Supreme Magus - Chapter 678

Chapter 678: 678
The Professors kept their composure and managed to avoid chuckling at the expense of their comrades . Ranger Eari was much funnier to those who weren't the targets of his rude, inappropriate remarks .



Lith was getting tired of his shenanigans, but being Morok one of the only three people in the entire expedition capable of holding their ground in a hand to hand fight, he soldiered on .

Phloria was used to inappropriate comments since she had joined the army . Every time someone got close to her, people would spread rumors about her alleged affairs .

"Insubordination and slander of a superior officer might not get you court-martialled, but I'm sure that my disciplinary notes will impact the amount of money you will receive for your retirement as well as this mission . " She said while adding the episode to her report .

"I'm sorry, Captain . I was just joking . " Morok inwardly cursed at himself for his stupidity . Rangers had a great amount of freedom, but the army was very strict about respecting the ranks .

"I'm sorry too . I wish I could kick your ass, but I need you alive . Yet . Now, unless you want to overhear state secrets that could compromise our mission and put your life at stake, I suggest you shut up . "

Just because such comments were common, it didn't make them less annoying nor hurtful . With her perfect record, those who were envious of Phloria could only badmouth her for her personal life, making it even harder for her to find a boyfriend or just a friend .

"What were you saying?" She asked, both her face and voice were stone-cold .

"I know the characters that make up the password, but I have no clue how to make use of such information without screwing up my life . " Lith said .



"Did you discover them with your special eyes or with one of your personal spells?"

"Both . Just as I analyzed your hairpin, I studied the holographic pad . It only has two relays: right and wrong . " Lith had no intention of lying to her . He knew that despite her expression, Phloria was likely to be hurt by his fellow Ranger's outburst .

Lith had noticed that her mood got worse every time he lied to her and got better when he was honest .

'She already knows enough about my skills that this piece of information is irrelevant . Besides, she's putting a lot at stake to help me with the runes, the least I can do is return her trust . ' He thought .

"I can try something, but Dad is likely to get pissed off . Some of the spells he taught me he keeps them a secret even from the army . Just like you do . " She smiled, raising the temperature in the room of several degrees .

"We're done examining the administrative office and for once, may the gods bless paperwork . " Ellkas said . Those who were able to read the Odi language were translating several pages, giving each member of the expedition a copy .

"The first floor was the medical center for the Odi . Once they were done experimenting on the 'lesser races', they would attempt body modifications on their own people . " He pointed at the padded rooms .




"Just like Assistant Ernas assumed, major changes in the life force also brought severe mental damage, that the medical files we found describe as temporary . My guess is that Quylla is right and that these alterations permanently affected their minds, bringing the entire Odi race to consider madness as normality . "

"Below us, there are several underground floors where according to these files, experiments on both incurable diseases and life force modifications were conducted . Those floors are bound to be messier and more dangerous .

"Some diseases may still be active, so before opening the door, everyone put on a safety mask . " Professor Gaakhu handed to each one of them a plague doctor mask identical to the one Lith wore back in Kandria, but this one was enchanted .

"They are Alchemical items, so they are not reusable . " She explained . "They offer good protection from pathogens but are not suited to fights, so in case something goes wrong, retreat is our first priority . "

"Good to know . Our problem here is opening the door . " Yondra said . "Each one of us has managed to discover a few characters of the password, but we have no idea how to piece them together . "

Both Lith and Phloria were flabbergasted . Royal Forgemasters really were on a league of their own .

"Show them to us . If we're lucky, it's the anagram of an actual word . If it's just random letters, we're screwed . " Ellkas said .

"They missed a couple of them . " Lith whispered in Phloria's ear after Hushing them again .



"Dammit . Which ones?"

"The M overlapping with the reversed P and that R with a dot in its middle . "

"It's official, we're screwed . " Gaakhu said . Luckily, everyone was too busy looking at the password to notice their exchange .

"There's no word comprised of these letters, so either the password is random or we are missing some characters . "

"Let me give it a go . " Phloria stepped forward, taking her silver wand out of her dimensional amulet . "I was supposed to do this earlier, but someone distracted me . "

She threw Morok a look that gave his future grandchildren frostbite and then she cast one of Orion's spells on the pad . Just like Invigoration and the Professors' spells, it was able to pick the residual traces of mana that the repeated input of the password was supposed to have left .

She moved her wand over every single character as silver filaments probed them . Phloria was actually ignoring most of the characters and focusing solely on those Lith had pointed out to her .

It took her a while, but she managed to pick a very faint energy that her spell enhanced, making it visible . She pretended to also scan half the panel before giving up .

"I'm beat, I can't focus anymore without affecting my ability to fight . " Phloria was panting . The trace was so faint that she had to pour quite some mana to find it .

Yondra performed her spell with her silver wand again, this time focusing only on the new characters .

"Good gods, we really missed two of them . You must have an exceptional perception, Captain, to sense such a small amount of mana . " She said .

"Thanks, Professor, but it's mostly due to my father's spell . " Phloria said . Orion's masterpiece would have also revealed the relays' position if she hadn't dispelled it in time .

"Those are very uncommon letters . " Gaakhu said . "They are bound to be rarely used and have the faintest signature . Excellent job, Captain . I believe we have our password . Ascension . "

The Forgemasters scanned the pad's most uncommon characters again before inputting the password, just to be safe . When the holographic display beeped and the metal cylinders were retracted, the memory of their past failure made the members of the second group shiver in fear .

Lith put on his plague mask and a thin white layer of solid white energy covered every inch of his body .

'This is Manohar's spell . ' Lith recognized the effects of Life Ward he had witnessed during Othre's mission . 'It seems that the Mad Professor also dabbles in Alchemy, but I doubt he does it of his own will . This must be rare equipment since even in Kandria we didn't use it . '

Everyone prepared a couple of spells before opening the door . The moment the metal turned on its hinges, a black and green fog invaded the corridor as what looked like veins made of black mold grew with the speed of a hungry beast .