Return of the Fallen Volume 6 Chapter 56
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Author: Blue_Rat
ch56
As Groud continued to escort Kazuki in his stone prison, Kazuki took in the sight of the city.
Each building, whether it be big or small, all of them appeared to be created from the same material as the stone path and the stone prison Kazuki was in.
(For the pathway to be thousands of miles long and the entire city itself to be made from this strong stuff, who could have created it all.)
Making their way through the city, every ape moved out of Groud’s way and cheered with chest beats and roars as he passed. The ones who were not at the fight earlier looked on at Kazuki in curiosity. A few children ran along the side of them and a few even threw some food at Kazuki’s head.
Kazuki would have normally taken such actions as an offense but after fusing the eating power with his soul, his appetite rose dramatically. Seeing these foods flying at his head, Kazuki opened his mouth wide and expertly caught them. With a quick chew and a swallow, he was actually delighted as some of the food was clearly fruit.
Having the sweet natural sugars from the fruit on his tongue, Kazuki swallowed them with such delight.
Seeing Kazuki eat up all the food they threw with glee, along with his goofy expression, the young apes couldn’t help but laugh and they wanted to throw more and see what Kazuki would do next. A few soldiers following along with Groud roared at the children and made them run away to their mothers.
Groud looked at Kazuki as if he were strange.
(“Why do you seem so happy to eat these cheap fruits?”)
Kazuki shook his head.
“Cheap or not, I haven’t eaten anything sweet in many months. These fruits are a treat for me.”
Groud and Kazuki began having a casual conversation which caused many apes to stare in wonder and envy. They could never do that nor would they even dare but here Kazuki was talking with their king as though it were nothing. Groud as well was enjoying the way Kazuki could just speak to him naturally and after the battle the two had, he saw Kazuki as more of an equal than anyone else and allowed this.
Groud bragged about the many expansive fields of fresh fruit and vegetables that he owned and couldn’t understand why Kazuki hadn’t eaten anything sweet in such a long time. Kazuki, without going into great detail simply told Groud about how he had fallen down here and had become lost. He never mentioned the goat-headed monster or anything important but spoke about the lack of food all over and how dangerous the lands outside of Groud’s city were.
(“Hmm, to think it was that savage outside of my city.”)
“Are you telling me you guys never leave the city?”
Groud shrugged his shoulders.
(“Leave, why would we? My city has everything an ape could want. Clean water, plenty of food, what more could an ape desire?”)
“I thought you apes liked to fight. Outside of this place, you would find many that would put up a decent challenge, especially if you went to the surface.”
As soon as Kazuki mentioned the outside world, Groud went quiet and Kazuki noticed a subtle change in the atmosphere.
Groud quickly changed the topic.
(“How did you learn how to create aura? I heard about such powers from legends and no one below the 5th stage should be capable of manifesting that power but you can.”)
“Free me from this prison and I’ll gladly tell you.”
Groud raised a brow.
(“Even now you try to gain the advantage. Tell me, is that tongue of yours made of silver?”)
Kazuki attempted to shrug as well but found his body incapable of moving and just silently laughed at himself for even trying.
“Can’t hurt to try right. If you think about it though, as long as you control whatever this stuff is, it’s not like I can escape through the mountain pass. With a simple wave of your hand, you can seal this entire area and I would have no place to run.”
Groud chuckled before he waved his hand.
The block of stone covering Kazuki’s entire body changed shape and opened up allowing Kazuki to fall out of it in surprise.
“Wow, I can’t believe you actually let me out.”
Groud raised a hand with a smirk.
(“What, want to run.”)
“What for, there’s no point.”
As all of the apes watched this scene in bewilderment, Groud and Kazuki simply continued walking down the street. Everyone watched Kazuki’s naked body in confusion, he was built differently from them. A few mothers covered their childrens eyes while a few others shared a alguh at the funny looking creature called Kazuki. Kazuki on the otherhand walked around casually and could care less about dangling about in the open.
Pointing at the at the stone path beneath his feet, he asked.
“What kind of stone is this anyway? For the entire city to be made from it and for it to be so hard, I’ve never come across this in all of my life.”
(“Have you already forgotten that I asked you a question first?”)
“How about this, I tell you about aura and you tell me about this weird stone.”
Groud nodded.
(“Go ahead.”)
Kazuki explained how he had accidentally managed to create an aura, of course, he left out the part where he had first used the godly aura from his compass. Bringing that up now might cause Groud to reevaluate Kazuki’s compass and he might be emboldened to claim it. Kazuki kept things kind of vague and just stuck to what he thought Groud wanted to hear. He spoke about the heavy aura escaping from the cave and how he nearly died from it a few times. At the end of it, Groud’s expression changed.
Groud stopped walking and went quiet for a moment.
(“Impressive. I was right about you, you are definitely not weak. For you to survive the Titans breath not just once but a few times and you even managed to create your own aura in the middle of that, truly impressive.”)
“The Titan’s breath?”
Groud nodded.
(“There are old records within the archives. The cave you described is one of many entrances that lead to the depths of the Titan’s lair. That crushing aura that rushes out from the opening of the cave and then retreats back inward every half a minute or so is the breath of a Titan called Zetrazz’s. Did you really not know this?”)
Kazuki was dumbfounded.
“Know…how in the hell would I?”
(“That’s right you did say you fell down to this place. However, did you not find it curious as to why this place is saturated in this dense dark energy. I thought with your abilities you’d be able to sense that this pure dense energy is everywhere, well almost everywhere.”)
Groud pointed at the staff at his side as well as at the crown resting on top of his head.
Kazuki almost had to take a step back hearing all of this.
“Are you telling me that the dark energy running through this entire underground world, the same energy that interferes with my magic, that clings to the inside and outside of my body, that pollutes all of the air and suppresses me, all of it is due to some bastards heavy breathing?”
Grouds eyes went wide hearing that comment and he couldn’t help but laugh.
(“For you to call Zetrazz, the closest thing to a god in this world a bastard, you truly are a bold one. It was definitely right for me to accept your challenge. As for everything you said though, the answer to that is yes. The dark energy that covers this underground world, all of that is from Zetrazz breathing. The Titan releases a small amount of aura outward as he breathes, apparently, his breath is supposed to promote the growth of things that consume the dark or so the records say.”)
Kazuki was starting to put a few things together inside his head.
(Is this the reason why I couldn’t use magic. It’s not that the elements had suddenly disappeared but they were simply out saturated from all of the dark energy. Not only that, since the dark energy all around isn’t from the natural environment but from Zetrazz’s own body, that’s the reason why I can’t manipulate it. It would be like me trying to access and use someone else’s Mage core to use my own magic. So this is the true reason I can’t use magic down here.)
Kazuki then processed what Groud had said and looked at his crown and staff.
(That’s right, I can’t use magic because Zatrazz’s energy is everywhere but Groud and the other apes can with the help of their staffs and his crown.)
“Groud how is it that you and the others can still wield magic with those items? You yourself said the Zetrazz’s breath is everywhere. Just what is that stone that you have and how can it negate a Titan’s power?”
Groud smiled proudly and spun the staff in his hand before stamping one end onto the ground with a loud bang.
(“I thought it was kind of funny that you kept calling the pathway and my staff as a piece of stone and wanted to laugh a bit more but an agreement is an agreement. My staff, this path, the entire city, none of it is stone, rather a rare mythical metal called Orichalcum.”)
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Comment (0)