chsdbacks 341. Hidden Ruins
341. Hidden Ruins
“We don’t really know how or why, but the floor just opened up, leading straight down into the ruins,” Junior Priest Finn explained, gesturing toward the gaping maw in the stone floor. He stood alongside Ravenna and Dame Aisha inside the dim, vaulted sanctuary of the Cathedral of Herptian. “This phenomenon happened almost immediately after High Priest James got stuck in the dungeon with you...”“I see...” Ravenna murmured, staring into the pitch-black abyss.
She stared down at the ancient stone steps that descended deep underground, her mind already whirling with suspicion. Feigning a moment of deep contemplation, she secretly brought forth the translucent interface of the Reputation System.
[ Reputation System v2.0 ]
User: Ravenna Solarius / Joy Cha Kim
Reputation Level: 91↑ — (609,095 / 1,010,000 EXP)↑
Current Reputation Points: 53,450 RP↑
Titles Unlocked: Raven of the Sun Palace, Unruly Princess, Beast Slayer
{ View Reputation Log } { Spend Reputation Points }
{ Exchange Items } { Enter Origin Domain }
She navigated to the spend points menu instantly.
[ Spend Reputation Points ]
Access to the Internet: 100 Points per Hour
Access to Magic Spell Library: 100 Points per Hour
Geographical Scans: 5 Points per 1 Kilometer
Nullify Minor Poison Damage (Self): 250 Points
Nullify Minor Poison Damage (Others): 350 Points per Entity
Major Heal: 1,500 Points per Entity
Lie Detector: 2,000 Points per Use
Copy Skill – Locked
Enter Celestial Realm – Locked
Selecting the Geographical Scans option, she smoothly authorized a deduction of 30 points to map out the sub-surface layout of the cathedral's foundation. The system hummed, a radial pulse scanning outward, but when the processing wheel stopped, a look of profound surprise crossed her face.
“That’s... impossible,” she whispered to herself, staring at the blank, static-filled rendering. “It doesn't show up on the scan at all. The system is treating this space like a complete void.”
“Did you say something, Your Highness?” Dame Aisha asked, her hand resting naturally on the grip of her holstered firearm.
Ravenna quickly shook her head, snapping the system screen shut. “Nothing. Well, what are we waiting for? Guide us in, Junior Priest Finn. Let’s see what’s hidden down there.”
Finn nodded nervously. He picked up a freshly cut glow-flower, its bioluminescent petals casting a soft, ambient light over his hands. Beside him, Dame Aisha unhooked a lantern from her belt, which was powered by a concentrated glow-flower extract. With their light sources readied, the trio began their descent into the subterranean dark.
Love this novel? Read it on NovelFire to ensure the author gets credit.
Tip... tap... tip...
The rhythmic sound of their footwear clicking against the solid, ancient stone echoed sharply against the invisible walls. The staircase felt agonizingly steep and narrow, producing an eerie, claustrophobic sensation as they ventured deeper.
“The acoustics alone make it clear that this cavernous chamber is massive,” Ravenna noted, peering beyond the safety of the lantern’s radius. The dark seemed to actively swallow the light, revealing nothing but the single step directly in front of them.
Suddenly, a distinct, cool subterranean draft brushed against their exposed skin. The shifting wind indicated a cavern so vast that it was generating its own micro-atmospheric currents. When they finally reached the bottom landing, Ravenna stopped and glanced back up toward the ceiling. The entrance they had crawled through was hundreds of meters above them, reduced to a faintly visible, microscopic speck of light in the distant roof.
“From what our scribes have managed to piece together... this must have been a sprawling castle city during the Divine Era,” Junior Priest Finn noted, his voice echoing into the void as they began walking in a straight line along a paved walkway. Massive walls constructed from reinforced stone loomed over them, arranged in a grid-like pattern that resembled the desolate streets of an ancient metropolis. “A city that somehow sank completely underground...”
“You mentioned earlier that you were entirely certain this was the location where Goddess Herptian lured the founding Emperor, Aurelius,” Ravenna said, her voice echoing down the stone alleyway. Beside her, Dame Aisha kept her gaze fixed on the shadows, her gun drawn and brought up to a ready position. “How can the church be so sure of that fact?”
“Because... of that,” Junior Priest Finn said, stopping in his tracks and raising his glow-flower toward a monumental stone wall.
A massive, weathered mural dominated the structure, flanked by lines of a complex, archaic script. The carving vividly depicted a majestic divine entity and a mortal man completely entangled in an intimate, passionate embrace.
Ravenna stepped closer, her eyes scanning the faded text as she translated the ancient language aloud. “Thy Love is just as pure as a writhing maggot. Thy Lust is as corrupt as a sun shining on these lands...”
She let out a heavy, solemn sigh, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. “Herptian mocking Solious for taking her husband's loyalty away... This definitely is the place.”
“Up ahead, Your Highness,” Junior Priest Finn nodded, stepping away from the mural. He continued walking, his glow-flower casting long, dancing shadows against the ancient facades.
Both Dame Aisha and Ravenna followed him through the eerie, silent streets, eventually emerging into a vast, circular plaza that must have been the center of the ancient castle city. There, towering over the square, a massive obsidian altar stared down at them. It was carved from a single block of dark, reflective stone that seemed to absorb what little light they carried.
“That’s the altar that shows one the shape of their soul...” Junior Priest Finn said, pointing his trembling finger toward a weathered stone tablet erected near the base of the steps. He cleared his throat to read the translated transcription. “According to the text, God Umbra and Goddess Herptian built it together during the Divine Era. Standing upon the central platform activates the mechanism, revealing the true essence and shape of the soul of anyone within its bounds.”
“Did you test it?” Dame Aisha asked, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the perimeter for any signs of magical instability or traps.
Junior Priest Finn nodded quickly. “We did... a few of our scribes and paladins stepped onto it. It still works perfectly, though the results were rather mundane, just simple, glowing spheres or faint animalistic shapes for most of us.”
“Well, what is there to do then but check?” Ravenna said with a sharp smirk. She stepped forward, setting her lantern down onto the dusty stone floor with a soft clink. Her curiosity was burning. If this altar was built by the God of Shadows and the Goddess of Lust, it might just reveal how deeply the System had anchored itself to her very being or was she really becoming a god… atleast it would give her hints to her questions.
She turned her gaze back to the nervous priest. “How exactly does it work? I want to check my own.”