Master Of None

"So, why do you think that there are so many of these little statues?" The three had started to count the statues as they walked. These were definitely made by the desert elves so that they could praise someone. However, Alma was at a loss just like Walker. She had bever seen a figure similar to the desert elf wielding a stone staff. 

"We know that they had to be important. Maybe they are the same as the queen in the forest elf city? If the new king of the desert elves had just taken the throne then they might have earth statutes like this to represent them." The thought seemed very simple to Su. When someone gained a major position it was obvious to celebrate somehow. 

"That makes sense. I just wish that they wrote on one who this was. I know it's harsh, but I want to know." Since Alma had managed to read the writing of the ancient elves, Walker just let her search for those clues. It wasn't any issue when it came to safety either. Su was in the lead and could block just about anything that came at them. 

"And these are the first bones we found.'" Standing perfectly still in the distance ahead of them were two skeletons. To be exact, there were two skeletons. On which had a gold bracelet on and the other skeleton was missing an arm. Both were simple targets that Walker snuck up behind and slashed out once. In an instant, the two in half. 

The clatter of bone lasted a single moment before Walker stored them away. He examined the golden bracelet. 

'Church of the sand bracelet

The church of the sand was a sub branch of those that believed in the will of the world. They believe that the sand is the literal body of the world and that if they learn enough about it they can become the sand using unique skills. This bracelet has aged too much and lost the rune that was once carved upon it. Now it is barely worth the gold it is made out of.'

"So it has no stat boosts and is barely worth gold. I wonder why they wore it." Alma seemed to be waiting for this question. 

"This has to be a sentimental thing. If it is religious then it makes even more sense. I would assume that normally everything has stat bonuses but this could just be a random exception. Especially if they were very dedicated. It could just not matter to them." Walker knew that some people would take their beliefs too far. It was something he had not seen much of in his life that made him glad. 

"Should we hold on to it? If it isn't worth anything we might just be better off leaving it." Alma wanted to keep it for the historical evidence that the desert elves lived in a slightly different way than the forest elves. However, she also knew that they could send people here to study these ruins after their goal was met. 

"I have a feeling we should hold on to it. Who knows if it might come in handy." Alma carried it in her hand. The chain of the bracelet wrapped around her palm. She too felt a little more comforted by holding it. She thought it might have been the connection with elves long passed away. 

"I think this starts to open up again. Maybe we reached…the tower." Su trailed off and spoke softly. She had walked in to the larger room and looked up at the glittering depths of sparkling darkness. 

"How can there be stars in the dark like this?" Alma was equally stunned. The roof above them seemed to stretch out endlessly like the sky at night.

"I think this is why they would like to live in this city. The tower was built to show just points of light at night. I can feel the darkness and light elemental runes pulling mana around it. This mage tower is magnificent!" Walker could feel the elemental mana around him. He recognized the flow and couldn't believe the purity of the runes. "It seems like the original runes were added to with newer runes. They aren't as strong but they are still way above anything I have ever seen." 

The desert elves had been leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else. The mage tower was obviously the reason. These ruins were here even before the rebuilding. This meant that the desert elves had learned from them and advanced their magic skills to get closer to what was originally here. "Let's explore this more. We can look at the sky and find out how it is built later." Su struggled to pull herself away from the magnificent view. 

All three felt that they had reached a calmer state after seeing this. It was as if they had been hugged by a parent and told that everything would be fine. Even their mana flow had become smoother. In general, they had more energy. Walker even felt that his mana was recovering faster than outside of the tower. 

"Stairs over here!" The three were walking around with torches and found a descending set of stairs. The only difference was that instead of calm, there was a sense of deep darkness around them. 

"I think we are on the right track here. They seem like they go down to dungeons." Alma swallowed and clenched her fists as she followed Su down. They were heading to a past prison. The place that Greed should be sealed. The ancient ruins that the desert elves had built upon. 

"I will do my best to keep the mana calm around us. I think it is from the runes decaying." This made a lot of sense. The runes decaying would cause the mana to be erratic. 

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