Chapter 287

Now that Nick knew he was dealing with an entire organization of what he was pretty sure were anti-religious fanatics, ignoring the nagging voice at the back of his mind that he really should turn around and bring this matter to someone with the proper power and authority to deal with it was becoming increasingly difficult.And yet, his feet guided him through the dark corridors, sinking deeper and deeper into the bowels of the earth.

He could have easily justified his decision. His previous attempt to do the right thing hadn’t gone well, after all. His brother was now in custody, and while the city was on high alert, the people plotting its downfall were still at large; only the bottom feeders and troublemakers had been caught.

But Nick wasn’t in the habit of lying to himself. Any good Occultist knew that it was a slippery slope that was almost impossible to escape from, and if he started convincing himself of things like that, he’d soon do the same for more dangerous matters.

No, he wasn’t acting out of a misguided desire to be a hero or to prove himself. He was simply morbidly curious and felt like he’d come too far to turn back now.

Outside these tunnels, he would have to deal with the consequences of his actions. The apprentices he had beaten up had a backer of their own, and while he was pretty sure Tholm had arranged things so that no blame would fall on him beyond a slap on the wrist, he wasn’t eager to test that, especially when there was a much more interesting mystery to solve.

There were just too many seemingly disconnected details popping up all of a sudden. From the day he’d found remnants of a ritual in the last beastmen temple, he knew he’d have to take action himself, but he didn’t expect it to happen so soon or to be so complicated.

He wasn’t sure what he would do in either case, but he had to uncover the truth first. Then, he could decide whether this matter needed to be handled with prejudice or if he could simply observe from the sidelines.

The worst-case scenario of the tattoos being some kind of phylactery or soul magic didn’t seem to be the case after a quick inspection, but that still left many paths to chaos.

For that, he would have to get his answers from the source.

More people remained on the upper basement floors. Nick could have stopped to take them out on the way down, just like he had with others he’d encountered so far, but that would take extra time to organize. Now that he was a bit deeper, he could sense a familiar presence alongside a stronger one.

he thought as he recognized the fainter of the two as Anthony’s soul. It was muffled, as if being felt through a cloth, but still solid enough that he didn’t fear for his life. Nick took a side route and, after forcing a locking charm’s signature recognition with a bit of spiritual magic—sending a quick thanks to Tholm for his little puzzle that made bypassing these barriers a child’s game—he stepped into a hidden tunnel.

The path here was much rougher than the one in the basement. There was only packed earth, and no guardrail to assist the descent, which made him think it was built for mages who could fly, or skilled warriors whose balance allowed them to traverse such a dangerous route.

Nick, however, was able to levitate himself down in a controlled fall, which allowed him to pass the last few floors and finally enter the underground tunnel network.

The air was damper here, as the aquifers that fed the Valis caused the tunnels to twist and turn, to prevent them from getting too close and risking flooding the entire area.

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A few minutes later, he finally reached what felt like the last layer and gently lowered himself onto the now flat ground. Taking a moment to assess how far he had gone, Nick looked up and saw that the tunnel he had traveled through had turned into a chute of sorts at the end, descending almost vertically in what would have been a deadly drop for the vast majority of mages, let alone mundanes.

This deep beneath the surface, light was nonexistent, and a constant sense of gloom filled the darkness. Without his mystical senses, Nick would have been hopelessly lost and likely died long before he found his way back.

That once again confirmed his decision to dedicate a lot of time and effort to developing his sensory spells. He was hitting tougher walls now, as progress became incremental rather than explosive like before, but even gaining just a few extra feet of range each week meant he would miss less.

Shadows shifted oddly all around him, but Nick knew that was due to the atmospheric mana being so filled with the underworld’s essence, not an active effect, so he paid it no mind and pushed further down the corridor he’d ended up in.

Space here wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed on the surface. Distances might have appeared small, but could be vast, while seemingly wide chasms might have been simple cracks. Due to the interference from the ambient mana, it was hard for even the owl figurine to give him a clear picture of his surroundings, leaving Nick with only to guide him.

Eventually, the rough rock beneath his feet began to smooth out and transform into a more artificial type of stone, which he was certain had been created through elemental manipulation rather than hard work or nature. The walls started to widen until he found himself at the entrance of a large chamber, where the two presences he’d been tracking were located.

Though he wanted to rush in and finally sate his curiosity, with the side benefit of possibly saving an innocent kid from having his soul messed with, Nick stopped.

Now that he was closer, he could tell the other person wasn’t a Prestige class as he’d feared, but they were still considerably more powerful than he was, and facing them directly in a fight would be a losing battle.

Fortunately, Nick wasn’t as restricted as most mages and quickly got everything in place.

He only had a few minutes, as he was now close enough to be discovered soon, despite the protection offered by the . It concealed him from magical senses, but it wasn’t just rangers who had heightened physical senses that could detect him, especially in the complete silence and darkness.

Still, it was enough that he had given himself a few more options, so he finally stepped out of the oppressive shadows and into the thin light of the chamber, where torches flickered as if in the wind, while the air remained as still as the surrounding stone.

“Ah, it seems our guest has finally arrived. Welcome, young apprentice. I hope the journey down wasn’t as rough as I hear it usually is," a thin voice called out, and Nick summoned the owl figurine back, letting its eyes reveal to him who he'd been watching for the past hour.

A muffled sound echoed back in reply, and Orion saw that while Anthony was in one piece, that didn’t mean he’d been enjoying his stay. He was tied to a slab of stone, his arms and feet splayed out, while his mouth was gagged with thick cloth.

“You seem to have me at a disadvantage,” Nick replied, though he was taking note of every detail. Runes, swooping lines, and a sacrifice made it pretty clear that this man was setting up a ritual, but he couldn’t sense any mana beyond the general gloomy energy that filled the air deep below the surface.

That meant this was either a simple test for something that would happen later, or that not all the ingredients were present, even though it looked like a finished product.

“Ah, where are my manners?!” The mage nodded sagely, scratching the thin, dark goatee that covered his chin. “Really, what use are you if you don’t even make the introductions between me and your friend?” He asked, his voice dropping lower as he stared down the bound Anthony, who tried to say something back, but only managed a series of incoherent groans.

“I suppose there is no helping this kind of thing,” the mage continued, turning back to Nick. “Let this be a lesson for the future. You should never trust others to do what you can do yourself!”

Nick kept a calm smile on his face, but inside, he was frantically reviewing everything he sensed about the ritual and the man, making adjustments to his ofudas and reshaping the magic he would cast when this inevitably went wrong.

Not because he thought the man was truly as insane as he sounded, no. His presence in the ether was as solid as a rock, and all the changes in his mood reflected not his true self.

But that was exactly why he was sure this would lead to a fight. Anyone capable of putting on such a facade wouldn’t be moved by reason, no matter how sweet he made it sound.

“But then again, I doubt you care much about little old me, do you?” The man continued, his voice turning more sinister. "It must look all very confusing to you. So many secrets, so many hidden hands, and you're left to fend for yourself, adrift in a sea of darkness. I know the absence of knowledge must grate on you—that feeling of powerlessness.”

Nick could admit he was interested in where this was headed. Acting surprised took only a moment, and the man’s eyes sparkled.

“Yes, I see it. You are smart enough to realize you're being manipulated, that great plots are happening around you, using you for their purposes, but you haven't been told the truth until now. Tell me, how much do you want the truth?” The last few words echoed oddly, and the way the man’s eyes moved toward Anthony told Nick exactly what the price for answers would be.