Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1861 (1833). Sealed Prison
In the night sky, the golden trees and the moon shone brightly together.

From the town in front of the college, you can hear the sound of the lake water surging, the sounds of large crabs and lobsters moving in the lake, and the occasional flapping of wings of a flying dragon soaring through the sky.

In the dimly lit room, it was already late at night, and Lan En was resting with his eyes closed.

But then, in the darkness, the amber cat's eyes opened slightly, glowing.

The Witcher reached for the alchemical pouch on the bedside table and pulled out a cone-shaped crystal.

The sound of the velvet ball, processed by the chaotic magic, transformed into a telepathic communication that entered the mind.

"Boss, I've spotted something! Come quick, to the place where we were talking during the day!"

Lan En propped himself up on the headboard and sat up.

The texture of the palm is uneven, and the people of the border region have an omnipresent belief in the golden tree; even the headboard of the bed is carved with tree-shaped patterns.

The Witcher silently left Tops's courtyard at night.

Although it was darker than during the day, the surroundings had a different kind of scenery.

For example, the golden tree is made even more beautiful and dazzling by the contrast of light and shadow.

This large tree, which possesses both material and energy characteristics, has leaves that, at night, fall continuously from its branches, creating a golden rain of light that scatters across the boundary of the dark blue night sky due to the contrast between light and shadow.

Like a dream.

Just like this immortal golden dynasty, an era governed by golden laws.

If Lann had just arrived at the border from the celestial rift, he might still have been awestruck by this perfect golden age of law.

But now that he has read books and begun to understand the world firsthand, he has naturally begun to demystify it.

The Golden Law appears perfect and wonderful, but in the shadows, this impression seems to hold true only in a vague sense.

Not long after, after crossing the lake fog that seemed even thicker at night, Lan En once again arrived at the western lakeshore where they had killed a group of cuckoo knights during the day.

On the lakeside stone path built by the Kalia royal family, the pyroxene stones used for lighting emit a faint, cold, bluish-green light.

The lightning on the unicorn's hooves attracted many large creatures in the lake.

But because it was small and fast, after a thrilling churning of the lake water and mud, the huge, hazy outlines in the mist gradually shrank back beneath the surface of the lake.

Lan En continued westward until he reached the location the velvet ball had described.

There, the Felyne, who had been lying on the ground in hiding, immediately jumped up and waved when she saw Lann and Qilin: "Here! Here!"

Lan En picked up the plush ball and headed southwest, guided by the kitten.

The terrain was rising visibly as they made their way up to the top of the hollow mountain wall where they had fought during the day.

"During the day, I thought I had lost them and would have to wait a while before I could find them again!"

The fluffy ball nestled on Lan En's shoulder and whispered something.

"But I didn't expect that, meow! Those people in red robes seem to be in a hurry. They sent several groups of people to inspect this area... How unprofessional, meow."

In the eyes of the fluffy ball, it had originally planned to keep an eye on things for a few more days. But unexpectedly, the fire-wielding martial arts cultivators brought the clues to its doorstep again that very day.

It gives you the feeling that you've put in a lot of effort and energy, only to find that the enemy is a complete novice.

“You are an Palico trained by both the Hunter’s Palico and the Lone Shadow Ninjas.” Lann didn’t seem surprised. “They are just a religious warrior group that has been guarding the cauldron of fire on the snowy mountain since the beginning.”

“It’s normal that you see them as amateurs when it comes to tracking and concealment.”

"Also, it's normal that you saw them frantically sending out several groups of people, because the deadline I gave them is approaching. We've arrived."

As it spoke, the Qilin stopped on a grassy area on the high ground.

The meadow was flat and natural, except for one spot.

It was a perfectly round depression, paved with neatly carved stone bricks.

The craftsmanship of the pit is completely out of place with the surrounding grass, and it is clear that it was newly built.

In the center of the depression was a large, circular floor tile with faint purple glowing patterns.

There were no fire-wielding martial arts practitioners stationed around, which also showed their lack of professionalism.

"I saw them circle around here several times, like they were checking something, meow."

The plush ball jumped off Lann's shoulder and peered into the pitted floor tiles from the edge of the hole.

"Huff?" The Qilin shook its head, making a sound. 'What's this for?'

“Sealed prison.” Lan En cautiously stepped into the pit. “A method of imprisonment in the border region. Defeated and suppressed enemies are placed in a small, isolated space nearby and sealed off.”

"Moreover, it seems that this place was not built for very long, and the sealing force is not very strong yet."

The Witcher stepped on the reliefs and engravings on the uneven floor tiles with the soles of his shoes, and looked around.

He learned about this method of imprisonment from Gideon Ofnier's collection of books.

If the person being imprisoned is highly regarded or powerful, then he should also be able to see many strangely shaped stones around the sealed prison.

These spherical stones, each with only one eye, spontaneously assemble into a long, worm-like shape. These strangely shaped stones stand around the sealed prison, with the top stone's eye fixed on the center, emitting a purple light that envelops the prison's central brickwork.

That's to strengthen the sealing of the prison.

However, this method of imprisonment is rather strange.

The sealed space formed by the sealed prison is maintained on the person sealed inside. Once the seal is formed, one must kill the person sealed inside to escape without special means.

The key question is, weren't all the people imprisoned inside already defeated and controlled? If they wanted to kill them, why didn't they just do it from the beginning?

In the end, Lan En could only conclude that this was a unique form of imprisonment in the borderlands, developed based on the fact that the souls of the 'Golden Tree People are immortal'.

And now, not long after the Flame Watchers descended from the snowy mountains, they have painstakingly built a sealed prison in the Lienia region.
Lan En already had a rough idea of ​​who was locked up inside.

"Want to go in, meow?" The fluffy ball looked up at Lan En from beside his leg.

“I’ll go in myself,” Lan En said, standing on the circular stone slab in the center of the pit. “You and Qilin will keep watch outside.”

"No problem, meow! Leave it to us!"

After receiving a response, Lann squatted down and began to trace the pattern on the round stone slab with his palm, following the instructions in Sir Hundred's Book.

The purple light on the sealed prison floor tiles suddenly intensified, quickly filling Lan En's vision as he looked down.

When he stood up again, the surrounding area was already enveloped in a semi-transparent curtain of purple light.

Outside the curtain, the scenery is no different from that around the sealed prison, but it is inaccessible and cannot be reached.

This sealed prison is only this big.

After standing up from the center of the crater, a person emerged from a purple light rift in front of Lan En.

The crack represented the exit of this small, isolated space, and the person was connected to that exit.

"Are you Adam?" Lann called out to him, but the person who emerged from the crack remained silent. "Are you the one imprisoned here by the Flame Watchers, the one who stole their prayers?"

This person doesn't look like a thief at all.

This doesn't mean he has a great temperament or that his clothes are particularly sophisticated.

Judging solely from his actions, Lan En felt that this was not a proper thief.

What kind of thief would wear a huge, baggy suit of armor to steal things?
The armor was so bulky that Lan En thought it was almost like the winged knights who had transformed from maggots in the world of fire.

The breastplate resembles a water vat, and features a design of a fat, sagging breast.

To support this suit of armor, one can only imagine how much fat and body fat the body inside would need to have.

Aside from the bulky armor, the newcomer was only carrying a normal-sized meteor hammer.

If this meteor hammer is indeed his weapon, then Lann can only conclude that this suit of armor is a trophy he stole along with the Flame Watcher.

With two loud thuds, the armored figure stomped on the ground, the parts of which made a clanging sound.

He seemed to ignore Lann's words and did not react.

"..." Seeing this, the Witcher wisely shut his mouth and shook his head, "He's lost consciousness."

That means they have essentially lost the ability to negotiate and communicate.

"call!"

Just as Lan En shook his head and sighed, that seemingly small meteor hammer, with a head no bigger than a child's fist and designed for practical combat, suddenly whistled through the air in the opponent's hands and swung towards Lan En's head and face!

As he moved, supernatural white afterimages were drawn out from behind him, both on his body and the weapon he wielded!

Lan En didn't know what the "Battle Ash" on the meteor hammer was called, but he had no intention of getting hit by it.

"bass!"

The soles of his shoes scraped sharply against the carved bricks beneath his feet! In an instant, Lan En dodged backward, causing the head of the meteor hammer, trailing a white afterimage, to miss his head and face.

"Clang!"

The power of [Battle Ash] was demonstrated; after missing its target, the hammerhead slammed directly into the ground with the movement!

In an instant, the flat and solid ground was smashed by a hammer head the size of a child's fist, creating a dent and crack as big as half a person!
However, this level of power is already quite good for an ordinary warrior.

But he was no longer outstanding in front of Lan En.

The Witcher immediately wanted to end the fight.

Lan En placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

But just as he was about to draw the Lake Maiden's sword...

"tumultuous!"

A roaring sound of flames exploding in the air erupted from the opponent's hand.

Lan En looked calmly into the other person's eyes, but at the same time, his expression tightened.

(End of this chapter)