Ten minutes later, Leon had managed to circle around the Nether Iron Vein without alerting the Bone Demon. He now stood outside the shadowy cave, with the bloodstained garment lying at his feet. At this moment, Leon could clearly see that the blood on the garment had dried completely, leaving behind only mottled patches of black.
Leon didn’t touch the bloodstained garment. He knew that in the Bone Plane, where death magic permeated everything, decay happened ten times faster. The blood had long since dried, and the garment itself must be seriously weathered—if Leon reached out to touch it, he’d likely be left with nothing but a handful of ashes…
Leon crouched down and carefully inspected the dried bloodstains, soon noticing that the trail of blood extended all the way into the cave.
This detail made Leon frown. Could it be that this unknown human, after being wounded outside, had escaped into the cave?
If that was really the case, then this cave might be more complicated than it seemed…
"Looks like I really do have to take a look inside…" Leon thought, and with a wave of his hand, cast a Light spell before lowering his head and stepping into the cave.
The cave was extremely narrow, sloping steeply downward, making Leon’s progress difficult. After descending for dozens of meters, Leon sensed a strange magical fluctuation—there was no doubt that this anomaly was interfering with his Wizard’s Eye.
The cave ran beneath the Nether Iron Vein. As Leon made his way down, he could clearly see veins of Nether Iron exposed on both sides of the rocky walls. The ore’s quality was exceptional—if placed in the hands of a skilled smith and properly refined, it would make perfect materials for enchanted weapons and armor.
Leon trudged down that narrow, steep slope for a full ten minutes before finally reaching the cave’s bottom, where the path ahead began to level out and widen.
But Leon’s eyes narrowed slightly…
Because Leon could clearly see a skeleton lying ahead.
That strange magical fluctuation was emanating from the skeleton itself…
"Just as I thought…" The moment Leon laid eyes on the skeleton, he knew his earlier guess had been correct. That unknown human really had escaped into the cave after being wounded outside.
It seemed like a minor detail, but on closer thought, this wasn’t the sort of thing a normal person would do.
Just imagine—a regular person, wounded in a place like the Bone Plane, wouldn’t try to heal or escape. Instead, they’d run deeper into an underground cave. That just doesn’t add up…
Unless, there was something strange about this cave…
Otherwise, such odd behavior would be impossible to explain.
Leon grew more cautious. He crouched before the skeleton, and with a gentle turn, found the source of the magical anomaly—a staff.
"No way…" The moment Leon held the staff, he realized things were about to get complicated. The staff’s grade far exceeded his expectations—it was a true Soulbound Relic, an artifact with its own sentience.
Anyone capable of wielding this staff had to be at least an Archmage—and not just any Archmage, but someone like Salomon, nearly invincible among his peers, who could fully command the spirit within the staff and harness its power completely.
Fortunately, perhaps because of its age,
the spirit within the staff had long since fallen into slumber. When Leon picked up the staff, he only felt a faint resistance. With a surge of mana, he suppressed that weak opposition, and the staff became completely inert.
Only now did Leon have the leisure to study this Soulbound Relic in detail. Once a magical artifact reaches the Soulbound level, it becomes something entirely different—far beyond any ordinary legendary heirloom. Take this staff, for example: its shaft alone was crafted from Igniswood, a material as valuable as an Abyssal Magic Diamond. Igniswood was famed as an inexhaustible source of magical power; even a small piece could let a mage draw endless mana, but this staff was as long as Leon’s arm—its potential for supplying magic was simply immense.
But that wasn’t even the most important part—the true highlight was the gemstone set at the staff’s tip.
It was a fist-sized Elemental Amber…
"My god…" Leon was rendered speechless at the sight. He had an Elemental Amber of his own, but compared to this one, his was utterly insignificant—neither in size nor purity could it compare.
This Elemental Amber could store at least ten times as much mana as Leon’s own.
Just imagine—ten times as much…
That meant Leon could exhaust his mana ten times over without ever worrying about running dry.
And yet, the most important function of Elemental Amber wasn’t storing mana…
Its true value lay in storing spells. Leon reckoned that this enormous Elemental Amber could hold at least five Archmage-tier spells. With those five spells ready, even without awakening the staff’s spirit, Leon felt he could face the Bone Demon outside head-on.
Of course, getting Archmage-tier spells was another problem…
After all, not every Archmage was willing to pay such a steep price.
But for Leon, this wasn’t an issue—he now possessed the Sage’s Chapter, and even without Archmage-tier spells, he could simply use Limit Spells instead!
For Leon, with the Sage’s Chapter in hand, this staff meant more than just a Soulbound Relic!
But when Leon’s gaze shifted to the base of the staff, his brow furrowed again—he distinctly saw a black lightning insignia…
"Damn, the Black Tower!" Leon was startled—others might not recognize it, but Leon, who’d come from thirty thousand years in the future, knew this infamous mark from the golden age of magical civilization.
A black lightning bolt meant one of the kingdom’s most powerful mage factions—the Black Tower, which had rivaled the Cloudspire for millions of years without ever settling the score.
In other words, the one who fell here was an Archmage from the Black Tower!
*******
The author overslept again and is rushing to write. Here’s one chapter for now; two more will be posted before midnight.