NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1173: Familiar Voice
Adam hadn't spent the last month solely on healing himself and clawing his way back from death's door. He had also devoted his time to research, delving into the history of the Ivory City.
From the scrolls and books he had salvaged from the study room of the previous occupant, as well as the little bit of information he had gleaned from whatever Gege had spat out, he came to the conclusion that the last ruler of the Ivory City was a Mana Core-level Artificer!
He wasn't certain of this person's exact background or even his name, for that matter, only that he had been a renowned elven Artificer from Feypore.
In fact, this entire city had once fallen under his jurisdiction. Perhaps, Ivory City had been the famed capital of a long-forgotten kingdom in the past. Of course, Adam had no way of ascertaining that.
But whatever he did find out through the bits and pieces of gathered information was sufficient for him to draw enough conclusions. And he believed that he wasn't far from the truth.
Sitting at the study table, Adam gently traced the parchments sprawled before him. Of course, he couldn't read in the usual sense. That would require sight.
But through his Sphere of Resonance, he was able to intently feel the grooves and ridges of the inked characters on the paper. It was in this way that he had managed to uncover so much information in the first place.
In the dark room, Adam's fingers gently brushed against the parchment as he muttered under his breath:
"This elven artificer seemed to be quite the big deal in Feypore. Well, it's understandable since he was a Mana Core Magus… a true Magus according to the standards of the Greater Universe… haha… hahaha…"
All of a sudden, he burst into a fit of laughter. A few moments later, he had to viciously bite down on his tongue to stop laughing like a lunatic and focus on the work before him.
At that moment, the strangely familiar voice echoed inside his head:
"How pathetic."
Adam froze.
He slowly turned his head, scanning the study room. Of course, no one was there except for the mimic, who stared at him in confusion.
Adam remained silent for a long time, then he replied. "…I'll talk to you later. I have important matters to tend to."
The strangely familiar voice sneered, then said:
"Greedy as ever. You just don't learn from your mistakes, do you?"
"Shut up," Adam spat through gritted teeth, his lips curling into a crooked grin. "A man's nature doesn't change. Not so easily, anyway."
"Is that so?" The familiar voice replied. "I wonder… what would it take to change that greedy little personality of yours. Death, perhaps?"
Adam's face contorted into a hideous expression, yet he remained silent.
Hearing no answer from him, the familiar voice scoffed. "Heh… cat got your tongue?"
"…Cat," Adam murmured, suddenly reminded of Valerian. His heart was awashed by overwhelming grief, yet his lips curled into a smile.
The familiar voice fell silent. No more taunts. No more mockery. Perhaps, even he felt sorrow at the young dragon's current state…
A long time later, almost when the whispers of the Laughing God drowned him in madness, Adam snapped back to reality, then turned his attention to the parchments before him. His expression was grim to say the least.
The strangely familiar voice… he had come to terms with it in the past month that he had spent recuperating. But now was not the time to delve into it. He really did have urgent matters to tend to.
"Ah, where was I?" he murmured.
"That's right, the elven Artificer! Right, so this domed building served as an administrative hall for the city in the past, or something similar. At the same time, it also functioned as a training hall for the Artificer's disciples. The room I'm staying in actually belonged to one of those disciples, and these are his notes."
The next moment, he turned his head, his senses piercing the concrete obstructions and settling on the humonid beast patrolling the hall below.
"And that thing…" Adam murmured, his fingers tracing the parchments of an artifact blueprint. "It's not a beast at all… it's a steel golem!"
What he had thought to be a magical beast of the Mana Core Rank was, in reality, a steel golem of comparable strength, one that continued to follow its creator's final directive even after millennia had passed.
Not even the total annihilation of the Feypore civilization had stopped the golem from fulfilling its master's last will. Whatever powered the steel golem had to be extraordinarily potent for it to endure for a thousand years.
And the thing that the golem was guarding… just how valuable could that item be?
"…An armory," Adam whispered, barely suppressing the excitement in his voice. "That arched doorway that leads underground… it's likely an armory down there. That is what the golem is guarding!"
In hindsight, it all made sense now that Adam had most of the gathered information. The golem would only attack someone if they dared to set foot anywhere near the armory. Otherwise, it would continue to patrol back and forth like it had done for thousands of years.
If the golem had truly been a living, intelligent being, it would have dealt with Adam long ago, preventing him from hatching any schemes.
Schemes… that was exactly what Adam was plotting.
He knew that there were at least two highly valuable treasures within Ivory City. The first was the power source that had sustained the steel golem for such a long period of time, and the second was the possible collection of artifacts stored inside the armory.
Adam would be a fool to even attempt getting his hands on the golem's power source. No matter how mad he had become, he wasn't that reckless and stupid. That would require him to defeat the golem, and there was no way he was going to be able to do that.
But the items inside the vault, on the other hand…
His lips curled into a wicked grin, and he soon started to laugh. He laughed and laughed and laughed. Suddenly, he looked over his shoulder and said:
"Hey, admit it! Isn't this a brilliant plan? Hehe, just admit it, will ya?"
The familiar voice did not reply.
Adam's smile froze. "I'll take that as a yes then…"
He turned back around, then gathered the peculiar items that he had created over the last month. As his senses washed over it, he couldn't help but murmur:
"If Valerian was here, he would have loved to see the explosions set to go off tonight."
As memories of his little brother surfaced in his mind, it felt as though countless blades had pierced his heart. Melancholy consumed him, yet his lips…
His lips curled into a brilliant smile.