"Mengapa menghubungkan alam Mayor memakan waktu begitu lama?" tanya Lex, meskipun ia bisa menebaknya.
"Dibandingkan dengan alam seperti alam Kristal, yang masih berkembang, tekanan yang ditimbulkan oleh alam Mayor jauh lebih besar, sehingga menciptakan tautan menjadi lebih sulit," kata Mary. "Itulah mengapa kamu harus menghabiskan 1000 tahun di dalam alam Mayor untuk menciptakan ikatan. Tapi itu juga karena, pertama, Sistem belum berfungsi penuh dan, kedua, menghubungkan alam Mayor biasanya melibatkan penyelesaian quest, bukan sekadar menghabiskan waktu di sana.
"Fakta bahwa, meski sudah datang ke dua alam Mayor baru, Sistem tidak memberimu quest baru terkait keduanya, kemungkinan besar menandakan Sistem tidak mampu menanggung beban menghubungkan dan mempertahankan koneksi ke alam Mayor."
"Untungnya aku tidak tergesa-gesa memulihkan Sistem. Kalau lebih baik, mungkin justru memaksa quest lebih berbahaya padaku," ujar Lex sambil bercanda, hanya untuk melihat apakah Sistem memberi quest. Tidak.
Alasan lain Lex tidak tergesa memulihkan Sistem: lama-kelamaan, selama ribuan tahun, Sistem akan sembuh sendiri. Ia lebih suka santai biarkan Sistem pulih sendiri daripada mengorbankan bahan tingkat Dao lain.
Bukan hanya tak punya cara mendapat bahan langka itu, kalau punya, ia lebih simpan untuk kepentingan sendiri. Saat ini ia baru mengumpulkan barang untuk membangun Kastil Midnight, jadi benar-benar kekurangan item.
"Tamu-tamu terhormat," suara lembut tiba-tiba menyapa mereka dari kapal tempat mereka berada. "Demi kenyamananmu, sejumlah destinasi sambutan telah disiapkan, masing-masing cocok untuk selera lingkungan berbeda. Silakan pilih tipe Desa Sambutan yang diinginkan.
"Pilihanmu: di atas tanah, di bawah tanah, di langit, di danau air tawar, di atas danau air tawar, di danau air laut, di atas danau air laut, di atau di atas aliran air tawar atau air laut, di atau di atas samudra, di atau di atas gumuk pasir gurun, di atau di atas iklim tundra, di atau di atas ladang batu Yin…"
Lex dan yang lain mendengarkan daftar itu dengan tertarik, karena setelah lingkungan umum dan yang diharapkan, suara mulai menyebutkan lingkungan yang sama sekali asing bagi Lex dan tidak terpikirkan sebelumnya.
Biasanya, saat sebut lingkungan ekstrem, Lex memikirkan gunung api. Kali ini gunung api juga disebut, baik aktif maupun dorman, tapi masih banyak pilihan lain, dan tidak terbatas pada lingkungan di planet.
Ternyata ada Desa Sambutan yang dibangun di kekosongan ruang angkasa di atas planet mereka, tapi tidak semuanya vakum! Ternyata ada sungai logam dengan titik leleh sangat rendah yang mengalir di ruang angkasa di atas planet ini. Ada seluruh aliran angin yang terdiri dari kumpulan gas yang mengalir di ruang angkasa, semuanya tanpa menyebar.
Ada hutan Kayu Void, Lapangan Energi, saluran petir, zona radiasi, berbagai jenis dataran beku — es yang terbentuk karena suhu rendah dan es karena kelebihan energi Yin ternyata tidak sama.
Daftar benar-benar komprehensif, yang sekaligus membuka wawasan dan sedikit memalukan. Lex menyalin setiap lingkungan yang disebut dan mencatat mental untuk memasukkannya ke Inn.
Jauh ini, bahkan di antara berbagai ras, ia selalu berurusan dengan makhluk hidup berbasis karbon penunggu planet. Ternyata alam semesta penuh variasi makhluk hidup, dan Inn benar-benar belum siap melayani mereka semua.
Saat mendengarkan seluruh daftar, tempat terakhir yang disebut justru benar-benar menarik minat Lex.
"Menurut kalian bagaimana kalau cek Hutan Primordial?" tanya Lex ke Gerard dan Velma. "Kedengarannya jauh lebih menarik dari kunjungi lokasi lain."
Dibandingkan makhluk Mitos, yang lahir pertama di sebuah alam dan langka di alam semesta, makhluk Primordial lahir di awal mula semesta!
Lex yakin belum pernah bertemu Primordial asli, meskipun Lotus, yang merupakan World Seed Lotus, sebenarnya dari spesies yang disebut seri Primordial Origin Lotus.
Nama spesies saja sudah mengandung kata Primordial, cukup berdampak besar pada perjalanan kultivasi Lex. Kesempatan merasakan lingkungan cocok untuk Primordial, bahkan mungkin bertemu mereka, tidak ingin dilewatkan.
Sayangnya, sebelum Velma dan Gerard sempat menjawab, kendaraan itu sendiri memberi klarifikasi.
Lanjutkan membaca di
"Hutan Primordial adalah tempat khusus, ditentukan untuk sejumlah tamu terpilih. Sayangnya, tidak terbuka untuk umum."
Lex mendecakkan lidah, ingin keluh. Ia menahan diri.
"Sepertinya kita harus pilih tempat lain," kata Lex. "Kalian tertarik tempat khusus?"
Velma hanya mengangkat bahu, tapi Gerard mengusap dagu penasaran. Ini kesempatan unik, jadi pergi ke desa biasa di darat akan sia-sia. Ia juga ingin memanfaatkannya sebaik mungkin.
"Beritahu aku, kapal bicara, apakah ada ras di lingkungan menarik di desa-desa itu? Ingat aku dikabarkan bahwa dalam segmen satu tahun berkenalan dengan alam, banyak permainan dan kompetisi direncanakan."
Kapal itu dengan setia mulai mencantumkan berbagai ras yang direncangkan, perlahan membuat senyum Gerard semakin lebar.
*****
"Kapten, aku mohon pertimbangkan lagi," rayu Monk berlutut, tepat di sisi Buaya Kristal dan Longbeard, yang berusaha keras menahan tubuh agar tak gemetar. Mereka gagal.
Pebbles, hamster yang hari ini punya dua kaki normal, bukan kaki kayu, tapi kedua tangannya berujung kait, memandang ke horizon dengan acuh tak acuh. Jack tetap tak paham bagaimana setiap hari anggota hamster itu tiba-tiba tumbuh kembali, tapi anggota lain justru hilang.
Behari hari ia punya satu tangan dan satu kaki, serta satu kaki kayu dan satu kait. Hari lain, kedua kaki kayu. Terkadang kait diganti alat acak, sekali jadi busur biola. Tidak ada waktu pasti, tapi sepertinya terjadi setiap hari.
Jack berhenti memikirkan prostetik Pebbles dan menoleh ke depan, di dua Ular Gravitasi emas menarik kapal. Mereka menuju sungai yang mengalir di darat, lebarnya begitu luas sehingga manusia fana akan mengira itu laut atau samudra.
"Jangan terlalu khawatir, akan baik-baik saja," kata Jack sambil melambaikan tangan cuek. Sikap acuh itu justru bikin yang lain pengin nangis.
"Kapten, sungai Styx harapannya menuju kematian. Tidak ada tujuan lain. Tidak ada dunia bawah di ujungnya, karena tidak ada ujungnya. Hanya kematian."
Memang fakta sungai Styx tidak punya awal dan akhir. Tak usaha memaksa memahami bagaimana itu mungkin, aturan alam Folklore mengizinkannya ada begitu, maka ada.
Sungai juga ada di mana-mana, sekaligus. Cukup memikirkannya, dan sungai muncul seolah dipanggil. Tapi hanya hilang जब fiume sendiri menghendaki, seolah memiliki kesadaran.
"Itu satu-satunya cara mencapai kerdil tanpa gangguan," jelas Jack. "Kita hanya perlu menganggap satu tepian sungai sebagai lokasi kita sekarang, dan tepian lain menuju wilayah Naga Kerdil. Kita bisa melintasi sungai, bukan naik atau turun mengikuti alirannya. Tidak akan ada masalah sama sekali."
Tiny-Sparkles memutar mata, tidak lagi mencoba menasehati Jack. Sudah menyerah. Ia juga mulai mengakui kapten mereka separuh gila dan separuh kuat. Orang gila, masuk ke alam begitu gila hingga tak seorang pun di semesta mau mendekati, keduanya gabung jadi fabel ulung. Kalau Jack bisa terus begitu cukup lama, ia akan mendapat Folktale sendiri.
Di alam Folklore, mendapatkan Folktale berdasarkan tindakan nyata…
Jack menghela napas, berani tidak memikirkannya. Semakin banyak belajar tentang alam ini, semakin sedikit ia memahaminya, jadi tidak pasti apa yang akan terjadi.
"Kapten, aku lihat kapal di jauh sana," teriak Ollie dari sarang burung hantu — bukan sarang gagak. "Kelihatannya ditinggal."
"Sempurna. Angkat layar dan arahkan ke kapal itu. Kita latihan taktik naik kapal! Bukan, maksudku latihan taktik penyelamatan di kapal kosong ini, biar kalau ketemu kapal pedagang tersesat kita tahu pasti cara menyelamatkan mereka!"
Kapal, tentu saja, tidak butuh layar. Di bawah kendali Jack, kapal terbang itu menerjang air sungai, akhirnya memasuki wilayah magis sungai.
Saat itu juga, tentakel Kraken tak hidup keluar dari air mengelilingi mereka. Kapal hantu dengan layar hitam dan ribuan hantu nyata juga meloncat dari air, siap bertemu.
Jack hanya menyeringai, seolah tidak terancam sama sekali.
"Lepaskan… Goldilocks!"
"Why does it take so long to link a Major realm?" Lex asked, though he could venture a guess.
"Compared to a realm like the Crystal realm, which is still developing, the pressure exerted by a Major realm is vastly greater, making it much more difficult to create a link," said Mary. "That is why you have to spend 1000 years inside the Major realm to create the bond. But that’s also because, firstly, the system is not yet at full operating functionality and, secondly, linking a Major realm will usually involve completing quests rather than just spending time there.
"The fact that, even after coming to two new Major realms the system has not given you any new quests pertaining to them is likely an indication that the system cannot support the load of linking to and maintaining a connection to a Major realm."
"Fortunately I’m not in any rush to restore the system. If it were any better, then it might force more dangerous quests on me," Lex said teasingly, just to see if the system gave him any quests. It did not.
Another reason Lex was not in a rush to heal the system was because eventually, over the course of thousands of years, the system would heal itself. He would much rather just take things slow and allow the system to heal than feed it other, Dao level ingredients.
Not only did he have no way of getting his hands on such rare ingredients, even if he did, he would rather keep them for his own use. He was still just collecting the items necessary to build the Midnight Castle, so he was in a real deficiency of items these days.
"Dear guests," a soft voice suddenly addressed them, coming from the ship that they were in. "For your convenience and comfort, a number of welcome destinations have been created, each suitable for those who have a preference for different environments. Please select the type of Welcome Village you would like to be brought to.
"Your options are: above ground, underground, in the sky, in a freshwater lake, above a freshwater lake, in a saltwater lake, above a salt water lake, in or above flowing fresh or saltwater, in or above an ocean, in or above sandy desert dunes, in or above tundra climates, in or above Yin rock fields…"
Lex and the others listened to the list with interest, for after the more common and expected environments, the voice began to list environments Lex was entirely unfamiliar with and had never even thought of.
Usually, when someone mentions extreme environments, Lex thinks of volcanoes. Now, volcanoes were mentioned as well, both active and dormants ones, but there were so many more options, and they weren’t even limited to the environments found on planets.
Apparently, there were even Welcome Villages built in the vacuum of space above the planet they were on, except that it wasn’t necessarily all a vacuum! As it turned out, there were actually rivers of metals with exceptionally low melting points that flowed in the space above this planet. There were entire windstream’s consisting of a collection of gases that flowed through space, all without dispersing.
There were Void Wood forests, Energy Fields, lightning channels, radiation zones, numerous types of frozen plains - apparently ice formed due to low temperature, and ice formed due to an overabundance of yin energy were not the same.
The list was truly comprehensive, which was both enlightening and a little embarrassing. Lex copied every single environment mentioned and made a mental note to incorporate them into the Inn.
So far, even among the various races, he had always dealt with planet dwelling, carbon based lifeforms. Yet the universe was truly filled with a vast variety of lifeforms, and the Inn truly was not prepared to cater to them all.
As he listened to the entire list, it was the last listed place that genuinely attracted Lex’s interest.
"What do you guys think of checking out the Primordial Forest?" Lex asked Gerard and Velma. "It sounds a lot more interesting than visiting any of the other locations."
Compared to Mythical beings, which were the first beings born in a realm, and were rare across the universe, Primordial beings were born at the very beginning of the universe itself!
Lex was pretty sure he had never actually met a true Primordial, even though Lotus, who was a World Seed Lotus, was actually from a species called the Primordial Origin Lotus series.
Just the name of the species contained the word Primordial, which was enough to make it have a significant impact on Lex’s entire cultivation journey. To be able to experience an environment suited for Primordials, and possibly even meet them was an opportunity he did not want to give up.
Unfortunately, before Velma and Gerard could even respond, the vehicle gave a bit of clarification on its own.
Continue reading stories on
"The Primordial Forest is a special venue, designated for a number of predetermined guests. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public."
Lex clicked his tongue, wanting to complain. He restrained himself, however.
"It seems like we need to pick another place," said Lex. "You guys interested in any specific place?"
Velma just shrugged, but Gerard stroked his chin curiously. This was a unique opportunity, so going to a regular village on the ground would be a waste. He also wanted to make the most of this opportunity.
"Tell me, talking ship, are there any races in interesting environments in any of the villages? I remember being informed that in the one year segment of becoming familiar with the realm, many games and competitions had been planned."
The ship dutifully began listing down the various races that had been planned, slowly making Gerards smile grow wider.
*****
"Captain, I urge you to reconsider," pleaded Monk on his knees, right beside the Crystal alligator and Longbeard, who were all doing their best to keep their bodies from trembling. They were failing.
Pebbles, the hamster which somehow had both legs today instead of peg legs, but had both arms leading to hooks instead of hands, looked out at the horizon indifferently. Jack still did not know how everyday the hamster’s limbs would suddenly regrow, yet somehow other limbs would disappear.
On some days it had one hand and a leg, while having one wooden leg and a hook. Other days, it had both wooden legs. Sometimes, the hook was replaced by a random tool, once even becoming a bow for a violin. There was no fixed time for the change, but it seemed to occur every day.
Jack stopped thinking about Pebbles prosthetics and turned to look out ahead, where two golden Gravity Eels seemed to be pulling the ship. They were heading towards a flowing river on the ground, even if it was so wide that a mortal human would look at it and think it was a sea or ocean.
"Don’t worry too much, it’ll be fine," Jack said, waving his hand dismissively. Yet his cavalier attitude made the others want to cry even more.
"Captain, the river Styx literally leads to death. There is no other destination. There’s no underworld at the end, for there is no end. It’s only death."
Indeed, it was a fact that the river Styx had no beginning and no end. There was no need to try to make sense of how that was possible, the rules of the Folklore realm allowed it to exist in this manner, and so it did.
The river also existed everywhere, all at once. One only needed to think about it, and the river would appear as if summoned. But it would only disappear when the river itself wished for it, as if it had some kind of sentience.
"It’s the only way to reach the dwarfs without interference," Jack explained. "We just need to think of one riverbanks as our current location, and the other one leading to the Dwarf Dragons territory. We can travel across the river instead of going up or down it. There won’t be any problems whatsoever."
Tiny-Sparkles rolled his eyes, no longer trying to dissuade Jack. By now it had given up. It had also come to acknowledge that their captain was equal parts crazy and strong. A crazy person, having entered into a realm that was so crazy that no one in the universe wanted to come near it, both combined together to form the ultimate fable. If Jack managed to continue like this long enough, he’d earn a Folktale himself.
Within the Folklore realm, earning a Folktale based on one’s actual actions…
Jack sighed, and dared not think of it. The more he learned about this realm, the less he actually understood it, so he couldn’t say for certain what might actually happen.
"Captain, I spot a ship in the distance," shouted Ollie, who was perched upon the crows nest - no, the owls nest. "It looks abandoned."
"Perfect. Raise the sails and head towards the ship. We can practice our boarding tactics! No, I mean we can practice our rescue tactics on this empty ship, so that when we encounter troubled merchant ships we’ll know just how to rescue them!"
The ship, naturally, did not actually need its sails deployed. Under Jack’s control, the flying ship slammed into the water of the river, finally entering the magical territory of the river.
At that exact moment, the tentacles of an undead Kraken emerged from the water all around them. A ghostly ship with black sails and thousands of actual ghosts also shot out of the waters, ready for a confrontation.
Jack only grinned, as if he was not threatened at all.
"Unleash… Goldilocks!"
Komentar Chapter (0)
Login buat ikut berkomentar.
Belum ada komentar di chapter ini. Jadi yang pertama!