What lies behind its walls, and what is hidden deep within the mountain rocks?
What are its inhabitants hiding, and what do the rocks say about them?
How many mysteries are there, and which of them are real? Do any of its forests hide strength, power, and secrets, or are there simply beasts that shine with madness?
As the history of Woodshade began to be recorded in historical books...
The alarms sounded.
[A Mystic Ruin has been discovered in Desolate Turtle Mountain!]
Woodshade, Yellowblade, Mirror of Madness... all the nearby cities were alerted to the highest level when the announcement of the Mystical Ruins emerged before their eyes and disturbed the movement of the wind.
A strange feeling of oppression rose from the ground, as if indicating the location of the ruin, although it was nothing more than unease at the appearance of something dangerous... that had been discovered.
The rumors were true.
There was a Mystical Ruin in Woodshade... And no one knew where it was or who had discovered it!
---
Xiaotian pressed his back against a large rock that had once been a wall of the courtyard and peered into the courtyard on the other side, where two strange spider-like creatures were moving.
They had six legs that stretched over 2 meters, and their bodies measured about 45 centimeters. Transparent in appearance, with a strange turquoise-blue energy that made them up, they were Level 1 Specters, the lowest level.
They moved among the rubble of what appeared to be a city.
There were traces of houses here and there, but they had all been destroyed, either by the passage of time or by some great war that had taken place in the past.
He was surprised by something. These walls seemed very old, yet they were still remarkably sturdy, so their construction must have been exceptional.
Well, it was exceptional.
These walls are made up of many layers of concrete or other building materials, which can greatly prevent degradation over time.
'It's a marvelous work of engineering.' Those were his thoughts when he first saw it.
He had been moving around the destroyed city for a while, had spotted about eight specters, visited several areas of the city, and... he wasn't surprised by it.
It was exactly the same as the ruin where he had died.
The only difference... was the levels floating above the Specters' heads.
The "Level 7" had been replaced by "Level 1," which was a drastic change.
'Fortunately, these specters are relatively small. The ones in that ruin were giants,' he recalled.
'The problem remains, how will I kill these specters if I don't have a tool for it?' He frowned.
On Earth, to kill specters, people had to use external tools, many of which were dangerous because they could consume the user's mind.
However, there was no other option. If someone didn't clean them up and the Ruins matured, they had to prepare to lose a city... several cities, or even an entire country.
So he was in a dilemma.
The sword in his hand...
'I don't know if it will work,' he thought.
He tried to ask the system, but for some reason it didn't respond, so he couldn't easily find out.
His only alternative was to test it in combat. But there was something peculiar that had been bothering him for a while.
He turned his attention away from the specters walking across the courtyard and looked up at the ceiling.
This place was underground, naturally, but between the ceiling and several tall buildings in the ruined city lay a great distance.
In the middle of that distance, there was a huge grayish ball, more than 300 meters in diameter, partially broken in half, which seemed to give off
It didn't.
He had been watching it carefully since he discovered it, for more than 15 minutes, and he couldn't see any hint of energy coming out of it. Even so, it gave the impression of emitting energy.
The problem was that he didn't remember seeing anything like it when he was on Earth. He thought they weren't the same after learning that, but everything was identical, so there was something strange about it.
Besides, that feeling...
'It could be the construction of that monument, which was built in such a way as to give the impression of radiating energy.' He frowned.
Thinking that was a way of insulting the ruin, if he thought about it carefully.
'If the ruins have taught me anything, it's that there's nothing unthought-of in there. They are ancient cities, castles, and all kinds of structures dating back to past eras. They should not be underestimated,' he told himself.
The most disturbing thing was that when he looked at it, it seemed to be a deep black. But that wasn't the case. So something strange was going on with that ball, and he needed to keep it in his field of vision while he was here.
After looking at the ball that seemed to float in the center of the huge cave/city, he returned to the main issue, the specters.
'At least they're Spectral Births; there's not much danger in facing them. But I have to start thinking about how to face a Specter of the Past with my current strength, since the boss has to be one.' He gripped the sword in his hand, ready to move out and find these two Specters who were alone.
It was his moment to prove himself. Could he kill these specters with his sword?
He was an experienced Ruin Hunter on Earth, so he knew very well how to clear them most easily.
The world, although it may seem unfair to many... is much fairer than it appears.
He tried to make as little noise as possible as he crouched down and passed through the specters' blind spots until he reached their backs.
'Like when I was a gamer, right? Time to play.' He smiled, feeling the adrenaline rush through his abdomen as he crept up behind the beasts.
All specters have clear weaknesses, being echoes of voices from the past that want to resurface in the world.
An echo has one weakness: it disappears when there is nowhere left to bounce off, or when it loses its strength.
In the same way, these echoes from the past have very distinct weaknesses.
They are usually in the stomach, in the core. If you destroy it, the Echo that gave them form escapes and disappears.
But these spiders have their core in their neck, right in the brightest spot on their semi-transparent body.
If he came from the front and allowed them to sense him, these specters would protect the core very well, and he would have to go through a frontal battle to kill one of them.
But here's the trick. If you manage to get there from a blind spot and catch the specter completely off guard... It's possible to kill it with one blow.
Xiaotian wanted to prove that this was still the case and quickly hid behind one of the two spiders. Moving stealthily with this body was difficult for him, but his grueling training on Earth helped him achieve it.
Suddenly, he locked onto his target and leaped at it.
In the same motion, he swung his sword quickly like a dagger to stab it in the lower part of its head...
SWISH*
The echo of a voice escaping from the beast's body seemed to float from the specter's neck outward, making him smile.
It had worked.
At the same time, the system sent him a message.
[You have killed a Level 1 Spectral Birth: Common Spider.]
[You have obtained 2 Spiritual Essence Points.]
[Sword as Tool: 2/30.]
[Bonus for first stealth kill: 1 Spiritual Essence Point.]
[Sword as Tool: 3/30.]