Arcane Journey

The Monastery of Mortazza is a manor that has been forgotten for more than 300 years.

According to Viscount Obai Gales' account, Brian unexpectedly learned that this monastery once worshiped the platinum dragon god Bahamut and was the base of an armed order composed of the Silver Dragon Knights.

These knights, mainly paladins, had launched an expedition against the dark elves in the Underdark, and thus gained a very high reputation.

According to legend, this group of paladin also transported all the treasures obtained from the expedition to the Underdark Region back to the monastery for storage, and evil forces began to gather here.

The evil races from the underdark region constantly launch attacks on the monastery to regain the lost treasures, laying the groundwork for the destruction of the monastery.

There is also more unreliable news that there is a vast underground city under the ruins of the monastery, where the wealth stored by the ancient paladins may still be hidden.

This is what Viscount Oubai told him, about the whereabouts of the oak tree that can bear oak fruits that increase life span. This mysterious tree is hidden in the underground world below the monastery.

The prerequisite for going to the underground world is to clean up the monsters in the monastery.

So Brian and Avilia appeared in front of a monastery with obvious signs of corrosion over time.

As for why the female elf Avilia followed him, it was definitely not because of the unique enthusiasm of the proud elves.

Brian didn't know until now that this female elf had her own plans from the moment she left the Kingdom of Yeerlan and came to Winter Town.

And the reason why she is willing to help Viscount Obai, in addition to the relationship between the dead sorceress Semel and her being good friends, is also because Viscount Obai has promised her that if this matter can succeed, she will agree to Avilia in her The monastery of the Moon Goddess was established on the territory.

Obviously, this abandoned monastery is the place where Viscount Obey promised to Avilia to build the Temple of Selune, so the two of them came here together by coincidence.

At this time, the walls around the monastery were covered with dense vines crisscrossing each other, and the weeds that no one had taken care of had grown almost to the knees.

The once spacious manor now looked like a mess, filled with garbage and the feces left by unknown beasts and humanoid creatures.

The whole sky is also gloomy, without a trace of sunshine.

It was clearly a clear sky, but near this manor, there was a thick fog. The sunlight penetrated through the thick fog, creating an even more eerie atmosphere.

The whole world seemed dim, as if it had entered a plane outside of Toril.

The cold wind blew by, accompanied by the barking of a wild dog who didn't know where it came from, making Avilia shiver involuntarily.

The moment the two of them stepped into the manor, their attention was immediately attracted by the atmosphere here.

The entire manor seemed extremely cold, chaotic and dead, filled with evil negative energy, as if entering a cemetery.

"Has no one else lived in this manor except the paladin?" Brian asked calmly as he looked around.

It stands to reason that a monastery that believes in the silver dragon god Bahamut cannot be filled with such a strong negative energy even after hundreds of years.

But this is the current situation.

"Yes." The graceful Avilia walked up to Brian. She was wearing brown leather armor, with a black and gray cloak hanging behind her shoulders. She held a long bow in her right hand and said solemnly:
"After my friend Semmel returned, she used this place as a retreat for her to study magic. Later, she was murdered by Death's conjurer, so it was logical that this place became the lair of the necromancer."

"That is to say, the spirit summoner we killed was the last owner of this place." Brian looked astonished.

"That's right." Avilia lifted the hood on her head, letting her silky black hair flow down, and nodded slightly: "But we only killed the spiritualist, his servants and apprentices, Even undead creatures may remain in this manor.”

"Anyway, be careful. I feel that the negative energy around me is getting stronger and stronger." As she walked, the elf priest frowned. Then she took out Selune's holy symbol and chanted a high-spirited magical spell. .

A pale white light flashed.

A nearly invisible magic barrier slowly appeared around Brian and Avilia, surrounding them and moving slowly as they walked cautiously.

"This is a ring of divine magic to protect against evil." Avilia explained to Brian. "It can strengthen our resistance to evil forces and cut off the spiritual control that undead creatures try to exert on us."

'Is this bullying me for not knowing magic? 'Brian couldn't help but feel a little amused by this elf priest who was doing everything he could.

With the use of magic to protect against evil, the surrounding environment became less oppressive. Wherever the two of them passed, the thick fog seemed to have faded away as if they had encountered some terrible monster.

It can be seen from this that the priest is worthy of being the nemesis of undead creatures.

However, although this radiance full of positive energy dispelled the thick fog, it did not dispel the danger hidden inside. Therefore, they still needed to proceed cautiously and stop from time to time to observe their surroundings.

And Brian had already taken out the low-grade magic weapon, the stainless steel sword, and held it tightly in his hand, ready to deal with sudden dangers at any time.

Just as the two of them were approaching the living area of ​​the manor, several faint points of light suddenly appeared in the fog in front of them. They looked like twinkling eyes.

Brian and Avilia looked at each other, and they noticed at the same time that the dense fog seemed to come alive, suddenly shrinking and swelling, and strangely spitting out three clouds of light gray mist.

They look like humans, but their entire bodies are wrapped in dense mist. Standing together, you can vaguely see their hazy and ferocious faces.

"This is a ghost, let me deal with it."

Before Brian could take any action, Avilia stood in front of him and took the lead.

I saw her silently reciting a spell, and three white streams of light emerged from the sky, breaking through the thick fog, and landed on the ghost's hazy and glowing body.

The moment they were shrouded in white light, the ghosts immediately let out shrill screams.

Then, their standing bodies seemed to have been punched hard, bending over and trembling continuously, and the mist wrapping their bodies also fell apart in an instant, like ice and snow that had been melted by the sun. generally.

As the three ghosts dissipated, various ghosts emerged one after another in the thick fog around them.

Facing more and more ghosts, Avilia not only did not show panic, but was extremely calm. She calmly released arrow-like rays of light, constantly hitting the attacking ghosts.

For a moment, extremely sad howls echoed through the manor one after another, like purgatory on earth.Brian was not in the mood to watch Avilia's battle, because a lone ghost let out a piercing scream and locked its bloodshot pupils on him.

A gust of wind blew by.

The ghost suddenly stretched out its translucent claws, wrapped in cold negative energy, and grabbed him with a 'whoosh'.

Brian shifted his body position and was barely able to avoid the long claws extended by the ghost. Then he turned the sharp sword in his hand and stabbed forward.

When the flying sword hit the ghost, Brian passed through his body as if it were hitting the air.

Not only was the ghost unscathed, its ferocious face had a split mouth, revealing vicious fangs, as if it were laughing at itself.

How could Brian not know about the incorporeal nature of being immune to physical attacks?

With a thought, a stream of electricity quickly flowed along the palm of his hand to the blade of the sword, and the moment it came into contact with the ghost's body, it suddenly exploded.

The ghost let out a shrill wail, turned into specks of light and dust, and dissipated in the air.

After the battle, Brian immediately noticed that among the light dust that had not yet dissipated after the ghost's death, there were actually a few crystal fragments the size of fingernails.

He stretched out his hand and all these chips fell into his palm.

In the past, Brian wouldn't have bothered to take a look at these soul crystal fragments, but it was different now. Ever since he successfully trapped two abyss demons in his Hyakki Banner, demand had exceeded supply.

In this way, the two of them entered the hall of the manor without any danger.

In the gloomy and dim corridor, the rotten wooden boards creaked under the weight.

Although the monastery has terrifying legends, as a paladin base built on the foothills, its decoration is still quite high-quality.

Dark red velvet carpets, gorgeous dragon sculptures, solid wood decorations, and crystal chandeliers all show guests its prosperity and beauty.

Of course, that's when they're nice and clean.

But now, there are holes all over. In the cracks of broken glass, the howling wind makes the curtains sway. The incomplete furniture falls to the ground, smashing the originally gorgeous floor into a deep hole. The chandeliers are everywhere. It is an oil painting covered with cobwebs, and it has a different kind of beauty when you look at it.

Although looking at it quietly, this is also a quite artistic picture, but the noise that followed ruined everything.

"clang……"

Suddenly, a low chirping sound suddenly sounded.

"Clang... clang... clang..."

"Be careful, this is the death knell calling for the dead." Avilia's expression changed, she quickly looked around with vigilance, and said in a slightly deep voice, "It is very likely that all the undead creatures in this manor have been awakened. ”

The low bell echoed in the dark space, but it seemed to hit people's hearts deeply.

"I know, if you really can't hold on, just run away." Brian looked around vigilantly, while clenching the sword in his hand.

The broken windows kept shaking under the cold wind, closing and opening, and the sound of colliding with the walls echoed in the silent mansion.

At first glance, this doesn't seem to be any different from before.

But something is already quietly changing.

Brian noticed that in the corner of the wall, a faint shadow was flowing slowly, hiding in the corner.

When the two of them walked carefully to the end of the stairs, nothing strange happened.

But Brian's expression became more and more solemn. Looking at the stairs in front of him, he gestured for Avilia to follow him.

Then, he took the lead in lifting his legs and walked up.

"call!!"

Suddenly, a giant dragon sculpture originally placed in the lobby rolled towards Brian as if it had been pushed hard by something.

coming!

Facing the oncoming attack, Brian dodged sideways and nimbly dodged, letting the statue fall to the ground and shatter into pieces.

At this moment, Avilia also felt waves of chill emerging from behind her.

She turned her head almost subconsciously, and then she saw several light blue figures slowly emerging from the ground at the bottom of the stairs.

"It's an evil spirit!"

Unlike ghosts, which are transformed from the souls of dead people, evil spirits are evil creatures transformed from pure negative energy.

They have nothing but hatred for the living and desperate struggles. All they have is an endless desire to kill.

As a priest, Avilia naturally has a lot of knowledge about evil spirits.

Facing the evil spirit that appeared, she raised her hand without hesitation, preparing to release the purification magic.

At this moment, dozens of evil spirits have appeared from both the upper and lower sides.

They swayed their bodies, suspended in mid-air with strange and agile trajectories, stretched out their hands, let out a scream that was enough to shock people, and rushed towards the living people in front of them. (End of chapter)