Chapter 996 Tower of Heaven
For nearly three minutes everyone in the expedition squad stood in silence and simply stared at the enormous tower that sat at the center of the island of endless fog.
'I can't even tell how tall it is.' Marcus thought as he gazed upwards.
Unfortunately, the tower's top was obscured by the fog once it reached a height of seven kilometers. In order to learn its true height someone would have to try and scale the titanic structure.
"I don't sense any creatures. If there are any lurking in this area, they are masters at concealing their presence." Thegia said after using a detection spell.
Now that they were in an area cleared of the sense dampening fog, everyone could once again detect what was more than three hundred meters away.
Several more members of the expedition squad used magic and skills to search the area and possibly pick up something Thegia had missed, but no one was able to find a single beast or monster in the vicinity.
All that lay before them was the giant white tower and an idyllic natural setting filled with lush trees, crystal clear ponds and streams, and beautiful glades filled with wildflowers.
"Well, we have made it to the center of the island and found out what is here. Now, do we check out that tower, or do we consider our mission successful and report back to the adventurers guild?" Mrazivy asked to the other leaders of the expedition.
"Of course, we are going to go to the tower. No one has detected anything that could be a threat, and that is definitely a dungeon. Likely even a special one." Cassius responded his eyes gleaming with ambition.
"I must agree. We should at least give the place a cursory examination. Though if it is a special dungeon, we should probably not register with it. I doubt the guild would be happy for us to take up the limited spots without gaining their permission first." Evette said.
While they have been the ones to discover the tower, they were currently being commissioned by the guild. The members of the expedition squad were allowed to take certain resources for themselves without issue, but technically everything on the island was considered property of the adventurers guild. There was no doubt that the higher ups of the guild would be unhappy if anyone in the expedition squad registered with the tower if it was truly a special dungeon that would only allow a limited number of people to enter.
Cassius frowned and ground his teeth when Evette quashed any chance of them entering the dungeon if it was indeed a special one. He had never entered one before, but had heard rumors that anyone who had access to a special dungeon was guaranteed to experience explosive growth in not only their levels but skills as well.
"We still don't know if that tower really is a special dungeon. It could just be a high-level normal one. No point in worrying about it until we find out for sure." Fianna said with a shrug.
Unlike Cassius, she was not worried about entering the special dungeon right this moment. After almost dying earlier she wanted to finish the expedition and return home. The dungeon was not going anywhere and there would be very few groups that could make it this far anyway. In the future they could always return.
With a consensus made, the expedition squad moved forward and continued towards the tower that stood imposingly in the center of the island.
'Now that we're closer, I can see something carved into the tower walls.' Marcus enhanced his vison to the greatest degree he could and carefully looked at the etchings all over the tower.
Each of the different etchings were incredibly beautiful and depicted different scenes. Among the etchings Marcus noticed what looked like a group of angels in most of them, often doing battle against some sort of creature or another.
Sometimes they were normal people mixed into the scenes, but almost always the group of what appeared to be angels were there.
Marcus was certain that the etchings were meant to tell some sort of story, but he could not really understand what it was supposed to be.
'Perhaps there is more to see on the other sides of the towers that make it all come together.' Marcus thought as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
Eventually he was able to pick out one figure that was among the angels that showed up the more often than not and seemed to take center stage in most of the etchings. Still, despite figuring out who the main character of what was depicted on the tower's walls was, it did not bring Marcus any closer to understanding what the etchings were supposed to convey.
He attempted to ask the others what they thought, but everyone simply agreed that it was just there to look nice. Often times dungeons would have impressive architecture that was simply meant to look pleasing and convey the majesty of the place. Sometimes a theme could be derived from how a dungeon was designed and give a hint as to what sort of creatures resided in it, but this was not always the case.
'I don't know. It just seems too detailed to mean nothing.' Marcus thought as he continued to stare at the etchings.
Eventually his eyes rested on one near the center that was broken up as it wound around the tower. It was most certainly the largest etching, but too much of it was obscured to tell what it could be. He would need to walk around the entire tower to figure out what it was.
Unfortunately, Marcus was unable to make heads or tails of the etchings before they finished the short walk to the base of the tower. Perhaps after entering he hoped to find some clues.
"Looks like the entrance is sealed." Kollo said with a frown.
There was an easy to see stairway that led up into the tower, however, a sturdy gate was blocking the way.
Mrazivy looked towards Marcus and motioned towards the gate.
Nodding his head, he stepped forward and went to examine the gate. If it happened to be trapped, he had the best skills to deal with it and was likely to get away without suffering any serious damage even if he did spring something.
'It's definitely locked uptight. Whatever magic is keeping it sealed is beyond me.' Marcus thought as he examined the gate.
He then tried to pass his hand through the bars to see if he could bypass it with his ghost form.
Nevertheless, as expected a barrier prevented him from going through and pushed his hand back.
Luckily, his attempt was not in vain as he received a notification from the system directly into his mind.
'You do not yet meet the qualifications to enter the Special Dungeon, Tower of Heaven. If you wish to enter, you must prove yourself against the Tower's guardian.'
After receiving this message, a visual prompt appeared in front of him asking if he wanted to challenge the guardian of the Tower of Heaven and earn the right to enter the special dungeon
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