This Lich Requests More Remuneration-Chapter 157 - 144 The Buried City of the Giant
Chapter 157: Chapter 144: The Buried City of the Giant
Chapter 157 -144: The Buried City of the Giant
The view was dominated by a variety of buildings, all of astonishing size and scale.
All the doors stood over ten meters high, and the structures themselves were equally immense, although most were partially buried under sand and rocks.
“Has there ever been a giant civilization in history?”
Amberser struggled to recall the historical records he had read. He found no mention in the official history, but in unofficial history… well, some unofficial records even claimed that the Creator God Aeo was born after a goblin made love to the universe, which was a bit too wild to believe.
Katherine was also quite surprised; the historical records of the Elf Tribe seemed to have never mentioned the existence of such a civilization.
After all, the heritage of the Elf Tribe had never been interrupted, and their recorded history could be traced back ten thousand years.
Katherine said excitedly, “It’s amazing, indeed only by traveling can one gain more knowledge.”
Amberser also felt he had broadened his horizons. There had never been any record of a giant civilization in the books he’d read. The only familiar giants were the hill giants, but they were of questionable intelligence and nothing more than brute monsters.
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If the giant civilization had not been recorded, then all their technologies might be undocumented, which meant there could be ancient magic and magic equipment to be found in this lost Underground City.
Ancient magic was not necessarily superior, but magic unknown to researchers was definitely of significant value.
After entering the city gates and walking dozens of meters down the broad roadway, a huge monument appeared ahead. However, the inscription on it had blurred beyond readability, making it impossible to discern its original form, except for the eroded human figure at the top.
“This human sculpture… Your Majesty, what do you think?” asked Amberser.
When it came to artistic attainments, if the Elf Tribe claimed to be second in skill, no one else could claim to be first.
Katherine examined the statue carefully and said with a hint of regret, “It’s too eroded by the wind; many details are hard to make out. However, the sculpture’s upper body is bare, its muscular lines are very perfect, and it exudes a sense of power. Judging by the craftsmanship, the artist was highly skilled. The surrounding buildings share the same style as this sculpture, so the city was likely designed by a single artist. Given its placement at the city’s entrance, if not a deity they worshipped, perhaps it represents one of their heroes. Unfortunately, that’s all that can be surmised.”
Amberser stroked his chin, impressed. For Katherine to praise its high level of artistry, this civilization must have been very advanced indeed. Art, after all, could not flourish before the basic need of food was met. This giant civilization must have had a large population free from the worries of sustenance to support the development of art.
Did giants possess such intellect?
Amberser recalled that most documented giants were just muscle-bound creatures with questionable intelligence.
“There’s something strange about that place, look at the road behind it.”
Katherine pointed towards the area behind the monument, where the main road bisected from the city gates, splitting into two and forming a subtle angle.
Most cities would favor cross intersections for ease in overall layout, but the Y-shaped junction here seemed somewhat awkward.
Katherine stretched out her finger, checking the angle, and said thoughtfully, “This angle, it seems to be that of a regular pentagram… I have a hypothesis, give me the map.”
Amberser opened the map he’d received from Hake Stone, and Katherine took it and began tracing shapes with her finger.
After a while, Katherine conjured magical lines to outline a pentagon in the air, then drew a pentagram within it.
“I suspect this city has a layout like this. The outer walls are a regular pentagon, and the inner sections are divided by a pentagram. We are standing at one angle of the pentagram, and these roads on the left and right probably lead to areas with different functions.”
Amberser looked at the buildings along both roads but couldn’t discern any difference.
He didn’t know much about architecture, but he trusted Katherine’s judgment.
“A pentagram-shaped layout, could it be related to the beliefs of Hell?”
Katherine shook her head and replied, “Unlikely, the pentagram isn’t exclusive to demons and devils; many ancient magics include such shapes in their elements.”
“Then let’s explore separately and see if there’s anything of value. We’ll meet back here in an hour,” he proposed.
Katherine looked ahead at the profound darkness and felt a twinge of nervousness; this was her first time adventuring alone.
But wasn’t this exactly what she wanted?
“Alright, splitting up is more efficient,” said Katherine before casting several defensive spells on herself and even a High-Level Invisibility Spell, vanishing completely from sight.
Amberser watched, slightly amused. She seemed as green as any newbie adventurer; he wondered how she ever became legendary, perhaps that was the mark of a true genius.
Katherine went right, so Amberser had no choice but to go left.
Liches require no light, so Amberser blended into the darkness and ventured down the left fork.
Calling it a side road didn’t suit it, for it was even broader than the main roads of Alchemy City. Seeing those gigantic paving stones, Amberser became more certain that this was a city built by giants, as everything seemed magnified several times over.
He traveled on without finding danger, but after a kilometer, the path was obstructed by rocks and sand.
Amberser tried to use magic to excavate the obstructions, but after digging about ten meters, the situation remained the same. He wondered whether most of the city was buried and only a fragment happened to be exposed.
The way forward was blocked, so Amberser could only retrace his steps, exploring the buildings on either side as he went.
Many of the wooden doors had rotted away, and the lightest breeze from Amberser passing by could shatter them to pieces. The space inside the houses was quite vacant; aside from the faint outlines of some furniture, there was nothing of value to be seen.
“It seems like this is a residential area, all inhabited by giants…”
After checking several houses, while there were some differences in layout and size, the interiors were mostly the same, complete with dining rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and so forth.
What surprised Amberser was the presence of a very sophisticated sewer system linked directly to each residence, indicating the considerable effort that went into constructing this city.
From these details, it was evident that this city had once boasted a glorious civilization.
However, what puzzled Amberser was the absence of any corpses in these ruins.
Apart from the special materials used to forge the city gates, he hadn’t seen any skeletal remains since he entered.
What had become of the original inhabitants of this city?
Had they all fled before the city’s destruction?
Unfortunately, the years were far too distant, and many traces had been erased, leaving Amberser no way to discern the truth.
Seeing that time was running short, Amberser went back to the monument and saw that Katherine was already waiting there.
“You’re back so soon?” Amberser exclaimed in surprise.
“The road doesn’t go far ahead and there isn’t much to see,” Katherine said, her gaze drifting.
Amberser: …
This girl couldn’t have gotten scared the further in she went, so she ran back halfway to wait here, could she?
Well, it wouldn’t be nice to call her out on it directly. Better to take the time to explore it slowly in the future.
Amberser said to Katherine, “I didn’t find anything on my side, I can only tell that this area was residential.”
Katherine said, “I didn’t find much either, the road on the right seems to be a commercial district, the buildings look like various shops, but there’s nothing inside, and it looks like some people have been here before, having taken away anything of value.”
“It’s definitely that old guy Hake Stone; he must have sent people in advance to loot the place, not leaving a single Gold Coin for me, quite stingy.”
Amberser snorted but didn’t take it to heart.
Now he had money, no shortage of it.
“Since there’s nothing valuable and no danger, let’s pick a place and start moving in. I saw a nice house on my side, big enough space and a good location.”
The house Amberser referred to was the largest in the residential area, a three-story building nearly as tall as his original castle, with plenty of interior space, enough for Amberser to build his new home.
Katherine naturally had no objections, and followed Amberser into the giant-sized dwelling.
Amberser casually summoned a group of Skeletons to begin cleaning up the house. They removed all the decayed remains of furniture, and then he opened his personal space to start moving various belongings out.
Katherine took out some seeds and began sowing them around the house, accelerating their growth with magic.
The Underground City had no ventilation whatsoever; for a short time, Katherine could manage without suffocating, but for a longer stay, they needed to purify the environment.
Plants that purified the air, others that came with their own lighting, and even some that provided food, sprouted up quickly, enveloping the house in greenery—any outsider would never believe that this was the domain of a Lich.
However, these magic plants could only be planted outside. Katherine’s personal room was constructed outside the house as well, built using vines.
Amberser’s skeleton brigade was busy relocating inside the house; low-level skeletons lacked the finesse to control Dark Magic Power properly, so magic plants could not survive in that environment and would quickly wither.
The boundary between life and death was that distinct; none could cross it.
After a busy half-day, the laboratory was finally set up.
Amberser called back his skeleton corps and took out a large supply of metal materials and heaps of blueprints from his personal space.
These were resources left over from the disappearance of Alchemy City, designed for crafting Magipuppet Automatons.
Amberser originally had little interest in Magipuppet Automatons; after all, Undead Magic and Magipuppet Automatons were incompatible, and there was no need to deviate from the essence for a mere fad.
But now things were different. The Laine Empire might well unify the continent, so he needed to plan for his own future.
Amberser was preparing to craft a new body for himself, one not susceptible to the restraints of Holy Light—body of steel.
