Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 463 Unknown Device
It's not that there's no such thing as a two-handed long staff, but the problem is that I've never seen one this wild. A staff of this size is probably only suitable for the legendary berserker mage.

Upon closer inspection, something unusual was discovered: the staff was made of what appeared to be black gold, and the top was cast in the shape of a skeletal angel, with a flawless ruby ​​embedded in each of the skull's eye sockets.

The strange thing is that it's not a problem with the shape. Generally speaking, the staff head, as the core of a staff, always carries the function of the hub of energy and spell circuits. But when you look closely, you will find that the staff head, which looks extraordinary, is just a shape. The magical aura and fluctuations all point to the end of the staff.

Um? interesting.

Aroused by curiosity, the mage quickly walked around to the back of the statue to observe the end of the staff.

The end of the staff is quite peculiar, with a cylindrical body from which straight wings extend. The surface is uneven, with grooves, engravings, pits, and raised dots covering the entire end of the staff.

"The craftsmanship is quite exquisite, but what kind of staff has spell circuits and nodes engraved on its surface?"

The drow mage Taybion, who had accompanied the expedition, commented on the object before him with some bewilderment.

Zhang Yuan simply cast a spell, but even after releasing the identification technique, he only received a vague answer: the object was incomplete and might be part of some kind of instrument.

After a moment's thought, he figured this thing was probably a lever or switch on some kind of device or instrument, but whatever it was, it was at least something extraordinary about it.

Nonsense, although the appraisal result is vague, in Master Zhang's eyes it's practically as if the words "key item for the mission" are blatantly written on his forehead.

Just to be on the safe side, the mage and the others took a few steps back and waited in ambush. The Soul Splitter, who had received the order, stepped forward and took the object that looked like a staff-shaped key.

The process of obtaining the staff was as smooth as picking a watermelon at a market. The Soul Splitter, holding the item, retreated to the mage's side, and the whole process was completely uneventful.

Moreover, the subsequent exploration of the tomb's main hall proceeded smoothly, so smoothly that even the sorcerer felt somewhat uneasy.

Apart from a few remaining traps, the whole process was not dangerous. After confirming that it was generally safe, the group was able to take the time to observe the detailed scene of the entire tomb.

The tomb chamber is very spacious, even larger than the castle's underground palace, and the statue is located at the center of the entire hall, dividing the tomb chamber into two parts.

The first half that everyone had just entered was quite spacious, with almost nothing else besides the ever-burning lamps and murals. The traps and mechanisms were all concentrated here, but these tricks were no match for the Word Bearers who were equally skilled in this art, nor could they stop the ferocious Soul Splitters. One by one, they were either dismantled and recycled or trampled into dust by Balasen's bull hooves.

The other half of the tomb behind the statue presented a different scene. As the exploration team slowly entered, it was as if they had moved from a plaza into a factory workshop. Towering instruments and equipment stood deep within, their dark blue hue under the light of the Spirit Pivot looked like lurking steel behemoths, making everyone who had just been attacked by the Shadow Steel Golem feel a little uneasy.

With the Soulbreaker, Shadow Fiend, and Tinker almost always by his side, the mage looked around at the facilities and felt that they were somewhat similar and familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what they were.

It wasn't until the dwarven stonemason Redval guessed and pointed out that one of the devices was probably analogous to a steel forging furnace that he realized it.

Could it be? Could it be that this is a golem factory? The tomb owner, who had a special obsession with golem construction, was still preoccupied with it even after death, and simply buried himself in the construction workshop in front of him.

No wonder, no wonder! I was wondering where that sense of déjà vu came from. It was because I used to spend a lot of time with Tyrande in the construction room back in Highhold, and the equipment and devices there were somewhat similar to this place.

The reason he didn't confirm it at first wasn't because he couldn't remember; quite the opposite, it was precisely because his memory was so good that he noticed too many differences amidst the similarities. This contradiction temporarily confused the sorcerer's judgment. A huge surprise overwhelmed Zhang Yuan's mind, but fortunately, with his previous experience as a precedent, his mind remained clear. He didn't rush to move the equipment, but steadily advanced to the center of the surrounding area.

That was a... coffin?

The monk and everyone present were a little uncertain. What they were seeing was indeed a regular rectangular prism, and its size was similar to that of a large coffin, only larger.

Logically speaking, if such a square box is placed in the center of a tomb, what else could it be but a coffin?

But if we're talking about a coffin, then another problem arises. Putting aside its all-metal nature, the pipes and cables connecting the metal coffin don't seem to fit the explanation of burial customs.

It's more like...

Could this be some kind of necromancy experiment? A cloning pod? A petri dish for undead?

Or, in the worst-case scenario, it is indeed a coffin, but the owner of the coffin may not have actually died in any sense.

Fortunately, the coffin lid was round and heavy, and remained firmly in its proper place, without giving everyone a chance to witness the coffin being opened and rising up.

If that were the case, I'm afraid our Master Zhang would immediately make a hasty retreat instead of calmly examining all sorts of strange things.

Since we're already here, and these precious instruments and equipment have been neglected for too long, how can I, as an aspiring practitioner on the path of arcane arts, bear to see them being wasted like this?

As for the danger?

If he were to be intimidated by such a scene, wouldn't all the experience he, Zhang, had accumulated since his days at the Flame Fist training ground be a joke?

Compared to the potential risks, the enormous profits within easy reach are truly tempting.

The mage stepped forward and took a closer look. The metal coffin lid was engraved with exquisite and intricate patterns, which seemed to be purely decorative. The entire magical circuit structure was hidden inside.

The mage, unable to decipher its mysteries even after a long while, simply set it aside, bypassed the metal coffin, and continued forward. After a few steps, he came to a place resembling an altar.

Calling it an altar is not accurate, because no altar would have a series of buttons and levers arranged to replace statues and sacred objects.

This scene reminded Zhang Yuan of the control consoles and operating rooms he had seen in his previous life. He even found something resembling a transistor display on the semi-circular panel, which was absurd.

The mage was not an unsophisticated person; he had visited his teacher Tyrandeil's construct workshop many times, but none of them had such a strong sense of technology. The facilities in front of him even seemed somewhat out of place here.

Thank you to adgjlouteq and A-yi for the monthly tickets!

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(End of this chapter)