Chapter 180: Stone City
The Cats qualified. They entered the round of 16 as third in their group, but this time, they were decisive against their opponents and advanced to the quarterfinals.
The Elemental Academy, Angelic Wave, and finally the House of Fire also made it to the quarterfinals.
House of Fire even beat a second-place team from another group to reach the quarterfinals, proving that they were not weak at all.
Zargo Academy, Rain Academy, and The Cats were from the same group, and all three had made it to the quarterfinals. So, two groups fought in the quarterfinals to see which was the real Group of Death.
In other groups, the Clark Group and Rhino Group had also qualified.
And the matchups were already decided.
First quarterfinal match:
Elementary Academy vs. Angelic Wave.
The Cats vs. Zargo Academy.
Clark Group vs. Rhino Group.
Rain Academy vs. House of Fire.
Among those, the first match was the most eagerly awaited. Everyone knew it. The Elemental Academy hadn’t given it their all during the Group Stage. That mysterious Dark Cloak was still waiting on the bench to make an appearance, and sometimes the presence of a single person was enough to change the course of everything.
The rest of the matches didn’t seem very interesting. The only interesting thing was that a team from the two most dominant groups would eliminate their groupmate.
Although many were curious about the Rain Academy and the House of Fire. In addition, the Clark Group still had characters waiting to appear.
This was when all the teams got serious.
And that is precisely why people paid special attention to the upper bracket.
There are at least three guilds that should be able to compete for the championship.
Out of four guilds.
-
In Angelic Wave’s room, Elliot and the others looked at the keys. Some were worried.
"What bad luck. The Clark Group has it free to pass underneath. The House of Fire is certainly not the same as usual, and the Rain Academy could barely be a little above this one. Rhino has never been a group that stands out, and they still have foreigners waiting to fight. Tsk."
Steward complained.
While they had to beat the Elemental Academy and then possibly the Zargo Academy, the only undefeated group alongside them to reach the finals, the Clark Group only had to beat Rhino and a weakened House of Fire (or perhaps a Rain Academy that doesn’t have powerful foreigners).
It was too easy on one side and too difficult on the other, indicating that this bracket was uneven.
But that was fine. To reach the top, they had to defeat the best anyway, so it was completely fine.
Even so, they still had time, so they didn’t need to worry.
After that, they returned to the guild, and Elliot went to meet with Ilsen Ann; he had some information for him.
Over the past few days, Elliot had come to believe that Ilsen was actually someone he could trust. His summon had been able to get close to him and eavesdrop on a few things, which made him realize that Ilsen was actually being quite sincere about his intentions and the missions he was asking Elliot to complete.
"Young Master, you are quite effective. So far, you have not failed, and I think that is quite good, as it has allowed me to move almost freely these days." Ilsen praised him sincerely.
Elliot smiled. "I’ve gotten quite a bit of information these days, regarding something I need as well."
"Hm? Something I can give you information about?"
"Maybe. Somehow, those guys seemed to have it. Since they have good relations with the Clarks and apparently will soon use that for something, I need to find information about it."
"Don’t beat around the bush, young sir. Go ahead and ask. If I know and think it might be useful to you, or at least won’t kill you, I’ll answer."
"I want to know where the place they call ’The Clark Ancestral Lands’ is located. It’s important."
Ilsen couldn’t help but be surprised and nodded several times.
"I see. That place, huh." He looked thoughtful. "It’s hard to know, honestly. They’re the only Clan that has Ancestral Lands, where they keep secrets from the past, so they keep it very well hidden. But I do know something." He spoke.
"Do you have a map of the entire territory of Loen and the surrounding area?" he asked, looking at him.
Elliot had one, so he took it out immediately.
Ilsen looked thoughtful for a moment, then grabbed a marker. "To my knowledge, the Ancestral Lands of Clark are located where there used to be a city. In this area. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Ruins at the Bottom of the Cliff. Right now, they look like rocks and are hidden among them and the trees."
He marked an area that made Elliot frown.
Wasn’t that the place where he almost fell that time, in the Forest of Tall-Ar?
He had no idea that there had been a city there before, and Ilsen could see it in his eyes, so he smiled.
"It’s not a recent city. It’s a city from the era before the System. No one knows why, but some of its buildings, mechanisms, and other structures turned to stone in just a few years. It’s believed that some beast may have attacked it with those capabilities."
"The ruins of a city before the System?" He frowned and looked at him. "Why would the Clark Ancestral Lands be in a place like that? How could they be in a place that was destroyed before their creation?"
Ilsen simply shrugged, saying, "I have no idea. That’s all I know. In fact, you’ve been going into the Ancestral Library, haven’t you?"
"Yes." Elliot nodded.
"Well, then, read the book about the Stone City. There you will understand what I’m telling you."
Elliot frowned. He had seen that book, but hadn’t paid much attention to it. He wasn’t interested in reading about a fantasy city... or so he thought.
’It wasn’t fantasy? It was a true story?’ He was confused.
But even so, he thanked Ilsen for the information. After that, he left.
Ilsen watched him from a distance and sighed.
’I hope you find something that will help you survive, little one. It could come back to haunt you, a misfortune that not even a saint could save you from.’
Ilsen got up and left in the other direction.
-
"I still have five days off," he thought, looking at the 25th.
The quarterfinals would start on the 30th, so he had time.
He grabbed his phone and dialed Jenna’s number.
"Elliot?" she answered quickly.
"Jenna, let’s go out and visit a place."
"Is it a date?" she asked quickly.
Elliot smiled. "Well, maybe. Although it’s a date to dangerous places."
"Hahaha, adventurous dates are my favorite. Where are you?"
"I’ll pick you up. Wait for me at your apartment."
"Great!" Excited, Jenna ran to get dressed, knowing that they were going to a dangerous place, she knew she had to bring clothes for fighting.
Meanwhile, Elliot walked through the city. First, he stopped by the Library and, with the administrators’ permission, took out a book about the City of Stone. Then he went to pick up Jenna.
-
A short time later, they both left the city together. They didn’t go by car, as they soon had to enter the Forest.
"Tall-Ar again?" she asked. "I don’t have very good memories of it." She shuddered a little, but smiled.
Elliot nodded. "And you’ll have worse memories soon."
Although he said that, he didn’t answer her question about the reasons, and they simply went deeper into the forest.
Unlike the last time they came, when they were weak, the nearby beasts had no intention of approaching them this time.
None of them attacked, so they quickly reached their destination.
Jenna frowned.
"This ravine? It certainly doesn’t bring back very good memories."
And soon they began to climb down the rocks. It was the same as before, except some dried blood was nearby.
Someone must have died here and been devoured by the beasts.
At the bottom were many rocks, some shaped like stakes, extending further than Elliot remembered.
There was also a forest down there.
It was part of the main area marked by Ilsen.
"Why did we come here?" Jenna asked as they descended.
"I was told there was a city here long ago." He jumped down to the ground and touched one of the rocks. "It is said that these rocks are part of the ruins of a city."
Jenna came over and touched the stones. "Could it be about the Stone City?" she asked, amazed. "Is it here, or is it somewhere similar?"
"Have you read about it?" Elliot looked up at her, and Jenna nodded.
"Yes. In Tanafler and recently in the Library. Although some said it was a fantasy story, it’s an interesting story."
Elliot nodded. "I originally thought it was. But I’ve just been told that it’s not. That it’s real." As he said this, Elliot grabbed a piece of rock and broke it.
Suddenly, he was stunned.
The inside of the rock...
It was peculiar.
It wasn’t a rock.
No. Rather, it was a rock, but different.