He came to a stop in front of the Giant Stone. He Xi glanced at the densely packed Runes covering its surface.
Perhaps because of his Intelligence stat, the patterns seemed to pulse before his eyes like blue veins, making him dizzy.
"You figured out such complicated patterns so quickly?"
"It wasn't that simple. For now, I've only gotten a rough idea of how the magic array recorded on this stone works."
Fivik pointed to Flora, who was still comparing the patterns nearby. "As for whether we can fully decipher the ancient magic engraved on it... I can't say. It's not my specialty, so it depends on Flora."
"Ancient magic?"
"Yeah. From what I can tell, the style of this array is typical of the Melshawk Empire."
Seeing He Xi's baffled expression, Fivik patiently explained, "The Melshawk Empire was an ancient nation from more than thirty thousand years ago, ruled by a group of highly intelligent Serpentmen. Their extensive research into magic made them one of the strongest and longest-lasting early civilizations in history."
"But eventually... under the Dragons' relentless attacks, the mighty empire crumbled into the dust of history."
The Serpentmen had been that powerful?
He Xi pictured a group of Serpentmen flicking their tongues while dressed in mage robes and studying forbidden magic. The image felt strange, yet oddly appealing.
As he thought about it, he wondered if he could find a few Serpentmen to come take a look.
"Where are the Serpentmen now?" He Xi asked. "I mean, maybe we could try calling a couple over to help us decipher this. It's their ancestors' stuff, after all."
Fivik waved a hand as if she'd heard a joke. "First of all, the Serpentmen still around today barely remember any of the Melshawk Empire's advanced magic. All they've retained