"You’ll understand the specifics once you enter the Barbarian Cave."
Little Sam’s eyes sparkled with joy; he wasn’t concerned about what ’different’ meant. What mattered most was... he was joining the Barbarian Cave!
Although the process was painful, the result was good, which was already quite nice for little Sam.
Little Sam couldn’t help but want to stand up and bow to Angel. However, as soon as he moved, his unhealed wound immediately taught him a heartbreaking lesson.
Frode hurried forward to support little Sam: "You still can’t move now. If you still want to express joy, wait until you’re healed."
"About Lady Cilla." When little Sam was helped into a nearby guest room and sat down, Angel’s voice came again: "Previously, she was taken away by Frode using the Soul Collection Bottle."
Little Sam nodded, for he had seen Lady Cilla being captured into a small bottle.
"This thing is currently useless to you, but it’s very useful to Frode." Angel gestured with his eyes for Frode to come forward and explain.
Frode immediately stepped up and stated the matter of him needing Lady Cilla to assist with his practice.
Little Sam was stunned for quite a while after listening, then realized that Frode was actually seeking his opinion.
"Lady Cilla may have been a test, but her appearance, and her death, were all because of you. So, according to the allocation principle, you have the primary right to allocate her," Frode said.
Based on Frode’s own character, he actually wouldn’t discuss allocation principles with a mortal.
But little Sam was different. He was a near-spirit body with an unparalleled Soul Talent, capable of attracting special souls and special undead. This alone could be very useful for him in the future, or for Adar and Shanni.
Now, maintaining a good relationship in advance is all beneficial and without harm.
Having been a slave for a very long time, little Sam could clearly sense sincerity and hypocrisy. Frode was now candid and didn’t assert his status, but treated him equally, which moved little Sam deeply.
The grievances that little Sam had before had now dissipated and vanished.
He had read many accounts about the undead and understood that in the current stage, and even for a long future, the undead were useless to him. Keeping them around might instead have extremely negative impacts.
Angel was correct in saying that Lady Cilla was useless to him. So handing her over to Frode was acceptable, especially since Frode also promised future compensation.
Thinking of this, little Sam no longer hesitated and nodded: "I agree to give it to Mr. Tyson. If it weren’t for Mr. Tyson’s help earlier, I guess would have already died."
Frode chuckled without saying the words ’even if he didn’t act, Angel wouldn’t have let him die,’ playfully toying with the Soul Collection Bottle.
Angel patted little Sam’s shoulder: "I will first take Frode to practice; you should stay here for the time being; there won’t be further danger."
After speaking, Angel threw a glance at Frode, and they quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Little Sam then stroked his gradually healing wound, and once it was completely healed, he immediately lit a lamp and took out a blank handbook to record the events of the day.
...
On the other side, Angel and Frode swiftly moved through the mountain forest.
Soon, they arrived at a bare peak, not far from Star Lake Castle, from where they could even vaguely see the castle lights on another mountainside.
Angel: "Let’s search separately."
Frode nodded: "Alright."
The reason they had come here was that, based on their secret observations, this was the place where Lady Cilla appeared first.
This meant that Lady Cilla had been hiding nearby all along.
Previously, they hadn’t sensed undead energy here, making them curious as to how Lady Cilla had hidden her presence, prompting them to investigate further.
Since the area was narrowed, it became relatively easier to search for anomalies.
Before long, Angel discovered a spot within the mountain where spiritual power could not penetrate, blocked by an invisible force.
After confirming the location, Angel took out a basic Earth Element Magic Rune Scroll used for building structures.
Using the scroll’s power, he directly carved out a tunnel from the mountainside, reaching into the mountain’s interior.
The tunnel finally connected to a massive cave. The area Angel had previously found anomalous was precisely within this cave.
The cave’s air was flowing and moist, clearly indicating an exit was there, likely hidden somewhere in the forest. Though they had spent quite some time without finding the cave, it must have been well concealed. However, no matter how hidden it was, it didn’t matter, as they had entered through alternative means.
Having determined the location, they hesitated not at all and quickly found the spot where spiritual power could not seep through.
It was a ground hole.
This ground hole was not naturally formed; it had prominently chiseled stone steps leading deep into the darkness.
Angel looked at the hole’s entrance, his expression thoughtful.
From an outsider’s perspective, it seemed ordinary, but as an Alchemist deeply versed in magic patterns, he could sense that the hole’s entrance had an invisible membrane created by a magical energy array.
This membrane was what had blocked the previously probing spiritual power.
Although Angel didn’t believe there was anything inside that could harm him, he still spent some time researching the magical energy array of unknown principal location, just in case.
After some time, Angel had basically identified the type of array.
It was a magical energy array used for concealing aura, with no other effects. Moreover, even its aura concealing was substantially weakened, for Angel could faintly sense a sinister death energy emanating from the hole.
The magical energy array itself was intact; its weakened effect was likely due to the lack of energy supply.
This also indicated one thing: there was a high probability that no one was inside.
"Let’s go in." After confirming there was no danger, Angel and Frode stepped into the ground hole.
Previously, Angel had already felt the sinister death energy, and upon passing through the magical energy array into the hole, the death energy was no longer concealed, surging towards them madly.
"The death energy here is even more intense than at Star Lake Castle," Frode sensed the overwhelming death energy. His soul force, already saturated, began to stir. He quickly calmed himself to avoid being tainted by the external death energy.
"Such immense death energy; either the undead frequently reside here, or many people have died," Angel said. To determine which it was, they only needed to go further and look.
While the death energy was fierce, it wasn’t straightforwardly attacking, so it didn’t affect them.
Descending along the ground hole for about twenty meters, the steps finally ended.