Bab 260: Penyucian Semua
"Ugh, apa ini? Apa yang terjadi?" Regis mengeluhkan, berlumur lendir setumpah yang tembus jelas, saat ia meluncur keluar dari belakang mayat capung raksasa.
Aku berusaha menahan tawa. "Aku tidak tahu kalau kotoran capung bisa bicara.
Ekspresi Regis menghitam saat ia melihat ke tempat ia berasal. "Oh tidak..."
"Yup, persis seperti yang kuduga!" Aku tertawa tak bisa menahan diri.
Setelah capung raksasa itu tewas dan organ-organnya mulai rusak, kudapatkan melihat Regis perlahan dipaksa keluar menuju belakang makhluk itu. Alih-alih berusaha memecahkan cangkerangnya dan mencabik Regis dari dalam, kubiarkan alam bertindak dengan sendirinya.
"Baiklah, selamat datang kembali," aku menyapa sambil tersenyum, mengusap bagian lendir setumpah di pundung temanku. "Bagaimana perasaanmu?"
Regis menurunkan pandangannya. Sebentar, kuduga ia akan jatuh pingsan, tapi kemudian ia mengangkat pandangan dan mengeluarkan senyum lebar. "...Seperti kehampaan."
Meskipun kelelahan dan menyusahkan, segalanya terasa sedikit lebih baik saat kami tertawa pada lelu saibu kami sendiri.
Dan dengan capung raksasa itu tewas, terasa seperti kudapat mencapai pencapaian baru lagi dalam pertumbuhan.
Setelah istirahat sejenak, kami berdua mulai memanen buah dari kemenangan terbaru kami. Alih-alih menumpuk kristal aether di dalam gua, kujadikan fokusku pada capung raksasa itu sendiri.
Butuh kurang dari sekilas untuk menyadari bahwa mayat binatang aether itu adalah sumber aether tertinggi dan paling mematikan di seluruh gua ini. Dengan mendaki di atas capung besar itu, kujalani proses mengonsumsi aether dari tubuhnya.
Sesampainya inti aethermu berkembang, laju penyerapan pun ikut bertambah. Meski begitu, dengan ukuran besar binatang itu, prosesnya butuh beberapa kali duduk.
Proses menyerap aether cukup lancar dengan inti aethermu yang baru dibentuk, tapi langkah berikutnya pernah memakan lebih dari sepertiga esensi aetherik dari capung itu hanya untuk bereksperimen.
Tapi dengan banyaknya bahan yang kudapatkan, kusebut bisa mengeksperimen dan menyesuaikan proses—meningkatkan efisiensinya dan memperkuat tubuhku menuju akhirnya bisa melakukan sesuatu bahkan para asura Klan Indrath tidak bisa: memanipulasi aether.
Karena tak ada manual untuk apa yang kulakukan, kuintipkan proses ini menjadi tiga tahap dan memberinya nama: penyerapan, pembaraan, dan terakhirnya, tahap penyucian.
Setelah menyerap aether, kudapati bahwa mengisi intiku hingga hampir penuh—dan sangat menyakitkan—memaksa aether di dalamku untuk lebih cepat mengembunikan dan memurniakan dirinya.
Tahap penyucian, bagaimanapun, adalah yang paling penting dan butuh konsentrasi paling intens. Sekaligus, kusupai hampir seluruh aether yang kubungkuskan di intiku. Saat gelombang aether menyebar ke seluruh tubuh, kudapatkan melacak jalur yang digunakan aether untuk bergerak dan perlahan memandu sisanya aether untuk menggunakan jalur yang sama.
Setiap kali kupurifikasi aether dari intiku, kuingin melatih aether untuk mengalir melalui jalur yang lebih efisien di dalam tubuhku, bukan sekadar menyebar seperti kacau.
Kujadikan fokus latihan jalur di dalam lenganku. Kudapati bahwa, meskipun teknik dan pengalaman kuat bisa menebus kehilanganannya dalam kecepatan, mereka tidak bisa menebus kehilangananku dalam kekuatan.
Dengan cara aether tersebar luas di dalam tubuhku setiap kali kugunakan kekuatannya, tak kudapatkan menciptakan cukup gaya untuk menyebabkan kerusakan besar tanpa hampir melepas seluruh aether. Kecuali memakai Bentuk Sarung Tangan tentu saja.
Berjam-jam, atau bahkan bertahun-tahun lamanya, setelah kuhabisi hampir delapan puluh persen esensi aetherik dari capung itu, kudapatkan memeriksa progreskuj.
Kudenggam tanganku di depanku dan melepaskan aether dari intiku. Pada kali pertama, kubiarkan ia tersebar merata ke seluruh tubuh sementara kusingup jalur aether yang semakin kuat di dalam lengan.
Pada kali kedua, kusumbangkan lebih banyak aether ke lengan. Kali ini, kudapati ada peningkatan sekitar sepuluh persen aether di sekitar lengan dibanding sisa tubuh.
Senyum menggoda muncul di wajahku saat kulihat tangan kepalaku menggilas dan membuka. "H-Haha..."
"Kamu seperti orang yang baru menemukan api. Apa yang membuatmu senang?" bertanya Regis sambil mengapung ke arahku.
"Bolehkah kamu merasakan sesuatu yang berbeda?" ditanggapkanku sambil mekarangkan lengan. Kuingatkan aether tersebar merata di sekitar tubuhku dahulu.
"Aether di sekitarmu agak lebih sedikit pink," catatnya tanpa terkesan heran.
"Bukan itu." Aku tersenyum sambil mengumpulkan lebih banyak aether di lengan. "Ini."
Mata putih Regis melebar. "Kamu sudah bisa mengendalikan aether sekarang?"
Sekelompok aether tipis pun sirna saat kuregang. "Belum sepenuhnya, tapi ini langkah besar ke depan."
"Kayaknya makan semua kotoran capung itu membayar," kata Regis sambil tertawa kecil.
"Bukan kotorannya yang kuhabiskan, tapi aether dari tubuhnya," kujawab. "...belum pada kotorannya tentu saja."
"Baiklah, aku punya kabar bagus di sini," kata Regis sambil misterius.
Kujaga alis. "Oh? Apa kabar itu?"
"Nuh uh uhh," bisik Regis. "Aku akan memberitahu setelahku dapat bagian sepersekian kedua puluh persen aether dari capung raksangan itu."
"Baiklah. Aku sudah menyisihkan seperempat esensi aetherik untukmu," jawabku sambil tersenyum. "Karena dimakan dan dikeluarkan dari dalam makhluk besar itu, master pun memberimu kenaikan lima persen."
"Penjaja ini layak!" berseru Regis dengan berlebihan.
Setelah menyelesaikan sisa esensi aetherik capung itu, membuat mayatnya berubah jadi abu-abu kabu, Regis mampu bertahan melawan Bentuk Sarung Tangan tiga kali tanpa melukai dirinya.
Maksimal, tapi Regis puas dengan pertumbuhan—terutama pertumbuhan tanduknya.
"Kenapa kamu peduli sama ukuran tandukmu?" bertanyaaku.
"Kenapa manusia laki-laki peduli dengan ukuran kemalian?" seru katanya.
Aku menatap ke bawah lalu kembali ke atas ke arah Regis. "Maaf sudah bertanya."
***
Menuju ke dalam gua yang luas sepanjang sebidang kota, Regis membawaku melewati bukit kristal aether yang cukup besar. Setelah mencapai puncak, bukit itu menurun membentuk sebuah crater di mana sekelompok kristal aether yang bercahaya cerah dikelilingi empat bola besar berwarna ungu keabu-abuan berkumpul.
"Jangan bilangkan itu...?"
"Yup," melengkapi Regis. "Aku tidak tahu bagaimana caranya, tapi capung besar itu punya anak-anaknya."
"Tapi itu bukan yang penting," lanjutnya sambil mengapung ke dalam crater. "Lihatlah kristal-kristal di sekitar telur-telor itu."
Aku gliding ke dasar tempat kristal aether berfungsi sebagai tempat melahirkan capung, fokusku pada kelompok kristal yang bersinar lebih terang dari semua kristal aether lain di gua ini.
Kudegarkan sebelum mendekat, kudapati apa yang ada di dalam kristal. Teori awalku benar ketika kujumpai apa yang terjadi pada batu yang dimakan capung bersama dua ekor monyet bercelur ekor.
Terjebak di dalam kristal aether—yang jauh lebih besar dan bersinar dari kristal lain di gua ini—adalah segala macam peralatan, senjata, dan barang lainnya.
Dari cara pakaian dan zirah diposisikan di dalam kristal berukuran manusi, jelas bagiku bahwa dulu ada orang hidup di dalam setiap kristalnya. Sama seperti ketika kudapati monyet dimakan dan kehidupannya disedot begitu saja dari tubuhnya, orang-orang ini pasti berakhir dengan nasib yang sama setelah ditelan utuh oleh capung, hanya menyisakan barang-barang miliknya.
Itu cara yang kejam bagi seseorang untuk mati, tapi di saat itu, tak bisa kuhindari diriku dari rasanya ingin mencari-cari barang atau harta. Aku menatap pakaianku yang sudah punya kain tipisan yang terkelupas dan dijepret, lalu kembali ke zirah-zirah dan peralatan yang bersinar di dalam kristal.
"Lihat matamu, berkilau-kilau," bisik Regis sambil memindai kristal aether itu. "Beruntung, tampaknya ibu capung makan banyak penyihir."
"Punya sedikit harga diri untuk para mayat," kudorong.
"Segala rasa hormatku lenyap sejak aku keluar dari anus makhluk itu," tawa Regis.
Kujemuka ingin segera memeluk peralatan yang terjebak di dalam kristal aether, tapi ada hal lain yang lebih penting yang harus kuingatasi dulu.
Dengan Bentuk Sarung Tangan, Regis dan kuhancurkan semua telur capung kecuali yang terakhir sebelum menyerap esensi aetheriknya.
"Kenapa masih ada satu yang hidup?" pertanya Regis.
"Ada ekosistem yang sangat rapuh di lantai ini. Aku tidak ingin menghancurkannya sepenuhnya," jawabku sambil bergerak ke kristal pertama.
Butuh beberapa jam untuk menyerap cukup aether dari kristal agar bisa memecahkannya, tapi bayangan akan memiliki sesuatu yang lebih baik untuk dikenakan dari pakaian robek yang kuhimpun dan jepretkan membuatku tetap bersemangat.
Sayangnya, meskipun kristal berukuran manusi yang berisi peralatan melebihi selusin, kebanyakan di antaranya sudah tidak dapat pakai ketika kuhancurkan cangkang kristalnya.
Namun, yang tersisa adalah peralatan yang indah dan pasti terbuat oleh penyihir atau pejuang yang hebat—atau paling tidak, orang kaya yang hebat.
Kujadikan senjata dulu. Dari yang tidak hancur, ada tombak emas dengan rune merah di sepanjang lancarnya, busur panjang tanpa tali, pedang panjang dengan batu permata tersemat di gagangnya dan retak di sepanjang bilahnya, serta sebuah tongkat dengan permata yang hancur.
Regis mengerutkan kening sambil menggantung di atas senjata yang tersebar di depanku. "Lebih baik dari yang terjadi tadi malam."
Kujaga semangat, kupilih pedang panjang dulu. Seimbang sempurna dan nyaman ditangku, tapi ketika kuingatkan aether ke dalamnya, retak di bilahnya semakin lebar dan mulai melembung.
Kuhirup napas, bertenaga, dan menimpuk tanah. Kristal aether kecil meleda dari dampak saat pedang itu hancur.
Kemudian, kupilih tombak. Imbuing aether ini memberi efek khusus; rune di sepanjang lancarnya mulai bercahaya ungu.
Mata Regis melebar. "Ayo kita lihat..."
Tombak meledak hancur di tanganku, menghumbukkan diriku beberapa kaki dan menggores lapisan kulit kulitku.
"Kayaknya aku terlalu dulu," jawab Regis sambil mendengkur.
"Sialan," keparatku, kuhindar dan kembali ke senjata yang tersisa.
Senjata yang tersisa tidak jauh lebih baik: rune pada busurnya mengindikasikan penggunaan mana untuk menciptakan tali dan menembak panah, membuatnya mustahil bagiku untuk menggunakan—setidaknya, tongkat dengan permata yang hancur jauh lebih tidak berguna dari tombak yang menonjol—setidaknya, tombak akan mengejutkan seseorang kalau kudipakai untuk menyerang.
Aku beralih ke tumpukan pakaian yang kudapatkan dari kristal aether. Sayangnya, kubersinggung dengan masalah yang sama saat mengenakan zirah yang kubawa: semua zirah kelas atas dirancang untuk menghantarkan mana, dan menggunakan aether bersama zirah menyebabkan mereka hancur atau meledak.
Yang kujudulah adalah pakaian dari kain halus atau kulit.
"Kamu rupanya cantik sekali, putri," tembak Regis sambil mengelilingiiku.
Setelan baru yang kudapatkan terdiri dari kemeja lengan panjang putih longgar yang kujekutupi ke dalam brakset dari kulit keras tebal berwarna hitam. Di atasnya, kudipasang gorget yang terbuat dari bahan yang sama dengan brakset. Meskipun tubuhku cukup kurus, pas dengan baik, nyaman di bahu dan mencapai dagu.
Setelah beberapa uji
Chapter 260
Chapter 260: Purge
“Ugh, what is this? What happened?” Regis groaned, covered in translucent ooze, as he slithered out from the backside of the millipede corpse.
I stifled a laugh. “I didn’t know millipede feces could talk.”
Regis’ expression darkened as he looked at where he came from. “Oh crap...”
“Yup, exactly!” I laughed, unable to hold it in any longer.
After the giant millipede had died and its organs began to fail, I was able to see Regis slowly being pushed out toward the beast’s backside. Rather than trying to break its outer shell and pry Regis out from within, I let nature run its course.
“Anyway, welcome back,” I greeted with a smile, patting some of the ooze off of my companion. “How do you feel?”
Regis lowered his gaze. For a split second, I was worried he might pass out but he looked back at me with his mouth curled up into a grin. “...Like crap.”
Despite how exhausted and miserable we both were, everything seemed a little better as we laughed at our own childish jokes.
And with the giant millipede dead, it felt like I had reached another new milestone in growth.
After a short break, the two of us began reaping the rewards of our latest victory. Rather than the hills of aether crystals inside the cavern, I focused my attention on the millipede.
It took less than a glance to realize that the aether beast corpse was the highest and most potent source of aether in this entire cavern. Climbing on top of the giant millipede, I got to work consuming the aether from its body.
As my aether core developed, so did the rate of absorption. Still, with how massive the size of the beast was, it took several sittings.
While the process of absorbing aether was fairly straightforward with my newly-forged core, the next steps had taken more than a third of the aetheric essence from the millipede in order to test out.
But with how much material I had to work with, I was able to experiment and tweak the process—enhancing its efficiency and building my body towards eventually being able to do something even asuras of the Indrath Clan can’t do: manipulate aether.
Since there wasn’t exactly a manual for what I was doing, I broke down the process into three stages and named them absorption, tempering, and lastly, the purging stage.
After absorbing aether, I found that filling my core to the point where it was nearly overflowing—and very painful—forced the aether inside me to more quickly condense and refine itself.
The purging stage, however, was the most important and required my utmost concentration. All at once, I needed to expel nearly all of the aether I had crammed into my core. While the surge of aether was spreading throughout my body, I needed to trace the paths that that aether used to move and slowly guide the rest of the aether to use those same paths.
Every time I purged the aether from my core, I was slowly training the aether to travel through more efficient “passages” within my body rather than just spread aimlessly.
I focused on training the passages within my arms. I realized that, while my technique and experience was able to make up for the loss of speed, they couldn’t make up for my loss of power.
With how widely the aether was distributed within my body every time I utilized its power, I wasn’t able to create enough force to do major damage without nearly exhausting most of my aether. Not without using Gauntlet form, that is.
Hours, if not days, later, after I had gone through nearly eighty percent of the millipede’s aetheric essence, I checked up on my progress.
Holding my hands out in front of me, I released aether from my core. On my first time, I let it simply distribute evenly throughout my body while trying to still feel the aether passages strengthen inside my arm.
On the second try, I focused more aether on my arms. This time, however, I could feel around a ten percent increase in aether around my arms compared to the rest of my body.
A smile crept up on my face as I looked down at my hands, clenching and unclenching them. “H-Haha...”
“You look like you’ve just discovered fire. What are you all excited about?” Regis asked as he floated toward me.
“Can you sense something different?” I answered back, spreading my arms. I let the aether distribute evenly around my body at first.
“The aether around you became a bit less pink,” he noted, not impressed.
“Not that.” I smiled as I coalesced more aether into my arms. “This.”
Regis’ white eyes bulged. “You can control aether now?”
The faint shroud of aether around me dissipated as I relaxed. “Not completely, but it’s a big step forward.”
“Looks like eating all of that millipede dung paid off,” Regis said with a snicker.
“I was consuming the aether from the millipede’s body, not its crap,” I started. “...not yet, at least.”
“Well, I have some good news on that front,” Regis said mysteriously.
I raised a brow. “Oh? What is it?”
“Nuh uh uhh,” Regis chimed. “I’ll tell you after I’ve had my twenty percent share of aether from the giant millipede.”
“Fine. I saved about a quarter of the aetheric essence for you anyway,” I replied before I grinned. “For being eaten and expelled from the giant beast’s rectum, your master bestows upon you a five percent raise.”
“This one is unworthy!” Regis exclaimed exaggeratedly.
After finishing off the last of the millipede’s aetheric essence, reducing its corpse into a hazy gray color, Regis was able to easily withstand Gauntlet form three times without hurting himself.
I had expected more, but Regis was content with his growth—especially the growth of his horns.
“Why do you care so much about how big your horns are?” I asked.
“Why do human males care so much about how big their genitals are?” he quipped back.
I stared down then looked back up toward Regis. “Sorry I asked.”
***
Following Regis inside the massive cavern that was about the length of a city block, he led me past a particularly large hill of aether crystals. After we had reached the peak, the hill dipped to form a crater where a particularly vibrant pile of aether crystals were gathered around four large spheres all ranging in different shades of milky purple.
“Don’t tell me those are...”
“Yup,” Regis finished. “I don’t know how, but that giant millipede had her some babies.”
“But that’s not what’s important,” he continued, floating down into the crater. “Look at those crystals surrounding the eggs.”
Sliding down the side of the bowl of aether crystals that functioned as the millipede’s birthing bed, I focused my gaze on the vibrant set of crystals glowing much more brightly than all the other aether crystals in this cavern.
Squinting as I got closer, I saw what was held inside the crystals. My initial theory had been correct when I saw what was happening to the rock that the millipede had swallowed alongside those two-tailed monkeys.
Trapped within those aether crystals, which were much larger and brighter than the other crystals in this cavern, were various equipment, weapons and other items.
From the way the suits of armor and clothing were positioned within the man-sized crystals, it was evident to me that there was once living people inside each of them. Just like how I had seen the monkey being consumed and its very life sucked out of its body, these people probably had met the same fate after being swallowed whole by the millipede, leaving behind only their possessions.
It was a cruel way for anyone to die, but at this moment, I couldn’t help myself from being overcome by greed. I looked down, examining the torn strips of cloth and leather that I had been passing off as clothes, and then back up at the various armors and equipments gleaming within the crystals.
“Look at your eyes, all sparkling,” Regis teased before scanning the aether crystals himself. “Lucky for us, It seems like mama bug feasted on quite a few mages.”
“Have some respect for the dead,” I scolded.
“All of my respect disappeared since I popped out of that bug’s anus,” Regis chortled.
I was itching to get my hands on some of the equipment trapped within the aether crystals but there was something more important I needed to take care of first.
Using Gauntlet Form, Regis and I destroyed all but the last millipede egg before absorbing the aetheric essence from them.
“Why are you leaving one alive?” Regis asked.
“There’s a pretty delicate ecosystem within this floor. I don’t want to completely destroy that,” I replied, moving on to the first large crystal.
It took several hours to absorb enough aether from the crystals in order to break through them, but the thought of having something more to wear than what I had ripped and tied together kept me going.
Unfortunately, while the man-sized crystals that contained equipment numbered over a dozen, most of them weren’t usable by the time I had broken through the crystalline shell they had been stored in.
What was left, however, were masterfully crafted equipment that no doubt belonged to either powerful mages and warriors or—at the very least—rich ones.
I looked at the weapons first. Out of the ones that didn’t completely fall apart, there was a golden spear with red runes running down its shaft, an unstrung longbow, a longsword with a gem imbedded on its pommel and a crack running down the length of the blade, and a staff with a shattered gem.
Regis frowned as he hovered over the weapons strewn on the ground in front of me. “Well that’s anticlimactic.”
Remaining hopeful, I picked up the longsword first. It was perfectly balanced and felt good in my hands but when I imbued aether into the sword, the crack that ran down its blade grew bigger and began splintering.
Letting out a sigh, I struck the ground. Smaller aether crystals splashed from the impact as the sword shattered into pieces.
Next, I picked up the spear. Imbuing aether into this one had a particular effect; the runes began glowing purple.
Regis’ eyes widened. “Ooh! Do we have a winn—”
The spear exploded into pieces in my hands, hurling me several feet back and charring my leather vest.
“I guess I spoke too soon,” Regis replied.
“Damn it,” I cursed, gathering myself and walking back to the weapons that were left.
The remaining weapons didn’t fare much better: the runes on the bow indicated that it used mana to create a string and fire arrows, making it hopeless for me to use, while the staff with the shattered gem proved to be even less useful than the exploding spear—at least the spear would’ve taken someone by surprise had I used it on an enemy.
I moved on to the pile of equipment that I had taken out of the aether crystals. Unfortunately, I faced the same problem wearing the plated armor that I had with using the weapons. Because all of the higher-tiered pieces of armor were forge to better conduct mana, even using aether with those equipped quickly led to them breaking down or exploding.
What I was left with was clothing made from fine cloth or leather.
“Looking good, princess,” Regis teased as he circled around me.
My new outfit consisted of a loose white long-sleeved shirt that I tucked into a pair of bracers made from a thick blackened leather. Over it, I put on a gorget that was made from the same material as the bracers. Despite my rather lean frame, it fit well, resting snug over my shoulders and coming up to my chin.
After some testing, I realized that the shirt and the leather pieces of armor were surprisingly durable. They didn’t have any runes or indications that they were artifacts, so I didn’t need to worry about my clothes bursting from a bad reaction with aether. That’s always a good thing.
Along with a pair of pants, some soft leather shoes and a sturdy bag that was able to securely hold Sylvie’s stone and my water pouch, the last item held a bit of sentimental value to me. It was a rather elegant cloak lined with a soft white fur around its hood.
It was slash-resistant and incredibly warm, but I liked it simply because of its color. While it was white with fur on the inside, the outer cloth was a toned-down teal color. It reminded me of Dawn’s Ballad, but more than that, it reminded me of the simpler times when I first found Dawn’s Ballad in the back corner of the Helstea Auction House.
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