The low humming noise of the air passing through various vents to the underground cellar of the monastery was menacing to some levels. Sylvester looked around himself and noticed the room didn't have much to call home. There was merely a bed in a corner, a table and chair, and some books on it.

The most reassuring thing, however, was the church symbol hanging on the wall near the door. This did show that at least Archpriest Aiden was a believer in Solis. But why was the other archpriest so hateful towards him?

"Felix, come in." He called his friend, whom he could consider a brother at this point. Over the years, he could only count on Felix to go to any lengths for him. The reasons were plenty, but above all—he was crazy.

"Keep an eye on the entrance to the cellar. I have a feeling that there is something hidden under the floor. I shall have to look around to find the entrance to it." He requested.

Felix noticed the seriousness in Sylvester's gaze, and being a Sanctum Inspector as well. He knew this was time to work, not goof around. "Got it, but don't go in there like a buffoon and call me."

"I won't."

Sylvester then started looking around. As known, the monastery in the town was not a small one. It had multiple floors and wings of corridors spread around, and that meant that the cellar was huge, too, since it held a lot of storage space and also rooms. But how big was it going to be, whatever was underneath it?

"Chonky, you start looking around too and try to find a keyhole where this thing could fit in. Or maybe some sort of a trap door… or any part of the wall from where you feel the air is coming out." He made the furry boy work as well.

"Aye aye, Maxy."

Sylvester reckoned the key the archpriest referred to was the key he found from the town's chief's son, the one that got him possessed. The key was purified now since he had already killed the demon attached to it, so it was still in his possession.

He looked around at the various corners, any stone in the wall that seemed out of place or furniture that had no reason to be there. He looked behind every single thing that blocked the view of the wall or a carpet. There was even an underground well full of water, it was understandable as they were in the desert and water levels were indeed very deep underground.

But, he could not find anything, and he was slightly frustrated since the place was too big to see every single inch of every wall. It was impossible.

'Is there any type of magic that can help me?' He wondered and thought hard.

Runes could help him unlock the doors, but there was no such things that could find the door for him. 'Hmm, I should use the fire magic and see if air hits the fire from any direction.'

So, he created a small flame on the tip of his finger and started moving around close to the cellar's walls. Since it was underground, the entrance could have been at any place.

'If the place is underground and so nicely kept as a secret, then it does not make sense how the Chief's son found this key. How did the key come out… or was it outside forever?'

"Maxy! Look!"

Hearing Miraj's voice, Sylvester rushed to see him in another part of the cellar. "What happened, Chonk… ah!"

"Hehe, I found so many bananas." Miraj appeared standing on top of a pile of goods. Sylvester reckoned that this was where the monastery kept its supplies.

"Chunky, do you want me to get angry? We are working right now, and I told you not to goof around when working." He warned.

"Work? Ah! The keyhole? Yes, I found it, Maxy. Follow me!"

Miraj kept a banana in his mouth and started running away. Sylvester followed behind, and soon they came to a dead end. "What's here?"

"Here, sit down and look at me," Miraj called him with his paws and showed a crack on the floor where four stones had their edges intersect. The key's end was shaped like a plus sign with hooks at the end too.

At one glance, Sylvester felt this was not the place, and it was a simple joint. But the more he looked at the other parts of the stone floor. He found they didn't have such cracks. 'No wonder I missed it. Only Chonky, with his low point of view, could have seen it."'

"Okay, step aside. I will try to put the key in it." He took out the strange but long metal key and inserted it into the gap. At first, he didn't have many expectations because he couldn't see any mechanism inside it.

Click!

"Does this sound like I earned one more banana?" Miraj cheekily asked.

Sylvester chuckled and ruffled Miraj's head. "Yes, one more. But where did the sound come from? The ground has no door, however, something did open up."

So yet again, their hunt for the location began. This time, however, it didn't take them long as Sylvester noticed something strange. "Wait, all the water in the well is gone… and there… seems to be a hole at the bottom?"

He called Felix quickly and told him they were to go inside the well. But the consistently strong knight seemed to have double thoughts about it. He kept looking at the deep dark well that seemed like a hole to hell.

"No, absolutely not! Look at it, man, it's so dark and deep, we don't even know how wide that hole is and where it leads to."

Sylvester, however, knew he had to go in to see whatever Archpriest was telling him about. And the key was unique. There was no way that it was all for nothing.

"I have light magic, so we can see everything easily. Besides, I know it's wide enough… trust me." Sylvester argued.

"How? Did you go in there?"

'Not me, but Chonky did.'

"I'm going in. You can either follow or stay here and wait for me." Sylvester jumped into the well and soon disappeared into the darkness like a candle diminishing slowly.

"This guy… now my clothes will get dirty again." Felix sighed and also jumped in. However, soon his loud screams echoed throughout, and also some unholy words left his mouth. "Aaaa… fuck you, Max… fucking lantern… son of a…"

Turns out, at the end of the well was a slimy slide that took them deeper down. For him, it was all darkness as he didn't have light magic.

Splash!

A few seconds later, he fell into waist-deep water. But thankfully, it was not all dark anymore as Sylvester was also there with his hand shining bright light all around. At a glance, they realized they were in an underground cave system as the ceiling appeared to be covered in stalactites all around. They were as big as horses and houses. They were also covered in algae due to humidity.

But, the place was not at all small, as they could not even see the end around them. But the sounds of water and air flowing around linger a hint of fear in their minds.

"Man, how are we going to get back up?" Felix asked.

Sylvester was indeed worried about that, but at the same time, they were wizards, and there was nothing to fear. They could always use Earth elements to create a way for themselves.

"Let's first look around and worry about returning later. Be careful; however, there could be holes in the ground as I'm sure some of those rocks from the ceiling fall regularly." He warned and started moving in a random direction, with each step being taken with care.

The water appeared to be black, however, so there was no way to look at the bottom. 'Ugh, don't like it… this is a cave.'

"What if a bloodling is here?" Felix asked.

Sylvester shrugged. "Then we fight… don't worry. I came prepared."

'The cat on my shoulder is my preparation.' He thought. Miraj was angered right now, though, as he had fallen into the water as well.

As they moved around in search of an end to the giant cave, they saw many natural wonders in the form of patterns on the ceiling.

"How deep underground are we?" Felix wondered.

"Likely a few dozen meters below, at least. We were already in the basement." Sylvester answered.

'Did the people who created the monastery know about this giant cave beforehand?' He wondered. 'Did the clergy place that keyhole or was it someone else?'

"Ah! Look there, Max!" Felix pointed in the opposite direction they were moving in. There appeared to be a dot of light far away in the distance. "Quick, stop using your light magic."

Sylvester did so and looked—and their jaws dropped. To call the place beautiful was an understatement as the patterns on the cave ceiling were shining in dim white light—a pure delight for sight.

He noticed something strange, however. "Let's go in that direction, Felix. The bright patterns on the ceiling appear to be brighter in that direction."

So they moved—and kept moving. They did not know how much time had passed, but they could feel they had been walking for a long time, and still, no end was in sight.

"How in the hell is this place so big? Does it span the whole town?" Felix complained.

Sylvester didn't speak. However, he was starting to feel strange all of a sudden. It was like a long-lasting buzz in his head that kept increasing.

'It seems we're on the right path.'

"Finally!" Felix exclaimed.

Sylvester stopped in his tracks, too, and again used his palm to spread the light magic all around. In front of them appeared to be ruins of a giant gray building structure… likely a castle. But it was in a broken state—covered in overgrown algae.

"Keep your sword ready!" He ordered Felix.

They then proceeded closer to the giant structure that seemed to touch the ceiling as well. 'It seems the structure was etched into the ground instead of being built with pieces.'

Sylvester kept his spear in his right hand, prepared to defend against anything that may come his way since the existence of a structure meant someone used to live there.

There was no door to the entrance, just an arch into the giant walls. They entered carefully and looked around.

Crunch!

"Ugh… did I step on something?" Felix looked down in disgust.

Sylvester knelt, however. "A skull? It does not appear to be of a human."

The skull appeared strange with horns and an elongated jaw, but Sylvester was reminded of the similar skulls he had seen some months ago.

"Let's look around more." Sylvester had a hunch about where he was, but he needed more proof. To find it, he decided to go near the walls of the building that were giving him a buzzing sound in the head. And sure enough, he noticed something etched on it. "The same crescent moon as the ruins we found in the Vine Forest—what does it mean?"

"Max! What language is this?" Felix exclaimed from a few meters away, staring at a wall with the help of a light crystal.

Sylvester rushed and took a glance. There were some etched letters on the walls. They were big and deep enough to have survived the corrosion of time. But they were shocking nonetheless, as he had only seen them once in his school days.

"This is… the Elder tongue!"

___________________

GT = 1 bonus chapter.

Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.

APE TOGETHER STRONG!