Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength

"Let's go, let's check out the scene first."

After reading through the information provided by Koraman, Ronald immediately led the group out.

Just from the textual descriptions in hand, he could sense the tricky situation. To solve the ruins, it's more suitable to observe the actual situation on-site.

However, the camp manager, Koraman, hearing that Ronald was about to set off, tried to persuade him:

"Mr. Ronald, you all have come from afar, why not rest tonight and gather your energy for tomorrow?"

"Don't worry, if there's a problem, I definitely won't force it." Ronald noticed the concern in the opponent's eyes, and turned back with a calm look, "In all actions, I prioritize everyone's safety as much as possible."

"Besides, you guys at [Nikos] also need some time."

"..."

Hearing Ronald's words, Koraman immediately fell silent.

It was only when they left the camp that he said solemnly, yet in a low voice to Ronald:

"Mr. Ronald, we're counting on you."

"Understood."

...

The camp's location maintained a relatively safe distance from the [Rachmont] ruins, so Ronald and the group left the camp, walking for a while in the rainy night before they reached the city's boundary.

For safety reasons, guards were stationed intermittently along the boundary, and stakes were driven into the ground as warnings. Even in the rainy night, the guards dared not slack off.

Almost the moment Ronald and his team appeared, the guard for the designated area approached.

When he recognized Koraman in the group,

he eased his vigilance and moved closer to where they could see each other clearly, then began to probe with a question:

"Captain Koraman, coming here so late, is there something happening?"

Koraman stepped forward to explain naturally, "These are the distinguished guests from [Grede], here to support us in exploring the ruins."

The guard suddenly understood, "I see."

As the group continued forward, Ronald's earlier indistinct sense of Magic Fluctuation became increasingly clear.

"Sir, be careful."

Suddenly, the guard reminded them.

After halting everyone's steps, he pointed to a muddy pathway flanked by shrubs, a path clearly cut by people:

"Beyond these shrubs, another two meters is the ruin's territory."

"We only know the rough boundary of the ruin, without being able to lock the safety distance within a meter."

As he gave these warnings, the guard's face showed lingering fear, having clearly witnessed the ruin's perilous devouring of people before.

Faced with such a serious demeanor...

Ronald and the others exchanged glances before carefully edging past the shrubs to approach.

As the leader of the team, Ronald at the same time began chanting a spell, summoning the black fog of Hell once more.

"Its name is Styx,

the black water flows downward, to the foot of a dark and steep cliff..."

The spreading fog crawled forward along the ground.

Just as the guard stated, and according to the descriptions from previous documents Ronald had seen. Once beyond a certain range, the black fog of Hell suddenly vanished along an unseen boundary.

Several seconds passed.

The black fog that had been on the ground suddenly diminished further, pushing the hazardous boundary three meters in Ronald's direction again.

Faced with such perilous circumstances, Ronald silently nodded.

——The real data matches the records perfectly.

The first disappearance of the black fog followed the rule of vanishing directly after penetrating three meters; the second disappearance followed the ten-second rule within the range.

The data obtained by [Nikos] is accurate.

Moreover, this also reveals good news.

As time goes by, the influence of the [Rachmont] ruins has neither expanded nor changed. Although the future is uncertain, for now, this is clearly advantageous for their exploration.

With this in mind, Ronald narrowed his eyes slightly.

He attempted to sense the Hell black fog devoured by the ruins. However, the usual seamless connection felt now became intermittent. Ronald could confirm the Hell black fog he summoned still existed but remained invisible, intangible, and uncontrollable as before.

Once inside the ruin boundary, it seemed as if everything was isolated by some entity.

Meanwhile, just behind Ronald,

the casters from [Nikos] wore bitter expressions.

They looked at the distinct boundary formed by the black fog on the ground, eyes filled with undisguised envy and discomfort. If they had access to such convenient spells, it could save countless unnecessary sacrifices.

Unfortunately, the regrets of [Nikos] casters remained unavertable.

For now, no focus was placed on this aspect.

Upon clarifying the direction of the ruin's devouring, Nicole, from the Grede team, was the first to step forward and volunteer to Ronald:

"Ronald, let me try first?"

Of course, Ronald nodded in agreement, but also reminded her:

"Go ahead, but be cautious."

"I know, I know." Nicole replied dismissively, but after taking two steps to the boundary, the investigator girl's expression turned completely serious, devoid of negligence.

Facing the invisible boundary, Nicole did not use the plant-controlling spells she was skilled in, but instead took out a bullet and inscribed a rune on it with her finger, then shot it straight ahead.

Bam!

With a gunshot, the bullet propelled by gunpowder was fired from the chamber.

The casters present, possessing strong observational skills, saw clearly that this bullet, like Ronald's previous black fog, disappeared instantly upon entering the three-meter range of the ruins, leaving no trace.

Nicole's first attempt seemed fruitless?

Yet the next second, the investigator girl demonstrated why she was a top investigator.

Faced with the invisible wall, Nicole confidently asserted her judgment:

"Ronald, my bullet continued intact until it hit a solid object, where it finally lost momentum."

Ronald, of course, trusted Nicole.

But nearby, someone from [Nikos] couldn't resist asking:

"Miss, can you sense the bullet's status?"

"Are you sure?"

The [Nikos] caster's tone was filled with incredulity.

They had tried every conceivable method, yet failed to pry into the ruins. All their means lost effectiveness in the presence of the unseen air.

But now...

A newly arrived investigator, so young a girl,

could reach a level unattainable by any of them?

"Look here."

Facing the skepticism from the [Nikos] caster, Nicole extended her hand graciously.

In the investigator girl's palm lay a rune, inscribed sometime earlier, silently proclaiming its remarkable nature to everyone.

"The rune I inscribed on the bullet earlier forms a symbiotic pair with this one."

"Although it's true I've lost the perception over the rune on the bullet, through their symbiotic relationship, I can still observe changes in the bullet."

"Trust me, there's no mistake here."