Wild Era 2, Ch 19: Library of Silence

In the morning, Kelin dismantled the ward that had protected them throughout the night and they returned to clearing nearby monsters.

It didn’t take long to find the first mana concentration that marked a challenge, but in the interests of efficiency, they circled around it to clear everything nearby first.

There were a couple of dozen wandering undead in the area. 

They were still very difficult for the team to handle, but with the improvements they had made at Level 80, things were slightly faster.

The experience wasn’t much for Kelin, but the monsters had high resistances and, since he had little else to do, it was a good opportunity for him to continue working on his abilities.

Defending against the bulk of the attacks and then finishing off the monsters was mostly on him, so he focused on training up his regular combat spells, as well as Soul Paralysis, Soul Star, and Soulfire Reinforcement.

To train the latter, he tested combining it with some of the team’s gear, including Maro’s axe and Galin’s shield.

It infused the items with an aura of soulfire that was similar to a temporary strengthening enchantment. 

It also added inherent attacks that flared out now and then to strike an enemy with a soulfire bolt. 

It was somewhat wasteful on his mana, especially the farther away the items got from him, but the results were decent.

If he were an artificer, this would have been a very important skill to reinforce his creations. It was the most equipment-based support skill that he had.

Of course, the ability was more flexible than that, and it allowed him to enforce a number of other things as well, from wards to spells.

Unfortunately, there were not many of those around for him to test it on except his own.

He tried to combine it with Serai’s Wall of Ice and Winter Storm spells, but the elements were too different for it to be effective.

Thanks to the level of the monsters he was using it against and all of the training he had done before, the ability was able to reach the Elite tier by early that afternoon.

All of his class abilities were now at Elite.

The team was leveling more slowly now as the gap between them and the undead grew smaller, but every two to three monsters still gave them a level.

Kelin kept an eye out for more elemental crystals and he eventually found a Wind-affinity one that was of a similar high grade.

It was a translucent grey crystal that had a distinct touch of decay trapped in it.

It seemed like his suspicion was correct.

This dungeon had some connection to the Lord of Decay, or maybe one of his lieutenants.

He frowned at it as he stored it away with the other.

By that point, everyone in the team was up to Level 88 and Kelin felt that his own level was a bit over halfway to 97.

If he had been alone here with Gaius, it would’ve taken him twenty to thirty of these undead to get a level.

With the others along, that meant he needed around eighty to a hundred and twenty.

Their level gains were slowing down significantly, but the speed at which they had almost closed the gap with Kelin was impressive.

“This is crazy,” Serai said as they finished off a group of three undead. “I just hit 89. That would have taken me months before.”

“Same here,” Maro agreed, wiping sweat away from his eyes. “Although it looks like we’ve been at it for months anyway.”

He chuckled as he looked down at his armor, but it held a tone of regret.

His and Galin’s gear both looked like they had been blown apart and then melted in an inferno. They were completely covered in holes and gouges and massive chunks were missing.

The fact that their bodies were still intact was thanks to Kelin’s talismans and a lot of healing potions. 

He had gone through about forty-five Warden’s Talismans so far, which was plenty of damage for both of them.

“Let’s take a break to repair some of that,” Kelin agreed. “Then we can see what’s in the first challenge.”

He created a ward circle to rest in and as everyone sat down, the two warriors began to strip off their gear and set it in a pile in front of them.

All of it had self-repair enchantments that could be powered by the wearer’s mana, but the damage it had suffered was too great for them to keep up.

The normal method would have been to meditate and continuously supply mana until it repaired itself, but if too much material was missing, it would be difficult. They would need chunks of a matching base material to fuse into it.

Fortunately, they’d managed to recover most of what was missing after each fight, especially larger pieces that had been torn away.

“Let me see one,” Kelin said as he held out his hand.

Galin handed him his helmet and Kelin began to inspect it, studying the enchantment for damage.

It had several breaks in the metal where claws had torn through, but most of the material was still there, which meant the repair was fairly simple.

He pulled out a basic mana potion and began to drip it onto the helmet, focusing on the key nodes where the enchantment could absorb mana directly.

The helmet glowed with energy as the dents began to disappear and the other scars and holes slowly closed.

With it only being Level 80 gear, the one hundred points of mana in a basic potion was enough to do most of the work.

By the time the glow faded away, the helmet looked almost new. There was only one break left in the metal, and it was much smaller than before. 

It would need a bit of replacement metal to fill that in, but since the enchantment was intact, it would absorb it cleanly.

Self-repair enchantments were one of the most essential things any enchanter could learn, and there was a reason they were on every piece of decent equipment.

When he looked up, he saw the others staring at him and at the helmet in his hand.

“What...was that?” Maro asked with a furrowed brow. “How did you do it?”

“You didn’t know that was possible?” Kelin asked, feeling amused as he passed the helmet back to Galin. “Potions are unaligned mana. They can be used to infuse most enchantments, including self-repair.”

“It never came up before...” Galin muttered. “I suppose it makes sense, but it hurts my heart to see gold thrown away like that.”

“It’s expensive,” Kelin agreed, “but right now the time is worth more than a basic potion. That saved at least an hour of meditation for you.”

Using potions to accelerate equipment repair was fairly common at higher levels, especially for warriors who might not have enough of a mana reserve to accomplish it in a reasonable time frame. 

Their gear’s requirements could drastically increase as they went up in levels, so potions were the best way to solve the problem. 

Otherwise, they had to ask a mage for help.

He could have done this for his cloak in the past, but it had only taken a few days to repair. 

His staff was more complicated and it wouldn’t have been wise, since he’d been improving it during the repair.

“Let me see another,” he said as he held out his hand. 

“Agh, no,” Galin said as he held his hand to his chest. “Don’t waste the potions!” 

“Alright,” Kelin said, chuckling. “I’ll help out the usual way. Give me one.”

The gold for a basic potion wasn’t that important to him, but channeling mana into the gear did give him a reason to practice meditation.

Galin let out a sigh of relief as he passed him a set of bracers.

It took a few hours and several chunks of spare metal and leather, but eventually the gear was repaired as well as it could be. 

With Kelin there, even the enchantments that had begun to fray could be touched up. 

Self-repair enchantments did most of the work and could even restore themselves on non-essential areas, but if key nodes were damaged, they stopped working as well.

That was how most equipment eventually fell apart.

He repaired a few runes and stabilized some connecting lines by adding deeper engravings, making sure that the damage had no real effect. 

It was lucky for them that he had no trouble comprehending the enchantments. Otherwise they could have only taken them back to the maker or to an enchanting specialty shop.

This type of repair was something that would have been tasked to senior apprentices of the original maker, or maybe to a journeyman for the more difficult parts where an entire node was destroyed.

By early evening, their gear was fixed and they’d recovered their mana. 

With a unanimous decision, they headed for the first challenge. 

They’d been circling around it all day and they were looking forward to seeing what was inside.

The mana signature was in a half-fallen building with massive pillars and an arched portico that led toward twelve-foot-tall double doors. 

There were guardian statues outside in the shape of winged serpents that curled around the pillars and two stone sphinxes wearing ornate crowns lay on either side of the door.

However, instead of the original appearance of those creatures, it looked like an acidic mist had rotted the stone away in a corruption of the original sculptures. Now they showed missing sections of flesh and exposed bones, as if even the statues had been turned to the undead.

“Bizarre,” Galin muttered as he looked at them.

“Even the stone cannot resist the undead?” Serai asked, looking puzzled.

“Either the Path did it to make this dungeon look more threatening, or a powerful force molded the area into its image,” Kelin said. “Either way, stay alert.”
Maro nodded in agreement as he raised his axe. 

They were all confident after gaining so many levels, but they were still weak for the dungeon.

Kelin checked the talisman shields on everyone and then he set one hand on each of the double doors as he pushed them open.

The stone doors were balanced, but they creaked from disuse as they swung wide and revealed the interior.

The first thing that came into sight were bookshelves that ran throughout the building, covering the walls in layer on top of layer, with rolling ladders and staircases crisscrossing the interior to reach the higher levels.

It was a library, or it had been once. 

Now, the shelves were empty except for a few scattered murals and inscriptions, the roof was half open to the air, and crumbled stones had fallen throughout the building, but it was still more intact than most of the buildings in the city.

Soaring pillars towered into the air, forming a line that marched from the door toward the back. Three-quarters of the way in, there was a stone table at the center that was either an altar or a reading table for visitors.

Dark mist curled around the pillars, taking the shape of shadowy serpents, and bony skeletal figures in dark robes walked through the area, stopping by the bookshelves.

Near the table, a single figure stood with his head down, completely concealed by a dark robe that hid his body. 

There was an open book in one hand that he seemed to be reading and a lantern that glowed with a dark blue flame in the other. Waves of dark mist surrounded him and formed eddies around his feet, like he was the center of a storm that filled the area.

As all of them stepped inside, the doors swung back behind them with inexorable force, slamming shut with a dull thud that echoed through the area.

“Silence...” the figure whispered the word as he raised his head to stare at them.

As if the world were responding, a crushing and dark pressure fell down on them, making Kelin’s body shake as he resisted it. 

The spell carried with it a sense of stillness and death, as well as the slow movement of decay, like his body was slowly beginning to fall to pieces.

Flakes of his skin fell away from his body, slowly turning black and rotting away in the air as they disintegrated into dark sludge.

A wave of soulfire stirred in his veins, incinerating the flakes as he resisted the spell and forced the process to halt.

A hiss of pain and a subdued shout came from the others, but the sounds were suppressed and barely audible as they staggered.

Kelin didn’t wait as he raised the Soulfire Sigil into the air and hung it in place, and then he swiftly drew a ward circle.

Golden light filled the area as the effect of the spell snapped like a broken branch, and the pressure fell away.

As he glanced back at the others, he could see dark lines weaving across their skin and patches on their hands and cheeks that looked corroded, and it had only been an instant. 

Even Gaius was slightly affected by it and he was inside his soul chamber. He rumbled with dissatisfaction.

The talisman shields weren’t affected by it, which revealed one of their limitations. They were best at blocking direct damage to the body or soul. 

That spell was something else, an affliction of silence and decay.

It came with a suppression on both movement speed and mana, making it harder to cast spells and shortening their range.

As his ward blocked most of the effect, Kelin reached out and touched each person, sending a wave of soulfire through them. 

Touch of Soulfire had the ability to purge negative energies and diseases. As it worked, the dark lines receded and the patches on their faces disappeared.

At the same time, he analyzed everything in the area, focusing mainly on the figure at the center, but also the skeletal figures around the area that were turning to look at them and the shadowy serpents around the columns.

Umbral Librarian. Level 115. Elite.

Skeletal Researcher. Level 112. 

Serpent of Silence. Level 110.

There were about a dozen serpents and the same in researchers, as well as the librarian at the center.

The serpents fit the theme of the library and he had a feeling that their fangs would inflict venom with paralysis or mana disruption effects, or perhaps both. 

The researchers, on the other hand, were mages.

The librarian let out a hiss of displeasure as he saw the golden ward. He raised the lantern in his hand and the blue flame inside expanded.

“Stillness...” the word whispered across the area and a cold wind formed from the mist around him. 

It turned into a wave of frozen darkness as it swept across the distance, and rose up like a wall as it crashed into the ward, completely covering them in darkness and a sense of cold death.

The ward blazed with soulfire, resisting the energy, but there was a sharp dip in Kelin’s mana as he sustained it.

At the same time, Gaius’s warning came to his mind, telling him that the serpents and the skeletons were approaching.

“We’re about to be surrounded,” he said as he warned them. “You have two minutes to do what you can.”

That was how long he was confident in maintaining his shield without drinking mana potions.

Wildfire would be convenient here, or a Soul Arrow to kill the librarian and an inferno to finish off everything else, but he focused on improving his ward as he let the others fight.

Both spells from the librarian were still active and trying to invade the barrier, so he turned his attention to them as he tried to enhance the principles of Soulfire and Endless Flame in his defense.

Endless Flame supported all of his spells and abilities, but fully merging it with them would raise them a higher level. It was already moving along that path, but he had to keep pushing it to make sure it worked.

Ideally, he would comprehend enough of the Law of Endless Flame to fully merge it with the Law of Wildfire by the Fourth Evolution.

If he managed it, it might turn into something like the Law of Endless Wildfire or perhaps be silently absorbed to make a stronger version. 

For now, it was just a daydream.

Around him, the others began to move.

Galin let out a shout as he found his voice and a wave of earthen energy rolled outward in a shockwave. It should have hurled away some of the serpents and a couple of the skeletons that were approaching, but the level difference made the effect weak.

The serpents hugged the ground and hissed as they let the force roll over them and the skeletons only hesitated for a moment as their robes rippled.

Maro was next, unleashing a flaming cleave with his axe that sent a line of condensed energy through the air. It passed over the serpents’ heads and sliced into the skeletons, which rocked back on their feet.

Their robes sizzled as a line of charred ash appeared where the strike had landed.

At the same time, a storm of whistling wind surrounded Serai and flowed outward, turning into a freezing field. Icy spikes leapt up from the ground to impale the serpents and strike at the skeletons’ feet, while spears of ice fell from above, stabbing down at everything in range.

Most of the ice shattered on impact, and the undead shrugged off the cold, but her attacks did manage to pierce the head of a serpent and pin two others to the ground. 

For those that were impaled, waves of ice gathered around them, attempting to freeze them in place.

Asking them to fight against two dozen enemies at a time was a lot, but facing overwhelming odds was good for their development.

Kelin released a wave of Soul Paralysis that shocked the serpents and other enemies that were closing in, but the building was large and many of the undead were outside of the range.

He shifted to soul arrows, hurling one after the other at the undead without enhancing them, except for the two he tossed at the librarian, which were empowered at three times the cost. 

The arrows would eventually ignite, but without more power behind them, it would take a while.

He had four empowered and enhanced spells on his staff, which was capable of holding the stronger versions, but for now he kept those back as a reserve.

The librarian’s hiss was still rattling through the air, combined with the wave of darkness and the affliction in the area, and it raised the book it was holding.

The book floated into the air on its own and its pages began to turn with the sound of whistling wind. Each page had different runes, but Kelin couldn’t read what they were at the speed it was moving.

Eventually, it stopped on a single page. 

The librarian glanced down at the book and then it raised its hand to point at Kelin.

“Fracture,” he intoned. 

The word echoed through the hall like a thunder strike and Kelin’s ward shuddered under a massive force as a broken rift appeared in the air around it.

The talisman shields on all four of them shattered at the same time. 

It felt like the world had been torn apart as Kelin’s teeth rattled, and he felt small fractures spiderweb through his bones. 

The others let out groans as they staggered in place, their spells and abilities falling apart. Blood ran down from Serai’s nose and ears, and Galin’s face turned red as his veins burst. 

Maro was the least affected of the three. He shuddered as flames surged up around him and absorbed some of the impact, and his eyes turned fiery red as he began to lose control.

That was the problem with berserker classes, and right now it was also going to get him killed.

Kelin poured more mana into his ward as he reached out and froze Maro in place with a touch. Then he poured healing into his body and watched the flames recede from his eyes.

He flicked another talisman shield around each of them and touched Galin and Serai to pour healing into them as well.

He could feel a trail of blood running down from his own nose, but his innate healing was already working on it.

“Thirty seconds,” he announced as he adjusted the estimate. “Pour everything into it and don’t hold back.”

Maro let out a growl in response as he gathered himself. A torrent of flames as thick as a barrel swept around his body and he raised his axe into the air. 

This time, he targeted the librarian.

A massive axe of flame soared through the air toward the Elite, leaving a trail of flame behind it.

The librarian looked up from the book as the axe approached and then it raised the lantern in its hand, which flickered with a cold flame.

A surge of frozen light erupted from the lantern, creating a barrier that the axe crashed into. An explosion of energy crackled outward in arcs from the impact, making the mist in the area roll like it was alive, but the librarian’s robe barely moved.

Galin and Serai added their own attacks, making the building shake with an earthquake and a swiftly intensifying winter storm as more ice spears descended onto the undead in freezing waves.

The pillars shook and stones crumbled from the walls as ice covered almost everything, but it only slowed the researchers and the serpents down for a moment. 

They moved through the storm, brushing aside the rubble and the cold with ease.

As the team gave it their all, Kelin focused on disrupting spells, slicing through one mana concentration after another, but it was difficult to cut through them and there were too many for him to get them all.

Bolts of necrotic energy rained down on the ward and the serpents struck with hissing fangs, tearing away sections of the defense.

More serious group spells were building among the researchers and the librarian was flipping through his book again.

“That’s enough,” Kelin announced as he saw the others staggering. “Guard yourselves.”

Even with all of his enhancements, his mana was down to 30% and it was time to act.

He pulled out an intermediate mana potion and drank it, sending his mana back to 45%, and he began to cast for real.

A wave of Soul Paralysis froze everything nearby and two empowered soul arrows flew from his staff to strike the Elite’s soul. They joined the two that were already there, sending the flames surging higher, and the librarian shuddered.

A golden flame ignited in Kelin’s hand and he hurled it forward to explode into an inferno that surrounded the ward. All of the serpents and half of the researchers were within the range and began to burn.

Soul Paralysis would hold them in place for a while and it was relatively cheap to use, so this combination was currently one of his favorite tactics.

As for the dozen skeletons that were farther back, he sent regular soul arrows to join the ones already burning in their souls. The first ones had been working for a while and with the added flames, their necrotic energy began to ignite.

The enhancements on his gear and the power of Endless Flame surged through the spells, and he tripled the mana pouring into the inferno, sending the flames surging higher.

He was tempted to use Wildfire, but since this was a challenge, he had decided not to unless his life was at stake. It might still increase his Effective Level and using it would prevent his other abilities from growing.

He would keep it for cleaning up groups of wandering mobs.

Another wave of Soul Paralysis surged through the area, freezing the undead that were beginning to move, and he hurled two more empowered soul arrows at the librarian to speed things up.

His mana was down to 22% and his soul energy was at 31%, which was pushing the limit, but he didn’t drink another potion. 

Instead, he pulled out the Soulfire Blast talismans he was holding in reserve.

Two talismans appeared in his hand and he ignited them together, hurling them both into the inferno, where they exploded into brilliant flames. 

Four more followed, one after the other, and sent the inferno soaring higher until its flame blazed at six times their usual level.

Two more talismans appeared and he hurled them at the researchers that were just beyond the range of the inferno, and then another set at more that were at the back of the room.

He could see the serpents beginning to crumble under the intensified inferno, and the closest skeletons were right behind them.

The researchers in the back were also staggering as a mix of soulfire and rainbow flames surged through their bodies, igniting their necrotic energy in a spreading wave.

The librarian took advantage of the moment to flip through its book again, which was still floating in the air.

Its pages began to turn on its own as a dark wind propelled them and when it stopped on a page, waves of dark blue mist surrounded the Elite. 

“Perish...”

A sense of chilling venom and death crept outward from the mist and shapes like serpents’ fangs and half-formed faces pressed against the surface as it expanded outward, swiftly turning into spectres that flew across the distance.

Each of them was a freezing wraith, their talons sharp and cold, and there was no doubt of the poison their touch carried.

The two intensified Soulfire Bolts that were waiting on Kelin’s staff flew through the air and slammed into where the librarian’s eyes had been, one after the other, followed by a blade of mana as he did his best to carve through the spell structure.

Then he sent two more empowered Soul Arrows blazing through the air to slam into the creature, making it stagger under the impact.

The wraiths slammed into Kelin’s ward and howled as the poisonous mist burned away, but his mana shot downward again.

Instead of drinking another potion, Kelin pulled two Soulfire Infusion talismans from his ring, ignited them, and hurled them at his ward.

The talismans turned into rays of golden flame that poured energy into the ward, making it blaze with life, and the wraiths let out ear-piercing shrieks as they burned away on contact.

Ethereal prismatic smoke was rising from the librarian’s eye sockets and billowing up from its sleeves where it was holding the lantern and the book, but it wasn’t dead yet.

It began to speak again as it tried to raise the lantern higher.

“Awak...” Half a word formed that made the area around the librarian shudder.

The dark mist around it stirred, rising into more ghostly forms that moved forward, but then two more Soul Arrows slammed into it and the Elite staggered.

The word in its mouth turned to smoke.

Flames leapt through its chest and rose into its throat as the soulfire spread. The necrotic energy of its body tried to fight back, but it was swiftly overwhelmed as it turned to fuel for the flames.

It seemed that the librarian was more a specter than a real skeleton, and it slowly began to disintegrate. 

The book it was holding fell to the ground, followed by the lantern.

Burning mist drifted away from its body as it fell to pieces, and then it couldn’t take the destruction any longer. 

Its body collapsed and the robe it had been wearing landed in a pile on the ground, where it turned to ash.

From there, the flames spread throughout the mist around the altar, all of it igniting in a slow wave.

Kelin’s mana was down to 17% and his soul energy was at 16%, which was cutting it very close, but he still declined to drink another potion.

A greater mana potion appeared in his hand as a reserve, but he only held onto it as he threw out a few more talismans and poured his remaining mana into the inferno.

Eventually, the last serpents and skeletons crumbled to dust, and then the chill and mist disappeared from the air as the library fell silent.

The voice of the Path rang in Kelin’s mind.
Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire!

You have completed the Challenge: The Library of Silence. 

You have gained 2 Levels. 

You are now Level 98.

Your Soulbound Elemental has also gained 2 Levels.

You gain 6 Intelligence, 2 Wisdom, and have 10 free attribute points to assign.

Since he had enough mana potions, but nothing similar for soul energy, he added the free points to Aura, taking it to 321.

Eventually, he would use Wildfire to add enough Aura, but it would take time.

When he was done, the Path continued to speak.

For completing this challenge at an Evolution below the dungeon’s recommended level, you have earned a treasure reward. 

Given your accomplishment, the reward will be upgraded and customized to you.

You will also receive the items from the Umbral Librarian.

Kelin let out a breath as he sat down to meditate.

It wasn’t the reward he was looking for, but it was still a good one.

As a golden sphere of light began to form in front of him, he checked on the others. Similar spheres were appearing in front of them and their levels had also jumped. 

All three of them were now at Level 91.

There was one other notification before the Path fell silent.

Your Innate Ability: Spell Disruption has gained a tier and reached Expert. 

His efforts to disrupt the spells here and his training in the dungeon over the past day had paid off in that.

The golden sphere resolved into a set of mage’s robes. They were a dark emerald green in a fashionable cut and accented with golden runes that were nearly invisible, but they shone as the light rippled over them. 

As they landed in his hands, information sprang into Kelin’s mind.

Runewielder’s Robe (Rare: Superb).

Soulbound to Kelin of Highmist.

Effects: Durable, Damage Reduction, Mage Shield, Self-Repair, Upgradeable.

This mage’s robe is woven from Rare-grade silk by the reclusive Emerald Cloudweavers, a sect from a distant world. It is designed to provide protection against adverse forces. 

Damage Reduction: At the Rare-grade and with Superb quality, it is able to absorb most blows below the First Evolution without any impact to the wearer, while reducing the effect of stronger ones. Afflictions and elemental damage will also be reduced.

First Evolution blows will be reduced by 25% of their initial strength. Second Evolution blows will be reduced by 5%. 

Mage’s Shield: This robe is capable of temporarily storing mana to create a defensive barrier for the mage, providing a last line of defense when other protections fail. In its current state, it can store 50 mana.

Upgradeable: A sufficiently skilled artisan can infuse new materials and properties into the robe, enhancing its damage reduction and other abilities. 

It was an excellent robe and worthy of its grade, and it was something that would be very useful to him in the future.

He could wear it over the top of his other clothes, so there would be no interference with the enchantments he’d placed on his tunic or breeches.

The thing that mattered to him the most, however, as minor as it was, was that the robe was in the proper colors of Irian. Whether the Path had done it deliberately or just out of chance, it matched the patterns he chose to wear.

He chuckled at himself as he put it on. He also took off the spatial belt he was wearing and wrapped it around the outside, where it helped to keep the robe in place.

It looked rather fashionable.

The others had their own items, which were of a similar grade, and he noted that all of them had received a defensive piece. 

Serai had a crystalline white robe, Galin had a new breastplate, and Maro had a chainmail shirt. Similar to Kelin’s, they were at the Rare grade and upgradeable, and all of them were soulbound.

The value of these four items was extreme for their level, worth as much as regular Second or Third Evolution gear, and they would be able to accompany them for a long time if they upgraded them appropriately.

The rewards matched the level difference.

The building was silent, so after they recovered for a few minutes, Maro walked forward and retrieved the items from the librarian and the other undead.

He brought them back to the ward circle and set them all in the middle.

There was a nice collection of undead cores, mana crystals, and a few random artifacts, as well as several more high-grade elemental crystals that had the same sense of decay, but the main items were the librarian’s book and lantern.

Kelin analyzed them as he continued to meditate.

Codex of Silence (Rare, Cursed).

This codex holds great power, but it is inhabited by a spirit of the undead and in the hands of the living, its properties are cursed. 

Aid will be provided for a price.

The holder may request assistance from the spirit inside the codex and an appropriate spell will be cast on their behalf, but the final selection of the spell and its effects are at the whim of the spirit. 

For the undead, necrotic energy may be used to feed the spirit, but for the living, it comes at the cost of their vitality. The first use each day will silence the user’s voice for an hour, while additional uses will come with more extreme effects.

Using this codex more than once a day will reduce the user’s lifespan.

Kelin nodded as he turned his attention to the next item.

Lantern of the Frozen Night (Rare).

This lantern contains a source of freezing cold that was extracted from the Elemental Plane of Ice. As it was built by the undead, its properties are beneficial to the undead and harmful to the living.

When activated, it is capable of creating a defensive field around the bearer that will absorb sources of heat and block attacks. If additional mana is poured into it, the effect can spread, freezing the blood and movement of living things nearby, but the bearer will receive the same effect.

When he read that description, he couldn’t stop a chuckle and his eyes turned to Serai.

“That seems to fit you well, young Winter Sylph,” he said.

Cold and ice might suit the undead, but it was the same as blood to her people. 

They were the descendants of Winter. This lantern couldn’t harm her at all. 

Serai smiled in agreement, but then she hesitated.

“But how can we split it?” she asked helplessly. “It belongs to everyone.”

“That’s all yours, and you know you don’t have to worry about it,” Galin rumbled. “As long as Kelin agrees anyway.”

“We established need before greed a long time ago,” Maro said, nodding in agreement.

“It’s yours,” Kelin said. “It suits you and it will augment your strength. We can divide other things at the end to balance it out if you’re worried, but no one is going to mind. This strengthens everyone.”

Such arrangements were standard, even among casual guild teams, so she shouldn’t have worried.

“Alright.” Serai smiled as she picked up the lantern and began to inspect it. 

“Now for this...” Kelin’s voice was thoughtful as he looked at the Codex of Silence. “That is probably something to sell at the guild. That curse means it’s rather limited, although using it once a day is also a possibility. Does anyone disagree?”

“Let me have it for now?” Maro suggested after a moment. “I’m not a mage, but it sounds like that codex doesn’t require it. Even if I can’t talk for an hour, that might extend my abilities and get us out of a pinch. 

“I’m willing to take the risk. I’ll try not to use it more than once a day, but my class gives me a lot of Constitution...it might be alright.”

Kelin looked around to see if anyone disagreed and then he handed the codex to Maro.

“I’ll see if I can find a way to mitigate the curse,” he said. “That one is pretty straightforward, but it might be possible to pay the price slowly each day and to store up some uses for when you need it. The silence effect will probably stick around either way.”

“Then we don’t have to hear him tell us he’s hungry all the time,” Galin’s voice rumbled with humor. “Peace of mind for this dwarf, so it sounds like a win.”

“Maybe I can use it to get you to be quiet,” Maro said as he took the codex and thumped Galin on the helmet with it, but it was with good humor.

Kelin chuckled again, but then he moved on to the rest of the items. He divided them into equal portions and stored his part away.

“Let’s spend the night here,” he suggested as he looked around at the half-broken walls. “It should be safe enough, but I’ll add the usual wards.”

Wandering monsters often avoided challenge locations, so they were a traditional place to camp.

It would also give him a chance to study the elemental crystals and the remaining designs here, like the murals and inscriptions on the walls.

He had a feeling some truths were hidden inside.