The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 58: Dalomoa Canyon

Episode 58: Dalomoa Canyon

Seven days after accepting the request at the Adventurers’ Guild, we stood atop a high vantage point overlooking Dalomoa Canyon. 

“I’d heard rumors, but it really is sheer cliffs on both sides. This isn’t just a canyon—it looks more like a tear in the earth.” 

“Fel’s right. It’s like someone split the land in two using magic.” 

From our position, we couldn’t see how far the canyon extended. Ardan, Jill, and Elise were all holding their breath at the sight before them. 

“I heard the canyon floor is swarming with Golems.” 

Even the fearless Jill should have had a tough time against these ‘immortal’ Golems. But his voice carried an excited tone. He probably relished the thought of fighting something stronger than himself. That was just like him. 

“I wonder why it ended up like this.” 

“Apparently, this area has always had an abundance of mana. Scholars believe that’s why so many Golems are being created here.” 

Places with high concentrations of mana were known as ‘demon territories’. They naturally spawned monsters. Scholars had been researching the phenomenon for years. But the cause remained unknown. 

Our first task was to establish a base here. So we built a sturdy stone house. Fortunately, Golems didn’t seem to wander this far up. 

Once Lilia finished laying down wooden flooring, our work was complete. 

“I’ll set up tables and chairs while you two handle reconnaissance.” 

“I’ll also check out the Golems’ strength.” 

“Fel, Lilia, don’t push yourselves too hard. If things get dangerous, come back immediately.” 

“Got it!” 

Lilia and I took to the skies to scout Dalomoa Canyon. Mapping the area was our top priority. But we were also searching for the ruins. From what I could see, there weren’t any flying monsters around. As long as the Golems didn’t start throwing rocks at us, we’d be fine. 

Well, even if they did, Lilia’s Shield spell would block them perfectly. 

“Alright, Lilia, let’s go.” 

“Understood.” 

With that, Lilia wrapped her arms around my chest, and I took off. As we soared, the blue sky stretched endlessly. Scattered clouds were floating lazily. The wind felt incredible. 

“It’s been a while since we flew. It really is refreshing.” 

“Yeah, on our days off, we should do this more often.” 

Lilia seemed to be enjoying it as well. But before we could fully savor the moment, Dalomoa Canyon loomed ahead. Looking down, I didn’t see any movement on the canyon floor. 

“Looks like the Golems don’t activate unless you get close. Hopefully, the others won’t get caught off guard.” 

“Elise can use Analyze, so they should be fine. Besides, they’re Platinum Rank adventurers—there’s no way they’d make such a careless mistake.” 

“Good point.” 

Maybe we should be more worried about ourselves. So far, everything seemed clear—no enemies in the air, no signs of an attack from below. 

We continued flying toward the opposite side of the canyon. The rift stretched on for quite a distance. 

“If I remember correctly, the ruins should be around here… but I don’t see anything.” 

“Maybe they’re buried underground? That would be troublesome. I’ll check with Analyze.” 

“Roger that.” 

While Lilia focused on analyzing the area, I kept watch and did my best to hover in place. 

“I see………… It looks like the ruins are embedded within the canyon wall.” 

“So that means there must be an entrance somewhere on the cliff face.” 

“Exactly. Now that we know the location, let’s head back.” 

Following Lilia’s lead, we returned to our base. By the time we arrived, the sun was beginning to set. 

The others had already returned, and Ardan was preparing dinner. 

“We’re back!” 

“Welcome back. Did you find anything?” 

“Yep! At least it’s not underground, so that’s a relief.”

Hearing those words, Ardan muttered, “So it’s still manageable.” He must have been prepared for a tough mission. This could really turn into a long-term battle. 

“How were the Golems?” 

“Well, as long as we know where the core is, it’s an easy win.” 

“That’s true. But pinpointing the exact location is the hard part.” 

Elise had a point. Even if you say “right chest”, it’s not clear exactly where on the right chest. Since the Golems were about a size larger than Ardan, their core’s location covered a wider area. 

“Should we come up with a strategy?” 

“Yeah. We can just hit them with magic, but Elise doesn’t have that luxury.” 

If Elise were skilled with throwing knives, she could aim directly at the core. But that wasn’t the case. 

As I was lost in thought, dinner was ready. We quickly began preparing. 

During dinner, we reviewed the information we had gathered today. 

“The Golems didn’t attack from a distance? They didn’t react at all when we flew over them.” 

Lilia asked while cutting her meat with a knife. Since we never saw the Golems moving, we were curious about how they behaved in battle. 

“The ones we fought didn’t use ranged attacks. No signs of magic, either.” 

“Yeah, they behaved like the typical Golems—only activating when something gets close.” 

That was a relief. If that was the case, we just had to be wary of their massive arms. As long as we didn’t have to deal with too many at once, it should be fine. 

Lilia told everyone about the ruins being embedded in the canyon wall. Ardan listened carefully before asking, 

“Should we walk along the canyon floor to reach the destination, or lower ropes from the cliff? Which is the better option?” 

Since the Golems didn’t have ranged attacks, using ropes to descend wasn’t a bad idea. However, there was one problem. 

“If we go with the ropes, it might be difficult for Elise. The entrance to the ruins is pretty far down, and the cliffs are extremely high.” 

“Yeah, that would be tough. I guess we have no choice but to walk along the canyon floor.” 

Fighting our way through Golems sounded like a challenge. Once we entered the ruins, we’d probably get a break. But reaching them would be another story. 

“Lilia, did you sense any life inside the ruins?” 

“Hmm… I didn’t. But I did detect something odd.” 

“Something odd?” 

Everyone’s attention turned to Lilia. She hadn’t mentioned it to me earlier. It meant she must have judged it as not being an immediate threat. 

“It might not be a big deal, but I found traces of magic stones. One of them is about the size of that Big Fire Turtle we defeated before.” 

That was pretty big. If it was just a magic stone, it wasn’t necessarily a sign of a living creature. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t brought it up before. 

“Could it be a power source for some kind of device inside the ruins?” 

“That would be ideal. But if it belongs to a Guardian protecting the ruins, that’s a problem.” 

“A Guardian? Yeah, I’ve heard that ancient ruins sometimes have those. They’re said to be stronger than Golems… I’d love to fight one!” 

Jill grinned with excitement. I couldn’t understand what was so fun about that. And judging by the others’ faces, I wasn’t the only one. 

“Let’s keep that possibility in mind. Lilia, that magic stone wasn’t moving, right?” 

“Right, it wasn’t moving. But like the Golems, it might activate if we get too close.” 

“That makes sense. If it was always active, it would’ve run out of mana by now.” 

So there was a possibility of a Guardian. We had no idea how strong it was, but it was definitely something to be cautious about. Would it activate the moment we entered the ruins? If so, securing a safe zone inside would be difficult. 

“This is tricky. It’ll take us about half a day to reach the location Fel and the others scouted. If we want to return the same day, we won’t have much time to explore.” 

“There’s also the Golems. If we want to proceed safely, we’ll have to take down a significant number of them.” 

Elise muttered while poking her food with a fork. 

It really was a difficult situation. We didn’t know how many Golems there were. But if we had to fight through them, it would take a lot of time. And we also didn’t know how frequently new Golems were being created. Mentally, this was going to be exhausting.