The Chamber and the Notebook

A sudden burst of intense light flared before Li Wen, making her feel as if a stun grenade had detonated next to her ear, leaving her head ringing.

Even in the face of such a sudden assault, Li Wen managed to cast a Prayer Incantation on herself amidst the disorienting chaos.

It felt like dozens of seconds passed before Li Wen's dizziness and blindness began to fade. She forced her eyes open, her vision still blurred by the lingering bright afterimage, everything appearing with a heavy double shadow.

Li Wen noticed that the others weren't faring much better. The Wild Mages, Halik and Nasha, were clutching their eyes and groaning in pain. Zotes, who had opened the door, bore the brunt of the attack and had already collapsed on the ground, only his occasional twitches indicating he was still alive.

Moria had also been affected, but he had a bad feeling before opening the door. Thus, he had immediately cast a Blessing Spell upon being attacked and was now engaged in a lengthy prayer.

Faint Radiance gathered in his hands. Moria clasped his hands together solemnly, holding the Radiance like a flickering candle flame. Once the prayer was complete, the Radiance emanated ripples of light in all directions, under which all sickness would dissipate.

Li Wen felt her mind clear completely, all negative statuses banished, and even her health restored to 100%.

She wasn't the only one who benefited; everyone within the Divine Art's range did.

"What a powerful ability," she thought. "A wide-area dispel and recovery. If its casting time wasn't so long, even I would want to learn this Divine Art."

Halik and Nasha, now recovered, looked bewildered, having no idea what had happened.

The Gnome remained sprawled on the ground, refusing to get up, and cried out hysterically, "I don't know, I don't know it would be like this..."

Moria walked over, pulled him up, and comforted the Gnome.

"No one will blame you. This was just an accident."

Was it just an accident? Li Wen held a different opinion, but she certainly wouldn't voice it to Moria.

The Gnome's eagerness to open the door felt far too deliberate.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault! I'm sorry..."

Zotes repeatedly confessed to the Firstborn of the Temple, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Moria's expression was calm. "Making mistakes is human. Besides, you might not have made a mistake. Tell me everything you know, Zotes."

"I don't know... Nothing happened the last two times I came here..."

"So, this might be a randomly triggered trap," Moria said, turning to look at Li Wen.

"Aha! I know about this!"

Halik, surprisingly, raised his hand eagerly. He looked terrified, his heart pounding. "I've read about this kind of magic trap in books. It's a trigger trap that only targets Magic Power. As soon as Magic Power exceeding a certain limit approaches, it activates... Perhaps, it might seem... like it really was an accident."

Moria nodded upon hearing this, accepting the explanation.

Only Li Wen looked speechless. Setting aside the fact that this didn't explain why Zotes hadn't triggered the trap before, magic-triggered traps typically focused on "exploding with the intruder." They wouldn't usually be placed at a doorway where they could be triggered at any moment. Furthermore, such traps weren't used to cast a mere Glimmering Spell; they would typically employ more powerful spells, like a Chain Fireball.

After all, a Glimmering Spell was crowd control with little killing power, making it difficult to reduce the number of intruders.

"The door... behind the door is where I got the treasure."

The Gnome Zotes nervously scratched his neck, looking extremely uneasy. His fingernails were untrimmed, and he scratched so hard that bloodstains appeared, as if he were trying to break his skin.

Beyond the door was darkness, revealing nothing, like a gaping maw ready to swallow everyone.

Moria cast that illuminating Divine Art again. A golden sphere of light was launched from his hand, illuminating everything within the doorway.

The style inside the door was completely at odds with the dungeon outside. It resembled a combination of a bedroom and a study, generally neat and tidy. There wasn't much inside, only a simple bed, a desk, and a bookshelf crammed with books.

The dust on the bed and desk clearly indicated that no one had been here for a very long time.

However, Li Wen saw no sign of Magic Potions, or anything related to Alchemy for that matter.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

Li Wen questioned the Gnome.

"I... I don't know..." The Gnome continued to scratch nervously, his voice filled with panic. "It wasn't like this when I came. There should have been huge instruments, scattered books and papers, and shelves filled with bottles of Magic Potions..."

"Perhaps an illusion?"

Moria offered a guess. Since the trap had already been triggered, adding an illusionary spell on top of the Glimmering Spell wouldn't be difficult at all.

Li Wen remained noncommittal. Besides the damp, musty smell of the dungeon, there was no other scent in the air. If there truly was an Alchemy laboratory filled with Magic Potions, it wouldn't be located here.

"I think, since we're already here, we should go in and take a look. Perhaps we can find some clues inside. What do you all think?" Moria believed an open-minded team should brainstorm and understand everyone's wishes. However, besides Li Wen, no one else present would likely dare to contradict him.

As for Li Wen, she said nothing and took a step forward, leading the way.

To prevent her from encountering danger or accidentally triggering a trap, Moria quickly followed behind her.

There were too few things to search in the room. Li Wen's attention was first drawn to the desk. Generally, people would keep important items in visible and accessible places, trying not to let them out of their sight.

Aside from evaporated ink and an oxidized quill, there was only a thin notebook on the desk.

The diary was open and covered in dust, its handwriting long since illegible.

"This might be something important," Li Wen had a premonition.

She picked up the notebook and brushed off the dust. The cover was black, with nothing on it. Only on the bottom right corner of the title page was a strange symbol: a non-human claw gripping an eyeball.

Li Wen pondered for a moment. Perhaps it was an eyeball with a monster's claw growing out of it.

She turned to the first page of the notebook, and the very first sentence made her heart skip a beat.

"Found it," Moria said at that moment. Li Wen looked over; the bookshelf had disappeared, replaced by a secret passage. "Zotes accidentally knocked a book over, and then this hidden door appeared."

Li Wen didn't pay it much mind. "Then let's go in and see," she said.

Alchemy Master, laboratory, dungeon, Ghost Fairys, Gnomes, and adventurers gathered from all over...

She grew increasingly curious. What secrets lay buried beneath this forest?