After dealing with the suddenly erging Devourer and resting for several hours, everyone’s condition had mostly recovered.
Lance naturally suggested continuing their exploration, aiming to scout out as much of the Beast Lair as possible.
However, the deeper Lance delved into the sewer system, the more astonished he beca at its design—it was a labyrinth. The junctions between passages varied; so opened into ample spaces, while others were sealed by rusted gates.
The further they went, the more complex it beca. Lance was running out of space on his Map, and the Short Sword he used for carving marks had grown dull.
Lance couldn’t understand why a sewer would be built this way. He even thought that this could be part of a dungeon, and by following these passages, they might reach the darkest depths...
But before that, they had run into so bad luck.
"Why another collapse!" Dismas exclaid, annoyed to see the path ahead blocked by bricks. It wasn’t the first ti this had happened on their journey; it had occurred many tis.
When there were alternative passages, they could find a detour, but when a blockage was unavoidable, there was only one option—to dig.
Lance began prying at the bricks with his shovel, laughing as he explained, "Passages aren’t just built and forgotten. Although they don’t suffer from wind and rain like surface structures, they still have to withstand the pressure of the earth. They require frequent maintenance; otherwise, water seepage, cave-ins, and ground subsidence are common. And that’s not even considering these areas have been abandoned for who knows how many years."
Lance was hands-on with everything. He was always the first to engage in battle and took the lead in clearing debris when a passage collapsed.
The others had no objections. After all, their employer was leading by example. They might grumble, but the work still needed to be done.
The bricks were quickly cleared. They only needed to dig an opening large enough for people to pass through, so it was hardly a major undertaking.
But interestingly, Lance found sothing beneath the collapsed bricks—corpses.
"Hurry, dig them out," Lance said, continuing to dig.
With the help of the group, they soon cleared the skeletons from the rubble.
One was human. The skeleton was clearly not ordinary, as it was clad in heavy Scale Armor and a misshapen tal helt. Its skeletal hands still firmly gripped an axe, even in death.
From the gear alone, it was clear this person had been no ordinary individual in life—at least a highly skilled rcenary.
Lance roughly guessed the cause of this section’s collapse. It might have been this person’s encounter with a few Pign. During the fight, they could have accidentally struck the surrounding walls. These areas were already in disrepair, so a blow like that would naturally cause a collapse, burying them all.
There was another possibility: the human was part of a squad. After encountering Pign and realizing they were outmatched, he might have stayed behind to cover his comrades’ retreat. He could have then triggered the collapse, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to take the Pign down with him.
As for why he was out there and why he died? The truth had long since dissipated with ti, and Lance wasn’t the kind to dwell on the past.
His real reason for excavating the bodies was the equipnt.
In this era of low productivity, a blacksmith would need at least three months to complete a full suit of armor. This set, however, only needed minor repairs to be usable again—an absolute windfall.
Lance cleared the armor away and unexpectedly made another discovery: an Eagle Claw-shaped pendant hung at the corpse’s waist, emitting a faint Spirit Light.
If finding the armor was lucky, then stumbling upon this piece of Extraordinary Equipnt was a stroke of incredible luck.
An uncontrollable smile spread across Lance’s face. He hurriedly picked up the Eagle Claw pendant to examine it closely.
Indeed, it was Extraordinary Equipnt. Despite lying here for so long, it showed no signs of deterioration. A simple rinse with water restored it to its original appearance.
The Eagle Claw was slightly closed, secured by a black tal ring engraved with complex runes. Two black feathers were tethered to it by a cord.
Lance carefully sensed the power contained within. Seeing Lord Lance treat the object with such solemnity, Dismas and the others realized it was no simple trinket.
"The Claw of Agility. Bolstered by the Supernatural Power it contains, it can sharpen one’s bodily reflexes," Lance said, his delight unhidden, "for it is not only a piece of Extraordinary Equipnt but also one without side-effects, aning we can use it."
"Tadiff, you take it first," Lance said without much hesitation. "This equipnt is of no use to , and Dismas is already fast. As for Boudica, she already carries the Legendary Bracers. I daren’t rashly give this to her, as she’s just getting accustod to her current state. Readjusting to new gear in the middle of combat is a major taboo."
Tadiff didn’t fully understand but could tell the item was valuable. He hadn’t expected his employer to let him use it.
It wasn’t in his nature to overthink things, so he simply reached out and took it. He instantly felt the item’s power enhancing his body.
He remained silent, but he could feel an inexplicable sense of trust.
Dismas and Boudica had no particular reaction. They trusted Lance had his reasons. Besides, the protocols for managing Extraordinary Equipnt ant it wasn’t a gift; it would be reclaid once the mission was over.
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