NIP Chapter 799 - 742: Level 3 Witchcraft Artifact
Chapter 799 - 742: Level 3 Witchcraft Artifact
Duke followed the person ahead, walking in the dense forest for about fifteen minutes until the scenery suddenly opened up.
It was a small clearing, with a tiny fountain at its center. The fountain’s waters were crystal clear, with small golden fish swimming within.
Beside the fountain, a little girl wearing a white dress was squatting on the ground, seemingly watching something.
Duke’s gaze lingered on her for a moment.
The little girl seemed to be about eight or nine years old, with long, pale golden hair, and her face was as exquisite as a porcelain doll.
She seemed to sense Duke’s gaze, lifted her head, and gave him a slight smile.
That smile was pure and warm, like the sunlight in spring.
She stood up, took a daisy from her flower basket, and tiptoed to hand it to Duke.
Duke was momentarily stunned.
He instinctively reached out and accepted the flower.
The little girl’s smile deepened as she waved to him and then turned and ran into the depths of the forest, quickly disappearing from sight.
Duke looked down at the daisy in his hand; its petals were white, its center a pale yellow, exuding a faint fragrance.
He wanted to express his thanks but found no one in sight.
"Don’t stop."
A voice from the guide ahead urged him, their footsteps not slowing.
Duke gripped the daisy tightly and quickened his pace to follow.
He vaguely felt that the little girl was not simple.
Anyone able to walk freely here could not be an ordinary person.
But now was not the time for investigation.
After another fifteen minutes of walking, a wall finally appeared ahead.
It was a stone wall covered in dense vines, green leaves scattered with some unknown small purple flowers.
The vines covered the entire wall, hiding whatever lay behind.
The guide stopped in front of the wall.
He reached out and pulled aside a cluster of vines.
Behind the vines, a wooden door was revealed.
The door was overly simple, merely a few crude wooden planks put together, unpainted; light from outside peeked through the cracks.
The door had no handle, only a small iron ring.
The guide grasped the ring and pulled gently.
The door opened to reveal a soft, glowing light.
The guide stepped aside.
"First floor of the treasure vault, you have one hour."
Duke nodded and stepped into the light.
As the glow dissipated, he found himself standing in a narrow corridor.
The corridor’s sides were gray-white stone walls with no decoration, every ten steps a floating eternal light cast gentle white illumination.
Not the treasury of glittering gems he had imagined.
Just a corridor stretching to the limit of his sight.
Duke frowned slightly, about to move forward, when suddenly he felt something.
It was a barely tangible pull, like an invisible thread from the location of the key at his chest extending into the depths of the corridor.
He glanced down; the key was slightly warm.
This was guidance from the key’s permissions.
Without further hesitation, Duke walked down the corridor.
The corridor was long, footsteps producing crisp echoes on the stone floor.
Occasionally, there was a closed door on either stone wall, with no handle or keyhole, merely a small symbol slowly flowing.
He tried to approach a door but found he couldn’t discern any details.
The door appeared to him like obscured through frosted glass, blurred and unreachable.
He continued forward.
After about fifteen minutes, a junction appeared ahead.
Three corridors branched in different directions, each entrance marked by symbols resembling flames, water droplets, or leaves.
Duke looked at the symbols, equally blurred.
But the pull from the key at his chest clearly pointed to the middle corridor.
He stepped in.
Along the way, Duke passed more junctions and more indistinct doors.
Several times, he felt the powerful presence behind a door, wavering and gone when he poised himself to sense it.
He recalled the little girl and the vine-covered wooden door at the entrance.
The Six-Ring Tower’s treasure vault was far more mysterious than it appeared.
After another fifteen minutes, the corridor suddenly widened.
A circular space unfolded before him, with a diameter of about fifty meters; its dome rising thirty meters high.
Along the walls spiraled tiers of gridded sections, with dozens densely arranged on each level.
The grids seemed made from a semi-transparent crystal, faint outlines of items inside glowing softly.
At the very center of the space, a massive light sphere hovered.
Duke stood at the entrance, sweeping his gaze over the grids.
This time, he could see clearly.
Each grid was labeled with number, name, attributes, and brief description.
The text was clear, seemingly welcoming him.
He knew this was the area where he was permitted to select.
Duke took a deep breath and approached the nearest row of grids.
His gaze swept across the labels, examining them carefully.
"Fire God’s Fury (One-Handed Axe): Forged in the Flame Plane, embedded with Fire Element Plane fragments, capable of summoning the specter of Flame Giant to fight. Note: Non-Wizard System creation, requires bloodline or Fighting Spirit activation, cannot be driven by Spirit."
Duke’s gaze lingered for a moment within that grid.
It was a dark red one-handed axe, magma-like patterns flowing on its blade, faintly exuding a sense of violent power.