Foro Neem
Early morning, after staying the night at Ienos Village.
After giving our thanks to the village elder for letting us stay, we quickly departed towards [Foro Neem].
Going by the map, it was quite close from here, and should quickly come into our view within an hour or so.
Charlotte said the area was as big as the capital itself, so I thought we’d instantly notice it as soon as we get close but………..
“The map says it should be right here but, I don’t see anything different.”
“You sure that map’s right!? I don’t see no giant ancient ruins anywhere!”
“I checked it as well but, this is indeed the correct place. If it really isn’t here then that’d mean the map is completely wrong.”
For a moment I wondered if we had been fed false info but, that felt like a stretch at this point plus, from what we heard from the village elder, Klaus and his troupe also went in this direction as well.
The people of [Ienos Village] didn’t know of the name or existence of [Foro Neem] itself though so not getting the exact details from Charlotte was a miss on my part.
I got all the details of the insides of the ruin but, for something that’s supposedly as big as the capital, I really thought I’d easily find it as long as I have a map.
“Hey, we’re at a dead end clearly! What now, do we go back to the capital?”
“Of course not. If we trust the map, it should be in this area. But, if we can’t find it with our bare eyes then…….”
“Are you saying it’s——–invisible, or something?”
“That’s not entirely out of the line of possibility but, it’s more likely that it’s simply……….below us.”
When I pointed downwards, Ralf made a stupefied face as he tilted his head.
“Below………are you saying the entire thing is underground?”
“That’s my guess, at least. There should be an entrance somewhere at least. I tried to search with my life presence detect skill but I don’t see anything so let’s split up and look for it.”
“Damn, if this entire giant things is underground, it must be incredible! I was nervous before, but now I’m just getting excited instead!”
All of split up and began to look for anything that may be the entrance.
If the ruins are as big as they told me, I doubt it should be that hard to find so……….
“Hey Chris! Esta! I think I found it! Come here!”
Just then, I heard Ralf shout that from afar.
It’s been at most 10mins since we started searching so I didn’t expect to find it this quickly but, if this entrance is real then the ruins are indeed entirely underground.
I quickly ran towards his voice and met up with Ralf who was standing in front of giant hold in the ground.
“Ralf, don’t shout too loudly. I think we’re fine since it’s so open here but, Klaus is waiting for us inside, don’t forget that.”
“Ah, my bad. I was so excited to find it, I just instinctively shouted. But……….for just the entrance, ain’t this a bit too big? It’s sorta similar to the one we saw near Oxter in design but, in terms of size this is on a whole different level!”
It was as Ralf said, this one completely dwarfed the ruins entrance we found near Oxter.
There was a massive, perfectly square shaped hole that seemed to go deep underground here.
The stairs seemed to be made of some high quality stone as well and it really stood out against the natural greenery surrounding it.
“They said that great duels used to take place deep inside this area! The princess said that a tournament to decide the strongest warrior in the country would be held inside this place, didn’t she!? Perhaps this was a place that warriors of all kinds used to admire and were attracted to once upon a time?”
Ralf muttered with sparkling eyes but, I’m sure, it probably wasn’t anything that glamorous.
Judging by the structure, it must have taken a huge amount of money to build something like that so, rather than a place warriors admire, it was probably more of a amusement and entertainment spot for the rich.
Even when looking at the map of the interior that was the feeling I got. A place where unsightly men gathered so that they could bet money and enjoy gladiator-esque battles to the death to satisfy their twisted desires and greed. I’m confident that was what this place was actually like.
An arena this big was made underground probably to keep it out of sight of the normal people. A classic camouflage.
While I was cynically analyzing the place beside Ralf who had his head in the clouds, Esta and Snow also joined up with us after hearing Ralf’s shout.
“It seems you have found the entrance. It really was entirely underground huh………I guess judging by the size of the entrance alone, it really must be massive inside. But, for an ancient ruin, it surprisingly hasn’t been worn down as much as I had imagined.”
“Well, it collapsing would be the biggest worry after all. And considering its an arena first and foremost, it must have been built sturdy to be able to endure all the harsh battles that may occur inside. Well, it does take away my own worry of it collapsing so at least that’s a plus.”
“I mean yeah, getting buried alive even after you beat Klaus would really be the dumbest way to die! I imagine Charlotte probably considered that in her plans as well when choosing this as the place.”
“I assume so. There’s no chance of anybody seeing us no matter how crazy our fighting gets, and it being an ancient ruin probably made it easy to make an excuse to send him here as well. It really is the perfect location, like she said.”
I once again gave my gratitude to Charlotte for making these arrangements for me, and then got ready to finally enter the ruins itself.
I breathed in the fresh air deeply, exhaled, and then——–
“Alright, Let’s go in and face Klaus.”
Saying that to Ralf, Esta and Snow, I took my first step inside [Foro Neem].
