The first signs that all was not well in the land of Newbon came just before dawn, when Rae spotted a portal opening, but nobody came through.
Instead, there were signs of spell casting on the other side, and then the magic in the area began to destabilize.
[Karl, get up. Something is happening.] He opened his eyes and looked in the direction Rae’s attention was focused.
The spell was still ongoing, and it was doing something to the energy in the area. Karl couldn’t tell what at first, but then something under the ground began to shake, and the ground itself began to glow.
Karl felt one of the Spellblades coming over to see what had attracted his attention, so he motioned for silence as he pointed into the distance.
“I think that there is an ancient ruin there, and someone is casting a spell to try to activate it. Rae spotted the portal when they opened it, and I can sense the magic they’re using, but I don’t know what the goal is, unless they are treasure hunters seeking an ancient artifact.” Karl whispered.
The Spellblade nodded. “That might be the case. We do the same thing from the Sect Compound at home. We have a portal array, and we either send out teams or we check on known and likely opportunities.
Seers can’t tell when an anomaly or trial will appear until someone finds it. So, we search using historical references. Normally, we focus on things within the Golden Dragon Nation, since those are the ones that might be a direct threat or an accessible opportunity. But there is no real reason that you couldn’t focus on the historical sites of the other nations.
If that is what someone is doing, there shouldn’t be any effect on the area, though. It’s just a scrying spell. If they are doing something to a ruin they found, that is an entirely different matter. They might have activated an ancient Relic. Normally, we try not to do that, as so many of them are unstable and could explode or cause other issues. Even the Anomalies are some of the milder effects, as they normally only last a day or two.
Legend says that the old capital of Hitcland, a human nation east of here, was completely obliterated when someone accidentally activated the ruins it was built over. Ten million dead within seconds.” frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Karl frowned. “Well, we can hope that whatever they’re doing doesn’t cause something like that. We’re still far enough away that even if it would level a city, we should be safe. Besides, I can create stone walls for defence. A bomb outside the wall is much less scary.” The Spellblade nodded. “About that wall. You might want to start thinking about making it. The power in the distance seems really unstable.”
[Rae, want to give me a hand? Let’s build a proper wall around the camp in case that thing blows up.]
[I’m on it. Then Hawk can cover it in his Ghostfire barrier. That should stop the rest of the damage.]
That turned out to be the worst possible answer.
While they quickly managed to build the barrier, the power used to activate the skills was resonating with whatever was going on in the distance, and everything in between was beginning to shake.
Trees were falling, the ground was trembling, and the portal snapped shut with a surge of power that Karl was certain had been the caster on the other side erecting their own barriers.
“What is going on? Why are we turtled into a stone castle?” Prince Corbin called as he woke up.
“Someone opened a portal in the distance, and they were doing something that made the ground glow. It might be an ancient Relic or trial. I didn’t want the camp to take a direct hit if the ground exploded instead of just shaking.” Karl explained.
It was doing more than just shaking now. There was something coming up out of the ground, a simple stone construct that looked like the ruins of a city from Karl’s vantage point.
Hawk was resisting the urge to go out and inspect it for now. Until the mana stabilized, and he wasn’t at risk of getting blown up, it was safer to just wait and keep his barrier up around the camp.
Karl could see that there were crumbled granite walls, ruined buildings, and in the middle of the risen city, a faintly glowing purple sphere.
“Is it just me, or does that look like a trial instance entrance to anyone else?” Karl asked.
“None of us can see anything past the walls.” Lotus reminded him.
Karl shrugged. “You can’t see anything because Ophelia is standing in front of you. But I get your point. I’m cheating with the relay from Rae. There is a ruined city that just came up out of the ground, and a glowing something in the middle that might be a trial instance entrance.
Now, someone triggered this, so it could get messy if they realize we’re here. But I still think we should have a vote on whether to steal the instance from them if that’s what it is.” Corbin sighed. “You’re nuts. However, you’re not wrong. Anyone who sees us in the area is likely to try to kill us. It might be safer to be inside the instance than outside of it.”
The rest of his clan prepared to move, trusting his judgment, and Karl’s team waited for Thor and the Golems to come prepare them for a trip.
“The city literally starts right outside this wall. It is less than a kilometre to the instance. We will do better moving on foot with a full retinue of guards.” Karl explained.
He also didn’t want to damage the ground any more than it had been, in case there were treasures there which were hiding in the dark. There was too much magic present for Rae and the others to tell if there might be treasures left behind, and that meant manually searching.
The Spellblades seemed to have the same idea, as the moment that Karl and Hawk took down the defences, they began to spread out, making a wide line to travel through the ruins, instead of following the leader on a path that they knew had no traps.