Chapter 79 – Tests and Arrogance
Aiko jumped from wall to wall. She would not touch any of those pebbles lest they might kill her.
She was upset that some would create such a dubious trap for her. She didn't like that person and she didn't like his taste in things. This place was damp and smelly, she hated that. She hated the fact that there was constant noise of water dripping down. She hated the lack of light. She hated too many things.
Aiko arrived at the first larger cave.
'Again with the tests.' Aiko stared at the levers. 'Do they have something with levers? why is everyone using them?!' Aiko pouted.
She flicked the levers at random, no way would she bother with the puzzle!
*Mechanic noise*
'Hm?' Aiko's senses warned her and she jumped aside.
A ballista spear ripped through the air lodging itself into the opposite wall.
Aiko's scalp went numb. 'I almost got skewered...'
It seemed like she wouldn't be able to cheat this place, she would have to complete the puzzle before flicking the levers.
The puzzle was somewhat straightforward. She had to read it and answer the question. Depending on the answer the lever was numbered and she would pull that lever and repeat it.
Aiko was curious if there were any more ballista spears or if it was a one-time use trap, but this time she didn't act on her impulse. She took her time to slowly decipher Runes that she didn't understand and write down the sequence of the levers.
Aiko wiped her sweat, it was the 6th she was writing down, but something was still amiss as lever 5 was used twice. There are 6 levers, so it should be 6 different numbers, right?
Aiko couldn't figure it out even after 20th time writing it down, the number 5 was still used twice.
Aiko frowned. She came to the levers and pulled them down in sequence. She was ready to turn into a Fox and jump away.
*Click*
A wall slowly moved out of the way revealing a passageway.
Aiko blankly stared at the passageway. 'Why did it work?! Don't tell me the 6th lever was a trap!' Aiko frowned.
She didn't touch that lever and moved through the corridor again or rather jumped. This time there were many small Inscribed marbles on the ground. She didn't wish to be smacked again. She rubbed her forehead where those pebbles hit.
'It's too dangerous to walk through these corridors.' Aiko thought frowning.
She stared forward. She arrived at another large cave, but this time the floor was made out of squares, each square had a different symbol.
Aiko stared at the Runes. She was only familiar with some of them.
'Numbers... I have to choose the right sequence... again...' Aiko sighed.
She returned towards the corridor with the marbles.
Aiko carefully approached them, she had really bad feelings about them.
She tried picking one, but it was so smooth that she couldn't pick it up.
Aiko stared at the floor full of marbles.
'If you tried to step on them you would slip and then...' Shiver ran down her spine. 'Good thing I jumped over them.' Aiko nodded seriously.
She didn't try to pick the marbles up but flicked them out of the corridor.
She then again flicked them over the squares.
*Rumble*
The square fell down revealing a spiky pit below. Only some squares stayed on pillars. Aiko carefully looked down and flicked more marbles to take down the fake footholds.
*Rumble*
She was satisfied with her work and jumped through this puzzle without issues.
In front of her was another corridor. This seemed... ordinary? Aiko tilted her head staring at the long corridor.
She couldn't see anything wrong with it.
There was one marble that made it through the face footholds so Aiko flicked it into the corridor.
'It stopped the moment it touched the floor.' Aiko stared at the strange phenomenon.
She went back for more marbles, which took some time, but she eventually managed and flicked them into the corridor again.
'All of them stopped the moment they touched the ground...' Aiko frowned.
She flicked one last marble but this time into the wall. It bounced off and landed on the ground freezing again.
'So walls are safe again...' Aiko smiled.
She turned into a fox again and used her [Quick Double Jump] to pass through this corridor.
It took quite a lot of time, but fortunately, she had plenty of Stamina that was even lessened by the mean Fox's Rune on her paw.
She managed to get into another Cave, but this time it was a huge cave with many drawings.
Aiko was curious so she sat down on the left side of the entrance and took her time to decipher it.
Somewhere in the distant past was a Mighty Figure that sealed the heavens. Why did he seal the heavens? Because Immortals wanted to rob his little world out of his Providence.
The Mighty Figure was not good-natured, so he slaughtered them all at first, but there were just too many of them. They kept coming and coming. He couldn't stop them all.
That person was upset, so he sought the help of other Mighty Figures. He shared part of his Providence with them to get their help.
They told him about the Runic language and that one can become Almighty by using that language.
The Mighty Figure was intrigued and he meditated over this knowledge. He ventured into the Desolate World where many Runic Masters remained. He shared his Dharma Treasure with them to obtain more knowledge about the Runic symbols.
They welcomed him with open arms as they never got along well with Forgers.
They shared their knowledge with him and he Cultivated to become Rune Sovereign.
He returned to his little world happy, but... it took too much time for him to master this craft. His little world was plundered. He cried tears of blood transforming that world into Blood River World.
From a fertile and peaceful world, it became the hell-spawn of Demons. They thrived in that world, slowly corrupting the Cultivator.
The Cultivator visited the worlds of his many Plunderers. He slowly sucked out their Qi, before moving to another one. They tried to stop him, but it was easier attacking than defending.
His Runic language was Divine, on par with the Might of the Divine Mountain. Those Plunderers were pushed back.
He sucked many worlds until the Golden Palace interfered. They labelled him as a Demonic Cultivator and put a bounty on his head.
The Plunderers laughed in glee and challenged him again. Many worlds were split until the Golden Palace sent their Thousands of Divine Legion. It was a mighty army that could sweep any world they wished.
The Mighty Figure was pushed into the corner.
He once again cried tears of blood from this injustice polluting some of the Thousands Divine Legion.
'If I can't seek justice then nobody can leave this place!' The Mighty Figure cried.
He used his lifelong Cultivation with his Soul to borrow the power of the Runes.
The Runic language cracked the space from the sacrifice and each single world in the known universe was sealed by him.
The world which hosted the Golden Palace was known as the Immortal World, while the small worlds from the Immortal Cultivators were now known as Mortal Worlds.
Immortals had a difficult time gathering their Providence from the Mortal Worlds. Thus the Immortal World declined and declined until it was invaded by the Divine World. The second Great Catastrophe happened-
'Where is the rest?!' Aiko felt unsatisfied as the story on the walls ended. She looked everywhere, but couldn't find the rest of the story.
*Click*
Another wall slid down revealing another passageway, but Aiko didn't want to leave, she wanted to know what happened with that person and those others.
'That mean Fox also talked about the Golden Palace... could it be this one?" Aiko tilted her head staring at the writing of the Golden Palace.
'Arrogant assholes.' Aiko hmpfed, walking away from the wall and towards the corridor.
She wouldn't underestimate another corridor so she immediately used her [Quick Double Jump] to pass this corridor.
She arrived at a humongous cave opening and in front of her was the Palace.
Suddenly Aiko felt pain around her Beast Core.
Beast Cores(50%): 999 (33,029)
'What a delicious Sacrifice.' The voice grated at Aiko's ears and she screamed.
'... why are you the sacrifice???' The pain stopped and the voice asked in confusion.
Aiko panted, her eyes unfocused and it took her a while to stabilize herself.
'Who are you?' Aiko panted.
'#### or you can probably remember me as the tree that gave you my tree heart.' The voice replied with a dissatisfied expression.
'Oh...' Aiko remembered that. 'You are the Elemental Spirit, right?'
That voice frowned and squeezed Aiko's Beast Core again. Aiko screamed for a while until she passed out.
'Seriously...' The Seed frowned. 'What am I supposed to do now...' The Seed noticed that elaborate Rune on the little one's paw.
'I will definitely get killed if I hurt her.' The Seed frowned. 'But I also want freedom...' The Seed sighed.
'Hm... quarter of my Energy was recovered...? did she do it?' The Seed stared at the little fox. 'Why did she sacrifice so much energy?' It couldn't understand.
'Whatever...' The seed threw those thoughts to the back of its wooden brain.
'... What in the world is wrong with her??' The Seed noticed Aiko having 2 Beast Cores. 'How did that happen? Is she special? But why would she eat my tree heart?' The Seed was confused beyond belief.
It retracted the roots that clutched Aiko's Beast Core and her complexion recovered somewhat.
...
Aiko woke up, feeling awful. "Ugh, it hurts." Aiko cried silently.
'You are awake.' The Seed said passively.
'And you are still alive.' Aiko frowned.
'Thanks to you.' The Seed said gently.
'And I'm feeling like someone crushed my insides, thanks to you.' Aiko sarcastically spat at the voice.
'... You are in Inheritance Grounds. There should be an exit or test.' The Seed ignored her displeasure and sarcastic tone and explained.
'Inheritance Grounds?' Aiko asked.
'You managed to get into this place, this place will either give you its Inheritance, kick you out or give you another test to complete to see if you are worthy.' The Seed explained.
Aiko half-heartedly listened to that shitty voice and walked down towards the Palace.
The Palace was still well preserved if you ignored the dust. It didn't seem it had deteriorated that much over the time.
Aiko stared at the magnificent Palace covered in Inscriptions.
She clicked her tongue. "How amazing that it could last for so long."
Aiko believed that this Palace was as old as the previous story.
She stepped onto the first step and Runes appeared in her mind. Something was nudging her to connect the Runes, so Aiko did that.
'Incorrect.' The Voice sounded in her mind.
Aiko frowned and tried it again.
'Incorrect.' The Voice sounded annoyed.
Aiko snorted and connected them again.
'Are you even trying?!' The Voice was very upset.
'Trying your ass! Just you wait and I will skewer it!' Aiko protested and connected those Runes yet again.
The Voice arrogantly snorted and Aiko was kicked from the first step.
A Jade Slip arrived in front of her.
'Learn the Runes first brat!' The voice sounded arrogant and Aiko's world was painted black and white.