Return of the Fallen Volume 11 Chapter 26
Although the tower layout was exactly the same as the one from Oasis Seven, the size and shape of the rooms were different. Kazuki was stumped by this before Marty informed him.
“These rooms can change shape depending on how one utilizes their energy.”
“Your room was the size of a warehouse, you have that much excess energy?”
Marty smirked.
“If only that were the case.”
She then tapped her temple a few times.
“I don’t have more energy than the average Demigod, rather, I know how to use energy more efficiently, at least when it comes to this strange ancient tech. I tried to teach others but none of them were interested. They’d rather find stupid ways to entertain themselves. This tech, this is the entertainment.”
Kazuki was beginning to see more and more that Marty may just have an obsession when it comes to the tech left behind.
“You are interesting, that’s for sure.”
“What do ya mean?”
Kazuki shrugged.
“I just don’t know many people, rather, I don’t know anyone who would purposely come to a place with no hopes of return just because they are interested in the jun…old tech of said place.”
“Heh, when ya roam the Higher Realms, a place like this becomes increasingly more appealing. Where I come from, the life here doesn’t seem so bad.”
“How do you mean? What type of place can be worse than this?”
“It depends where ya are. If you are born in a large clan or ya miraculously obtain an Artifact and become a supreme God, life is great. You have peace of mind in most things. Ya can do pretty much anything ya want and go pretty much anywhere unimpeded. Life is great in that regard. However, if ya were to come up from where I did, life is horrendous. Fighting every day, being nothing more than a tool in other people’s wars. Sacrificed and used up all so some big guy can grow their power and influence, meanwhile, you get scraps, and you’re lucky to get even that. This world is different. Sure ya can still die here but that’s everywhere ya go. At least here I only die if I make the mistake, my fate is in no one else’s control but my own. That alone was worth coming here. As a bonus, I get to follow my dream and learn about all this ancient tech and the people who came before.”
Kazuki was surprised. He knew the upper Realms could be harsh, but for some to purposely destitute themselves as a result, that in itself took something most people don’t have.
Coming to a large room, only a single light flickered on and off. This was the biggest room, similar to Marty’s warehouse. To her dismay, there was very little in this place. A few uninteresting pieces in her words. This place had not much else, so the two returned to the mangled corpses.
“Are you going to take the core of this tower? It could be useful.”
Marty disagreed.
“Those things only work with the towers, and besides, it’s already damaged.”
“You never know what will be useful. As for me, I’m going to loot these bodies.”
Kazuki began removing the rings and any other jewelry from the dead Demigods.
“You can’t access their storage items. Not only is there no magic, but Demigod storage items are specially crafted, they are made so that none but the person who is bonded with it can open it. Not to mention, even if you could bypass that restriction, you would need to at least be a Demigod to get inside.”
Kazuki still gathered every piece around him. He took some cloth off a nearby body and used ki to clean it off. Then he tore a strip and put the rings and everything else he collected on it before reinforcing the cloth with some ki. Marty didn’t get this at all.
“And people said I was the junk collector.”
Kazuki didn’t mind this. He had been able to access other rings in the past because of the knowledge he had received from Glacious. Even if this didn’t work, Kazuki was not planning on staying here forever. He didn’t know how or when but he knew he would leave this place. At that point, he would need some money to gather information and other useful things. He would sell these rings somewhere and gather a bit of money.
Marty continued to watch along until she saw some boots she fancied and sighed before she started to take them off.
Kazuki gave her a look.
“What, I’ve had the same shoes for more than a thousand years. Repairing the same shoe is beyond boring and having the same look is even more boring. So keep that judgment to yourself, old kid.”
Kazuki smiled.
“I didn’t say anything. It’s kind of funny though that the first thing you went for was the shoes. It seems you are a woman after all.”
Marty chuckled before punching Kazuki in the arm, this one was a bit harder than the usual ones. Kazuki pretended to be in pain and rubbed his arm accordingly.
“What was that for?”
“I’ve always been a girl, moron.”
Kazuki laughed inwardly.
(So she can be teased like this, huh.)
After the storage items, Kazuki then took a pair of pants. His were nothing more than scraps after the first day. He would repair them but he had no extra material. Now that a new pair was right there in front of him, he took the opportunity. After using ki to remove the blood and other unmentionables, Kazuki set them to his size and was about to put them on when the tower suddenly began to shake. To the pair’s shock, the tower immediately started to sink after the shaking.
“Quick grab as many clothes as you can!”
Marty didn’t know why Kazuki wanted this but listened anyway. The two grabbed plenty of clothes and made their way out of the sinking tower and back onto the dry sands.
The two had just made it out when the entire tower dipped beneath the surface and disappeared. Marty realized she had reflexively done what Kazuki said and was holding a bunch of clothes in her arms. She threw them down.
“Wait, why did I just grab all of these clothes? What’s the point
Her words froze there as the ground started to tremble once more and both she and Kazuki instantly made a run for the glider. Before they could make it, a sandworm broke through the surface of the sand right between them and the glider.
“Jentson freeze!”
The two froze on the spot and neither dared move even an inch. The sandworm stood tall and the fin on the top of its head angled this way and that as it tried to pick up any soul energy in its surroundings. Kazuki now knew that these things could not only sense souls at a certain range but the weird-looking hairs sticking out randomly on their bodies could pick up vibrations.
(If we move or speak, this ugly thing will take notice. We can’t just wait around though. Its fin will pick up on us in no time. There has to be something.)
While standing there, the fin began to point in Marty’s direction. The sandworm slowly lowered itself and its head swayed back and forth as it grew closer and closer. Marty wondered if she really had to fight here. She could see Kazuki out of her peripheral vision. It was obvious he was doing something. She wanted to warn him but if she made even the tiniest sound, the worm would eat her soul then and there.
Kazuki could smell the clothes. Not just the clothes he still had in his hands but the clothes Marty had dropped before making a run for it. The distance was small and normally Kazuki would be able to easily cover it but this world caused the range of all of his abilities to shrink greatly. Still, he had to try. First, he sent out a tiny bit of his ki just to see the worm’s reaction. To his relief, it had no response to ki energy at all.
With this knowledge, he didn’t wait. He sent out his ki full force and reached the clothes. Carefully, he picked them up and with his ki he compressed the clothes into a ball before chucking them as far as possible. With the great weight pressing down upon his power, he could only throw them a few hundred feet before they came tumbling back down to the ground. This though was enough to get the worm’s attention.
The hairs on its body twitched before it promptly dove beneath the ground and gave chase. The moment it was out of sight, the two dashed for the glider and jumped on. The core roared before the two ascended as high as possible in as little as time as possible. Once they were a safe distance, Marty hovered in the air and gave Kazuki a bizarre look.
“Did I really just get saved by you throwing a pile of smelly underwear?”
Kazuki shrugged.
“There were some nice shirts in there as well.”
Marty gave Kazuki another playful shoulder punch before the two broke out into wild laughter.
“Now that’s a way to escape our deaths, don’t ya think!?”
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