Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 152 Relics

Kate's heart skipped a beat, as if struck by a bolt of lightning from the very source of the world.

This faint yet unique spatial fluctuation, with its weaving technique and energy, bears an astonishing resemblance to the high elf spatial runes he had studied in the ancient texts of the Garden of Life, as well as the ancient and sacred spatial qualities deep within the Moon Well!

Could it be that beneath this crystal flower field lies an undiscovered ancient ruin related to the High Elf civilization?

It might even be a passage to some forgotten secret realm?

This discovery instantly connected all the clues!

The appearance of spatial traces of high elves in the core area of ​​the "Tranquil Forest," a legendary sacred place of the Light Elf race, is no coincidence.

Combining Amber's earlier mention of the "Ancient Path of Life" and the "Amber River of Time," as well as the cryptic descriptions of the "Emerald Dreamland" and the "Core of Dreams" in that ancient book—

Kate was almost certain that beneath this land eroded by gloom lay a great secret, a secret that might be closely related to the origin of the light fairies, the balance of the forest, and even the "core" he was desperately searching for.

The source of this "darkness" may not be simply external pollution, but rather a catastrophic consequence of the disruption of some internal balance, resulting in the failure of the seal or the reversal of energy.

That "adventure exploration" that the High Priest of the Deadwood denounced as "violating tradition and inviting divine punishment" may very well be the key to uncovering this secret!

"Amber!" Kate maintained her energy output, her voice slightly rapid with excitement, but she remained calm. "Concentrate your mind, connect your senses to the deepest roots of the Flower Field Mother! Tell me what you feel? Is there anything—"

A peculiar spatial anomaly? Or ancient runic markings not belonging to the light fairies?

Upon hearing this, Amber immediately did as instructed.

She closed her eyes, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead, as she fully mobilized her innate talent that resonated with the veins of the forest.

A moment later, she suddenly opened her eyes, her amber eyes filled with shock and confusion: "Yes! The root system of the mother body—in the deepest part, something is wrapped around it! It's not rock, nor is it an ordinary mineral vein—it's a kind of—cold, echoing hard shell?"

It has very, very old, almost worn-down patterns—I have never seen such patterns before.

They seem to be absorbing the mother's life force, but also seem to be suppressed by the mother's power?

Although the description of amber was vague, it corroborated Kate's perception.

The "cold, hard shell" and "ancient patterns" are most likely the external structure or sealing runes of the High Elf ruins.

The state of "absorbing life force but being suppressed" perfectly explains the current predicament. The mother of the crystal flower field may have unintentionally become the "energy source" or "suppressant" of some ancient seal.

The "gray" encroachment is an attempt to disrupt this balance, to release what is sealed, or for its power to undergo some terrible reversal.

"We have to go in!" Kate said decisively. "The root of the problem is likely beneath this flower field! That hard shell entangled by the mother plant's roots—that's the key!"

"Go in? How do we get in?" Amber looked at the surging tide of gray energy and the crumbling light barrier outside, her face filled with worry. "Forcing our way in will destroy the flower field!"

"No, it's not about forcing a breakthrough." Kate's eyes gleamed with wisdom. "It's about 'integration' and 'resonance.'"

He looked at Amber and quickly explained, "This light shield is the condensation of the flower field's vitality; it acknowledges our assistance."

If we can simulate the energy fluctuations that are the same as those of the Flower Field Mother, especially the ancient runes on the hard shell deep within its roots.

Perhaps we can fool—no, we should "request" the protective shield to open a temporary, direct passage to the root cause for us.

This is an extremely bold idea, requiring an extraordinary understanding and precise control over the nature of energy.

Kate acted immediately.

While maintaining energy support for the light shield, he also fully activated the Heart of Reincarnation and the Seed of Origin.

In his mind, the sacred and ancient spatial energy he felt during the Moon Well baptism was quickly extracted, analyzed, and simulated.

At the same time, he recalled all the information he had consulted in the Court of Life about high elf runes, especially those complex structures involving space, seals, and natural contracts.

His hands began to trace lines in the air, his fingertips creating extremely complex streaks of light that intertwined silver-blue and emerald green.

These light trails were not drawn randomly, but rather an attempt to reproduce the unique spatial rune rhythm belonging to the high elves.

This is an extremely demanding process.

The veins on Kate's forehead were bulging, and her mental energy was being depleted at an unprecedented rate.

Amber watched nervously from the side. Although she couldn't fully understand what Kate was doing, she could sense the gradually gathering, familiar yet strange, ancient aura.

She instinctively felt that Kate was on the right track.

"Amber!" Kate whispered, "Infuse the purest part of your natural power into the center of the runes I have drawn."

Do not include any specific markings of the Light Fairy, only the most primal resonance of life.

Without hesitation, Amber clasped her hands together, gathering a soft, emerald-green ball of light, as gentle as the first rays of dawn, and carefully pushed it toward the center of the gradually forming, complex light symbol in front of Kate.

hum!

The moment the pure, natural power of amber merged with it, the runes that Kate simulated suddenly lit up, emanating an indescribable aura of vicissitudes and majesty, as if they had traversed countless ages.

This aura resonated clearly with the fluctuations emanating from the depths of the Crystal Flower Field's root system.

Click—

A very faint, crisp sound, like ice cracking, came from inside the light shield.

A tiny crack, spreading outwards, quietly appeared on the light barrier in front of Kate and Amber.

The edges of the fissure were not broken, but rather, like melting crystal, they slowly rotated and expanded, eventually forming a temporary energy vortex portal that could only accommodate one person at a time.

Within the portal emanated a chilling aura, a mixture of ancient stone, dormant energy, and—a faint but undeniable presence, of the same origin as the grayness outside, yet purer and more refined.

"It's done! Go in!" Kate roared and stepped into the vortex portal first.

Amber followed closely behind.

The moment the two figures disappeared into the portal, the rift quickly closed, and the light shield returned to its original state, as if nothing had ever happened.

Passing through the portal, time and space shift.

Kate and Amber find themselves not in the underground cave they had imagined, but at the entrance to a sloping, wider tunnel than they had ever imagined.

The walls on both sides of the passageway are not natural rock, but are made of a smooth, mirror-like metal with a dark golden hue and crystals that emit a soft white light, interwoven and extending into the dark depths that are difficult to see.

The walls were engraved with countless intricate and elegant runes, runes that shared the same essence as the style Kate had simulated, but were more complete and...

Profound, filled with an indescribable sense of power.

The air was filled with a desolate atmosphere as if sealed for eternity. The energy concentration was astonishingly high, yet it was unusually "silent," as if it had been forcibly solidified and sealed away by some powerful force for countless years.

However, amidst this deathly silence, a faint, unsettling chill and decay, like a lurking venomous snake, quietly permeated the air.

This place is definitely a remnant of a high elven civilization!

And its level is extremely high!

"Is this the secret our ancestors guarded?"

Amber gazed up at the magnificent passageway, her little hands clutching tightly at Kate's clothes, filled with both awe and unease.

Kate's expression was solemn. The domain of the Heart of Reincarnation shrank to a three-meter radius around her, like the most sophisticated detector, scanning everything around her. [Environmental Analysis: Inside the High Elf Ruins]

Energy environment: Highly inert (strongly sealed).

Spatial structure: stable, with signs of multiple folds.

Threat perception: Weak but persistent "gray" homologous contamination fluctuations were detected, originating deep within the ruins.

Warning: The sealing power is waning.

"The source of the darkness lies deep within here."

Kate said in a deep voice, "Follow me and stay absolutely vigilant."

The two carefully made their way deeper into the wide passageway.

The sights along the way were breathtaking. They saw enormous, palace-like halls, their domes inlaid with luminous gems simulating the sun, moon, and stars, though most of them had dimmed.

I saw a forest of crystal steles, neatly arranged like library bookshelves, inscribed with lost knowledge;

An altar, seemingly used for some kind of large-scale ritual, was seen, with dried traces on its base that emitted faint energy fluctuations.

Everything indicates that this place was once an extremely prosperous and powerful stronghold of civilization.

In stark contrast, many places showed signs of destruction.

Some crystal monuments were shattered, and the walls bore huge claw marks or charred marks from energy impacts. Some areas were even covered by a viscous, solidified black substance.

It exudes an evil aura that shares the same origin as the "gray" exterior, yet is more ancient and refined.

Clearly, this place experienced a terrible war or disaster long ago.

As they went deeper, the cold, decaying feeling grew stronger and stronger, and it even began to actively erode Kate's territory, emitting a faint "sizzling" sound.

"Watch out!" Amber suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the corner of the passageway ahead.

There lay several twisted skeletons.

The skeleton was strangely shaped, with the outline of an elf vaguely discernible, but the bones had undergone severe mutations, becoming thick, twisted, covered with sharp bone spurs and tumor-like growths, and its color was an ominous grayish-black.

Fragments of tattered, ancient-style elven armor remained on them.

"An ancient elf, completely corrupted and mutated by darkness—" Kate felt a chill run down her spine.

These skeletons have been dead for countless years, yet they still exude a chilling resentment and coldness.

He carefully skirted the skeletons and continued onward.

Finally, after passing through a massive metal door that had been forcibly torn apart by some force, they arrived at the deepest part of the ruins—a vast space that resembled an underground world.

At the center of the space, instead of the expected treasure trove or control center, was a chilling sight.

A colossal, complex magic array, constructed from dark gold metal and luminous crystals, covered the entire ground.

At the core of the magic circle is a bottomless, sunken pit.

At this moment, the giant pit that should have been the core of the seal was filled with an indescribable, extremely dense "gray" substance that wriggled and rolled like a living thing.

This gray matter was thicker and darker than anywhere else in the outside world. Painful, distorted faces and silent howls constantly appeared on its surface, exuding an overwhelming aura of death, decay, and despair.

Even more terrifying is that this huge mass of dark matter beats like a heart, with each beat releasing wisps of pure dark energy.

Like a stream of black blood, it surged upwards along the corrupted and reversed runes of the magic array on the ground, clearly seeping into the surface and polluting the entire Tranquil Forest in some way.

This is the true source of the "gloom"!

An ancient elven magic circle that has been destroyed or reversed, sealing away some terrifying entity.

Above the churning, gray matter, something floated, drawing all of Kate's attention.

It was a crystal about the size of a fist, irregularly shaped, with a warm, understated amber hue throughout.

Inside the crystal, there seemed to be a small, ever-changing, complex structure made up of extremely fine filaments.

These filaments of light undulated slightly like living things, emitting an extremely faint yet persistent strange fluctuation—a fusion of "dream" and "reality."

This fluctuation is highly consistent with the description that Kate previously sensed, which may be related to the "Dream Core"!

However, the condition of this "amber crystal" is extremely bad at the moment.

It was tightly wrapped and enveloped by countless energy threads, like black tentacles, extending from the dark matter below. The faint light it emitted was being constantly devoured and weakened, like a candle flickering in the wind, which could be extinguished at any moment.

It is like a sentinel holding out to the very end, waging a desperate and tragic resistance amidst the endless waves of darkness.

"That is—the 'Heart Core'! The legendary heart of the forest's dreams and memories!"

Amber let out a low, incredulous gasp, her eyes filled with grief, "It—it's been corrupted like this!"

Kate instantly understood all the key points.

This "amber crystal" is very likely the "Dream Core," a wondrous object in the legends of the Light Fairy that he has been searching for, capable of balancing life and illusion, and connecting reality and dreams. It may be a fragment or the original of what the Light Fairy calls the "Heart Core."

It was originally supposed to be a core component of this ancient sealing formation, responsible for maintaining a certain balance, or sealing away the terrifying entity beneath the formation.

But for some unknown reason, the seal was broken or reversed.

The power of the magic circle underwent a terrible distortion, transforming from sealing into "extraction" and "transformation." It began to extract the evil power of the sealed object below and spread it throughout the entire forest through the structure of the ruins.

This "Dream Core" became the last barrier against this reversal.