Chapter 214 Volume IV - Chapter 59: House Full of Treasures
Kari, the giant white-furred tiger.
Honestly... I was a bit scared of her at first, even though Lithoa told me otherwise. But that changed drastically on the short journey that began once I got on her.
As Kari raced through the wild lands of the Neutral, leaping freely, moving swiftly and fluidly, never stopping, I literally felt like I was flying. The feeling of soaring through the air as the wind rushed in my face, as the ground rose and fell...
It was a good feeling, something I could do forever. It made me feel like I was not connected to the ground, to gravity. In a way, that's why it was perfect.
It was short-lived, though.
Because with Kari's speed, it took us only a few minutes to cross the huge lake, enter the snow-covered area, and approach the big hill.
Kari stopped in front of a wall on the slope of the hill.
When I realized that we were not moving forward, I couldn't help looking around, I couldn't see any kind of... structure, anything that looked like a house or a secret passage... not even a cave, there was nothing around.
Kari leaned down slightly, as if she wanted me to get off.
'Lithoa... What's happening?'
I swallowed involuntarily as I climbed off Kari.
Lithoa called out to me in my mind with an expression that I was sure was a grin.
'We are in front of my house and Kari is testing you.'
I paused, looked around again, but nothing that could be a house caught my eye.
Finally, I turned back to the mountain, or rather to the wall in front of me.
'Test?'
'You said you were my student, but she can't be sure of that. That's why she's testing to see if you can find the entrance.'
'And... what if I can't?'
'She'll probably eat you alive.'
My whole body trembled involuntarily, I turned back to the white-furred tiger and looked at her face.
She tilted her head slightly to the side and looked at me expectantly.
She'll... eat me alive, huh...
I'd better not... imagine it.
I tore my eyes away from the white-furred tiger and turned them to the thing closest to me: the wall.
'This has something to do with the wall, doesn't it?'
'You found it faster than I thought. Not unexpected, though, I suppose, since the only thing near you was a suspicious wall.'
'Lithoa... Can you just tell me how to get beyond the wall before your pet tiger eats me?
Lithoa gave a short laugh.
'Approach the wall and transfer your mana to it. At first, you won't feel anything. But do this three times at three-second intervals. Then a puzzle-like system will appear in front of you. Again, direct your mana to bypass the puzzles and go straight ahead as if they didn't exist. You have to do this for a while.'
Puzzles... If I don't need to solve them, why are they there?
Is it there to confuse people? If so, it's... Actually, it seems like exactly what Lithoa would do.
I put my hand on the wall, and Kari's eyes sharpened when I did. It was like I could feel her on the back of my neck, that's how she would know if I was deceiving her. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and channeled my mana.
When the mana from my fingers, from the palm of my hand, began to move forward, reaching behind the wall, something strange happened.
All the sounds I could hear outside, in nature, suddenly disappeared. Still, I didn't open my eyes and I kept moving my mana forward, just as Lithoa had said, three times in three-second intervals.
Everything became even stranger. The silence that was already there suddenly became heavy, the faint presence of light that I could see behind my eyes disappeared, but I didn't stop.
I could feel it, my mana was not in a physical space. Neither was I, or rather my mind, which was still in control of it.
This dark place was a specially created dimension and it seemed to go on forever. I had to move forward...
I went on for I'm not sure how long. Finally, something slowly began to appear in this dark space.
It was a rock. No... it was a huge rock.
It had some things on it, things that looked like runes, but not quite runes.
They were pale in color, there were about nine of them. The second one and the fifth one were glowing.
I actually wondered what would happen if I directed my mana at it, but I didn't do it. If it was really Lithoa who made this... Then the moment I reach for that puzzle, my ability to move forward could be taken away.
It's a deception, I must remember that.
So I completely ignored that rock and kept moving in the direction I was going, not focusing on anything, just moving forward.
On the way, I saw something else this time, a pool.
There were fish swimming in it, making circles. In the center of the circle was an object that looked like a medallion, and on the medallion this time there was really a rune.
It looked like one of the runes I had seen before, but I couldn't remember exactly what it was.
So I just ignored that and kept going.
I kept going for a long time. A really long time this time...
And then something happened.
In the darkness, this time something else happened.
A voice rang in my ears.
"Well done, brat!"
It sounded like Lithoa's voice.
"You've come this far, well done! You wanted to get into my house, didn't you? Follow me and I'll lead you to the entrance."
A beam of light appeared in front of me, then slowly started moving in one direction.
"What are you waiting for, come on!"
I took my eyes off it, then started moving forward. Not in the direction the beam of light was going, but in the direction I was heading in the first place.
The beam of light stopped moving.
"Where are you going? The entrance is not there."
I ignored him, I kept going.
The beam of light just stayed where it was, not saying a word.
It looked disappointed. Still, I was sure this was what I had to do.
I didn't hear Lithoa's voice again. I just kept going.
And so, after a long time had passed again, the darkness I had been in brightened. My eyes opened of their own accord. Then... I found a wall in front of me. A trembling wall.
'Well done, you managed to listen to me.'
I heard Lithoa's voice again, this time in my mind.
I turned around and saw the huge expanse stretching to the horizon, the land of the Neutral, and next to it a white-furred tiger, Kari.
The tiger had what I would call a smile on her face. She wasn't really smiling, but... she looked like it. The former look in her eyes had been replaced by a slight respect.
I turned around and looked at the trembling wall. Or rather... the 'wall' that was no longer there.
There was a cave in front of me.
*******
'Move forward.'
Swallowing, I stepped into the cave, which was lit only by the light from outside until I made this move. But then it suddenly lit up, dazzling me.
When I squinted and focused, the lamps on the sides of the cave caught my attention.
I looked at the lamps in surprise, because this was definitely not what I expected. I was expecting torches or something...
I sighed lightly and looked at the end of the lamp-lit road.
There was a door there, a big door. It was at least three meters long and there were no knobs or handles of any kind.
I walked toward the door and Kari followed behind me. As I got closer, the details of the door became clearer and clearer.
It was a metal door and it wasn't really a 'single' door, it was a double door that opened to both sides. There was indeed no locking mechanism on it.
'Simply push it.'
I put my hand on the door and then pushed it with all my strength.
The door was heavy, really heavy. So much so that I had to reflexively use my mana, but even with that I could only push it a little bit.
Still, it was enough. Gradually the door opened, finally there was enough space for me to pass through and I stopped pushing it, panting. I passed through the gap with a sigh and then looked inside.
It was different from what I expected. Like... really different. I had not expected such a... 'modern' looking place from someone like Lithoa.
The inside of the mountain was carved into a vertical cylinder. It had two floors and was quite large.
At least it was almost thirty meters from one end to the other, and not only that, there were several doors on each floor, positioned so that they were on the sides of the cylinder.
'Heh, welcome to my home, brat.'
I was now on the second floor and in front of me there was a staircase going down. As I was going down this staircase, I looked around.
The first floor, the floor I was slowly descending to, resembled a hall. No... It was more like a training room than a hall.
There was an opening in the center and it had the marks of the training that had taken place there before. The only thing in this opening was an armchair, which was placed parallel to the curved wall.
Other than that, there was nothing else in this space.
'Turn left after you go downstairs and enter the room through the door directly opposite.'
As I did so, I kept an eye on the marks on the floor and walls. Burns, crushed walls, a few swollen spots, and scratches... lots and lots of scratches.
What was Lithoa doing here that left so many marks?
With this thought in my mind, I realized that I was in front of the door. I finally took my eyes off the scratches and let out a deep sigh.
I turned to the door in front of me, pushed it just like I did the first door, and realized that it was almost as heavy as the first door.
Is everything here... so heavy?
I managed to open the door with difficulty, and when I stepped inside, I was faced with a room stretching across the width of the room.
On the sides of the room were drawers, cupboards, and what looked like chests… but also shelves… Each with rings, bracelets, necklaces, weapons, armor, and more...
It was a sight I expected to see, yet one that made me hold my breath.
'Oh... It's been a long time since I've seen this place but... has it changed a bit?'
I couldn't help but be surprised as his words echoed in my mind.
'What do you mean changed?'
Someone... entered here before me?
Is there something missing?
'This place... has become fuller.'
I just stared blankly at the room in front of me as I suddenly paused.
'Fuller?'
Just then I felt something right behind me.
I quickly turned around, and what I found in front of me was... nothing.
At least until I heard a mewling and looked down.
"What?"
Is that... Kari?
In front of me... there was a cat with blue eyes and white fur.
'Oh, she's learned to change her body shape.'
Lithoa praised Kari in a voice full of pride, though he fell silent for a brief moment as he finished.
'Ah, I see.'
Kari, in her shrunken form, entered the room. She hopped onto one of the shelves and lay down there.
'This little fellow has brought here everything she found during the twenty-seven years of my absence. She seems to have been quite successful... There are a few high-grade things I don't remember placing here.'
My eyes went back to the white cat with blue eyes lying on the shelf.
Kari...
This cat, the tiger... She suddenly became more frightening in my eyes.
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