Chapter Discovered
"Ely, calm yourself for a moment and reorganize your mind about your situation. I was in an unknown realm which was like outer s.p.a.ce, alone. It"s probably just an illusion from my subconscious. However, what does this mean? Is this my trial? What kind of thing do I need to solve, or what kind of ent.i.ty do I need to defeat? There"s no my alter ego or heart demon." Elysia stroked her upper chest while trying her best to calm herself down.
Somehow, she felt deja vu. An incident like this was how she felt three months ago when she was first thrown into a new world with no information whatsoever.
However, the current event was that she was in a dangerous realm where she could die quickly.
*Gulp*
Elysia gulped her saliva out of nervousness. Her current status was nerfed, especially her EP. She had only a modest magic reserve and couldn"t rely on anyone but herself at this point.
"All right, a trial will make me start from the bottom. Let"s see those s.p.a.ce monster"s status screens." Elysia convinced herself of the situation and tried to inspect a nearby monster meteoroid, the smallest one.
"The weakest one is level 61!? But, Common Void Dweller and no rank detected? All right, all s.p.a.ce rocks with terrifying black auras are slow-moving monsters." Elysia looked around while examining the nearby monsters. "The safe place is only gray s.p.a.ce rocks without any aura. I have to be careful because my power is minimal right now."
Elysia huddled in a corner and disguised herself in the darkness. She checked what she had at the time, but it was just her and her dress.
"I almost forgot. The current me is just a wandering spirit. My s.p.a.ce Bag was left outside, and my divine artifacts were on my body. Can I access my s.p.a.ce Storage here?" Elysia felt utterly unarmed. She just thought about an ability she hadn"t used in a while.
"!?" Elysia was pleasantly surprised when she could detect a cubical room measuring twenty-five meters on each side.
She still had some valuable items, a few resources, and some weapons.
"Celestia! Uuh, I finally got hold of a weapon. My combat power will increase greatly with this powerful odachi. I can cut those s.p.a.ce rock monsters like tofu." Elysia stroked her odachi with a relieved smile. At least she could finish her objective in this place.
"My objective? What do I need to accomplish here in the first place!" Elysia clutched her head in frustration. She didn"t even have a clue why she was there.
*Rumble*
A commotion broke out in the distance. It instantly broke the train of thought and distracted Elysia.
"What"s going on out there? The monsters are fighting for food?" Elysia peeked out and activated her sacred vision.
A few tens of kilometers from her current location, she could see a strange black lizard patterned with red light. It had four wings on its back. That creature attacked blindly and destroyed several large s.p.a.ce rocks surrounding it.
*Swiish*
The four-winged black lizard shot out a red laser beam from its mouth. That attack split a giant asteroid monster in half, leaving red hot magma due to that attack"s destructive power.
*Boom!*
A ma.s.sive explosion followed and shook the nearby other s.p.a.ce monsters.
At that moment, a flash of shadow jumped from the back of the four-winged black lizard. The shadow stretched his hand forward, and hundreds of purplish-black crystals flew into him.
That shadow landed again on the four-winged black lizard, and they left the scene.
"Wow, they are powerful. That terrifying "pac-man" monster is at least Advanced-level and above, while the biggest one is probably Saint-level? They destroyed those s.p.a.ce rock monsters with a single combination attack." Elysia was amazed by what she had just seen.
"I have to follow them secretly. Maybe, I can get some clues about this unknown realm." Elysia made a decision and immediately followed the four-winged black lizard carefully.
It was her first objective, and she would not let her target out of her sight, no matter the reason.
At that moment, she was reminded of an old game she had played on Earth as Ali. A region would remain unknown, and the map would stay a shadow image until the character explored that region.
"Perhaps, my situation is the same as that case. I need to find clues about this realm, trigger various events, and unlock some maps. Then, I will arrive at the last floor and fight a final boss to complete this trial. Yes, I can do it. It"s just like a game, just like a simulation." Elysia mumbled in her mind as that thought suddenly crossed her mind.
Elysia had just grasped a realization based solely on personal conjecture. Yet, she felt something was off. She tried to remember if she had forgotten something and realized it a few moments later. The trial level in the corner of her vision was no longer there!
"Wait, how come? Why did it disappear? This is still the Illusory Realm of Madam Lifa"s formation, right? Think for a moment, Ely. I entered this unknown realm because I tried to get close to those faint golden clouds and crashed into a spatial dimension?" Various things replayed in Elysia"s mind. Still, she didn"t get any meaningful clues.
The four-winged black lizard suddenly increased its flying speed across s.p.a.ce. Elysia immediately put aside all the problems in her mind and only focused on following her target.
After roughly three hours of chasing at an impressive pace, Elysia landed on a remote meteoroid and peeked out. That four-winged black lizard landed on a super dark dead star measuring three kilometers in diameter.
Elysia was panting from exhaustion. However, she accidentally checked that four-winged black lizard"s status screen.
"!?" The black lizard sensed something was spying on them from somewhere, but what just now was a complete shock. It was as if something was scanning his entire body. He circled around before coming here to get rid of that "unknown thing", and he thought he had succeeded, but he seemed to have failed.
"!!!" Elysia covered her mouth and tried her best to disguise her entire being. She didn"t want to be found by the other party yet. Not when she wasn"t sure of anything.
"???" The shadow on the lizard"s back looked in the same direction, but there was nothing. Therefore, he simply tapped his feet to signal his comrade to move forward. They had a bag of void crystals to work with.
"Phew, the creatures here are so sensitive and sensitive. I have to move with a safe plan." Elysia breathed a sigh of relief. She then went to the dead star fully alert and came closer to the cave where the black lizard entered.
"Wait, my current dress color is white, and it"s very striking. I need to wear a black cloak for camouflage first. This realm is so dark, and black will blend really well." Elysia looked left and right, then immediately wrapped herself in a black robe.
Afterward, she entered the cave without causing even the slightest energy fluctuation.
"Is this place a hideout? A base?" Elysia checked her surroundings with her advanced perception every time she got a cover. She could see that civilization existed in this dead star realm. Despite its small size, she could find plenty of clues here.
"That carving on the stone wall, that symbol, and those pictures... Do they have a specific meaning? I can see several shapes that resemble runes." Elysia inspected the engraved walls. It was an archaeologist"s job to research something like this, but she had almost no knowledge in that field.
A dim light in the inner cave pa.s.sage suddenly caught her attention. She immediately went there to check what that lizard and shadow were doing.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*
The noise of metal hitting other metal could be faintly heard. Elysia peered into the room at the end of the pa.s.sage.
A shadowy figure seemed to be fortifying a weapon. Meanwhile, the four-winged lizard was lying on the ground, eating and tearing meat.
There were several other cave pa.s.sages, and the cave walls had more carvings than the previous one. Elysia widened her eyes as she saw some things in there. She could read some of the engravings there, and it was like Vrelenia language!
"Perhaps, this place holds a lot of clues regarding my next mission to complete this trial? That shadow looks strong. Can I cooperate with him to defeat the final boss in this realm level one?" Elysia a.s.sumed wild because it was only one of several possibilities. She dared not check that shadow"s status screen for security reasons, and because of that, she just presumed that shadow was strong.
"But, what if he is the evil NPC or the final boss himself?" Elysia shook her head and decided to leave this place for a while.
She would wait for that shadow and lizard to leave first. At that moment, it was her chance to explore this dead star.
Unfortunately, Elysia"s presence was somehow discovered by the other party. That shadow suddenly appeared behind her with lightning speed and drew a sizeable reddish-black spear at her back.
Elysia knew the danger was right behind her, and her adrenaline rush kicked in because her life was at stake.
"!!!" Elysia maneuvered to dodge by crouching down and using her momentum to dash out of the cave pa.s.sage as fast as she could.
"Hmm!" The shadow chased and swung his spear to split his opponent in two.
*Clang!*
Elysia turned around and parried it with her Celestia. However, her defensive stance wasn"t perfect, and she was thrown several dozen meters into a nearby cliff.
*Bam*
"Ghak!" Elysia felt her hands tingling, and her back was hurt. That blow was hard to block even though she used a heaven-grade weapon. She returned to her feet and held her odachi with both hands.
Her current situation suddenly turned for the worst, and she had to face a strong enemy immediately. Not to mention, she still felt exhausted.
"I can"t clash head-on like this. I only have a little energy left. Can I escape from him? He looks like he will kill me at any cost because I tried to infiltrate his hideout! He"ll probably throw me as food for his pet!" Elysia glanced into her opponent"s blood-red eyes. She could only think of running away as her situation would only end at a disadvantage.