The group had been walking for a little while and was still not seeing much. "I think it just goes straight forever." Since Gil was losing his patience not seeing anything change he had made this simple conclusion.


    "Then why are we starting to see that?" Remey pointed ahead and stuck her tongue out at Gil. Since Gil had been getting bored with seeing the same thing he had barely missed the sight of therge cave tunnel splitting.


    "I would say that we know this wasn''t made by monsters now, or at least it was made intentionally by some race using some magic or monsters." Su jogged ahead and looked at the wall between the fork in the tunnel. "There are some runes carved here. They are a little rough so maybe they aren''t the same as the other ancient runes we have seen.


    "I can give my all around appraisal a shot and see if it shows us anything. They do look different though." It was always worth the shot to use his appraisal skill. Worst case they were still in the same position that they were before.


    ''Ancient directional rune- (degraded)


    This rune used to be used for channeling a being''s mana and directing them toward a certain direction. This rune is severely deteriorated and very tough to use without causing further damage to it. This was nowhere near a perfect rune andcked the proper development.''


    "It''s older than the mage tower?" Since Alice had been interested in the light elemental floor of the mage tower, she had gone to view it. She wasn''t able to see and learn much since the mages that went with her could not make sense of everything to exin to her. Nut the experience had given her some guidance when it came to how the ancient runes looked. Therefore, she had the feeling that this rune was a worse version of the runes in the mage tower.


    "I would say you''re right. That could mean that these runes are from the same race but before they moved to the desert city. Still pretty amazing…I wonder why they would be underground?" Walker was trying toe up with theories but was totally lost. He had no idea why a race would move from the underground where the dwarves had been perfectly happy to the desert. They were two very harsh environments.


    "We might find more as we go. The real question is, brother, do we risk using the rune to see where it will point us?" Onyx was not willing to risk this unless everyone agreed. He wanted to see if they could trace the steps of this ancient civilization that seemed to have a much deeper history than the world currently knew.


    "That''s up to who should be the one to try it. Walker might have the best control of his mana, but I have the best magical defense. If anything happens I will be the least harmed and can have Walker and Remey help heal me with magic and potions." Su was willing to do this since it would push their exploration further. It would make a lot more sense.


    "I''m fine"


    "Let''s do it"


    "Mhm"


    "Looks like everyone agrees." Even Midnight was nodding her head next to Walker.


    "Then, Su will handle it." Onyx watched as Su pressed her hand to the rune on the wall. It was slow but a slight glow emanated from it. There was a slight trail of mana that extended toward the right side path before the rune seemed to lose shape and the stone on the wall deformed slightly.


    "I think we are going to the right…I also broke it." There was a sheepish tone in Su''s voice since she felt bad for breaking something ancient. However, it was for the explorations continuation. It needed to be risked.


    Walker nced back at the rune to see the status of warped broken directional rune taking the title of the previous appraisal. It was enough for Walker to wonder about the shapes of runes and how they might lose their purpose or functions when too much time or mana was added to them. But this was a thought forter. The tunnel had begun to change. There were small bits of rocks on the sides of it showing that this had been a much heavier traveled tunnel once upon a time. There were even still markings on the walls from things that had scraped against them while moving forward.


    "You don''t think they used to be a transportation tunnel of some sort, do you?" The thought hit Remey pretty hard. She could understand why the tunnels were sorge and covered so much ground. It also made much more sense why they would find a rune that sent travelers in a certain direction.


    "I would say you''re right. They are ancient, but there are pretty telltale marks from a merchant path. The soil is so soft because it used to be pretty t. This is what happens over time when those ttened damp trails be dry and slowly lose their structure." Gil proved his point by digging slightly to reveal the hardened soil underneath. It had indeed been a traveling trout at one point.


    "Then that means we might be in store to find something very good. Maybe that desert city that the desert elves found connects to a series of ancient tunnels that were made somehow. If so then the race that made them may have developed this way and eventually became stronger creating their best city yet?" It was all a theory of how the desert city had been created, but if the race lived underground at one point then it could be a way they survived the desert and surrounding areas.


    "Maybe we should just start looking at the walls. They might have some answers." Onyx had stopped slithering forward and was looking at the walls with intense focus.


    …..


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