A gasp of amazement involuntarily escaped David's mouth, his eyes rapidly adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to make out the intricate carvings on the walls.
Only a few steps in, what had looked like a cave had become a tall corridor. Up ahead, there was a glimmer of light.
"No, way."
The ruin was lit by a moss that gave off a soft glow, they grew thick on the ceilings, and were scattered around the walls.
The corridor grew wider and wider, eventually wide enough for five people to walk shoulder to shoulder.
David came to stop, up ahead, the path branched out to three different passageways.
[User, I have been analyzing the patterns surrounding you. It seems that they are a pattern based language.]
[I believe that this entire ruin forms its own pattern, please continue down the right path.]
'I think I'm going to regret this.'
[User, be assured, I am choosing the ideal route for your objectives.]
'I don't like the sound of that.'
Nevertheless, David walked down the right passageway. Once again, the walls narrowed, and at some points David needed to turn to the side, where the ceilings had caved in.
[User, mana signatures up ahead.]
As soon as the signals appeared, David swore, there were multiple red core signals, the highest of which was a three star.
"Shit." David froze, ready to turn back. He knew the risks when he had first set out, after all, no one knew what would be within a ruin.
But typically, the higher the mana concentration around it, the more powerful the beings inside, and along with that, the greater the treasures.
[User, I think you continue on ahead. Please observe their movement patterns.]
The signals weren't moving in any clear direction, rather they were moving aimlessly, at times they stopped, then randomly they would zigzag.
"There's never a reward without a risk." David muttered to himself, and squeezed ahead, keeping his movement to a minimum.
He didn't want to alert whatever was up ahead.
"Guuuuuuurrrrrgghhhh" A strangled moan reached David, it sounded a bit like a drunk who was on the very edge of consciousness.
More groans and moans reached him as he drew closer, and then he came to stop, the passageway had come to an end.
David stood a few meters above the floor, the passageway had been just above, looking around at the walls, he could see that many others passageways ended here.
Thanks to the system, he had already arrived at what looked like a key location of the ruin.
Below him was a large open space, with tall carved obelisk, that cast heavy shadows down on to the space.
Smaller carvings and statues filled the rest of the space, forming a maze of stone.
From here, he could see the red core beings he had detected earlier. They lurked all around the maze, walking with a stagger, dragging their legs and arms like they were dead weight.
"Zombies." David said with a smile, this was getting interesting.
They were typically a coreless monster, and even as a nine star, they were fodder, the weakest of the coreless monsters.
[User, it seems that this ruin is the remnant of a research lab, this location was used for a experimental ritual to form zombies that had a core.]
[If you continue to explore, I believe I will be able to gather sufficient data to formulate a Core Formation technique.]
Hearing that, all of David's hesitation disappeared. Forget coming here to find some archaic mana technique, if he could form a mana core, on his own, it would be a game changer.
"Zombies are useless anyway." He muttered, what they hell could a mindless undead even do to him.
'Alright, you better hold up your end of the promise.'
David jumped down into the maze of stone below.
He found himself surrounded by rock on all three sides, leaving him with only one direction to move forward.
Brogan's voice sounded out in David's head.
"Remember, Zombies lack intelligence, they operate on pure instinct."
"Their senses are dull, but not non existent. Avoid making loud noises, exaggerated motions, strong scents."
Thankfully, David was the perfect match for zombies, as a scout, he minimized his presence regardless.
Even though he had identified the enemies, David remained cautious, he remained in the shadows, and didn't rush forward, even if there were no mana signals nearby.
[Turn right.]
[Turn left.]
[Climb over this.]
The system guided David through the maze, occasionally asking him to stop and inspect a statue, so it could gather more information.
[You will encounter an enemy ahead.]
A two star red core signal was highlighted by the system.
David could see the stumbling figure through a small gap in a statue.
Even though he knew that zombies were weak and stupid, he couldn't help but feel a strange disgust.
Perhaps it was because they were dead bodies, perhaps it was because of how they looked human, but not quite right.
In the gentle glow, the zombie's skin was a sickly gray color, there was a white flame burning in its eyes, and it wore a raggedy clothes.
The clothes had been white once, but had become torn and stained.
Long yellow nails grew form it's fingers and toes, and its joints bent in odd ways when it moved.
David quietly slipped his sword free from its sheath, and crept closer.
"Remove the head, or the limbs. Zombies have no other vitals."
Brogan's voice echoed again, and David charged his mana. Thankfully, the zombie wore no armor, he could end this in one quick blow.
David crept closer and closer, and his disgust for the creature grew. He could hair the overgrown toenails scraping against the rocks, and the smell of death filling the air.
The were also a strange smell underlying the faint rotting smell, it smelt like the pickles he would often eat at home, clearly, the zombies had been preserved in some way.
While the zombie wandered aimlessly, David waited for the perfect moment, he needed to catch it when it was facing away from him, but still close enough that he could end things quickly.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" The zombie let out a long moan, it was trying to walk into the low block of stone that David was hiding behind.
His gray hood low over his head, there was only a slight gap, from which David carefully watched the zombie.
As if it had finally realized it couldn't continue in that direction, that zombie stumbled and turned around, its joints creaking.
David took in a long gentle breath, tensing up, ready to strike. This was it.
David jumped out of his hiding place, leaping over the block of stone, his blade forming a graceful shining crescent in the air.
Slice
The zombie's head went tumbling through the air, David cutting of its head in one smooth motion.
There was a thud as the head fell onto the stone floor.
David landed next to the head, the body of the zombie still standing behind him.
He looked at the head, smiling in satisfaction as the white flame in its eyes faded away.
"That was easy enough."
David murmured, but behind him, the headless body continued to move.