Abium stared at the information and got stunned inside.
'His every spell is powerful in its way.' He muttered in awe and spoke to Cedric, who had already finished his transformation.
"Cedric, ask Ringer about the location of the 'Death Cane.' Also, ask him where the Dark Blade is hidden. We need to move faster."
"Yes, my lord." Cedric nodded solemnly and asked Ringer.
'Old man, can you tell us the 'Death Cane' location?'
'Hehe, do you think you are on vacation to an amusement park? It is a f*cking dungeon, brat. Although that cane has no use for me, that doesn't mean I won't keep that treasure unprotected. If I'm not wrong, there should be a Nightmare Shadow guarding it at the fifth layer. As for its strength, it's way above yours. It's a beginner third-tier magical beast. Just give up on that now. You guys won't last 10 seconds against that monster.' Ringer spoke with a disdainful tone.
How could he didn't see the strength of this group? Although there were two Royal Beastkins in the group, he knew they were no match for a third-tier Nightmare Shadow. He knew that even a group of second-tier mages would feel helpless against that creature and coldly snorted into Cedric's mind.
Meanwhile, Cedric didn't put much thought into his words and quickly asked,
'Then, what about the Dark Blade?'
'Hmm? There are more than ten legendary swords hidden in this dungeon. I think the Dark blade must be one of them. If that elf was in dire need of a legendary blade, tell him to go to the second layer and get the short sword called 'Scarlet.'
The Wielder of the Scarlet stays there, guarding one of the divine fragments. If that elf's luck is good, he might get that divine fragment from the sneaky assassin. As for the sword, it once belonged to a Cardinal of Fire Church. Zack got that sword during a planar invasion. I heard that sword was forged by a peak-level legendary blacksmith and could withstand legendary sword aura.' Ringer said casually as if this was a normal thing. Cedric was shocked when he heard those words and quickly explained everything to Abium.
'So, 'Death Cane' is hard to get, huh? Well, I had already expected that.' Abium wasn't bothered by the dangers and quickly spoke.
"Then our first aim is to get our hand on this sword called Scarlet. Then we will go further and get the 'Death Cane.'"
Upon hearing Abium's words, everyone agreed.
They didn't dare to underestimate a third-tier magical beast at that moment and thought of acting more cautiously.
After discussing for a while, the group slowly moved deep into the rotten forest and started killing all the creepy worms and snails hidden in the woods. Most of the time, Umi would unleash her uncontrollable ice-elemental bloodline spell, Frozen land, and freeze everything around them.
Abium could tell that the 'Frozen Land' spell had the peak second-tier power and began to notice her problem.
'Hmm, her spirit power is already way above normal. She is simply using her bloodline spell without any control.' Abium had long found out the cause and taught her how to use those spells properly.
With Azolla's help, he began to analyze all those bloodline spells in her mind and explain them to her in detail. But soon, he found out that except for that Frozen Land spell and Crystal ice Needle, Umi couldn't unleash any other bloodline spells fully. Although her spells weren't completely shackled, the power behind the spells was weakened!
Upon noticing the problem, he asked Edith about the shackles and got stunned by her words.
"My grandfather said someone is using a divine artifact called 'Moon's Crown' to restrict most of the beastkins' bloodlines in this World. That was why Beastkins couldn't win the battle against any mages or Warlocks." Abium got stunned as he heard her words and soon understood everything.
In the past, he had battled against a few beastkins and knew they also didn't have any bloodline spells. Only a few beastkins managed to awaken one or two innate spells and stayed like that for the rest of their life.
"So, you came here for that 'Death Cane' to remove the shackles, right?" Abium asked as he made a possible guess.
"Yes, I heard one of the legendary spells that 'Death Cane' has had the power to break anything. Although a powerful death mage created this artifact for destruction alone, I heard through divination that the power hidden in this Death cane could help beastkins remove the shackles." Edith said while raising her tail and cat ears in unison.
'A spell that could break anything, huh? It might work on for mages' shackles too!'
Abium nodded and noticed they had already reached the area when they first arrived. Unlike other areas, this place was now filled with blood and flesh. There were more than 30 corpses scattered everywhere, and they appeared more gruesome. Some of their bodies had already begun to emit a rotten smell, and worms were crawling out. After giving one long look at those bodies, Abium sighed deeply and asked others to follow after him.
The group followed him quietly, and after a few hours of travel, they finally managed to walk out of the rotten forest. Although some strange monstrous slimy worms attacked their group, those creatures didn't pose any threat to them.
Once they finally reached the other end of that rotten forest, the whole group noticed an underground cave-like path. Abium knew some information about these dungeons and didn't get anxious like others. The cave appeared pitch black on the outside and gloomy on the inside.
'Path to the second layer.' Abium grinned.
Without minding others' wary looks, he stepped in and walked into the dark passage. Meanwhile, others glanced at each other and followed him closely.
The group quietly entered deep inside the underground cave and soon stared at the unique atmosphere in wonder. Bats, strange crows with silver-lined worms on their foreheads, Eye-shaped silvery butterflies, and a few other strange creatures appeared in the underground passage as they further moved ahead.
...
[Name: Abyssal Worm Crows
Tier: Zero-Tier
Race: Unknown (Mutated due to the presence of Chaos energy)
Descriptions: These crows are infected with a mind-worm bloodline and have some mind-related abilities.
Abilities: Hallucination Cry, Poison Claws, Mind Burn.]
[Name: Silver Butterflies
Tier: None
Race: Unknown (Mutated due to the presence of Chaos energy)
Descriptions: There is no known information about these Silver Butterflies.]
….
Abium stared at the description of those creatures and silently avoided all of them.
They cautiously moved into the underground cave and maintained full vigilance.
The cave appeared like a maze, and it wasn't easy to find a way out. But after multiple twists and turns, the group finally walked out of the cave and noticed the same red lights illuminate the grey-colored barren land.
The same dark sky appeared in front of them, with the three red stars hanging in the sky. The sky was similar to a normal dark sky, but there were only three bright red ones instead of countless stars.
One by one, all of them walked out of the underground cave and became stunned as they looked at the surroundings.
Slowly, everyone's eyes shifted toward a single place.
A black-painted temple stood with a large three-meter wall surrounding it a few hundred meters from where they were standing. The building looked very old, and the walls surrounding that building were made of some precious dark-colored gems.
"That is the temple of the Dark god." After a short silence, Cedric said with amazement on his face.
"Can you ask about the strength of Ringer's servant Zack?" Abium turned his gaze towards Cedric and asked solemnly.
Meanwhile, Cedric nodded his head and replied after a short pause.
"He said the servant Zack is a Goblin from the Goblin plane and had the strength of a third-tier mage in the past. But after the Dark Dungeon's creation, Zack's power level got reduced by the will of the World, and now his strength must be around the normal level second-tier mage. He is a shaman and skilled in assassination.
Mostly, he would use the shadows to hide his presence and kill his opponents secretly."
Abium widened his eyes in surprise as he heard Cedric's explanation and nodded. Although he was surprised when he heard his opponent's strength, he didn't get anxious. Instead, he turned his head towards others and spoke,
"This battle will be a quick and tough one. So, get prepared for any unexpected attacks."
At that moment, memories of the battle against goblin Grold flashed before his eyes.
'I won't underestimate a shaman ever again.' He muttered.