Chapter 824: Barbra (Three in One)
2
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
“Does this mean that I have to sign a contract with an oceanic spiritual beast?” Abel thought to himself. He had been promoted several times recently, and after being promoted to a master alchemist, he gained quite a lot of s.p.a.ce for contracts with more summon creatures.
He could get two more, according to his estimations. He never thought about forming contracts with more spiritual beasts. He was a level fifteen wizard now, and sooner or later, he would be promoted to become an advanced wizard. That was when he’d be able to leave the Holy Continent and enter into the new world. His spiritual beasts he found were quite powerful already, but it was hard to tell what he might find in the new place.
By the way, he had never thought about forming contracts with oceanic spiritual beasts before. This was the case even after he saw the top-level spiritual beasts because oceanic spiritual beasts could only stay in the ocean. He did not want to stay in the ocean. While his portal beast ring was an instrument for containing the spirits, they were actually designed for land animals. There wasn’t a place for oceanic spiritual beasts to live there, to begin with. If he made a contract with an oceanic spiritual beast, he would’ve had to leave in the ocean if he was to travel elsewhere. That’s the same as wasting a slot on his contract list.
So, he quickly abandoned the idea, but he still had to enter the water. So who was going to do it? Johnson clearly couldn’t do it. There was no telling how deep this water was, so if it was to sink to the bottom, he wasn’t sure if he could go deep enough to rescue it. It was the same for the spiritual guardian knights. He did not know if they could swim, so that’s definitely a no-go.
As for the claystone guards, he was even less confident because they might just become a pile of mud if they were thrown on the ocean.
So who was going to do it? After thinking about the candidates, Abel decided that It was he that was up for the job. He was called “Abel the blue dragon,” so by that sense, it should be possible for him to move freely in the water. It wouldn’t make sense if a blue dragon couldn’t swim, right?’
Abel murmured to himself, “I’ll do it myself, I guess.”
He then turned to his summon creatures as he started packing his gears, “All of you, keep a watch as I go for a dive.”
He had a lot of trophies that he gained from his previous battles. There was the water-resistant gemstone, for instance. He remembered plucking it off a belt with three gemstones on it. It was something that he found from Prince Adolf’s collection of portal items. Originally, the belt had dust-proof stone, holy light stone, and the water-resistant on them, but to stop the elves from knowing what he was doing, he decided to take them all off separately.
So, with the water-resistant stone in his hand, he leaped from White Cloud’s back and jumped into the ocean. It felt strange when he made the dive. The nearby water felt quite warm. It felt good because, strangely enough, he didn’t feel that close to it. Perhaps it had something to do with the water-resistant gemstone. Since the water-resistant gemstone was on, it was like his entire body was covered in gas that was keeping the water away from him for about ten centimeters. It was almost like the water couldn’t get close to his body.
After thinking for a bit, he decided to put the water-resistant gemstone back into his portal ring. After doing this, and the water immediately rushed towards him. It was almost like he was back in his mother’s womb. He tried to grab the water with his hands, and an ice ball appeared in his palm. He did not do this deliberately. Without even activating his mana, he created an iceball just by thinking about it. Usually, no humans would be capable of this unless they were ice elemental knight head knight commanders or ice elemental wizards.
So that’s why Emmanuel did not hesitate to call him the blue dragon. Whether it was because of his dragon blood or his blue dragon ice crystal breathing technique, whatever the case, he felt free to be inside the ocean. He started paddling with his feet. He leaned forward inside the water as it slid past him. It was almost like he became one with the ocean.
In the ocean, he could use his two legs to help him move forward. He started rus.h.i.+ng straight upfront as fast as he could. It felt fun, so he felt like playing for a bit. He knew how to swim, but manipulating the water around him was something that he never quite experienced before.
Just when he rushed towards the front, a giant fish appeared in front of him. It was a regular large fish that was not threatening him in any way. He didn’t want to b.u.mp into it, however. He thought about going around it, but his body started turning on its own and did so. It was quite funny, actually. In the ocean, he could move anywhere just by thinking about it.
After playing for about several tens of minutes, he suddenly remembered that he never had to go up for breath. He was starting to feel a bit breathless. He should’ve been more careful when he made the dive. Moving around was just too fun, so he forgot how important it was to go up and inhale.
That was when he realized that his skin was breathing even in the water. There wasn’t a lot of oxygen in the ocean, but it seemed that the energy he was expending was reduced compared to when he was on land. In this sense, he didn’t have to pay too much attention to breathing harder.
In the water, the battle command spirit’s scanning distance was reduced to just about one mile. that was a tenth of the range when it was on land. Abel could see further with even his own eyes. Due to his familiarity with the water, he could still see how good the suns.h.i.+ne was above the water. There was still enough light below as well. From here, he could see everything that was within a two-mile radius.
The searching work continued very slowly. As it turned out, the hardest bit wasn’t about coming to this location but rather the process of actually finding the small island. It had been half a day since he started the search here, by the way. Just when he was about to lose faith, he found a striped fish wiggling as it swam in front of him. When it tried to move forward, it was bounced back as it ran into a wall. This happened several times. After trying a few more times, the fish turned away and left.
Abel’s eyes sparkled at the sight of this. This was probably a type of spell circle. He quickly moved towards the invisible wall. If it weren’t for a striped fish’s movement, he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the front and the other direction. He reached his hand forward, and when his hand touched a wall of air that was like the real deal, he realized that it was fairly easy to get past through it. Once he entered it, he saw a unique s.p.a.ce that appeared in front of him.
There was seawater all around him. It was kept out of the air wall, and the sunlight pa.s.sed through the water and flashed into the s.p.a.ce, onto the island that was revealed. This was an island, indeed, but unlike most islands, this island was situated in the air, not on the water. He thought it was another battle fort, but he realized that it was a real island upon a closer look.
The reason that the island was floating was quite simple. There was a temple on top. The temple emitted a strange energy that stabilized the structure. It was the same energy that kept the seawater away, keeping the island afloat in the middle of the underwater dimension created in the ocean. It didn’t seem that this energy would prevent living creatures, but judging from what happened to the striped fish, perhaps it was only non-resistant to non-marine creatures.
Now, the island was not that big, but it wasn’t that small, either. There were bigger islands, of course, but this wasn’t really a small island. Abel tried to walk closer towards it, but he found himself stuck like he was at the edge of a dimension. He was stuck at where the inside met the outside. His blue dragon ability kept him still at the entrance, but he fell straight at the most bottom part after taking one step.
He couldn’t fly, but luckily, there was only a distance of three hundred meters from the bottom of this dimension to the island itself. All it took was one “instantaneous movement” for him to get to the island’s edge. The moment he landed on the island, his instinct as a head knight commander immediately alerted him about an upcoming threat. He immediately put on his “shattered ice armor” defensive spell and the combat qi armor. Simultaneously, the “vow of the ancient contract” s.h.i.+eld and the “steel” sword appeared in his hands. He put on all the defense that he could.
This was when the soil beneath his feet was turned. Large, ancient tree roots appeared around him. He tried to activate his “instantaneous movement” spell, but even though there was mana inside the rune when activated, he couldn’t activate the spell itself.
“It can banish magic?”
As soon as the thought arose, he quickly realized that something didn’t add up. He couldn’t use the “instantaneous movement,” but he still got to keep the “shattered ice armor.” Was it because of these tree roots?
Anyways, since fleeing wasn’t an option, he decided to go up ahead and fight. The “steel” sword in his right swung hard at the nearest root, but the slash didn’t seem to be quite effective at all. The “steel” sword was already the strongest weapon on the entire Holy Continent, but whatever species of plant the root belonged to, The sword didn’t even make a mark on it. The force that he used to hit it did make it pause for a bit, however, and that was when he found himself an opening to escape from being surrounded.
First, he switched on the world stone fragment. He rushed forward as fast he could, and by slightly wiggling his body while doing so, he managed to dodge a few of the tree roots. He then tried to loosen his breath, and that was when the ground beneath him was flipped again. Countless roots started to spring from underneath. They were like eyes that watched him from all directions.
Nevertheless, he used up all of his strength to resist. Yet, without even lasting for a minute, one tree root managed to curl him up. This was when countless tree roots came at him frantically. The next thing he knew, his sight became pitch black as the tree roots literally wrapped him up. It felt quite heavy. So heavy, in fact, that it should be enough to crush a head knight commander to death. He was lucky that he was stronger than that.
The tree roots continued to pull him. Although he couldn’t see the situation outside, he could feel that he was being dragged to the bottom of the earth and pulled elsewhere. He had to breathe several times for this. As he sensed that the tree roots were leaving the soil, That was when everything stopped. Tiny branches stretched out from the ones that were wrapped around his body. It was like they were trying to pierce through him.
Even with the protection of the snake magician skin and the “sky’s bottom” rune hat on his head, his face was exposed. The thinner branches reached towards his cheek. He had only a layer of the combat qi armor to protect it. The shattered ice armor disappeared as soon as this happened. When the smaller branch made contact with the combat qi armor, the first thing that it did was to absorb the energy that was inside. This caused a ma.s.sive drop in Abel’s total storage of combat qi. If it were to disappear, these smaller branches would’ve been able to reach his skin. It was absolutely terrifying.
It wasn’t just the combat qi armor, too. His other rune gears were also being sucked out. The speed was slower, though. Having faced death several times already, Abel was quite calm in all of this. The data collected by the world stone fragment continued to be supplied to his brain, and he continued to think about all of this.
Death was not an option. His family was still waiting for him. There was an elf waiting for him. He had his own duchy to look after, and his life after resurrection had just begun. His druid spirit replaced his main spirit, quickly spinning the colorless energy that was inside. The entire druid spirit’s volume was filled with green energy, which was even purer than that of a normal druid. Simultaneously, his soulspeaker’s ability was switched on. Green energy started flowing through his body. It was the sort of green energy that could stabilize all the nearby plants. It was the perfect thing for him to be on good terms with the nearby faunas.
The tree roots stopped when they realized what was happening. Abel no longer felt the pressure put on him because the tree roots were already spreading themselves out. More and more of them were leaving him. He was finally starting to see what was happening. He could see that he was underground, right beneath the surface of the island. It wasn’t dark. There was a flower in front of him. It was a flower full of stench.
The flower had no leaf on its stem. It looked bald. The tree roots were spread very densely around it.
A message was sent to Abel’s power of the Will, “What are you? Why do I feel like I can be good friends with you?’
“What” was not a very nice term to use, but Abel could tell that the flower in front of him was not to be messed with. He couldn’t use the “instantaneous movement.” Under such conditions, it was like the natural enemy of the wizards.
Abel spoke through the power of the Will, “My name is Abel. I came here by accident. Who are you?”
The plant spoke in a very friendly tone, “My name is Barbra, the guardian of the t.i.tan Temple. I am the one that protects the G.o.d of the t.i.tans.”
This guardian was surprisingly friendly. Actually, it all that surprising. Being a guardian for years must be very lonely. Since its purpose was to kill all living things in its sight, It never had the chance to have a proper conversation with anything. It seemed eager to get close to Abel. It would do anything to get Abel to speak more to it.
Abel asked the thing that he wanted to know the most, “Can you ban spells, Barbra?”
Barbra said very pleasantly, “Of course I can! As long as my roots can reach it, all mana Can be drained. That is if I hold onto it.”
Abel asked again, “You just mentioned that this is the t.i.tan Temple. Are there still any t.i.tans that live here?”
Barbra said sadly, “No, they left here tens of thousands of years ago. I’m the only one that’s here.”
No t.i.tans in the t.i.tan Temple. Abel couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief at that. Barbra’s tone said a lot about how troublesome the t.i.tans are. Barbra was a plant, so it knew how to channel the green natural energy that’s within a druid spirit. Added with the soulspeaker’s ability, it was free to communicate with Abel at will.
The t.i.tans didn’t buy that, though. If Abel knew how dangerous this place could be, he didn’t think that he would invite the dwarves over. Setting up a teleportation circle was not going to guarantee their safety. With Barbra here, the only one that he could guarantee the safety of was pretty must just himself.
At this time, Abel could see a pile of corpses that were not far ahead. These corpses were like empty sh.e.l.ls. Some looked like they were ordered by death qi, while others were not. They must’ve been the “leftover” of the tree roots. Judging from how there were some oceanic spiritual beasts among them, he could tell that they must’ve been quite strong.
Something caught his attention, especially. There was a corpse of a dwarf.
Abel thought to himself, “Is that the one that Bernie mentioned?”
Abel asked in a very straightforward manner, “Can you show me that body, Barbra?”
Was communicating to it through his soulspeaker’s ability. Without it, it would not have been possible to communicate with it. This was precisely because Barbra was a plant. It didn’t have the complicated thought patterns of an intelligent being. The t.i.tans gave it the ability to think on basic terms, but not so much in anything above. This became worse when the other t.i.tans left.
“It’s worthless, Abel,” Barbra replied, despite pulling it over to Abel with one of its roots.
Upon a close look, Abel could tell that there was a ring on the dwarf’s corpse. It also had its magic armor intact, when the roots would’ve absorbed all the necessary gears long before. The ring seemed quite strange. It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing one, but something about it seemed quite fascinating. He tried taking it off and putting it on his own finger. Perhaps it was because the master was already dead. His power of the Will was easily injected into it.
He declared owners.h.i.+p over it very quickly. At the same time, a dark golden light flashed over the surface of the ring.
“The Valaya’s ring!” a voice was sent to Abel’s power of the Will. This was a ring that once belonged to a G.o.ddess. It was a magic item that was crafted and owned by the spirits. The other name was “divine tool.”
When Abel’s power of the Will was injected into Valaya’s ring, he could tell that it was a portal ring. Unlike the ring he was wearing, there was enough s.p.a.ce inside Valaya’s ring to fit an entire mountain. This was when he remembered the ring that Wizard Cyril handed to him. That was a divine portal ring as well. Several battle forts were traded with it.
That was when a shocking thought came to mind. This corpse must’ve belonged to a powerful advanced wizard before. Without such power, no one would dare to mess around in a place like this. He tried looking at what was inside. There were many materials that he could find. There was also magic equipment that belonged to the dwarves. As precious as the materials were, he didn’t find any that he was particularly interested in. He was no longer the little wizard like he used to be. Anything that he could find on the Holy Continent, he could pretty much get them all through trade.
So, if he didn’t want the magic equipment, then what he would look for must be the potions. Those who were strong would definitely need those two. As a grandmaster blacksmith and a master alchemist, Abel was sure to make any powerful magic weapons that he wanted. It was the same for alchemy potions, but he’s already had an entire supply chain of people to get him any sort of ingredients that he might be interested in.
That’s when he saw a weird s.h.i.+p that was placed inside Valaya’s ring. This was probably the ancient diving s.h.i.+p that was used for the expedition. Anyway, now was not the time to Look. He picked it up and showed it to Barbra.
Abel asked, “I like this ring, Barbra. Can you give it to me?”
Not knowing the ring’s worth, Barbra was pretty straight about this, “Of course, take it if you want.”
“Can you move, Barbra?” Abel asked again, placing the Valaya’s ring on the same finger as to where he put the portal beast ring on. The reason was quite simple. He didn’t want to return a divine item to the dwarves. That was three divine items that he’d be wearing on himself. No one would think he would be wearing this many divine items.
Barbra said calmly, “I’m stuck here, sorry. I won’t be able to leave this place forever.”
It was not sad when it said so. Barbra was a plant, and plants couldn’t move. Of course, it wouldn’t feel sad to be locked up in a place for its entire lifetime. that was probably what the t.i.tans thought when they created it to guard their temple.
“May I visit the t.i.tan Temple, then?”
Instead of asking it directly, it was more of a question to test how Barbra would react.
Barbra gave a surprisingly clear response, “Yes, the t.i.tans left here already. This is a place that has lost its original purpose. You are free to look around.”
“Thank you,” Abel said, “Can you send me up there, then?”
Because of Barbra’s existence, no spells could be cast here. There was the option of digging a tunnel to the top, but that didn’t seem quite right.
“Sure thing!” Barbra said, meanwhile raising Abel carefully with a root. Unlike last time, it was a lot more subtle as not to hurt him.
And just like that, Abel was sent to the ground very smoothly.
The root sent a message when Abel left, “Remember to see me, okay? It’s quite lonely here.”
Abel replied in a guaranteeing voice, “It’s weird being a friend with a plant, but sure. I’ll make sure to visit a friend whenever I’m free.”
“Friend!” the root continued to repeat the term. After that, it shrank back to the underground.
On a side note, Barabra was never expected to have to stay at the temple for so long. The t.i.tans definitely left Too long ago. The good thing was that its obligation as a guardian was no more. The order was still intact, but nothing could be more important than friends.h.i.+p after the suffering of ten thousand years.
Abel stood in front of the t.i.tan Temple. It was like he was entering into a nation of giants. He seemed to have acknowledged the connection between the dwarves and the giants because no matter what, the sizes of the temples in front of him were actually pretty similar to that of the dwarves. They were equally tall, with equally big doors. They were all made with stones, too.
The t.i.tan Temple had two large stone doors. While looking from down to up, he could see a lightning-conjuring t.i.tan that was carved into it. If the t.i.tans were really the same size as this depiction, then they Should have been about ten meters tall in total. Abel placed his hands on the door. Upon pressing it, he could tell that this door must’ve been about one meter thick. Its weight must’ve been terrifyingly heavy.
“Hey!” he breathed as loudly as he could. This was when all the power inside of him exploded. Golden combat qi flashed across him, but the force that was released was only enough to make the door shake for a bit. This was quite strange because back on the Holy Continent, even the orcs couldn’t really match him in terms of brute strength.
“Come out, Johnson!”
Upon the call, a ten-meter black hole in front of him appeared. This was when Johnson came out.
“Master!” Johnson came out and bowed to Abel.
“Push it open!” Abel ordered it.
After bowing in reply, Johnson walked to the front of the stone door, both of its iron hands pressed downward. The stone doors made deafening noises of friction when they were pushed forward. Abel could’ve done this himself, but this was a door stuck for about tens of thousands of years. It was probably stuck with the frame already, and despite how strong his power was, his small body could only move the bottom of this door. He couldn’t make the entire door receive his strength.
On the other hand, Johnson was not only much, much, much taller, but it was just stronger than it. This was why the stone door responded as soon as it exerted its force. So, slowly and steadily, the millennium-old t.i.tan Temple’s door was opened for Abel to see.