Chapter 305 The Final Key

"Don't be a baby about it! It'll only sting for...a second!" The elven tinkerer told him.

Without warning, he jabbed the needle straight and center-point into the young man's chest, not giving him a moment to anticipate the incoming 'sting'.

"Ah–!"

"...And Angel Piecer: activate!" Blimpo excitedly announced, pushing the piston all the way into the syringe.

The peculiar colored rune inside of the oversized syringe glowed brightly with a glittering, pinkish-red shine, converting the specific recovery mana into a liquid that flowed through the needle and directly into the young man's chest.

"Ow...?"

To his surprise, the sting really did only last a second before being replaced by a comfort that flooded his body, wiping the aching away and providing him with plentiful relief.

"Feeling better? Great, ain't it? It was tricky to figure out, but I got this one down just a few weeks ago," Blimpo told him, pulling the needle away.

"Yeah, actually...I feel great," he said, sitting up and rolling his shoulders.

As he sat up, wiggling his fingers as the dull aches had vanished and the sharp pain in his fatigued muscles all but left entirely, he realized there was another sensation potent inside of him. That familiar warmth flowing through his body; a riptide of energy within him he had learned to hone since his reincarnation.

"...Blimpo..." He said in building shock.NewW novels updates at novelhall.com

"Yeah? What is it? Don't tell me you feel sick–ah man, I thought I got that part fixed–" Blimpo scratched his own head as his shaggy, blonde hair moved.

He shook his head, clenching his fists as a smile brought itself across his lips, "No, it's not that! My magic...it's back!"

"Huh-? Really? You sure? Damn, did the 'Angel Piercer' heal you that well?! Heh...Maybe I am the best, after all," Blimpo proudly muttered.

Jumping to his feet, he immediately placed this belief to the test as his elven companion spectated in anticipation as well; with a single hand held forward, he once more brought his mind to thoughts that had become instinctive over the years.

...The shapeless spiral of water, every moving, ever present; an essence of life and the retainer of nature–I can feel that sublime coolness running along my body, engulfing me, yet I do not drown. This is it–water, he thought.

Embodying the very element, he guided his mana from his core and through his arm, flowing to his fingertips before–

Splish

–It conjured in front of his hand: a sphere of crystal-clear water, held in a perfect shape and hovering in the air.

"You told me a lot about the world you came from in your first life...I was just wonderin': which one do you prefer?" Blimpo asked.

It was a question that brought him to a halt as it caught him off-guard. A question that hadn't crossed his mind, and one he certainly didn't expect to have to consider while in the depths of the hellish maze.

"Well...I haven't really thought about it," He scratched his head.

Blimpo was quick to lean in, adding in his own perspective right away with a beaming smile, "From what you've told me, Earth sounds a thousand times better! I mean, it's still got its problems with war and inequality, right? Still, a world where inventors are heroes and technology is king–! Ah, I wish I could go there..."

It was like a dreamy wonderland in the mind of the elven tinkerer; just the thought of it alone and the sheer mention of it made his bright-blue eyes sparkle a wanderlust between worlds.

"It'd be great for you," Emilio agreed with a small smile before melancholy filled his amethyst eyes, "...For me, Arcadius is my home now. I'm Emilio Dragonheart, not Ethan Bellrose."

For a moment, Blimpo looked at him before smiling once more and sliding his goggles over his eyes again, "Maybe we're kindred spirits then–two people that want other worlds. Though, it seems like you got what you wanted."

"Yeah...Guess so," he agreed.

Though the elven man was smiling, it seemed as though there was a distinct sadness in his words; what he held was a dream that was impossible, beyond the reach of any stars and insurmountable by death itself.

"Oh, don't worry about it! I've already long since accepted being dead. It ain't so bad, ya know? I don't get hungry, I don't have to worry about where I'm sleepin', and I'm free to invent whatever I want–nobody is gonna stop me from doing what I love!" Blimpo assured him.

"I'd save that talk for after we escape this labyrinth," he said.

"Ah, true enough!" Blimpo laughed.

The chamber beyond the hall was something vastly different from any other; it was vast, spanning far and wide with large, black-stone pillars in an ominous height.

"Ever get this far?" He asked.

"Nope," Blimpo shook his head.

They were both taken aback by the room; it resembled a hellish cathedral with spikes protruding from the walls and twisted paintings hanging from stained stone. There were sets of chairs lined up, though clearly occupied as every seat was sat in by inanimate, cobweb-covered skeletons.

"...Creepy," Blimpo remarked with a small chuckle, beginning to walk further into the room.

As the young man glanced around, something caught his eye at the end of the dark cathedral; the lack of other corridors led him only to look at the very end, at the top of the podium and what was displayed in a glass box: a black key, laying on a scarlet cushion in the box.

"Hold on...that's..." He mumbled.

"Huh?" Blimpo let out before looking in the same direction as him, "--Well, I'll be damned! It's not on War–it's right there! Ha-ha!"

There was no greater sight but perhaps seeing the clear, blue skies of Arcadius; like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, the final key rested there.