Chapter 167: Pile of Rocks


    After a handful ofte arrivals trickled into the muster point and were loudly scolded by professor Goodwil and summarily shunted into different teams, the excavation expedition departed. One of the faculty who was apanying them activated a skill that asionally rippled invisibly across the teams, pulling their attention towards their destination and rying information about the uing terrain.


    It was a somewhat disconcerting experience the first few times it happened, the sensation of foreign information trickling into his awareness being quite unusual. The source of the skill was a highly promoted [Guide], the ss being one that excelled in, well, guiding others. The nonbat ss was popr among those who became teachers or leaders, with it granting skills that made it easier to keep track of others and more effectivelymunicate between groups.


    Once they were away from the Dimid campus, the expedition crossed over an invisible line, not dissimr to the one that divided the Academy portion of Lutum from the beast reserve.


    “Do hostile creatures live on this ind?” Leif asked aloud, directing the question at Marcus, though it was the nearby Professor Nern who answered.


    “Not quite. The wards on Dimid are more for detection than protection. There are cavern systems and expansive ruins littering the ind, and any number of creatures may be lurking within.”


    “I see.” Leif said.


    “Mmmm. We don’t need the same type of wards like those on Lutum with its beast filled forests or Braslim and its elemental sanctuaries. Make no mistake, we take the safety of our students extremely seriously. Thergest hotspots of danger on this ind have more intricate wards ced around them.”


    “Is the ce we’re going one of those hotspots?”


    “No, but it isrgely unexplored. There are severalbat teams for a reason, though I suspect engagements will be minimal.”“It’s perfectly safe.” Marcus said with a smile.


    “Hardly.” Nern sniffed. “Though any potentially hostile entities are unlikely to assault a group asrge as ours.”


    “So it would be dangerous if someone came out here alone?” Leif asked, ncing at Marcus. The sandy haired man started whistling while Nern began lecturing about the different species of wildlife found on the ind, and what type of rocky environment they preferred.


    Leif and Marcus passively absorbed a textbook''s worth of information about the differences between granite and limestone over the next hour. As they snaked through ravines and shallow canyons they were only stopped twice, though as Leif was towards the rear of the group he only received a projected message to halt, not the reason for why. As far as he was aware they weren’t attacked, though perhaps some of the outlying groups may have scared off the asional beast sniffing around.


    Ancient structures were built into the rock, or had partially sunk down into the ground. Great pired entrances lead into copsed rooms and the remains of buildings littered the canyons. The architecture reminded Leif of the older structures found around the Academy, though even his senses were gradually bing overwhelmed by the poignant feeling of lost history that hung over every forgotten pathway or ruined home.


    Without realising it Leif began to voice the feelings and impressions he was gaining from their surroundings, and Nern quickly stopped waffling about how sedimentary rock formed intoyers through stratification over time. Leif pushed out his aura and perception, for the first time truly using the underutilised aspected of [Sympathy from Experience] and [Meditations on Eternity].


    His senses brushed against something intangible, though whatever it was it became more and more prominent the closer to their destination the expedition drew. Leifpsed into silence, partially because he didn’t want to voice how oddly familiar the impressions he was gathering were, and partially to just quietly absorb everything he could.


    Leif shot a look at Marcus, but the man was walking with his eyes closed, his hands in his pockets as he casually strolled along as if following an invisible path. “I know why your divination skill led you here. I can feel it.” Leif sent. The [Seeker] peeked open an eye and smiled knowingly.


    Up ahead a halt was called, and a minuteter the expedition was gathered around a wide section of canyon, rocky walls towering overhead, their peaks sharp, and the shadows they cast were long and cool. A sea breeze blew through a western passage, and the remains of ancient structures littered the ce as if something massive had picked them up and discarded them with contemptuous ease. Parts of the structures seemed to have been made of a darker material, and in other ces seemed to have odd grooves carved into their surfaces, some longer and wider than Leif’s arm.


    “I’m surprised nobody has explored this ce before.” Leifmented. “Especially since we’re less than two hours away from the Dimid campus.”


    “Oh, it has.” Nern said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Just not with the care and attention it deserved.”


    “There.” Marcus pointed, drawing Leif’s gaze to where Goodwil and several teams were gathering.


    A crack, barely wider than a person, ran from the top of one of the cliffs right down to the bottom. It was as if the towering wall of stone had been severed cleanly down the middle. But that wasn’t what caught Leif’s attention. Twisted columns of stone emerged from the cliff and the fractured ground, their surface was smooth, their construction as if rock had been melted and poured. But it wasn’t stone. Not really. They were roots, grey, petrified and long dead.


    Leif froze, and the whistling wind filling the canyon seemed to still as the world came into sharp relief. He nced around, taking in the scene with new eyes. Parts of the ruined buildings weren’t built with darker stone, they were burnt, scorched ck. The cracks and lines carved into their surfaces weren’t decorative or stylish, they were signs of destruction, of battle.


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    “How odd. There seems to be signs of conflict in this area.” Nernmented, oblivious to Leif’s shock. “Very odd indeed. Most of the structures the Academy is built on were abandoned by whoever once lived here, they weren’t driven away or forced out through violence.”


    “Leif? What’s the matter?” Marcus asked, tugging at his sleeve.


    The scion barely heard what his friend said. It was hard to pay attention to anything over the rhythmic pounding of his heart. He walked off, quickly striding to the nearest petrified root. A team of students were lounging on it, resting their packs up against the dead wood. Leif ignored them and crouched down, cing a palm against the-


    An infinitely stretchingndscape of rolling hills covered in grass. A clear blue sky and a towering gold leafed tree. Time flowing eternally, faster and faster, stretching until it frayed at the edges, blurring until it snapped-


    Leif jerked his hand back, startling a student who was leaning over his shoulder. Leif let out a shaky breath, though it came out as more of a guttural hiss. He stood and turned, looking at Marcus, the man sporting a worried expression.


    “I… We need to get deeper inside.”


    “Right. The temple''s entrance is through the crack.”


    “Yes, thank you. We’ll wait for the thaumaturges to widen the way forward.” He said, trying to ignore the shimmering golden thread that hung in his peripheral vision, quivering like a fishing line that hadnded a bite.


    ===


    Within minutes the base camp had been set up, wide tents were strung up on metal rods, creating a ceiling of cloth that fluttered in the breeze. After the entrance to the site was widened, two teams slunk inside, one to assess the stability of the buried structure, and another to guard them from any potential dangers lurking within.


    The wind whistling through the canyon all but ceased as a pair of enchanters inscribed runes into the walls and floor. Goodwil started to deploy teams to survey the surrounding cliffs and ravines. Leif spent the time running his fingers along every exposed root, tracing them back to their origin. He wasn’t certain how he could tell, but he was confident it was alling from a single source.


    When the initial exploration teams returned, reporting a blockage of petrified roots preventing their progress deeper into the ruins, Leif volunteered himself to assist in clearing them away. The rubble-strewn passageway was a little wider than the average human, though advancing into the structure often required ducking, or even crawling to fit through the tighter spaces. There was only so much that could be done to adjust the passageways without risking a total copse. At the bottom of a half caved in staircase was the reported blockage, and Leif went down alone while veins of orange light snaked through the stone above his head to provide light.


    [Wood Maniption] seemed to slip off of the ancient wood, the once living substance having mineralised, bing more akin to rock than what it had once been. But there was a solution. After a few minutes of experimentation he discovered that an injection of amber vitality made his skill function normally, though the roots were incapable of holding life-force for more than a handful of seconds.


    Even with [Benevolent Actions] increasing his [Willpower] Leif struggled to manipte the shape of the roots to allow ess. But he had more sess than professor Nern, the [Geomancer]s [Rock Maniption] skill finding absolutely no purchase on the petrified wood. An hour into the excavation Leif needed to let his skills recover, the ache in his soul growing too intrusive to ignore.


    It was a temple, that much was obvious from the very first room, though the weight and significance of the ce he was sensing would have told him as much even without so many physical clues. Iconography and symbols reminded Leif of the temple he underwent his level fifty advancement trial within. For every passageway discovered that was traversable, three or so werepletely caved in. The temple was huge, its massive chambers having been almost scooped out of the stone it was constructed within. Its sheer scale became more apparent as scouting teams returned with reports of additional caved in entrances.


    They excavated a long curved chamber with a partially buried statue and fountain lining its right side. Another room had dozens of lines of destroyed pews, though the front of the chamber had fully copsed. Throughout them all petrified roots jutted from the walls or had seemingly burst up out of the floor. The now dead tree seemed to have been the cause of much of the destruction of the temple, if not for the other signs of conflict.


    They discovered their first corpse in a side chamber dedicated to what Nern suspected was a goddess of fertility, though if it was any of the gods worshipped in modern times he couldn’t identify them. The body was distinctly human, with rusted armour and the remains of a shattered sword littering the ground.


    “A temple guard?” Marcus asked, the man crouching down next to the skeletal remains.


    “Mmmm, perhaps.” Nern said after he had directed a student to fetch a box for the bones. “We’ll need to get these dated. But I think, much like the rest of this ce, they will predate what we know of the fall of the civilization that once lived on the archipgo.”


    “What do you know of those people?” Leif asked, trying to sense any potential undeath energies within the body. Fortunately there didn’t seem to be any. With luck, this wouldn’t be a repeat of the Mythhold.


    “We know very little.” Nern said, taking a careful step away from the remains. “Other than that they were masters of architectural styles we are still studying, and experts of enchantment. As far as the Academy''s records suggest, they were standard humans, though certain demikin tells can be hard to detect with only a handful of remains and circumstantial evidence remaining.”


    “Why would this temple have been attacked?” Leif said, frowning internally. “Even with the different denominations and methods of worship, there is rarely conflict between the different faiths. At least not that I’ve read about.”


    “There are still religious conflicts.” Marcus murmured. “Though not so much in the empire.”


    “Indeed.” Nern sniffed. “In less civilised ces, like the republic, such things often happen.”


    “In the republic, faith is usually just an excuse for war, not usually the real cause.” Marcus said. “Or so I’ve heard.” The sandy haired man shot Leif a look, his eyes briefly flickering to two smaller roots that snaked out of the far wall, though neither were anywhere near the corpse.


    Leif followed his gaze. He didn’t think whatever had happened here had been due to any differences in religious ideology. Whatever, or whoever had done this, had almost certainly been targeting the tree that was likely buried somewhere down in the dark.


    “Let''s keep going. The excavation will take weeks if we continue at this pace, maybe longer.”


    “I’ll stay here and collect the body.” Nern said, ncing out the room, only to scowl when he didn’t spot the box he had ordered.