THESE CHAPTERS WERE SUPPOSED TO COME OUT TODAY. UPLOADED MORE THAN NEEDED YESTERDAY.
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There was still some time before they would reach Strahl—the Holy City.
Moreover, the Continental Magic Association's examination would last for an entire month. Even after the exam, Serie would not leave immediately; she would remain in the Continental Magic Association's headquarters in the Holy City for a while.
If he pushed himself and used the enhanced Memory Bread to speed up his learning progress, it wasn't impossible for Gut to complete the first stage of Curse Reversal Magic before Serie left the Holy City.
On one hand, Gut craved to improve his strength quickly and wanted to complete the Main Quest as soon as possible.
On the other hand, it was also due to his considerations for the Trait Duplication Opportunity.
If his guesses were right and the System Detection Module could interact with Trait Duplication, then the highest priority target for copying would not be Serie, even though they were together daily.
His teacher's trait entries were surely powerful, but he would have ample time to discover them. There was no rush right now.
If such rewards appeared in the current Main Quest, they would certainly show up in future ones as well.
Slowly but surely, he would one day unveil all of Serie's secrets and make them his own.
But Himmel was different.
Despite his sturdy appearance now—able to slay monsters with a single strike—in another decade or so...
He would probably still be killing them with a single strike.
But human lifespans are ultimately limited. According to the manga's storyline, Himmel only had about twenty-one more years to live.
If Gut wanted to copy trait entries from Himmel, he needed to do it early.
Not only did he have to consider the issue of Himmel's lifespan, but he also had to think about geographical distance.
From Äußerst in the Northern Nations to Strahl in the Central Lands, the journey would be long and exhausting just thinking about it.
And besides Himmel, there was another target in Strahl that Gut had his eyes on.
The current Archbishop of Strahl, Heiter, who was also a member of the original Hero's Party.
Since Gut did not worship the Goddess, although he could use some Goddess Magic, its effectiveness was quite limited.
If he could copy some trait entries from Heiter that boosted Goddess Magic, it would certainly make up for this weakness.
After all, Himmel's strength largely came from his raw stats—or rather, from trait entries that rapidly enhanced his stats.
Gut could rely on the doubled rewards from his Daily Quests to accumulate stats. Though it might be slower, his long lifespan would eventually allow him to catch up.
But for Goddess Magic, if there was no talent or faith, Gut had already hit his limit.
So, if his understanding of the Trait Duplication Opportunity was correct, the highest priority targets would undoubtedly be Heiter and Himmel.
And the best time to copy them would be right after the examination in Strahl.
Taking a deep breath, Gut sighed to himself, realizing just how ambitious his goal really was.
"Who would've thought we'd encounter a demon ambush here?"
Beside him, Himmel noticed that Gut seemed a bit distracted. Thinking he was still shaken by the recent battle, Himmel walked over and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"On any adventure, running into dangerous situations is inevitable."
"But the way you snapped out of that illusion first and stood guard with a blade to protect your allies... Gut, you did an excellent job!"
"If Heiter were here, he would surely praise you."
"Is that so? That would be quite the honor."
Gut snapped back to reality, responding to the compliment with a nod. He then glanced at the somewhat messy surroundings and suggested they resume their search for the Spring Sanctuary.
The group nodded in agreement. One by one, they left the tunnel and began exploring the new area—one that Gut's intuition had pointed to as the correct Maze location.
Due to the demons turning to ash upon death, the Maze remained clean and free of bloodstains, despite showing clear signs of battle. It didn't affect their exploration much.
Compared to the two mirrored Maze points they had explored earlier, this Maze was significantly smaller.
In fact, it didn't even qualify as a Maze; it was more like an artificially constructed cave.
Mut and Himmel, who were walking ahead, quickly scouted the area, but unsurprisingly found nothing.
Gut, who followed in the middle, also found nothing unusual, as the Seal Stone fragments still heavily restricted his magical sensing abilities.
Only Serie and Frieren, as they walked over a specific part of the Maze floor, both stopped at the exact same moment.
"Himmel, over here!"
Frieren called out to the Hero, who was walking at the front.
At her call, Himmel hurried back. He crouched down where Frieren had indicated and pressed his hand firmly against the floor.
But nothing happened. There was no special feedback; the sensation under his hand was just like any normal stone floor.
"There's no mechanism circuit under this part of the Maze," Serie explained, answering Himmel's unasked question. She didn't wait for him to ask further and continued:
"This part of the ground is different from the rest. There are no Seal Stone fragments mixed underneath."
"Dig down. There's a good chance the Sanctuary is hidden beneath."
"Alright."
Hearing Serie's explanation, Himmel immediately unsheathed his Hero's Sword and slashed four clean lines in the ground, carving out a square.
With a deft thrust of the blade, he pried up a large section of stone and some of the earth beneath it.
Staring at the exposed soil, Himmel hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should continue digging.
But seeing neither Serie nor Frieren showing any signs of stopping him, the Hero pressed on.
Finally, with a metallic clang, his sword struck something hard. Himmel paused his excavation.
Sure enough, just as the two elven magicians had predicted, there was indeed something hidden beneath the surface.
"Come back up first; don't rush in blindly," Serie instructed.
Himmel was not reckless. He obediently climbed back out of the pit, brushing the dirt off his white robes.
Once Himmel was clear, Serie waved her hand, summoning a Defensive Barrier around them, ensuring they had protective measures in place.
After confirming everything was secure, Serie turned her gaze back to the pit.
At the bottom, embedded in the soil, was a large, metallic circular door—completely out of place in the dirt beneath the Maze.
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Powerstones?
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