Gaga emerged from the shadows of the manor’s perimeter wall.
It was now only the size of a goose egg, its feathers the exact same color as the surrounding stone wall.
Without a close look, it was impossible to spot the bird.
It crouched in the shadows of the vines on the wall, its silver-gray pupils slowly rotating.
In its field of view, every detail of the manor’s interior was crystal clear.
Guards patrolled the front courtyard, clad in dark teal armor with longswords at their hips.
Their steps were synchronized, their gazes sharp. They were all rigorously trained Warriors.
There was something faintly unnatural about their auras, yet each one emanated the Force Field fluctuations of a Level One Wizard.
Gaga waited for a squad of guards to pass, then gave its wings a slight flutter.
Its body faded once more, melting into the shadows of the Stone Slabs on the ground.
Following the network of shadows, it "flowed" like water toward the main building of the manor.
The main building’s doors were shut tight, a dim, yellow light seeping from the crack.
Gaga slipped through the shadow under the door, landing in the shadow of a candelabra in the corner of the foyer.
The hall was empty.
Only the firewood in the fireplace crackled, casting dancing light and shadows.
It waited a few seconds to confirm it was safe before continuing to drift inward.
It passed through a long corridor, rounded a staircase, and finally stopped before a heavy oak door.
Complex Runes were carved into the door, and a pale golden Energy flowed slowly along their patterns.
This was a Protective Array.
Gaga tilted its head, a starlight twinkling in the depths of its silver-gray pupils.
The Omen Eye activated.
It saw the flow path of the Runic Energy and the several weakest nodes of the Array.
With a light flick of its wings, three incredibly fine, Dark Silver feathers detached.
In mid-air, the feathers transformed into tiny shadow blades, precisely piercing the three nodes.
PFFT. PFFT. PFFT.
With three faint, muffled sounds, the glow of the Runes on the door dimmed for an instant.
Though it was for less than a fraction of a second, that was all the time it needed.
Gaga’s body blurred as it slipped through the shadow beneath the door.
Behind the door... was a study.
Bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling, crammed with heavy tomes.
The desk was large, and an ancient, dark red book lay open upon it.
The edges of the pages were singed yellow, as if scorched by flame.
Gaga crouched in the shadows atop a bookshelf, its pupils slowly scanning the entire room.
Its gaze finally landed on the wall behind the desk.
An ordinary landscape painting hung there.
It depicted the mountains beyond East City. The brushwork was crude, like an Apprentice’s practice piece.
But... Gaga’s pupils contracted slightly.
It "saw" the extremely faint fluctuation of Magic Power at the edge of the painting’s frame.
The fluctuation was so faint it was almost one with the wall’s own Energy.
If its Perception of shadows and Energy hadn’t become so incredibly sharp after its promotion to Tier Two, it never would have noticed.
’Heh heh! I’m a Shadow Night Kite. Did you really think you could hide from my eyes?’
With a beat of its wings, it glided from the shadow of the bookshelf to a spot above the painting.
Its small claws tapped lightly on the edge of the frame.
HUMMM...
The frame vibrated with a low hum. A pale gray film of light materialized over its surface, covered in writhing Runes.
’Another Protective Array.’
’And the complexity of this Array is on a completely different level from the one on the door.’
Gaga didn’t try to force its way through. Instead, it plucked a Dark Silver Feather from under its wing and held it in its beak.
It gently touched the tip of the Feather to the surface of the film of light.
There was no sound, no flash of light.
But a minuscule hole appeared on the film of light.
The Runes at the hole’s edge twisted and disintegrated, as if "eaten" by something invisible.
’Too easy!’
With a flicker of its body, Gaga slipped through the hole.
The scene before it changed abruptly.
Behind the frame... was a descending staircase, so narrow that only one person could pass at a time.
Glowing moss was embedded in the walls on either side, casting a ghastly green glimmer.
A faint... smell of decay permeated the air.
It smelled like tree roots buried in damp soil, long since rotted through.
Gaga drifted down the stairs. The farther down it went, the stronger the stench of decay became.
At the bottom of the stairs was a pitch-black Metal door.
The door had no lock, only a single, hand-shaped indentation.
Gaga stopped in front of the door, its silver-gray pupils fixed on the indentation.
It retrieved a Recording Crystal from its Dimension Space—one Ian had given it beforehand.
Its small claws tightened around the Crystal, aiming it at the crack of the door.
Then, its body began to change.
The edges of its feathers began to glow with a faint Dark Silver light, and its entire body became nearly transparent.
It looked like a solidified Shadow.
It slowly... "seeped" through the crack beneath the door.
Behind the door was a secret chamber. It wasn’t large, only about twenty square meters.
The walls were bare. In the center stood a stone platform, its surface covered in twisted Runes.
’Those Runes...’ Gaga didn’t recognize them.
But it could sense an aura of pain, Chaos, and nausea emanating from them.
’This is it. Exactly the same as the Abyssal Aura Ian had me ’memorize’ before.’
In the center of the stone platform lay an open, dark red tome. Its pages depicted a complex Array Map.
In the center of the Array Map was a familiar symbol:
a twisted spiral, dotted with three dark red points at its center.
’The core component for constructing an Abyssal Altar.’
Gaga’s small claws trembled slightly. It had seen Ian build one underground before.
’I can’t believe someone other than Ian would dare to contact the Abyss directly.’
It didn’t approach the stone platform, instead crouching in the shadows of a corner and aiming the Recording Crystal to capture the entire secret chamber.
A pale silver light began to swirl inside the Crystal.
It recorded everything: the stone platform, the Runes, the tome...
Just as the recording was about to finish.
Footsteps echoed from the stairs outside the chamber door—very faint, but drawing closer.