’Huh?’ Cedric blinked. ’I recall telling you that I would be going sowhere far away to try and...’~
’I know,’ Aika interjected in a flat voice. ’But I thought you were off to sowhere here in the empire. How was I supposed to know you were going to a different world entirely?’ She paused, and after a few seconds, blurted out in bewildernt, ’How did you even get there?’~~
’Well, uh...’ He contemplated how to explain, but when he saw he didn’t have the strength for a long discussion, he went straight to the point. ’Long story short. Since I could still feel so of my feathers here, I tried swapping places with Arlo. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure it was going to work. Seems I’ve maxed out my luck stats.’~
It was quiet between them as Aika tried to process the sheer absurdity and carelessness of what he had just done. Eventually, her weary voice echoed again. ’So the reason you didn’t bring along was so that in case you died, I could bring you back to life here?’~~
"Bingo." Cedric managed to brush off most of the sand from his hair and face.
Seeing that he was still alive, he calculated that although the barrier to the First Ring was not so thick that crossing was impossible, it was thick enough to kill even soone like him. His mana core was not large enough, and if not for his essence core, he would have died the mont he attempted the swap.
’I’m guessing the higher the rings, the thicker the barriers will be,’ he thought as he tried to rise, but then, he suddenly hunched over on all fours as an imnse wave of vertigo hit him.
’What the...’
His essence core was slowly being replenished as ti went by, and his mana core was already filled thanks to Aika, so he could imdiately tell that this was not a result of mana depletion.
’Looks like crossing the barrier takes a heavy toll on the body,’ he thought with a grimace. He couldn’t feel his legs, and the parts of himself that he could sense felt as if his body had been taken apart and put back together wrong.
Suppressing the urge to throw up, he imdiately reached up and pointed a finger to the side. A ring appeared on that finger, followed by a black portal that began to tear its way into existence. A few seconds after it fully ford, Athena walked out of it. She was dressed in a simple black gown, holding her arms around herself as if she had rushed to put it on just monts before being called out.
Upon exiting the portal, she looked around curiously, and a small frown began to form on her face.
"I don’t feel too good, miss," Cedric managed to wheeze, quickly drawing her attention back to him.
Without wasting a single mont, she hurried over to him and touched his back. Then, petals of daffodils appeared around him, turning into an erald light that flowed into his body.
Cedric exhaled as the vertigo began to lift and the feeling in his limbs slowly started to return. Once he fully recovered, he looked up to see Athena with her hand extended toward him.
"I’m fine," he said as he stood up by himself, and then he began to brush the sand off his clothes. After that, he reached into his inventory and took out a long black overcoat, and as he slipped it on, he muttered to Athena, "Co with . We are going to the Ho of the Hollow Ones."
He took one last look around the desolate beach. As he slowly turned around, feathers began to appear around him, turning into a murder of ravens that began to fly toward the lake not too far away.
He wasn’t about to walk all the way to that gloomy territory.
At the sa ti, large wings made of daffodils appeared on Athena’s back, after which she flapped them, taking off after the ravens.
By now, Aika had managed to piece two and two together and figured out Cedric’s plan. Still, she was doubtful, so she asked, ’You sure it’s going to work?’~~
’No.’ Cedric smiled. ’But when have we ever been sure of anything? I’m acting on hopes and prayers here.’~
His form scattered into feathers as he swapped with a raven that was already far above the bridge. Of course, he could have simply waited for his ravens to travel further and then made large jumps, but since he was traveling with Athena, he decided to remain within her sight.
So, in the sa manner, he took a few small jumps until he reached the wall of darkness on the other side of the lake.
Previously, during the battle of the lords, the cadets had tried to cross it but could not. Now, however, his ravens passed into the wall of darkness easily. This made Cedric realize that the reason the cadets could not cross into it back then was probably because Lee Lim had sealed it. With him gone, it was now penetrable once more.
Athena flew into it, and Cedric did another swap.
Soti later, the sunken city of the Hollow Ones ca into view.
’I recall that all those giant statues they had that guided their city had been destroyed during the war. Have they been able to build new ones?’ Cedric thought as he did another swap that took him closer to the city. He did not know the origin of those statues, nor did he even know what they were exactly.
Surprisingly enough, after the swap, through the eyes of his ravens, he caught sight of two of the massive obsidian statues standing frozen together far away in the distance. The obese human statues were facing the direction of the misty marshlands.
Ignoring them, he quietly did his final swap, which brought him to the entrance of the city. Not long after, Athena landed quietly on the ground beside him, her wings disappearing the mont her feet touched the ground.
The duo was not surprised to see that before they even arrived, four Hollow Ones who were guarding the walls, were already waiting for them by the entrance.
"You are the fellow who goes by the na Cedric?" One of them stepped forward with a slightly confused, yet slightly curious expression. As he spoke, his studying gaze shifted from Cedric to Athena and back.
"Yes." Cedric took his right hand out of his pocket. He then reached up and tapped his chest, then his forehead, before raising his hand to the side. "I’m here to see Argentos."
The leading Hollow One finally gave a welcoming smile. He then bowed slightly, touched his chest and forehead, then extended his hand to the side.
"Welco, Cedric."
The others behind him also did the sa gesture.
After that, he turned around and said, "Co, I’ll take you to him."
Cedric nodded.
...Soti later, the two large doors leading into the throne room were pushed open to reveal Argentos seated on the ground. He was dressed in his white robes and was reading from a book. It was the sa book Cedric had always seen him reading.
Of course, Cedric had no idea what the contents of that book might be, but he was definitely curious.
He rembered that once, during the ti he and the cadets were training under the Hollow Ones, he had tried to steal a peek into that book. But he had failed because Argentos caught him and threatened to gouge his eyes out.
That aside, the Hollow One who led Cedric in shut the door behind them, leaving him and Athena alone with Argentos.
Seeing Cedric return, the tallic figure smiled. He shut his book, spread his arms a little to the sides, and said, "Welco back to my ho, friend."
Cedric smiled.
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