Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

"The powerful hammer artifact has been placed into a magic box."

Dago continued scanning intently, his mental energy like invisible tentacles, greedily caressing every tiny dent on the monument.

Those rough lines were no longer rigid images in his eyes, but flowing historical information, the last lament left by a lost civilization.

The scene then shifts to a conversation between the Crowned Dwarf and several other dwarves, their expressions anxious, their fear conveyed through the cold metal.

Beside them lay a magic box containing a hammer weapon, its edges etched with distorted ripples, seemingly struggling to suppress the raging power of the rules within.

Dago looked at several pictures and found that the crowned dwarf and several other dwarfs were still there, but the background was gradually deteriorating.

Goblins kept appearing around them, and those greedy green creatures swarmed past like locusts.

There are also winged dragons, breathing dragon breath, the instinctive thirst for energy of predators at the top of the food chain.

There are even images of legendary creatures like one-eyed giants, wielding large clubs and trying to smash the dwarves' city walls.

"Is this because they're worried that goblins, dragons, and cyclops will come to steal or rob the box?"

Dago's eyes gleamed as his mind raced, constructing a survival game model from ancient times in his head.

This is not just worry; it is the despair of a weak civilization that feels guilty for possessing a treasure.

Judging from the content shown in the image, the energy fluctuations emitted by the hammer were extremely intense, like a torch in the dark night.

Upon closer examination, these legendary creatures do seem to have a penchant for collecting treasures, or rather, an instinct to devour high-energy aggregates.

It seems that after the hammer was sealed in the Pandora's Box, simple physical isolation was not enough to block the perception of higher beings.

The Crown Dwarves still felt insecure; the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads day and night kept them awake at night.

So he discussed with a few trusted confidants a better way to preserve it; this was a last struggle under the pressure of a survival crisis.

"What solution did you finally come up with?"

Dago muttered to himself, his fingertips tracing the cold metal, feeling the rust left by time.

"Buzzing—"

Just as Dago was about to move on to the next square tower, he suddenly felt the ground shaking beneath his feet.

That wasn't ordinary vibration, but rather a low-frequency resonance from the operation of some kind of massive mechanical structure.

This frequency acts directly on the bones, causing a sensation of toothache.

He instinctively turned to look in the direction of the golden dwarf statue behind him, his mental energy instantly spreading out to form a warning net.

But then the vibrations stopped, as if the giant beast had just rolled over and paused briefly.

After waiting for a while, no other sounds came out, and the surroundings returned to deathly silence, with only the sound of metal weathering and peeling.

Dago shook his head, suppressing his doubts, and continued his exploration.

No matter what happens, acquiring knowledge and resources is always the wizard's first priority.

Human figures began to appear on the next square tower.

Although the figure was simple, it exuded an air of condescending arrogance and eeriness.

He was a human wizard dressed in robes, his face obscured, and the scepter in his hand radiated a domineering light.

Under his guidance, the entire dwarf race began to collectively forge the same type of box.

It was a grand and frenzied industrial boom, with countless resources being consumed and countless furnaces being lit.

"Is that Melville?!"

Dago stood before several square stone towers, his expression suddenly becoming incredibly complex, his pupils slightly contracting.

The wizard's cunning and wicked sense of humor are on full display at this moment.

"So, the dwarves created countless Wonder Boxes under Melville's guidance? To conceal the real Wonder Box containing the hammer of thunder and fire?!"

Dargo felt he had found the truth, a chain of fraud spanning thousands of years.

This is a classic "hiding the truth in the forest" strategy, using countless illusions to dilute the concentration of the truth.

Because this kind of deceptive "bad idea" really does seem to have come from Melville.

That legendary wizard was most skilled at manipulating people's hearts and probabilities.

He turned the whole world into his playground, leaving later explorers devastated by countless disappointments.

"So where exactly was the last Pandora's box containing the hammer hidden?"

Dago's gaze deepened as his mind raced, analyzing every detail on the monument.

"Yes, how could such a top-secret matter be directly engraved on the square stele tower?"

This is the last line of defense to prevent information leakage; only those with specific keys can decipher it.

However, it cannot be denied that the pictures engraved on these square towers are very valuable and are the key to understanding the mechanical heart of civilization.

Perhaps it contains a crucial clue to the one and only magic box, or a hint of some kind of spatial coordinates.

Dago glanced at the many remaining square monuments in the square, thought for a moment, and a flash of greed crossed his eyes.

That is the wizard's possessiveness of the carrier of knowledge.

He decided to start storing these square stone towers into his spatial ring.

Since it can't be analyzed on the spot, then pack it all up and take it with you—that's the logic of the strong.

He didn't understand why the truth about the Amazing Box on the Tower of Babel hadn't been spread.

Perhaps no one noticed these rough drawings, since wizards were more concerned with actual magical artifacts.

It's also possible that the wizards who came in to explore earlier simply didn't find this central area.

This is actually quite reasonable; the area is covered by some kind of illusion field, interfering with the perception of the target.

Because if it weren't for Brontë III leading the way, with his almost animalistic instinctive navigation...

He guessed that he was probably wandering around in some corner of the abandoned city-state, lost in the reddish-brown mist.

The mechanical heart is so large that it can bury the ambitions of countless explorers.

Dago stepped forward and tried to move the square tower, gripping the base with both hands, his muscles instantly tensing.

He unleashed the terrifying power derived from the [Ice Flame Blue Demon Body] and the bloodline of the Desperate Winter Dragon Beheilite to an extreme.

The air crackled and popped due to the force of the explosion.

The square stupa remained motionless, as if it had taken root, without even a slight tremor.

"Um?"

Dago frowned slightly, his mental energy penetrating into the ground.

There appears to be a runic array inside, which is a complete gravity anchoring system.

Moreover, it is connected to the base of the square, so it can be said that this tower is part of the entire city.

To lift it would be to fight against the weight of the entire city.

Using [Living Silver Ice], it should be possible to partially activate the Square Tower and then take it away.

By altering the properties of the metal, it can be softened and cut.

However, this could cause any clues that might be hidden in the illustrations.

Once the memory structure of a metal is destroyed, the information at the microscopic level will be permanently lost.

As Dago considered whether to do so, whether to risk destroying knowledge for the sake of resources.

"Boom!"

The vibrations that had occurred before rang out again; if last time it was a whisper, this time it was a roar.

Moreover, this time the commotion was more than a hundred times greater, as if a giant beast had awakened from the depths of the earth.

The entire metal plaza was shaking violently, and the hard alloy floor was as fragile as a biscuit.

Cracks appeared, deep, bottomless fissures spreading beneath our feet.

Large sections of the ground collapsed, revealing a complex gear transmission structure beneath.

Dago took to the air with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty, his metal wings flapping violently to create a safe distance.

Even in the midst of the chaos, he did not forget his own interests.

He casually picked up a few square monuments that had collapsed due to the collapse of the square and put them into his spatial ring.

This is instinct, a resource-plundering mentality ingrained in one's very bones.

Before he could continue, he sensed a gray shadow darting into his arms with incredible speed.

The speed was so fast that even the afterimage was not visible, and it even brought a sound of air being cut.

Dago looked down and saw that it was indeed the troublemaker.

Dargo hadn't yet checked whether Brontë III was carrying the magic box he wanted.

What followed was a breathtaking scene that I will never forget—

It was not just a visual shock, but a subversion of cognition.

On the violently collapsing plaza, smoke and dust billowed, as if the end of the world had arrived.

The golden dwarf statue, which is over a thousand meters tall, in the center of the square is also rapidly collapsing.

The golden shell shattered and peeled off like an eggshell, crashing to the ground with a deafening roar.

It wasn't a simple collapse, but more like a kind of "breaking out of the cocoon".

As the golden statue collapsed, a giant metal box, almost the size of a small mountain, was quickly revealed inside.

The black metal surface shimmered with a mysterious luster, and countless intricate runes flickered.

The bottom of this box is attached to the two thick legs of the golden dwarf statue.

The two legs did not collapse; instead, they seemed to come alive, their muscle lines brimming with explosive power.

Amidst the deafening roar of the collapse, this enormous metal box seemed almost alive.

It is adjusting its center of gravity, adapting to this body.

"Click—"

A tremendous mechanical clanging sound rang out, as the mechanism that had been dormant for thousands of years was reactivated.

He stood up from the ground by pushing off with his two thick, golden legs.

The earth groaned at its movement, and pebbles flew everywhere.

A strange creature with a black metal box-shaped body but two golden dwarf legs.

It's an extremely discordant patchwork, full of absurd violent aesthetics.

Its appearance was indescribably comical and bizarre, like a huge joke.

But this joke has the power to destroy the world.

Dago couldn't laugh at all; his facial muscles were stiff.

The energy fluctuations emanating from that giant magic box made even a wizard of his level feel uneasy.

That's the oppressive feeling from the level of rules.

He stared blankly at the figure before him, which strutted across hundreds of meters with two giant, golden legs.

The giant magic box strides towards me, each step triggering a small earthquake.

A huge shadow loomed over Dago, making him feel like an ant.

Subconsciously looking down, I met Brontë III's bright, sparkling sheep eyes in my arms.

There was no fear in those eyes, only a clear sense of foolishness and excitement.

"Meow~~"

Brontë III Chondago let out a joyful cry, wagging his tail like a propeller.

The sheep's face, which looked rather silly, was now filled with a smug and boastful expression.

It had no idea what kind of monster it had released; it only knew that it had completed its master's task.

"Find a big one"—and it did indeed find the biggest one.

It was as if he was saying to D'Ago—

"Is this box big? Is it big?!"

"Praise me! Praise me!!"