CHAPTER 13: CHAPTER 13: LAKEBED

"Shenlan, activate combat assistance."

Herag wasn’t sure about the power of these Skeleton Warriors, so he was extremely cautious, also ready to run at any time.

The Skeleton Warrior clicked its jaw open and shut, holding a rusty long blade, and rushed towards Herag.

"Luckily, not too fast." Herag was constantly assessing the power of these undead.

The Skeleton Warrior charged forward, raising its long blade high and striking fiercely at Herag’s head.

Its movements seemed like a turtle’s speed in Herag’s eyes, and the blade hit nothing but air.

After this swing, the Skeleton Warrior’s movements became significantly stiff.

Herag certainly wouldn’t miss this opening; with a swing of his long blade, he effortlessly shattered the skeleton’s head.

The entire Skeleton Warrior immediately froze in place, then collapsed into a pile of bones with the sound of bones and armor clashing.

Herag turned to see that Emil had also dealt with the Skeleton Warrior, with bones scattered on the ground.

"Is that it?" Herag hadn’t expected these skeletons to be so weak, breaking at a touch.

Three more Skeleton Warriors emerged from the lake, attacking, but they were quickly dealt with by the two of them in no time.

Emil looked at the bones on the ground and said, "These were the castle’s guards, our predecessors. We should gather and bury them."

Herag nodded, bending down to pick up the bones on the ground.

At that moment, the bones started moving on their own.

The scattered bones floated up automatically, assembling themselves into a complete skeleton in the air, then picked up the long blade and charged at Herag once more.

"Careful, it’s not fully dead." Herag warned Emil while blocking the attack with his sword.

The skeleton on Emil’s side also revived, but its combat ability was too weak, and not a match for Knight Level at all.

These skeletons were impossible to kill; after Herag killed them five or six times, they still revived on the spot.

"Shenlan, scan the skeletons!"

"A line of unknown radiation energy is attached to the target’s body."

"Line?" Herag didn’t see any line, "Highlight it in blue."

"Highlight completed."

In Herag’s vision, there was a long blue line behind each skeleton, with the end extending into the lake bottom.

"Shenlan, scan this lake."

"Scan complete, discovered an unknown radiation energy source at the lake bottom," Shenlan reported.

With a casual swing of his sword, Herag shattered a skeleton that had just gotten up, pondering as he looked towards the lake bottom: "Unknown radiation energy source?"

Gazing towards the lake bottom, a bold idea suddenly formed in his mind.

"Emil, I’m planning to check the lake bottom," Herag said.

"The lake bottom? Are you insane? There’s something strange down there," Emil exclaimed.

Herag replied earnestly, "It might not be as terrifying as we imagine."

"Are you sure?" Emil asked.

Herag couldn’t be sure: "Just have to try."

Having reached the end of the road as a Knight, making further progress was difficult. The mysterious and strange entity at the lake bottom might be his breakthrough, worth the risk.

"Shenlan, block my hearing." Determined, Herag removed his heavy armor, walked to the lake’s edge, and dove in with a jump.

The water was chilling, but Herag endured it with his strong physique, gritting his teeth.

In his vision, five blue lines extended from the lake bottom.

Once he confirmed the target’s location, Herag swam deeper.

The five lines converged into one, leading to a blue light point at the lake bottom.

"Shenlan, monitor my physical state at all times, notify me immediately of any abnormalities."

"Comprehensive monitoring initiated, no abnormalities at present."

Relieved, Herag continued swimming towards the bottom, the blue line extending next to him towards the lake surface, while the blue light point gradually grew larger.

"A pocket watch?" Reaching the lake bottom, he discovered a pocket watch lying silently, completely wrapped in blue, the source of the unknown radiation energy.

Herag grabbed the pocket watch, and the pallid face resurfaced before him.

The face was clearly angry, mouth wide open as if screaming.

The scream had no effect on Herag as he had already blocked his hearing.

"Unknown radiation energy detected, being absorbed and stored internally."

Herag watched the blue unknown radiation energy transfer from the pocket watch to his body.

The pallid face showed a humanlike panic, gradually turning into extreme terror.

Herag even saw a hint of pleading in its eyes, but unmoved, he continued absorbing the unknown radiation energy.

Five guards perished at this lake bottom, and even Emil was nearly affected; this couldn’t be anything good, and Herag felt no mercy.

While absorbing the unknown radiation energy, he swam towards the lake surface.

"Absorption complete, Spiritual Power increased by 1.0." By the time Herag reached the lake surface, the energy absorption was also complete.

The blue line behind the five Skeleton Warriors disappeared, turning into piles of dry bones on the ground, which didn’t rise again.

Seeing Herag emerge from the water, Emil sighed with relief.

"I found this at the lake bottom." As Herag swam to the shore and climbed out, he displayed the exquisite pocket watch in his hand to Emil.

The pocket watch was primarily gold and blue, with a pure gold chain.

"A pocket watch? Is this what was causing trouble below?" Emil hadn’t expected such a bizarre event to originate from what seemed like an expensive pocket watch.

He approached and exclaimed, "This is pure gold, but I can’t identify the blue material. But the pocket watch’s construction is seamless, without any visible gaps."

After searching the pocket watch, Herag found a tiny golden button at the bottom. Pressing it, the watch opened.

The internal structure of the pocket watch was no different from others, with the golden hands still ticking.

After checking the time, Herag found the watch to be very precise.

The watch’s backdrop depicted a hexagonal tower, its significance unclear.

Simultaneously, a stream of information flowed into Herag’s mind.

"This pocket watch is the first Demonized Item I created during my Wizard Apprentice period, immensely meaningful to me. I enchanted it with a Holy Healing Technique, capable of curing most injuries, dispelling most curses and Nightmares. A little Magic Power is all it takes to use it. Good luck, my friend."

The signature read: "Nicholas Carlos Camby."

This information wasn’t transmitted in any language form but directly conveyed its meaning.

After reading this message, Herag’s heart raced, obtaining much information from it.

"Wizard Apprentice, Demonized Item, Magic Power, Holy Healing Technique..."