Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 378 - 377: Soldrin’s Exploration

No Rebellion Fortress, southern area of Cecil territory.

The light of the Portable Magic Crystal Lamp illuminated the dark and gloomy passage of the ancient ruins. Accompanied by the advancement of the light, the crisp sound of combat boots on the stone floor broke the eternal silence that had persisted in this corridor for centuries.

A Soldier wearing light armor emerged from around the corridor corner. The armor he wore was different from most combat profession armors of this era. It looked like a fitted soft leather armor, but crucial positions like the chest and waist were covered with solid steel plates. And on the soldier’s back, there appeared a small "pack" resembling a shrunken combat field pack. On the soldier’s left wrist, there was a device resembling a light military-use Magic Transmission Terminal.

This equipment seemed like a lightweight version of the current Cecil standard infantry set.

The soldier wore a helmet of strange design on his head, an all-encompassing helmet made of metal that covered the entire head, even the eyes. Where there would typically be a viewing slit on the visor, there were only two dark red crystal grids, resembling some kind of goggles or a viewfinder. At this moment, these "goggles" made of crystals were emitting a faint red magical glow.

The light illuminating the corridor came from the front of the military-use Magic Transmission Terminal equipped on the soldier’s left hand. The highly versatile Magic Transmission Terminal can accommodate various extension modules. With the continuous deepening of Rune Research Center’s simplification work on low-tier magic circles, after the initial version of the heat-ray gun, modules like the Forcefield Shield, Arcane Missile Launcher, and Electric Lance were quickly developed, and a lighting device with a simpler structure and cheaper energy consumption naturally became a standard feature of the Magic Transmission Terminal. The light remained consistently bright, unlike torches that easily extinguish or cause fires, making the Magic crystal lamps an essential function for exploration in dark areas.

The soldier swept the light from his lamp across the corridor ahead, then pressed a button on his temple on the helmet. The crystal "goggles" that emitted red light dimmed and gradually became transparent ordinary crystals. A low voice came from under his visor: "No abnormal magical reaction."

More footsteps followed from behind. A dozen similarly equipped soldiers emerged. The light from the Magic crystal lamps made this section of the corridor as bright as day. Then Soldrin, dressed in a hunting suit, walked among the soldiers. This High-Ranked Ranger examined the soldiers’ attire and actions, nodding slightly: "Not bad, maintain this state; proceed with caution. Dom, how does the goggle feel to use?"

"It’s... fascinating," Dom, who had been responsible for reconnaissance earlier, shook his head and tapped the crystal piece before his eyes. "So this is the view Mages see when observing magic power..."

Soldrin gave the soldier a glance: "I didn’t ask you to marvel at it."

"Yes!" Dom quickly stood at attention. "The view is clear; you can see the magic flow quite clearly, but there are many light spots jumping around in the field of view. It gets uncomfortable after a while... and this helmet is a bit stuffy."

"This is a prototype, and each helmet has different minor differences. I will record the issues you mentioned and have the technicians modify them when we return," Soldrin nodded, "We continue forward."

"Yes!"

The soldiers responded in unison, then reorganized the exploration queue and cautiously continued along the corridor.

Soldrin continued to walk at the back of the team, vigilant against the dark corners that the lamps couldn’t illuminate.

With his High-Ranked Ranger prowess, being in this position was enough to oversee the entire team—even if an emergency situation arose.

Observing these "Steel Cavalry" soldiers, equipped with various types of magic infantry gear, which differed entirely in equipment design, combat style, and movement from any regular units of this era, filled the High-Ranked Ranger with deep emotion.

The weapons and equipment of these soldiers were all newly designed. Even before practical wear, these items underwent a series of tests and validations in the laboratory— thanks to the presence of Nicholas Egg, a master craftsman in metalwork, the production to testing of such sophisticated equipment was incredibly fast. Moreover, since some of the Steel Cavalry’s equipment was, in fact, modified from existing mature technology within the territory, these experimental equipment quickly reached the hands of the soldiers.

According to Gawain, the territory’s industrial production should not over-rely on Nicholas Egg’s abilities but instead realize self-sustainability of industrial chains to achieve "getting off the external aid" (although no one knew what that ’external aid’ referred to). Still, in prototyping samples or configuring equipment for special units like the "Steel Cavalry," Nicholas Egg remained an indispensable aid.

It was also due to Nicholas Egg’s efforts that Soldrin could see his Steel Cavalry fully armed so soon (although a few key pieces of equipment were still in development with no finished products) and witness the incredible power held by these so-called "magic infantry" weapons.

Now, he finally comprehended why Gawain persisted in manufacturing numerous, low-cost magical devices accessible to ordinary people; this path... was indeed feasible.

While contemplating this, a soldier’s report reached Soldrin’s ears: "Commander, there’s an isolation gate ahead, very large, with residual magical reaction, it might... it might be a Type I gate!"

Soldrin quickly raised his head, looking towards the passage ahead.

At the end of a wide, ancient yet still solid corridor, a black door devoid of energy was clearly blocking the road ahead.

Soldrin recalled the intelligence he had gathered previously with Byron Kirk’s handover—in this ancient "No Rebellion Fortress," there are various isolation corridors and gates classified into three categories according to functionality and size. Type III barriers are ordinary doors within the fortress’s areas, usually just entrances and exits of rooms, most having lost power, but due to their weak strength and simple structure, they can be technically unlocked (or destroyed); Type II barriers are isolation doors meant to separate fortress areas; these are larger, more solid, but most auxiliary energy sources are still operational, most can be opened with Kamel’s unlocking method; Type I barriers are the largest, located on the main passageways, such doors...

Currently, only a few have been discovered, located in the ruins entrance hall. They serve as access points to the No Rebellion Fortress.

Soldrin’s expression became serious; he gestured for the soldiers to come closer to him, then took the lead, arriving at the door.

Once close enough, he became more certain of the soldier’s assessment—

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This gate is massive, located at the end of a large corridor suspected to be a main passage. Beside the gate, ancient identification devices can be seen, and the entire door seems to be forged from purple steel...

This is not an ordinary gate used to separate areas; it is a main isolation gate.

Have they reached the southern end of the Defied Fortress?

So quickly to the end?

Soldrin was a bit surprised. He knew the fortress was immense, with endless dark corridors hiding one unknown area after another. Thus, he was prepared for long-term action when he set out exploring, but today was only his sixth day inside the fortress, and there were still four days left until the extreme exploration time of one week—had he already reached the southern end of the fortress?

"Stay alert—lights, illuminate all dark places. Odd-numbered troop members, activate reconnaissance goggles. Even-numbered troop members, assist in observation."

Soldrin swiftly issued a series of commands, and the soldiers responded quickly. Every corner of this broad corridor was illuminated brightly by the glow from the Magic crystal lamps, while Soldrin alone approached the heavy, ancient purple steel gate, looked up at the inscriptions on it.

Soldrin could understand the ancient Gondor script. There was a line marked on the door:

"Ahead, Shadow Testing Grounds."

Is another testing ground beyond the gate?

Soldrin looked at the purple steel gate before him, feeling both surprised and curious. He immediately realized something unusual about the so-called "Shadow Testing Grounds."

What separates "Shadow Testing Grounds" from the main body of the Defied Fortress is a "Type-I Gate"—a door that theoretically could serve as the main entrance of the fortress, extremely sturdy and exhibiting extraordinary magical resistance!

With seven hundred years of experience accumulated from travels across the continent, Soldrin immediately judged the door before him: although it looks like the fortress’s entrance and exit in scale, this door is probably not the southern border of the Defied Fortress but should merely be an especially reinforced protective barrier. On the other side of this door lies another crucial area of the Defied Fortress!

"Sir, should we attempt to open this door?" a soldier asked, his goggles flashing dark red light. "There is still magic power flowing through the door; it seems the gate access isn’t broken."

Soldrin thought for a moment and decisively shook his head: "Leave a mark on the map, set up a Magic Web Unit and lighting here, then return. Come back when everything is ready."

"Yes!"

The soldier complied with the order, while Soldrin turned back, taking one last look at the purple steel door.

He actually wanted to know more about what was beyond the door than the soldiers did, but he hadn’t forgotten this was merely a drill-type exploration mission—taking the Steel Cavalry training soldiers to explore the ruins was partly for practice and partly to test those newly designed equipment. This action was already quite bold, for even with the technical skill of Saint Nicholas Egg and the supervision from him, a High-Ranked Ranger, soldiers using test equipment still faced significant risks. Encountering danger within the ruins along with sudden equipment failure was considered from the start by everyone involved. So, before setting out, Soldrin received orders from Gawain—explore for no more than a week, no more than one region, avoid high-risk areas, and prioritize retreat in encounters with combat.

Now facing the unknown "Shadow Testing Grounds," he decided to follow Gawain’s command to temporarily retreat, report the situation upward after returning, and prepare before coming again.

This wouldn’t take long—although it took the team a full six days to reach here due to ongoing map drawing, exploring pathways, and setting guide lights, it would only take about a day if swiftly traveling back and forth.

...

At the same time, in the study of Cecil feudal lord residence, Gawain finished reviewing the documents, leaned back in his expansive chair, and confirmed no one would disturb him during this period. He then slightly cleared his mind and sketched the communication channel with surveillance satellites in his mind.

The monitoring images from the synchronous orbit gradually emerged, forming a stable view in Gawain’s conscious world. In that overlooking perspective, he clearly saw the mountains and plains of the northern parts of the Loren Continent.

He began to gradually close in on the view and continued to subtly adjust the satellite map monitoring area.

His gaze swept across the southern borders of Anzu, then moved slowly towards the northeast, gradually over Gran Territory, over the eastern region of Anzu Kingdom...

The image stopped moving and gradually closed in, enlarged. On a relatively flat small plain, he saw a somewhat blurry fortress standing on a stony plateau.

Winterhold Castle.

Gawain shifted into a more comfortable position, patiently adjusting the images from surveillance satellites that were slightly out of focus due to aging.