Chapter 688: Stocking Up (1/2)

“They probed our souls with some sort of treasure,” Vilari muttered a few moments after the trio had left the balcony. “I wasn’t able to block it out.”

“They did?” Zac exclaimed. “I didn’t notice anything.”

“Young master’s soul is strong, but you ultimately aren’t a Soul Cultivator,” Vilari said with a slight smile.

“What’s your take on the situation?” Zac asked.

“Her soul was stable throughout. I think she was mostly truthful in her words,” Vilari slowly said. “The large one was threatening, but it would be the small one you would have to worry about. I sensed wild fluctuations in his soul every time you were disrespectful to the Draugr.”

“A real mess,” Zac sighed. “Well, no point in staying here. Are you feeling better?”

“Much better, thank you,” Vilari nodded.

“Alright, let's go,” Zac grunted as he stood up. ”The place Catheya is putting us up in doesn't sound too bad.”

The two left the incensary a moment later and found a subdued Nala waiting outside. He needed to consider his next step, and he had Nala take them to the high-quality hotel on a disk partly owned by Clan Sharva'Zi. There was no point in avoiding that place now that he had already been spotted, and it truly was a luxurious place.

The hotel was actually a vast forest, where each room was a mansion surrounded by wilderness. The forests were not the deathly and seemingly haunted forestry of the Dead Zone back on Earth either, but rather beautiful trees with silvery leaves and white trunks. There were also similarly-colored bushes that made up some of the undergrowth, and they grew what looked like metallic pinecones which sounded like chimes when they were rustled by the wind.

They didn't have to slog through the forest, but an attendant rather handed them unique teleportation tokens that took them to a small square outside the walled courtyard leading to his mansion. He sent the attendant away after having him provide Nala with a token as well. He sent Nala away as well, though asked her to come back in twelve hours before he and Vilari went inside the mansion.

Catheya suddenly appearing had put him a bit on the spot even if he had prepared a bit beforehand. He had been forced to make some decisions quickly, but he felt things worked out for the best. The deal she offered was really fair as far as he could tell. Catheya's party would get the first three Life-Death Pearls they found as payment for providing the path and method to push away the restriction of the Twilight Ocean.

After the first three, the group would draw lots and then distribute the following pearls thereafter. Furthermore, the group would consist of 8 members at most. Seeing as there were up to 100 pearls to gather, which usually grew in the same area according to Catheya, he might get his hands on more than ten Life-Death Pearls. These kinds of items generally lost their efficacy after a few uses, so it would probably be more than enough for him.

Still, the mission would mean traveling with both Catheya and strangers for months. Not only were there risks of betrayal, but also of his real identity being exposed. It didn't look like Catheya managed to find anything out during their meeting, but that didn't mean she bought his spiel hook, line, and sinker.

Thankfully, they had only come to a verbal agreement, and Zac would only have to sign a proper contract before getting the VIP-skill.

Before then, he needed to figure out his plan. One of the main goals for this trip had been to find some basic methods and treasures for himself and the Einherjar. The second goal was to search for opportunities to strengthen himself. The return of Leandra had driven home just how weak he was, and visiting this magical metropolis only reinforced that realization.

But joining Catheya to visit the depths of the Twilight Ocean… Was perhaps more than he had bargained for. The lethality in there was definitely high, but the risk of exposure weighed even heavier on his shoulders. Going at it alone was no doubt a much safer option, as he could stay closer to the entrance if he found the challenge too great.

However, Zac soon found his resolve. The whole reason to set out was to get stronger, and those pearls seemed almost tailor-made to push at least two of his Dao Fragments to the next level. With his odd constitution progressing in Dao would require rarer and rarer treasures, so he couldn’t just back away when an opportunity presented itself.

Still, going in blind and dumb was out of the question. There were still two months before the Twilight Ascent started, and he needed to make the most of it. Catheya had thankfully set aside a slot for him, which allowed him to avoid the qualifier which seemed like a huge timesink. A quick scan of the crystal Nala provided mentioned the qualifier.

There was no lack of E-Grade cultivators in a place like this. In fact, they could be counted in the billions. The qualifiers lasted one hundred rounds where you would be matched with random warriors, and each victory awarded one point. Finally, the ten million people with the highest points would get to enter the Twilight Ascent, along with the one million seeded warriors.

Each warrior would fight five battles a day, with one day of rest in between every fight-day. That meant it would take forty days to just get a spot. He didn’t have time for that, he needed to focus on his cultivation instead.

The question was what he should do with Vilari.

“Are you interested in the Twilight Ascent?” Zac asked as he turned to his follower who had sat silently as Zac mulled things over.

“No,” Vilari said after some thought. “It would require me to break through within two months, and it is simply too short a time. I am not ready to harm my foundations for this trial, and I feel that I would be a hindrance to you even if I evolved.”

“Alright,” Zac nodded. “But staying in this place after I leave...”

“How about you send me back before you enter the Trial? I can bring any items you procure back for Port Atwood,” Vilari ventured. “It will give me time to shore up my foundations before you return.”

“Sounds good,” Zac nodded, and the two went over everything they had encountered so far and set up a plan for the coming two months.

He might have decided to tie himself to Catheya’s chariot, but her umbrella of protection would also allow him to act with less restraint over the next months. This was a huge opportunity for him and Port Atwood. His pockets were filled with money and there were so many things to spend it on. He didn’t have access to any place as flourishing as Twilight Harbor back home. In fact, he wasn’t sure if one even existed.

Vilari had a far better understanding of not only his undead forces, but even his living ones after spending ten days with Joanna. She helped him put together a shopping list, after which Zac started reading the information missive on the Twilight Ocean with greater scrutiny.

He had been at a disadvantage during the negotiations just now since he didn’t really understand all the details of the Twilight Ascent, and he needed to shore up that weakness before he ran into Catheya again.

After reading the whole missive twice he could conclude that Catheya had essentially spoken the truth. The Life-Death Pearls were well-documented high-quality treasures of the Twilight Ocean, and they were just as rare as she indicated, perhaps even more so. Finding them was largely dependent on dumb luck according to the missive.

Of course, that didn’t mean Catheya was lying about her plan. The Twilight Ocean had been around for millions of years, and it opened up once every thousand years or so. That meant that the ancient factions had sent their members into the Mystic Realm thousands of times. There was no way they hadn’t figured out some hidden methods that weren’t detailed in the public missives.

Zac had also found out why Catheya wanted to enlist his help. He was pretty confident in his strength, but it was suspicious that she was ready to fork out so many resources just to get him to join her party. Part of it was definitely his connection to her Ancestor, but Zac had found that he did have some unique benefits in the Mystic Realm.

Catheya had mentioned an array to weaken the pervasive pressure inside the Twilight Ocean, but she hadn’t completely explained what a detriment it was. She had made it sound like the only reason people didn’t go to the depths was the risk of running into enemies, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Most of the people simply wouldn’t survive in the depths of the Mystic Realm.