Chapter 241: Chapter 239: Turning into a Horror Theme
Morning.
Hilia laid out all the things she planned to bring and checked them one by one.
The magic staff was intact, and the magic puppet had been repaired.
Then there were the scrolls.
Twenty Tier Three Scrolls of "Shield of the Earth" and "Water Curtain Barrier" for emergency use.
The Shield of the Earth is the most robust defense magic at Tier Three, used in conjunction with Elina’s Tier Two spell "Steel Wood Spike" for defense.
The Steel Wood Spike raises a large number of wooden spikes, taller than earth spikes, and they can bend.
Then, the Shield of the Earth forms a solid rock wall around the Steel Wood Spike, creating an effect akin to ice walls and forest silk.
However, the coordination between Steel Wood Spike and Shield of the Earth is not as smooth as ice walls and forest silk, with less interactivity.
But they can continue to cooperate with Tier Two water element spells "Softening Skill" and "Frost Condensation." "Softening Skill" can moisten and soften the Shield of the Earth, adding Forest Silk between the Steel Wood Spikes, and then use "Frost Condensation" to solidify the softened Shield of the Earth.
Hilia and Elina tried it, and it’s very strong, likely able to block Tier Four spells.
Following Rose’s suggestion, Hilia named this combination skill "Wall of Bearing."
The other Tier Three defense spell "Water Curtain Barrier" was intended for Emilia, who accidentally made extra, so she kept it for backup.
Aside from these two, there were some offensive spell scrolls that were also Tier Three, made extra during production.
Then, Hilia took about a hundred Tier Two scrolls.
She didn’t roll up the scrolls but stacked them by category and put them back into the small backpack.
This way, a lot of space is saved.
After packing the attacking and defensive spells into the backpack, Hilia took out several potions.
"Although there’s a Healing Ban Curse inside, there’s no ban on magic, so potions that restore magic power must be brought along."
Saying this, she placed the magic replenishing potions into the backpack.
The backpack had several small compartments specifically for potions.
Even if squeezed, it doesn’t matter as potion bottles are not that easy to break.
"Potions are so expensive. I wish I could make them myself."
The girl muttered.
Ten Tier Two magic replenishing potions cost her 5 gold coins.
After packing the potions into the backpack, she took out two days’ worth of food, including bread, biscuits, boiled eggs, and apples.
The girl casually bit into a sandwich, then compressed the bread into a lump, packed it with other food into the bag.
These items made her backpack swell, leaving no room for other things.
Eating the sandwich with one hand, Hilia glanced at the clothes inside the tent, "Besides the school and Holy Court badges, and gold coins, leave other unimportant items here. Place intermediate magic crystals on the protective array; they should deter thieves for about ten days to half a month."
She looked down at her outfit, an elfish-style dark green coat paired with black trousers, embracing elfish disguise fully.
"Why do elves like green clothes so much? It’s hard to understand."
Hilia removed the disguise from her face and looked in the mirror.
"Thankfully, I’m naturally beautiful; even green clothes look good on me!"
Rose watched Hilia pack silently, chuckling when she heard her narcissism, "Cherish your elegance now, because once you reach the sixth layer, it’ll be hard to maintain."
Hilia tensed up, "Is the sixth layer that challenging?"
"The challenge is there, but besides the difficulty, it’s also... intriguing."
Previously when Hilia reached the sixth layer, she didn’t explore it but opted to leave directly, so from the exit point it was hard to discern anything inside, leaving her clueless.
Listening to Rose, unease rose in her heart.
How terrifying must it be to make her abandon elegance?
The girl couldn’t figure it out.
She chose to stop thinking.
After packing, Hilia left the tent, with Elina already waiting outside.
Outside the camp, there was no queue anymore.
In the past days, as many elves arrived, the demand for curse purification gradually saturated, and as they didn’t lower prices, fully dispelling curses was no longer cost-effective, so nobody came.
Neither Hilia nor Elina cared about it now.
Of course, if someone desperately sought help, they would still assist.
"How many layers today?" Elina asked.
After the two reunited, they headed towards the ruins.
The temporary camp was bustling with various merchants coming and going.
"The more the merrier, push to exhaustion till the next second and sleep!" Hilia declared her strategy.
Behind them, Rose floated along, amused by the scene.
Full of energy, hopefully, they wouldn’t consider returning.
Arriving at the ruins’ gate, they smoothly crossed through, appearing at the sixth layer staircase entrance.
They didn’t immediately set off but first summoned the magic puppet, casting ice walls and forest silk around themselves and the puppet.
This defensive combination could still hold for a while, especially against physical attacks.
After wrapping with ice walls, they set off, officially entering the sixth layer.
Upon entry, they found that the atmosphere here was entirely different from below.
The lighting was dim, with a... sinister feeling.
Near the staircase at the sixth layer was a very large living room, larger than the castle’s exterior, but since it’s subspace, it’s normal for the interior to be larger than the exterior.
This living room faced the staircase, opposite was a fireplace, above which, besides an extending chimney, hung a... portrait.
It seemed to be a portrait of a middle-aged noble smiling at the front.
Hilia looked at the picture, feeling like it was staring at her.
A cold breeze swept past, faintly carrying some sound.
Hilia felt her hair stand on end, instinctively moving closer to Elina, accidentally bumping into her.
Looking up, she noticed Elina also moved closer to her.
Elina seemed more frightened, her teeth chattering.
"Hilia, should we go back?"
Seeing someone more scared than herself, Hilia mustered courage, "Why go back? We’re here, let’s dash to the tenth layer today!"
"Hehe..."
A soft chuckle suddenly echoed.
Hilia jumped, her hair bristling instantly.
"Who?!"
She looked towards the suspected direction of the sound.
No response.
The surroundings were quiet.
"Is there someone else here?" Elina hugged her arms, fearfully looking around.
Hilia felt a bit scared but not as extreme as Elina, still able to maintain normal thinking.
She gripped the magic staff tightly, watching the portrait.
She had a persistent feeling the sound came from the portrait.
"Should I hit the portrait with an Ice Spike?"
Hilia thought, but then her danger sense subtly warned her, making her abandon the idea.
"No people, but there might be special traps... or demons here; some demons can mentally attack, triggering fear emotions, be cautious."
They gathered their courage and looked ahead.
Suddenly, a "bang" sound echoed from behind.
They shivered, quickly turned back.
Behind them was a door, tightly closed, surrounded by solid walls, with no trace of the stairs they came from.
A faint chuckle again echoed.
"Hehe..."
