Chapter 192: Ordeal (2/2)
”{You mean that wind riddle and the mountain of crystal? Yes, she did. I saw it myself as well since it is right outside the library at the moment. It did not move when you left the realm. Now, as for the clue you might have hoped from me… I am not sure.}”
'What do you mean?'
”{I will be frank; this does ring a bell to me but I cannot put my finger on it. It is certainly something that I have read in the past but I fail to remember what it was about.}”
'Lovely.'
”{Hahaha, that's exactly what I said,}” Higure chimed in.
”{Let me finish,}” Fray grunted. ”{As I said to the lioness, if it is something I have read…}”
'It's in your library,' Rakna finished the sentence. 'Then get to it.'
”{I am. But this might take a long time. There are many texts recorded here. Even if I were to search through them mentally, it would take weeks.}”
'As long as you get it done, I don't care.'
”{Aah… oh well, call me if you need me. I will be focused on that otherwise,}” Fray said and cut off the telepathic connection.
Rakna then looked in the direction of the waypoints he set and invoked his aura. He then thought of something and inspected his outfit. ”It should work fine…” He muttered and transformed into a werewolf without taking off Allegro.
As he expected, the armor changed shape to fit him. Even Scherzo was perfectly matching his face and the design had been altered to fit better as well.
'The old man truly made it intelligent in its adaptation. It doesn't even matter if it's not human, it will still find an appropriate fit. It might even work as a normal wolf.'
”{That's good news since it's an armor you have to wear if you want it to work,} Higure remarked and then continued with an odd tone. ”{But… other than the mask, I don't think it suits you a lot in this form. It looks silly.}”
Rakna snorted. 'I agree,' he responded and pulled out the watch he put in his storage. He tapped on it and put his mouth close to it. ”Talpa Scherzo Zero,” he said out loud and Allegro turned wholly invisible. It was concealment without flaw, as if there was truly nothing on him. He then inputted a few more things on his watch and put it away.
”There. I programmed it to activate camouflage whenever it's not a humanoid shape.”
”{That thing can do anything, huh?}”
'Of course. That's to be expected when this entire thing is made by the old man with cutting-edge technology. To be honest, I've seen things even more impressive. Some people had literal armor suits with built-in rail guns back on Earth.'
”{You sound as if you personally experienced it.}”
'I did. The guy almost killed me.'
”{…}”
'We're getting off track. Let's get to that Ordeal,' he said and coated himself in mana. He constructed the magic formation in his head and opened his mouth, ”[Natcattiram Viḻuntatu.]”
This time around, the spell was activated with cold star energy. The cocoon was entirely blue and it shot off into the sky with an implosion pulling it forward. After about four minutes, the comet had considerably slowed down and Rakna dispelled it.
He came out of it with his wings deployed and this time, he managed to not lose control thanks to their support. He barreled toward the ground and spun right before landing on the ground where he turned back into a therian.
His now visible mask kept the sand cloud from blinding him and the eye ellipses narrowed as he observed what was in front of him. It was a massive rectangular structure made out of sandstone with only one big entrance.
'That's not very explicit. Am I supposed to just go in?' He thought as he approached it.
”{It seems like it.}”
Rakna mused and as he got close to the entrance, he saw some unclear words carved next to it. He dusted the words with his gloved hand and read them.
”'The fearless will die… the cowards will live… the weak will win… the strong will fall...' Well, that doesn't help much now, does it?” He deadpanned.
”{Hah, they're saying that you will die and fall, devourer,}” Higure jested.
He very subtly snickered and went through the entrance. ”We'll see.”
⠀
❮ ◈ ❯
⠀
You have entered the Deep Sand Labyrinth!
Ordeal Initiated!
Objective: Find the exit.
⠀
❮ ◈ ❯