Clinging to the Witcher world to become a god of martial arts

This underground cavity has several man-made tunnels that appear to be interconnected, leading to some unknown place.

Perhaps it's a similar emptiness, or perhaps not; who can say for sure?

"We'll find out once we go in," Rudolf said, somewhat eager to go.

There must be a special purpose in setting up such a large magic array to transmit energy.

Lauren also couldn't wait to get up. He was equally excited, as he had never seen such a complex magic circle before as a wizard apprentice.

"I won't go with you," Nina said, holding the two reins. "I'll stay here and look after the horses."

She never had any interest in so-called wizards.

Rudolf nodded, walked to the tunnel entrance, and climbed over the charred logs blocking the entrance.

Lauren crawled in through the gap underneath.

Seeing this, Lorne followed suit and, disregarding his image, began flipping through the pages.

The gray robes were covered with large, charred and black handprints, and had several large holes from the previous digging for survival.

A cool breeze blew in through the gap, making me feel somewhat ashamed.

This is my only piece of clothing... Lorne entered the tunnel with a dark expression.

The tunnel is about 2 meters high and not narrow; even three people can walk side by side.

However, there is no light source inside, and it is pitch black once you are away from the entrance.

"Lauren, bring out a few Bright Runes." Rudolph's voice echoed through the tunnel, as if it came from a distant place.

"Okay." A cluster of light suddenly rose up, barely piercing through the thick darkness.

Lauren hadn't forgotten to bring that tattered little bag? Lorne was a little surprised.

A faint breeze brushed against the back of my neck, and the air was filled with the smell of burning, mixed with the pungent odor of earth.

The tunnel sloped downwards slightly, and the group walked very carefully.

They didn't know the full length of the tunnel, and a slip could send them tumbling down from a height of more than ten meters.

"Lauren, how much longer is it likely?" Rudolph disliked this feeling of trepidation.

"I don't know." Lauren held the ball of light in one hand, slowing down the speed. "The compressed fire elemental energy is all gathering at the end of the tunnel."

He closed his eyes and began to quietly perceive.

"The inner walls of the tunnel contain hidden patterns that transmit energy, and you can sense the overall direction of these patterns using your mental power," Lauren explained.

Using mental energy for perception? Lorne had never tried it before, so he quickly asked Lauren, "How exactly do you do it?"

It must be said that Lauren was truly Lorne's mentor; he learned many details about wizard apprentices from him.

Lauren answered all of Lorne's questions: "Mental strength can be considered a concentrated manifestation of a wizard's personal consciousness."

"Theoretically, before the mental sea is opened, the strength of mental power is insufficient for large-scale perception."

Lauren offered a word of advice: "However, when the magic circle was inscribed, the spiritual energy of the person who set it up must have remained on these patterns."

"With your current strength, you can try to experience it."

Lauren's meaning is simple: Lorne is too weak, so don't try high-difficulty maneuvers; start with the easy ones first.

Lorne did not object and began to try it out.

He gently touched the somewhat cold rock wall, guiding his mental energy to perceive it.

However, reality and spiritual power are like an insurmountable chasm, and Lorne could not break through this barrier despite his best efforts.

Just as Lauren said, he has not yet opened his mental sea, and his current mental strength is insufficient for large-scale perception.

You have to eat your food one bite at a time.

Lorne could only resort to sensing the remaining spiritual energy on it.

This time, instead of a strong barrier and endless darkness, Lorne could feel a strange force repelling him from above.

It wasn't a true rejection; it was more like a feeling, something that acted on the mind...

As they continued walking for a while, they could feel the slope gradually decreasing.

"It looks like we're almost at the finish line. Get ready." Rudolf remained vigilant.

Who knows if there's any danger at the end of the tunnel? We should be cautious.

[Fist Bone] Bonus - Lorne quietly clenched his fist; the inability to activate the Boiling Blood state was still somewhat worrying.

The road surface was smooth again, and the howling of the wind came from all directions.

The group reached the end of the tunnel and stepped into a small space.

Lauren used several more bright runes to illuminate the entire scene before her.

In front of them stood a waist-high platform, and floating in the center of the platform was a... ring?

There were dozens of tunnels densely packed around, and the entrance from which the group of people emerged was just one of them.

"Lauren, what's that?" Rudolph asked, pointing to the ring on the platform.

"No way!" Lauren's face turned pale, and he ran shakily to the platform.

"The fire element seems to be converging on this ring." Rudolf reached out to touch the ring.

"Hiss!" An invisible flame appeared from the platform, scorching his palm.

"Don't touch that!" Lauren stopped her. "This platform has a protective magic array."

It looked like an ordinary ring... Lorne leaned closer to examine it.

On the platform is a gold ring with a red gemstone set in the center; upon closer inspection, it is indeed a gold ring with a ruby.

"There's a wizard forging a magical artifact." Lauren grabbed Rudolph's arm, her face filled with terror. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

The dozens of openings around the site indicate that there are at least a dozen more similar large magic arrays that the group initially discovered.

The person who set up the array went to great lengths to create the energy absorption and transmission arrays, gathering all the enormous energy absorbed into the ring before them.

"That's at least the level of a formal wizard." Lauren was terrified. "We just accidentally wandered in here."

It should be noted that only formal wizards have the ability to set up such a large-scale magic array.

The person had deliberately set up the magic array in a hidden underground cavern, clearly not wanting it to be discovered by others.

The group stumbled upon this place while trying to escape the elemental upheaval, but the wizard wouldn't care.

Making a few people die with his wizarding artifacts was the lightest punishment Lauren could think of.

Lorne wasn't really keen on getting involved either, as wizard artifacts weren't of much use to him since he hadn't yet opened his spiritual sea.

Moreover, if the magical artifact were taken away, it would inevitably lead to an enmity with an unknown, officially recognized wizard.

I just wanted to earn some magic crystals... Lorne hadn't forgotten his purpose.

To his surprise, Lauren, a wizard apprentice, was able to resist the temptation of wizard artifacts and her first thought was to run away.

"Now that we've figured out the purpose of the magic circle," Lorne said, retracing his steps, "let's leave."

Once the elemental turmoil outside subsides, we'll find a way to leave the underground cavern.

"Mmm." Lauren thought so too.

Just as he was about to catch up with Lorne, Rudolf pulled him close.

Rudolph gazed greedily at the ring, and said to Lauren in a persuasive tone:

"Lauren, you can break through the outer defensive array, right? If we take it now, no one will find out."