Liam's flight slowed as he caught sight of the first real signs of civilization. A settlent.
Nestled deep within the towering forest, it was barely visible through the thick canopy, almost as if it had been designed to stay hidden. From above, he could make out simple structures—primitive yet sturdy—built from the very sa type of soil he had been plundering from.
Of course, there were also other structures to the building like door fras, tiles, gates, and such. All of them had unique designs and Liam couldn't recognize any designs. They could be runes from another era or symbols of a long-forgotten civilization. The way the settlent blended into the forest suggested a deep connection between the inhabitants and the land itself. Soone else may have the ti and knowledge to make more out of these things but Liam had a different goal. This system event was important for him. Without any hesitation, he shot forward and started working on the nearest building after making sure there was no one else in the vicinity.
As expected, the material was the sa as the soil he had been collecting—only compacted, refined, and reinforced with sothing else. A faint hum resonated beneath his touch. The runes, or whatever symbols adorned the surface, weren't just decorations.
They were active. A security asure? A defensive enchantnt?
Liam narrowed his eyes and pressed his mana into the symbols, testing their reaction.
The mont his energy touched the surface, the runes shimred faintly. For an instant, he felt sothing pushback.
It wasn't an alarm. Not yet. But it was alive. Probably a formation to keep intruders out of the building. It should be a fairly dangerous formation too considering the backlash threatening to assault him.
However, that was not a big problem for him. He never intended to step inside these buildings anyway. For him right now what was on the outside mattered more. Seraphina and Tristan had talked about how that eccentric augur loved architectural items, random nick nacks and pretty much anything that slled of the old era.
Sure, he would love to go inside and get the actual treasure but this ca first. He owed Derek that much. He had no idea how much ti he had left in this place and he had to make every second count.
Liam started his business and he did not leave anything behind. He tore apart the windows, chiseled out the decorated door fras, and carefully pried away the carved tiles embedded with the intricate rune designs. Every piece of ancient architecture, no matter how small, was pried away from the building.
The runes still pulsed with residual energy even as he stored them away. He worked quickly but thodically, making sure to disturb as little as possible while maximizing his gains.
He was a thief—but an efficient one.
And after everything that had value was removed, he sat down to ditate and slowly absorbed all the special soil essence from the skeletal frawork of the building.
Boom! The next second a loud explosion rang out. Liam was thrown away several miles, his body flipping through the air before he managed to stabilize himself mid-flight. His skin tingled, the lingering force of the explosion still crackling in the air.
His eyes snapped back toward the settlent. The structure he had been draining had collapsed entirely, the foundation crumbling as a shockwave of energy spread outward.
Liam had to go all out just to block the shockwave. And this was only because the entire thing just exploded inward, folding onto itself. When everything settled, there was a palm sized spatial tear in the space instead of the building that previously occupied it.
Liam's mind raced as he observed the tear. Spatial tears were notoriously dangerous—unpredictable and potentially lethal if not handled with caution. He left that area of the unsettlent and proceeded to head towards another corner.
Once again the sa thing happened again. He started peeling off tiles, window fras and doors, finishing it off with extracting the rare soil essence and within monts, the entire structure collapsed, imploding inward. Another spatial tear ford in its place, flickering ominously as if it were a wound in reality itself.
Liam hovered in midair, panting as he watched the chaos. He couldn't help but wonder what powerful artifacts and secrets these buildings contained. How valuable it must be for the formation guarding it to be so powerful.
He let out a sigh and then shot towards another corner of the settlent and repeated the sa process again. He repeated this over and over until his storage pouch was full. It was basic system shop bag and there was only so much space inside it.
Liam regretfully tucked it away and stared at the settlent which was a little bit different at the mont. He shrugged it off as his gaze fell upon a particular building that stood at the center of the settlent.
It was eye-catching to say the least. While the rest had been constructed from the sa special soil, adorned with intricate carvings and runic symbols, this one stood apart.
It was taller, its architecture more refined, almost regal. Dark tallic veins ran along its exterior. Unlike the buildings he had already dismantled, this one seed untouched by ti, its foundation still stable despite the rest of the settlent collapsing around it.
Liam narrowed his eyes. What makes you different? Now that he had collected enough or at least whatever he could fit inside the storage pouch, he had the ti to examine this one in detail.
Hovering closer, he extended his mana sense, feeling for the sa hidden chanisms he had triggered before. But the mont his energy brushed against the building—
CRACK.
The tallic veins along the surface lit up, golden light surging across its form like molten lava. A deep hum rumbled from within the structure, resonating with a strange, almost sentient presence.
Liam imdiately backed off, his instincts screaming. What the hell. He hadn't even done anything yet. Just how strong was the formation guarding this building?
Reviews
All reviews (0)