Rogue Villain-Chapter 242: Ruin Exploration

Blood-drawing projectiles continued targeting Ackster with no signs of stopping. So, after a while, Ackster sat down and started training his mana. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

And, other than his lacking proficiency in the Unimportant Whatever Arts, it was the area he was falling behind the most in, especially compared to monsters such as Tararat. Now that he had learned to control his mana with his martial arts and had a body that could withstand or heal from the full-power rippling strikes, there was no reason not to pick up his mana training again.

But, unlike with his skills, training his mana was a slow, step-by-step process. The only thing that would change how quickly he trained his mana was how much he trained, though his surroundings also affected his training. It had been close to impossible to train his water element mana in the middle of volcanoes and the Land of Dragons.

The most opportune spot for training Ackster’s mana would be the ocean, especially since he used the Sea God Manual. But a box of death in the middle of Who-the-fuck-knows-ville could also work.

Ackster had already confirmed that the weapons could pierce his skin and draw blood. That was it. And as soon as they had drawn a few squirts, the wound would already be closed. His body was too powerful for the box of death to injure him, even if he was wholly focused on something else.

Besides, he also had Mio to keep watch from inside the cover of his hand. If something happened or changed, the slime would alert Ackster.

That was the plan, at least. However, reality turned out a little different.

After a while, a trapdoor opened up below Ackster without either of them noticing until Ackster had already started falling. Ackster was startled out of his mana training by the fall, and his mana lashed out against his body, leaving behind internal injuries that healed in a matter of minutes.

Ackster glanced down, but all he could see was a seemingly endless tunnel of darkness. It wasn’t a good memory it invoked.

Ackster used his rippling punch to force his fist into the slick metallic stone wall.

’Huh? That’s so fucking hard.’

After having punched stuff like that huge centipede and Tararat, Ackster thought he would easily pierce through the material around him. But all he did, even with a rippling punch, was a small indentation.

He also blasted himself into the other side from the recoil and missed his opportunity to grab the indentation as a handhold, but that needn’t be mentioned.

Still, Ackster succeeded in slowing his descent. He considered climbing back up, but there was nothing up there. So, while controlling his speed downward, Ackster jumped from side to side in the pitfall.

His main worry was that there would be a gigantic trap at the bottom that would devour him whole since the box of death upstairs didn’t work.

However, Ackster’s suspicions eased slightly as the pitfall gradually began sloping and turning into a slide instead.

Maybe instead of the box of death being a sacrificial ground, it was a rite of passage or a display of resolve one needed to show to enter the ruins. The others from the Guild that Wilma had mentioned either didn’t have the strength or resolve necessary to endure long enough to be permitted entry. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Considering how hungry he was and how much mana he had trained, maybe he had been in the box of death for longer than he thought. In that case, it was understandable no one else had endured long enough to access the slide nor the dark cobble corridor lined with blue torches that lit up as he entered.

"What do you think, Mio?"

Unsure of what to think, Ackster could only ask his closest confidante. But the first thing Mio did was apologize by bowing their upper half until it touched Ackster’s forearm. The slime blamed itself for not noticing the trapdoor in advance despite promising to keep watch over Ackster’s surroundings.

"Don’t worry about it. I don’t think I would have noticed it, either."

They both knew that was a lie, but it was a comforting one for exactly that reason.

Mio used gestures to say that there shouldn’t be any traps. But there were too many unknowns about the ruins for either of them to draw any conclusions from a corridor. That’s why they decided to explore. Both of them had great faith in Ackster’s capabilities.

The stone he had barely managed to damage was a little worrying, as was the fact that they didn’t know where they were. But it also wasn’t like they could go back unless they climbed up and hoped the portal would still let them out or if they needed to be injured and mutilated first, as the Guild’s people had been.

Ackster left the slide’s landing area and entered the corridor. It seemed like a transport. It was only meant to connect two areas. There weren’t any doors, adornments, decorations, or twists and turns.

As Mio had expected, there weren’t any traps either. Ackster was starting to wonder what the purpose of the ruins was and if there was another way out, but he would hopefully find an answer at the other end of the corridor, so he continued jogging.

Finally, Ackster and Mio arrived at a door. It was a simple, black wooden door with a metal handle.

Stone, Ackster could understand. But the wood confirmed what he thought when the box of death first started attacking him. Things were in a worryingly good condition for being an ancient ruin from an unknown amount of Calamitous Cycles past.

The feeling he got from the place wasn’t as archaic, ancient, and old as the Sea God Temple, but it was still old. And the fact that the portals and such worked was proof that whoever made it had been capable.

But, more importantly, if even the doors and traps worked, didn’t that mean that the treasures and weapons would also be in good condition?