As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

"Those are sacrificial stone tablets from the ancient Sarr civilization, not historical record boards."

The sudden sound made Elwin stop his continuous work of building a shield.

"Your answer is completely wrong."

Alvin turned his head and stared in astonishment at Moen, who was speaking.

Moen pointed to the brightest rune in the upper right corner of the stone tablet: "The rune in the third line that looks like an eye, you interpret it according to its original meaning, but in the context of the ritual, it means reversed."

"You got the initial order of interpretation wrong, of course you can't solve it."

"By reversing the logic chain in the third line, you can unlock this stone tablet."

Alvin was stunned.

The distinction between sacrificial stone tablets and ordinary stone slabs has always been an important research topic in the academy. Unexpectedly, a passerby could easily distinguish between the two and clearly point out the difference between the same symbol in the two contexts.

With little time remaining, Elwin hurriedly activated the runes, using his fingers to draw different symbols on the stone slab in reverse order.

Olsen, who was standing to the side, almost burst out laughing when he heard Moen spouting nonsense with a straight face. What was even funnier was that Erwin, who was considered a fool in the academy, actually did it.

He stood inside the barrier, waiting for the moment of explosion.

However, the expected violent explosion did not occur. Instead, a long, clear sound rang out, indicating that the stone tablet had been successfully deciphered.

The chilling red light on the stone tablet froze instantly, then quickly faded, transforming into a layer of eerie blue halo.

Alvin stared blankly at the calm stone tablet before him, his mind a complete blank.

Really...it's all over? The stone tablet that had troubled her for three whole days was solved by a passerby's words?

Inside the barrier, Olsen, who had been waiting to see a good show, had his smile frozen on his face, looking utterly ridiculous.

Moen clapped his hands, as if he had done something insignificant.

He didn't even glance at Olsen, but simply reached out his hand to Alvin, who was still sitting on the ground.

"Now, may I go in, sir?"

Alvin grabbed Moen's hand for support and stood up, his face full of gratitude.

"Of course! Of course! You've helped me decipher this stone tablet, and I still have many questions to ask you!"

"Wait." Olsen suddenly stepped forward, blocking the two of them, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his eyes fixed on Moen with a sinister look.

"Instructor Elwin, don't you find it strange? How could a vagrant possibly understand a variant of Gusaran logic?"

He scoffed, his gaze sweeping over Moen. "Only those rats in the gutter of the Deep Shadow Secret Society would possess such forbidden knowledge. If we let a spy from the Secret Society in, who will be responsible if something goes wrong?"

Alvin's smile froze.

Although Olsen's words were harsh, they did hit the Star Pattern Academy's sore spot. The Anmi Society and the Star Pattern Academy had completely opposite attitudes toward knowledge, and the two sides had a long-standing grudge.

She glanced at Moen, a hint of hesitation flashing in her eyes. Then, recalling the detailed instructions from earlier, Alvin gritted her teeth and, for the first time, refuted Olsen's words.

"I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong," Alvin said in a deep voice. "If he were a member of the Anmi Society, he could have just watched the stone tablet explode, but instead he helped me decipher it. This isn't like the Anmi Society's style."

Olsen was surprised that the usually timid Alvin would talk back to him for the sake of a country bumpkin. His face turned ugly, but due to Alvin's status as a lecturer at the Academy of Myriad Things, he finally snorted and did not stop him. However, he requested to accompany him the whole time to prevent Moen from making any underhanded moves.

Seeing Elwin's questioning gaze, Moen naturally didn't care about Olson's suggestion and let him accompany him into the Falling Star Rift.

As soon as they entered the rift, Erwin immediately reverted to his scholarly fanaticism, pulling out his notebook and sticking it close to Moen.

"Mr. Mohn, what era's grammar is your reversed interpretation based on?"

"Didn't that eye rune represent scrutiny in the Third Age?"

"Have you read the fragments of the Sarton History?"

While answering the nerd's barrage of questions, Moen cautiously observed his surroundings.

The gravitational field within the rift valley is indeed disordered, and the pebbles underfoot occasionally float on their own.

This area was filled with Stardust Elementals and Floating Rock Lizards, but these monsters were no match for Moen. Elwin simply raised his hand and unleashed a few magical rays, blasting them into oblivion.

[Team Kill: Stardust Element x5 Lv.10]

Experience points gained: 110

[Gained Mortal Fragments: 10 + 5 (First Kill Reward)]

[Unlock Statue: Stardust Element]

-----------------

[Team-based kill: Floating Rock Lizard x7 Lv.9]

Experience points gained: 63

[Gained Mortal Fragments: 8 + 5 (First Kill Reward)]

[Unlock Statue: Floating Rock Lizard]

Unfortunately, both monsters have mage-type skills, so even though Moen has enough fragments now, he doesn't really want to exchange for their skills.

Soon, the three arrived at the entrance to a ruin exposed on the waist of a cliff due to the surface soil rising into the air.

Alvin pointed to the gate and introduced, "This is our newly discovered ancient Sarr ruins. So far, only the outer perimeter has been cleared. The depths inside have not yet been explored, and it's very dangerous."

Moen stopped in his tracks, surprised that he had actually found ruins this time, and with such powerful henchmen by his side. Overjoyed, he calmly asked, "May I go in and take a look? If you have any questions, I can answer them for you. I think you know the principle that practice makes perfect."

Seeing Elwin's troubled expression, Moen added, "I need a material called Star Core Fragment, which only drops from constructs in the ruins. Don't worry, I'm not interested in the stone tablets inside."

Olsen chuckled beside him, "I knew this guy was up to no good; he's got his eye on the materials inside. We just happen to need someone to scout ahead, so since you need him so much, we'll let you go first."

Alvin glared at Olsen, then turned to Moen and instructed, "Then you must be careful. I will protect your safety."

Moen nodded in agreement and stepped through the stone gate first.

The interior of the ruins is quieter than the exterior.

Broken statues stand on both sides of the empty corridor, completely covered by green vines. As the stones in the rift shift with gravity, dust falls from the ruins.

Moen's heart sank as he walked.

Along the way, we haven't encountered a single elite monster, let alone a wandering mob.

In the mechanics of Blood, Fire and Wine, if an open-world dungeon is cleared out, it usually means only one thing: that an open-world boss has spawned in that dungeon.

"Could I really be that unlucky?"

Moen said he was lucky because the spawn rate of wild bosses in Falling Star Rift is extremely low; he basically doesn't see one for months at a time.

At the same time, he was also being sarcastic, because this boss was particularly difficult to defeat. In his previous life, it was usually the guilds that received the news and gathered specific classes to attempt to defeat it.

The group walked through the corridor and arrived at a huge circular domed hall. The center of the hall was empty except for a huge statue at the far end.

The moment Moen saw the statue, he immediately grabbed Alvin and Olsen and turned to leave. Alvin, who was taking notes, was forcibly turned around by Moen.

But Olsen, who was walking behind, shook off Moen's hand and continued walking forward without paying attention, just as he stepped onto the hall floor tiles.

"Click-clack".

The mechanical clanging echoed through the empty hall, and the magic-guiding metal patterns on the floor instantly lit up, converging towards the statue at the far end.

Amidst the ear-piercing scraping sound, the statue slowly rose to its feet, its terrifying ten-meter-tall body exuding an even stronger sense of oppression than the snow mammoth.

A system prompt then appeared.

[WARNING: High-risk energy reaction detected]

[Lord-level BOSS: Prism Overlord - Crystal Core Tyrant Lv.16]

[Activated]

As Moen looked at the colossal crystal statue, the weight that had been hanging over his heart finally came crashing down on his feet.

Good news! The Prism Golem has been found.

Bad news, this is its mutated, advanced version, a nightmare for physical and magical classes—the [Crystal Core Tyrant].