The old man thought for a second.
"75 silver for all of them."
Livinius raised an eyebrow. "What if you add two Low-grade Healing Potions on top of that? What would the price be?"
"We'll settle on 100 silver coins in total."
Without waiting, Livinius summoned Themis' All-Seeing Eye, and the trade was completed.
He was left with only 50 silver, but he felt much safer against the dangers of the open world thanks to these potions.
"Do you know of a good place to buy a mount around here?" Livinius asked before leaving the shop.
"There's a stable near the east gate. You can try your luck there," Palastor answered.
After bidding farewell to the old man, Livinius left the shop.
Following his directions, he found the stable near the east gate and paid 40 silver for the oldest horse among them.
Thus, he had nearly spent all his silver, but he didn't consider it a waste.
After making sure all his preparations were in place, he rode his horse directly toward the Earys Ruins in the northeast.
The roads were unnervingly quiet, confirming the rumors he had heard. He needed to stay on high alert for whatever they might encounter near the ruins.
As he approached the ruins, he slowed his horse and carefully observed his surroundings.
Nothing stood out in the rugged landscape. Boulders, trees, tall grasses, and bushes extended as far as he could see.
From the top of the barrows, the ruins' boundaries began with the skeletal remains of collapsed walls stretching inward.
In the center of the ruins, three crumbling towers stood alongside a large dome, which was mostly collapsed and far from its former grandeur.
The closest village to this location is Loopfen, approximately ten kilometers away. I can visit and learn something from the locals. Livinius sighed and dismounted his horse.
Type: Horse
Bond Level: 1
HP: 730
Stamina: 75/80
Trait(s): —
Mount Equipment: Saddle (+10% Stability)
After briefly glancing over his mount's stats, he dismissed it.
His horse vanished into thin air in a flash of white light.
In the universe of Rings of Alkhen, there were countless types of mounts.
Some NPCs and players had even made a profession out of stealing the offspring of dangerous creatures and taming them through various rituals.
Hundreds of adventurers risked losing all their levels and equipment just for a chance to snatch a dragon egg from the Death Zones.
Livinius was comforted by the familiar sense of security his old horse offered, a presence now etched deep into his consciousness. Journeys would seem much more manageable from now on.
Pushing these thoughts aside, he turned toward the ruins, standing in the middle of the rugged terrain. Before heading for Loopfen Village, he wanted to see if there was any worthwhile clue to be found here.
Livinius wandered around the Earys Ruins but found nothing. It was known that traveling adventurers often camped at ruins they stumbled upon, yet there was no trace of such a presence. The area was completely deserted and left to itself.
This was the only point where the three paths intersected. What kind of reason could have led to all three being abandoned simultaneously?
After glancing at the vine-covered building wreckage, he summoned his horse and galloped toward Loopfen Village.
At first, everything seemed to be unfolding normally when he arrived. But soon, a few oddities caught his attention.
Although the NPCs throughout the village were busy with their daily routines and interacting with each other, it all felt like an unnatural loop.
As he passed through the muddy streets filled with animal dung, he noticed a child playing with a cat in the garden of a modest wooden house and watched them for a while.
The movements of the cat and the child weren't successive, yet they were identical. It was as if the scene was designed to appear natural—unless one looked too closely.
"Wait!" Livinius' eyes widened. "Don't tell me... that I'm looking at an Anomaly."
At that moment, everything began to make sense.
Anomaly Zones were irregularities that could occasionally be encountered. Depending on the size of their core, they would create an illusion field over a wide area and bring the Abyssborn through the Abyss Gates.
The Anomaly Zone must be covering the ruins as well—that's probably why I didn't notice anything unusual there. Livinius immediately pulled out his map and marked the possible boundaries of the area.
As long as the Anomaly Core remained intact, the zone would continue to exist. Most likely, caravans and traveling merchants had either wandered too close to the center and been slaughtered by the abominations guarding the core, or they had realized something was wrong in time and fled the area.
After roughly calculating where the center might be, he carefully approached that direction.
He had no intention of foolishly challenging the Anomaly on his own, but he wanted to find out what level the core was. If it wasn't too high, he might be able to return with a few people from Greyvhoy and try to destroy the Anomaly.
As he neared the estimated center, he noticed the silhouette of a circular building wrapped in mist. There was no settlement marked at this location on the map.
He drew his swords from his ring and plunged into the mist, ready to enter combat at any moment. After advancing a few hundred meters, he saw the weathered gray stone walls of the building. The roof was completely flat, with no elevation or structure on top. Below, there was only a single arched doorway.
Livinius took his lantern out of his ring and stepped through the doorway into the darkness.
Inside, there was nothing but a staircase leading downward.
He descended the worn stone steps and crossed the wide underground corridor.
When he emerged into a vast chamber lined with knight statues, each standing at least five meters tall, he heard the sound of drums echoing from deep below.
Drums? Or maybe… like a hammer striking a metal door? Livinius couldn't quite determine the source of the muffled sound.
He crossed to the other side of the room, stepping over the round, uneven platform in the center of the statues, and entered the wide corridor where the rumbling echoes continued.
As he continued forward, he realized other sounds were joining the drum-like booms. Though the tones varied, they all echoed as if striking a hard material.
At the end of the corridor, he was met with a massive hall carved directly into the solid stone floor. Down below, a few hundred meters ahead, he spotted two figures standing beside a small fire in front of a gigantic black door.
Humans? Or maybe Elves? Livinius squinted, studying them carefully.
Likewise, the two figures had also noticed him.
Livinius raised a hand in greeting to show he meant no harm—and received the same gesture in return.
Without letting down his guard, he descended and slowly approached them.
What could a Rinf be doing here? Livinius looked at his two-meter-tall figure with hidden astonishment. His grey skin, long white beard, vibrant blue eyes, and excessively hooked nose were not something he encountered every day.
"Levhosa! Levhosa! Pre teyne!"
The broad-shouldered Rinf raised the ice club in his hand and stomped his foot on the ground several times.
"Calm down, Levhosa! He's not one of those Abyss abominations," Erin said, making a calming gesture with her hand."
"How did you convince a Rinf to come here?" Livinius asked, looking at the beautiful young woman clad in flexible cloth armor.
"Levhosa has been my closest friend for many years," Erin replied, brushing the blonde hair from her eyes and tapping the Rinf's light steel chest plate a few times. "We've been through a lot together."
"I thought they hated all races other than their own," Livinius said.
"They don't hate them," Erin shook her head. "They just prefer to keep a bit of distance."
Livinius shrugged and gestured toward the door. "Abyssborn?"
Leaning on her white staff, she approved with a nod and asked, "How did you notice the Anomaly?"
"By observing," Livinius replied, casting a cold glance toward the door. "The real reason I'm here is to find out the level of the Anomaly Core."
"We haven't had the chance to see the core directly," said the beautiful priestess. "But since the abominations behind the door are Level 4, the core must be Level 2."
Livinius nodded and asked, "So, what is this place?"
"An entrance to an ancient underground fortress," Erin shrugged. "My grandmother once told me that there were about twenty entrances like this in the area, but they disappeared during the wars that followed the fall of the Yunten Dynasty."