"We couldn't increase the prize money because the elders don't seem it necessary enough. But considering the difficulty bof the task some adventurers who came, they left without even trying" she said.
"Maybe it would be best if I could see what the real problem is myself to have a better idea whetherbi can be of any help Or not" said Ash.
"Yes, of course, follow me please" she said and Ash followed the swaying ass draped in silky white robes. They went to the back of the hall, behind the statue where there was a door. The door led to a spiraled stairway that led way down.
They reached the landing after about five minutes, it lead to an underground tunnel. The tunnel was lit by lanterns on the wall all throughout the tunnel and they showed that the tunnel went very far.
"This citadel is one of the oldest buildings in the capital, it was made at the same time the castle was built along with other parts of the old city, so it still uses the same older drainage system, that's why it isn't taken care of properly only we use it anymore, since the grounds of the citadel are sacred and they couldn't be dug" she said.
"What is causing the blockage?" asked Ash.
"A plant or a vine of some kind which grows deep underground, if you walk in that direction for another couple of minutes you should be able to reach the source of the blockage" she replied.
"Fine then I guess I'll take a look and see what I can do" said Ash and left for the blockage. The tunnel walls were old and made of some kind of old and weak brown concrete, they looked like they could break at any point.
He finally reached the blockage site.
The vines had grown through the walls and made a bundle of leaves and vines all over the tunnel almost creating an airlock choking the tunnel.
"These vines are tough, they won't cut so easily" said Relik.
"Great, first mutated rats now a mutated plant, it looks like this ether just turns everything into a monster" said Ash.
"Could we just blast it with the fire scroll?" asked Ash.
"It won't be powerful enough" said Relik.
"Then what else can we do?" asked Ash.
"Simple create another way" said Relik.
"What do you mean?" asked Ash.
"The fire blast might not completely burn the thick vines, but these walls are certainly very weak, we can just punch a hole to the side of the blockage" said Relik.
"But the vines would just grow more and block that too" said Ash.
"That will take years, we'll get the work done and get our money, simple" said Relik.
"You can be really clever sometimes" said Ash.
"Thank you, then let's get it over with" said Relik.
Ash pulled out the scroll from Relik and unrolled it. He aimed the magic circle drawn on it towards the side of the wall and said the activation word. "Ignum" and a fire ball the size of a football shot out and paved a large hole right through the wall by almost melting it completely.
"Woah, it worked better than i thought, look at the size of this hole" remarked Ash, almost the whole wall had ducked in on itself.
"Wait a second, I think we might have made a hole right through to another tunnel beyond it" said Ash.
"The priestess did say there was a whole tunnel system under the city" said Relik.
"Where do you think it goes?" asked Ash.
"To the castle probably" said Relik nonchalantly, but it seemed a bit more important to Ash.
"Should we tell someone about it? asked Ash.
"No need, we might be blamed for the damage" said Relik.
"Let's just get our reward and get out of here" said Relik.
"Cool" said Ash and they headed back the way they had come.
"You did it! " exclaimed the priestess when Ash reappeared from behind the statue. She was too enthusiastic and grabbed Ash and pulled him down in a tight hug. Ash found himself suddenly between two very soft and warm pillows and he had stayed there for eternity had it not been getting difficult to breathe.
"I guess I got lucky, I had a spell that worked very efficiently" he said.
"Good good, let me get you your reward then"
And with that by the end of the day Ash found himself with twenty silver coins after going to the guild and giving Vena her cut. She was really surprised but pleased nonetheless.
Ash headed back to the library, it was closed for the general public now, the librarian was locking the main door, but Ash had already been told about the side door from which he went upto the living quarters. There was a small common room on his floor, where all the occupants gathered for dinner.
Shia flagged down Ash and motioned him to come sit at her table. The other occupants looked up as he took his seat. The only person he recognized was Gia. She was finally getting curious as to who this new guy was who she had seen thrice in a day and mentor Shia seemed really find of him. Among the others was one more mentor and older gentleman, but he had his nose deep in a book and grunted whenever someone talked to him. The other two occupants, were also students from the academy. They introduced themselves and Henry and Tina.
Shia took no time in telling all of them about his ingenuity.
"A very astute observation, young man, I must say we need more pupil like you in the academy" said the other mentor, Ash gathered his name was Froy, although he didn't look up from his book.
Gia gave Ash a few more curious glances.
"So you must be the scholar type huh" remarked Henry.
The conversation went on, Ash was distracted by the food served, it was a bit too sweet for him but he likes the texture of the bread like food.