The Sound of Time

Shane led the way, occasionally using his longsword to push aside the weeds along the path.

Frieren followed behind him, unfolding the old map provided by the Adventurer Guild and beginning to mark down new information.

The river marked on the map had dried up. Shane dug at the mud beneath its riverbed and estimated when the water had dried up.

This was crucial information for adventurers, who needed to know whether they could find water in the wilderness in time.

Frieren recorded it accurately.

The two continued on, passing a patch of thorny bushes that had been burned away.

Frieren went over to inspect them and confirmed they were poisonous thorns, thoroughly destroyed by magic and unable to grow back.

Some kind-hearted adventurer passing by must have cleared them away.

After confirming there were no lingering dangers, she crossed out the hazard marker on the map.

Near the labyrinth, Shane came across a strange kind of stone.

It looked like a potato, but was entirely dark brown. When he tapped it, it made a hollow sound, so he suspected it was empty inside.

Frieren tried hitting it with Basic Attack Magic.

To their surprise, the whole stone burst open, spraying out a cloud of black powder like smoke. Despite its small size, it could shoot two or three meters into the air.

Luckily, Shane was quick to run, or he would have ended up covered in black powder.

Only after checking the map did they realize it wasn't a stone at all, but an aggressive spore plant.

If you accidentally stepped on one, it would spray you into the air.

He hurriedly kept well away from those stones.

But Frieren suddenly became interested. With a wave of her staff, she set off one stone after another around them, each puffing up a tall plume of black smoke in turn.

Bang, bang, bang...

After walking for two hours, they reached the labyrinth entrance before they knew it.

The temple had long since collapsed. Only a few thick pillars remained on the ground, standing alone amid the wild grass.

Shane ran his hand over the elaborate carvings on one of the pillars.

The carvings had long been eroded by wind and sand, leaving them faded and indistinct, but their delicate patterns still hinted at the splendor they once held.

"Frieren, can you tell what story these carvings depict?"

"It looks like a story about a dragon blessing the dwarves."

Frieren stepped closer and ran her hand over the faded patterns as well. "I once heard Eisen talk about the legends of his people. Even today, many dwarves believe they're descended from dragons."

Descended from dragons?

Dwarves?

That's hard to imagine...

After briefly checking the stability of the entrance, the two followed the stone steps left by the temple and went inside.

The Ancient Dragon Temple was divided into two sections: the ruins above ground and the chambers below.

The above-ground ruins were relatively simple. When an adventuring party had first explored the place, they successfully wiped out the monster that had made its home there, a Three-Headed Lizard. No other low-level monsters had appeared since.

The underground chambers, however, were more complicated.

There were two paths, one to the left and one to the right. The left led to Dragon's Grave, while the right led to a dead end riddled with traps.

Shane looked at the notes on the map and couldn't help smiling.

"Dwarves really do think in simple, straightforward terms. They just give you two choices."

In other labyrinths, wouldn't they design eight or ten wrong paths for you to take?

"Let's go. We'll check the dragon's grave directly."

"Wait..."

"?"

Frieren looked at the old map in her hand, which now contained quite a few updates.

She thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "The map's markings for the left and right passages should be correct, right?"

"!"

Shane was stunned.

Could they actually be wrong?

Now that you've said that, I'm suddenly not so sure...

He looked again at the two dark tunnels. His earlier nonchalance vanished, and his expression turned serious.

Two choices.

If they chose wrong, they'd end up at a dead end full of traps.

Left or right?

"Should we follow the map and check the left passage first?" Frieren suggested.

Shane hesitated. Should he trust the map or his instincts?

He took a deep breath and decided to leave it to Strong Luck. At a time like this, luck was more trustworthy than anything else!

He took a coin from his pocket, balanced it on his thumb, flicked it into the air, and caught it. He silently decided: heads meant left, tails meant right.

When he opened his hand, it had landed on tails!

"Since we're already having doubts, let's explore the right side first."

Frieren nodded, and the two entered the right-hand passage one after the other.

The passage was dim, and visibility was poor.

Frieren channeled mana into the gem at the tip of her staff. The whole staff lit up like a light bulb.

Everything in the passage became clearly visible.

After walking carefully for a while, Frieren suddenly stopped.

"Wait."

"Another mage is hiding nearby."

Her words made Shane's heart leap into his throat.

"How many?"

"One."

A mage, alone, deep in a low-level labyrinth that had already been cleared?

There was no way that could be anything good.

Shane quietly drew the longsword at his waist and held it in front of him. He switched places with Frieren, using the light from her staff behind him to see as he slowed his pace and continued forward.

They hadn't gone far when they spotted a pile of iron-feathered arrows scattered in all directions.

Someone had clearly triggered a trap.

Some of the arrows were embedded in the walls, others stuck into the ground, and still others seemed to have been knocked aside by some force, littering the floor.

Shane crouched and touched one of the arrows.

The shaft was cold, which meant the battle had ended some time ago.

He looked over all the arrows but found no bloodstains or scraps of clothing on them. He could tell, more or less, that their opponent was quite strong.

He gave Frieren a look, urging caution.

The two continued onward. At the next bend, they found many oddly shaped stone fragments scattered across the ground.

"Gargoyles," Frieren said softly from behind him. "They've been shattered."

Shane nodded.

By now, he could more or less tell that the unknown mage hiding somewhere ahead was indeed a formidable one.

He sincerely hoped they meant no harm.

Otherwise, a battle in a cramped underground space like this could easily leave both sides badly hurt.

As he was thinking this, a flash of light suddenly appeared in the passage ahead, followed by a distinct tremor in the ground.

At the same time, a hoarse, muffled roar, thick with fury, rang out:

"Foolish humans! Look what you've done!"

The two exchanged a startled glance.

Frieren teleported away on the spot.

Shane activated Dash and shot forward like a blur.