My bloodline is so eager to improve.

Otto smiled slightly and put the iron sword back into his spatial pocket.

“I just didn’t expect that you knew Zane in the past, Grandpa Arthur. When I get back, I’ll write a letter to ask him for you. Maybe it can help you regain your memory.”

Otto could tell that Arthur was constantly troubled by his memories.

If I could go back and ask Zane and help him clear up some of his doubts, that would be a good thing.

After all, the old man was incredibly kind and even reminded Otto of precautions to take during his adventures, so Otto wanted to help him as well.

"Thank you, young man."

A hint of gratitude flashed in Arthur's eyes.

"If I can really recover some memories, maybe I can find my family. When that happens, I'll have to ask them to send me lots of gifts."

Arthur recovered quickly and seemed to no longer care about what he remembered.

After exchanging pleasantries, the fishy water... (The sentence is incomplete and lacks context. It appears to be a fragment of a larger text.)

Otto handed the map to Juliet, who simply said she would take her vengeful spirit friends to the locations marked on the map.

Although there was only half a map, the sewer should be an anchor point, and they should be able to find some clues.

Since vengeful spirits have no physical form, they can freely move between walls and layers of earth, making them perfect for scouting.

As for Otto, he planned to return to the Adventurers' Guild, report on Alex's situation, rest for a while, and then write to Zane to ask for help in restoring some of Arthur's memories.

After the plan was finalized, Otto immediately mounted Amber Stone and sped off on the road.

The night wind howled, and the sound of horses' hooves echoed across the empty plains.

It wasn't until late at night that Otto paid double the entry fee and returned to the Adventurers' Guild.

The Adventurers' Guild's lobby was still brightly lit, with several drunken adventurers slumped over the table snoring, while the clerk behind the counter played cards with the messengers on night duty.

Seeing this, Otto went straight to the messengers, asked for some paper, and after briefly explaining Arthur's situation, he immediately handed the letter to the messenger, even paying him an extra silver Thorne, just telling the messenger to hurry up and get to work.

After doing all this, he didn't linger in the lobby and immediately went straight to Victor's office.

He pushed open the door and spoke to the person inside.

"Mission accomplished."

At that moment, Victor was sitting behind his desk flipping through some documents. Hearing the sound, he looked up and showed a curious expression.

Otto immediately placed Alex's remains before Victor and explained what he had done to the adventurers.

Deception, attacks, assassinations, taming monsters, and so on.

In the end, Otto followed Arthur's instructions and told Victor not to reveal his part of the information, so as not to be targeted before he finished exploring the tomb.

"I understand."

Upon hearing Otto's report, Victor immediately nodded to indicate that there was no problem.

He glanced at the corpses on the ground, then at Otto, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

“You did the right thing. It’s always good to be low-key in these kinds of things.”

However, when the topic of the tomb came up, Victor sighed helplessly.

"You got off easy; I didn't expect it to be such a big fish."

Victor leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and spoke solemnly.

"Obviously, because of the agreement we made before, the right to explore that tomb now belongs to you."

If it truly is an ancient tomb unrelated to the Kingdom of Thorne, then you will be free to explore it without hindrance; the guild will not interfere with your findings.

Victor didn't seem to care much about this. He was just preparing the announcement about Alex with the help of his men while giving a warning to Otto.

"In principle, the Kingdom of Thorne does not allow tomb raiding of the Tengqizhi F clan's tombs."

But as you know, the North was originally part of the Demon Realm.

It was the Hawkles family of the Silverfrost Duchy that painstakingly developed and cultivated this place.

Therefore, those who slumber beneath this land were once beings from a demonic realm beyond human reach.

At this point, Victor's tone became serious.

"I don't know where Alex got his information from when he first arrived, nor do I know why he's so certain that this is the tomb of an ancient nobleman."

But since the tomb's owner was once part of the extraterrestrial demon realm, then that tomb is probably not simple either.

Victor said this simply because he didn't want his old friend's valued descendant to die in some grave.

However, just as the two were talking, there was a knock on the door.

“Victor, I’m leaving. Aren’t you going to come out and see your old flame off?”

You heartless bastard!

A familiar voice rang out from outside the door. Viktor, who had seemed composed, immediately turned pale upon hearing the voice.

"Damn Maeve, how far are you going to embarrass me before you stop?!"

At this moment, Viktor seemed to be completely enraged by Maeve outside the door, and he stormed to the front door while cursing.

He opened the door and immediately began passionately ejaculating with Maeve.

Una, on the other hand, went into the room and chatted with Otto.

“Boy, I heard from Ymir that you have an important ceremony tonight at midnight.”

We will help stabilize the magical cycle of the ritual for you, so you can rest assured.

Earlier, Una and Maeve were packing their belongings, preparing to leave Oak Town.

But it was at that time that Ymir found them, saying that she hoped the two mages could sell her some rare materials.

During the transaction, Una and Maeve learned that Otto would be seeking a trial from the goddess at midnight that night.

Since that's the case, they can't miss this opportunity; they have to lend a hand no matter what.

"Anyway, we're leaving during the day, so it's still possible for us to guard the ritual array for you now."

At this point, Wu Na immediately put her hands on her hips, turned her face away, and snorted coldly.

"Hmph, you...you mustn't misunderstand."

I didn't intervene because you're not a formal member of the goddess's harem, and I was worried you'd be harmed by the backlash from the Qidoux-style magic circle.

I just wanted to practice my magic arrays a bit more before returning to Academy City!

Chapter 267 A Phantom in the Fog (7.3K)

Otto was not annoyed by Una's incessant nagging at all; on the contrary, he felt a surge of gratitude.

He knows this monk very well.

Una has always been a person who is tough on the outside but soft on the inside. She stayed behind to help him prepare for the ceremony because she was worried about his safety, but she just couldn't bring herself to say it.

She would only use seemingly impatient nagging to mask her concern, as if the danger would automatically disappear if she just pointed out all the possible problems.

Otto looked at Una in silence for a moment, then reached into the pocket at his waist and took out an item.

It was that crystal rib.

"I've heard that this is a good alchemy material."

Otto placed the crystal rib on the table in front of Una, making a crisp, light sound.

"Although I cannot give you my black sword, this should be a decent parting gift."

At that moment, Wu Na's nagging stopped abruptly.

She lowered her head, and the moment her gaze fell on the crystal rib, her eyes, which always held a hint of disdain for everything around her, suddenly narrowed, revealing an undisguised curiosity.

"I didn't expect you to have something like this."

Una reached out a finger and carefully touched the surface of the crystal rib. A cool, tingling sensation spread through her fingertip, as if a faint magic was spreading along her skin.

Her breathing became a little rapid.

"The quality is quite good... no, it should be said to be extremely rare."

In essence, Una is still a mage.

His passion for research surpassed almost everything else in the world.

The moment she saw the crystal ribs, her attention was completely drawn to them.

While taking out a magnifying glass from her pocket to carefully examine the quality of the crystal rib, Una explained it simply to Otto without looking up.

"It is said that all the crystal bones were once professionals who embarked on their own paths."

After they died, they were buried underground. Over the long years and with the erosion of the elements, the remaining power within their remains gradually mutated, eventually forming what you see before you.

Una held the crystal bone up to the candlelight, gazing at it intently. The pale blue light reflected on her face, giving her features a mysterious glow.

"This item is of good quality, so I'll accept it."

Una happily put the crystal rib into her spatial pocket, moving so quickly that it was as if she was afraid Otto would change his mind.

She has already started planning to grind it into powder and use it in a research project that has been stalled for a long time after returning to the Academy City.

The thought that the research might lead to a breakthrough made her smile involuntarily.

However, after hearing Otto mention that the crystal rib came from that difficult-to-access ancient tomb, Una's smile gradually faded, and she seemed to be deep in thought.

"Judging from its appearance, that should be the tomb of an ancient noble family."

She pondered for a moment and then gave this judgment.

Upon hearing this, Otto frowned in confusion.

Why was Una able to deduce these details so quickly from just one crystal rib?

Even the well-informed guild master, Victor, had doubts about this.

He had expected Una to give some complicated analysis, but to his surprise, she simply sat casually on the sofa, propped her feet up, and leisurely explained to Otto.

"Because Victor is human."

This answer surprised Otto.

Una simply shifted to a more comfortable position, resting her head against the back of the sofa, gazing at the ceiling, and continued speaking in a relaxed tone.

"If what you say is true, and the underground tomb is difficult to enter, then the so-called Rat King was nothing more than digging up some valuable items in a corner of the tomb."

This crystal bone must have originated from there as well; it should have been possessed by one of the ancient nobles who was buried with him.

She paused, a glint of wisdom flashing in her eyes.

"Think about it, the only people who can use living people for sacrifice are probably nobles."

Hundreds of years ago, burying living people with the dead was a common practice on this continent. However, due to gaps in human historical records, many events from hundreds of years ago are now impossible to verify.

However, the records from the Dwarf Kingdom are quite complete.

Otto knew this.

He had heard Maika say something similar before.

It was Michael who told Otto many secrets about the Fountain of Youth, and it was from then on that Otto realized that the history of this continent was far longer and more complex than he had imagined, and what the Kingdom of Thorne had announced so far was only the tip of the iceberg.

This raised a new question for Otto: Could it be that Alex's partner was also someone who knew about the past?

After all, even Victor couldn't determine the value of the tomb, while the other party knew the inside story, which could not be explained by coincidence.

However, even knowing this didn't seem to help their subsequent actions much.

Otto could only secretly hope that the guild could find Alex's accomplices and perhaps get some clues from them.

Just as Otto was pondering, Maeve seemed to have finished arguing with Victor outside. She pushed Victor aside, who was blocking the doorway, and strode into the room.

Maeve waved impatiently as she walked, as if shooing away an annoying fly.

"Alright, alright, kid, we should go get ready. Don't waste time here."

Victor, on the other hand, spoke from outside the door, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness and anger.

"Why are you always like this..."

boom!