novelraw Chapter 323: 98 Slime-kin
Chapter 323: 98 Slime-kin
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, no, no, no, no..."
Seeing Valentina's face flushed completely red, incessantly covering her mouth while panting for breath in small gasps, Fisher thought she was feeling physically unwell, hence speaking thus.
Unpredictably, the very instant she raised her head and saw Fisher within arm's reach, she was so terrified her entire body shrank into a corner of the wheelchair, as if facing some terrifying flood or ferocious beast.
Her pale silver eyes were somewhat erratic. Before her, the body of Fisher clad in a white shirt resembled a branding iron, so scorching her eyes darted away the moment they made contact. Yet merely looking at his robust physique invariably caused Valentina to recall the lines of his muscles witnessed within that mist, alongside the sensation of heat transmitting from his body.
Valentina covered her heated face with her frigid hands, keeping her head lowered, pondering who knows what. Fisher frowned, uncertain whether her Genetic Disease had acted up. Therefore, he thoughtfully squatted down intending to put some distance between them. Yet Valentina straightforwardly outstretched her hands and said softly,
"Don't... don't come over."
"...Alright, I'll stay right here."
Fisher looked at Valentina, who was shrinking at the edge of the wheelchair to the point of nearly squeezing herself inside. At this moment, not only was her face flushed, her voice was moreover terrifyingly soft. To avoid stimulating her further, he could only raise both hands expressing his utter lack of malicious intent.
Valentina panted for breath for several consecutive gasps. Only after her overloaded brain acquired supplementary oxygen supply did she surreptitiously peek through the cracks of her fingers at Fisher before her. She only perceived his expression was calm, devoid entirely of the ambiguous sentiment housed within the earlier imagery. This gifted Valentina tremendous reassurance. She finally, cautiously, straightened her body up slightly from her limp state, yet her face remained flushed crimson, and her gaze was somewhat evasive."Can you tell me now, what exactly did you see within the True Ice?"
"...Hallucinations."
Several seconds later, Valentina answered in a low voice.
"Hallucinations? Can you describe them? What you saw might be..."
"I cannot describe it! Absolutely, absolutely cannot describe it!"
Upon hearing Fisher ask her to describe it, her face turned bright red anew, frictioning the ring on her finger frantically whilst simultaneously rejecting him with utter decisiveness. This provoked Fisher's curiosity concerning what prophecy she witnessed in the True Ice even further. Yet with her abstaining from speaking, there was naught he could do. Consequently, Fisher solely shared the intelligence he possessed with Valentina,
"It's fine if you won't say it. The crucial element isn't this. The crucial element lies in your capability to witness imageries within the True Ice... As a native of the Northern Border, you ought to be acquainted with the myriad legends pertaining to the Phoenix Race. Among them, tales of their capability to see into the future shouldn't be lacking... What I seek to convey is: this capability is genuine. While not omnipotent as myths portray, they indeed harbor the capability to witness the hazy future."
Staring at Valentina, Fisher concomitantly raised a single finger,
"The Phoenix Race continually scrupulously observes True Ice from childhood. Their capability to foresee the future precisely originates from this. Legend has it they commanded the Northern Border propelling away formidable adversaries originating from elsewhere. That adversary was exceptionally strenuous to handle, and the reason justifying the Phoenix Race's victory essentially correlates fundamentally to this capability."
"Prophecy? Wait, you're saying..."
From Fisher's aforementioned words, Valentina instantaneously seized a supremely critical piece of information—what she had visualized traversing within the True Ice moments earlier wasn't any hallucination whatsoever, but was highly probably a prophecy exclusive to the Phoenix Race!
Meaning... the matter she beheld previously... inherently constituted affairs destined to manifest in the future. Furthermore, her body highly likely harnessed the bloodline of the Phoenix Race, precisely rendering her capable of sensing the Frostwood Sycamore Tree alongside utilizing the Moon Princess? Consequently, relating to the family's Genetic Disease encumbering her biology? Did it inherently correlate to the bloodline contained within her?
With a flushed visage, she stared at Fisher preceding her, kneading the center of her brow carrying a tremendous headache. Temporarily discarding the humiliating impending future occurrences entirely into the recesses of her mind, she promptly inquired,
"Your implication... signifies my body highly likely encompasses the bloodline of the Phoenix Race."
"Merely a conjecture, nonetheless innumerable characteristics of yours consistently correspond, encompassing the situations you communicated additionally previously... I predominantly remain unaware regarding the manifestation principles underlining the Genetic Disease traversing across your constitution. Rationally, hypothetically assuming your constitution encompassed the Phoenix Race bloodline, it shouldn't express identically conforming precisely into such a cumbersome manifestation."
Not only were Valentina's twin legs disabled, her body seemingly additionally bore traces of the so-called Genetic Disease. Mixed-Blood Species birthed by the Phoenix Race shouldn't inherently be this unstable, let alone their family generations consistently mimicking identically. Her circumstance mirrored suffering a specific Curse... a Curse denominated "bloodline"...
"Miss Valentina, verifying the Phoenix Race bloodline you possess ought to inherently initiate probing fundamentally derived utilizing the Genetic Disease equipping your body. Could I potentially research the anomaly you expressed previously? Discerning... maybe locatable..."
"P-Pervert!"
Fisher's articulation came to an abrupt end. Observing Valentina appearing as if suddenly bombarded with excessively discourteous language beforehand... she merely precipitously clamped her mouth tightly, subsequently enshrouding her body tightly employing her twin hands immediately. Staring him down harboring rosily flushed eye corners identically imitating him supposedly bullying her relentlessly... instantly morphing Fisher's expression transforming mimicking exclusively dead-fish eyes identically.
No, what identically had he done... Following her perusal encompassing the True Ice her corresponding state manifested undeniably askew. Remaining utterly exceptionally guarded directed precisely at him, furthermore persistently maintaining flushed explicitly...
Did she perhaps perceive his manifestation originating strictly out of the prophecy? Furthermore exhibiting... unpropitious prophecies exclusively?
Feigning indifference Fisher consequently responded sequentially executing an agreeing affirmative head nod sequentially raising subsequently turning around navigating directed out fundamentally outward proceeding doors inherently...
"Very well... Intrinsically I originally desired honoring the necessitated obligations justifying your corresponding employment oriented strictly regarding myself... Yet provided your profound resistance manifesting universally thus... precluding misunderstandings manifesting conclusively, I will inaugurate withdrawing proceeding immediately... Consolidating meddling extensively into extrinsic affairs entirely... Profound apologies."
"Fei..."
Fisher superficially fabricated an appearance wounded intrinsically referencing directly proceeding derived her verbal phraseology correspondingly... hence instituting abrupt execution mimicking leaving explicitly unambiguously. However intrinsically Valentina standing astern equivalently slightly paralyzed... gently unfurled her arm orientated directed predominantly aligning towards Fisher... Yet finally completely entirely bereft corresponding utterances manifesting inherently vocalized entirely... simply staring dumbfounded fixated directly orienting witnessing unequivocally navigating directly corresponding proceeding outward door subsequently exclusively natively.
Fisher sequentially implemented locomotion executing decelerated consciously strictly... yet unceasingly lacking capturing equivalent phraseology retention corresponding exactly exclusively native inherently. Indisputably mirroring equivalently interpreting translating reality extensively... addressing precisely neutralizing manipulating confronting strictly interpreting Eldest Miss inevitably represented predominantly profoundly severe exponentially contrasted strictly preceding inherent assumptions organically.
Right precisely equivalent intersection manifesting emitting profound sigh projecting anticipating imminent departure pending daylight next preceding entirely... silent identical chamber interior suddenly precipitated exclusively transmitting acoustic reverberation manifesting mirroring explicitly echoing profoundly projecting unceasingly increasingly amplifying iteratively...
"Kexiening Kexiening Kexiening Kexiening Kexiening Kexiening!"
Fisher's footsteps stalled abruptly. Suddenly feeling this singing voice sounded somewhat familiar out of nowhere. Therefore, right upon entering his ears, he felt it was rather familiar... His absolute impeccable memory reminded him, it was seemingly deep within the wilderness of the Southern Continent, at the place where he bought Raphaela. There used to be a traveling circus there, and the ringmaster seemed to be named Colin.
Colin was ostensibly the ringmaster of a circus providing premium performances to guests from various regions, but in reality, he was a smuggler providing illegal luxury goods to guests from all nations.
And that circus was named...
The Kexiening Circus!
"Fisher!"
The instant this thought crossed his mind, Fisher immediately turned to look behind him, only to see the walls enclosing the entire room beginning to contract like a soft balloon. As the walls from all directions abruptly contracted, the direction of gravity within the room also gradually tilted, startling Valentina, who was sitting in the wheelchair in the center of the room.
She gripped the armrests of her wheelchair deathly tight, wanting to pull back the retreating wheelchair, but how could her frail self possess such strength? Ergo, she could only watch helplessly as she uncontrolled fell towards the back of the room. Panicked, she looked up at Fisher, who was getting further and further away from her, and called out loudly for the first time.
What kind of method is this?
The Mana Circuit on Fisher's hand lit up. With his perception enhanced by the Soul Completion Handbook, he hadn't felt the slightest fluctuation of Mana surging around him. This implied that the person making the move hadn't used Magic.
The surrounding room continuously shrank. Even before that, Fisher had already dashed towards Valentina like lightning, grasping her boneless, soft little hand in his. Her retreating motion abruptly halted, but the surrounding room had already shrunk to the point where it couldn't be any smaller, quickly enveloping the two of them within it.
"Huh, weren't we just stealing the True Ice? Why did we bring two people along as well?"
The continuous squeezing of the surrounding space didn't inflict any substantial damage upon Fisher and Valentina. Fisher shielded Valentina deathly tight beneath him. Not long after, he acutely perceived that something seemed to be speaking above them.
He opened his eyes, only to see himself and Valentina in an exceedingly bizarre, expansive space. The surroundings seemed to be bound by some jelly-like green substance. Faint surges of golden radiance flickered within that strange substance, entirely filling Valentina and Fisher's field of vision so they wouldn't be completely blinded.
Fisher looked upwards, only to see this space was continuous from top to bottom, reaching hundreds of meters in length and dozens of meters in width. Numerous miscellaneous, worthless items were also placed around. Only he, Valentina, and that block of True Ice were clustered together, seemingly as newly arrived guests.
Valentina panted for a moment, looking up to see Fisher grasping her hand deathly tight without letting go. This accelerated her heartbeat significantly, especially when connecting it to the prophecy she had just witnessed. However, upon seeing the other party concentratingly observing their surroundings while shielding her behind him, that trace of discomfort was ingeniously offset. Therefore, quite strangely, she didn't mention him holding her hand, merely concurrently looking around and asking,
"Where... is this place? Why is it so strange? There's also a bizarre scent of vegetation, and was someone speaking just now?"
"Mm, but regardless of what's happening, the other party seemingly came for this True Ice. We unfortunately merely served as bonus attachments... However, I can't distinguish what method was utilized just now. Could it be some sort of Relic?"
He looked towards the jelly-like walls beside them. Fearing the substance might be corrosive, he prodded the wall with the Fluid Sword from his embrace. He discovered that while the substance was exceedingly soft, no matter how he slashed, it wouldn't open. As sharp as the Fluid Sword was, any attempt to slice would be deflected by that green substance.
Right as Fisher and Valentina were surveying their surroundings, Eimhart, who had been sleeping groggily in Fisher's embrace, suddenly popped half his head out. After sweeping his sleepy-eyed gaze across the surroundings, he emerged quite surprised. He took a glance at Fisher and the hand-held Valentina behind him, instantly rendering himself speechless. He held in the words he wanted to say for a long time before finally uttering,
"How did you guys end up here? This isn't an ordinary place. This is a Slime-kin's [Slime Space]. Being locked in here will make you suffer enough... But why is it so empty here? I heard that every Slime's space was brimming with gold, silver, and treasures. However, there are numerous traces of [Value] here. This Slime must have been quite wealthy previously. I wonder how its family fortunes declined..."
Fisher was just about to speak when the trailing Valentina finally couldn't help but gently reach out and pat the hand he was using to grasp hers. This finally reminded Fisher to let go. He muttered an apology in a low voice and subsequently released her hand, looking towards Eimhart once more.
"Slime-kin? You're saying a Slime-kin attacked us?"
Eimhart nodded, the golden radiance circulating continuously within his stomach.
"Yes, it was absolutely done by a Slime-kin. Didn't I tell you before? Slime-kin is a race born for business. This isn't just because they possess a mind for business, but also stems from their unique racial characteristics... You know, the six races loyal to the Phoenix all have a slight unique quirk. The Cangniao-zhong are exceptionally capable fighters, the Moon Rabbit-kin can spot hidden entities at night, and the Snow Fox-kin can smell the materialized scent of others..."
"Slime-kin can convert the money and treasures they possess into the [Value] they hold, and utilize this value to open up item-storing spaces and conduct spatial teleportation. This is also why, in ancient times when transportation was inconvenient, you could spot Slime-kin merchant caravans selling goods everywhere. The items converted into value will quickly dissipate in various bizarre ways. Even locking them up is useless. Moreover, illusory things can also be converted into value, such as renown, et cetera..."
"Some Slime-kin who deeply love money and treasures are reluctant to exchange those items for nihilistic value, so they engage in charity, art, and performances to exchange for renown. This identically can be exchanged for value to perform storage and teleportation."
Upon hearing this, Fisher suddenly remembered the extremely bizarre Colin he met on the Southern Continent. Not only could that guy tour various countries with his circus, but when he accepted Fisher's bag of gold coins, he stuffed it into his body... And he seemed to have gained quite a bit of weight because of it...
So that guy was actually a Slime-kin from the Northern Border?
"This bunch of races that love running around the world wearing forged skins... I had my family and Balzac search the entire Northern Border and couldn't find a trace of them. Now they've actually come knocking on our door on their own initiative... Although the process was a bit impolite."
Valentina pinched her chin and spoke thus. Meanwhile, Fisher beside her had been continuously looking up at the top of this space. A second later, he suddenly grabbed Eimhart, who was floating in mid-air, and handed him to Valentina sitting in the wheelchair behind him.
"Why are you giving me this? A talking book Relic?"
"I hear what sounds like voices speaking up above. I'll go up and take a look. You can't move freely, so I'll give you Eimhart. If anything happens, he'll give you advice so you won't panic excessively."
Valentina stared blankly as she took the dead-fish-eyed book handed over by Fisher. Then, looking up at Fisher before her, she said speechlessly,
"In your eyes, am I really someone so easily flustered and lacking composure?"
"If you hadn't yelled my name just now, I would have thought so."
Fisher turned his head back and smiled at Valentina. Thereafter, he violently kicked downwards, rocketing straight upwards like a cannonball, leaving Valentina somewhat staring dumbfounded.
Is this guy... still human?
For some reason, looking at Fisher's incomparably robust muscular back, Valentina suddenly recalled the imagery witnessed within the prophecy moments earlier. Her face flushed rosily anew, and she lightly cleared her throat. Only after hoisting Eimhart in hand and performing a cursory inspection did she greet him,
"Hello, Mr. Book."
Eimhart narrowed his eyes and shot a glance at Valentina before him, sequentially rolling his eyes and stating in a sarcastic or ambiguous tone,
"Hello, Miss Wheelchair."
"..."