1588 Bagaimana Kamu Berencana Melakukannya?
Lex menghabiskan sejenak memikirkan kemungkinan mengangkat niatnya ke tingkat kesembilan dan melampauinya, tetapi lalu menggelengkan kepalanya. Tidak ada gunanya terburu-buru. Semuanya harus diambil langkah demi langkah.
"Jadi intinya apa yang kau katakan adalah semua orang setidaknya harus membawa niat mereka ke tingkat keempat untuk memaksimalkan hal ini, kurang lebih, dengan adanya dorongan kekuatan dari niat. Nah, karena cuma butuh waktu dan usaha, aku tidak melihat alasan kenapa kita tidak bisa memasukkan rutinitas latihan kecil ke jadwal setiap imortal. Lebih cepat atau lebih lambat, mereka pasti akan sampai ke sana."
"Ya, tentu saja waktu untuk mengupgrade niat akan berbeda untuk setiap orang, dan jika mereka menghabiskan lebih banyak waktu fokus pada hal itu maka waktunya akan lebih cepat secara eksponensial dibandingkan rutinitas latihan rutin yang kecil. Tapi, aku kira kau benar. Seorang imortal, berlatih secara teratur, sekecil apapun, akhirnya akan mencapai tingkat keempat, entah itu dalam setahun, seratus tahun, atau seribu tahun."
"Ada saran spesifik soal caranya?" tanya Lex.
"Aku akan menyusun daftar detail untuk setiap pekerjamu saat berikutnya kita berhenti istirahat. Untuk saat ini, kupikir aku sudah memperlama kehadiran kita cukup lama. Kita harus bergerak."
Lex memandang Kaemon, lalu kembali ke medan perang di depannya. Mereka sudah menghabiskan beberapa minggu di sini, tapi meski sudah lama, Lex tidak keberatan.
Sebelumnya, baik di realm Artica maupun di Seraphim Resort, dia selalu merasa tergesa-gesa kembali ke Inn karena ada kerjaan. Anehnya, sekarang dia di sini, dan sama sekali tidak tahu kapan akan kembali, dia justru merasa kurang stres.
Bagian dari alasannya mungkin karena Lex cemas soal penyegelan Inn untuk hindari masalah tambahan, tapi sekarang masalah nyata muncul, dia terlalu sibuk menghadapinya untuk memikirkannya.
Bisa juga karena dia tahu meski Abaddon penuh risiko, tempat ini juga memberi potensi pertumbuhan kekuatan pribadi yang masif.
Selama beberapa minggu belakangan, dia lihat sendiri. Tempat ini penuh monster yang levelnya jauh di atas dia. Selang-seling wraith menyerang mereka, tapi ada juga wraith Heaven Immortal atau Celestial Immortal yang cuma lewat tanpa peduli.
Ini karena sifat unik Abaddon di mana tiap makhluk hanya ingin menyerang jiwa di level kekuatan yang sama. Tentu ini hanya benar kalau tidak ada yang memprovokasi yang lebih kuat. Contohnya, Lex yakin kalau dia mengambil Gelang Kaki Narn, makhluk yang mengejar gelang itu tidak akan abaikan Lex.
Bantu juga karena semuanya berjalan baik di Inn. Sekarang pertarungan Jotun selesai, acara akan segera berakhir. Satu-satunya alasan acara spesifik soal pertarungan Jotun belum berakhir karena Henali harus mengumumkan berakhirnya pertarungan kedua kekuatan.
Sekarang matahari terbit dan seminggu berlalu, waktunya mereka bergerak sesuai jadwal Kaemon. Tapi Singa Magma sudah menunda beberapa hari.
"Kau yakin?" tanya Lex. Dia bisa tebak apa yang dipikirkan singa itu. Tujuh tahun pertarungan terus-menerus, akhirnya dapat istirahat, dan justru menikmatinya. Dia makan, minum, habiskan waktu dengan tentaranya tanpa ancaman mati yang terus mengintai.
Siapa mau kembali ke medan perang setelah itu? Tapi kenyataannya mereka punya pekerjaan.
"Ya, kita harus pergi sekarang," jawab Kaemon dengan enggan.
"Baiklah, kau suruh orangmu berkumpul, dan aku suruh pekerjaanku kemas istana. Sebelum berangkat, tapi, aku mau bicara soal beberapa hal. Pertama, bagaimana genau rencanamu keluar dari pulau ini, dan bagaimana rencanamu menemukan cangkir itu."
"Menyeberangi cairan seharusnya tidak terlalu sulit, kecuali korosif seperti sungai hitam. Teleportasi mustahil, berenang juga. Aku tidak bisa pasti apa rencana kita sebelum kita uji cairan itu sendiri. Bukan pertama kalinya kita menyeberangi danau atau sungai, jadi kita familiar dengan prosesnya. Umumnya kita bangun kapal dari material sekitar dan pasang formasi kuat yang bisa bawa kita melewati rintangan apa pun.
"Masalah cangkirnya, tapi, jauh lebih besar. Saat ini, kita tidak punya cara lain selain terus mencari daratan dan berharap menemukan petunjuk, atau nemu kebetulan."
"Kaemon, kau sadar kalau kita tidak bikin strategi lebih baik, kita bisa ujungnya tinggal di sini untuk... aku tidak akan bilang ribuan tahun. Kita bisa ujungnya tinggal di sini selamanya!"
"Kita tidak punya pilihan lain," keluh Kaemon. "Kita tidak bisa mengintai daratan, dan tidak bisa memetakan area pakai harta apa pun. Kau sendiri lihat apa yang terjadi saat kau kirim klon ke daratan. Setiap strategi yang kita pikirkan untuk mencarinya sudah gagal."
Lex mengernyit. Abaddon memang gudang harta karun, tapi Lex tidak mau menghabiskan sisa hidupnya terjebak di sini.
"Kalau tidak keberatan, aku juga akan awasi cara mempercepat pencarian kita."
"Silakan. Faktanya aku tidak keberatan kalau kau selesaikan seluruh quest atas namaku. Selama quest diselesaikan dengan benar, tidak ada yang peduli caranya. Salah satu keuntungan jadi tentara bayaran."
"Jangan goda aku, Kaemon. Petualanganku cenderung keluar kendali. Untuk saat ini, aku pikir aku fokus jalankan tavernku. Tapi kalau ini berlarut terlalu lama, tidak ada janji soal apa yang mungkin kulakukan."
1588 How do you plan on Doing this?
Lex spent a moment thinking about the possibility of elevating his intent to the ninth level and beyond, but then shook his head. There was no point getting ahead of himself. Everything needed to be taken step by step.
"So basically what you're saying is that everyone should at least bring their intent to the fourth level to maximize on this, more or less, given a power boost from intent. Well, since it only takes some time and effort, I see no reason why we can't incorporate a small training routine into every immortal's schedule. Sooner or later, they're bound to get there."
"Yes, well, of course the time to upgrade intent will be different for everyone, and if they spend more time focusing on it then the time will be exponentially quicker than a small regular training routine. But, I suppose you're right. An immortal, training regularly, however little, will eventually reach the fourth level, whether it's in a year, a century or a millennium."
"Any specific advice on how to go about it?" Lex asked.
"I'll compile a detailed list for every one one of your workers the next time we stop to take a rest. For now, I think I've prolonged our stay enough. We should get going."
Lex looked at Kaemon, and then back at the battlefield in front of him. They had spent a number of weeks here already, but despite the long duration of time spent here, Lex didn't mind.
Previously, whether it was in the Artica realm or in the Seraphim Resort, he always felt a rush to return to the Inn because he had work to do. Oddly enough, now that he was here, and had absolutely no idea when he'd be coming back, he felt less stressed.
A part of it may be because Lex had been anxious about sealing the Inn to avoid more problems cropping up, but now that actual problems had arisen, he was too busy dealing with them to think about them.
It could also be because he knew that for all the risks it posed, Abaddon also provided him with immense potential for growth in his personal strength.
Over the past few weeks, he'd seen it. This place was filled with monsters far surpassing his level. While countless wraiths attacked them, there were just as many Heaven Immortal or Celestial Immortal wraiths that just ignored them and passed by.
This was due to the unique quality of Abaddon where each thing only wanted to attack souls on the same power level as them. Of course, this was probably only true if no one provoked a stronger power. For example, Lex was certain that if he ended up grabbing the Anklet of Narn, the creature that had been chasing the anklet would not just ignore Lex.
It also helped that everything was going well within the Inn. Now that Jotun's fight was over, the event was about to come to a close. The only reason that the specific event relating to Jotun's fight wasn't over already was because the Henali had to do an announcement about the end of the fight between the two forces.
Now that the sun had risen and a week had passed, it was time for them to move on according to the schedule Kaemon had given. Yet the Magma Lion had been delaying it for a couple of days already.
"Are you sure?" Lex asked. He could guess what was going through the lion's mind. After seven years of constant battle, he finally got some rest, and was in fact able to enjoy himself while he rested. He ate and drank, and spent time with his army without the constant threat of death hanging over them.
Who would want to return to the battlefield after that? But the reality was that they had a job to do.
"Yes, we should leave now," Kaemon said reluctantly.
"Alright then, you can pass the order to your men to form up, and I'll pass the order to my workers to pack up the castle. Before we leave, however, I'd like to talk to you about a couple of things. Firstly, how exactly you're planning on getting off this island, and how exactly you're planning on finding the chalice."
"Crossing the liquid should not be too troublesome, unless it's as corrosive as the black river. Teleportation is out of the question, and so is swimming. I cannot say for sure what our plan will be unless we test the liquid itself. This isn't the first time we've had to cross a lake or a river, so we're more than familiar with the process. In general, we rely on building ships from nearby materials and equipping it with strong formations that'll allow them to get us past whatever obstacle we're facing.
"The issue with the chalice, however, is much greater. By now, we have no means left except to continuously search the lands and hope to find clues, or to stumble upon it."
"Kaemon, you realize that if we don't develop a better strategy, we could end up staying here for… I won't even say thousands of years. We could end up staying here forever!"
"We have no other choice," Kaemon lamented. "We cannot scout the lands, and we cannot map the area using any treasures. You saw yourself what happened when you sent clones out into the lands. Any strategy we have thought of so far to search for it has failed."
Lex frowned. Abaddon was a proverbial treasure trove, true, but Lex did not want to spend the rest of his life stuck here.
"If you don't mind, I'll also keep an eye out for ways we can expedite our search."
"Be my guest. In fact, I wouldn't mind if you completed the whole quest on my behalf. As long as the quest is completed properly, no one will care how it's done. One of the perks of being a mercenary."
"Don't tempt me Kaemon. My adventures tend to get out of hand. For now, I think I'll just focus on running my tavern. But if this ends up taking too long, no promises on what I might do."
Komentar Chapter (0)
Login buat ikut berkomentar.
Belum ada komentar di chapter ini. Jadi yang pertama!