“I hope you will enlighten us to what exactly that was, and why it hasn’t been dealt with when we get out of here, darling.”
To that question, Gray Flame didn't seem very happy hearing it. After briefly shifting his stony-cold masked face toward Fia, he quickly moved toward the lantern, picked it up, and handed it to Vesemir with nary a word.
Returning to Fia in a similarly enigmatic fashion, the monocled elf smiled.
"I would ask for a pardon, that these are the questions that best discussed when are... not here, Dear Fia." Surely that wasn't much of an answer for someone like Fia, but let it be a problem for another time. What mattered now was they were moving again, and the urgency to do so was at least acknowledged by everyone else. Tillius showed that by giving a solid nod at Vesemir when the elf took his position as their rear guard.
"If anyone is injured, go in the middle." The orc said.
Thankfully nobody was severely injured, despite that, Fia jogged past him to catch up with Carnathia, asking about the orb of light.
The middle-aged elf was carrying both a shining lantern and a thin, straight sword. It was revealed that the sword was his unsheathed walking stick all along. Although the sword may not have been able to harm any lingering phantoms, it seemed the elf wanted to show that he too was capable of fighting.
And so they marched again, a bit more careful than before despite the additional light. Vesemir told them that their destination was the city Library, but Gray further clarified that the building used to be Lasse's municipal office, and located a bit east of the city.
It was a long march, but it seemed they were no longer at the epicenter of Lasse's past tragedies. The shadows were almost non-existent here, and if they did appear, they were no longer manifesting on the path, but rather, shyly peaking from the windows and doors of the abandoned houses.
The municipal office was a large, slightly elevated building with two pillars flanking its entrance. Despite clearly showing signs of neglect, the building seemed intact; though it was hard to guess the color in this darkness, the roof was still neatly pared, and the two large pillars and tiles were still in good condition. Only the supposedly wooden frames of its doors and windows had already rotted away by the passage of time.
"This is the building." Said Vesemir enthusiastically.
He then spared a moment to speak to Forbann, telling him that he could rest here and keep watch. The Armored Oni agreed with that plan.
"When the Prince of Isrion attacked the City, dozens of Lasse residents took refuge here." Rambled the elf as they climbed the stairs. "Theriadore was indeed a powerful magician, the record said the Human Prince tried to besiege this building, but the Magistrate's enchantment made it impenetrable."
Pausing to sigh and caress the pillar, Vesemir spoke again, his tone changed from somber to utter disgust.
"Makes you wonder if things could have ended differently if he was here, rather than be seated in Alkautsar Council. It happened generations ago, but my blood boils whenever I think about this piece of history. The sheer incompetence was infuriating, and all of that was just for political gain. Luithiel did nothing wrong! She did what a leader was supposed to do, to make That accursed Black Armored prince pay the ultimate price. Mark my words, she was sentenced as a hero."
"Though, someone might argue that she was too excessive with her method," murmured Gray Flame as he followed the monocled elf into the building.
"True, I must admit that Theriador too would definitely agree with that proposition, but in Luithiel's defense, excessiveness was the response to the inadequacy of those who are supposed to be in charge. Lukman's death was unfortunate, but Varenheim's inability to see things perspicaciously was not without blame either..."
"Anyway." Vesemir suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder. "The place is safe, theoretically... the enchantment spell wears out over time, and my calculation said, even if he did not deactivate it, Theriador's spell had expired a century ago. Just don't stray too far from this corridor if you doubt it."
Following Vesemir and Gray's recommendation, the party skipped other sections and walked straight until they reached a cross-corridor. One to the south had a stone plaque that reads archive room, and the other, which led to the north also had a plaque that read
"library". Needless to say, the group took the north path.
At the end of that corridor was an antechamber with spiral stairs made of concrete that ended in another corridor that was part of an underground complex. After yet another boring descent, the party was stopped in front of a large door, it was locked.
But that door wouldn't be locked for too long. The eccentric elf Jovially took out a rectangular card made of silky material from his pocket and rubbed it like a precious thing. Then, he inserted it into a slit under the door's metallic doorknob and waited.
There was the sound of a lock being disengaged, and the heavy door slowly swayed open with a rumble.
"Years of scouring Casediar Black Market is finally paying off!" Chimmed the archeologist, reclaiming his partially ejected card from the socket and giving it a peck.
Behind that door was a cavernous hall with many supporting pillars, bookshelves, and seating furniture that looked oddly preserved. There were four crystal lamps on the ceilings, they were unlit and hung by metallic chains.
As the party walked into the library, they noticed there was another door at the other end of the hall, it was guarded by a silhouette of a hulking humanoid entity, that upon closer observation seemed to be a motionless statue resembling a fully armored human knight with a helmet visor divided into four plates that house a pale, ruby-like crystal. It stood menacingly next to that door, like a steadfast sentinel protecting a precious treasure.
Appropriate to its size, the statue was armed with a heavy Warhammer that curiously, was made of proper metal; clearly, it wasn't intended for decorative purposes.
"I think that door is Theriadore's workshop," Vesemir said, raising his lantern to find a hanger on the pillars. Fortunately, he found one, and as he hung the magic lantern higher, the illumination was reflected by the nearby crystal lamp on the ceiling. The lamp, in turn, reflected the light to the other lamps, providing enough illumination to light up the entire hall.
"Friends! That will be our next destination."
"Heads up! It's not an ordinary statue." Warned Gray Flame, raising his hand to make everyone stop their advance.
"A golem?""Looks like it. And the expensive one at that, they made a few of it in Nuria to guard important facilities. This one was custom-made, kinda what to expect from someone like Theriadore. It's still on standby mode, see that crystal on its head? It glows with a faint light, which means it is saving its power, but the battery capacity is still adequately loaded. The crystal serves as its eye, the targeting module, and in battle mode, it can be charged up to fire a powerful energy beam."
"Awfully knowledgable about this kind of thing, aren't you?" The Masked elf, with his masked face, could only stare at Vesemir with his trademark blank expression. "Only a bit. Anyway, what do you think? Do you have a century-old-something from the black market that we can use to get rid of that thing?"
He then turned to everyone else. "What about you guys? Ever had any experience with a magical construct before?"
