Myriad's Conquest 18 Vargas?

Obelisk of Gloria - Blessed Monument

If erected within a settlement: +25% in crops production, +32% of crops growing speed, +20% of building construction speed, +10% of clean water supply, +10% residents happiness, +7% economic activity

Description: An obelisk that has been blessed by The Radiant G.o.ddess, Gloria.

-------

Adrian was looking at the obelisk that stands right in the center of a boulevard in front of the palace. It's a 5 meter tall obelisk with the shimmering, shining body. It was made from marbles apparently.

Words of "Glory to the Radiant G.o.ddess. May her blessings touch every person who peered at this monument" was written vertically on its marble body.

His mouth was opened as he stares at the obelisk's information with a dumbfounded expression.

This obelisk was a Blessed Monument, a type of monument that contained the blessing of a deity. The blessing that was granted would be varied, depending on which deity has given them. In this case, the monument in front of Adrian now was blessed by the so-called Gloria, the Radiant G.o.ddess.

'So, this realm was named after a G.o.ddess, huh.'

Adrian was really curious since her name was used as the name of an entire realm, this Gloria must be really famous. But he never heard or saw the villagers pray to her or to any deity at all.

'Is it possible that they were atheists or just didn't care about G.o.ds?' He wondered.

'Hey System, who is this Gloria exactly? Is she one of the ancient G.o.ds you've mentioned before?'

[Gloria is the name of the G.o.ddess of Radiant and Fertility. She's not one of the ancient G.o.ds.]

'Then, she's real right?'

[Indeed, she is real. The user has met her before.]

'Huh? I've already met her?'

Adrian was confused for a moment before sudden realization hit his brain with a mighty force.

'Don't tell me!! She's that World's Will woman?!' His expression turned into a shock one.

[Correct. Gloria is one of the many personifications of the World's Will, masquerading as the Radiant G.o.ddess.]

'One of the many? That means she still has other ident.i.ties? Why would she do that?'

[Attention! The user did not have the minimal requirement of knowledge permission in order to know the answers to those questions. Please upgrade the System level first.]

'F*ck!!!'

Adrian cursed inside his mind. Ever since he arrived in this world, he hasn't leveled up the System yet. It's just too hard since System EXP would only be given if he completed a quest. But, he immediately calmed down because he felt the System would level up by the time he completes this investigation quest.

Seeing Adrian's expression, Leo, who stood beside him, frowned, he couldn't help but ask, "Is there something wrong, Lord?"

Adrian was snapped back from his thoughts. He lightly shakes his head, "No... It's nothing."

Leo didn't ask further, he merely glanced at the obelisk but can't find anything special about it. He was confused why did the Lord staring at it for a long time.

Adrian smiled at Leo's confused look. He already a.s.sessed this lion man. He has a very critical mind. He won't follow orders blindly and must understand every reason behind it. A good trait of a military officer.

"This obelisk has the blessing of a G.o.ddess, the blessings itself could increase a settlement's farmland harvest and it has many more beneficial effects."

Leo was shocked. This seemingly ordinary yet pristine obelisk actually have such magical effects? He couldn't utter a single word in response. Even the men of the 3rd squad behind the two also begin staring at the obelisk in amazement too.

"I've been wondering how a city that was established in this... bad... location could be so large and successful. This obelisk was probably one of the factors that greatly helped the city during its golden days."

"Lord... Are you planning to bring this obelisk back to the village?"

"That's right... But later, after we've finished investigating this ruin. This obelisk is one of the treasures that I've told you before. Not every treasure is in the form of shining golds, glitterings precious jewels or sharp magical weapons, some of them existed in the form of monuments, parchments of scrolls and books."

It's obvious that Adrian must bring the obelisk back to Seastar since it's extremely wasteful leaving it in here.

"I've understood, Lord. Thank you..."

Leo thanked Adrian for the small lesson he had received. His eyes were gleaming with radiant light now. Adrian saw it and he was astonished, it looks like Leo had just received some kind of enlightenment.

Adrian felt the words written in the obelisk were true and has shown it's wonderous might. Gloria's blessing had touched Leo in a certain way.

***

"It's no use, milord. This ma.s.sive door won't open at all. It didn't even budge for a bit no matter what we do."

Said Zilong helplessly.

Adrian had moved to the palace, but he can't enter it because the palace's door was completely shut.

"Is there no other way in?" He asked as his vision wandering around the ma.s.sive blueish rusty door.

"No, Lord. We've been searching for one since earlier, but found nothing."

Schmidt was the one who replied.

"Why don't you try pushing it one more time?

If they can't enter the palace, their journey will completely become a waste of time.

"Yes, Lord." Schmidt complied.

Then, the wolfman and several other militias try to push the door again, but no matter how hard they tried, the door just won't open.

"I'm sorry, Lord." Schmidt shakes his head and spoke apologetically.

Adrian waved his hand, "It's fine, it's not your fault."

'This is really problematic.'

He sighed. Next, he walked closer to the door and put his hand on it while caressing, 'If we couldn't enter this s.h.i.tty palace. How could I com....'

*Creak*

*Creak*

The door suddenly sprang opened when Adrian was in the middle of his thoughts. He was extremely startled, so do the rest of his men behind.

'F*cking s.h.i.t! I didn't see that coming.'

Adrian swiftly unsheathed his Gloria's Defender and wields it. Seeing their Lord has readied his weapon, all the militia quickly followed his suit.

Peering into the interior of the palace, Adrian couldn't see the inside very clearly as it was too dark. He gave Zilong a nod.

"Zeke! We cannot let this door unguarded. That's why you and the 2nd squad will stay here and guard it..."

"We won't let you down, Sir." Zeke complied hastily.

Zilong then spoke to the rest of militias, "Alright, be ready. Remember, once we're inside, all of you need to stick together, don't get yourself too far away from the group."

"Yes, Sir Zhao!!!" The militias replied in unison.

One by one, Adrian and his men started pa.s.sing through the palace's door while leaving behind the 2nd squad.

By the time they got inside, the atmosphere around them was drastically changed. The solemn and solitude feelings of the outside was replaced by ominous air shrouding the entire palace's interiors. All of them was shivering when the cold winds coming from the depth blows near them.

'As expected, things are pretty much different here... I guess, this is the dwelling of the last boss, huh.'

Such weird thought suddenly appeared on Adrian's mind.

"Keep advancing slowly, and watch your step." He warned his men.

However, as they delve deeper into the palace, there was something that causing them to feels suspicious. The interior wasn't a mess as the rest of the city. There were no piles of debris or broken things laying around on the floor.

Luxurious furniture, paintings, armors mannequins, banners, statues, everything was neatly positioned. Sure, most of them were already permeated by dust and things such as paintings, statues, and banners were already decayed and unrecognizable from their original form. But beyond that, everything was placed in an orderly fashion.

Adrian could only crease his brow, as he was thinking hard, 'Did someone lived here recently or what?'

A few minutes later, the party has wandered to what appears to be the palace's west wing.

Adrian has mentioned his plan for the palace to the men before. In order to investigate the city, they need to find some kind of records or notes that might contain clues regarding the city's history or the people who build it. If those records exist, then it must be located within office rooms.

Actually, Adrian and the men were merely following both Schmidt's and Zeke's guidance. They were tasked to lead the way in the front. But of course, since they didn't have the map of the palace itself, it's hard for them to find the exact route.

"Hei Squad Lead! We're not getting lost, right?" One of the militias suddenly asked Schmidt.

Schmidt rolled his eyes at his comrade, "Of course, not. I'm following my nose, you see."

"Then, what did you smell?"

"Metals... Lots of metals." Schmidt grinningly replied. Even Zeke beside him also having a grin in his face as well.

The other militia exchanged glances with each other, they were confused about Schmidt's antics.

Zilong sighed and shakes his head, while Adrian was speechless, 'So those two deliberately leading us the wrong way?'

But since they were apparently close to Schmidt's destination, Adrian decides to might as well seeing what those two "Dogs" has smelled.

Schmidt and Zeke stopped in front of a room which had a sign that said "Armory" hanging above its door. Both of them then opened the door and entered the room. The rest of the men also followed them.

All of them was welcomed by the sight of hundreds if not thousands of weapons, ranging from swords, spears, bows, and shields, tidily arranged inside their respective racks. There were even several ballistae still in good condition placed near the room's corner.

Every one of the men saw the sight with their mouth agape, even Adrian and Zilong couldn't stop themselves from gulping down their saliva nervously. Each militia began to scurrying around by themselves to check up on those weapons.

Adrian grabbed the nearest sword to him and examining it.

It was a very exquisite iron sword, even though it's only a Normal-grade sword without stat bonus, its quality was dozens of times better than the militia's bronze swords.

Adrian spoke to Zilong while putting down the sword back to its place, "It seems the militia will be upgrading their equipment."

Zilong shortly replied while smiling, "Indeed, they will, Lord."

Zilong himself start walking towards where the ballista was located. He never saw this kind of weapons before, he wants to know how they work. Just as Adrian wants to join him, something white pa.s.sed by the hallway outside the armory, and it attracted Adrian's attention.

'What the h.e.l.l was that?'

Adrian hastily went towards the hallway. Leo, who was in the middle of admiring an iron Two-handed sword in his hands saw that the Lord was leaving the room. He quickly pursues him while carrying his new weapon.

In the hallway, Adrian was staring at a transparent yet glowing humanoid figure stood near the hallway's corner 50 meters from him. The figure did nothing other than staring back at Adrian.

He tries to appraise the figure.

------

Name: Vargas Lieger

Race: Spectral

Grade: Normal

Unique Skills: None

Strength: 0.0

Intelligence: 0.0

Agility: 0.0

Const.i.tution: 0.0

Vitality: 0.0

------

'Vargas?!' Adrian was shocked and greatly confused.

The figure then raised one of its hands and beckoning Adrian with it. He did not understand what the figure was implying with those hand movement, but he quickly realized the figure actually wants Adrian to follow.

And so, Adrian approached the figure, and once he was near, the figure begins to move towards it's left, heading for another hallway. Leo had just exited the armory. He saw again that the Lord had already walked by himself to a different hallway, thus he pursued him once more.

Adrian's eyes were so fixated on the figure he didn't see that the floor he was walking on, was actually filled with many cracks and holes. His weight was just too much for the already fragile floor, the cracks started to get larger and multiply.

*Crack*

*Crack*

Those cracking sound awaked Adrian, he set his vision towards the floor and sweats start forming on his forehead as he realized the situation. However, it was already too late.

*Crack*

*Rumble*

"WHAT THE F*CK!!!"

The floor was crumbled, and beneath it, there was nothing but darkness. Adrian couldn't react fast enough. As a result, he too fell along with the floor.