Chapter 97: Third quest, When?
While he was training, Dhruv noticed that Lyra and Thala were standing beside him. They were looking at him so he immediately paused his training, turned to look at them, and said,
"Why didn’t you tell me when you had already arrived?"
Hearing the question, Lyra smiled and replied, "We noticed that you were deeply engrossed in your training, so we decided not to disturb you."
Sigh!
"That’s okay, but please remember to inform me next time," Dhruv replied.
Lyra and Thala both nodded at the same time after hearing Dhruv’s request.
"Alaric told me you were looking for me," Lyra reminded Dhruv.
"Yes, I have some questions I would like to ask you," Dhruv said after recalling the reason he had summoned Lyra.
"Ask anything, my Majesty."
Dhruv was about to remind her not to address him as ’Majesty’ but decided against it, understanding that it might take some time for her to change her habit. He believed that she would eventually start calling him by his name or something more casual.
"I want to know how much food and water you guys have," Dhruv asked.
After hearing the question, Lyra paused and began to think. After some quick calculations, she replied, "After setting aside the gifts we have prepared for you, we will be left with two days’ worth of water and three days’ worth of food."
’I haven’t even checked the gifts they have brought for me. So, there was food in those baskets, that makes sense,’ Dhruv thought as he recalled the baskets of gifts every family had given him after they had arrived on the island. Due to all the tasks at hand, he had completely forgotten about them. Making a mental note to inspect those gifts and thank everyone, he redirected his attention to the ongoing conversation.
"That means two days’ worth of rations, right?" He repeated, knowing that water was even more crucial than food, and they didn’t have a source of it on the island anymore.
The water he had been drinking until now had come from the prison water tank. He would still have had plenty of water if it weren’t for the fact that their plumbing system had been destroyed, and there wouldn’t be any water left in it anymore.
’Even while living near the sea, I had to think about water. What an irony,’ Dhruv thought, and he glanced at Lyra, who was nodding in agreement at his words.
"From your vision, do you, perhaps have an exact date when the third quest will start?" Dhruv asked.
Dhruv asked this question because he wasn’t sure of the exact date when the third quest would begin. If he were to follow the same principle and count the days between the end of the first quest and the start of the second quest, then there would be enough food and they wouldn’t have to worry about it, as the time it would take for the third quest to start would be just two days.
However, Dhruv was sure that the Cosmos wouldn’t follow it’s own principle and there sure was going to be a problem. That’s why he was striving to gather as much information as possible to be prepared.
"No, I don’t have an exact answer, my lord," Lyra replied with a hint of disappointment in her words.
"Ohhh! I guess we have to be prepared for the worst in that case, " Dhruv said. After thinking for a while he looked at Thala and said,
"Thala, please go and instruct the carpenters to patch up the hole in the ship," Dhruv instructed.
While giving the instructions, Dhruv looked toward the sea and thought, ’I guess, It’s finally time to see the world again.’
"But, my lord, where will we get the wood for the patching? There isn’t any excess wood on the ship we can carve out, I could temporarily seal the hole with my magic, but I’m not certain how long I can hold."
Hearing the question, Dhruv gazed at the ruins of the prison and replied, "I think we should be able to find enough wood there."
...
A group of ten people was advancing toward the ruins in hopes of finding any remaining wood. The group consisted of all ten of Lyra’s bodyguards, all of whom were Tier 3. They had decided to go as a group and not individually because Dhruv had suspected that there might still be some monsters left in the prison.
"Let’s go," Thala announced, and all of them began to move toward the ruins.
The moment they entered, a strong stench of rotting corpses struck them. They didn’t stop or even attempt to hold back their vomiting, as there was no reason to do so. They were quite immune to this type of scenario.
They began to move deeper into the prison, proceeding cautiously. After walking for a while, they came across an area that was completely devoid of any light. Before Thala could suggest lighting a fire, someone attacked them from the darkness.
A blob of web came flying in their direction and caught one of their companions. The group instantly became even more vigilant, and the one with fire affinity quickly cast his spell: Fire Torch.
A ball of fire ignited and started hovering in front of the group. The caster commanded the ball to proceed forward. The ball did as it was commanded and began to move forward.
Two group members began to guard the one who had become ensnared in the spider web, while the other seven focused on the fire. Luckily, the web wasn’t poisonous; its sole purpose was to immobilize their target.
As the fire traveled further, the scene became increasingly gruesome. There were multiple mutilated corpses of goblins and spiders, all bound in a layer of web, presumably left for future consumption.
One of the members was about to inspect the corpse when some type of liquid attacked him. Because he was already vigilant and had anticipated such moves, he easily dodged the attack and managed to catch a glimpse of the attacker.
"It’s a spider," he informed everyone.
