My Magic Has No Upper Limit

Marcus said nothing, just silently sketched the route in his notebook.

But after rounding a mountain pass, the squad members all stopped in their tracks.

"Holy shit..."

Gray rubbed his eyes, suspecting he was seeing things. "Is this for real...?"

"Unbelievable..." Zelir muttered.

A massive castle had appeared on a distant mountain peak!

It wasn’t built on level ground; instead, it rose straight up from a steep cliff face.

It was as if it were an extension of the mountain range itself, blending seamlessly with the main peak.

The main structure of the castle was magnificent, built from countless blocks of gray stone.

In Zelir’s experience, the Wenmier Clan’s Rose Castle in Falling Leaves Town was already what he would consider magnificent.

But the presence of this ancient castle far surpassed that of Rose Castle.

It was situated at the highest point of the surrounding mountain range.

The master who lived within could look down upon everything, their gaze sweeping over the surroundings like the ruler of a Kingdom from their very own palace.

Of course, this Kingdom had undoubtedly long since fallen.

The sheer scale of the castle could not hide its dilapidated state.

Ruined ramparts stretched along the mountain ridge, broken and discontinuous.

The tallest spires had cracked, their upper portions severely collapsed.

Even the walls were riddled with large, gaping holes.

Further down, the outer walls were covered in dark green vines.

"What a sight..." Valles remarked with awe.

"Now *this* is what a ruin should look like!" Marcus’s eyes lit up.

Now they knew where the glowing entrance to the third level of the ruins was.

But as the saying goes, mountains are always farther than they look.

The Ruined Castle looked deceptively close, as if they could reach it simply by crossing the next mountain.

But only when they actually started walking did they experience the harsh reality of the distance.

The squad walked for several hours. When they looked back, their starting point hadn’t seemed to shrink much at all. When they looked up, the castle was still far off in the distance.

"I have a suggestion..."

Gray heaved a deep sigh and listlessly raised his hand.

"Why don’t we just rent some horses to bring in next time? All this walking is torture."

On previous quests, the squad had always rented a carriage; they hadn’t traveled on their own two feet in a long time.

That was something only broke Adventurers did.

But now, three days into the ruins, they had spent nearly the entire time walking.

Besides, they had just fought a major battle, which made it all the more torturous.

"You’re just lazy," Valles said, shooting Gray a sideways glance.

"If I manage to bring a horse in next time, you’re not riding it," Gray retorted, glaring.

"Well, I could make an exception for that..." Valles cleared his throat.

Hill chuckled beside them.

"Can we even bring mounts in here?" Zelir was also quite tempted by the idea.

Walking was not only exhausting but also inefficient. A mount would undoubtedly be much better.

"I don’t know... but it should be possible, right?"

Gray said.

"I mean, people can get in, so a horse should be fine... If worse comes to worst, we’ll just slip the Adventurer’s Association some extra money to get a permit for the horse."

"A horse is too big. If we’re bringing mounts, a Land Bird would be better," Marcus said.

"Could a Land Bird even carry you?" Gray raised an eyebrow.

A vein pulsed on Marcus’s forehead.

"All right, all right... Stop complaining."

Zelir waved his Magic Wand and cast Vitality Granting on the whole group.

Gentle ripples of energy spread out from Zelir, silently washing over each of his teammates.

The deep-seated soreness and fatigue in their muscles melted away, soothed by the Magic Energy.

A fresh wave of vitality coursed through their bodies.

However, Zelir’s Blue Bar, which had recovered to around 50% after he leveled up, dropped by another small chunk.

After all, he had cast the spell on five people.

The team’s spirits lifted, and they prepared to set off once more.

But just then, Hill’s ears twitched as her sharp gaze fixed on a spot up ahead.

She whispered.

"Something’s up."

The squad was instantly on guard.

Zelir looked in the direction Hill was pointing.

It was a gentle slope.

But from the bottom of the slope, the crisp sound of clashing metal gradually grew louder.

The sound was familiar... It was the noise made by something clad in Armor.

Zelir narrowed his eyes.

Soon, two shambling figures crested the gentle slope, appearing in the squad’s line of sight.

They were two humanoid-shaped things.

They were about the same height as humans and wore sets of decaying Armor covered in green verdigris and red rust.

The same was true for the swords they held; the blades were nicked and covered in spreading patches of rust.

’If I got cut by one of those... I’d probably need a Dispel Skill to cure the poison on top of a Healing Skill.’

The reason he called them "things" was that underneath their helmets, they didn’t have normal faces at all.

Their faces looked as if the flesh had been melted by intense heat, leaving indistinct lumps of meat hanging from the bone. They were completely inhuman.

Upon seeing the Adventurer Squad, the two zombie-like creatures immediately let out muffled, guttural roars.

Then they staggered forward in a charge!

Valles’s gaze sharpened, but just as he was about to draw his bow, he heard Zelir’s calm voice.

"I’ll handle them."

He leveled Night Peace, and two Arcane Missiles shot out in quick succession!

BANG! BANG!

Two explosive reports.

The Rhombus Missiles punched clean through the decaying Armor on their chests and exited out their backs.

Their bodies swayed for a moment before they collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

A notification popped up on his data panel.

[Successfully killed Decayed.]

Level 36 (133/850) -> Level 36 (229/850).

Zelir raised an eyebrow.

’So these Demons are called the Decayed, huh...’

’Judging by their strength, they probably haven’t reached the ’Difficulty’ rating yet.’

’A single Arcane Missile can take one out instantly.’

’Still, 48 Experience Points per kill is a lot more than a goblin gives.’

’It’d be nice if they came in groups.’

"What the hell are these things..."

Gray went up and prodded the two dead Decayed with his boot.

It wasn’t like he’d never seen humanoid Demons before.

But those were either Undead Creatures like Skeleton Soldiers—nothing but bones driven by residual malice after death.

Or they were creatures of flesh and blood, like the Goblin Minotaur, whose appearances were only vaguely humanoid.

But these two...

Gray pulled off their helmets.

The faces beneath the helmets sent a nauseating chill down his spine.

On the heads, which had not yet fully rotted away, most of the skin and muscle had melted off, exposing the yellowish-brown bone beneath.

But some half-melted, half-congealed fatty tissue still clung to the cheekbones like slugs.

Then, Marcus and Valles came over to help strip the Armor from the bodies.

It wasn’t high-grade Plate Armor, but something more akin to basic Zha Armor.

Besides, most of the plates were already corroded, and only a small portion was usable.

But it was Armor, nonetheless...

If they salvaged it, they could still sell it for a decent price.

After dismantling the parts that a Blacksmith Shop might accept and handing them to Zelir to store, the squad continued toward the Ruined Castle.

The closer they got to the Ancient Castle, the more frequently the Decayed appeared.

Some hid in the shadows, while others simply leaned against large trees by the path, looking as if they were dozing.

They would only startle awake when the squad drew near.

Zelir took them all on, dispatching each with a single Arcane Missile.

His Experience Points rose from Level 36 (229/850) to Level 36 (682/850).

After trekking for several more hours, the party finally reached the outskirts of the Ruined Castle.

The majestic Ancient Castle now stood right before them. The visual impact up close was even more breathtaking than seeing it from a distance.

It occupied an entire, solitary mountain peak. To reach it, they would first have to cross the massive stone bridge that spanned the bottomless abyss before them.

By now, the sun had passed its zenith and was slowly sinking toward the western mountains.

Standing before the wide stone bridge that spanned the abyss, Marcus added the final touches to his map.

From the first level of the ruins, to the Temple entrance, and now to the entrance of the Ancient Castle—it was all recorded.

He breathed a sigh of relief, put away his small notebook, and turned to his teammates.

"All right, shall we head back?"

Everyone nodded, agreeing it was time to turn back.

They had no intention of delving into the Ancient Castle just yet, sticking to the strategy they had decided on earlier.

They were tired, and it was time to head back.