A few days later...
Vicente and Layla reached the border of the Seidel Kingdom and the Chutha Dynasty, having slowed down hours ago to find the ruins of The Skull City.
The Skull City was not a hidden place that only a few knew about. Great powers within and outside the kingdom knew of its existence, which occasionally resulted in subordinates and members of large groups moving to the ruins.
What would happen if a specialist discovered a place like the current destination of Vicente and Layla? There were two options. The first was to try to explore and collect the resources for themselves. The second, usually associated with stronger people finding lower-level things, was to show their powers of the possibilities in such a place.
That's what a Sovereign or a Paragon would do when they came across places like The Skull City: give the opportunity to weaker juniors or subordinates.
Some of the more famous ruins on the continent practically hosted contests and the like every few years. But in other places like The Skull City, anyone could come and go at any time.
Usually, information about such places would be easily accessible to anyone who wanted to look it up, and you would be free to go to such a ruin whenever you wanted.
But even though The Skull City was a well-known place, Layla didn't have a map of the area to know exactly where this ruin was. All she knew was that somewhere in the area where she was now, there were the ruins of this ancient city.
She said to Vicente. "The Skull City is between the Brudercoln Canal and the Rising Tropics. Brudercoln Canal is 40 kilometers to the south, while The Rising Tropics is 30 kilometers to the north of where we are.
The kingdom's border with the Chutha dynasty must be between 30 and 45 kilometers to the west, so this area between these three points is where the ruin we're heading for is located.
Vicente looked around and saw nothing but the forest, densely populated with plant organisms that practically covered the view for kilometers.
He suggested. "Let's split up and search different areas. This area isn't particularly strong, and with your skills, we can find the right place in no time."
Their short-range communicators would work perfectly up to about 25 kilometers, which wouldn't make it too difficult to communicate with each other if they were successful.
So they split up, with Layla heading south and Vicente heading north.
...
After 20 minutes, Vicente's communicator vibrated.
"So?" Vicente asked as he activated his communication device, bringing it close to his mouth as he poured his mana into it.
Layla replied. "I will give you directions to come to me. I found The Skull City."
"Oh?" Vicente exclaimed, eager to explore the place.
"Go back to where we left off a few minutes ago and go south for 3 kilometers. When you come to a hat-shaped rock, go southwest for 6 kilometers. I'll meet you there."
"Okay. Give me two minutes, and I'll see you."
After hanging up the communicator, he immediately followed Layla's instructions to the letter.
All people in this world were taught to know how to orient themselves spatially and geographically while still at the basic academy, even without the use of compasses or other devices.
Layla's guidance was perfect, and soon, the two of them were together again, moving toward where she had found one of the entrances to The Skull City.
Layla said to Vicente as they moved on. "There are people there. When I found the entrance I'm taking you to, I saw a group of people camped outside the ruins. I imagine a group from outside the kingdom is exploring the place.
We'll likely find people inside the city."
"No problem," Vicente commented. That might generate trouble, but it wasn't enough to make him abandon his plans.
After five minutes of moving around, they arrived at the entrance Layla had found, a place that didn't indicate that people had lived there before.
Near the top of a hill, two large flat stones stood 5 meters apart, while pieces of wood connected them, forming an entrance portal.
On these wooden pieces between the two large stones were dozens of skulls, serving as decoration for the entrance to The Skull City.
To one side of this entrance was a small flat area of 100 square meters, where three huts and some people were camping, probably waiting for companions who had entered The Skull City.
On the other side of this entrance was a ravine where The Skull City was located.
Vicente and Layla stopped in front of it and saw inscriptions on the two parallel stones.
'Cursed ground.'
'The home of damnation.'
'If you enter, you will regret it.'
'Punishment of the Paragon.'
'The eternal scourge.'
Vicente and Layla read these inscriptions, most of them written by people who had managed to leave this ancient ruin.
But there were also some ancient inscriptions in a language Vicente didn't recognize.
Layla had studied ancient languages in her organization, so she translated for Vicente as she expressed her concern. "This is a cursed land, the origin of my enemies, and from this day forward, an infinite hell. Come in and compete for opportunities. The price is small. Punish my opponents or die to the joy of their corrupted souls.
Professor Dirty Scout."
Hearing Layla's voice, one of the men in the area, a Mid-level Mage, said. "This is the cursed land of Deerfall. Seventeen thousand years ago, the people of this city fought a war against another independent city in this area.
Back then, the Seidel Kingdom and the Chutha Dynasty weren't centralized states like they are today. Many independent cities within their territories functioned almost like sects.
The story goes that Deerfall drove Professor Dirty Scout to despair when his wives and daughters were raped and killed, and his sons were enslaved and eventually killed as well. Sometime after losing everything, he reappeared and destroyed the entire population living in the area, casting an eternal curse over the land.
Since then, the souls of his enemies have remained trapped in The Skull City, suffering in this cursed land where there are only two fates for those who pass through this entrance: to emerge victorious or to die and serve the darkness in this cursed ground."
Vicente and Layla looked at the man in the beautiful armor who looked worriedly in the direction of the entrance to The Skull City.
The orange-haired man said as he looked into Layla's eyes. "Anyway, your knowledge of Eregean is excellent. Not many people speak this ancient language so well these days."
