novelraw Chapter 198: Crown of the God of Destruction
Chapter 198: Crown of the God of Destruction
"This waterway likely leads to the underground channels of Lake Naris. We'll head in once Jasmine returns from her scouting."
After reading the clues carved into the stone wall, Fischer walked to the edge of the cavern pool and spoke to Anna beside him.
Jasmine had already dove down to investigate the situation beforehand. This was also to prevent any unexpected dangers lurking below.
Anna's expression remained composed, but Xi Yate's face was somewhat pale as she stared at the bottomless pool. Her soaked equine body trembled continuously, making it obvious that she harbored a deep fear of water.
"Ah, um, how about you guys go down, and I'll just stay behind?"
Fischer glanced at her, then raised a finger to point at the deep, dark cavern above them. The space above was expansive. As Xi Yate spoke, her words echoed repeatedly, reverberating off the walls.
"There's no path leading up from here. The only way out is this underground river before us. Moreover, if you stay here, there's no guarantee that the ghostly figure from earlier won't come down looking for you..."
"Huh?!"
Hearing that the ghostly figure might return for her, Xi Yate's attitude instantly took a 180-degree turn. She refused to let Fischer and the others leave her behind no matter what.
"Don't... I think I'll just follow you into the water. I'm so cute, if a ghost catches me, I definitely won't have a good end... Boohoo."Anna cast a speechless glance at the shameless Centaur who had just called herself cute. Her clothes were still somewhat damp, but it wasn't as cold as before. She recalled their approximate location before entering this cavern, then turned to Fischer and said,
"We are still quite far from Lake Naris. Even swimming through an underground river, I don't think Xi Yate and I can hold our breath for that long."
She knew that both Fischer and Jasmine could breathe underwater. She had no idea how this human managed it—perhaps human constitutions varied from person to person? Or maybe he possessed some kind of Relic?
"That's right, that's right! We'll probably die a glorious death in the water long before we even reach Lake Naris!"
"...I'll engrave a magic spell on you. It will ensure you breathe smoothly while underwater."
When Fischer proposed taking the underground river, he had indeed already considered using magic to help them breathe underwater. A few years ago, at an exhibition held by the Northern Border Magic Association in Saint-Nazareth, Fischer had seen them design an Air magic spell meant to temporarily assist fishermen with underwater breathing.
He had only taken a single look back then, but he roughly remembered how to draw the crest. Using it now would be just perfect.
"Come here. This spell needs to be placed on your body, ideally as close to your neck as possible."
He lowered his head and bit his finger, gesturing for Anna to come over first. The traditional Naris attire she wore had become almost entirely translucent after getting soaked. From this angle, he could clearly see her graceful curves and a glimpse of white undergarments.
Fischer didn't stare, and Anna didn't mind at all. She walked straight over and sat in front of him, allowing him to engrave the crest on the back of her neck.
"There will be a slight stinging sensation when the crest is engraved onto your body. Endure it for a bit."
"Mhm."
Her response was incredibly calm. As Fischer's Mana Circuits lit up, his fingertips instantly grew burning hot where they touched Anna's skin. It wasn't actually that painful; it felt more like a needle lightly pricking the flesh.
"Sizzle..."
Xi Yate watched with a scrunched-up face as the spell—bearing the [Air] Circle Head—was drawn in blood onto Anna's skin. She assumed it must be quite painful, yet Anna's expression remained perfectly serene, as if she felt absolutely nothing.
As Xi Yate observed Anna, she caught sight of the lady's figure out of the corner of her eye through the nearly translucent Naris dress.
Anna's figure was breathtakingly beautiful. Her skin was fair, and her posture was elegant. The wet clothing clinging to her body gave her an aura of fragile vulnerability that inspired affection.
Even the Centaur Xi Yate had to admit that this lady named Anna was excessively beautiful. She narrowed her eyes at the soft curves of Anna's chest before looking down at her own wide expanse of flat land, momentarily rendered speechless.
"..."
When she looked at Jasmine earlier, she had felt completely crushed because Jasmine's situation was simply a bit too unique. Now, however, she realized her own assets were severely below average!
In the midst of Xi Yate's envious gaze, she suddenly noticed a tiny red mole on Anna's pale chest. That small red mole only served to accentuate her extraordinary charm...
Centaur Xi Yate, suffering a total defeat once again.
As expected, in the face of true sexiness, her cuteness didn't hold a single advantage.
"Alright, Xi Yate, it's your turn."
Fischer ignored Xi Yate's somewhat resentful gaze—since it wasn't directed at him anyway—and solely focused on engraving the magic crest in his hand. Fortunately, his memory was quite good. He actually managed to successfully engrave a spell he had only seen once years ago on his very first try.
On Anna's back, a brightly glowing white crest shimmered with the brilliance of the [Air] Circle Head. When Xi Yate came over, Fischer repeated the process on her back as well.
While he was busy engraving the spell, Jasmine slowly surfaced from the pool next to them. She pointed downward and excitedly called out to Fischer and the others,
"There really is an underwater channel leading straight to the lake ahead! It should take about ten minutes of swimming. Moreover, there's a lot of things left behind by that senior down there. Let me show you!"
Considering a Whale-kin's swimming speed, a ten-minute journey was definitely not short.
"We have enough time. This spell will last for over an hour."
Waiting for the magic on Xi Yate's back to complete, Fischer snapped his fingers. The magic crests suddenly flared brightly, drawing in the surrounding air like a vortex to form a translucent, indistinct protective bubble over their heads.
This protective bubble could continuously gather surrounding air and maintain its effectiveness even underwater. It was the first-place winner from the Northern Border during the World Magic Association's Emerging Magic Design Competition that year.
Curious, Anna poked the air bubble on her face, only to find that it was incredibly sturdy and couldn't be penetrated by her hand. Meanwhile, Xi Yate directly dunked her head into the pool, observing the underwater situation through the transparent bubble.
"We really can breathe underwater! Magic is so amazing..."
"There are even more amazing things!"
Jasmine had dove back into the water at some point. Brimming with a smile, she tapped the cavern wall beneath the pool for Xi Yate to see. As if awakened, glowing arrows slowly unfurled along the underwater stone wall. On both sides of the arrows, there were also many Whale-kin characters.
"These are the symbols left by that senior... The ocean is that way, and the lake is this way. He had passed through this channel many times."
Underwater, Jasmine's beautiful long blue hair splayed out gracefully. Floating in the water, she reached her hands out toward Xi Yate on the shore, urging her to hurry down.
Jasmine and Fischer would each take one person. Since Jasmine swam faster, she'd carry the heavier Xi Yate, while Fischer would take Anna.
Fischer leaped in and entered the water as well. After training by swimming underwater two or three times recently, the discomfort of breathing underwater had grown increasingly minimal. Entering the water now felt almost like returning home; it was quite comfortable.
Anna carefully entered the water and grabbed Fischer's hand. Xi Yate's hooves kicked continuously under the surface, showing obvious signs of discomfort. With understanding and consideration, Jasmine held both her hands to help her slowly acclimate to being in the water.
The massive whale tail behind Jasmine swayed gently. Doing a somersault in the water like a graceful fairy, she then led the gradually calming Xi Yate toward a certain direction deep within the pool.
They swam upstream along the glowing, deeper channel. Along the stone path on the side, Fischer finally noticed traces of past habitation. It was a massive, oval-shaped cave room, containing several pieces of furniture made entirely of gold. These were likely the items left behind by the senior Jasmine had mentioned.
She excitedly gestured at the furniture and items within the cavern, acting as if she were showing off her own bedroom in the ocean trench.
"Fischer, this is roughly what a Whale-kin's home at the bottom of the sea looks like! That senior Whale-kin must have lived here for a very long time to leave so many marks behind."
Jasmine pointed at the golden furniture gleaming in the darkness. They were bizarrely shaped and forged entirely of solid gold. The most abundant resource among the Whale-kin was gold. According to Jasmine, they possessed far more gold than even the goblin caves; otherwise, they wouldn't be opulent enough to use gold to make furniture and armor.
In a corner, Fischer also spotted a golden helmet shaped like a hair crown, along with a mangled set of golden armor. The armor was densely engraved with cross-shaped symbols, and the four corners of these crosses sometimes featured a few dots.
"These represent the enemies the owner of this armor had defeated. Every time we defeat an enemy, we carve a cross into our armor. The dots indicate the enemy's characteristics. No dots mean they were of the same race. Dots on the left mean they were intelligent beings of a different race. Dots on the right indicate sea beasts..."
"Then what is this symbol?"
Fischer picked up the shattered crown. Faintly carved right in the center was the shape of a cross, with a small circle explicitly etched in its middle.
"Huh, this... I don't recognize it either."
Jasmine looked troubled as she stared at the forehead symbol, unable to explain what it was for a moment.
But right at that moment, an illusory line of text suddenly floated into Fischer's line of sight. It was the signature mark of the Demi-Human Completion Handbook.
[You have discovered the Ancient Clue of the Whale-kin II]
[Would you like to read the contents of this clue to gain research progress on Whale-kin society?]
Hmm? Was the Demi-Human Girls manual acting up with something new again?
Holding the crushed crown in his hand, Fischer silently said 'Yes' in his heart. Then, in the very next second, countless illusory words surged out continuously from the crown.
[Ancient Clue of the Whale-kin II: Crown of the God of Destruction]
[Clue Content: This is the crown worn by a Whale-kin who was invincible across both ocean and land. The reason for it ending up here remains entirely unknown, only that it has been damaged beyond recognition. Rumor has it that in her arrogance, she once issued a challenge to a god, and the final victor remains a mystery to this very day.]
[Recorder's Evaluation: How is it that such an irascible God of Destruction emerged from a group of lazy, cute killer whales? How truly headache-inducing.]