Chapter 66: Abnormalities

The ruined city of Grangor had been deeply integrated into the unnamed forest around it after many years of neglect. The once imposing city walls were reduced to mere rubble with only a few lone pillars left standing amongst the tall bushes and trees.

Beyond these ruined walls were collapsed stone structures ingrown with weeds.

[I can't tell what these buildings were used for due to how damaged they are, but, I can tell that they were made for regular-sized humanoids…] Zaos hypothesized as he glanced around.

When he was researching Grangor City, Zaos was left dumbstruck by the complete lack of information about the city. He was unable to find anything even though he possessed an extensive wealth of knowledge dating back a few thousand years.

This uncertainty planted a seed of doubt in his mind causing him to come up with all sorts of crazy theories.

Cautiously making his way forward, Zaos came across some more destroyed structures, yet, he chose to ignore them and continue on his journey deeper into the ruins.

The ruins overgrown with vegetation were surprisingly quiet. Other than the occasional critters and small animals, Zaos was unable to sense any other life forms within it.

[The forest is quite small after all. It might be uninhabitable for powerful creatures like Savage Beast,] Despite this, Zaos didn't fully let down his guard. He still proceeded slowly and with caution.

A few minutes into the expenditure, Zaos reached the central area of the ruins. The buildings here were in much better states compared to the ones at the perimeter but they were still unsuitable for habitation.

Zaos observed the most intact buildings with interest. The rectangular structures were made using layered stones which looked fairly sturdy.

[This style of building no longer exists even in poor settlements,] Zaos walked into one of these structures and scrutinized its interior.

The building lacked a roof, it also lacked any furniture or interior decorations. It was unknown if they had been taken away or they had been lost to decay.

Surprisingly, there were still a few items on the smooth stone floor. Zaos grabbed the first item, it was a silver goblet with beautiful abstract engravings on it.

After an initial inspection, Zaos tossed it aside. Silver and gold were worthless in the Dark-elf society as trades were made using Mana gems, yet, when he grabbed the next item, Zaos was puzzled. This was because the item was a gold coin.

[Did ancient civilizations utilize precious metals for trade?] He flipped the coin over and his puzzlement increased significantly.

On the back of the gold coin was an image of an individual who Zaos assumed held a high status in Grangor's ancient society. The image seemed normal at first glance, but with closer inspection, you would realize that the individual in the image had human-shaped ears!

[Did this city belong to the mystic humans?] Zaos contemplated with a frown.

The mystic humans were the other intelligent species inhabiting Krulon. Unlike the elves, the mystic humans bore a striking resemblance to the humans Zaos was familiar with, the only difference was their distinctive eye colors which separated them based on their elemental affinities.

Zaos pondered on the possibility of the mystic humans inhabiting the city but soon denounced the idea.

[The mystic humans and the elves have been at war for years. There is no way a civilization with a mystic human in a high position would have been left to thrive here. Also, why would they utilize coins? From what I know, mystic humans have similar abilities to elves so Mana gems are more valuable to them…] Zaos was bewildered. The situation became increasingly more bizarre the more he pondered.

[It seems the history books can't be trusted fully. Some details have been hidden from the masses…] Zaos sighed as he pocketed the gold coin. For now, all he could do was to try and unearth these secrets by himself.

He left the building and continued exploring the ruins.

Soon, Zaos stood before a half-collapsed, single-floored, stone manor situated at the center of the ruins. He searched three out of the four rooms that were still structurally intact and found only a few gold coins similar to the one in his possession, and a few other accessories made of precious metals.

But, when searching the last room of the manor, Zaos found no items and instead stumbled upon a trapdoor-less secret passage in the floor.

After some contemplation, Zaos headed down the narrow stairs and arrived at an underground room.

He took a cursory glance around the room but was forced to focus his attention in a particular direction in the room when he spotted something peculiar.

Propped against the stone walls of the underground room was a skeleton dressed in luxurious clothes. Besides the skeleton were two large books made from beast skin neatly stacked on top of each other.

Zaos walked over to the skeleton and observed it with interest.

[This should be the owner of this place. Judging by the attire and skeletal structure, the individual seemed to be a male humanoid…] Zaos speculated.

He then shifted his attention to the beast's skin books beside the figure.

He grabbed the first one and flipped through its thick pages.

[As expected, it is the same language the map was written in…]

The language used by the ancient city was similar to the ones used by the modern societies of elves, however, there was still a substantial difference that made translating most words difficult.

Because of that, Zaos struggled to complete the task. From the first book, he could barely decipher the words; gods, elves, and slaves.

[This should be a journal, but I can't make sense of anything written here…] Zaos closed the first book and proceeded to inspect the second one.

The second book was also written in the same unknown language, however, it contained some graphical images explaining the written information.

[These look like alchemic techniques…] Zaos thought as he studied the diagrams enthusiastically.

Alchemy on Krulon was a very advanced subject. It utilizes Krulon's unique and bizarre minerals alongside the magical nature of Savage Beasts to create items, and potions with amazing effects.

[But, it will be difficult to practice these techniques without fully understanding the language. Also, I don't know how good the items here are compared to the ones made in the modern era…] Zaos sighed and placed the book into his sac alongside the journal.

After making sure he wasn't missing anything else, Zaos exited the underground chamber and returned to the surface.

He continued his exploration around the ruins but found nothing of interest.

When the star lights began to illuminate the sky, Zaos decided to end the trip since he had searched most of the ruins already.

He teleported back to his hideout with all the items he had collected from the journey in his sac.