Gauss observed the area for a long while and became quite certain that the clearing not far ahead was the lowest point in the entire valley.
"Is it there?"
Theron looked in the direction Gauss had indicated.
"Let's move a little farther away first."
Knowing there was something strange about the place, Gauss obviously wasn't going to walk right up to it.
He took out his climbing gear and used Mage Hand to secure a rope high up on the cliff face. Once it was firmly fastened, he and Theron climbed to a higher vantage point and looked down at the suspicious clearing in the distance.
With the tip of his Bone Staff, he fired a Magic Missile, striking the spot he had judged to be the lowest point with precision.
The next moment—
"Bzzzz!"
A pale blue glow abruptly appeared on the ground. Then the earth began to sink and spin, forming a deep quicksand vortex. The Magic Missile disappeared into it without making a sound.
There was a magical fluctuation!
Gauss had kept his eyes fixed on the spot ever since firing the missile.
Of course, he hadn't missed the mysterious blue light that appeared at first.
So it wasn't ordinary quicksand. It was a mysterious space involving a magical phenomenon.
Perhaps there was another world beneath the ground.
After a brief disturbance, the ground quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
Gauss tested it several more times.
He found that the surrounding area was safer than he had expected.
Only fluctuations in magical energy could trigger a reaction there. Other things, such as thrown rocks, bolts fired from a Hand Crossbow, and other physical impacts, couldn't cause any changes. It was just like an ordinary patch of open ground.
"Let's go down and take a