Chapter Prove Your Worth
"Ai, what is this weapon? It looks powerful. Did you make it? You"re a craftmaster too."
"Ai, are these your diaries? Can I read them?"
"Woah, so this is your room... Where have you lived for hundreds of years?"
"Ai-"
Elysia talked to Alisha like a melodious bird chirping, making the atmosphere cheerful and lively. However, Alisha felt overwhelmed and somewhat annoyed as time went by.
"I just put a little trust in her, and she"s acting all familiar to me. Were we so close in the past? I can"t remember..." Alisha tried to ignore Elysia and searched her oldest diary.
"Ai, you"re daydreaming again." Elysia peeked into Alisha"s face from the side.
"You... Are you a chirping bird monster? Can"t you be quiet for a moment? I"m trying to find-" Alisha paused and held her head. She said something spontaneously but didn"t know what it was when she realized it. "Chirping bird? What is that?"
"So it"s corrosion and memory loss, huh... I might be able to help you with my healing magic. That blood flower doesn"t have a perfect effect, right?" Elysia offers to help.
"No need. I"m not so sure about you yet. Just sit there and don"t do anything. I have to check something first. If you want to take a look at my notebooks, go ahead. I"ll take you out after this and show you about this realm"s cruelty." Alisha pushed Elysia away and pointed to a mochi-like sofa.
"..." Elysia just sat on the sofa obediently. She looked at Alisha"s back and took a random old book from the nearby stone shelf.
It was a book with a thick cover, and each page was super-thin elastic wood. There were many Alisha"s handwriting about several things.
"Unfortunately, it"s not easy to tell the time here. There is no date on each page, only a chapter code. Most of what Lisha did was just cultivate, craft, forge, kill, hunt and explore. That"s a true adventurer"s life... She became Empress-level in three hundred years here, surpa.s.sing any human in Vrelenia, and without help but herself." Elysia put down the diary she had just read and took another one.
She then glanced at Alisha with a thought in mind. "Perhaps, it"s only a matter of time until she ascends to G.o.ddess-level. However, she was still injured, and only half recovered. She had obviously just been involved in a fierce battle but didn"t want to talk about it. Maybe she lost and hated it?"
Elysia then read a lot of things about Alisha through the diaries using her scanning abilities. One book was completed in a few seconds, and she used her time to quickly study Alisha"s daily life.
After a few minutes, Alisha sighed because she couldn"t find what she was trying to find. Her distant past was just a fleeting memory that would never come back.
Her only key to revealing the truth and being free from this Boundless Realm was only Elysia.
"..." Alisha turned around and was dumbfounded to see what Elysia was doing. That girl took a book, quickly turned all the pages, and then returned the book again. A repet.i.tion happened quickly, as if what that girl was doing was just messing around with her belongings.
"What exactly are you trying to do? I"m allowing you to read my activity history because you can understand that language, but that doesn"t mean I"m letting you tinker with my belongings." Alisha felt slightly annoyed and rushed to take the book from Elysia"s hand.
"..." Alisha suddenly became astonished as she noticed Elysia"s eyes were shining with a purplish-blue light. This girl was trying to achieve something and not just messing around?
"Uhm, have you found what you were looking for? Is there anything I can help you with?" Elysia returned the book to the shelf and asked gently.
"Did you scan everything in those books?" Alisha"s lips slightly twitched in surprise.
"Mm, I want to learn more about you while the opportunity is still there. You"ve changed a lot since our last meeting, Lisha." Elysia nodded slightly.
"Nonsense, I"ve been like this since the very beginning of my existence." Alisha immediately denied that a.s.sumption.
"Mm, fine, if that"s your wish. I"m glad to see you showing a lot of expressions lately, Lisha." Elysia didn"t argue with that and just responded calmly.
"!?" Alisha gasped in surprise. She just realized that, and it was a little hard to admit. Ever since Elysia"s arrival, she had indeed displayed many unusual expressions. The cause was unknown, but she didn"t want to make a fuss about it.
"It"s Ai, not Lisha. You use too many names." Alisha turned around and folded her arms.
"That"s Lisha or Alisha in our private time and Ai in public. Isn"t that fair and doesn"t violate your clause?" Elysia put her hands together happily.
"Whatever. Now let"s go outside. I"ll show you about this realm as you wish. Can you use telepathy? That would make things a lot easier." Alisha snorted and gave a dismissive hand wave. She then walked to the exit.
"Of course, I can use telepathy~" Elysia spoke to Alisha via telepathy.
"This... You are weak, but you can directly talk to my mind without my permission!? Tch, never mind. Your existence is bizarre in the first place." Alisha was no longer surprised after Elysia had performed many magic miracles in the last two hours. This girl"s words turned out to be honest and verifiable.
"We"re going out, but we"re not going to engage in battle, are we? You and Cherub are still injured and have not fully recovered." Elysia jogged to catch up with Alisha.
"Your eyes can see things that far, huh... However, you are the only one to worry about here. I"m still a million times stronger than you." Alisha heaved a subtle sigh.
"Okay, no fighting, and just an exploration." Elysia came to a conclusion.
When they arrived at the large room at the cave pa.s.sage branch, Cherub joined, and they left that dead star with caution.
Elysia checked her current status and felt somewhat relieved. She recovered over twenty thousand points just by using a few small crystal pieces in the captive room earlier. Moreover, Alisha had also returned her precious sword. She stroked her Celestia like a precious treasure while looking around curiously.
"..." Alisha didn"t know what to say seeing Elysia stroke that sword like it was a peerless treasure. That weapon was unique and quite strong, but it was useless in front of the powerful monsters in this realm.
"Where are we going now? See middle, inner, then core region?" Elysia asked with great enthusiasm.
"I"m not sure you"ll survive five minutes in the inner region, let alone the core region. The corrosion intensity level there is too high for you." Alisha rolled her eyes. She didn"t know why Elysia seemed to want to go to the core region so much.
"Wander around the outer region first, then look around the middle region, is it? Okay, I also want to see if I can survive the intermediate corrosion rate or not." Elysia stroked her chin as if she understood Alisha"s plan.
However, she suddenly realized something and tried to nudge Alisha on the topic. "Is it possible you just came from the core region, Ai? You"re hurt because you just fought someone there, right? My eyes can"t see through your shadow robe, but I know your body is injured. Will you allow me to see your wounds? I might be able to help."
"Sigh, it"s again... It"s just flesh wounds. My body will heal itself thanks to my regeneration abilities." Alisha sighed and turned her face to the side.
"..." Elysia was silent, but she had another thought. She only looked around as they returned to the danger zone in the outer region.
A few moments later, Cherub landed on a gray meteoroid and hid behind a rock. He fell to the ground to let his master down.
"Elysia, look over there. Those s.p.a.ce rocks are actually a swarm of monsters. They can be very aggressive if they detect movement, magic, or light around them. Even though they were quite weak, they held a lot of useful materials. Can you tell the difference between the regular s.p.a.ce rocks and the monster ones?" Alisha sat on a rock and pointed in a direction. There are hundreds of s.p.a.ce rocks scattered irregularly.
"En, I"ve already met them. The ones with black aura are the monsters, while those with gray color are ordinary s.p.a.ce rocks. Can we only hunt for materials by blowing up those monsters?" Elysia was interested in hunting those monsters for valuable materials to restore her magic. She might as well gather some to craft a new ultimate weapon.
"Yeah, they do have valuable materials inside them, but not all of them catch my eye. I still need a lot of high-tier void crystals to refine my shadow spear." Alisha raised her palm, and a jet black spear with a slight reddish outline emerged from the puff of shadows.
"..." Elysia glanced at the black bracelet on Alisha"s wrist. She could feel a slight energy fluctuation from there just now, and she a.s.sumed it was something like a storage item.
"Ah~ I just remembered. You keep saying that you can help me and brag about your capabilities. Let"s test your skills. Elysia, destroy that s.p.a.ce rock monster and gather the materials for me. That one is only tier-seven, so weak, but it"s four tiers above you. Can you do it? Prove your worth in action!" Alisha smirked and pointed in a direction.
Elysia turned her gaze in the direction she was pointing. It was a large meteoroid with an evil black aura at level 122, on the same level as the Great Master level.
"Okay, I"ll do it. Wait for me here, and I"ll be back in ten minutes at the most." Elysia immediately flew away without emitting any energy so as not to attract the other monsters" attention.