Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

[A magical trick!]

Lance used magic to cleanse the three of them of their filth, then set fire to the flammable materials in the stronghold.

The flames spread rapidly, engulfing the stronghold and the corpses.

Lance led the two men out and watched the firelight rise into the night.

He looked at Lillian and Sissa.

Lillian's face flickered in and out of the firelight, her amber eyes reflecting the flames.

Sissa, on the other hand, was much calmer, simply standing silently beside Lance, her hand resting lightly on the hilt of her sword.

"Let's go," Lance waved. "We have class tomorrow."

The three left, and the stronghold behind them collapsed in flames.

On a nearby rooftop, Arya watched the three figures disappear into the distance and then nimbly followed.

……

After seeing Lillian off, Lance and Cielsa headed to the old canal number three in the southeast corner of the city.

This is part of a drainage system built a century ago.

As the city expanded and a new drainage system was built, this area gradually fell into disuse.

However, some sections of the old canal are large enough that they sometimes become dwellings for homeless people.

Lance and Celsa walked along a narrow alleyway.

"Exit 3 should be just ahead," Lance whispered, closing his eyes as he spoke.

[Summoning scout mosquitoes!]

Mosquitoes appeared out of nowhere and flew silently forward.

Through the shared vision, Lance saw the entrance to the aqueduct—a semi-circular stone archway, about two meters high, with complete darkness inside and the faint sound of flowing water.

There was no one at the entrance.

"Let's go in and take a look." Lance gestured for Cielsa to follow.

The two entered the canal.

It was colder and damper inside than outside, with water droplets dripping from time to time.

A tiny light appeared at Lance's fingertips.

[Light Dance Technique!]

However, under Lance's control, the light only illuminates a few meters in front of him, ensuring visibility without revealing his position.

They walked along the canal for about ten minutes until they came to a fork in the road. According to the information provided by Scar Wolf, they were to go to the end of the left passage.

Strange graffiti began to appear on the walls of the left passageway—distorted symbols, tormented human figures, and sketches of some strange multi-limbed monster.

Cielsa looked at the graffiti with a furrowed brow.

"These symbols..." she whispered, "are very uncomfortable."

"Cult symbol," Lance glanced at it. "It should be the mark of the 'Thirsty Hands.' Looks like we've come to the right place."

"This place isn't exactly hidden, so why didn't the city lord's mansion discover it?" Cielsa asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Do you think the City Lord's Mansion doesn't know?" Lance glanced at her and retorted.

"The members of these small cults are taken down one batch, and another batch comes along. In any case, they only dare to bully ordinary civilians. As long as they don't cause a big commotion or provoke professionals or nobles, generally no one will bother with them—well, except for paladins."

Sissa remained silent.

Continue forward for about 150 meters, and the view suddenly opens up. A circular stone chamber appears before you, about 15 meters in diameter and 5 meters high.

In the center of the stone chamber is a stone altar, about one meter high, with its surface covered with strange runes similar to those on the walls.

Scattered around the altar were some items: a broken pottery jar, several half-burnt candles, and some dark red stains, which, under the light of the [Dance of Light] spell, could be seen to be dried blood.

"Nobody's here." Cielsa glanced around warily.

Lance walked up to the altar and examined it carefully.

Besides the runes, the altar surface also has some grooves, which look like they were used to hold liquid.

He reached out and touched a dark red stain, feeling a sticky sensation on his fingertips.

"More blood." Lance frowned. "And it's from recently, no more than three days ago."

Sissa walked around the stone chamber and found something in a corner: "My lady, there's something here."

Lance walked over.

In the corner were several tattered burlap sacks, one of which was open, revealing some odds and ends inside: a few ragged clothes, a few slightly rusted copper coins, and a small wooden carving.

Lance picked up the wooden carving, which was a rough human figure with its limbs twisted and bound together, and a painful expression etched on its face.

The wood carving has dark red marks on its surface, indicating that it has been soaked in blood.

"It feels like a symbol of sacrifice," Lance said thoughtfully, "but it's useless to us."

He inspected the other sacks, which were mostly filled with similar tattered items of little value.

But at the bottom of the last sack, he found a thin booklet.

The booklet was made of cheap parchment, and the cover had no title, only the twisted, multi-limbed monster symbol. Lance opened it, and inside were contents written in a script he didn't recognize, interspersed with some illustrations.

The illustration depicts a sacrificial ritual, with the victim bound to an altar, a priest in black robes holding a dagger, and other worshippers standing around. The blurry outline of a multi-limbed monster can be seen in the background.

"Can you understand it?" Cielsa leaned closer.

"fine."

Lance didn't know him, but that didn't matter; they got to know each other quickly.

[Fluent in the language!]

Lance quickly skimmed through a few pages. "It records some low-level sacrificial rituals, the purpose of which is to please the 'Lord of Hunger,' who is probably the evil god they worship."

"I've never heard of it. It's probably just some unknown false god... who gains power through the pain of sacrificing living beings..."

He turned to the last page, where there was a line written in Common Language:

"On the night of the new moon, the 'Ascension Ceremony' will be held. Twelve special, pure young souls will be offered up, and our Lord will bestow upon them the grace to ascend to the elite rank."

"The night of the new moon? That's tomorrow?!"

Lance closed the booklet, his expression grave.

"Twelve children," he whispered. "A day later, they plan to sacrifice twelve children to the evil god."

Cielsa gripped her scimitar tightly: "Should we stop them?"

"Of course." Lance put the booklet into his pocket.

"But the problem is that we don't know where they're holding the ceremony, or how many guards they'll bring."

"This 'ascension ceremony' sounds very important; it might be presided over by an elite priest."

He looked around the stone chamber: "This is just one of their strongholds; they don't necessarily hold the ceremony here."

"So what do we do next?"

Lance thought for a moment: "Let's go back first. We can't stay here any longer."

He was about to leave when he suddenly stopped and listened intently.

"Someone's coming," he whispered, extinguishing the light of [Dancing Light Spell].

[Invisibility Technique!]

Lance cast a spell to make the two invisible, and they hid to the side.

Three figures dressed in gray robes entered the stone chamber. They wore hoods, obscuring their faces.

However, one of them was unstable, while the other two were unremarkable; they should be two men and one woman.

The man at the front carried a lantern, its dim light flickering in the stone chamber.