402 Guardian (1)
“Say that again,” Skullius said in response to Sila’s words.
‘I know you heard me, tomato flinger. Much like most of the spaces meant to hold a legacy within them, this one also has a beast of a high tier that guards it and filters who enters and who doesn’t,’ Sila said.
Skullius sighed as he felt within the waters.
That was the peculiar sensation he had felt with his senses before using [High Cosmetic Body] just now.
A Territory was erected somewhere within these waters and he had enter straight into it.
Fantastic!
Once again, in the spirit of accepting things as they came, Skullius swallowed his spite for the current situation and instead focused on what he was going to do.
He had interacted with a beast that guarded a legacy holding spot before but it was obvious that they would all probably be different. He couldn’t help but wonder just what he was going to face.
Skullius donned a unique set of light armour that had a strange, dim bluish halo around it.
It was a sleek, perfectly silvery blue armour with small criss-crossing design groves all over it, from the thin but sturdy chest plate which traced along Skullius’ body perfectly, to the pauldrons on his shoulders which were diamond shaped, the groves over these glowing lightly.
Light bracers with glowing, diamond shaped centres could be seen around his arms and whenever Skullius moved, the groves along the bracers and the entire armour flashed with a silvery blue light!
A dark layer of leather was visible underneath from between the joints of the armour, the most prominent features it had being the leather hood behind Skullius’ neck which had glowing silver lines that traced all over it as well.
This was evidently the Fleeting Ghoul’s Adornment which Skullius had upgraded with [Unbound]!
The effects it had attained as a result of the upgrade were rather fascinating and the Discount Human was looking forward to keeping it for a long time.
“Alright then, let’s get this over with,” Skullius said with a sigh. “Oh right, could the beast notice us in its Territory if we continue using your Ferex’s hide?”
‘Hmm… I’m not sure. I only know as much as you do on that part, tomato flinger. Perhaps the hide is strong enough to bypass the powerful awareness granted in one’s Majestic Territory, or perhaps not,’ Sila answered, the last bit of what he said having a hint of sarcasm.
Skullius had expected more of an answer than added speculation but oh well…
While it seemed reckless to deep dive into a Majestic Territory with all Skullius knew and had seen about them, the interaction between Benzard and his group that time in the Tremur was still fresh in his mind.
Benzard has said that the fox guarding the Labyrinth of the Yoke was merely there to evaluate those who wished to enter and not fight against them. Provided it wasn’t provoked that was.
If the same rules applied to this place then…
‘At most, it should just evaluate our strength, right, in the event that it does notice Ferex in his hide?’ Skullius thought before deciding to cast away all worries and dive in.
They were already here anyway.
The Discount Human casually hopped into Ferex’s mouth and the creature leapt into the waters.
On entering, Skullius noticed the spike in the amount of mana around. Unfortunately, much of his insight was limited but he could identify quite a bit of information.
While he didn’t have the impressive sensory capabilities of an empowered [Elevated Mana Manipulation] through [Epiphany], the vibrations through the water along with the activation of the aforementioned mana manipulation skill told him a fair amount of detail.
For starters, he was immediately alerted to the fact that there were no living creatures even close to his sensory ranges, the Outer Domain of his expanded sense included.
The reason was incredibly obvious.
Whenever there was a powerful beast’s Territory nearby, weaker creatures steered clear.
And as for this Territory…
The strange feeling that Skullius had felt before diving into the water grew stronger.
To him, it felt like a growing bulb of prickling heat against his skin which annoyed him as it grew from a mere sensation to a shiver inducing pressure if he paid too much attention to it.
They were drawing close.
Ferex who was swishing his legs as he descended deep into the dark waters that changed colour by virtue of the thick mana, could actually see what was ahead.
The dark blue waters, contending with light and detaining much of it, turned to an nigh indistinguishable shade of light green against the natural, mana infused colour of the sea.
The hue became more pronounced as one drew closer and closer, finally able to see that… ah…
A vast, clear dome of vibrant yet subtle green nested deep within the waters while causing it to bubble as if it was boiling.
Its size made Ferex look like an ant, basically insignificant to the might of the beast who had made it.
‘The amount of mana radiating from this thing is ridiculous,’ Skullius thought. At this point, he had retracted his expanded senses, fearing that they could be what gave them away in the end.
While feeling the screeching power that bellowed from the sphere, Skullius gave Ferex the go ahead.
The Hound swam, heading for the bubbly green.
The moment it penetrated the sphere…
[Congratulations, you have royally screwed yourself by entering a powerful beast’s Majestic Territory!]
Once again, the same notification that appeared before Skullius every time he entered a Territory popped up in front of him. Funny enough, Skullius had already gotten over the fact that he could still see the notification despite being blind.
But he could care less about it now as the surroundings had changed greatly, stealing his attention.
He couldn’t tell much, but a suffocating presence that almost made him keel even while within Ferex’s mouth pounded against him while the Hound came to a halt, its body quivering.
Once more, a space filled with extraordinarily thick liquid was what met Skullius and Ferex. It was so thick that Skullius didn’t know if it was water or something else and the little sense he was exerting to try and make out a few things was actually nullified by… a deep set ‘darkness’.
The Demon Hound saw a literal darkness that refused to reveal anything about this place however, making the situation a bit more tense.
Ferex was hard pressed on how to proceed as a swing of his leg didn’t actually get him even a meter’s worth of distance forward.
What was this?
Skullius took a few seconds to calm down before starting to churn out possible ways to get out of this and analysing what he could.
However…
“I see you there, Vermin! You dare casually invade my Territory, and with deceptive powers no less?!”
A thunderous voice coursed through the vibrant waters with a creepy vibration that ran through both Ferex and Skullius, etching what had been said into their very bones!
The words rang through the two over and over and over again in such an uncomfortable manner, the appearance of this voice also coming with a flood of light that illuminated the surroundings!
They had been caught!
‘Is this beast hostile?!’ Skullius thought as he prepared for whatever encounter was afoot. He didn’t understand what the beast had said but a violent emotion that evidently came from the beast had washed through him, giving him this sentiment!
Just great!
The best way to deal with this though, as Skullius thought, was with words, as it would be more fitting to respond with affability and respect as someone snared within the Territory.
He held the staff tight, a bit apprehensive that even after so long it had barely started to recover its mana, the amount it granted him still at 4,670 points from the 2000!
This would have to do however.
As the tension increased, the view of the terrifying owner of the voice that had boomed appearing…
‘Right.. I remember the bastard who owns this Territory, tomato flinger. He’s—’
Before Sila could finish, the truth was revealed without his help.
“KIKIKIKI! It’s a jest! Look at you getting all tense~. It’s fun watching you humans cower at my flippers! Relax! Let’s have a nice chat, shall we?”
…