, they successfully passed through the seal.

This time, crossing the seal didn’t result in darkness before their eyes; it was a seamless transition that would make [Star Sky] envious to the point of tears.

What appeared before everyone was an immensely spacious square, and at its center, a firepit.

Roger’s eyes lit up. While muttering "Thank God for Sain’s mercy," he lit the firepit. If he were to die within the Magic Academy and get teleported back to Academy Gate Town, he’d be fuming enough to curse the Sain Dungeon’s nonexistent family—even though the dungeon had no family.

This should be the Academy’s main entrance. No wonder it was hugely spacious, also a reflection of the magicians’ prestige.

An idea suddenly popped into his head: this place seemed perfect for adventurers and invaders to battle—a space so vast, one could roll around anywhere.

Wait, why would such an idea occur to me.

"It’s so beautiful."

Turci sighed in admiration. From here, one could overlook the entire scenery of Lake Lienia and take in its spectacular beauty.

Gapar, on the other hand, surveyed the scene upon entering. To the left was a significantly large elevator, while to the right lay a broken bridge.

He suddenly realized that this broken bridge must be the one Curry mentioned—leading to the eastern mountain. Upon closer inspection, there indeed was a corresponding broken bridge on the opposite side, directly connecting to the mountain.

Wow, the map is connected. That’s instant.

It seemed like the main entrance of the Magic Academy was the only seal, and the group had yet to come across another.

Although it appeared that they could go either left or right, the only viable option was to the left—the broken bridge on the right didn’t seem to hold any value for exploration.

"Rumble rumble..."

The lift carrying everyone slowly ascended.

And when their vision could no longer reach the area around the Academy’s main entrance, an oddly dressed person suddenly emerged.

He wore a helmet that covered his face, and his armor was painted with an eye, silently waiting in front of the mechanism, pulling down the lift after Gapar and the others had left.

Was he tracking them?

What was his purpose?

Gapar and the others, with their keen senses, hadn’t noticed this person. What was the reason for that?

If told now that someone was following them, they probably wouldn’t be in the mood to care at this moment.

Because, as the lift finally reached the top...

They saw a lofty flight of stairs...

And atop the stairs, ten Huishi Mages stood in ready formation.

The mages’ [Luminous Stone Swift Magic Gravel] were eager for action!

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