novelAlta Chapter 412: The Sealer
Chapter 412: The Sealer
Over a hundred members of the Red Dragon Guild completely sealed off the hall where the Verdant Green Pavilion stood.Not a single person could get in, and not even a sparrow could fly through.
Gauss arrived at the pavilion with several teammates.
He had already explained his general plan before coming, so none of his teammates were surprised by what he intended to do.
He flipped his hand and produced the Universal Key.
He had found this key last year after slaying a Chieftain-level Gorgon, inside a box hidden in a pile of straw in the creature's lair. Along with the key, he had also found the Eagle Eye Monocle and the Thief Gloves.
Three strange items in total.
The blue-quality Eagle Eye Monocle he still used from time to time, and the other blue-quality Thief Gloves he had given to Shadow. As for the only purple-quality item, the Universal Key, he had never used it even once.
[Universal Key]
Grade: Exceptional Magical Item (Purple)
Description: Can open most locks and mechanisms. Current uses: 3/3
Gauss glanced at the plain brass key in his hand.
If he had not used the Identify Spell to detect its function, he would have had a hard time judging from its appearance alone that it was such a precious magical item.
Holding the brass key, Gauss slowly walked toward the Green Pavilion.
A few teammates followed him.
He stopped in front of the pavilion.
Although a year had passed and the maze had undergone an environmental change, the pavilion’s external structure had not changed at all; it was exactly as he remembered.
Countless deep-green broadleaf plants wove together into a hemispherical dome, and the green energy membrane that enveloped the pavilion still rippled like water.
He affixed his mana to it.
He wanted to test whether his now-stronger mana could break through this energy seal. If it worked, he could save one use of the key.
A powerful surge of mana flowed from his fingertips into the pavilion.
“Hum!!!”
A sharp ringing erupted in the air.
The mana he had just made contact with was ruthlessly pushed back by an even stronger force.
It seemed he had failed.
Facing that irresistible repulsion, Gauss did not feel too disappointed.
He had expected this; his action was merely a test.
He then raised his hand and aligned the brass key with the abnormal concave formed naturally by the vines.
Would it work? Gauss felt a little anxious in his chest.
The instant the key approached the energy membrane, a sudden change occurred.
The green energy that had been quiet and wave-like began violently fluctuating, sending out rings of ripples.
Without hesitation, Gauss seized the energy tremor and shoved the key hard into the concavity.
The next moment, the entire Green Pavilion began to glow.
Light gushed from every vine and from the veins of every leaf, flowing along the exquisite woven patterns and converging at the top of the pavilion.
“Clack—”
A long, ancient crisp sound, as if a mechanism that had slept for centuries had finally been awakened.
The green energy membrane that covered the pavilion collapsed with a roar.
Immediately afterward, the tightly coiled vines began to loosen on their own, retracting to the sides and revealing a door.
It was a doorway made of pure light, looking like an entrance to another world.
Beyond the door, a staircase descending into the depths was faintly visible.
“It opened!” Aria exclaimed with delight.
“Shall we go in and see what’s inside?”
“I think we should be careful, there might be dangers in there.”
Gauss listened to his teammates’ back-and-forth suggestions and did not act rashly. Instead, he casually formed a few Clay Spiders and sent them through the doorway first.
After the Clay Spiders lingered in the pavilion for a moment, he ordered them to walk down the stairs. After they had moved around for a few minutes without encountering danger, he took the lead and stepped inside.
A cough escaped him.
Perhaps because it had been sealed for so long, the air felt slightly stale.
“Light Cantrip!”
He casually summoned a floating light orb to follow him.
Not bringing too many people along, he and a few teammates descended the staircase first.
According to the spiders’ earlier reconnaissance, there was a large space below.
The staircase was not long, but as Gauss walked it, he could feel spatial magic surging in the tunnel. It was clear that the distance he crossed was not just a few physical steps.
After a few dozen paces, he arrived at the lower space.
It was indeed vast; an ancient stone statue about ten meters tall stood not far away, and beyond his sightline the space was veiled in lush greenery.
Rather than saying they had entered a tunnel beneath the pavilion, it was more accurate to say they had reached a new floor.
But... it was too clean.
A quick sweep told Gauss there were no traces of human activity in this space.
On the first two floors it had been easy to find signs of humans on the path, such as footprints and various discarded items, but not here.
“Come over here.”
Gauss heard Aria call and walked toward the stone Insect-Person statue.
Wildflowers grew at the base of the statue, and two items lay quietly among them.
Aria and the others did not rashly grab them.
Gauss approached and used Mage Hand to lift the items and inspect their appearances.
The first item was a transparent crystal orb.
As he focused his sight on its surface, the originally clear orb quickly changed.
Images flashed inside it—many of them showing adventurers and monsters.
“This is...”
Gauss also keenly perceived within it a view of the entrance hall. Since they had departed from there not long ago, his memory of the first-floor hall was still vivid, so he could readily confirm it.
Beyond the flickering scenes, he could see more information, including the entrance to the lower levels.
The crystal orb contained complete recordings of most of the first five floors, and it seemed to update in real time.
“This crystal orb appears to record a full map of the first five floors of the maze...”
Realizing its function, Gauss arched an eyebrow and couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
With this, his exploration of the maze would undoubtedly become much smoother.
The second item was a small iron piece.
If it hadn’t been resting quietly beside the crystal orb, Gauss might have instinctively overlooked it.
He leaned in to examine it; unlike the crystal orb, it remained plain and unchanged.
“Identify Spell!”
Gauss decisively cast the Identify Spell.
“Some kind of record token originating from the maze.”
“?”
Was that a successful identification?
Gauss tried a few more times, even boosting the spell’s circle, but the description did not change.
After a moment’s hesitation, he reached out and took it from the Mage Hand.
The instant he touched it, an electric current ran through his body.
Immediately, a string of numbers appeared on the previously unremarkable iron piece.
“2.13%”
What did that mean?
Gauss stared at the numbers for a moment, thinking.
After ruling out Divine Factor — the quantities didn’t match — he guessed it was related to the maze, since the iron piece had appeared inside the maze.
Suddenly, a suspicion flashed through his mind.
“Could it be some sort of maze exploration percentage?”
He did not arrive at that guess randomly. His online gaming experience from a previous life and his relationship with the maze combined with the results of the Identify Spell made it a reasonable inference. Although it was his first time entering the maze, his personal exploration proportion relative to the ever-expanding complete maze was obviously very low. As a record token, it made sense for the iron piece to log exploration progress.
If he explored a while longer and then checked the number again, he could verify the idea. Gauss had a plan.
He then focused on the Insect-Person statue.
Both items had been quietly placed before the statue; it was unlikely to be a mere coincidence.
This statue was probably not simple.
After telling his teammates his conjecture, he cast Fly and floated to the statue, remaining on high alert the whole way. If anything unexpected happened, he would immediately use the prepared spells in his hand.
But nothing stirred as he approached the statue.
He reached out cautiously, sending mana ahead to touch the statue first.
When he drew near, the iron piece in his hand warmed slightly.
“..Not. Enough.”
“Unable to obtain reward.”
Fragments of information suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Gauss looked at the glowing iron piece.
So the exploration percentage was insufficient to trigger a reward?
He had a sense of it.
2.13% was indeed quite low. How to raise it? Explore more of the map? Kill monsters?
While pondering, he scanned the surroundings. Though green plants covered the area, there were no animals—no common beasts, insects, or monsters.
He also noticed remnants of buildings and devices around, but they had collapsed over time.
This seemed to be a special “interstitial space.”
Gauss walked around and quickly reached the map’s edge, where a rolling black mist marked the boundary.
If a Clay Spider entered it, the connection would soon be severed; mana and mental probes that ventured into it were rapidly devoured.
Given its danger, Gauss had no intention of entering personally.
After all, adventuring and courting death were not the same thing.
“Let’s go.”
Having found no other useful items, Gauss indicated they should leave.
If they stayed too long, the Red Dragon members outside would start to panic.
As they turned to return the way they had come,
Gauss and the others realized the path was gone.
“It’s gone, the stairs we came up disappeared.”
“How are we supposed to get back?”
“Could this be a trap designed to keep us inside?”
Shadow furrowed her brow slightly, and the others understood the gravity of the situation.
Her two Shadow Clones also searched the area quickly but could not find an exit.
At that moment, Gauss, who had not spoken until now, looked at the iron piece in his hand with a knowing expression.
“Hold my hands.”
...
His companions looked at him.
Albenia coyly struck a demure pose.
“Lord Gauss, I’m not afraid, but if you want to comfort me...”
“What are you thinking? I can bring you out.”
Albenia’s face registered slight disappointment at his words.
As everyone placed their palms on Gauss’s arm, he closed his eyes and concentrated, decisively injecting mana to activate the iron token’s energy for exit.
A ripple of energy instantly enveloped them, and after about ten seconds,
Gauss and the others vanished from the spot.
....
Outside, the members of the Red Dragon Guild noticed the moment the Verdant Green Pavilion disappeared.
Led by Luna, they quickly began searching the area.
The place where the pavilion had stood became solid ground the instant it vanished, as if the pavilion had never existed.
“We need to find the guild leader and the others.”
“Maybe it’s some kind of internal maze teleportation array, sending them to another part of the maze.”
“...”
“Don’t panic! Stay here for now. If after three hours Lord Gauss and his party haven’t returned, we’ll start searching from this spot.”
Luna quickly quelled the panicked Red Dragon members.
As a Level 9 Warlock, her presence helped the suddenly leaderless Red Dragon members maintain basic order; at least it wasn’t utter chaos.
Yet for some reason, everyone in the Red Dragon Guild felt emptier without Gauss, and even the old members who had once been part of the Fang of the Pale Wolf instinctively worried about their missing guild leader.
While they waited silently,
several figures suddenly appeared overhead.
“Ah!”
“Thanks!”
Quick as lightning, Gauss cast several Levitate spells on his teammates.
Although the landing height was not too high to cause major problems, it eased the fall somewhat.
Watching their bodies float down feather-light, the others gathered around quickly.
“Leader, are you injured?”
“Leader, where did you go? The pavilion vanished the moment you stepped on the stairs.”
“Next time, bring more people.”
Gauss smiled to reassure them after teleporting back.
Inside, however, he was thinking that they now possessed another escape method.
The only drawback was the roughly ten-second wait time, and that he had to physically touch those he wanted to bring along, which greatly limited how many could transfer at once.
He felt he could still return to that relic space at will.
That place was clearly special within the maze,
otherwise the map crystal orb and a special token with teleportation function—items tied to maze depth—wouldn’t exist there.
Gauss even suspected that the space might be connected to the maze’s origin or its creator.
“Next, let’s continue exploring the maze.”
He took out the map crystal orb and quickly located an entrance to the third level.
Although their arrival in the maze had not been very early and their progress might be behind many adventuring parties that came from Barry, with the crystal orb in hand Gauss was like a Sealer; he would show other adventurers what it meant to “be first, not just fast.”
Using the map information in the crystal orb, he quickly planned a relatively safe and fast route in his mind.
He intended to catch up rapidly with the first wave,
then find the Maze Lord and carry out his second pre-departure plan: draw them into an ambush and slaughter the numerous maze monsters.