Into The Unknown World

Chapter 15. Inside the Artefact

†††

"...aster! Master! Can you hear me? Master?" Her voice seems so far away, but I am only standing in front of the artefact which means she's only near, though, it suggests otherwise.

When I opened my eyes, the only thing that I can see on this daunting vast, amorphous, and never-ending darkness is the glistening translucent cube, suspended in the air inside this immensity of nothingness. I can see my hands glowing. I am glowing. What?! I panicked. I looked around and continued walking. Yes. I walked to the revolving box and then answered Sprigg, "Yes. I can hear you, Sprigg."

"Thank the Gods! What do you see?" She asked.

Sprigg always seemed too frightened to remind me what I'm doing. She said there may be a chance for me to get lost inside the artefact. It's all right now, she added. This pixie sure has a lot of things to worry about.  I should unquestionably start treating her more kindly. I scoffed and told her something about it and asked, "What am I going to do?"

"That's the artefact's core...." she paused and added, "...I guess."

"W-What do you m-mean, you guess?" I yelled asking her. For an all-knowing pixie, this is the first time she's uncertain about things. I slowly walked and clenched my fist and asked her again, "Do you know how to get me out of here?

"You're physically here beside me, master. Also, I appraised the entirety of the artefact, however, I am unable to analyze what's inside and it's impossible to penetrate. Judging by the looks of it, the box that is in front of you is the nucleus of the artefact that is in charge of that massive territory. Are you able to touch it?"

I acknowledged and upon touching the nucleus, my scattered Origin Magic that seems to enjoy the vastness of this place started to go through the box changing its colour from dim white to dark red. As soon as the Origin Magic went through the box, it then started to shake and spread out by multiple shades of red revolving around it and the window showed up saying, "Ownership transferred to Player: [Lemure]", and a clap of multicoloured lights shone in the sky of darkness.

....Huh?

I immediately reported it to Sprigg and then she laughed hard. Sometimes, I don't understand her. Like a person with multiple personalities combined into one entity. Not that it matters, as long as I have her, supporting me. Nothing could perhaps go wrong. Right? Besides, everything has gone according to Sprigg's plan. Thanks to her. Moments have passed after finally feeling relieved from the exhaustion of releasing all the Original Magic inside the artefact, I once again have shown another announcement that gave me another ray of hope.

"Restriction lifted: 30%."

"Space Inventory enabled."

"Extreme Mode enabled"

These are the announcements that I received after getting the ownership of the artefact.

... but the best thing is, "Dungeon Gate: enabled"

"Would you like to stay or leave this realm? Yes or No?"

I instantly pressed Yes and everything just felt great. New information penetrated my mind, blending with my existing memories. This is certainly great! I never knew that the time will come that I will go back to my normal life in the town. To return with great stories from this place! What a lovely dream.

"Ready!" she enthusiastically shouted.

I have squeezed all the things needed as we depart this place and as for Sprigg, she's very glad that we were able to get the artefact to incorporate and maintain the primordial magic within me. She also told me that since the Space Inventory is accessible now, I don't have to think about preserving the meat that I will be hunting for time is nonexistent to the Inventory. It's a chunk of space created using the same space from the artefact's territory. I know it's complicated but that's extremely convenient, even weapons or anything that doesn't have life can enter that space, although I am an exception since it's mine.

There are a lot of useful ways Sprigg told me but I let her drown in her imagination and save that knowledge for later use. All I am completely excited about above anything else is going back to my village and removing myself from engaging in another bloody battle, the Extreme mode. She explained that there might be a different species that will emerge far stronger than that of the elemental drakes that were previously slain by me which happened to be certainly tricky and persistent. No matter, this forest territory is under my ownership now, not just the artefact. Also, if I want it, the gate will open anytime I want.

"Sprigg, always remember to stay out from anyone's sight. Understood?" I want to hear her confirmation before we begin. She nodded and smiled dubiously.

"As if people would see me as I am if they don't have any magical powers." she snorted.

"Right. I just want to be certain that no one will ever know. Use your invisible skill permanently and only if you have ascertained a good reason to dismiss that, is the only chance you may do so." I poked her with my finger and added, "You got that?"

"Understood, master." she slightly bowed her head but I know for a fact that she's truly excited.

"Then, let's do it." I summoned the new skill I received after gaining the authority over the artefact and said, "Portal".

It is the magic word that will help me travel directly to any territory that I am familiar with. By focusing on thinking about the place and saying the word, and to return to this place, I simply just need to add the Dungeon before the Portal. The sole purpose of this magic is to practically get back here anytime I want. After a couple of breath, I can sense the mana haphazardly attaches to the two logs next to us while slowly growing branches majestically intertwined just above our head forming a curve of two branches that met on the top as it appears as a single giant tree with a shallow opening in the centre. It then glowed the same incandescent colour as the announcement window in the centre as if dancing, basking in the bright light of the sun that looked like a door of colours.

"Is that it?" Sprigg asked.

"I guess that was it," I answered.

We walked around the tree to see if there's anything unusual but it is just a simple tree with glowing and dancing colours on its trunk. I guess that's our way out, huh. I looked at Sprigg and gestured her two hands showing her complete lack of thought. This is the moment that we've been waiting for, might as well grab it and go. I jumped on the shallow opening and hoped for the best. This feels like walking past a warm sludge of gooey crumbs but isn't damp. 

On the other side of this gate, I can see the usual sway of green tall grass on the slow mild-hot breeze. I can also smell the light aroma of the small fruits that fell on the ground and the newly flowering buds of the flowers oozing with fragrance. 

Wait. Springtime? Is it Springtime? No, it can't be. When I left, that was almost the end of springtime. All these days, I am under the impression that it is already summertime with the hotness on the other side. I may have not minded it since I knew summertime is coming but this is absurd! I instantly trotted and ignored all the incredible scent from the blossoms of the Forest of Krane until I reached the entrance of the village. 

There, I can see the usual people working in the fields. New small kids gathering all sorts of branches from the side of the forest while some of them are looking at me, dumbfounded. Murmurs can be heard from them.

I ran as fast as I could to reach our home and yelled, "Mother! Father! I'm home."

Glancing at our partly eroded small residence, I started looking for my parents and checked if even my siblings are there. I looked at every possible place they've gone to the neighbourhood but they're nowhere to be found. I went to the next rows of homes to ask the location of my parents but no one can provide me with an answer. 

All they can say is, "where have you been" and "you've been gone for too long", saying as it happened a long time ago. In addition to that, all the grown-ups seem to have grown older with their whitish and gaunt bodies. These people can't offer me the answer that I want. I am only gone for a couple of weeks and such changes occur? That's absurd! I continued asking for people but the response is the same.

"Heart rate is increasing. Master, please calm down." I heard Sprigg whispering at the back of my head.

"Not now, Sprigg," I replied.

"I understand. At least, keep your head cool."

I am not giving attention to Sprigg anymore. I honestly have a bad feeling about this. Seeing all the clouds of dust and filth scattering inside of our house like it has not been maintained for a long time, my head jogged and my heart racing. Looking at the fields, I stumbled upon one of the beautiful ladies preparing for their lunch. She looked exactly similar to one of my playmates we call Cordola, a flower that only blooms at midnight. I approached her and asked, "Do you mind if I ask something?" 

†††