Chapter 641 Those words made Lith almost slap his own forehead, but luckily he remembered in time about the Orichalcum still covering his hands .
"Those are water creatures, but there can't be a big enough water body around here to sustain such a big colony . If that was the case, we should hear the underground water stream or at least smell a lot of humidity in the air . Does any of you perceive any of that?" He asked .
The group started to sniff the air like a pack of hounds .
"No . The air is drier than many places we crossed on our way here . " Said Professor Gaakhu .
"Exactly . So where the heck did they come from? Why we didn't hear them coming despite the ever-present echo?"
"Those are good questions, but I can at least answer one of them . " Professor Yondra said . "Teks manipulate earth . They must have made the ground softer to avoid making noise . "
"That doesn't explain why they were so focused on us . If they were starving, they would have eaten their fallen first . Instead, they kept attacking like their lives were on the line even though we did nothing to provoke them . " Lith looked at the tunnels .
They were empty again . There was no trace of scouts or survivors fleeing from the scene .
'It doesn't make sense . My paranoia sense keeps tingling . ' He thought .
"I think he is right . " Professor Syndra said .
"Either the Odi's longevity is a hard truth rather than a myth, or we must have activated some automated defense mechanism . No matter the answer, both of them mean that we are in front of the discovery of a lifetime . Half of us will…"
"With all due respect, I give the orders here, Professor . " Phloria cut him short .
"Before resuming our search, the Wardens must strengthen the barrier while my soldiers and the Rangers rest . In the meantime, all those that didn't do anything will guard the tunnels . "
"Sir, yes, sir!" Morok said spitting a bit of Tek meat from the arm he was chewing .
"How certain are you that they didn't just come here following our noise?" She asked Lith with a whisper .
"Remember this?" Lith tapped the side of his eyes, resuming to speak as soon as she nodded him to continue .
"I'm 100% sure that those corridors were empty . Then there were ten Teks and after we started killing them others popped up . I mean it . I didn't see anyone walking . "
"Then please rest and help us to find a way to open that door . This place is already giving me the creeps . "
Lith used Accumulation while he looked around the cave . He remembered that both the White Griffon academy and his tower had surveillance mirrors, so the idea that someone was actually looking at them from a distance was quite likely .
Life Vision scanned every centimeter of the cave, searching for the transmitting device . Divination didn't exist, to spy on someone it was needed a transmitter that would capture the reflected light like a camera would and Warp the images to the mirror .
It could have been anything, but its magical aura was supposed to be visible .
'Unless it's cloaked . ' Solus suggested .
'It wouldn't make sense . Only Awakened can sense mana and I doubt that those Odi creeps were Awakened . Otherwise each body they occupied would have lasted centuries and they would have kept their magical talent . ' Lith replied .
'Maybe they weren't Awakened, but they might have been aware of their existence . ' Solus suggested .
'Solus, do you realize that you've become a bigger pessimist than I am?' Those words put an end to their argument and made Solus wish they were both wrong . Solus about the Odi and Lith about her .
Unlike Invigoration, Accumulation had no rejuvenating effects, it would simply absorb the surrounding world energy and feed it to Lith's mana core, making it stronger .
Since whatever Kulah was it was built on a mana geyser, Lith could draw much more nourishment than usual from the environment .
'Even though hours of Accumulation don't amount to much of a power up, if I'm right about someone operating Kulah's defenses, every bit can help . ' He thought as his enhanced body naturally recovered his mana and stamina .
While Morok slept to recover from the fatigue of the fight, Lith ate some food and searched for the activation mechanism of the door . The entire stone wall had been enchanted and several arrays overlapped on its surface .
'Whoever did this was indeed a Master Warden . ' Solus thought . 'The runes comprising the various arrays never touch each other and have an even spacing between them, allowing the runes to work in perfect harmony .
'On top of that, it makes really hard to understand which rune belongs to which array . I'm afraid that I was right about the Odi being aware of Awakened . '
'Maybe and maybe not . ' Lith replied . 'There are things like Scarlett's pince-nez or General Vorgh's staff that can make them visible to the naked eye . So far the only thing we know for certain is that they were crafty bastards . '
Lith placed his hands on the stone wall, as if he was searching for crevices or a hidden switch, and activated Invigoration . It was the only means he had to bypass any kind of cloaking device that could hide the truth from his eyes .
Invigoration required Lith to override someone's or something's mana flow with his own . It was a skill he had developed as a kid and it was second nature to him . Unfortunately, he had never used it on something that big .
There was only so much space he could cover without spreading his resources too thin, dulling his senses . To make matters worse, the complexity of the arrays and the enchantment of the wall made it hard for him to properly examine their countless details .
On the bright side, Solus could now deactivate her mana sense and focus solely on deciphering the incantation by sharing Lith's senses . Lith's antics drew more than one surprised look and several scoffs .
"Ranger Verhen, this is a waste of your abilities . If groping a wall was enough to bypass a protective array, then Wardens and Forgemasters wouldn't have spent so much time and effort developing their spells for tasks like the one at hand . " Professor Syndra said .
There was no mockery in his voice, only sincere worry .
'If that idiot of my Assistant was half as capable as Lith, instead of cackling at him like a child…' He thought .
"Thanks for your concern, Professor . Yet we must consider that the Odi might have taken spells into account and resorted to some kind of mechanical trigger . " Lith replied with the first believable explanation that came to his mind .
"Excellent point! Did you hear that, Calil? Take a lesson from Ranger Verhen and use your brain . If by the end of the expedition your contributions amount to nothing, I'll have you fired . "
Just like the other Assistants, Calil had been noting down his master's findings so that he could later revise and make sense of the bigger picture . The rest of the time, the youths had been laughing behind the wall-groping Ranger's back .
Suddenly, there wasn't much to laugh about . Instead of mindlessly writing, he started to rack his brain for a solution to the conundrum at hand .
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