Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 27
After Monsuta pressed out hundreds of triangle stone slates, it was time to build a new chamber. This part Kauzki did solely by himself.
Each triangle piece easily interlocked with the other. Like a puzzle for children, Kazuki put it together with little effort. In a mere minute, the new chamber was completed. Well almost. Three pieces were left open so Kauzki could enter it. Climbing inside, Kazuki sealed himself in and the chamber was complete.
(With these pieces made of Monsuta stone I won’t need to constantly remove the surrounding energy. I just need to remove it one time and the Monsuta stones will prevent any magical energy from entering this place.)
Kazuki opened his core inside his soul world and quickly absorbed all the energy left inside the chamber. In less than a second, he had taken every ounce of energy from his surroundings and safely stored it within his core. Now, the chamber was void of any magical energy whatsoever.
(This chamber is most likely the only place in this entire world that has zero energy inside. The only source of power inside this place is me and me alone. I wonder if this concept is strange to the inhabitants of this world or if they would even care at all?)
Kazuki waited for a moment just in case. He observed the chamber and made sure no energy would leak in. With nothing coming in, he was ready.
Grabbing a few pieces of hair from his head, he rubbed the hair together between his fingers, and instantly a small flame appeared. Kazuki’s eyes shut as he observed this flame with his soul in his soul world.
(Last time more than half of my focus was on the outside world. I had to prevent any energy from the outside world from leaking into the chamber, now I no longer need worry about such things. I can devote my entirety to observing the natural laws enacted upon the element of fire. Now…Show me your secrets.)
Monsuta had learned last time not to disturb Kauzki while he was inside the chamber but because of that, he was bored. He decided to use the extra stone triangles to try and make something new. In his excitement, he had gotten a bit carried away and accidentally made several hundred extra triangle stone slates.
Picking a few up, he began playing with them and shaping new things. Things he’d never dreamed of before.
After a while, Kazuki came out of the chamber. Without saying anything to Monsuta he grabbed several chunks of meat from the prey Monsuta hunted. The different elements of fire burning within these pieces of meat. Kazuki simply walked back with the food and once more closed off the chamber.
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Several hours later Kazuki once again stepped out of the chamber. The sound of banging and scratching echoed at the entrance of the cave. As he walked toward the entrance of the cave, he noticed the ents in the ground were glowing brighter than usual. Some vents glowed with a bright yellow while others glowed with a seemingly toxic green.
As he drew closer to the entrance, he could hear the howling shrieks of the shriekers outside the cave. He hadn’t noticed them before and only now realized just how well insulated from sound his new chamber was.
Kazuki arrived near the entrance and saw Monsuta just casually sitting in front of his hill-sized homemade door. The banging was quite terrifying but Monsuta seemed to have little care and concern. Instead, in front of Monsuta, several triangle slates were floating around connecting and disconnecting with one another. scattered nearby were many statues made from stone slates.
Kazuki and Monsuta made eye contact and the two unconsciously smiled at one another.
“You seem less scared of the shriekers. Your barely blocking the door.”
Monsuta smiled with a toothy grin.
“After taking my aura back from millions of my statues, my aura and strength grew by a few times over remember. Now keeping my door in place, I barely have to try. This is incredible Kazuki. What about you though? Usually a walk from the back of the cave to the front and you would be exhausted. Now your knees aren’t shaking and your breathing is steady. You don’t appear to be tired at all. Did something happen?”
Kazuki nodded before walking over to a large corpse of some random beast Monsuta had hunted earlier. Kazuki bent down before opening his mouth wide and taking a large bite. The meat was still tough for him but he more easily tore off a mouth full before chewing it up and eating it.
Monsuta could sense the energy flowing into Kauzki and then into his soul world. he sensed Kazuki’s soul grow incrementally just now.
“Oh, you figured out how to remove the impurities from the things you eat.”
“Yep. After removing the impurities, I’m left with an incredibly pure fire energy. I then allow my soul tree to absorb it and both my soul and strength grow bit by bit.”
Monsuta nodded in understanding.
“Amazing. You were only in that chamber thing for a few hours and you already solved your problem. I wish could learn that fast.”
Kazuki smiled but in truth, the period of time was anything but short. Outside yes only a handful of hours passed but inside it was close to half a million years. In actuality, Kauzki felt he was slower than others, it just seemed as if he were fast.
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Kazuki could still hear the shirkers outside the cave pounding away violently.
“How long have they been going at it?”
“Mmmm, From about the time you entered your chamber. They’ve been coming out more and more frequently.”
Monsuta’s comment was said in passing but it caught Kauzki’s attention.
“They have. Didn’t you say they only come out when the green fire burns brightest? Did something change?”
Monsuta shrugged.
“I don’t know if anything changed but what I said was true. They only come when the green fires burn the hottest and brightest. It’s just that lately, the green fires have been coming earlier and earlier. The day I met you it was a day earlier than usual. From time to time, it comes once a month, maybe more but in the past three weeks, this is already the third time they’ve come. I wonder if something is happening.”
Kazuki felt something off but because he was not used to this world and didn’t understand it he didn’t jump to any conclusions. After a while, Kauzki and Monsuta began to talk about different things here and there. Things they’ve done for fun in the past, more about art and even food.
These topics left Monsuta wondering and curious about every little detail and he wanted to try all of these so-called delicious foods and try some of the things Kazuki talked about. Everything Kauzki said, Monsuta listened with pure enthusiasm and wonder.
Kazuki as well enjoyed talking to Monsuta. It had been a long time since he had just a regular conversation with someone. He had gotten used to having Arc and others invading his thoughts at every waking turn. At first, he hated it to his core but eventually, he got used to it and even found a certain comfort in it. After his encounter with Belux, the voice of those he called his friends had been silenced.
The comfort, the white noise so to speak had vanished and left sort of a void in Kazuki’s heart. It was a lonely anxious type of feeling. Now though, Monsuta was here listening and talking back with no ulterior motives. No hatred and no greed. Just a pure soul that wanted a friend.
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The shrieking howling roars began to settle and die down as the blue sun rose and brought on a new morning.
Monsuta lifted his door and moved it to the side. A brilliant blue light shone down inside the cave.
“So Kazuki what do you want to do today? Can we try that thing you called an obstacle race or maybe cook some of that tasty stuff you call stew.”
Kazuki shook his head.
“Sorry but if I wanted to race with you it would be completely unfair. You’ll have to wait until I’m stronger and faster. As for the stew, again that will have to pass on to a later date. We don’t have any ingredients besides meat.”
Monsuta seemed kind of sad but Kauzki quickly perked him up with a new suggestion.
“Now that I have solved my problem of growing stronger, it should only be a matter of time. You know, the faster I get stronger, the faster we can do an obstacle race. In order to do that, I need a shit ton of food to extract the fire energy within. How about we get started? How about we go for a little hunt? Tell me Monsuta, how many beasts do you think you can take down in one day…Shall we find out?”
Monsuta’s eyes widened, and a large smile spread across his face.
The hunt was on.
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