Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 51

Silence (7)

Ancient Spirit Stone.

As the name suggests, it was created when a special stone absorbed the spirit energy emitted from an ancient spirit. It was a higher class of item than ordinary spirit stones, which were commonly used among players.

Only races with the innate ability to deeply communicate with spirits, like elves, could use it, and even fewer races could directly refine spirit stones.

This stone, containing the power of a powerful spirit, was essential for the rituals performed by the High Elves and was the reason for the shipment heading to the White Forest this time.

“Ugh… I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”

Peren shook his head, clutching his ears.

It pricked his conscience a bit to coax these cute little ones, but he had no choice.

The more information he knew, the better, especially when it came to the quests he had to carry out.

He had to choose to move actively rather than sitting still and wasting time.

“Then where are the Ancient Spirit Stones being made?”

“I’ll guide you.”

Piko took the lead and guided the way.

They left the village and headed towards the center of the forest, fearlessly venturing deep into the complex forest with no paved paths.

No matter how complex the forest was, there was no need to worry about getting lost as long as they walked with the Rotum.

“You said an ancient spirit is sleeping under the Spirit Forest, right?”

“That’s right. We receive spirit energy from the ancient spirit underground to fill the spirit stones. Ancient spirits are so great that their energy flows out even when they are still.”

“They all look scary and don’t speak our language, though.”

Peren chimed in.

The ancient spirits scattered throughout Warlord, including the one here, had all stopped moving and were asleep.

The Rotum, with their innate spirit affinity, had tried to communicate with the sleeping spirits beneath the forest, but to no avail.

They were too enormous to be compared to ordinary spirits, and even they couldn’t communicate with them.

They could only manage their energy to create spirit stones.

“There!”

When they reached their destination, Peren pointed ahead.

A large open space had been created in the center of the deep forest, and several altars were spread out there.

As they got closer, they could see shimmering blue stones placed on simple altars.

“Originally, they are all made within half a day, but they are not even half full yet.”

“Hmm…”

Eil approached the altar and examined the situation.

As the story goes that they were receiving the energy of the ancient spirit, faint shimmering heat haze rose from the floor, flowing into the blue stones.

‘Something’s wrong…?’

However, strangely, he noticed that the light rising from the floor had a slightly murky energy.

Originally, the spirit’s energy should only show the spirit’s pure, unique light, but it was different from the common knowledge of Warlord that he knew.

It was such a subtle difference that it might not be worth paying much attention to, but Eil, with his keen instincts, sensed something fishy.

“Let’s go to the ancient spirit. Can you guide me?”

“Are you going to urge them to give us energy quickly? But the sleeping ancient spirit can’t hear us.”

“Can Eil talk to the ancient spirit?”

“No… I mean, let’s go see if something’s wrong.”

“Problem?”

“The spirit might not be feeling well, or something. Maybe the energy is flowing somewhere else.”

“Ah!”

Peren and Piko clapped their hands in admiration at the same time.

Eil was embarrassed to see them sparkling their eyes as if it was a great guess.

“I’m glad I told Eil! It’ll be quick, so follow me!”

* * *

“How could you leave this alone?”

“No way! I’ve never heard of this…!”

Deep shock settled in the eyes of the two Rotum, who had been sparkling.

They had entered the underground cave leading to the heart of the forest and witnessed a shocking sight.

The beautiful forest of spirits, the heart of the place.

All they could see in the most mysterious and sacred place was a spirit that had lost its light and land that had turned black.

A terrible stench, like that of a dungeon full of undead, vibrated.

The spirits that had flowed in from the outside were actually contaminated from the inside.

The abundant souls in the forest could easily be corrupted depending on the environment, so it was not strange for them to turn into monsters.

However, even Eil, who was already well aware of this fact, had not suspected that this had happened.

‘Who did this?’

The forest and spirits, which had been maintaining the balance of nature for over thousands of years, could not have suddenly become contaminated on their own.

In other words, it had to be seen as artificial intervention.

The Rotum, who could not do such a thing by their very nature, were excluded from the suspects, and naturally, the thought that it was the work of an outsider followed.

However, the powerful barrier covering the entire Spirit Forest was not easily bypassed, and even the numerous players who had tried to break through it were unsuccessful.

It wasn’t something that anyone could break through with a suitable number of people.

“Kee-ruck!”

The black spirits that had lost their light flocked in.

They immediately took an aggressive stance when they found them.

Peren and Piko tried hard to talk to them, but to no avail.

The spirits, with their bodies dripping with muddy water, were clearly not in a state to be able to communicate.

Swaaack!

Eil slashed at the rushing black spirits.

In his swiftly wielded hand, a long sword with white flames was already burning.

“I’ll clean up this side, so you guys get out of here quickly.”

“I can’t do that! If the center of the forest is really contaminated, we have to purify it ourselves. If the contamination awakens the ancient spirit…”

Peren couldn’t continue speaking as the potential consequences flashed through his mind.

Even Eil, an outsider, knew how things would turn out if such a worst-case scenario occurred.

According to the settings of the Warlord worldview he knew, it was a big deal that could devastate not only the forest but the entire surrounding area.

The sleeping ancient spirits were that powerful, and since each spirit had a different disposition, it was impossible to predict how they would act just because they were awakened.

However, if the contamination had even slightly affected their minds due to the nature of the spirits, which are sensitive to the environment, a disaster could occur.

‘Damn it, why is the scale suddenly getting so big?’

The escort request, which didn’t seem special, suddenly became a mission that could risk the lives of the entire Rotum.

He had been uneasy since the named NPC [Non-player character] Alrund was involved, but he never imagined that something as big as an ancient spirit would be involved.

“…Then stay close behind me.”

Eil began to clear the way in earnest.

Fortunately, most of the black spirits that had appeared here were level 26, occasionally level 28 monsters, and there was no major problem in dealing with them.

He cut down the monsters blocking the way without delay and headed to the very center of the forest where the ancient spirit was sleeping.

The inside of the cave was extremely complex, but Peren and Piko, who were behind Eil, continued to show him the way, so he didn’t get lost.

The location where the ancient spirit was sleeping and even the source of the contamination were all known by the Rotum.

“The last fork in the road…!”

“Which way is contaminated?”

“Left!”

When Piko pointed to the left path, Eil went there without delay.

There was nothing he could do even if he went to the ancient spirit, and he had to eliminate the cause of the contamination before the spirit woke up or was affected.

As the source of the contamination got closer, the stench became more severe, and the turbidity of the land became thicker.

They entered the last room located at the end of the passage.

“This is…”

As he entered, Eil’s brow furrowed at the sight of the room.

The ceiling, which was severely contaminated and had turned black, dripped, and the corpses of spirits that had half melted were scattered on the floor.

And in the middle of it, a stranger of unknown identity was standing.

The man’s face was hidden as he was wearing a black hood.

Peren and Piko, who were shocked and stopped, wouldn’t know, but Eil could tell at once.

That he was a player, not an NPC.

There were some virtual reality games where it was almost impossible to distinguish between NPCs and players, but in Warlord, it was easy to tell with a little discernment.

As soon as Eil encountered him, he immediately tried to view the status window.

But unfortunately, the information about the player was kept private.

“That guy…! He’s the one who took our stuff last time!”

Peren shouted, pointing at the man.

Peren was included in the previous transport personnel, so he accurately remembered the attacker’s appearance.

‘I never thought that the attacker Alrund mentioned would be the same player….’

The fact that a player was standing in such a place out of the blue made it obvious that he was the culprit behind this, but he never imagined that the attacker mentioned in advance would be the same person.

‘Then….’

The player standing in front of him and Eil himself meant that they had been assigned quests that were diametrically opposed to each other.

They had no choice but to confront each other unless one of them gave up the quest first.

However, it was unlikely that they would give up and back down from a quest that had grown to this scale, not just an ordinary repetitive quest.

Sreung!

The other person seemed to know him too, and drew a dagger without saying a word.

As it seemed impossible to avoid a fight, Eil raised the long sword he was holding.

He thoroughly calculated the gains and losses, but he wasn’t the type to avoid a fight that came his way.

The level and specs seemed similar, and it was a one-on-one situation.

Frankly speaking, it wasn’t the upper level range where monstrous rankers were mainly located, and he was confident that he wouldn’t lose easily.

But then, a completely unexpected message appeared before Eil’s eyes.

[‘Lu, the Judge of Light,’ is wary of the black-hooded stranger.]

‘What…?’