Chapter 234: Discovery of the Vault
"I heard that at the Order of the Arcane Hand Gathering, Teacher traded a favor to Matthew Merlin—worth ten Soul Mana Crystals!"
"Good thing I only burned Salomon..." Sylas shuddered at this, grateful he hadn't tried anything against Matthew Merlin. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been settled with just an apology. Wasting a favor worth ten Soul Mana Crystals—his teacher would probably strangle him on the spot.
"Heh..." Caron chuckled but said nothing more.
Originally, Caron had wanted to say: You might not even be able to burn Matthew Merlin.
Caron knew a bit about the young Archmage's strength. Back when Horne from Cloudspire Tower went to Seaview City, he fought Matthew Merlin at the Gilded Rose, and Star Sage Joey himself declared that Matthew Merlin had enough power to take Horne down with him. At that time, Matthew Merlin was only a fifth-level Archmage.
Now, Matthew Merlin already has one foot in the Magus realm, his power more than tenfold greater. If he really fought Sylas, the outcome would be anyone's guess...
But then Caron thought about it—Sylas had taken enough hits tonight, so he swallowed the words back...
After that, the two chatted about the war in the Senjin Plane, and only went to sleep around midnight.
Early the next morning, Caron left the joint expedition camp. The fighting in the Senjin Plane was fierce. Though Grant was stationed there, neither his strength nor reputation could compare to Caron. He could handle things for a short while, but as for leading the whole operation long-term, Grant just wasn't up to it.
Before leaving, Caron couldn't help but worry. He reminded Sylas a few more times to rein in his personality.
Sylas agreed without hesitation.
From this, it was clear—Sylas was just blunt, not narrow-minded like Fran.
Speaking of Fran...
Fran hadn't slept well all night...
Originally, Fran had been hiding in the tent, enjoying the spectacle. When he saw Sylas burn Salomon's arm and force Matthew Merlin to crack the Lightless Domain, he was thrilled—everything was going exactly as he had hoped.
Fran had even imagined what would happen next: Matthew Merlin would fail to crack the Lightless Domain, both arms ruined by Sylas, and the joint expedition team would have no choice but to beg him and Sylas to break Vaughn's Vault alchemical array...
With Sylas's personality, he'd never bother to negotiate. That would be Fran's cue to step in. Half the spoils? Please—this time, he'd raise the price by another twenty percent. What? They don't agree? Fine, he'd just leave with Sylas and see who else could break Vaughn's Vault alchemical array...
But then, out of nowhere, Caron showed up...
And once he arrived, the plot made no sense to Fran at all. What was going on? Why did Caron seem to know Matthew Merlin? Why did Sylas apologize to Salomon? Why did Caron slap Sylas? This—this—this... this was nothing like what he'd imagined!
These questions haunted Fran the entire night. Every time he closed his eyes, his mind filled with doubts. He'd planned to find a chance today to subtly ask Caron what he'd said to Sylas last night, but before he got the opportunity, Caron was already gone...
Now what?
Maybe he should ask Sylas?
At first, Fran had some hope. After all, he and Sylas were both from Mercury Tower—real comrades in the joint expedition team. Even if Sylas had issues with him, surely he wouldn't show it in front of outsiders.
But Fran was completely blindsided...
Not only did Sylas show it, he was even more blunt than usual. After Caron left, Fran had just opened his mouth to ask, when Sylas snorted, "Fran, you'd better behave yourself!"
Fran was so startled, he bolted on the spot...
That afternoon, the joint expedition team began sweeping Four Seasons Gorge.
After losing more than a dozen scouts, the leaders of the Nine Great Factions of Seaview City made a joint decision. There was no other way—Vaughn's Vault still hadn't turned up. The expedition had sent out several waves of scouts, but not only did they fail to find the vault, they lost even more people in the jungle.
"Then dig three feet down!" Salomon, fresh from his burn wounds, was brimming with murderous intent.
Although Four Seasons Gorge was no longer under the influence of the ancient tree’s power, and the magical beasts were less ferocious than before, it was still a tough fight for the joint expedition team…
The team of hundreds, under Seth’s command, slowly advanced deeper into Four Seasons Gorge. Over the course of a day, more than a dozen battles broke out. The largest took place by the gorge’s only river, where the expedition encountered a herd of over a hundred Thunder Elephants.
The battle even drew Sylas’s attention. Known as the Flame Demon among Title Archmages, he demonstrated terrifying magical power. For a full hour, Sylas hovered in the sky, unleashing fire spells that nearly boiled the entire river. When the battlefield was cleared, it was found that at least half the Thunder Elephants had died directly to Sylas’s flames.
Leon, on the other hand, didn’t make a move…
Leon stayed in his tent, focusing on digesting his recent gains.
Successfully cracking a true spirit-level alchemical array is a rare opportunity for any grandmaster. The gains were immense, and Leon spent all his time absorbing them. After a few days, his alchemical array skills had improved by leaps and bounds—he was now a whole level above where he’d been when he first entered Four Seasons Gorge.
[Irrelevant web novel prompt skipped]
As for the battles outside, Leon wasn’t worried. He’d already witnessed the fiercest beast tide in Four Seasons Gorge, and had unraveled the force behind it. While the fighting outside was intense, it wasn’t enough to put the expedition team in real danger.
With Sylas joining the team—a genuine Title Archmage—the expedition’s strength had increased dramatically. As long as Sylas gave his all, the team could easily sweep through all of Four Seasons Gorge.
That’s why Leon could stay in his tent with a clear conscience, fully focused on absorbing his gains.
But Leon did send Hubert out...
Hubert had just awakened his first Dragonblood Rune, and was at the beginning of his power. What he needed most now was plenty of intense battles.
The second day, the third day, the fourth day...
One page after another slipped by on the calendar. Unknowingly, a week had passed since the joint expedition team entered Four Seasons Gorge...
During this week, not only did Leon’s alchemical array skills improve by leaps and bounds, but Hubert’s strength also grew day by day. Last night, after helping the team eliminate a pack of several dozen Shadow Wolves, Hubert finally advanced to Swordmaster—and now had four Dragonblood Runes!
Swordmaster-level melee ability made Hubert one of the top fighters in the expedition team. And with four Dragonblood Runes, his combat power was now several times greater than before.
Now, Hubert’s strength completely surpassed William Merlin’s, to the point that William Merlin complained several times about being born to the wrong race—working so hard at meditation and study, yet still losing out to a Highland Orc who slept all day.
"Focus on mastering Bloodstone—that’s your foundation..." Leon ignored William Merlin’s complaints.
This guy was just greedy for more—look, he’d gone from Fifth Rank Grand Mage to Ninth Rank in just a few months, and was about to become a Magister. What was there to be dissatisfied about?
If there was any dissatisfaction, it was only compared to Hubert...
But Hubert’s rate of growth was simply incomparable. When a Dragonblood Orc first awakens, their speed of advancement is unmatched—no human genius could compare. It’s a matter of race and bloodline.
A week passed quickly, and the expedition team had swept through most of Four Seasons Gorge, advancing from east to west and slaying thousands of magical beasts. Luckily, the Silvermoon and Flash Arrow Mercenary Companies were experts at handling beast corpses, sending out squads to process them. After a week, the camp was piled high with magic crystals and materials.
But Vaughn’s Vault still hadn’t been found...
Until that afternoon...
As usual, Leon sent the Dragonblood Orc out to gain experience, while he stayed in the tent studying alchemical arrays. While calculating a key figure, footsteps sounded outside.
"Merlin, come with me—Vaughn’s Vault has been found…" Salomon rushed into the tent, grabbed Leon, and hurried him out.
"Oh?" Leon dropped his quill and followed Salomon. Soon, they arrived near a forest.
The area had clearly just seen a fierce battle—magical beast corpses lay everywhere, blood soaking into the soil and filling the air with a heavy stench. But no one paid attention; under Seth’s command, the team was digging furiously.
"Lord Sylas discovered some clues here. After discussion, we think Vaughn’s Vault is likely beneath this ground…" Salomon pointed to a deep pit and quietly explained to Leon.