Puppet Constructs

While everyone was stunned by Sunan's Thunderous Means, the man himself was still dissatisfied.

"If my Spirit Power had been a little higher, that Acid Splash would have killed the Iron-Eating Beast."

Sunan sighed regretfully, pointed again, and sent another Acid Splash flying like an arrow toward an Iron-Eating Beast.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Although the Iron-Eating Beast dodged in time, its flank was still struck. More than half its waist and abdomen were instantly corroded away, inevitably hindering its movements.

Seizing the opportunity, Kei darted forward and cleaved the Iron-Eating Beast in two with a single slash.

The brothers worked together seamlessly, taking down four Iron-Eating Beasts in short order.

The sight immediately boosted everyone's morale.

The Iron-Eating Beasts seemed to realize that things were going badly and gradually began to retreat.

Noticing this, Kei quickly shouted, "Don't let them get away! Stop them!"

The knights charged at the Iron-Eating Beasts.

Sunan narrowed his eyes and cast a Sleep Spell at one of the Iron-Eating Beasts lingering at the rear.

To his surprise, however, the creature was completely unaffected.

"The spell didn't work?"

Sunan was taken aback.

Just then, an Iron-Eating Beast suddenly leaped up and crashed into the rock wall as though plunging into water, vanishing without a trace. The entire process was so smooth that no one had time to react.

The remaining Iron-Eating Beasts followed suit, disappearing into the rock walls one after another.

As the last Iron-Eating Beast leaped toward the wall, the stunned Sunan finally snapped out of it. A dark gleam flashed through his eyes.

In an instant, the Iron-Eating Beast's graceful leap came to an abrupt halt. It froze in midair, as if tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand, unable to touch either the ground or the wall.

No matter how it struggled, it could not break free from the invisible restraints around it.

"Kill it," Sunan said in a low voice.

The others, who had been staring blankly at the bizarre scene, came to their senses and attacked at once.

Crack!

The Iron-Eating Beast in midair was instantly smashed to pieces.

"Sunan, just now..."

Kei looked at Sunan, his face full of astonishment.

If the Lesser Dragon Blood Potion was still within his understanding, then the incredible methods Sunan had just displayed were far beyond anything he could comprehend.

Knowing what he wanted to ask, Sunan calmly explained, "That was a spell."

A spell!

Everyone present silently pondered the word, feeling as though an entirely new world was slowly unfolding before their eyes.

Sunan paid no attention to the others. He quickly walked over to one of the Iron-Eating Beasts that had been cut in half and crouched down to inspect it.

A moment later, a strange expression appeared on his face.

"Is something wrong?"

Seeing Sunan's expression, Kei hurriedly asked.

Sunan shook his head, rose to his feet, and said, "I think I know where these Iron-Eating Beasts came from."

He had actually sensed something was wrong when the Sleep Spell failed to take effect.

There were generally only two situations in which a creature could be immune to spells.

One was having sufficiently high Magic Resistance, like the Dragon Clan.

The Dragon Clan was renowned for its naturally high Magic Resistance. Adult dragons could resist all spells below the third circle.

The other was when a creature's life form happened to be immune to a particular spell.

Take the Sleep Spell, for example. Elemental creatures, undead creatures, and puppet constructs were all immune to it.

The Iron-Eating Beasts could clearly only belong to the latter category.

"I thought they were some kind of metal-based life form. I never expected them to be puppet constructs."

During his inspection, Sunan had discovered Enchantment Runes among the fragments of the Iron-Eating Beast's body.

Naturally born life forms could not possibly contain Enchantment Runes.

The only explanation was that the Iron-Eating Beasts had been artificially created!

And the only ones capable of creating puppets were wizards—or wizard apprentices!

"There's most likely a Wizard Inheritance left behind by a wizard deep within this mine!"

Wild joy surged through Sunan's heart.

He had originally planned to search outside for clues to a Wizard Inheritance after advancing to a Second Class Wizard Apprentice. He had never expected to find one near Blackstone City.

It was undoubtedly an enormous surprise!

After Sunan explained, Kei and the others all revealed expressions of utter shock.

No one had expected that these Iron-Eating Beasts, whose combat power rivaled that of knights and which possessed the bizarre ability to burrow into rock walls, were actually puppets created by wizards!

Miraculous potions, terrifying spells, powerful puppet constructs—these unimaginable things in the eyes of ordinary people had all come from the hands of wizards!

What kind of group were they?

The more they learned, the more they could feel the mystery and power of wizards.

Legend had it that thousands of years ago, wizards had ruled the entire continent and created an unprecedented golden age.

They had once dismissed it as a vague and baseless legend, but now it seemed highly likely that it had truly happened!

Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, and the tunnel fell silent for a time.

Sunan did not care. After saying something to Kei, he sat down on the ground and meditated to restore his Spirit Power.

He had cast quite a few spells in the previous battle, nearly exhausting his Spirit Power.

Considering that there might be another fierce battle ahead, it was safer to continue exploring after he had recovered.

About two hours later, Sunan finished meditating.

The group continued onward.

Fear stemmed from the unknown.

After learning the origins of the Iron-Eating Beasts, everyone's fear of the monsters lessened considerably.

Especially after killing five Iron-Eating Beasts in the previous battle, the group's morale had soared to its peak.

Yet puzzlingly, the Iron-Eating Beasts seemed to have vanished along the way, never appearing again.

"Where did those monsters run off to?" Jordan smacked his lips irritably.

Kei also frowned deeply.

If the remaining Iron-Eating Beasts simply hid away, there was little they could do about them.

Finding a group of wall-burrowing Iron-Eating Beasts in dim, interconnected underground tunnels would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Sunan fell into thought.

High-level puppets possessed autonomous consciousness and artificial intelligence no less capable than that of humans, but the Iron-Eating Beasts clearly did not belong in that category.

They were obviously low-level puppets, generally acting according to some specific program.

For example, when encountering enemies they could not defeat, they prioritized their own safety.

That also explained why none of the previous lords had been able to wipe out the Iron-Eating Beasts.

Even a Grand Knight would be powerless against a group of monsters that bullied the weak, feared the strong, and were exceptionally good at hide-and-seek.

But just because the previous lords had no solution did not mean Sunan had none.

He closed his eyes and focused on sensing the Energy Particles in the air.

If nothing unexpected had happened, these Iron-Eating Beasts should be guards for the unknown Wizard Inheritance deep within the mining area.

As long as they found the location of that Wizard Inheritance, the Iron-Eating Beasts would inevitably show themselves to stop them. Then, they could wipe them all out.

And where the Wizard Inheritance was located, the concentration of Energy Particles would certainly far exceed that of other places.

As long as they headed toward areas with a high concentration of Energy Particles, they would most likely find their target.

Not long after, Sunan opened his eyes and pointed at the tunnel entrance on the right. "Go that way."

Kei was only briefly stunned before he understood. Without hesitation, he took the lead and headed right.

The others came to their senses and hurried after him.

Along the way, the group advanced in fits and starts.

Whenever they encountered a fork, Sunan would stop to sense the Energy Particles for a while before deciding which way to go.

They had no idea how long they had been walking when everyone suddenly came to a stop.

This time, they had not encountered any monsters, nor had they found another fork in the road. The path had simply ended.

More precisely, a pitch-black door had appeared in the middle of the tunnel.

The tightly shut door sealed off the entire tunnel.