Bang!
Since there were no Seal Stone fragnts in the soil below, it was finally ti for the magic cannon known as Serie to shine.
With just one attack spell, the seemingly sturdy tal round door didn't just get blown open—it was completely liquefied.
The mont the tal door was destroyed, Serie took a few steps back, retreating into the protective barrier she had set up earlier.
The wind howled from the outside, and she waited for a full ten minutes before cautiously extending a finger. She flicked it, releasing a small fla.
Then Gut saw his teacher close her eyes gently, as if she were concentrating on sothing.
The tiny fla she had flicked forward gracefully descended into the pit.
Just like that, another ten minutes passed.
When the little fla, which Serie had sent down, oddly flew back out of the pit and hovered near the barrier—still burning steadily and with its color unchanged—Serie finally opened her eyes.
Seeing the fla still burning with the sa brightness and hue, Serie exhaled with relief and waved her hand, dispelling the barrier.
"Let's go. It's safe down there."
"The air circulates well, and there's no poison gas."
With that, Serie took the lead, sliding down into the pit and stepping through the remnants of the tal round door.
The rest of them followed one by one.
Beyond the blasted tal door was a narrow, spiraling stone staircase leading downward.
Apart from the first few steps that were damaged from Serie's spell, the stone staircase below was mostly intact—resembling the spiral steps found in the towers of various cathedrals.
Watching the fla, which burned even more brightly under Serie's control, illuminating the path, Gut couldn't help but ask:
"Teacher, did you use that fla to check if it was safe down there?"
"That's right," Serie nodded.
"If the air isn't circulating, the fla will extinguish."
"If there are toxins, the fla will change color."
Gut's eyes shone with interest, and he pressed on with more questions, "Can it detect any kind of toxin?"
"Not exactly."
"I haven't updated this magic for a few hundred years. But the Spring Sanctuary we're looking for was likely built during the Unified Empire's early period."
"For poisons from that era, it's more than enough."
Staring at the fla that moved with Serie's will, lighting up their way, Gut felt a spark of interest and spoke up, expressing his desire to learn this spell.
"You an this?"
Serie glanced at the floating fla, frowned slightly, and did not imdiately agree.
"Forget it; Serie is not going to teach you that spell."
Walking behind Gut, Frieren chid in. With a wave of her finger, a fla identical to Serie's appeared at her fingertips.
"It's not so simple folk magic, but an ancient, outdated Chira Magic."
"This magic was created a long ti ago in a human monastery."
"The principle isn't complicated, but its spell structure is filled with various layers, fused one on top of the other. It's almost impossible to break apart or improve."
"Even for those monks who practiced it diligently, they often reached the end of their lives before fully mastering it."
"And it's different from the ancient human magic of the mythic age."
"Although the old human magic from that era was also cumberso, it was the crystallization of collective wisdom when humanity was fighting for survival. It was complex but worth learning."
"But this Chira Magic—Fla, at the end of the day, is rely the product of a few monks in one monastery."
"Though its effect is decent, its spell structure is filled with useless clutter—things that, from the perspective of modern magicians, are completely redundant and inefficient."
"And the developnt philosophy of Chira Magic was proven by history to be a dead end."
"With Serie's personality, she would never let you waste your ti learning this kind of magic."
Serie glanced back at Frieren before nodding towards her disciple. "What Frieren said is basically what I an."
"Gut, your ti is limited. You need to invest your talent in more efficient things."
But just then, perhaps out of pure stubbornness against Serie or maybe just a spontaneous burst of randomness, Frieren, who was walking behind them, suddenly spoke up, "If it were my disciple, I probably wouldn't reject that kind of request."
"Gut, if you really want to learn this magic, why not co with and be my disciple?"
Serie: ???
Gut: ???
Himl: ....
"Alright, alright, I just said it on a whim. Pretend I didn't say that."
Facing everyone's surprised gazes, Frieren raised both hands in surrender and retracted her words.
After hearing the explanation from Frieren, the "Little Mage," Gut understood why Serie wouldn't teach him the spell.
But ultimately, it was just a simple, practical magic. There was no way Gut would switch to Frieren's tutelage just for that, not to ntion lowering his own seniority.
Besides, his purpose for becoming Serie's disciple wasn't just to learn her magic.
Gut was very clear about his ultimate goal.
Seeing the awkwardness caused by Frieren's sudden proposal, Gut decided not to dwell on it and changed the topic.
"Teacher, you ntioned earlier that the Spring Sanctuary we are searching for was built around the early days of the Unified Empire."
"Did you already know about this Sanctuary before?"
"More or less."
Noticing her disciple was trying to shift the topic, Serie went along with it and began to explain.
"When I first saw the map, I only had suspicions. But now, I'm almost certain."
Looking at the stone steps beneath her feet, Serie controlled the fla to hover in front of Mut's face for a mont.
After giving him a good scare, she used Mut as an example to begin her story.
"Mut, do you rember what I told you back in the Alt Forest?"
"Y-yes, I rember."
Mut's mouth responded faster than his brain. He imdiately answered but had to take a mont to recall it fully.
"I rember you told that when exploring a Sanctuary, if you find natural landscapes, you can cautiously continue exploring."
"But if you find traces of human activity, you must imdiately retreat, seal the entrance, and head to Strahl to contact you?"
"That's right."
Mut's hesitation made Serie frown slightly, but since he eventually rembered, she was moderately satisfied.
"Yes, that's exactly what I told you."
"The reason I told you to retreat if you find traces of human activity is because it was suspected that this place is actually a remnant of a...Human Potion Laboratory."
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Powerstones?
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