Chapter 47: Chapter 47
"Let’s put our key in here...and the door is opening."
Ai took the lead this time as she put the key in the lock and opened the (hopefully) final chamber.
The floor shifted and stairs appeared to lead them down. The darkness made it impossible to tell what was down there, and Cane threw a light globe down to check.
But after falling for a few meters, the glowing bulb lost its light. There was no sound of it touching water, which meant that the stairs were a long walk down.
"Another long haul? Why is this quest so exhausting?"
Cane questioned, and Ai rubbed his back in comfort.
"Don’t be so disappointed. If you want, I can carry you down. I am strong enough to do that...hopefully."
Ai assured him, but then her face took a doubtful look and she looked away with a blush on her face.
Cane wanted to know what had made her so shy, but before he could ask her, Ai grabbed his hand and pulled him down. Her eyes seemed to be able to see in the dark perfectly well, but Cane was not the same.
He quickly took out a light source before he tripped and fell down. Light illuminated the moss-covered wall, and Cane pulled his hand back, only to almost fall down the other side.
Ai’s quick thinking saved his life as she pulled him back.
[HaremKingXXX: How can you fight so gracefully, but utterly fail when it comes to walking?] ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ NoveIꜰire.net
"Well, I have skill for fighting but none for walking and balance—"
[Shura: Then get some. You look like you need them all the time.]
Cane had no reply for that. He was...rather clumsy, as he had demonstrated.
The chat went wild when he did not reply back.
[Bugcontrol: Chat, we got him. He has no reply.]
Cane did his best to not let the chat get to him and explode. Ai just looked back at him a few times, wondering what was wrong with him now.
She had observed Cane a lot and realized a few things.
First, he was not mentally ill and in a habit of talking to himself. Rather, he was talking to someone else on the system. Perhaps even multiple people.
And second, he had a lot more resources than he was letting on.
Ai had been sent in here as a moderator and a scout, so she had been given a lot of privileges. One of them was to be able to interact with the environment within the simulation and change things that made her be at a disadvantage.
She had done so with a few NPCs already, but when she had tried Cane’s system, she had failed to see anything.
And it was not a "human" thing either, because she had tried to interact with a few other people on their way till here as an experiment when she did not have her memories.
She had been able to delete some stuff in their inventory or steal it.
So it was only Cane she could not affect.
’As much as I do not want to consider it, Cane has the potential to become an enemy to me and my people. I should keep an eye on him...not because I like him, but because he’s dangerous for everyone.’
Ai ignored how hard her heart threatened to burst out of her chest when Cane came closer to her. She was trying her best to curb her own expectations. But Cane was truly not making it easy on her.
The pair kept walking deeper and deeper until Ai stopped suddenly. She sensed that they were near the end and she could feel another presence down there.
"What’s wrong? Are we near the end?"
Cane asked, and Ai nodded.
It was still too dark to be able to look down, so Cane took a glowing bulb from his inventory and threw it down.
A huge mouth came up to bite the light, and it made a small sound that echoed but did not go too far.
"Oh. So that’s why there was no sound when I threw the last glowing bulb down? Then, I have an idea. Ai, get ready to jump."
Cane told Ai as he took out a lot of bombs and a glowing bulb.
He threw the mixture down and that mouth came back up to swallow the mess...and instantly exploded.
"Let’s jump down now before that thing gets a chance to recover."
Cane told Ai as he jumped down along with her. He landed softly on a fur-covered body and he fired additional shots for extra measure.
[You have killed the rift guardian. Reward will be provided...]
Cane walked over to the dead body and checked it over after taking out the glowing bulb from his inventory.
It was one of the last he had, and it illuminated the whole room.
"The guardian is dead, so the exit should be around somewhere near here."
Cane told Ai, and she looked around as well. Between them, they found the arching door, and Cane threw some food ahead for good measure to check for any enemies.
There were none, and they entered the last room.
[You have entered the heart of the Alzar. Please proceed to the altar to complete the quest and gain a clue about the guardians.]
The system notification made Cane move. Ai followed as well, but she kept an eye out for any danger.
The altar was small and relatively simple. Cane walked over to it before he opened the small box in front of him.
There was a single note in there.
[Take the box of incubation, brave warrior. All the challenges you have faced till now were made to test your resolve and heart. If you made it so far, then you are worthy of the protection we have to offer.
However, your journey is far from over. To grow a guardian, one needs more than courage and resources. You need divine will. So seek out a god at the world tree and ask for their blessing. And you shall be granted great fortune.]
The Google Sheet for viewer names and their corresponding Chapters has been posted in Chapter 1 at the end. You can check it to see where you have appeared.