Chapter 570 - Puny Thieves
Arthur saw Julia return to the gathering after refusing his offer. It might have seemed like he was testing her, but he was not. Instead, his goal was to repay her for the risk she had to endure for his sake. If not for his earlier interference, she would have ruined her future in Runera.
An encryption was nothing to Arthur. The hardest thing about creating one was making an encryption that does not collapse, and Arthur would find it harder to make one that does. So when he offered the encryption to Julia, he meant it as a gift that would make her life easier, but she rejected it.
This was an unexpected ending. Arthur stood outside the grand hall while looking at Julia chatting away with the awed crowd. The show seemed to make her more popular than before and made Arthur see her in a new light.
"It seems there is redemption for everyone after all," realized Arthur before looking upward toward the roof. Standing in the moonlight was a figure with a cloak and a bony mask looking at Arthur. "Fer askn er nera."
The hollow eyes of the bone-bird mask stared at Arthur without replying. Then, the Ghost Ruler raised their arm to reveal a thin white hand that pointed toward Mother Rega.
Arthur frowned but looked in the direction the ghost was pointing. He realized it was the base of the divine tree, where streams of lights were drifting toward the sky. The scene made him frown with confusion because this meant the arrays were being destroyed.
"Is someone attacking Runera?" asked Arthur as he turned back toward the Ghost Ruler, but no one was on the roof. "Is this their signature move?" he sighed before pondering the situation.
For some reason, the barrier that Runera was proud about made no alarm to signify an intruder. This might be a more sophisticated attack than the barrier can detect, and the Ghost Ruler was warning him about the situation.
"I can warn the others, but... I don't think I can explore the situation if they intervene," realized Arthur before taking off his robes and blending into the night. "I can take a peek myself," said Arthur as his teleportation began.
Space began to compress as Arthur created a portal for him to slip into. The distance that should have taken him several minutes was crossed in less than a second. Then, he appeared on top of a workshop that oversaw the base of the divine tree.
The situation at the base could not be seen through, as the lights were blinding the world. Arthur squinted his eyes for a better look, but it seemed like a conjugation of runic lines that went out of order.
"There is an anomaly here," muttered Arthur with confusion as he tried to understand it. "The issue is not with the runes but their energy supply. "There must be something wrong with the divine tree."
The Mother of Mana was not just a name but a title that represented the importance of Rega for the city. Arthur gave this name to one of the knights, but the quality of mana distributed by the tree was not to be scoffed at.
This mana gave energy to all the runes in Runera and the arrays to work, and if there were a problem in the supply being unequal in some parts, the runes would go out of order.
An array was many runes working together to cover a massive area of land. A disturbance in a single point means something wrong with some of the runes.
"There is something beneath the surface," muttered Arthur with realization as he jumped down to land in the cobblestone-paved street. The runic lines were exploding around him as if they were fireworks, but the array was repairing itself. "Runera came a long way."
This city was different from the one he created because it did not have his runes like the last lifetime. But unfortunately, this also meant that Arthur did not know what was beneath the city's surface.
"Well, there is one anomaly I can think about," said Arthur as he walked toward the disoriented runes. "It must be the ruins below," he said as he crouched down and touched the conjugation of runes.
His hand pulled the fleeing symbols like a magnet before realigning them with the others. Then, a tiny wasp of his creation mana slipped to supply the rune until the issue gets resolved. However, this was the same as treating the symptoms but not the disease.
The runemasters were busy with the gathering, but for not compromising his identity, a mask formed around his face. It covered his features and then continued to grow until it covered his head.
There was no room for doubts. Arthur covered his head with the hood before walking toward the center of the disturbance. Then, he manipulated space to cross the distance down below. As his body sank into the ground, he remembered a title Rosa told him about.
"A sorcerer," muttered Arthur as he knew that was what he was doing. Reality Manipulation was another term stringing runes together into doing a 'spell.'
This gave him an idea to recreate it using mana, the same way a mana path on an artificial artifact can replicate the same results but to a lesser degree. Abilities would stop being important, and there will be no such thing as non-awakeners.
"This is too absurd to make true," muttered Arthur behind his mask. "However, there is no harm in looking into it. I do miss researching runes."
Arthur fell to land on his feet after appearing in the space above. While falling, his fingers danced to write new runes that masked his presence. Then, the ground softened unconsciously to soften his fall, and there were no sounds.
"We have a few intruders," smiled Arthur as he felt the presence appear inside the dimly-lit cave. "It might be better to keep an eye on them without them knowing."
Arthur wrote the runes to erase his presence as his hands danced in the air. It was not a single rune but a string of runes linked to make it keep working. The runes surrounded him and worked to erase every trace he left, whether it was a footprint, a smell, a sound, or body temperature.
There were sounds ahead inside the cave, who paused after Arthur appeared. However, as his presence disappeared, the voices returned. Arthur walked toward the source with suspicion on his mind.
"These ruins are endless," muttered one of the voices inside the cave. Arthur frowned at the familiarity, and his suspicions grew stronger. "We have yet to find the door!"
"There is no door for ancient ruins. You think it's a kitchen?" another snarky voice replied. "A conversation I overheard mentioned that there is an illusion barrier installed to prevent outsiders."
Arthur was almost sure that it was the group he thought it was. Finally, after a sigh and a turn, he managed to see the group walking deeper into the ruins. Their robes and masks were enough to tell him the truth.
"We can always ask our friend for some directions," muttered a familiar voice in the group before the owner turned around toward Arthur. "You have hidden quite well. It seems we are not the only intruders here."
"At least I bothered to hide myself," replied Arthur as his runes were deactivated. "I thought I was catching some puny thieves, and I was not wrong."
"...reveal yourself," said the man with an eye on his mask. Arthur smiled as he touched his mask, and it dissolved to reveal his face. "...Arthur?"
"Alexie," replied Arthur with a smile. "It is good to meet you again, Sier. You should have told me that you wanted to rob these ruins. I would have told you that it's a bad idea."
There was a silence between Arthur and the four figures, who stared at each other. There was Li, Zas, Hua, and Sier here, but no sign of the others.
"You act like everything is normal?" Zas was the first to break the silence. "After ignoring our countless summons, you act as if nothing happened now?"
"I had other things to attend to," said Arthur without elaboration. "I know what happened to Ivy. I plan on rescuing her after I finish this exploration."
"And what if she is already dead?" asked Sier with a bleak, dark voice. "Are you going to revive the dead, Arthur? Is this another one of your heroic acts?"
Their reunion was not going as Arthur expected, but the merge was to blame. Arthur had not seen them for so long, but their experience differed. Sier was never this hostile against him, but their ideologies were always different.
"No heroism for me anymore," replied Arthur with a shake of his head.. "I understand that what happened in the past will never be erased, but this is not the time nor place."