[LSB] Chapter 126: The Predecessor's Work

“Boss, look at that. That’s… that’s—Isn’t that a Dravokil!?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“The only thing you need to know about them is that they’re level 50 the moment they’re born, Boss. It’s… best we circle around it.”

“No need. It doesn’t look like it wants to attack. None of them do.”

The Dodona tundra—an endless stretch of ice where freezing to death was the only possibility for death. Not monsters, not starvation—the cold. Juliet thought that was only an exaggeration old people told children. The kind of myth passed down by old warriors to prevent would-be adventurers from wandering into its freezing land.

But now, walking side-by-side with Julian through a field filled with monsters that weren’t attacking—or even acknowledging them—she realized it wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

There were thousands of them. Monsters, large and small, draped across the landscape like livestock basking in warmth.

All laid out on the cool carpet of green and pink.

For the first time since they’d set foot in Dodona, they saw actual plant life. Grass, moss, strange pink flora that twitched faintly under the weight of the monsters resting on them.

And that was all because of the frozen volcano that was at the very center of this weird oasis.

Predators. Prey. Beasts that had no business coexisting. And yet they were—side by side, unmoving and unbothered by each other or the two intruders now walking among them.

Still, Juliet couldn’t shake the nervousness crawling through her skin.

“Are… are you sure about this, Boss?” she asked, not even daring to swallow the lump in her throat, worried the sound might be misinterpreted as her wanting to eat any of them. “Most of them… don’t look friendly.”

“Don’t grab your axe.” Julian, on the other hand, was completely calm.

He grabbed Juliet’s hand which was already instinctively reaching for her axe on its own, “And yes, I think these monsters don’t care about us.”

“You… think?”

That made Juliet finally swallow—hard. She turned her head slowly, locking eyes with the nearest monster.

A Dravokil.

A bird.

A giant bird.

It wasn’t as tall as the golem guarding Maldan’s village, but it felt worse. Its beak alone could swallow both her and Julian in a single bite—and still have room for Cyrus and the cart they’d left behind in Maldan’s village.

But the size wasn’t the thing that made Juliet nervous.

The beak was serrated.

Its glossy feathers looked more like blades. Thin, metallic strands wove through its wings, which stretched out wide enough to blanket Maldan’s village.

And right now, that very same giant bird was staring right at her.

At least… it looked like it was. One of its eyes, bigger than her entire head, didn’t blink as it fixed on her.

She completely froze, her face blank and dead so as to not trigger the monster.

And for the very first time, she started to sweat in Dodona. Not only because the dravokill was staring at her, no.

It was the fact that Julian was approaching it.

“B-Boss!” she hissed, “What are you doing!?”

“This is interesting.”

And not only did Julian approach it, he was now brushing his fingers across its feathers,

“I was told flying creatures were rare in Artemia because of the gravity,” Julian said, voice soft with curiosity. “But this one… it flies?”

“It… it does, Boss,” Juliet stammered, “And we don’t want to find out how fast it could fly. Let’s… let’s go!”

“I wonder if it would get mad if I took a few of its feathers?” Julian asked, “This would be perfect for your armor, Juliet. You redid it because you weren’t satisfied, right?”

“No! Boss… Julian. Don’t do it,” Juliet sucked in a deep breath as she noticed the dravokill’s head was now lifted and looking directly at Julian.

“Hmm,” Julian looked back at it, “You’re right, I don’t think it would appreciate us plucking its fingers.”

Juliet almost gasped from the way the breath of relief escaped her lungs. She then quickly grabbed Julian by the wrist and dragged him away from the dravokill—no.

She dragged him all the way to the volcano as he kept getting distracted by all the monsters, more specifically by the potential materials he could get from them.

Juliet didn’t even stop and continued climbing the steep volcano as there were several monsters perched there too, even though the volcano was also mostly covered in ice.

This was another odd thing about this volcanic region—around it was filled with plant life, and yet the surface of the volcano itself was covered in ice. Juliet didn’t have time to think about that, however, as she continued to climb up.

It wasn’t until they reached a plateau near the summit—hours later—that Juliet finally released his hand and dropped to a knee, catching her breath.

“I think… I think we should rest for a bit,” Juliet wheezed as she glanced back behind her. Her fatigue, however, almost completely disappeared when she saw the sight that now presented itself to her.

She could see the field of green and pink surrounding the frozen volcano—and then beyond it was nothing but gray. The horizon completely covered in fog.

“Woah…” Juliet held her breath, not even realizing that she held Julian’s hand again as she stared at the surreal painting in front of her, “Look… look at this, Boss. Doesn’t it feel like… we’re separated from the rest of the world? Alone.”

“Aren’t we always?” Julian hummed. He, too, stared at the scenery in front of him. Never did he truly think that he would take the ability to see for granted—but when was the last time he truly stopped to appreciate the sight in front of him?

“We… are just alone together.”

Juliet didn’t really say anything and only glanced back at Julian. Smiling at him for a moment before once again appreciating the view in front of her.

This moment, however, did not last long at all as she felt the heat whispering to her from behind.

She and Julian looked at each other again before finally heading to the mouth of the volcano.

The two of them were expecting lava since the heat the volcano was giving out was enough to create a verdant clearing inside the harsh tundra—but not even a single hint of orange could be seen.

“Boss. There are… steps there.”

“Hmm.” Julian turned to look at the stairs Juliet was pointing to, and it was almost at the other side of the mouth of the volcano, “Let’s go.”

Julian took one final glance at the scenery behind them before walking toward the steps, and Juliet followed closely beside him.

“I… wonder if what Maldan told us was true,” she blew out air to push out the hair that managed to slip out of her bandana, “That the tundra was created by Artemis herself—veiling Dodona in an eternal winter all to prevent this very volcano from swallowing the entire land with its violent wrath.”

“Isn’t everything here created by Artemis?”

Well… that’s true too,” Juliet looked blankly at Julian before sighing and shaking her head, “But… don’t you think it’s a way for Artemis to correct things? Correcting fate?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, perhaps this volcano wasn’t truly meant to be?” Juliet explained as they continued heading for the steps, “What if it just happened beyond her will, and so Artemis herself had to step down to ensure that the fate of Dodona would be followed? To ensure that everything would be good.”

“Is everything better when fate is followed?” Julian asked.

“What… do you mean?” Juliet narrowed her eyes, “Following Artemis’ will would always lead to better things. Her Guidance ensures that we are where we are meant to be—that… is why I am here with you, Boss.”

“Is that really the only reason you’re here with me?”

“That… W-well…” Juliet tried to stifle a cough as she looked away, “No? But I can’t say that it’s not a part of it.”

“But these quests that the Guidance of Artemis gives us…” Julian raised his hand and called for the Guidance of Artemis, brushing his finger across the words floating in front of him, “...Don’t they also lead to the death of millions of your people?”

“That’s true… but at least they die doing the things that want and are meant to do.”

“But… do they truly want it?” Julian’s steps halted as he turned his shoulder to Juliet, “What if your fate was to become something else other than a blacksmith?”

“That…” Juliet also stopped as she returned Julian’s gaze, “...I honestly can’t fathom a life where Artemis chose differently for me—wait. It’s true, then? Your world… doesn’t have something similar to the Guidance of Artemis?”

“I don’t believe so, no…” Julian shrugged, “...But I did learn that there was a time when the people of my world followed a certain set of rules, but I heard from one of MEGAN’s history lessons that it was quickly abolished because of human rights.”

“Human… rights?” Juliet raised an eyebrow, “So, before you arrived here at Artemia. You weren’t… following any Guidance?”

“No.”

“Huh…” Juliet looked blankly in front of her, completely at a loss. She truly couldn’t imagine what life would be without the Guidance of Artemis, “...How do you even know what to do? You just… wake up everyday doing whatever you want to do?”

“Well, my choices were limited,” Julian pointed at his eyes, “I’m blind.”

“That… I forgot,” Juliet blinked.

“But I don’t think it’s that much different living here and there, Juliet. When I got here, I also did whatever I wanted—but yes, most of the people in my world usually live however they want to.”

“Huh… I really want to see your world, Boss. Just once,” Juliet let out a long sigh as the two finally continued heading toward the steps, “But… at least I could meet Ellie now, right? I’m… slightly getting nervous. What… is she even like? It just… feels so weird to be meeting a person from an entirely different world. I just have so many things I can’t wrap my head on.”

“I’m also from a different world.”

“Well, yes. But Boss…” Juliet looked at Julian, “...You’re you.”

The conversation of the two trailed as they continued to make their way toward the steps. Unbeknownst to the both of them, however… the dravokill was still looking at them.

It only rested its head back to the warm glade when the two finally disappeared from its view.

“Should… we head down, Boss?”

“Hmm.”

Julian didn’t really ponder at all, casually walking down the steps even though they didn’t know where it was leading them.

“Do you think this was built by Maldan and the others?” Juliet asked as she checked on the steps, and they were incredibly smooth and leveled.

“No,” Julian quickly shook his head, “Erin did it.”

“Hmm? Erin…?” Juliet narrowed her eyes, “Where—Oh. Wait, isn’t that the Shadow Blacksmith before you? The one you told me about?”

“Yes,” Julian then suddenly sat down the steps and placed both his palms on it, “I recognized it as soon as I stepped on the stairs. And it’s not only the steps…” Julian closed his eyes and tapped his fingers several times,

“...This entire volcano had her hands on it.”

***

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Happy easter everyone. I'm actually at the countryside right now because of the holidays. But still, there's always time to write.