Laine, after receiving the message from Yurik, immediately sought information from the Justice Church and the guards about the location of the Ancient Saint's ruins.
The information he received indicated that the ruins of the Ancient Saint were located within Nora's abandoned manor.
So, that day when Laine took Teresa to hear Nora give a lecture to the children, it was no coincidence; he deliberately did so to use it as a cover for his actions.
"According to Lady Nora, the compass that can record time is in the basement." Laine swaggered into the mansion.
Upon entering the mansion, a curled-up figure in the corner let out a heartrending wail. This humanoid creature, entirely gray-white and seemingly a middle-aged woman in her forties, was only wearing a thin garment in the dead of winter. Her eyes had been gouged out, leaving fresh red blood streaming down as she suddenly lunged towards Laine.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Finally, someone has come!"
The middle-aged woman lunged fiercely at Laine, her stiff hands directly reaching out to where Laine was. "Save me! Save me!"
Laine raised his right hand, from which Spiritual Energy radiated from his palm, illuminating the entire interior of the mansion.
The bright Spiritual Energy barely touched the middle-aged woman before her gray body began to sizzle as if corroding under lava, making sounds like roasted meat, and soon she was engulfed in blue Spiritual Flame.
"Help! Help! I'm just an injured traveler! Please! Don't hurt me!" Surrounded by blue flames, the middle-aged woman rolled on the ground in agony, pleading with the White Wolf Knight.
Laine's face remained calm and silent as he increased the power of the Light of Spiritual Power, quickly reducing the middle-aged woman to ashes.
In Nord, if a person doesn't die of old age or a glorious death in battle, but instead dies suddenly or from illness, and if their family or fellow villagers lack the means or willingness to bury them properly, their bodies are left exposed to the elements on the snow.
Some of these "dead" mysteriously reanimate, attempting to return home as Undead "guests." To prevent this, the living remove their eyes, ensuring they can't see the direction to take even upon reanimation.
However, their hearts brim with hunger and resentment, not deterring their determination to return home. Their skin appears ghastly pale, with hollow eye sockets.
These Undying Creatures no longer possess the kindness and love for life they had while alive, only endless hunger and resentment. They hide their schemes, leading well-meaning travelers into dug pits to suck their souls and gouge out their eyes to place in their own sockets. Locals know not to help a pitiful blind figure with bloody eye sockets in the wild, as those who have tried have paid with their lives.
At this point, no mercy is needed; sending these Undead to their final rest is the true act of kindness.
Having dealt with this hidden Eyeless, Laine began searching the ground floor for the basement's existence.
The decor in this house proved Nora's claims of fallen fortunes true; despite being abandoned for many years, Laine could still see many pieces of furniture inside were very old, with some floorboards appearing damaged even before abandonment.
Laine soon found the entrance to the basement, hidden within the kitchen. He moved aside the collapsed building debris, then pulled up the flooring handle.
An iron staircase descended below, and after testing it slightly and finding no issues, he lit a torch and entered the basement.
"A bit strange... by a standard manor lord's specifications, this basement is a bit too large, isn't it?" Alone, Laine held up a torch, examining the conditions of the basement.
The basement carried waves of decay and foul smell. It was originally for storing food, wine, and other supplies, but no matter how good a basement or cellar is, things spoil after a dozen years or so.
Laine cautiously continued onward, his right wrist extending a blue Spiritual Blade, using it alongside the torch to light up the dim basement environment.
He passed through a moldy room used for storing food and entered the inner chamber.
"I see." Passing through the outer storeroom, the inner environment finally explained to Laine why this basement was so large.
Because the Ancient Saint's compass was immense, truly immense. The compass, at least over five meters in diameter, was engraved with countless intricate patterns and runes, and the markings used to record time had extended beyond its borders — proving it had been over ten millennia since the Ancient Saint came to this world.
At the center of the giant compass, a dazzling star illuminated the surroundings. Encircling this star, all compasses formed perfect circles and various complex forms around the central star, creating a harmonious and perfect unity of squares, rectangles, polygons, and rhombuses.
Approaching the compass, Laine hung the torch on the wall, ensuring no one nearby or anything in the void was observing him. The White Wolf Knight raised his head and reached out a hand toward the enormous compass.
Pure pale blue Spiritual Energy accompanied the man's movement, slowly being infused into the compass. Fresh chapters posted on NoveI~Fire.net