6 Hidden Away

"Hoh?" At the greeting of the system notification before him, Shinto raised a brow in curiosity. "This is..."

[ You have received the (Area Discovery Bonus): Experience points obtained within the dungeon will be increased by 50% and drop rates from monsters are doubled. ]

[ The (Area Discovery Bonus) will last up to seven days before expiring. ]

Shinto's eyes glinted in interest and shock as he read through the messages before him. Though, it wasn't towards the (Area Discovery Bonus) that he had gotten—In fact, he was no stranger to such things. Instead, it was the name of the area that had surprised him.

"The Caverns of Altric..." he muttered out. The name felt peculiar to him as if it was from a long distant memory, buried in the fog. "Where have I heard the name before? Altric..." Thinking to himself at the familiar words, lightning soon struck his mind.

"Ah!" Upon realizing where he had heard the name before, he instantly made a connection. The word [ Altric ] was from the legends foretold within the lands of the western continent. A myth. "This is unbelievable..."

The fact in of itself that he had found a dungeon related to that of Altric was undoubtedly disbelieving. After all, it was a myth for a reason. In lore, the word that stemmed from [ Altric ] came from an ancient civilization in a bygone era.

They were said to have created many weapons, arts and artefacts all in the name of [ Truth ]. But what of it? No one knew as the records of the forgotten times had been lost in history.

The only burden of proof that had been provided for the people was through the tales and folklore of heroes from that era. Those who brought salvation to humanity's downfall cleared the way for a new generation and paved a path to new boundaries in history.

But now, it was only but a legend that one would hear from the bards who sing songs.

"Hmm... So such a thing does exist, huh?"  Shinto's eyes turned to look around his surroundings. Now that he was out of the water, he could finally get a better onlook of the area—in which he was greeted by the thorny trees and gigantic lake that encircled the area. "The Ruins of Altric..."

As if in deep thought, Shinto slowly made his way through the ancient site whilst closely observing its structure. By the front of the entrance of the cavern, he noted that there were a few tall-like pillars, obelisks in which were stained black and covered with mosses that numbered up to four.

"Interesting..." he muttered out as he soon noticed that the four obelisks seemed to be surrounding a strange sort of stone tablet—a monolith, which was right in the middle of the stone grounds, giving off a cool ambience coloured blue. "...?"

With the tablet catching his eyes, Shinto did not hesitate as he approached the monolith. There, he saw that there were strange writings carved into it.

-[ To the (Overseer) ]-

| Gl gsvv dsl xilhhvh kzgs drgs Zogirx - Dv dvoxlnv blf. |

| Uli blf, lmv dsl rh gsv Levihvvi hszoo yv girzoovw rm gvhgznvmgh lu blfi dligsrmvhh. |

| Gl tzftv zmw hvv ru blf xzm slow gsv (Gifgs) gszg gsv Ybtlmv Viz szw yvhgldvw fklm gsrh tvmvizgrlm. |

| Vmgvi gsv girzoh gsilfts gsv kzhhztv uli gslf hszoo hvvp z yovhhrmt. |

-[ Reverse the opposition's words to find the weight of the language's meaning. ]-

"...huh? What's this?" Shinto raised his brow in question as he saw the gibberish that made up half of the words written on the monolith. "...??" he was confused. Of course, anyone would be after seeing the strangely written language on the tablet.

"Ugh..." he scratched his head in an attempt to understand the meaning behind the words. However, not long after—he gave up. "Man... Reverse the opposition's words to find the weight of the language's meaning? Just what could that mean?"

The clearly written words in the language of Arcos—the western continental main language was the only thing that he could understand. Perhaps it was a hint to decipher the wordings?

"...hmm, if I want to understand the meaning behind the language, I would need to start from scratch to decipher it. But it might take ages..." he frowned at the thought. He only had the hint in front of him for help. Without any sort of materials he could use to sit down and study such writings, it wasn't an easy task at all. "Perhaps the obelisks will give more hints?"

Thus, Shinto could only hope that there were other hints hidden around the area. So with a turn of his head over towards the two black obelisks on one side, he began making his way towards it.

"Let's see here..." Upon reaching towards the pillars, Shinto placed his hand onto it and brushed off the moss to take a better look at its content. "Hmm?"

With the greenish plant cleared away, Shinto noted that the obelisks had a mural, seemingly depicting that of a swordsman, surrounded by countless colours—as if it represented the elements of the world.

"A swordsman?" he thought to himself. "Or perhaps an Elementalist?"

Within the game of Spiritual Warriors, there were many sorts of elements that were related to nature and balance. But, there were only eight prominent ones that were notable. The usual elements being, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Light and Dark. These eight core elements made up the world.

"..." Thinking to himself on that matter, Shinto soon received a system notification. "...?"

[ You have found one out of ten obelisks! ]

[ Current progress: 1/10 ]

"Oh? So there are ten of them, huh?" Shinto's eyes turned towards the other three that were out in the open. It seemed that the other six were in the dungeon. "Let's see the rest..."

Approaching the second obelisk that was by the front of the first, he soon saw another mural on it. This time, it depicted that of a Magician who was holding onto his book, seemingly chanting out a spell. Following that were multiple words that were made up of cantations and a blue pillar that shone brightly around him.

"So this time, it's a magician?" glancing over towards his system log, he confirmed that the notification had updated to [ 2/10 ]. "Right... Onto the other side."

As he made his way over to the third and fourth obelisk,  he noted it was no different from the other two. Both were depicting a different sort of mural.

The third one depicted that of a figure, divided between light and darkness. One from the left and the other from the right. It was as if the person who was in the middle of the division held onto a single loose rope while the shadows clashed against the divine light shown within the mural.

Meanwhile, the fourth obelisk was that of a huntress, continually shooting out countless arrows over towards humongous beasts and monsters alike. The arrows that were shot out seemed to with high proficiency, allowing her to ceaselessly shoot down her enemies without difficulty.

"A huntress and some priest? No... Some Shadowmancer?" he raised his brow in confusion upon finishing up his analysis on the obelisks. However, not too long after, a follow up of the notification appeared before him. Though, this time it was a little different.

[ You have found four out of ten obelisks! ]

[ Current progress: 4/10 ]

[ The (Gifgs) of the overseer is now within reach. ]

"...an additional message?" Shinto thought to himself as he read through it. "...hmm, so it showed the same words used within the monolith. Just what could it mean?"

Having checked all the obelisks within the area, he was left empty of thought in regards to deciphering the language shown in the stone tablet. Thus, it seemed that he was left with only one choice.

"Since It looks like there's nothing left here to check..." his eyes now focused on the entrance of the cavern. "I guess now's a good time as any to head in." With a nod of his head, Shinto took a step forward towards the dark entrance of the dungeon. "...hmm, it seems that there's no light seeping within it, huh?"

Between the dark interior of the caverns and the place where he was standing now, it was quite literally, the disparity of night and day. Despite being bathed under the afternoon sunlight, none seeped into the cavern.

"Strange... Is there an unknown force that prevents the exterior and interior from touching each other?" he stared deep into the depths of the darkness as he pondered. By right, at the very least, a small amount of light should've reflected into the caverns. However, there was none at all. "Then, I best prepare myself."

Taking a deep breath as he calmed his mind, Shinto quickly checked up on the pieces of equipment that he had previously given to Vainblood's blacksmith for maintenance. Thus, he was currently in his best gear.

"...okay. Let's do this," with nothing else blocking his way—Shinto took a step forward, soon entering into the dungeon.

Thuck!

At that very moment, a loud noise rang from behind him as a system notification followed up in front of him.

[ You have entered the instance dungeon (The Caverns of Altric) - Thus, all external communication will be blocked off. ]

[ You may not leave this dungeon until full clearance of it or upon death. ]