Chapter 143 Underground Death Fortress

Shaoke, who was meditating on the ground, found that his mental power and mana had not been depleted as heavily as he had expected. Under the maintenance of the silver light, what he consumed the most was his stamina. With the reduction of mana and mental power, the silver light autonomously chose to use stamina to accelerate the recovery of these two aspects, thereby consuming nearly half or even more of his vigor.

After a moment of hesitation, Shaoke did not choose deep trance but cautiously opted for shallow trance for recovery. Fortunately, his concerns were unnecessary. During the mages' meditation, those standing on the high platform remained still and quiet, taking no other actions.

When Shaoke finished meditating and stood up, he noticed that many mages had already risen, indicating that their recovery was complete. He speculated that these mages either used deep trance during their practice or had not expended much energy along the way. Of course, if they possessed advanced recovery meditation techniques, his speculation might not be accurate.

After all the mages had recovered, the mage who had spoken initially said: "Follow us. Remember, once you reach the garrison, you can only light your staff's flame inside your own room. A staff flame burning for an extended period signals that its owner is on duty. Right. I expect someone already told you this when you accepted the agreement."

After saying this, the mage fell silent and led Shaoke and the others toward a passageway lit by crystal lamps.

This time, Shaoke and the group quickened their pace. After walking for just over half a Magic Hour, they arrived at their destination—the place where they would copy spells, which was also the garrison of the Death Mage Corps.

A huge space opened up before Shaoke and the others. In the empty area stood dozens of massive stone pillars that reached from floor to ceiling. To Shaoke, these pillars felt one or two times thicker than the room he had lived in at the military camp. From a distance, he could see magic scripts and spell formations carved on the pillars, but he sensed no energy fluctuations whatsoever.

Clustered around these pillars were four or five slightly thinner stone pillars, seemingly designed to share some of the weight.

In Shaoke's estimation, these pillars were as tall as a hundred-story building from his previous life. Above them, interconnected stone beams linked the dozens of massive pillars together, resembling a massive, coarse net suspended in the air.

Without giving Shaoke and the others time to marvel at the grandeur of the underground structure, the mage quickly snapped the dazed mages back to attention: "Follow me. You'll have plenty of time to observe this place later. Rest assured, you can safely examine the spell formations carved on these pillars and throughout this area. They have undergone special treatment and will not harm you. However, do not attempt a detailed probe with your mental power. This is not something mages below the Seventh Rank are capable of." He then pointed to the spell formations on the ground and walls as a reminder.

After the guide's reminder, the mages, who had been captivated by the massive pillars, snapped back to attention. Following his guidance, they noticed the densely carved magic scripts and spell formations on the ground and walls, with numerous unknown precious materials embedded within to enhance their power. In Shaoke's eyes, precious materials like blue gold and crystal gold were nowhere to be seen.

Astonished by the magnificent underground architecture, Shaoke and the other mages followed the leading mage into a nearby passageway several meters high, continuing toward the place where they would learn spells. Of course, within this vast space, there were over a dozen such large passageways, leading to unknown destinations. However, the mage did not explain this to Shaoke and the others. Instead, he quickened his pace to deliver them to their destination as swiftly as possible, completing his task so he could attend to his own studies.

Within their passageway, there were countless smaller, shorter passageways branching off to unknown places. Suppressing his curiosity, Shaoke, like the other mages, quickened his pace and followed the mage. After traveling some distance, they entered another space supported by dozens of massive stone pillars. This space was noticeably smaller than the first one they had seen, yet it still left Shaoke and the others in awe of what lay before them.

This vast space was densely packed with enormous bookshelves. However, rather than calling them bookshelves, it would be more accurate to describe them as small, simple pavilions. Each tier of these book-holding structures stood three to four meters high, with over a dozen tiers in total. Every tier was divided into countless compartments, each filled with books of various kinds.

Numerous mages clad in black cloaks climbed up and down these bookshelves, occasionally moving between two adjacent shelves via connecting wooden walkways. Some young maidservants assisted the mages by introducing the locations of certain books and guiding them.

The mage seemed quite satisfied with Shaoke and the others' amazement and explained with a hint of pride: "You will be copying spells here for some time. I believe you will come to love this place. It can be said that every book found in the Imperial Royal Library is also here, and our collection is even more comprehensive than theirs." He then resumed his earlier indifferent tone: "If you reach the Seventh Rank, you will understand this place even better." After saying this, he led them to prepare accommodations for the newly arrived mages.

The group of several hundred mages quickly caught the attention of those browsing books in the area. Mages nearby put down their tasks and turned to look at Shaoke and the others. Some even released their mental power or mana to probe the newcomers.

The guide mage was deeply displeased with this situation. He knew the mages he led were incapable of resisting or countering such probes. Quickly chanting a few syllables, he caused the green flame on his staff to burst apart, transforming into hundreds of small flames that floated above, forming a swirling pattern of a giant blue rhombus flower. Under the mage's control, this pattern then transformed into eight large green flames. After hovering in the air for a moment, the flames slowly shrank and drifted back onto the staff.

Upon witnessing this, the probing mages immediately ceased their actions. Many even respectfully bowed in apology before returning to their tasks.

The mage gave a heavy snort and, without turning his head, addressed the confused and astonished mages: "Every batch of new mages encounters this situation, but I didn't expect so many to probe the group I'm leading this time. Rest assured, this will not happen again in the future." With these words, he led the puzzled newly promoted mages into a passageway five or six meters high. After walking some distance, he stopped.

Pointing to a passageway over three meters high, he said to Shaoke and the others: "This is where you will rest from now on. There are enough rooms inside for all of you. Of course, there are also plenty of maidservants at your disposal. However, I do not recommend wasting too much time on them." He then provided a detailed introduction to the living quarters, wished them well, and expressed hope that they would cherish the limited time available for copying spells.

After the mage left, Shaoke and the others followed his instructions, walking some distance along the passageway before entering another empty space. This area was noticeably smaller and lacked supporting pillars. Shaoke and the other mages looked around briefly before splitting into groups of several and choosing different passageways to enter, as these passageways led to their actual resting quarters.

Shaoke chose a passageway with fewer people entering and selected the innermost room. Following the method explained by the mage, he imprinted his mental imprint and mana imprint on the stone door, then waited quietly. He exchanged a few simple words with other mages who had completed the same process. As they were not particularly talkative and struggled to find engaging topics, they briefly discussed their impressions of the place. Although everyone tried to suppress their astonishment, it inadvertently surfaced in their words.

The simple conversation soon came to a halt when one mage attempted to imprint his unique mark on the stone door again. The stone door, carved with numerous magic scripts and spell formations, slowly opened. Out of courtesy from their earlier brief chat, the mage politely bid farewell to Shaoke and the others before returning to the room he had chosen. After all, he needed to rest as soon as possible and review the rules of the place to facilitate his spell-copying work.

After waiting for the other mages to enter their rooms, Shaoke once again imprinted his mental mark on the stone door. Shortly after the imprint disappeared into the door, it slowly slid open, revealing his resting quarters.

The resting room was not large, only slightly bigger than Shaoke's quarters in the military camp. However, it was a single room with fairly adequate furnishings. Against one wall stood a large bed covered with thick bedding. Facing the door was a writing desk with a long, narrow mirror mounted on it. Perhaps due to the special environment, there was no fireplace in the stone room. Instead, there was a simple small fire pit with a polished grill placed over it. Beside it were stacked branches of firewood, which produced no smoke when burned. A single root branch could burn for a full day and night. This was a type of fuel commonly used by high-rank mages and nobles, and Shaoke was surprised to find it here.