Volume 5 Chapter 7 Orson Rescue
"Hey, Orson. What's going on? Are you okay? Get it together!"
Al rushed over and kept talking to Orson, who slowly opened his eyes.
"Wow, Al. You look just like the real thing. Is the illusion getting worse...?"
Orson mumbled and stared blankly at Al. After being called several times, he seemed to realize it was real. His eyes widened in shock.
"No way? Is it really you, Al? Did you come to help me?"
Orson, overwhelmed with emotion, slowly sat up and reached out his hand to Al. He was quite unsteady. Al took his hand. It felt really warm, maybe he had a fever. When Al asked what happened, Orson showed him a metal flask he was holding in his right hand.
"I guess I owe it to this magic tool... It's a flask that keeps pouring out alcohol from the altar."
Orson explained that while he was mining a crystal called Alunite, an earthquake hit. The ground suddenly collapsed, and he fell into the room where Al had come down with a rope. He had to fend off attacks from a golem while retreating and managed to escape to this room. That's where he found the flask.
"No way, did you survive on just alcohol for a month?"
"A month? Has it really been that long? Yeah, I guess so... I couldn't fight that golem at all, and I couldn't find a way out. I left my bag and flask at the entrance. I had no choice but to drink this."
Orson smiled wryly and tried to stand up, but he just swayed and couldn't get up. It was amazing he had survived a month on just alcohol.
"Damn, I'm so drunk I can't do anything."
"First, water... and can you eat this? Chew slowly. Did you find anything else?"
Al handed Orson some dried grapes he took from his backpack, along with his water bottle. Orson gulped down the water and let out a big sigh. Then, he tossed 2 or 3 dried grapes into his mouth and started to chew them slowly.
"Ah, delicious."
Orson murmured this as he stared blankly at the ceiling. That seemed to be all he could do. Al leaned Orson against the wall of the room and began to look around. On the altar in front of the stone coffin, there was only a dull silver goblet shining faintly.
'Magic Sense.'
He looked around again to see if anything would glow with a pale blue light. When he got closer, he noticed the door that opened and closed and the water bottle Orson had for the alcohol reacted, but nothing else did. He asked the dazed Orson to show him his belongings just to be sure. There were 2 faintly glowing items in his belt pouch. They seemed to be magic tools, but it looked like they had already lost their mana. When he asked the dazed Orson, he said they were a 'Light' magic tool and a 'Falling Control' magic tool, both of which he had originally owned. The 'Falling Control' magic tool had the effect of allowing someone to fall slowly like a feather when they fell off a cliff, and it had saved him during an earthquake.
'Sensory Boost'--Enhanced Vision
Al searched every corner of the room, behind the altar, the ceiling, and the hallway before the stairs again. He was thinking if there might be a hidden door. But he couldn't find anything.
"I'm in trouble. I thought there might be a secret passage, but there's nothing. I guess I have to... Orson..."
Al stared at Orson, who was peacefully sleeping, for a while and shook his head.
"Even talking to Orson is still scary. Maybe I should try it alone first..."
Muttering to himself, Al stepped outside the room. He confirmed that the door closed automatically again and moved to the bottom of the stairs.
'Conceal.'
Al's figure vanished. Even though it was Orson, it still took courage to reveal the secret of having learned this spell, and he seemed to hesitate. After confirming that his hand was transparent, Al slowly went down the stairs and reached just outside the room connected to the first crack. He peeked inside. At the same time, a golem-like doll in the almost center of the room turned to face Al.
Did it look this way? Al felt a chill. Maybe the "Conceal" spell wasn't working. He checked his hand; it was still see-through. The golem aimed its staff at him. Al quickly jumped back. A pale blue light shot through the space he just left, hitting the wall and sparking. The golem had attacked him with magic. He turned and ran up the stairs again. Just like before, as he landed on the floor, a pale blue light hit the ceiling, causing sparks.
Al had the image of a golem as the guardian of ancient ruins, but it seemed that the 'Conceal' spell didn't work on this golem. After managing to escape, Al collapsed on the floor, burying his face in his arms.
"If it doesn't work on the golem, then what's the point... The restrictions on forbidden spells are stricter than I thought... I can't ask anyone how to use them, so I have to figure it out myself, and I don't even know if I'm using them correctly. Maybe I shouldn't have learned it at all."
He couldn't help but mutter to himself.
* * *
After a while, Al felt the chill of the stone floor and lifted his head. He was shocked, but he knew he had to focus on escaping.
He wondered if there was anywhere else he hadn't checked. Then he realized he hadn't looked inside the coffin.
This tomb belonged to an ancient king or hero. Al and his friends entered through a crack in the wall caused by an earthquake. This crack led to a room with a golem, just before the room holding the stone coffin. The other closed door is likely the main entrance. There might be valuable items in the coffin that could help him escape.
However, Al had also heard legends that opening the coffin of an ancient king or hero would bring a curse. But there was no other way to escape. He had to check it out.
Hoping for luck from the goddess of fate, Al moved closer to the coffin. The stone lid was very heavy, measuring about 3.5 meters long (� 11.5 feet) , 1.5 meters wide (� 4.9 feet), and 30 cm thick (� 11.8 inches). He couldn't lift it, but since it was one solid piece, he thought he could slide it. He activated 'Physical Boost' and carefully pushed.
The sound of something sliding filled the air as the heavy stone lid of the sarcophagus began to move. After pushing it about 30 cm (about 12 inches), the inside became visible. There was the body of an old man, looking almost alive. He wore a kind smile on his face, dressed in a toga-like outfit, common in ancient times. The color was a faded gray, but some dull gold embroidery could still be seen.
After lifting the stone lid, Al could see inside better. He kept calling out "Rud (???)" as he searched the body but found nothing special. The only thing that caught his "Magic Sense" was a small, round blue crystal about 3 cm (� 1.2 in) wide that the body was holding. It was a bit larger than Al's pendant, but the shapes were quite similar.
Al took out his pendant and compared it. The newly found crystal had a faint light glowing inside, but it wasn't as bright as Al's. Wanting to compare them a bit more, Al took the pendant off his neck and placed it next to the new one. Suddenly, the light inside the newly found crystal brightened. At the same time, a calm male voice echoed in Al's ear, as if it were a divine revelation.
"Thank you... young one."
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