As he walked, Bai Shi said, "This island must have once been ho to a huge city. They used the sa language as us, so they were probably our ancestors.
"It’s a pity there are no specific records or heritage; otherwise, we wouldn’t have to suffer because of these damned ruins.
"I believe you already know how large a city-state’s ruins can be. How could every exposed ruin be useful? Most of them are like this—just piles of broken stones.
"It’s just that so ruins have strange things buried inside that can be activated by certain languages. We need to be careful, but not excessively so."
He was like a tour guide, leading Alka and the others on a tour of the island. He introduced the ruins and so dangerous areas as if he were telling stories about scenic spots.
As they walked and chatted, he pointed ahead and said, "We have to make a detour again. There’s a ruin up ahead that was activated a few years ago. Although it was eventually shut down, it affected the surrounding area, making it very dangerous."
Not every ruin that has been shut down is safe.
"And the brat who activated that ruin now has a broken leg and is cooped up in town."
His tone clearly indicated he was still sowhat angry.
Before Alka and the others could ask out of curiosity, he continued, "After that ruin was activated, the surrounding stones seed to co alive and would attack any living thing."
He had stopped walking by this point, and everyone followed his gaze to see what he was referring to: the living stones.
They looked like giant, humanoid figures made of countless large and small stones, ranging from two to four ters in height. Their lower bodies were a mass of rolling rubble, while their upper bodies ford stone heads and irregular fists. These stone figures wandered aimlessly around the ruins.
Bai Shi then gathered Magic Power in his hand, forming a water ball, which he forcefully threw. The water ball shot forward, accurately hitting the stone figure closest to them. The stone figure looked at Bai Shi, who had attacked it, and furiously moved towards him. Its movent wasn’t fast, roughly the speed of a normal person jogging.
Bai Shi stood his ground, hands on his hips. He said casually, "Don’t be afraid. Just watch."
The approaching stone figure raised its stone fist to strike Bai Shi, but then it crumbled into fragnts, scattering across the ground.
Only then did Bai Shi explain, "They can only move within a circular area around the ruins. If they step outside it, they turn into fragnts, just like that one did. And apparently, their stone heads can’t tell the difference between inside and outside."
Then, everyone saw another pile of stones near the ruins gather and form a new stone giant.
"But these stone monsters around the ruins can’t be wiped out. Their number is fixed; kill one, and another one reforms," Bai Shi said helplessly, then kicked away the scattered stones in front of him.
This was why the ruin was an unsolvable problem.
Julia’s voice sounded in everyone’s ears, "These are Stone Elents. Undoubtedly, so Spell creation or Spell Array within the ruin was activated, causing all the surrounding Magic Power to converge towards the Earth Elent. That’s why these things are forming."
She had sharply sensed the change in the environnt around the ruins.
Everyone nodded. Bai Shi, who couldn’t understand what they were saying, paid it no mind. This was because Julia had used the White Crocodile Language, not the common tongue of the Holand Sea.
And so, they walked on, stopping intermittently, occasionally listening to Bai Shi’s explanations. Along the way, they also dealt with so unobservant prey. They walked for more than ten hours straight before finally returning to the town.
"We’ll continue tomorrow. I’ll wait for you at the gate," Bai Shi said with a smile, waving his hand.
They had chatted throughout the journey and had beco quite familiar with each other.
Alka was now certain that Bai Shi was indeed a chatterbox. He had an extre urge to express himself and had indeed babbled like a tour guide all day. However, this was clearly a good thing for them.
"He said it’s getting dark. How can he tell?" Simon found it a bit hard to understand.
Hearing this, Alka said, "The white birds have returned to their nests. That ans night is coming."
The town clearly had no tikeeping devices, and the chaotic cycle of day and night wasn’t sothing such tools could solve anyway. The town’s inhabitants relied entirely on a type of bird on the island to determine if night was approaching. These birds, with pure white feathers and only about the size of a palm, signaled that night would soon fall when they returned to their nests.
"Is that so? It seems I should observe those birds later," Simon said thoughtfully. He had been studying the patterns of day and night here.
They then arrived at the edge of the town, where they had rented a house the previous day. As soon as they arrived, they saw Juanlu making dinner with his portable boiler. Seeing Alka and the others return, he smiled and said, "I figured you’d be back soon, since it’s almost dark."
Lucilia also ca out of her room.
"Where’s Jason?" Alka asked, looking around.
"He t a Hunter today who has traveled outside. They went drinking," Juanlu said.
Alka nodded. Although it was dangerous outside at night, the town itself was still safe.
Everyone began to rest. Pororo began telling Lucilia and Juanlu about so of the things they had experienced that day. The two of them were very curious about the specific situation in this town, especially those activatable ruins.
"Once you’ve finished drawing the map, you must take out for a look around," Lucilia said.
Chadite approached Alka and asked, "Should I draw it now, or wait until we’ve explored the whole island?"
Alka thought for a mont and said, "Let’s first sketch the areas we explored today. It doesn’t need to be too detailed. After we’ve covered the entire island in a few days, then we’ll draw the complete map. What do you think?" he asked Chadite.
After all, Chadite had a perfectionist streak when it ca to drawing complete maps; he wondered if making a partial map would be an issue for her.
Chadite nodded. "No problem. I’ll give you a rough sketch after dinner."
For sothing like this, just sketching a part of the island for practice, she didn’t set overly strict demands for herself.
Just as they were preparing to eat, Jason returned. He had a faint sll of alcohol on him, but he seed to be in good condition. Judging from his smile, he had clearly obtained so good information.
After dinner, Chadite finished her practice draft and handed it to Alka.
"Take a look."
Alka took the map. It was indeed quite rough, with only simple lines. But as he blinked, light flickered from its surface.
There were dense white dots, several flickering blue lights, and one light spot he had never seen before. An orange pillar of light stood out, exceedingly conspicuous.
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