The Dark Mage Of The Magus World-Chapter 82 - 83: The Stone Tablet

There’s an old saying—"Enough ants can bring down an elephant." But this was far worse. These weren’t ants.

They were giant spiders, each one larger than a man.

No matter how strong Hutson’s magical shields were, no matter how deep his reserves of mana ran—if he let them swarm him, he was dead.

The chittering, skittering sound of countless legs scuttling across the ground sent a shiver up his spine. He pushed his speed to the limit.

The world blurred around him as his feet struck the earth with practiced precision. Every step was calculated. Every movement deliberate.

With AI chip’s detection magic guiding him, he ensured he wouldn’t misstep—one slip, one stumble, and it would all be over.

Yet, no matter how fast he ran, the spiders were faster.

They surged behind him in a black tide, their numbers stretching as far as the eye could see. They weren’t just chasing him; they were encircling him.

It was coordinated. Deliberate.

"They’re being commanded."

Hutson’s mind raced as he processed the patterns in their movements. First, they had hunted the mammoth. Then, as one, they had abandoned their prey. Now, they were closing in around him like a net tightening around a fish.

It wasn’t instinct. It wasn’t chaos.

It was strategy.

"The Spider Queen..."

AI chip confirmed his worst fear. "The swarm is closing in. Estimated time until full encirclement: three minutes."

Hutson cursed under his breath.

He needed an escape.

Simply running wouldn’t work. The spiders were faster. They would catch him. If he kept sprinting forward blindly, he was only delaying the inevitable.

He forced himself to scan his surroundings.

Then, he saw it.

"A cave!"

It was off to his left, carved into the rocky mountainside, its entrance jagged and dark.

It wasn’t an ideal escape route. It could be a dead end. It could be a trap.

But if he stayed out here, death was certain.

With no other options, he turned and lunged for the cave entrance.

The moment he passed the threshold, he felt a strange shift in the air. The stone walls pressed in around him, the temperature dropping sharply.

As soon as he entered, he turned, pressing his hand against the rocky surface of the entrance. Solid. Too solid.

"Damn it."

He had hoped to collapse the entrance behind him, block the spiders out. But the cave walls were far too sturdy.

No time to worry about that now.

The sound of countless legs scratching against stone filled the air. Hutson darted deeper into the cave, heart pounding.

And then...

The spiders stopped.

All of them.

They did not cross the threshold.

Instead, the swarm gathered at the entrance, their eight glowing green eyes fixed on him like a chorus of silent sentinels.

Hutson slowed his steps. His breath was heavy. His mind raced.

"They’re... not coming in?"

Why?

Was there something inside the cave that they feared?

Or... was this a forbidden place—a sanctuary that even the Spider Queen dared not breach?

He thought back to the mammoth’s strange behavior in the alchemical fields.

There were rules in this land.

The undead mammoth, the spiders, the horrors lurking in the town—all of them obeyed certain invisible laws.

Just as the mammoth had avoided damaging the alchemical fields, perhaps the spiders were bound by a rule that forbade them from entering this place.

"But why?"

Hutson reached into his spatial ring, pulling out a lantern. With a flick of the switch, a soft glow illuminated the cave.

The lantern’s light source wasn’t ordinary fire—it was powered by a luminous mineral, its base inscribed with a tiny enchantment circle.

When activated, it absorbed trace amounts of fire-aspected energy from the air, allowing the stone to emit a long-lasting glow.

As the light spread across the cavern walls, something caught his eye.

Ancient carvings.

Primitive. Simple. Childlike.

The rough etchings looked as though they had been drawn by a three-year-old, their lines crude and jagged.

But the moment Hutson studied them, his expression darkened.

"These... are old." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The deeper he walked, the more carvings he found. They stretched along the walls, forming a continuous mural—not just random drawings, but a story.

And as Hutson studied it, the meaning became clear.

Long ago, this land was ruled by beasts.

The people who lived here—primitive, desperate, fragile—fought a daily battle for survival.

Every day, they clashed with monstrous creatures.

Every day, many died.

Then, one day, a messenger of the gods descended from the heavens.

He gifted them a stone tablet.

Through the tablet, the people awakened to power.

Armed with newfound magic, they turned the tide of battle, slaying the beasts that once terrorized them.

With the hunger of the past behind them, their tribe flourished. Their numbers grew.

For the first time, they no longer feared the dark.

Hutson’s fingers unconsciously brushed against the cave wall.

"The Stone Tablet..."

A sacred relic of power.

His gaze flickered back toward the cave entrance. The spiders still remained outside, motionless, waiting.

"They’re not afraid of something inside the cave..."

"They’re obeying a rule."

A command, sealed into this place long ago.

Hutson exhaled slowly.

"I need to see what else is in here."

If this cave had once been a place of power, then perhaps...

It still was.

Gripping the lantern tighter, he pressed forward.

This cave was ancient. Forgotten. A relic of an era when the gods still walked the earth.

And if a stone tablet of power truly existed here...

It could change everything.

No natural ecosystem could support a swarm of this magnitude.

Even in a world steeped in extraordinary power, such an overwhelming number of giant spiders shouldn’t be sustainable.

Hutson’s mind raced.

"They’re not surviving through ordinary predation... they must have another source of energy."

Something sustained them, something beyond mere hunting and feeding.

As he ventured deeper into the cave, the passage widened.

The once-narrow tunnel gave way to vast, open corridors, their ceilings stretching high above him. The air grew cooler, carrying a faint, almost ancient scent—stone, dust, and something older.

Along the path, stone statues lined the walls.

Hutson stopped to inspect them.

Each was intricately carved, depicting figures in various poses—some warriors, others scholars, and a few in reverent worship. But despite their craftsmanship, they held no residual energy, no lingering enchantments.

"Just ordinary statues."

Still, their presence suggested this place was once important.

The cave had only one path forward—no branching tunnels, no hidden passages. A single deliberate route, leading deeper into the unknown.

Hutson pressed on.

Then, the passage opened into a massive underground chamber.

A plaza.

It was vast, easily the size of a football field, enclosed by towering stone walls. The ceiling arched high above, disappearing into darkness.

Around the edges of the plaza stood more statues, their watchful gazes fixed upon the center.

Scattered throughout the space, ancient fire pillars stood as remnants of a time long past. Charred markings along their surfaces hinted at ritual flames that once burned bright.

The plaza was empty—silent, untouched by time.

But in its heart, something drew Hutson’s attention.

A stone tablet.

It stood two meters tall, monolithic, its surface etched with intricate carvings.

A relic of forgotten history.

Hutson stepped forward, drawn to its presence. As he neared, he could make out figures carved into the stone. They depicted ancient people, their actions captured in the rigid, unyielding permanence of rock.

But there was more.

Not just depictions of people—but symbols, patterns, and complex, swirling engravings that wove an unseen story.

Hutson narrowed his eyes, tracing the delicate patterns with his gaze.

Then—

A wave of dizziness struck him.

The cavern tilted. The edges of his vision blurred.

He staggered back, exhaling sharply.

"What...?"

Then, realization dawned.

"My mind... my spirit... It’s not strong enough to gaze upon this for too long."

He clenched his fists, steadying himself.

The world of sorcery was filled with objects of power—artifacts that placed an unseen demand upon the very psyche of those who dared to comprehend them.

Books that contained knowledge so profound, so forbidden, that an unprepared mind would suffer vertigo, madness, or worse.

Hutson had seen such tomes before.

And this stone tablet was no different.

To look upon it too long was to risk irreparable harm.

Perhaps even death.