Chapter 385: The Puzzle with missing pieces... Part-1.
A few minutes ago, Floor 1.
"Tch, was I too late after all..."
Standing at the same altar-like place where Neo once came, Idri clicked his tongue, and a deep frown appeared on his face.
Idri could see that the altar has long been destroyed, and whatever knowledge was stored inside of it has already been plundered.
'What are you trying to 'create' with that kind of 'Forbidden Magic' Neo Aldif... You of all people should know that crossing certain boundaries will earn you the hatred of certain 'Laws' of the world...'
The 'Laws' of the world can be considered partially conscious existence; just like how they can favor someone and grant them 'Legendary Skills', they can also hate someone and can even bestow immensely powerful curses too.
Just as they have the power to bless anyone at random, they also have the power to curse anyone at random; provoking their hatred is one of the surefire ways to do so.
One of the easiest methods to get cursed by the 'laws' of the world is to use powerful forbidden magic that would interfere with the 'laws' themselves; this will incur their wrath very easily.
SS-rankers are the people who are most sensitive to the changes in the 'Laws' of the world, and they know how vast the power of a 'Law' can be; thus, even they dare not cross certain boundaries.
Even SS-rankers will find themselves helpless if a curse of that magnitude is placed upon them.
In fact, there are even some occurrences of people being born with those types of curses from the very start.
Legend has it that once you get cursed by the 'Laws' of the world, that curse will directly affect your soul; in other words, even if you die and get born again, you will still be afflicted with it!
Such types of curses are permanent! There's no remedy for them!
This is the reason why Idri is feeling very confused at this moment.
'If my guess is correct... then this altar likely had a forbidden magic related to some kind of summoned beast mutation and evolution... I can't think of anything that might motivate him to do all this...'
Neo came all the way to the 'Dragon Valley', and there's obviously a very big reason behind it; no sane person will anger the dragon king for no apparent reason.
'I am more surprised that he even knew that there's a hidden place like this in the dragon valley, when even I myself didn't know about it...'
Dragon have lived in isolation for a long time, and they didn't even take part in the demon extinction war, which means there are only a few limited ways the information could have leaked outside.
Idri will need to track down these leaks, and he will be able to figure out what Neo is actually aiming for.
[Ding! All Conditions met!]
[Ding! The practice trial has ended!]
[Ding! Starting ejecting all participants...]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
'Hmm? Practice Trial? What is that?'
Just like Rio had assumed earlier, aside from him, no one received that practice trial, and no one even knew about it; even Idri was oblivious to its existence.
'So it's time to leave... Forget it; I have found nearly all pieces of the puzzle by now anyway...'
Idri shook his head and stopped worrying over this matter too much.
The teleportation portal appeared below his feet and teleported him outside.
...
The rest of the group also got teleported, and all of them were spewed out by the portal like a cannon firing cannonball.
All of them were in high spirits, so they landed without falling.
Riya was clinging to Link's neck in her 'Astral Form' so this time she didn't mess up the landing either.
Only Rio was the one who found himself staggering today, as his head seemed like it was spinning all around.
He placed his hand at the pillar and then glanced at Link before saying, "Embedding your mana in this pillar can give you prophecies about the future; ask your pathetic friend to cut his finger a bit and drop his blood on this pillar..."
"We will need his blood to see Neo's Aldif's future; after all, he's Neo's legitimate son..."
An awkward atmosphere appeared; the group was stunned that Idri referred to Liam as
'Pathetic'.
Link himself has never dared to disrespect Liam like that.
Although he always bickers with Liam from time to time, he has genuine respect for Liam's
strength.
Aside from Rio, only Liam can go toe to toe with him.
Before Link could argue with Idri, Liam shook his head and walked over to the pillar himself.
He brought out a knife from his space ring and cut his finger a bit to drop the blood on the
pillar. He's already used to insults; there's no point if Idri throws more at him, and he doesn't want the rest of the group to get involved in this matter. (Good thing Rio isn't here; he would have unsheathed his sword by now...)
Idri didn't care about the small things and embedded his mana in the pillar; the magic circles
on the pillar lit up brightly.
"If my guess is correct, then this pillar will not be able to give us any prophecies at all..."
The group was a bit confused at Idri's words, but before they could ask, the magic circles on
the pillar dimmed and fell inactive again.
Idri's words turned out to be true; there were no prophecies in the end.
Selain, who was the most knowledgeable about the divine tower, frowned deeply and asked,
"But how can this be... I have never heard about the divine tower ever failing like this, W- what's going on, Father?"
Hearing that question, Idri sighed and stared at the setting sun for a moment before
speaking.
"The divine tower only fails to deliver prophecies in two conditions: either that the person we
are trying to look for is 'dead' in the present or in the future..."
"Or the power of a 'Law' of the 'World' has interfered with the working mechanism of the
tower..."
...
...
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
Question of the day.
Would you fight an SS-ranker if they insulted your friend?
(Tell me your thoughts in the comments)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones!!