325 Turbulent Trials 1 (1/2)
\”Master, I'm detecting more activity and life signatures now. It's a little too coincidental but I believe this is a trap to lure us in. What should we do?\” Wii asked.
Zero smiled. Finally, some solid leads to where Poseidon was. \”We'll follow them. I'm going to avoid conflict and fighting if possible. After all, I came here to talk. Do you still have the gifts I prepared?\”
Mii rolled her eyes. \”Yes. I've even checked all the enchantments you've put on them. They're still very fresh, Lily has set that aside in the inventory for you to present it to Poseidon. Do you still remember Freya's lessons about greetings?\”
It was Zero's turn to roll his eyes. \”Yes, I do. Don't worry, I don't think Poseidon is a very stiff person who pays much attention to etiquette. If Zeus is easy-going and Hades is paranoid, I think Poseidon would be a balanced person who is understanding enough.\”
Mii chose not to comment about Zero's opinion of Hades. If the God of Death heard that, he would be very sad. Still, Zero wasn't too far off the mark. According to the books, Poseidon was quite an impartial person who judged fairly and had a very strong sense of justice. He was similar to Enma in temperament and was well-respected by his subordinates. The only person Poseidon was strict and harsh with was Athena for some reason that wasn't recorded in the history books but it didn't matter because they were going to find out the reason soon enough.
\”Be careful, master. I can point out thirty very dangerous jellyfishes guarding this temple structure. From the system's scan, we cannot know the interior because of a very strong magic barrier. I have a feeling we've found Poseidon's hideout,\” Lily reported seriously and Zero grinned.
He pulled out YY and Origin once he was hidden behind a huge rock surface just a few hundred metres away from the nearest jellyfish guard. It wasn't very hard for Zero to put all the jellyfish guards to sleep. However, the difficult task came when he was up against an invisible barrier. With such an ancient temple, there would surely be traps everywhere.
\”Should I dash inside or announce my arrival?\” Zero asked.
Mii voted for announcing his arrival for a non-bloody approach but Wii thought that it might be safer to not announce his presence just in case the god harboured ill-intentions against Zero.
\”Maybe you can send a clone or a message to announce your arrival instead of doing it personally,\” Lily suggested, appeasing the sisters.
Zero thought about it and nodded. \”If something goes wrong, I'll just retreat to the lamp and make plans from there. Wii, watch my back.\”
With his mind made, the brunet swam from his hiding spot to just outside of the barrier's reach. With sonic waves, he projected his voice.
The greeting lacked finesse and class that Freya taught. Mii facepalmed hard and Wii grimaced. Lily pretended not to have heard anything and continued smiling pleasantly. The nervousness that ate at Zero's mind made him forget his prepared script and the young doctor blushed terribly, making him look like a cooked shrimp.
Poseidon wasn't expecting such a bold declaration from the young lad. The name Athena made his earlier passive attitude change. Initially, he wanted to evacuate the entire palace and buy time while he entertained this intruder but after knowing Zero's intention, he called off all the arrangements. This child had the nerve to bring up Athena's name after so many years... anyone who disturbed his niece's peace would be regarded as a menace.
\”Carlsen! Prepare to counterattack. Nobody mentions Athena's name and gets away with it. Transform the sea temple into a fortress, if this lad wants information, he will have to work for it to prove his sincerity. Send a messenger to let him know that he should return in three days to take the trials if he wants to meet me. I'm not going to go easy on him...\”
The armoured turtle was rather surprised to see a change in attitude in his master but he couldn't mull over it for too long. Being able to fight alongside his master till the bitter end was much better than being sent away forcefully. Whoever this boy was, the turtle was secretly thankful for his announcement.
Outside the sea temple, Zero spotted an unarmed and non-hostile shrimp carrying something that looked like a magic crystal. The shrimp struggled with the weight of the stone but carried out its mission to the best of its ability, delivering the object to Zero's open palm.
The magic crystal played a voice message and Zero took notice of Poseidon's voice. He didn't sound very good and Zero frowned. As a doctor, he didn't have to physically see his patients in order to assess their conditions. Even if Poseidon's voice was laced with anger, he couldn't hide the weakness and lack of vitality in it. Now, Zero had more than one reason for visiting the fallen god. If going through Poseidon's trials was all it took to grant Zero an audience with the titan, then Zero would wait patiently for three days.
>> This is a sponsored line break announcement. If you are not reading on Webnovel then the content is stolen. Support the creator - Destiny Aitsuji - on Webnovel and check out their other works.
On the third day, Zero visited the sea temple again. This time, it was looking more like a transformed fortress. The young doctor wondered who the mastermind behind this great engineering was. The sea temple that resembled the House of Great Gods before now looked a little like the Pharaoh's Crypt. There was no doubt about the traps installed in the modified structure. Zero didn't know what the trials were but he certainly hoped that it didn't involve him needing to kill anyone.
\”Halt!\” Poseidon's voice resounded from the sea temple fortress. Zero stopped in his tracks and moved no further. He was currently at the entrance of the fortress and was about to use echolocation to map out the interior when he was made to stop.
\”Before you attempt the trials, state your purpose of visit and who sent you.\”
Zero smiled. \”I'm here to investigate the reason behind Athena's grudges on a quest to resolve Athena's curse on the gorgon sisters. Technically, nobody sent me here because it was my decision to carry out further investigations here after exhausting all other options. However, the quest giver is the Divine Entity of Kindness, Murvin.\”