“Lord Mage, you must know about Constructs, right? Not those steam-powered automatons invented by gnomes, but proper golems driven by magic or psionic energy.”
“I’ve heard a little about them.”
Art’s tone grew warmer, rising slightly to emphasize the importance of what he was about to say.
“This ‘regular tetrahedron’ you hold is the core of a Construct. Just insert it into a Construct, and you’ll gain a loyal Construct creature!”
So that’s it.
Lynn looked down at the regular tetrahedron floating in his hand.
He hadn’t expected this item to be so precious. A loyal Construct creature, even if only Tier 1, was rare enough.
Coming to subjugate the Dungeon Slime this time was truly a treasure hunt; not only did he gain a large number of Bloodline Points, but he also acquired a Construct core.
Lynn looked up, smiling at the Wererat: “You’ve told me everything. Aren’t you afraid I’ll go back on my word?”
Art the Wererat plastered a smile on his face: “I believe Lord Mage would not deceive me. Besides, I actually know the whereabouts of another Construct…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, but his implication was clear.
Lynn hadn’t expected the Wererat to have this up his sleeve.
But it didn’t matter; being honest and friendly, he hadn’t intended to break the agreement anyway.
When entrusted with a task, one must be faithful to it. Since the mission’s reward was satisfactory, Lynn wouldn’t harm his employer.
After agreeing to the Wererat’s request, Lynn didn’t immediately act. Instead, he and Lupa retreated outside the sewer.
It wasn’t that he planned to renege on the deal.
Rather, his mana was depleted, and he couldn’t use offensive spells like Magic Missile. He needed to recover his mana first.
On this front, Lynn had made new progress.
【Basic Meditation Method Lv.1: Slightly increases maximum mana, greatly increases mana recovery speed when actively used】
His character panel now displayed an additional Skill, which Lynn had learned yesterday after studying the 《Meditation Methods》 book that Mentor Gray had given him.
With the Basic Meditation Method, Lynn’s mana recovery speed significantly increased.
“Lupa, help me keep watch.”
Once outside the sewer, after confirming that the Wererat couldn’t approach, Lynn found a clean spot to sit down. He quickly entered a meditative state.
During meditation, even without opening his eyes, Lynn could feel the presence of mana in the air.
As he delved deeper into the state, numerous light particles representing mana began to enter Lynn’s body.
Lupa also sat beside Lynn, her eyes fixed on his profile without a blink.
After entering meditation, a faint white light enveloped Lynn’s body, truly giving him an otherworldly aura befitting a spellcaster.
About three or four hours passed.
The sun caught up from the east, reaching directly overhead.
Just as Lupa was idly counting the clouds in the sky, Lynn suddenly opened his eyes.
“Lupa.”
“Hm?”
“Help me up.”
“Eh?”
Lupa quickly went to help Lynn to his feet.
When he stood up, Lynn’s legs were still slightly trembling.
Maintaining the same posture for several hours...
Lynn’s legs had fallen asleep.
Next time he meditated, he definitely had to lie down.
Lynn secretly took this lesson to heart.
Fortunately, the meditation had been very effective, and his mana had fully recovered.
The two re-entered the sewer and found Art the Wererat.
“You’re finally back.”
The Wererat was clearly anxious from waiting and quickly walked ahead of them, leading the way.
With the Wererat as their “local guide,” Lynn realized how intricate the sewer system truly was.
After numerous twists and turns, even with the hand-drawn map provided by the Town Administration Hall, Lynn couldn’t pinpoint his exact location.
Fortunately, his Echolocation created a three-dimensional route map.
While Echolocation wasn’t so exaggerated as to build a complete map after just one pass, it allowed Lynn to remember the path they had taken in his mind.
He could still discern the general direction.
Even if the Wererat slipped away, he wouldn’t get lost in the sewer.
As they delved deeper underground, the sound of water grew louder.
Until they crossed a certain boundary, the stacked stone bricks disappeared, and all traces of man-made structures were erased.
It seemed they had already left the sewers of Wingen Town.
Yet, the air grew increasingly damp, so much so that Lynn’s leather armor was covered in mist.
Lynn stopped, not moving forward.
“Are you sure your home is still ahead?”
He eyed Art the Wererat with some suspicion.
However, the Wererat’s expression was open and honest, not appearing to be lying.
“Just ahead, about ten more minutes’ walk.”
Lynn repeatedly used Echolocation several times to confirm the geological structure of the tunnel, ensuring there would be no collapses or other issues, before continuing forward.
Additionally, he activated Light once more, making sure that if something went wrong, he could immediately trigger Burst Step to get to the Wererat and threaten its life.
Lupa looked around. In the eerie atmosphere, she seemed a bit scared and instinctively moved closer to Lynn.
However, instead of the girl’s soft body, what first touched Lynn was her cold plate armor.
Fortunately, Art hadn’t lied.
After leaving Wingen Town’s sewers and walking for another ten minutes or so, a clearly man-made indentation suddenly appeared on the side of the tunnel ahead.
The indentation was neatly enclosed by a fence with a small gate.
Looking past the fence, one could see inside the cave:
It was a square little house.
The floor was paved with stone slabs, and besides standard furniture, the room also held many decorative items of various styles, some human-made, others collected from who-knew-where.
It looked a bit like the matchbox base Lynn used to carve out on a mountainside when he played Minecraft in his previous life.
The difference was that this cave-house had more furniture and decorations, showing the builder’s enthusiasm, and it looked more like a place where “people” lived...
“Is this your home? It looks pretty good.”
Lynn looked at the cave-house before him, feeling a slight sense of wonder. He hadn’t expected the Wererat to be such a creature who loved life.
To his surprise, Art the Wererat became incredibly excited upon hearing his casual compliment, like a child who had received approval.
“Lord Mage thinks it’s very good too? Then you can come visit my home sometime! I can treat you to specialties from the Underdark. But it has to be after winter, because Art won’t be home in winter; he’ll be out doing business…”
Art the Wererat babbled on and on.
Finally, Lynn had to change the subject.
“Where is the specter?”
“Ah… right, the specter. That monster suddenly appeared in my house a few days ago. I was fiddling with my collection at the time, and that hateful thing suddenly burrowed out from the ceiling, scaring me so much I dropped and broke my collectibles…”
At the mention of this, Art’s voice dropped a few octaves.
“After that, it always came out to scare me when I wasn’t paying attention. But because it wasn’t fast enough, I luckily wasn’t hurt.”
Lynn glanced at the packed stone wall above Art’s home.
Indeed, suddenly appearing from there would be quite frightening.
But waiting around here wasn’t a solution, so Lynn asked Art,
“Do you have any way to lure it out?”
“I do.”
Art took out a wooden box he had prepared beforehand. When he opened it, inside was an understated silver necklace that didn’t look valuable.
“Ever since the specter appeared, every time I take this out, that specter will voluntarily come out. But when I close the box, it drifts away aimlessly after a while.”
Sure enough, as soon as the wooden box was opened, dust rustled down from the cave ceiling.
The specter had arrived.
Rate on N.U.
