novelraw Chapter 293 282: Sounds of Creation
Chapter 293 282: Sounds of Creation
"Murai!" Lisa shouted, floating towards the loose-looking duck, and her attempts to calm down failed. "Hisagi..." Before his face, the truth grasped her next, and she got a firm hold of his beak while his creaking body made noises she never wanted to hear. It wasn't breaking, which she realized immediately.
She smiled at his silent, annoyed gaze and backed it with her own. She worried about returning for a good while, from the place where she messed up. She was pissed off about something Murai didn't know until she checked on him like a worried collector checking her favorite toy.
"Thank fucking karma that you are fine. I was afraid he got you."
"What?" Murai said weakly.
"Forget it! Razmund almost got you!"
"I am not thankful, by the way." Murai quacked to her face, indifferent and curious why she wasn't affected by this place as much as he was. It shouldn't be due to the physical issues, but more about factual laws directing this special place, so this world wasn't meant to crack a Soul Wraight. Or they might get by in this place better than an Anatidae, or the issue was himself, or she was just better off for now after that clustering.
"Thankful? That moronic Razmund came at a terrific timing. Also, I am not looking for thanks. I fear it instead." She sternly said. "How in the world did that madman get to that place so fast? I hope Bagus is fine or... we are. Where are we?" Looking around showed no answer, though the gigantic place and those huge tables and magic scattered around were starting to tingle her face.
"I wonder what happened... back with Razmund. Bagus is alive, I am sure. That beast is enduring like a hound, so..." Murai paused until he screamed and quivered her touchy hands. Lisa felt hurt and opposed, but managed to control her grip and feel that something was wrong with Murai.
"You little shit, is this your face?"
"What? I said I am not thankful!"
"Should I have tossed you right under his claymore, hm?! How stupid can you be? We are in this together."
"That sounds wonderful and sick. We would have dealt with everything here and there, and the end would be so much nicer than arguing about you in the middle of nowhere."
Lisa jerked her hand and clutched his neck, but it was heavy and not very useful in forcing him to do anything. She barely managed to keep him a few dozen centimeters from the ground, affected by the ambiance of this nuanced, crafted world.
"Hope? Well, it is what it is, isn't it? You are alive cause of everyone but yourself."
"What a joke. I fought that golem myself, and you watched!"
"What was it?" Lisa said with a soft, cold tone.
"Thanks, eh? You are so righteous that I should deify you? Wait. I forgot who you are. I should always doubt your words and acts! I really did turn stupid! Fuck..." Murai gazed at her and questioned her sudden vision and mood.
Lisa snorted at that and let her hands relax. Murai fell to the ground, clicked his beak, and felt defeated. She observed him next, giving him a thorough, lofty look that both of them had done from time to time. This time, it had different reasons.
"Helpers are here for help, no? Who am I to you, if not a giant life aid that can get you out of the worst state of your lives?"
"Who says that? YOU? You are doing this for yourself; you said it yourself: the planet doesn't revolve against anything but the logic of the cosmic eras, and Epochverse is not going to cut corners. I am not a corner! Not yours! Not theirs!"
"Yeah? Partly, sure, but not always and every fucking time, you moron. Is that what comes out of you after delving into the Chaos Space? How fun is it to see you entertained and screwed?"
"Like I care." Murai rolled his eyes.
"You and your stupid head. Fine. I reconcile with myself, and I do apologize—is that what you want to hear? No. You are upset because this place is shitty, and your mana is in shambles because of something I can't feel. What is it? I am not blind and stupid just because I am a Wraight."
"Nothing..."
"Your perky and magical feathers are lying than."
"No biggie. I can't lose this flesh of mine, or make a stock out of myself, can't I? So leave it be. I am beyond pissed off right now! I closed on that shithead again, and you have no idea how irritated that makes me feel, or… what the last day was like to me. I will show him, one day, who is the real boss!"
"Yeah. I sure as hell hope you can do it, but we have no idea what unravels your Encounter or whatever hunts you past or beyond it. It is clearly irritable. Now, choosing death or not, an inference and an interesting turn of events happened. It is.... curious," Lisa said, nodding to herself and watching the room in her fixed, glistering, and pretty face. She realized it at last.
Murai wished he hadn't listened to every word she said. The surroundings enticed and played with him, but that might be a wrong opinion. He, too, was playful, and the aura and quality of mana of this place adapted to him as he stretched it oh so many times ever since coming here.
Altering and evolving mana was not a small feat. It was a big part of this place, and no certainty, so Mural got patient after discovering it was no longer so painful when he didn't act like an idiot and surged his Sonar left and right.
Soon, Lisa stopped nagging and entertaining their thought, and flew upwards, watching the surroundings in a way that Murai couldn't.
It was terrible; Murai growled as he watched her acting like a fish in water. It was almost as astonishing to him as this place, but his feelings were reserved enough to make him restrained. No amount of treasures should validate approval if he felt it was wrong. No matter how significant, there were some lines better not crossed in his lives.
This place was planted toward him, and it stunk of one possibility bordering on one hell of a terrific lie. Was it a smell, aura, mana ambiance, or Divinity that he was getting out of his feelings? Which was worse, and where?
The materials and what was outside of his vision felt wrong and imminent. How could he call it if not an innate part of the stone, walls, and all the materials? This was a special dwelling, or it was about those shining creations in those vitrines, or entries of boundless mana coursing as if trying to escape. They couldn't. There was no way out of here. It was a stuck, filled land.
Murai flinched his beak towards the door, huffed for a breath, and hoisted his posture. Lisa flew down, appearing in his point of view, and smiled in a victorious smirk. "I should probably say to move on, but it seems you can't, and you have no way to get ahead. How funny—is what I wish to say, but you don't deserve it. Use your head, please."
"Hmph! You..." Murai growled and squinted his eyes. "ROBUST DEFENSE YOU SHAMELESS BITCH!" A terrific force established its move, and in a moment, light and flaring feathers endured a much different storm. It came from the inside out and did not abide by Brightlife, as it couldn't do anything about it. Two strange forces clashed together, and the firmest Spirit aroused suspicion.
Murai climbed to his feet, protected by a sphere of unbreakable influence. He stretched his wings and neck, watching Lisa snickering and smiling at him with approval.
"How long can you keep up with this, though? Soul Force has limits within you, which I found a kind of odd, but it seems your chains of suffering have their perks and secrets, and some of that stuff isn't very entertaining, is it?"
"You think I care about the rules or heavenly mandates? It is my soul that is digesting all those worlds and people, and it is hungry and strong for more! Should I eat you, huh?!"
"Robust, you mean? A weird name for a spirit, or it sounds like a technique. Multiple aspects sound like three eyes of... what?"
"Aren't you an interested ghost?" Murai eyed her, standing and feeling the rushing familiar power moving against this place just fine. It stopped his mana rejuvenation, tricked his cores and Brightlife, and he finally appeared calm.
"Soul Pathway is rather wast and complicated endeavor, and what and who can call it right then a soul devoted to dying and living enough to break apart but never completely?" Lisa asked the most thriving question she could think of right now.
Murai didn't like her words in the slightest and stepped toward her like a gangster ready for extortion. Briefly, he hesitated, thinking how he would stumble down again and never get up afterward. It didn't happen, though Lisa wasn't here when he was helpless, testing his patience and mana alike. Brightlife even calmed down, hiding behind the white gusts of his Robust Defense. Regardless of that, Lisa could still see whatever Brightlife was doing, stalling and taking a breath back for the flesh and adaptability. It was a typical declaration of Life.
"Alright. Those are your words and your facts. Are they helpful, you haunting spirit?"
"How nice of you to break it so simply like that," Lisa said and flew aside. "Shall we look around? I think I am about to guess what kind of place this is. It feels awfully ancient and terrific for what we have endured. I am anticipating something unimaginable is here, in this... atypical sphere of influence. Maybe we haven't even left the Chaos Space."
"Bah!" Murai sneered and turned his head away. "Chaos Space is everywhere. There, or in a space of Reality, and there, or there, there is a space for anything. So yes, let's go forward and see what that shitty God thought of when she sent me here."
Lisa remained silent and didn't advise him about anything. It was obvious she had her own thoughts about Levandis, Mindarch, and what came out of this development.
Walking forward, he discovered this warehouse was not as difficult once he had protection. But every second was a problematic push to his soul, and this place was huge and bad for his little feet. He wasn't in his soul space, where he felt near omnipotent, and he sure as hell wasn't like that ghost overhead, enjoying the nice breath of fresh existence.
Behind his back was a broken-looking portal, its hinges of bright stones, with swirling space in the middle that slowly ticked down, as if waiting and weakening. It was still active because not everyone was present, but neither Murai nor Lisa had time to worry about Lorry, their Guide.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Why do I have a feeling you were here before?" Murai asked Lisa, who glanced at him as if she had turned worse after traveling off that messed-up line. She shook her head with resolute denial.
"What makes you say that?"
"Why? Isn't it obvious? This is one of many ends of Hellscape, and you pushed me there. I had yet to even think of that portal, and you have been here twice if my memory still serves me like my patience and spirit. The rewards and rules are for something. This place is outside of those realms and chances, so…. is it really a Sun God?"
"I think you are overlooking and underestimating how messed up everything is. And no, I was not here before! If I were, we wouldn't wander around like fucking idiots and look for a one-way portal for days! You know me better, fool. I am not digging either of our graves, and I didn't want Bagus to face that guy either. We could have done so as a full-on team. With Ultium. You and me. It would have been glorious." Lisa argued and drifted towards him in obvious agitation. "Also, the last time I checked, you wasted a lot of time yourself, and your training or what you do with that technique book I gave you is another thing."
Murai laughed straight at her face, still watching how free she was. Resembling a bird in the open world, seeing everything from a higher perspective, Lisa had a big advantage.
In a way, he didn't know a lot about Soul Wraiths and what she could do.
"I am not implying anything. I merely asked a question. No need to get physical." Murai said and kept walking away. Lisa calmed down in slow shakes and realized there were many things about this space she couldn't feel or judge.
"How does this place smell?"
"Tastes like hell," Murai said quickly, aware she didn't have common sense. The thing she got right was mana and souls, as that was kind of her schtick.
"No, I mean, how is it? It looks like a blacksmithing industrial revolution, but a rather well-kept, old-yet-new, tidy, and... intense. This resonates wildly, so...." Lisa thought of the Challenger rules and how the Gates operated. She was worried about many problems over the past week, and she bet she had overlooked some possibilities and principles.
It was feasible for special reward rooms to exist for specific successful escapes while being a bit out of it, yet still adhering to the rules of Hellscape. According to requirements and success, or who knew what else, it was reasonable to accept it as the upper or sacred run of Hellscape.
Which Lisa obviously didn't take that well since she always thought she knew everything. It either changed, missed her, or it was marked by ol' dead Sun God, or it was something new that had changed in the past fifty years.
Unlikely. There was a living Lookish here, and Lisa was in a hurry, so she didn't have time to ask him for specifics. Again, she didn't have time to waste on minor, insignificant sustains. If anything, Murai was by far the biggest issue she was dealing with.
Murai didn't help much, while Lisa knew Lorry had yet to come through the portal because of time constraints and travel. He might explain it better, but for the time being, they both assumed what they wanted and walked closer to that door, where many fluttering lines of leather and fabric swayed in a weird, vibrating force. Mana was also included, rushing inside this warehouse and giving Murai a lot of trouble as he approached.
Strangely enough, even Lisa ended up disturbed, as every closing moment shook her form, as if the currents got awful even for her.
There was no breeze. It was a simple pressure of gravity and mana that were out of control.
"A giant's forge?" Lisa said, dozens of meters away from the next room. She observed the drawers of the tables and the incredible mana fluctuations throughout the room.
It hit her hard as well, almost stopping her, as her senses became better. She was in a completely different realm from Murai, whose troubles had a physical, heavy quality. What was before her ended up as… well, the most likely word was "treasures."
Then riches.
Then the materials and tools developed for far too advanced problems, creation, and skill.
It spooked her in three different parts until she clutched her fists and realized Murai didn't pay her any attention. She recognized his Sonar returning to investigate what was happening, and while still under the Robust Defense, which was curious. She didn't know when he was able to use both at the same time, so he must have caught on to something, which might be why his spirit was in shambles.
Powerful twisting motions came next, and it was as if he walked into a den of the craziest beast imaginable.
These were Divine and Celestial materials before Lisa's eyes, ranging from raw gems, ores, and boxes of nuggets to full-fledged weapons and various armors. All close to the next, or the main room.
Most of them were within the traditional sense of order, no bigger than three meters long. The raw materials were the same, though a couple of them were piled like a small hill. Lisa saw them from a distance, never managing to touch them.
There were even weird Golems in the corner, glistering in golden pattered formation and runes she had never seen before. Created and polished, there were many surprising things even for her, and most of them looked like toys compared to the large tables,
"Wow... is this a prep for... war? What kind of war?" Lisa was almost shocked and forgot about Murai's quacks from about dozens of meters below.
"What is there?" Murai quacked, knowing very well he hadn't seen a thing, but she was different. His physical sight saw barely one-tenth of this room, so he used the best option there was.
"Get down!" he shouted to her head next, jolting her on the spot and halting her reverie. She returned to her usual self, flowing in meaningful sona and speed, and went back to him.
"I have no idea what this is about, but it better be normal. Otherwise, she is going to regret this," Lisa turned her head down and shouted. "This reward room is insane!"
"Reward room? Oh, you seriously think I feel rewarded?!"
Lisa calmed and fell down like a droplet, grasped his beak again, regardless of Robust Defense, and explained what was due.
"There is a crazy variety of reward rooms after overcoming the Hellscape and all sorts of other things in this temple. It is a freaking opening to Somalis Hell! Of course it goes without saying you haven't seen it at all! Relics? Don't even mention them. There are up to debate rewards and adaptable offers, and the same goes with challengers and what one might find, loot, and so on. It is kind of random, usually. One might even note their desires far beyond normal challenges. So what the hell is this, right?"
Murai observed her and didn't even quack since she continued her monologue.
"This is senseless and utterly out of that system. Normally, achievements go according to Mindarch, who gives heftier rewards to those who are exceptional due to the difficulty and shifting nature of their Run or of Gates as a whole. Of course, we shouldn't forget about the Will of the Battleworld and Boosts, or a plethora of gifts and choices one could make around them. Add evolutions, equipment, and so on, we got a big power system, attributes and abilities, magical formulas, and even legacies and all sorts of other shit. There is a reason why dungeons are so popular. Considering your fight with that golem earlier, this portal is… here, ending on a rather interesting note. If rules are concerned... it is shitty," she said meaningfully and ended her monologue without a proper finish. She knew it wasn't important.
Frustration seeped out of her, and Murai believed she knew this place had existed.
"So? Are you saying we are here like a normal visitor? I know we aren't. I haven't forgotten about your words, even after you dropped me here. You even talk to me like this!"
"Like what? I am giving due diligence right back to you. We have better respect and prospects ahead of us, correct?"
"And you should continue." Murai cut in.
Rolling her eyes, Lisa tossed no fit and pushed her hands to her hips and dropped this insane thing back to the ground. Murai had enough Soul Force to sustain himself for a long while.
"Choices... Choices... Well, there is the Ip'ur Mountain as a whole business center and Materium. It has certain requirements, but challenges lead to something specific, difficult, and packed with fun. It is still considered a Dungeon. We got there, to the bottom, and into a secret base, and met an old protector. I suppose the difficulty was at least Grade S alone, but due to the Encounter and lacking Battlewill, I suppose none of that even matters. Why? You've got me around, so your opportunity is unique."
"Is that so? Unique... doesn't sound good. It is not." Murai said seriously and felt every right to be dubious and fine with not being gracious.
"Yep."
Murai laughed and turned back to that door, and his arduous journey was far from being over.
He finally approached it, obscured by those loose layers of fluttering materials that obscured the view beyond. They seemed old, and a mere flick of a giant arm might part them away.
For Murai, he could not only walk underneath the bottom gap, but also fit through the upper gaps. Lisa could even fly through them if she ever wanted to, or become so little that she wouldn't even be a fly compared to this place.
"Hey, are you listening to me or what?"
"I am. It's... not normal. Obviously, there is something waiting for us. I'll see to it…"
Suddenly, a huge shockwave cut off their words, and Lisa herself was like ice meeting a heated source. Her words carried to nothingness, and her sona quivered and almost dropped her down like a droplet met with a sea.
Murai was nothing better. He shook on the spot, jumped in fright, and felt as if his innards moved against mountains.
Soon enough, another shockwave echoed, breaking Lisa until she screamed and fell down, pushing her loose excuses for arms over herself. It was doing nothing to her. Her senses weren't typical, for something insane was pushing her to her limits.
Murai felt strange thunder going through the ground, but that was a point to pretty much everything. From the ceiling to fluttering long strips of leather ahead of him, mana changed, and an incredible force spread from the other side.
"Who is there?!" Murai shouted.
It was the third strike Murai felt, and it looked like a genuine air shockwave until mana became affected and changed by it. It came to him like a glaring gust of particles, reverberating through the ground and running to everything.
Then it stopped his steps, and even his Robust Defense cracked.
"What is this?! WHO! I feel sick to my bones and cores," Murai complained, glancing at Lisa, who was in a much worse state than he was. She wished she didn't care about that point, but she did.
She was utterly devastated and felt like a joke. No matter what she was doing, or trying not to do, everything was futile. Every following shockwave was like a heavenly tribulation, hurting and hitting her pride, body, and soul.
Her flickering existence kept trembling, and the only piece of good news was that Murai couldn't pay her any more attention. He was in a pinch himself. Thus, both of them were confronted and subjected to the most vicious attacks of their mingled lives.
Confronting this attack came with a couple of caveats. It was futile. Nothing helped; the unknown source was odd, loud, and directly affecting or exploiting ambient mana and the laws. From mana, souls, sounds, space, and even bricks or rocks around this room, it was as if everything was moving and quivering.
"God... eh?" Murai suddenly said and walked under the shaking door covers before he took a breath. Robust Spirit was still enduring it, letting his body reach the other side.
He was the only one willing and capable of following a path towards crazy sounds that soon sounded like meteors and battles raging across the Endless Skies. It rained on him, reminding him of very awful and sinful memories, and… forgotten marks. He omitted them immediately.
Memories were awful. A time of life he had forgotten about for his own sake was not fine. But it was not entirely familiar either, for there was that Resonance that pulled him through an experience he couldn't shake or forget. He had to meet them head-on, and to do that, he felt like he shouldn't lie to himself because he would no longer stride this path. He would lose.
This sound was consequential, like a sun to grass. Murai felt thrilled and fearful, and almost excited by these painful and radical sounds.
He walked while his Robust Defense turned to shreds, leaving white mist behind every crack or loss. He didn't care. Every beat and loud, sharp noise brought more mess, while his eyes slowly adapted and saw what was making it, and what— or who—was beyond him.
It was sharper, clearer, and stronger the more he suffered. He still saw nothing. All his senses shut down, and not because he wanted to. His mana and cores lost their vigor, and soon, only his soul prevailed and rode his body. He had enough Soul Power, but Soul Force was different. Robust Defense crumbled within seconds, leaving him with less than 60 points. It wasn't as if he cared about them.
Every hit was highly physical, trembling his feathers and hoodie, and challenging his Will that was devouring those sounds and meaningful, melancholic sounds of creation.
In a bit, Lisa floated past the door frame, appearing like a knitted, dried towel, and grasped his hood. She wanted to escape with him back to the previous room. She wanted nothing to do with this. Her grip turned her eyes to mist, and she felt grudge and dread, yet no matter what she said or sent him, he didn't listen or care about her whatsoever. Maybe he couldn't. There was that forge... and a person.
This large, ethereal circular place was no longer hidden. It didn't try to hide anything or anyone.
There was a figure ahead, though still hundreds upon hundreds of meters away, from which very stinging, painful punishments sent those shockaws away. It was a hammer hitting an anvil with an object on it.
Murai walked his own steps. Not Lisa's.
The forge itself was even larger than the previous warehouse. It was open, with no turns or knobs, resembling a half-cut sphere.
Was it two hundred meters in diameter? It was hard to say with all the issues happening at once, and the ceiling was indeed quite far away. It was lessening, however, with the middle portion having a large pillar-like chimney reaching to the ceiling.
The gigantic figure kept hitting the object, enjoying the thrill and ignoring a pair of invading beings of quite inspiring origins.
It still forged.
It kept the bangs of creation going, challenging their authority, and then some more.