"So this is the place you came all this way for? Why here?"Looking at the dusty little town in front of them, Daphne couldn't figure out why Rhys would travel such a long distance to get here.
After arriving in Cairo, Rhys and the others didn't continue using Muggle transportation. Instead, like most wizards, they used magic to reach their destination.
According to the intel provided by Gemma, heading west from this small town into the desert would lead them to the suspected location of the ruins. Rhys had indeed made a promise to Gemma before, saying that if he ever went on an adventure, he'd bring her along. But this time, he hadn't told her anything about his plans. The reason was simple: he hadn't really wanted to bring even Daphne and Astoria—let alone a former Slytherin graduate he didn't know that well.
Maybe if she'd known Rhys for five years or more, he'd have considered it.
"Yes." Rhys glanced at Daphne. "Do you remember that fight with Gemma Farley?"
"Of course I remember. It's still fresh in my mind." That evenly matched duel with Gemma had left a deep impression on Daphne.
"The magical sand she used came from the desert not far from here."
Hearing this, Daphne's eyes lit up—she could already imagine herself getting to play with the same kind of enchanted sand Gemma had used. The power to manipulate Earth was super cool!
"So… we're here to collect sand?"
"Mm, but we're not just here to collect sand—Gemma suspects there's an undiscovered ruin hidden in the area. If the ruin really exists, we're going to clear it out."
The moment they heard the word "ruin," both Astoria and Daphne's breathing quickened.
They began imagining what the ruin might look like and the treasures hidden within.
With those expectations in their hearts, the two excitedly followed Rhys into the desert.
"Bloody hell, how did Gemma even find that place?" Traveling deep into the desert was incredibly dull. The scenery barely changed, and Daphne felt like she was going insane.
"She probably gathered some sort of clues first, then investigated step by step, using various hints to narrow the destination down to a certain region, and finally conducted a systematic search of the area." Rhys explained the usual process for locating ruins hidden by ancient wizards.
That monotonous trek lasted a full day and night.
When Rhys finally uttered the word "we're here," both Daphne and Astoria couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Then came the confusion—there didn't seem to be anything special around them.
It was just an ordinary sand dune.
Astoria tried using mana flow detection, and soon she noticed that there seemed to be a faint magical current in the sand beneath their feet.
Rhys plopped down on the ground and plunged his wand into the sand.
As he channeled magic into it, the sand began to tremble slightly.
A few minutes later, a small clump of sand floated up from underground and hovered in front of him.
"Those enchanted dust particles are mixed in with a large amount of regular sand. You can start by playing with this little bit first—channel your magic into the dust, and then you'll be able to control the earth."
Rhys packed the extracted sand into a crystal vial and handed it to Astoria.
The girl took the vial, walked a couple of steps to the side, and followed Rhys's instructions to give it a try—and sure enough, it worked like magic.
Once the dust mixed with the sand, it spread her magic throughout. The sand that had been "infected" gave Astoria a feeling of complete control, as if she were moving her own limbs.
She could manipulate the sand effortlessly, shaping it into whatever she imagined. The sand first formed a small mound, then quickly morphed into several letters, and then into the shape of a snake.
"Rise!"
A plump little sand figure appeared on the ground, slowly shuffling its feet.
Astoria played to her heart's content, and Daphne, watching from the side, felt an itch of envy. She quickly asked for the remaining bit of sand from her sister, mimicked her method, "infected" a pile of sand for herself, and then joined in with joy.
Seeing the two students fully engrossed in playing with the sand, Rhys didn't stop them—he just smiled faintly: Let the kids play all they want. Time for me to take care of the real business.
During his earlier investigation, Rhys confirmed that Gemma's prediction was correct—there was indeed a ruin hidden beneath this sand dune.
He had also figured out the method to excavate it.
Rhys continued injecting his magic into the sand, filtering out the dust particles with special magical properties.
Once he had gathered enough enchanted sand, he infused them with his magic and used them to take control of a large portion of the surrounding sand.
Rhys stood up and suddenly swung his arm forward—the entire sand dune began to tremble.
Off to the side, Daphne and Astoria had been trying to sculpt a miniature Hogwarts castle out of sand, but the sudden tremor collapsed the half-finished castle they were building.
Countless grains of sand began to pour down the slopes of the dune like a flood, and this movement triggered a chain reaction, drawing in the rest of the dune—even the portions that Rhys hadn't directly influenced with his magic.
The entire sand dune began collapsing at an astonishing speed.
The three of them used flight magic to hover in mid-air, watching as the dune crumbled away piece by piece.
Daphne puffed out her cheeks in frustration—the castle she and her sister had almost completed was completely destroyed by Rhys in an instant.
"Rhys, what are you—"Before Daphne could finish her sentence, she fell silent. Because as the sand slid away, a massive palace built from large white stone blocks emerged from beneath.
From the currently exposed portion, the palace was immensely grand—its height possibly exceeding fifty meters, and the entire structure constructed from enormous stone blocks.
Over the course of time, the rear part of the palace may have collapsed or its foundation may have sunk, ultimately causing the ruins to take on a triangular shape.
The sand carried by the wind had gradually accumulated along the sloped edge of that triangle, eventually burying the entire palace.
Rhys moved large quantities of sand off the top and front of the palace, gradually uncovering it from beneath the dunes.
"See? There really was a ruin here." Rhys pointed at the palace beneath them, then descended directly to the palace's main entrance.
Once on the ground, Rhys didn't rush to examine the exterior of the ruin. Instead, he closed his eyes.
He focused on sensing the magical fluctuations within the palace.
After quite a while, he finally opened his eyes, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips—
It's been a long time, Helga.
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