Paragon of Mana

Dawn spent over three hours recovering the mural painting, cutting it out herself from the stone wall. Ember asked if he could help, but she persuaded him not to, telling him that more hands might spoil the artwork.

The task needed some precise work, she had said. She'd call him when she needed something broken.

Even still, it shouldn't have taken three full hours, not after Ember had seen her masterful work in various other instances. But when it came to that mural, she moved at a snail's pace, painstakingly careful with every move she made, lest she damage the image. She also laid some preservation runescript on it while she was at it.

After finishing carving out the stone painting of the Executioner and the Lady of Light, she gazed at the image one last time. That was who the other figure was, according to her. Then, the two-metre-tall and four-metre-wide stone section disappeared into her inventory as if it had never existed there.

Ember didn't ask how much space she had left in her inventory. He'd assumed it wasn't much when she said he wouldn't be taking any waste from the goblins. But that certainly wasn't the case, as evidenced by the massive slab she just stowed away.

"Well, where to now?" he asked.

She spared him a smile. "Now that I have handled the heavy stuff, let's explore a little more. Then we'll find a way out. One of my constructs is already working on finding an exit."

There were a couple more empty chambers near the laboratory. They were mostly empty, containing only hearths and crafting stations. If there had been anything valuable, it had already been stripped long ago.

There was a meeting room and another that seemed to be for loading materials. Unfortunately, both lay bare, steeped in dust. There seemed to be nothing left other than the hearths, built into the walls. But Dawn didn't fancy those, and he lacked the equipment to carry them.