novelraw Chapter 481: Uniqueness
Chapter 481: Uniqueness
The cave environment inhabited by the Serpent-kin was very rudimentary—its height was roughly only three or four fists taller than Fisher's exact height, while the distance on both sides was wider to accommodate the incoming and outgoing transported goods. Thus, as early as entering the cave entrance, Fisher had dismounted from the back of that camel.
Actually, Fisher didn't intend to bring it in at all, but it kept nudging him with its head, shamelessly insisting on following. Having no other choice, Fisher had to lead it in together.
The cave as a whole was not only cramped but also dark. Fisher always felt that the Serpent-kin leading the way walked faster and moved more naturally in the darkness. Perhaps to these Serpent-kin, who were powerful hunters, night and darkness were far more comfortable and suitable environments.
The environment within the cave suited their habits perfectly; the only imperfection was the temperature. The cave was not only high-temperature and dry but also carried an oppressive stuffiness that made breathing difficult.
Fisher took a breath, looked at the dark end of the cave ahead that seemed as if it would swallow his line of sight, and asked,
"Is this the place where that Angel Sorobato forges Holy Artifacts?"
"No... no, Lord Sorobato- eh, he usually doesn't forge here. Except for the boss, we haven't seen him either. We only transport materials and such for him. Every time he comes, the outside looks like it hit a disaster, the wind is very, very strong, and we all hide. Then when we come out, the materials and slaves have already been taken away."
Upon hearing the Serpent-kin ahead say this, Fisher suddenly remembered the Holy Artifact forging lesson Helaire took him to when he was originally in the Sanctuary. At that time, the Angel named Urs had mentioned that forging Holy Artifacts required a few prerequisites, namely massive amounts of energy and a suitable medium.
In the Sanctuary, the source of energy was the massive Sun Ring constructed by Michael, and the medium was the Aether he created. But Sorobato forging Life Gospel Relics privately in violation of the Sanctuary was highly unlikely to have such conditions, though there were alternatives.
The Ocean not only had water as a medium, but it seemingly also had leylines like active volcanoes, naturally possessing the conditions to forge Holy Artifacts...Thinking about it, it was no surprise that Jasmine's aunt, Muxi, could forge Holy Artifacts; she herself was a Whale-kin from the Ocean.
"Then what's the situation with the still-forging Holy Artifact ahead that your boss mentioned?"
"Ah, that... I'm not too clear either. It seems because that item's shaping requires a certain amount of time, but Sorobato couldn't take it away, so he temporarily left it with us."
"I see."
Fisher was just about to nod, but precisely at this moment, an exceedingly faint, serene fragrance suddenly surged at the tip of his nose. That serene fragrance was Refreshing to the Heart, appearing so conspicuous in this narrow cave.
That fragrance, Fisher remembered it deeply.
His footsteps paused slightly, then he spoke to the chubby leading Serpent-kin ahead,
"That thing is at the end of this path, right?"
"Ah? Ah, yes, this is the location of the Smelting Room. The item left by that Angel is in the furnace, you'll be able to see it when you go over. But that thing's temperature is very high, I suggest you take some tongs or something, only then can you pick it up."
"I know, I will be careful, you go out first."
That Serpent-kin's chubby little hand raised to touch his face, seemingly a bit baffled, but since Fisher requested it like this, he had no other opinions. So he nodded, grabbed his tools, turned around, and left the cave, leaving this place to Fisher alone.
"Is there no one else here?"
"No more, everyone fled just now."
Receiving confirmation, Fisher's gaze narrowed slightly. He looked at the dark and profound cave tunnel ahead. After hesitating for a moment, he led the camel and prepared to walk forward, but just at this moment, the camel behind him seemingly sensed something and absolutely refused to move its footsteps, its four hooves planted on the spot like four nails.
"Glug glug~"
It neighed softly. Fisher let go of the rope hanging on the Saddle attached to its body and said to it,
"You go out first, I'll go alone."
Subsequently, Fisher walked towards the depths of the cave alone. But having not taken many steps, the head of the camel behind him leaned forward again, nudging Fisher's back, and those four hooves finally began moving again.
"Hum~ hum~ hum~"
A pleasant singing voice overflowed from its throat again, melodious like a silver bell, seemingly expressing its determination to go together with Fisher.
Fisher smiled faintly, rubbed its head, and said nothing, merely continuing to lead it inside.
The surrounding darkness had already surpassed the limit of what Fisher's Fourteenth-Tier eyes could touch. At this moment, this originally cramped cave seemed to transform into a bottomless Abyss, also akin to a black Ocean capable of absorbing all light, causing Fisher to feel an inexplicable sensation of falling just by walking.
Faint, sharp, piercing noises transmitted from the surroundings. Fortunately, the camel behind timely started singing, so Fisher's ears wouldn't feel so uncomfortable.
After a good few seconds passed, the surrounding darkness seemingly vanished abruptly. Before Fisher's eyes, an entrance flickering with firelight quickly revealed itself at the end of the cave.
Fisher led the camel into it. The original narrowness behind him instantly disappeared without a trace, replaced by a spaciousness that allowed one to catch their breath.
The surroundings were Completely Empty. Only at the end of this spacious area was a massive furnace placed with raging flames burning inside. And in front of that furnace stood a familiar back figure wearing a ruqun, possessing long, slender black hair.
That back figure was clearly identical to Renee's, yet Fisher profoundly recognized that this wasn't the Witch Renee he knew.
"Gui?"
Fisher led the camel and stood at the entrance, tentatively opening his mouth thusly.
Instantly upon hearing Fisher's call, that black-haired back figure trembled slightly. Subsequently, on both sides of her long black hair resembling a waterfall, a pair of long, slender ears bearing numerous earrings abruptly stood up.
"Ding-a-ling~"
Those paired ears hidden under the black hair seemingly having been stifled for too long, vividly trembled up and down. Those silver earrings consequently emitted crisp ringing sounds as well.
"Ah, we meet again, Fisher."
That black-haired back figure gazing at the furnace turned around, revealing her beautiful visage identical to Renee's. Her pale golden scattered pupils appeared quite lively under the reflection of the firelight in the furnace. Yet precisely because of this, her face was split in half—half exposed in the firelight, the other half hidden in shadow, directly facing Fisher at the cave entrance.
"Tao Gong is your elder sister. You disappeared very early on, yet now you appear in Tao's barrier, in Margaret's Ideal State. Is all of this related to you?"
"To actually get straight to the topic so directly, no wonder you used a strange power to bind me the first time we met. Truly worthy of you, perverted human Fisher."
Gui's attitude was gentle, yet Fisher didn't play along with her words. His expression hardly changed as he slowly led the camel forward and asked,
"So, what did you call me over to say?"
"Sit down, we can talk slowly."
Gui smiled faintly and raised her hand, and a strange set of wooden table and chairs abruptly rose from the dry stone ground.
After a moment's hesitation, Fisher gently released the rope pulling the camel and sat on the chair near his side. That camel didn't leave either; instead, it stood obediently to the side, cautiously observing the Elf before it.
"Hum~ hum~ hum~"
Sensing its scrutiny, Gui tilted her head, pointed at the camel, and smilingly asked,
"This camel can even sing? Very interesting... I quite like this fellow, how about giving it to me?"
Fisher glanced at the camel beside him and shook his head,
"It already has a master."
"You?"
"No, haven't given it away yet."
"So you are giving it to someone else..."
For some reason, Fisher always felt that the gentle smile on Gui's face deepened. Yet upon hearing Fisher's refusal, she didn't force the issue. Instead, she hooked a finger towards the raging furnace. Following the transmission of a strange power, a glowing substance exuding bizarre fluctuations quickly floated out from the furnace.
Fisher couldn't distinguish the specific shape of that object, but generally knew it was the Holy Artifact left here by Sorobato. However, the reason Gui called Fisher over was not this Holy Artifact; she also seemed to treat this thing merely as some sort of Toy to look at.
Seeing that she didn't answer his previous question, Fisher simply took the initiative to ask again,
"Margaret stealing the loom is related to you. You absolutely heard the words the Elf King spoke before dying, right?"
Gui didn't look at Fisher. Instead, she pushed that glowing, unshaped Holy Artifact in front of him.
"I did indeed hear them, but honestly speaking, I did nothing, nor will I do anything... This Holy Artifact hasn't fully taken shape yet, and it isn't perfect. It's estimated even when formed, it will just be a useless decoration. Do you want to try shaping it? Just throw some materials in randomly, we'll talk while doing it."
Fisher glanced at her. Gui was also smiling at him. That appearance identical to Renee's and her casual words at this moment could always easily transport Fisher back to the days when he still resided in Saint-Nazareth.
Back then, he would always go out with Renee like this, occasionally shopping, occasionally watching a certain play... Of course, Realizing After the Fact, that was a date, it was just that the Fisher of that time didn't think so.
Fisher didn't refuse. He looked around and found quite a bit of treasure left by the Serpent-kin, akin to gold coins and Magic Materials.
He casually grabbed a few cobblestone-like gemstones, tossing them into the glowing sphere floating in mid-air like skipping stones. Waiting until those stones completely integrated without creating any ripples, he asked,
"Is it okay to use these stones too?"
"You already did it, and now you ask?"
"Can't I?"
"You can."
Learning from Fisher, Gui also tossed two gemstones in, then propped her chin and replied seemingly dotingly.
Fisher rubbed the stone in the center of his palm and then returned to the main topic.
"You did nothing? But legends say your birth went through the Loom of Fate, and you were bestowed the power of the future by it. Have you not seen the future?"
"I haven't."
Gui shook her head, spread her hands, and replied,
"I have never used the ability even once. I don't like the ability bestowed upon me by mother, and the entire reason I don't stay in the Tree Continent is simply because I'm too lazy to shoulder responsibilities like Tao or Bing..."
"Is that all?"
"That is all."
Fisher fell silent for a moment, seemingly pondering something. While thinking hard, he kept tossing stones into that Holy Artifact.
Only after a long while did he speak again,
"Are you meaning to say that your running into me within Tao Gong's barrier was entirely accidental? Then for what purpose did you reappear there?"
"Don't forget, you were the one who took the initiative to contact me, perverted human. I did nothing. I was merely playing the role of a bystander. You discovered me, whereas originally, no one would have discovered me, and the trajectory here would not have produced any changes because of me."
When Gui put it that way, Fisher also seemed to recall Helaire's near-perfect transformation and hiding ability. That was a concealment even the Loom of Fate was unable to detect, and that ability originated from the item of the Elf before him. So logically, her concealment was indeed perfect; he merely sought her out voluntarily at the time because of her resemblance to "Renee"...
"...Even if the last time was a coincidence, then is your proactively contacting me this time also a coincidence?"
Gui smiled faintly. Subsequently, she beckoned with her hand, drawing over more materials from afar and placing them before Fisher, signaling him to continue dropping materials inside to finalize the shape of that unfinished Holy Artifact.
There were numerous materials before him, but Fisher specifically picked the expensive stones to throw in. Anyway, they weren't his things, so he didn't feel heartbroken tossing them.
At the exact same time, Gui's words also arrived,
"No, it is not. The reason I sought you out this time is very simple, it is solely because of 'you'."
"Me?"
"Fisher, haven't you discovered that you are very special?"
Upon hearing this, the actions of Fisher, who originally intended to toss more gemstones, paused slightly.
His first thought was: Could it be that his most proud Reproduction Ability was discovered again?
Fisher expressionlessly cast a glance towards the direction of his kidney. However, that subtle action was caught by Gui before him. She immediately couldn't resist covering her mouth and laughing loudly,
"Hahaha, truly a perverted human. Although your aspect there is also very special, on the level of bad taste, the special I'm referring to is something else... Do you still remember what method you used to escape when Tao was about to kill you guys then?"
Gui truly had witnessed his group's entire itinerary in the Royal Capital, including their final experience of escaping peril within Jianmu Palace.
Fisher naturally remembered how he escaped. At the time, he borrowed the power Renee had sealed upon his body, wanting to perish together with Tao Gong... Could it be that the "special" Gui referred to was related to this?
"Fisher, the restriction set upon the chaotic power on your chest only has one layer. That is to say, originally, it could only be triggered once. Yet in front of Tao at that time, you destroyed that restriction, completely releasing the power within it, and furthermore, not utilizing it in its original intended manner."
Indeed. Originally, Renee left this mark to utilize the power of altering fate once again to send him back to the future. Yet at that time, Fisher aimed the power at Tao Gong, wanting to perish together with her, resulting in no temporal changes whatsoever, solely destructive lethality...
Gui rested her chin on the back of her stacked hands, smilingly looking at Fisher and asking,
"That power back then was almost on the verge of tearing everything apart like a runaway wild horse. Tao Gong, directly facing you, was frightened into fleeing in panic. Even Remiel in the sky didn't dare to approach Jianmu Palace even a little... Aren't you curious as to why, when a power terrifying enough to frighten two Nineteenth-Tier beings bloomed upon your body, the damage you suffered was actually so small?"
Fisher's hand trembled slightly, but after a momentary pause, he still tossed that gemstone in the center of his palm into that glowing Holy Artifact.
Fisher wasn't a fool; he could naturally discern the implied meaning behind the other party's words. Previously, he mistakenly thought the power Renee sealed within his body wasn't fully released, so it could still be resealed back. But now he realized, that power had originally been completely unsealed at that moment, yet he surprisingly forced the entirely unsealed Chaos power back into his body, and remarkably remained entirely undamaged even now?
At the exact same time, he suddenly remembered another matter Erwind had mentioned: Magic Lord had established a rule that everyone in the Creator's Society could only read one Completion Handbook. Yet he had evidently read the Demi-Human Completion Handbook along with the Soul Completion Handbook... Of course, this was under the condition that the Demi-Human Completion Handbook was also considered a Completion Handbook.
Then, was it possible what Magic Lord said was true, and he could read so many Completion Handbooks purely owing to his own unique reasons?
Fisher looked up at Gui before him and asked,
"So, the reason you came to find me was to tell me these things?"
"Roughly so, just because you seem to have never realized how important you are. Just like an actor on stage completely oblivious to the fact that he is a magnificent treasure capable of making the audience below scream and leap onto the stage to dance with him... However, besides this, there indeed is another matter. It seems your life layer is about to reach the peak before the Mythic stage, and it looks like you've already chosen the path of stepping through the Mythic door. I've come to tell you the specific method...
"At nighttime, find a quiet place, take out the item serving as the trigger, create a wound, let the trigger connect with your wound, then just wait. Soon enough, you'll discover the knack yourself."
Saying so, the Gui identical to Renee gently lifted her finger, lightly taking away the gemstone Fisher was grasping in his hand, hesitating to place into the Holy Artifact all this while, and elegantly stuffed it into the floating cluster of light in mid-air.
At that exact moment, the light cluster seemingly became full, squirming slowly like a water blob, slowly condensing into a specific shape.
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
Very quickly, amidst surges of fluctuating auras, the shape of the light cluster finalized.
As it turned out, it was an extremely aesthetically pleasing Crown inset with individually glittering gemstones. It was just that compared to other Holy Artifacts, Fisher felt this Crown only possessed beauty, completely devoid of any other effect. Furthermore, it was mixed with a unique, turbid sensation.
"As expected, it is merely a failure piece. But fortunately, it looks good enough; your aesthetic sense is quite good."
Gui smilingly shook her head, then stood up. The wooden table and chairs before her emitted crisp "crack crack crack" sounds bit by bit, as if about to fall apart. Feeling weightless, Fisher immediately stood up. Seeing that the sparkling Crown was also about to plummet to the ground, he quickly reached out to catch it.
However, Gui seemed to no longer care about that Crown. She turned around, patted that docile camel, her pale golden scattered pupils revealing a hint of a smile. Subsequently, she waved her hand, walking straight past Fisher heading towards the cave entrance.
Fisher turned his head, just about to ask something, yet she suddenly spoke, blocking back the words in his mouth. She said,
"Take it and give it to the person you like, there might be miraculous results. At least it's pretty enough?"
"..."
What kind of superstitious saying is this?
Fisher watched helplessly as Gui, extremely similar to Renee, disappeared into the shadow of the cave entrance, leaving only the Crown whose final shape was decided by the gemstone he inserted. That Crown still retained residual warmth and sparkled brilliantly, it should be considered an excellent decorative piece...
He was still ruminating on everything Gui had just said, finding the Crown in his hands rather lackluster. Just as he originally wanted to casually toss it aside, out of the corner of his eye he suddenly saw that camel beside him, who had been looking at him obediently all along.
"Glug glug~"
Fisher's gaze flickered slightly. That motion of casually tossing halted somewhat, and he instead hugged the Crown into his arms.