The smell of decay filled the dark ruins, and I don't know how many years had passed, so once the balance was upset by external forces, they collided and blended with each other restlessly, taking on the form of a thick fog gushing out of the chimneys of coal furnaces, and suffocating clouds of gray dust, from the door panels smashed on the ground as the source, set off a tsunami-like wave, and slowly spread in all directions.

The Mage Tower, which had not been visited for a long time, welcomed the first visitors after sinking, and the open hall on the ground floor slowly lifted a dark red corner under the non-stop light of the flame gems, and the gray curtain continued to disappear and retreat, and then rolled up dust from another direction and returned.

The place he traveled through quickly returned to its dim original appearance, which made Prince, who was eager to explore the 'ruins', very unhappy, and he could only hold the unquenchable torch as high as he could, but unfortunately his arms were not long enough, at most he only extended the field of vision a little, and did not improve the situation.

Seeing that the young guide was struggling, Aldrich immediately proposed, and with Prince's permission, the knight dismantled the jewel, wrapped it in a strip of linen torn from the hem of his shirt, pierced it with an iron branch, and smashed it into the crack in the ceiling overhead.

The simple chandelier that swayed back and forth quickly settled down and fixed in its suspended position, and the light of the flame gem dispelled the darkness at the bottom of the ruins of the Mage Tower, presenting the truth of decay, dilapidation, and decline in front of the two of them.

The dark red firelight, the flying dust, danced and fell on Aldrich and Princeteen, like lovers who were reluctant to leave.

Triss snorted, and went in a random direction, while the young guide, who was very interested in the pile of rotten sticks of wood piled on the ground, leaned over and turned it gently, and when to no avail, his movements became impatient, and his hands kept tugging.

'No, how could there be?'

Around the corner of the open hall, Aldrich found a kitchen, with three iron pots of various sizes on the stove, eroded by the wind and rain of time into maroon rust shards, where the firewood had been placed was still the same, except for the Knight of Triss to touch it, and the hard wood was now loose like a lump of flour made of sawdust.

Aldrich rummaged for a moment, and found a short knife with a shiny edge under the log cutting board, which seemed to add a rare element, wiped the dust off it, and still shined brightly.

The scene suddenly touched a fragment of memory, and an inherent noun appeared in his mind, 'Stainless steel!'

'No, according to the rumors of this world, it should be forged with cold iron or fire copper, and only this rare arcane metal can create a sharp weapon that is not afraid of the erosion of time. ’

'Well!' In the kitchen, I'm afraid it's used for kitchen knives and other kitchen utensils. The mage is really willful, and it is no wonder that such a low-key show off arouses the envy of the common people, even the nobles and kings cannot help but covet their amazing wealth. ’

With the knife in his hand, Tris was about to leave the kitchen after exploring, and after thinking about it, he held the blade of the handle upside down against his arm, so that he was not afraid of causing unnecessary misunderstandings.

Princesteen's spirit is fragile like a twine dangling a sword, and the slightest movement loses the reserve of a scholar. ’

Leaving the kitchen, Aldrich's figure really caught Princesteen's attention, and he just glanced at it and lowered his head to continue rummaging.

Knight Triss then turned and entered a stone chamber with a rotten door, and by the dim light of the fire he saw sacks lined up with vague patterns on the outside, proving that they contained wheat and flour, as well as nuts such as pine nuts.

He was overjoyed, but when Aldrich opened it, he was disappointed to find that the wheat had been shriveled and bran, and the flour had become so hard that it was hard to break even with his fingers, and that it had completely spoiled and could not be eaten, as was the case with nuts.

It seems they've been here long enough, long enough to be forgotten by everybody. ’

After evaporation, only empty barrels remained, and when opened, a pungent smell burst out, and the bottom was covered with a thick layer of sediment, shriveled bean clips in the basket, blackened, wrinkled apples, and mushrooms that sprouted and grew repeatedly on their humour soil, the only food that could be eaten, but the Knight of Triss was not interested in the slightest.

Leaving the mage's storeroom, Aldrich received Princeteen's usual glance as usual, and then continued his exploration along the wall, where he found a disc floating disc in the hollow pillar of the chimney, with mysterious runes engraved on it, and the snow silver glowed as white as moonlight.

Curiously, Tris reached out and touched it, but somehow, he subconsciously cast a repair technique, which was the spell of Master Felix, a follower of the Oak Tree, that is, where his hand had been for a long time, the broken would be repaired, and the broken would be restored.

"Buzzing ......" didn't know if it was the repair technique that worked, or if it was the source of the spell, the disc floated into the air, suddenly rose to the top, and then slowly sank down.

'Isn't this an elevator?'

At the bottom of the ruins, where the atmosphere of silence was still thick, it was certainly impossible to hide from the deaf Princeteen, who immediately put down what he was doing, threw away the wood chips with hatred, and got up and walked quickly to Aldrich's side.

"It seems that this mage tower is still functioning, and it is not as simple as a ruin. ”

Alchemy enthusiasts who claim to be the heirs are a little resentful about not being the first to trigger the floating disk, but he has already reflected on it, and is wary of the knight who has 'followed' him for a long time, and no longer treats him as legally blind.

Aware of this, Tris stabbed again, and stretched out his hand as if he was the master, "I've seen everything around, there is no passage like a staircase, this floating disk should be the only tool to communicate with different floors." ”

"Don't I know?" Princeteen was the first to step onto the floating saucer, Aldrich took the flame gem, and stepped into the hollow stone pillar.

"Whoosh!" the floating saucer rose rapidly, and the young guide felt his heart sink heavily, and could not help but let out an undignified exclamation, his body was half kneeling, his hands on the disc, and then found himself on the top floor of the ruins of the Mage Tower.

Standing up in shame, he saw the knight with the same face as he did not change his face, and was secretly shocked by his calmness, "Ordinary people have to shout at least when they encounter this situation, but he is commonplace, either Knight Triss has seen it, or he has an iron will, and his nerves are as rough as a bucket. ’

The two of them left the floating saucer one after the other, stepped onto the top floor of the ruins of the Mage Tower, and held up the Flame Gem, everything around them was close to each other.

It was an ordinary platform, with four giant blades on the edges of a blunt mace towering in the corners, holding up the sky of the tower, and in the core there was a cubit-diameter pool, with a shallow layer of pearl-colored liquid swaying back and forth at the bottom, emitting dots of fluorescent light.

The light fell on the two of them like rain, and the tired feeling disappeared, and the dust and sweat stained on their heads and faces suddenly rolled down, and they both felt refreshed and their bodies returned to their full state. Aldrich, in particular, was surprised to find that a new source was rising under the pillar of knightly virtue, and that was ......

'Restoration, follower of the Way of the Oak, source of spellcasting!'

Tritsch's eyes scanned back and forth between his hands and the pool, and the more he looked closely, the more familiar it felt.

"The floater is going down. Princeteen hurriedly reminded that knowing that he was in a high place, he suddenly had an inexplicable fear, and he cringed with one foot in the air, wanting to grasp the sense of security in his hands, so he had to lean towards Aldrich.

'It seems like it's recharged, and then it's back to the bottom, stopping briefly along the way, is this some kind of fixed procedure?'

Tris didn't linger much on the top floor of the Mage Tower, glanced at the pool more, and immediately turned around and stepped on the floating saucer, and Princein hurriedly followed, for fear that he would be left behind.

"Shhh...... The disc rested on the sixth layer, and the flame gem continued to be illuminated by Aldrich, the light flowing from the gap in his right hand to illuminate the empty plane, with only a triangular prism dressing mirror in the center.

Princeine stepped out of the disc, his eyes completely attracted by the strange building, his hand gently tentatively touched, and found that there was nothing abnormal, and then he kept turning in circles with the vine-like pattern containing the mystery, trying to imprint its whole picture in his mind.

"It's ......"

"A portal with a limited number of close ranges! The crystallization of the advanced space-time arcane, I never thought that I would see a complete body in my lifetime, and the owner of the mage tower would use it to visit friends, and also use it to save time on the road. I'm sure the caster who owns this mage tower must be a stakeholder, a high-ranking figure even among mages, and perhaps a legend of the world who has been praised by bards. ”

"I reckon he's dead, otherwise the long-lived legendary mage would have maintained the tower from a ruin in obscurity. ”

"You're right, it's definitely so. It's just that I didn't expect that even the legends of the world would fall. Princeine was a little emotional, his nose was faintly sour, and he couldn't speak.

"With the alternation of the old and the new, even the gods who occupy the heavenly vault will fall, let alone ordinary mortals. There is no source of immortality, no matter how powerful a mage is, he is mortal, and the scythe of death will one day befall them, ending the life of a colorful legend. ”

Princeine sighed and lamented, and he suddenly fell into a dazed mood and couldn't extricate himself, until the light of the flame gem faded and dimmed, and then he came to his senses.

Aldrich was about to explore the fifth floor, and the young guide would not give up this opportunity, but the floating disc had not yet come up, so the two of them waited in front of the hollow pillar.

"There must be a password and a code to control the floating disc up and down, otherwise it will be too boring to let it stop and cruise back and forth. Uncontrolled tools, it's disgusting. Prince's words partly resonated with Tris, but he cautiously did not say anything in response, only smiled slightly to maintain his demeanor.

When the two of them reached the next level, the dark red firelight illuminated buildings such as libraries and collection rooms, as well as books pressed between wooden shelves all over the floor.

Princeteen was so excited that he rushed over quickly, ready to take everything into his arms, and gave Aldrich no paper, but when his hand touched the books that might record arcane knowledge, it collapsed and weathered away like soft earth.

The chain effect destroyed not only one book, but a bookshelf, and all the collections, turned into decaying ashes, and the mood of the alchemy lover suddenly fell to the bottom, his face was blue and gray like that of a deceased deceased, as if his mind had withered and withered in this brief moment.

Triss didn't bother Prince, he saw a parchment book that had fallen to the ground in the cloister, and he quietly stepped forward, half-crouched and half-kneeled to it, and stretched out his right hand to it, and his palm suddenly shimmered with the colorful starlight of the restoration.