Chapter 34: Chapter 34

"Damn, that was one heck of a ride, wasn’t it, Frickon, my guy?"

Aziel commented as he jumped off the Jetgliders.

Frickon had just made him realize they’d reached the boundary of the lake and couldn’t go any farther.

Honestly, what surprised Aziel more was how quickly they’d arrived, less than an hour, maybe even less.

The Jetgliders had been skimming across the surface at an unbelievable speed, one he doubted could even be achieved back in his own world, despite all the advanced tech they had.

Aziel gave a slight nod as the woman who’d accompanied them waved her goodbye and started back down the trail. She hadn’t spoken much throughout the journey, but for some reason, Aziel had formed a good impression of her.

"So, where do we go from here, Frickon?" he asked almost casually, expecting a normal response.

"What? E, excuse me again? Are you kidding me right now? Of course we get out of here, right, or do you have some other plan in mind?"

Frickon stammered, trying to play it cool, though his unintentional stutter only made it more amusing.

Aziel smirked. "Relax, champ. I was just making sure you knew where we were going. Wouldn’t want you walking straight into a wall again."

"Hey! That was one time, and the wall was camouflaged!" Frickon shot back defensively.

"Yeah," Aziel said dryly, "camouflaged with bright red paint."

Frickon grumbled under his breath, pretending not to hear him.

"No, I don’t. Go ahead, I’m coming right behind you," Aziel said at last, his gaze following Frickon as he approached the wall with extreme caution.

Even though Aziel knew it marked the lake’s boundary, it didn’t seem curved at all, not even to his amplified senses.

He followed slowly, not wanting to give away his own intentions.

Then, without warning, Frickon launched himself upward with tremendous force, rocketing toward the sky before landing on the cliff’s edge.

Aziel’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then he crouched slightly, preparing to follow.

’It’s not that high. Not that much. Just twenty meters, that’s all I have to jump. Calm down... I’ve done this before, he told himself.’

Aziel took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The wind brushed against his face, sharp and cool, carrying the faint scent of the lake below.

For a brief moment, everything went still, no sound, no movement, just the steady rhythm of his own heartbeat.

Then, with a sharp exhale, he bent his knees and launched himself upward.

For a second, he thought he might fall short, but his hand shot forward at the last moment, fingers brushing against the rough stone edge and then gripping Frickon’s forearm.

"Whoa, hey, what the?!" Frickon yelped, instinctively stumbling backward from the sudden pull.

The jolt almost sent him toppling off the edge, but Aziel’s weight steadied as his feet found solid ground beside him.

Aziel straightened, dusting off his hands, his usual calm smirk returning. "Relax, I just saved you from falling off your big heroic pose. You’re welcome." Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on ⓝovelFire.net

"You did not need to pull that stunt at all. You could’ve just climbed like a normal plasma would," Frickon muttered, crossing his arms in exaggerated disapproval.

Aziel didn’t bother to counter; he simply kept walking forward, brushing a few specks of dust off him which had never existed.

Frickon sighed and fell into step beside him, still shaking his head.

As they moved ahead, Aziel’s attention caught on a scene a short distance away, his eyes narrowing in curiosity.

Two figures stood apart from each other, maybe ten, fifteen meters at best, both completely motionless.

At first glance, they looked frozen mid-action, but as Aziel stepped closer, he realized they weren’t just still, they were encased.

A translucent, greenish-gel crystalline substance enveloped each of them, its glossy surface catching the faint glimmer of red light.

The material had hardened just enough to preserve every detail, their expressions, the tension in their limbs, like someone had poured a strange liquid mold over them and pulled the solid form out whole.

It gave off an eerie, almost sculptural beauty, the kind that made Aziel’s skin prickle with unease.

Frickon blinked, pointing vaguely.

"Why are you staring at them like that? You know it’s considered rude in some areas to stare at someone else’s vessel, or..."

Frickon exclaimed, his eyes shimmering with expectation.

"Could it be that, it’s your own very own Vessel, after all!"

"Frickon, would it be possible for you to keep quiet for a moment? I’m thinking about something important right now," Aziel said in a serious tone, his eyes still locked on the crystalline green figures.

Frickon blinked, straightening up. "Oh... yeah, sure. Should I think too, or is it like... a solo-thinking kind of thing?"

Aziel barely nodded in response, not because he was listening, but because he was already too focused.

He slowly reached out, his fingers grazing the cold, glassy surface.

The material was smooth but unnervingly alive, faint pulses of green shifting beneath his palm.

His gaze widened as the shapes inside began to take clearer form.

’What the hell is this guy even talking about, he thought, almost in disbelief. There are literal humans frozen within it. How long have they been here? Years? Decades? Why are they even trapped in this green thing?’

His eyes narrowed as he traced the contours of their faces and bodies.

’Every detail is preserved, their expressions, their tension, even the way they were moving when this happened. Someone, or something, went to incredible lengths to capture them exactly .’

He hit the surface lightly with his palm, hoping to trigger some kind of reaction, any sign of movement, but nothing happened.

He tried scraping at it next, applying more force, yet the substance didn’t even flinch.

It wasn’t just hard, it was impossibly resilient, the kind of material that could break a man’s will long before it broke itself.

’Are they alive in there?’ Aziel thought, a shiver crawling down his spine as he looked forward.