Chapter 1638 (1/2)

The foggy-edged group of individuals that Randidly had noticed turned out to be a score of serious-faced guards. They stood in a tight formation with one individual looking in each direction and the rest gathered in the middle. Their armor combination was haphazard; several factions appeared to be present. When their train led by Seeker Ozaer approached, these mysterious engaged in simultaneous low bows and indicated for the group to continue directly up the steepening slope. The Pinnacle Seekers nodded, as though this behavior was natural, and walked forward.

When they passed the guards, Randidly eyed their well-measured bows. Seems like there is a sort of chivalry amongst the Pinnacle Seekers...

The group continued to move forward through the cloud arches. For a few more minutes, Randidly kept his head down and toyed with the energy flows that were layered across the area. Gradually, he learned that there were some localized effects of his experiments: adjusting the flow in the barrier nearest to him would cause ripples everywhere, but the strongest ripple would flow through the spatial barrier that was the tenth outward from his current position. The only problem with taking advantage of this information was the fact that the layered barriers weakened his Grim Intuition to the point that Randidly couldn’t observe the phenomenon as well as he wanted.

There were ten sources then, in all likelihood. But to confirm it, he would need to see twenty spatial barriers away...

Randidly narrowed his eyes and pushed Revelations of Atramentous Threshold to its limits. Purple-black revelation flared to life around his eyes as tried to further attune himself to his surroundings. Yet even that wasn’t enough. So he tried something different: A light ripple spread from Randidly as he manifested the hunger of Stillborn Phoenix as a hunger for information.

For a few seconds, the effort didn’t yield many results, but then the Stillborn Phoenix seemed to get the hang of it and greedily reached out into the surrounding area for information. Randidly felt himself receiving some looks from the weeker Pinnacle Seekers behind him as he activated the image, but ignored them.

With the boost of the Stillborn Phoenix, seeing twenty barriers away was impossible. But he could make relatively concrete observations on the tenth distant energy flow.

Randidly was about to step up his experiments with his forcefully elevated perception when the group’s brisk walking pace brought them to the main group of Pinnacle Seekers. A massive building suddenly loomed out of the fuzzy space. The Stillborn Phoenix brushed up against an absolute massive image and recoiled, shivering.

For a second Randidly stopped dead, his chest invaded by a horrifying cold just from the split-second brush with the heavy image. Luckily, Yggdrasil’s core vital energy rapidly weakened and banished the invading chill. However, Randidly didn’t feel particularly good about that triumph; what he had been infected with was just spare image potency due to contact. Overcoming an actual attack from the owner of this image would not be so easy.

Congratulations! Your Skill Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 327!

Congratulations! Your Skill Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 343!

Congratulations! Your Skill Golden Roots of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 328!

Randidly looked forward to the large building ahead of them with an uneasy gaze. For the first time… I can say with confidence that I’m about to meet a figure that might be just as powerful as Velio Dunn…

After moving forward another ten meters, it was possible to ascertain the details of the sprawling building and not just sense the image. But the visual was only more alarming. Because someone had erected a palace of ice in this dense area of layered barriers. Elegant and spiraled towers rose from the walls and pierced into the distorted sky. Even the walls were covered with swirling patterns that resembled the biting chill of winter winds.

A wide gate was about twenty meters in front of the group. There weren’t even any guards, just the noticeable drop in temperature in front of this building. Not that they needed them; somehow, Randidly doubted anyone would just wander into such an imposing location without permission.

From the back of the group, Claudette accelerated into a trot. She smiled politely at Randidly when she passed him, but was clearly distracted. And when they reached the icy walls of the palace, her smile widened. “Matriarch! I’ve returned!”

Due to the fact that the frost castle suppressed the barriers, the space within was clear of distortions. So once the group walked through the wide gate, Randidly saw about a hundred figures waiting in the center of the palace, underneath a high ice pavilion. His skin prickled as he observed at least twenty individuals that made him very, very afraid in the pavilion; truly, the Pinnacle Seekers were a group not to be underestimated.

Yet amongst them all, one stood apart. That figured look toward Claudette’s radiant and valiant figure and smiled with a cartoonish mouth. Randidly wasn’t sure what he had expected from the Frost Matriarch, but certainly, he hadn’t expected a tall creature that seemed more like a frost giant from Norse mythology.

First, the Frost Matriarch was almost five meters tall, dwarfing all but a few of the gathered Pinnacle Seekers. Second, she had no distinguishing facial or bodily features to speak of. She possessed no nose or ears and her mouth was just an elastic hole in her face. The Frost Matriarch was just a massive blue humanoid body with light blue skin and dark blue eyes. But there was no mistaking that expansive image of the cold that seemed to radiate off her skin.

Third, for the briefest instant Randidly thought that the Frost Matriarch looked up from Claudette’s hurrying form and looked at him. Those heavy and bland dark blue lanterns she had for eyes seemed to be observing the individual who had thoughtlessly touched her image. The Stillborn Phoenix shifted uncomfortably in his chest. Yet due to the lack of features on that massive face, Randidly couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination or not.

But in the next instant, the focus of the gathering had fully shifted back to a heartwarming reunion. Claudette’s armored skirts somehow managed to flutter as she continued to run forward, only to be swept off her feet by the enormous and featureless Frost Matriarch. To Randidly, the whole experience was extremely surreal. All the fearful Pinnacle Seekers waiting in the center of the icy palace, notably a massive man with a jackal head, a Winged-Serpent that reminded Randidly of the Nemesis on Expira, and a horse-sized mouse with three-tails, all simply looked on and smiled kindly as the Frost Matriarch swept up Claudette in her arms.

Randidly’s eyes swept back and forth. Inside the fortress of ice, the air was cool enough to leave his skin clammy. Looks like they all acknowledge the Frost Matriarch’s leadership… but how could they not when her image is powerful enough to do this…?

Whether we continue deeper with the Pinnacle Seekers will all depend on her attitude...