The second treasure of the dark elves

Dark, damp and eerie.

Those three words perfectly encompassed the tunnel we were strolling in.

As the leading man of the group, Licuz has been escorting us to our destination. He makes another sharp turn, causing the rest of us following to respond the same.

How long has it been since we've been down here? About five minutes now? With all the turns we were making, it felt as if we were walking in circles.

Why make this one way path such a pain to get through?

"Ahh!"

Everyone turns around to face the source of the shrill shriek.

It was Lyndis, it seems like she tripped over one of the jagged rocks on the floor. Fortunately, Zonn managed to catch her before her face kissed the floor.

"Are you alright Lyndis?"

Asks Licuz in a concerned tone. He immediately stops his pace, causing the rest of us to do the same.

"Be careful, there are jagged rocks all around here."

I nod in agreement. Unlike the somewhat clean tiling on the walls, the floors were unbearably rough.

Maybe it was because of the wyvern king's attack, but there were debris lying about and also sharp rock piercing out from the ground, forming some weird looking formations. It doesn't help that this place is full of corners as well.

Oh right, Lyndis is also here in the tunnel as well.

Usually because of the tribe rules, she wouldn't be allowed here as she wasn't an elder, but she ended up making a big fuss about wanting to see the moment when I pull out a sword which ultimately started an argument with Kera.

In the end, Licuz managed to calm his woes and decided it would be best for everyone to follow in, even if it may be against the rules of the tribe. Surprisingly, Kera eventually gave in to his chief's words.

Thus, everyone was allowed to enter, even Zalfious, Jargon and Blade.

But speaking of walls.

The walls surrounding us do look like they were from an ancient time. They had weird engravings depicting the early stages of the Parakirt tribe, some ancient words from the Kursia era and even drawings of tools.

Licuz's pace gradually slows down and stops as he turns to his right. He stares at the full stone door covered in symbols.

"This is it."

After staring at it for a few seconds, my gaze began to wonder to the tabloids of metal beside the stone floor. They had some words written on them.

Hmmm...

As I peered closer, I realized that those words were in fact names and that the last name, was "Licuz Parakirt".

Hoh?

"Ah! These?"

"These are the names of all the past chiefs of the Parakirt tribe."

As if he could read my mind, Licuz promptly explained what the pieces of metal and ancient words inscribed on them were all about.

"It's a tradition to engrave your name here when you become chief."

"I heard that the founder wasn't the one who made this tradition, it was somewhere around the fifth or sixth generation that they started doing so. Apparently they wanted to inscribe their names here for other chiefs to remember them and to also signify the intensity of the tribe's vow."

He gives a lengthy explanation while staring at the metal tabloids in high respect.

After finishing, he looks down for a moment before lifting his head and turning towards me.

"Shall we head inside?"

Licuz placed his hand on the stone door and it slid open.

[Whoosh!]

At that moment, violent air rushed out, causing a small gale to be formed. It wasn't enough to hurt us, but to the regular civilian it could be quite dangerous.

[Click!]

Licuz closed the door behind us and we stared in awe at the scenery inside.

Oh! The door seemed so small I didn't expect the room inside to be this big.

There were deteriorited stone walls and pillars within the room which had chunks and pieces cut from them. As if it were a centerpiece, there was a sword stuck firmly in the ground.

This certainly is the place that contained the "sword" that the Parakirt tribe's founder received from the mysterious helper.

The sword itself seems to look just like a regular sword but the blade seems to be glowing in a radiant white light. The interesting thing is that I don't feel any sort of energy emanating from it.

As I continued to scan the room, I realized that there were statues right next to the stone pillars as well. Based on the entire interior and atmosphere, this place feels more like a temple than anything.

But honestly I'm more surprised that this place still looks perfectly intact, even the tunnel had some serious damage to the above. Looks like quite a lot of protection spells have been casted.

"No matter how many times I see it, this place really is magnificent."

Says Zonn in a revered tone.

Followed by that was a couple of "wows" by Lyndis with her jaw opened wide.

While everyone was still focused on the excellent details of the room, Licuz makes his way to the front to continue ushering us.

In front was a huge staircase that led all the way down to base of the room that contained the glowing white sword. When he started walking down, all of us followed diligently.

As we reached the bottom of the room, Licuz turns back to face me.

"Please pull out the sword sir Rolan."

He bows right after delivering those words.

"Before I do that, I want to ask, has there been anyone who has ever attempted this before?"

Licuz glances over at Zonn.

"It's a tradition for the captains of the guards and scouts to try when they succeed the position."

"HAHA! It didn't even budge for me!"

Zonn let's out a laughter, which causes an annoyed Kera to move away from him.

Hmmm...

"It really looks like just a regular sword."

So I say while turning to face the sword stuck on the ground.

"Well then, we will leave it to you."

Upon that sentence, Licuz and the other elves quickly backed away to observe from a safe distance. I signal to my subordinates to do the same.

"Do not worry sir Rolan, the energy from the sword isn't dangerous to the puller. Only those that are around them."

Says Licuz from a distance trying to elevate my worries.

Well, I doubt it'll be of any harm to me.

"Don't worry, I'll pull it out."

Licuz nods at my words and retreats with the others even further back.

"Alright! Should I see what kind of sword you are?"

Not before long, I reached my hand out to grab the handle of the sword.

And then as if the sword was responding to my actions, something happened.

[SWOOSH!]

Sudden strong outbursts of gales rushed throughout the room, causing the nearby interior to be slashed by the onslaught of gusts.

Were those cuts on the pillars because of the violent winds?

The blowing winds continued to get stronger as I moved my hand in for the sword.

It seems what Licuz said earlier was true, even though the pillars and floor is getting slashed by the blades of winds, I'm not even injured in the least.

And then finally, my hand reached the hilt of the sword.

[SWOOSH!]

An even more violent gust of wind blew, crashing into the surrounding and causing huge chunks of the pillars to be cut.

"What's this? Why is it so strong?!"

From a distance I could here Zonn shouting.

Are the winds not supposed to be this strong?

"It's alright! I think that the sword is responding well to him!"

Licuz's faint voice reaches my ear through the howling of the winds.

"Ahhh! The ceiling!"

At the corner of my eye, I could see a huge falling slab of rocks falling from the ceiling. It's destination was the place where my everyone stood.

Before too long, more and more debris started falling. My companions were trapped in a falling pool of rocks.

"Shit!"

Zonn cursed while gripping his sword.

But before anyone could do anything, Zalfious leaped up into the air to slice the huge slab of stone into half, causing the trajectory to change.

Seems like I need not worry about that side.

"Now then, let's get you out of your thousand-year spot."

I injected demonic energy into the sword in an attempt to lift it. The moment I did, I felt a familiar sensation.

"This is...the ethereal sword?!"

My eyes dilated in shock.