World Keeper

Chapter 1042: Cold Truth

After Lifre vanquished the mighty beast at the bottom of the pit, definitely how she told that story, she invited Aznod and the others to descend in their ship. The pit was more than large enough for the entire ship to land at the bottom. While waiting for them, she worried about how to deal with the issue of an airlock for the lab.

As soon as she opened the door to let them all in, some of the pink mist would naturally get inside. Even if she made a second door, and opened them one at a time, the mist that got in when the first door opened would follow through to the second. She didn’t know if this mist could contaminate regular natural energy now that the altar had been destroyed.

“No other way, huh?” She muttered to herself as the group landed, the boarding hatch opening up. Everyone descended in their hazmat suits, looking around. “More peaceful than I expected.” Petra said in surprise.

“Yeah, I was bummed out, too.” Lifre agreed. “Okay, everyone, come over this way, and let’s explore some ruins!”

The others nodded having heard about Lifre’s discovery, and so they walked over to the hallway that she had found. They stood in front of the stone door, looking it over to find a way to open it. At the same time, Lifre split off a clone of herself, which stood at the entrance of the hall.

“Omnomnom!” She called out, opening her mouth wide and inhaling. The pink mist nearby rushed into her body, or more specifically her mouth. As she absorbed more and more of it, her body went from white to pink, gradually expanding until she was large enough to alter her form and become a second door.

Lifre grinned at the success of her plan. “The mist is corrupted natural energy, so I had my clone absorb it like I would natural energy. That should be more than enough to let you all explore inside without those suits.”

“It really hurts, though!” The new door complained. “Is this what it feels like to eat spicy food?”

Petra shook her head with a chuckle, reaching up to take the helmet off of her suit. Seeing as her skin hadn’t started to melt, the others all saw that it was safe. “Now, how do we open this?”

“Try using mana!” Lifre suggested. “The civilization seems to be heavily focused on magic, and there are crystal lights inside that react to mana.”

Petra blinked, nodding her head and stepping forward, placing her hand on the door. There was a small, blue pulse from her hand before the door shook, opening just a crack. “Looks like it’s been eroded too long to properly open.” She said, digging her fingers into that crack.

Petra gave a small grunt, pulling the two halves of the door apart with minimal effort. “Can your avatar hold out until we’re done here?” She asked, looking back at Lifre.

“Yup! If I need to, I can just replace that door, too!” She assured with a wide grin.

Petra simply nodded her head, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Her shadow expanded down the hall, the lights briefly flickering. Without the acidic energy stopping her, she was able to instantly map out the entirety of this underground facility. “I found something.” She announced to the others, turning and leading the way.

Aznod and the others followed behind Petra as she navigated her way through multiple corridors, eventually leading them to a single, massive door. “Oooh, I smell quest rewards!” Lifre said with shining eyes.

Petra simply shook her head. This door didn’t seem to have any method of directly opening it, so it was likely locked from another location. Holding her hand out, she conjured a giant, black axe. “Everyone step back.”

Lifre’s eyes widened, quickly moving back from the small demoness together with the rest of the expedition team. With three swings, Petra cut out a large section of the door, storing it in her shadow. On the other side, with various devices connected to it, was a large, black stone wall.

Lifre blinked briefly when she saw that. “Ah! They wanted to keep all their mysteries in one lab?” She asked, to which Petra gave a nod.

“A wall that couldn’t be moved. You said the level sphere was here, too, and a relic of immense power.” Petra walked forward, placing her hand on the gate. “For the time being, this is a safe zone, so we can bring priests here to register the gate.”

“I’m a registered priest of Aurivy.” The expedition leader said with a nod. “If we managed to find the gate, it was precisely my job to do this.”

Petra smiled, before looking at the scenery on the other side of the gate, pursing her lips. “The next floor… it’s not going to be comfortable, but at least it doesn’t look inherently fatal.” She could see a dense layer of ice covering the other side of the portal.

Lifre rolled her eyes with a grin. “Need me to go nom us up some space?” She asked, to which Aznod shook his head.

“If you devour the ice on the other side, and then retract your body, you will be creating a vacuum. Though we don’t technically need to breathe, it could create problems for us in another way. Let me take care of this one.”

As he said that, he placed his own hand through the gate, a black flame erupting from his palm and spreading outwards. His eyes were closed, the scene on the other side of the gate obscured by his flames.

“How’s that different from me going in and being all nommy nommy?” Lifre asked with a pout, Aznod simply chuckling. When he pulled back his hand, he revealed a large, cavernous space beneath the ice. He had erected a number of metal supports reaching up to the ceiling to brace it.

“I filled the interior with air, and provided support structures to ensure that the entrance won’t collapse on us. I thought that would be bad.”

“That would be very bad.” Petra nodded in response to Aznod’s words, before stepping through. As soon as she did, her shadow surged outwards, seeping through the ice around them. She closed her eyes, taking in the information being fed to her by her shadow.

“Reminds me of the twenty-sixth floor.” Lifre said with a faint pout, following Petra through with the others. “That floor tried to eat me, too.”

“This is… a bit worse than the crystal maze.” Petra responded, a deep frown on her face.

“What did you find?” Aznod asked, looking over at her. He had a certain understanding of how the World’s Shadow worked, thanks to Udona.

“Aside from what look like a few scattered air pockets, this entire floor is frozen, from top to bottom. There don’t look to be any paths to move anywhere, so we’ll need to make our own as we go.”

“That’s… inconvenient.” Lifre pulled a face, shaking her head. She knew more than most how large these floors were. “Even if we dig in a straight line, it’ll take ages to reach anywhere. We’re getting to the point now where we’ll need warp engines even within the atmosphere of Fyor.”

Petra nodded her head in agreement. “This is going to be a long term project.” She turned her head, looking at the expedition leader. “For now, you can call out some people to make the starter city here. I’ll stay behind, just in case there are some monsters in the ice.”

“In that case, I’ll go call a friend to see if I can help purify the previous floor!” Lifre said with a grin, hopping back through the gate and leaving the others behind.

In order to avoid being interrupted by the others, Lifre ran through the halls to find one of the bedrooms, before clearing her throat and calling out. “Little friend, little friend, I’ve got a favor to ask!” She shouted, carving green runes in the air with one finger.

There was a faint giggle in response, and a brown-haired halfling girl appeared in hiking gear. “Hey, Lifre! It’s been a while.” She said, before looking around with a pout.

“Yup! You can probably already tell what I want to ask, so… can you do it?” Lifre asked with wide, blinking eyes.

The girl hesitated, thinking it over for a moment. Afterwards, she shook her head. “No… I can’t clear this much natural energy on my own. Not without risking it spreading to the other floors through me.” Lifre pouted when she heard that, but the spirit continued. “However… there is an item that could help me.”

“I sense adventure!” Lifre’s face immediately lit up, staring at the girl, who nodded her head.

“In order to get the item, you’ll need to face powerful creatures capable of devouring spirits. I haven’t been there in a long time, but I remember James told me once that their levels were around four thousand to start. There are probably some a lot stronger than that. You’ll need to be incredibly careful--why do you look so excited?”

The world spirit of Fyor looked at Lifre in confusion, who was practically bouncing in anticipation. “Adventure, adventure! It’s a real quest! Can I go, please can I go?”

The world spirit hesitated, before nodding her head. “I need a gem found in the nests of these creatures. The more you gather, the faster I will be able to purify the natural energy of this floor. However… there isn’t a gate where I’ll be sending you. Once you get to the other side, the only way back will be to call me again, and I will open a path for you.”

After saying this, the girl opened a green portal next to herself. Lifre simply shouted “Adventure!” one last time before jumping through with a manic grin.

Once on the other side of the portal, Lifre was able to sense the peculiar traits of this region. It was absolutely flooded with natural energy, to the point where the very ground released a green glow. “This place is perfect for me!”

Hearing a growl behind her, Lifre’s head turned all the way around on her shoulders, seeing a white wolf monster. Her lips parted in a wide grin as she observed its trembling growl and sharp, almost crystalline fangs. “A puppy! Are you here to play with me, puppy?”

The wolf lunged forward, jaws snapping tight as it passed by Lifre, biting off one of her arms. She looked down at the stump of her arm, and then at the wolf. “Aww, it wants to play fetch. Okay, boy!”

The arm that the wolf had held in its mouth shifted, turning into a large stick. Afterwards, numerous branches emerged, wrapping around the head of the wolf to lock it in place. “Try to keep a good grip!” She said as she walked over, regrowing her arm and grabbing one and of the stick. “Aaaand, fetch!” She threw the stick, and the attached wolf, letting them both sail high into the air and off into the distance.

Lifre watched the departing wolf disappear into the horizon, waiting for a moment. “Huh… he’s not coming back. Bad boy.” She pursed her lips, before the ‘stick’ attached to the fleeing wolf’s maw began to glow brightly, erupting in a torrent of flames that reached high into the sky. “If you’re going to play fetch, you always have to run back with the stick.”