Chapter 1123: Strange Sphere
Chapter 1123: Strange Sphere
That being said, Izroth did not hold out too much hope of finding answers even in a city like Danaharpe. Every one of the items he acquired from the Profession Starter Kit had a certain phrase in their special notes area, "lost to the passage of time". Such a phrase did not bode well when it came to seeking out information.
'Worst case scenario, I can use the Heart of A Creator passive of Unparalleled Craftsman to obtain more Bottle of Diluted Arcane Ink if I run out. But, based on its description, even with using Heart of A Creator, it should still be possible to recreate arcane ink after some research. The high-ranked monster blood is something that can be settled as long as one has money; however, it's the other unknown elements that are the issue. I'll have to send one bottle to the Mystical Realm Palace and get the alchemists there to reverse-engineer its recipe.'
Izroth did not believe that the system was so gracious that it would continue to hand him free arcane ink every time he completed part of the profession-type quest. Therefore, Izroth wanted to plan ahead rather than wait until the moment itself arrived.
Morrighan, "If it were anyone else who said those words to me, I would believe they were taking the situation too lightly. When it comes to Palace Master Izroth, however, I somehow do not find such words to be difficult to trust."
After the two exchanged a few more words, Morrighan once again confirmed the pick up of the Twin Epoch Sentinels magic item. And, not long after doing so, she gave a brief farewell before terminating the voice call.
Once the voice call was over, Izroth returned his focus to the situation at hand.
It would not be long before he reached the area where he ran into the fake boss, Polkentin's Failed Chimera #395. After that, it would only be a matter of time until he reached the exit and instructed the Lightning Soldier who stayed behind to activate the self destruction sequence of the secret underwater base.
Although Izroth gained a lot out of this trip into the secret underwater base, he could not help but be disappointed.
He originally entered this place with hopes of locating Empyrean and Selene. Unfortunately, in the end, Izroth was unable to find any traces of Empyrean and Selene as the trail seemed to go cold.
"There is still plenty of time left until the quest time limit is up. It's possible that the Lightning Soldiers missed something. Perhaps I should go through each of the paths and rooms myself."
The Lightning Soldiers were quite thorough in their searching method; however, if there was even a one percent chance that they missed or overlooked something, Izroth believed that it was necessary to personally take action.
The main reason Izroth figured that Empyrean and Selene were not in the secret underwater base had to do with the fact that he could not feel them through his Soul Link. Needless to say, there was always the chance that something was still interfering with the Soul Link. However, it was not so easy to interfere with a connection like Soul Link, especially without the use of magic or magic formations.
But, Empyrean was someone who possessed the Innate Anti-Magic Body trait. This rendered virtually all magic useless against him. That is why Izroth found it hard to believe that magic or a magic formation could be behind the interference of the Soul Link he had with Empyrean and Selene.
As Izroth mentally mapped out the quickest and most efficient way to search through the secret underwater base from where he started, a voice sounded from nearby.
"My lord, one of the Lightning Soldiers have come across something highly unusual. I have temporarily ordered him to hold his position since it may be of interest to my lord." Sagarus stated.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
He then inquired, "Should I order him to ignore it and continue on his way to regroup with us?"
"Was he able to identify what it might be?" Izroth asked.
Sagarus remained silent for a few seconds as if he were communicating with the Lightning Soldier.
Not long after, he spoke up and said, "It seems to be a spherical object that is housing a spatial distortion of sorts. I instructed the Lightning Soldier to not engage with it since it may well be a trap."
'A sphere containing a spatial distortion? Is it one of Zitra's experiments? It can also be a magic item or a trap. There is no harm in going to see for myself.'
"You made the right call. For now, give me the direction to the Lightning Soldier's position. I want you to take the rest of the Lightning Soldiers and guard the passage up ahead. No one is to pass. You may let those who approach you know that it was I who instructed this. If they still insist on passing-show them no mercy." Izroth said without hesitation.
"As you command, my lord," Sagarus replied with haste.
The Storm Commander proceeded to tell Izroth the route to reach the Lightning Soldier. After doing so, Izroth parted ways with Sagarus and the group of Lightning Soldiers as he started to make his way to the location of the strange sphere.
...
A few minutes later...
"The location should be right up ahead.'
Izroth could sense the presence of the Lightning Soldier nearby as he moved with swift steps through a narrow passageway. He turned right upon reaching the end of the straight path.
The first thing that came into Izroth's sights was a lone Lightning Soldier standing guard roughly fifteen meters ahead before the passageway's exit.
As Izroth approached the Lightning Soldier, he stepped to the side and bowed respectfully as Izroth halted his steps.
"You've done well. You can go meet up with the others." Izroth said calmly.
The Lightning Soldier stood upright before he began to make his way down the same path Izroth had just come from.
As the Lightning Soldier took his leave, Izroth turned his attention to the area in front of him. Besides the passageway way he had just emerged from, there seemed to be one more located on the opposite side of the room.
Being less than ten meters in diameter, the room itself was not very spacious compared to other areas of the secret underwater base. It also lacked any kind of decor, tools, or monsters. However, there was one thing that stood out in the room and that was a single crystal clear sphere floating at its center. Inside the sphere were ripples of fluctuating space. The ripples were so concentrated that the space around the sphere itself would constantly bend and warp at random intervals.
'At first glance, there is not much strange about this room outside of the sphere. Well, that's only if one is looking at it from a normal perspective.'
Izroth had the passive skill Spatial Awareness, which allowed him to physically see the state of the space inside the room. And, if he could use one more to describe the sphere's current state, it would be "destructive".