1795: Hollow Tunnel

Hollow Tunnel

I begin to travel again with careful pace; there are powerful wraiths present here. While some of the wraiths called by the Azure Bullman were powerful, they were not the most powerful wraiths of the most city.2

We could be said to be in the outskirt of the Mist City; those wraiths at the center of the central part of the city are the real deal. In that part, the mist is very dense and all red with now part of grey present in it; one could imagine how powerful wraiths would be there.

I am slowly closing into that area; I think it is in that part that thing is. I am not sure before, but I reach closer to it; I could actually feel the distance between us, and from a distance, it is the center of the city.

It will be dangerous, and if I had not come this far, I would not have decided to come here, seeing the dangers.

Three more hours passed; in these three hours, I had been extremely careful while Ashlyn killed nearly all the Tyrant Wraiths that came in without making the slightest sound. I have never seen her kills so many powerful beings in such a short time; she really seemed to enjoy the cores of them to keep killing them in such fashion.

I had felt the change when I entered the center of the city. All the Grey parts had disappeared from Red-Grey mist, and now there is only red mist, and it is powerful. If I had no intention of attracting the attention, I would release a couple of seals of my armor and let this red energy in.

The mist is dangerous but also very beneficial to me, but unfortunately, I could not do that. There are powerful wraiths present here that even Ashlyn had to tone down her killing. Killing only those who are away from other Wraiths, so she could not attract any attention.

Hun!

Another hour passed, and I reached the place which seemed to be a city center, and it is completely different than the rest of the city, really different. It is destroyed; everything is rubble; one could not even see the wall standing.

The state of the city center is worse than the collapsed building outside. It is clear there is a short battle had happened here, but it still was able to destroy the whole city center where most fortified buildings with the best materials.

I had said the short battle for a reason. If it had been a long battle, the rest of the city wouldn't have been in such a good state as it is.

The city center is huge, but I know where I have to go; I have a clear direction in this rubble. I would just have to be cautious while reaching there; it is a good thing; there are many pieces of rubble, I could use them to hide from the wraith as I reach that place.

With the guidance of Ashlyn, I begin to walk toward the place where my runes are taking me. On the way, Ashlyn had not only guiding me, but she also dealt with wraiths, against which I would have no choice but to run away.

She seemed to get stronger by munching on the core; it is why she is killing every alone wrath she could find. It is good that she is getting stronger; the stronger she is, the more helpful she will be.

Soon, I reached the spot, which is the biggest rubble in a city square. Likely the palace of the city leader and feel I am getting from down below. I will have to move some rubble and likely dig to reach that thing.

It had been quite a while since I had to dig for a treasure; it brings back some memories. 'Ashlyn, keep an eye out and deal with any trouble if it comes,' I said and hide in a good spot before I let vines came out of me.

The vines will search the best way for me and, if possible, bring back the treasure. If not, they will just create a way for me, I hope my vines will find the treasure, but things rarely go simple for me.

Vines that are thinner than hair moved underground, spreading into all directions, moving down toward the rough direction of the hair.

Time passed by one minute, ten minutes, hours. At that time, different expressions played on my face. From anger to joy to frustration before it becoming black slate in a little more than one and a half-hour later, when I called back all my vines, except for one, and got up from my spot.

While my vines were not able to find the treasure but they are able to find a way inside. There seemed to be an underground palace inside, which is mostly intact; I will have to cross forty-meter hard dirt between us.

Normally it is not a problem, I could blast my way through a single attack, but here, I could not do such a thing; it will attract the attention immediately, and tens of powerful wraiths will come at me, and that time, I will have no choice but to run away.

It is a good thing I have a plan, and it will soundlessly help me pass through the meters into the underground palace.

I removed few pieces of rubble silently before walking through them, and soon, I reach the place where my vine is burrowed into the ground. 

I closed my eyes and focused on the vine which is connecting to my hand; a few seconds later, the ground started to shake. The shaking is very faint, not loud enough to attract the attention of any wraith.

Time passed by, and shaking continued till the end of an hour, and the vine which had been thinner than hair now turned very thick, half a meter thick.

The vines are solid on the outside and hollow on the inside, I had started expanding it from the other end slowly, and it took me an hour to complete the process, and now that it did, I could easily flow down through it, without making any noise or attracting any attention.

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