Birth Of The Crafts-God

Chapter 248 The Aura-Breaking Stele

At the moment, Lucas currently stood within the outer region of the East Braftford relics admiring the scenery. This was the most popular Sunil relics in Belfargos city-state as well as the only one with an exploration rate below forty percent. It was also the source of the majority of artefacts and artifacts [1] related to the Sunil civilization.

The East Braftford relics, although yet to be fully explored, had been probed into through the use of sensory and scanning equipment including satellites. Since it was quite close to Trundel City, it was only natural for the city's ruling authority to conduct an investigation on the area. They had partnered up with an alliance of pioneers to dig into the mysteries of the East Braftford relics.

Through these equipment and the ensuing operations, the association of pioneers and Trundel City government had managed to get a somewhat clear idea of the relics.

The East Braftford relics was said to be formed from an ancient city of the Sunil civilization. While the city couldn't compare to those in Belfargos city-state, the cities of the Sunil civilization were still incredibly large. Take the East Braftford relics for instance, which covered more than three hundred kilometres.

Based on the results of the joint investigation, the East Braftford relics was divided into three regions. They were the outer region, the inner region and the core region.

The outer region was the most explored part of the relics as well as the safest when compared to the others. It was about ninety kilometres long and was also the source of roughly thirty percent of all Sunil civilization artefacts. Even until this day, the outer region had yet to be completely explored. Its exploration rate stood at eight two percent (82%).

The inner region followed right after the outer region and stretched at least one hundred and ten kilometres long, making it considerably longer than the outer region. However in terms of width, it was slightly lacking.

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The inner region had also been explored by pioneers, but its exploration rate stood at a mere thirty four percent (34%). And this was after hundreds of years. The mysteries of the inner region were complex and not something technology could easily conquer —which was quite shocking since the Sunil civilization had existed between four to six thousand years ago.

Since the inner region had yet to be explored half way through, there were still a ton of artefacts rumoured to be hidden here, with differing levels of value. Some of the stronger pioneers occasionally took the risk to explore this region and unearth the riches within it.

On the other hand, the final region —the core region— was the centre of the relics. Beyond the core region was a vast lake that easily dwarfed the Monotone Lake in the Cayern Windway. What's more, the lake was a desolate beast domain, which was why there was no other way into the core region except through the outer and inner regions.

Not much was known about the core region as it was publicly recorded as unexplored. However, rumours have it that the strongest existences in Eretre had once journeyed in there. Such existences included individuals like the Oklo Dynasty's previous emperor, the (branch) [2] Lin family's secretive ancestor or the Lester family's protector. However, whether they truly went in there or not was unknown as these factions had no comments on these rumours and no information about the secrets or details of the core region was released.

Despite that, it was said that there would be no smoke without a fire, so many believed that these rumours might hold some truth.

Due to the unknown threat the relics posed, especially its mysterious core region that remained unexplored even after hundreds of years, some had pushed for it to be bombed out of existence. Even if they couldn't explore it, destroying it wasn't an issue for the Trundel City government. However, others argued that the relics was a treasure trove, leading to there being split decisions and factions on the matter.

'Regardless, that doesn't concern me.' Lucas thought.

His goal this time around was simply the outer region.

The mission required Lucas to comprehend the magi runes and not explore the relics entirely, otherwise he would have never accepted it. Lucas never thought himself to be some shonen protagonist or a web novel MC with unlimited plot armour and luck.

Since the mission was only for him to comprehend magi runes, the outer region was enough to fill the remaining thirty percent progress on the mission tracking bar. This was because it was said that the outer region was filled with countless mysterious scripts on its walls. Although these scripts were more of written language than mystical inscriptions used for manipulating stellar energy, there might be a relationship.

Apart from that, it was said that within the explored parts of the outer regions, there was a huge stele made from a strange material that appeared like metal but had a structural build similar to a rock. All over the stele were carved countless magi runes which implied that the stele was an artefact. However, for some reason, the stele couldn't be taken out.

After some scientists and historians checked out the place, they concluded that the stele acted as an important pillar of support to the relics and had an important function. Removing the stele could cause adverse effects to the relics, so after a bit of deliberation, it was preserved by the Trundel City government and any attempts to excavate it came with severe punishments.

The stele had also been turned into a tourist attraction because of this, and occasionally, both tourists and even researchers came to the area.

Compared to the other parts of the outer region, the route to the stele was incredibly safe and with almost no danger. The 'almost' was because one can never be one hundred percent sure of any thing.

"Hey, young fellow, do you need a guide?"

A man noticed that Lucas was staring at the relics but had yet to take a step. Such behaviour was common in first-timers and tourists, so the man saw a business opportunity.

At first Lucas wanted to reject the man because the route was pretty safe and there were already directions posted online. However on second thought, he decided to get a guide. If any unexpected events were to crop up, having someone who was knowledgeable about the relics would be helpful.

As for why Lucas felt that something might happen, it was just an instinctual feeling.

'Countless decades of safety and no threat so far. With the system giving such a mission, it can't be this easy.' Lucas narrowed his eyes.

For some reason, he recalled an adage from Earth called Murphy's law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

An adaptation on Earth had an extra line which read 'If it can't go wrong, it will go wrong anyway'.

Regardless of which it was, Lucas felt unsettled with this trip, but he couldn't back down after having come this far.

"Where to?"

Seeing Lucas give him the go-ahead nod, the man became enthusiastic and approached him quicker.

"The Aura-Breaking stele." Lucas replied.

The Aura-Breaking stele was the name of the famous stele that was turned into a tourist attraction. It was also a valuable piece of research data.

Compared to seeing an image, seeing the real thing was better, especially for researchers. This was because inscriptions contained certain secrets and sensations that could only be seen and felt in person.

"Oh, that's wonderful. I have tons of experience being there and with me, you'll get there safe and sound without a scratch." The man patted his chest as he boasted.

"Price." Lucas ignored all the talk and went straight to the point.

Most guides were skilled at conning tourists. They would bring up various conversation points and distract the tourist, preventing the price from being discussed. After the trip is concluded, the guide would give a hefty bill with various fees attached. As the service has already been provided, the tourist would have no choice than to pay for it or risk causing a scene.

As this action didn't harm anyone and wasn't necessarily illegal, the city's legal forces did nothing against it. One could only blame the tourists for their inexperience.

The man's face changed but he quickly recovered and gave a laugh.

"It's nothing much, don't worry about it. I'll even throw in a discount. Let's go right now, otherwise we might get stuck in a queue. Lots of tourists frequent this place, so the earlier we move, the better."

The man gestured for Lucas to come with him.

However, the man underestimated who he was dealing with. At the moment, Lucas was a miser who was in financial straits. If it weren't for this mission, he would have remained back in his store.

While his job with the Black Star team did pay well, Lucas had to cater for himself and Melissa. At the same time, he needed to still pay taxes and other fees like insurance, on a monthly basis. Then he still had to buy materials and metals for his personal hob-, eh, research.

This made it such that Lucas' wallet was no different from a sponge. He could only hold onto a little bit of money after pay day.

Seeing the man not willing to discuss his rates, Lucas turned to find another guide.

Worried, the man immediately came in front of him.

"Alright, alright. One hundred federal coins."

Lucas glared at him.

"Eighty."

Lucas still didn't say a word but instead walked around the man.

"Okay, fine. Fifty, that's the best deal around here. If you don't believe me, go ask around."

Lucas smiled and turned towards the man.

"Lead the way."