Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 102 - The Six Heroes

A day came and went. Lumi was back in Masteria.

The coordinates had been decoded. It led them northwest toward Mora’s main island. As they sailed, Lumi studied the map with growing interest, tracing the route with his finger.

So it was next to Rena’s Glacier, which makes sense.

I should have expected this. Still, even if I knew it would be near that Glacier, I never knew the exact location till now.

It would have taken too long to search the surrounding area, especially without the exact details of what marks the base.

While sailing, Lumi checked his messages. He replied here and there to various players. His previous party from the golem temple mostly had technical questions about equipment or skills, while Gabriel was instead helping manage his token sales.

When he got to Lena’s messages, he paid more attention despite it technically being less important. It was a progress update on her activities at the Fairy Academy.

[Lena: Ooh! I came across some lore! Alright, so listen to this. There’s these kids at the academy who were super duper obsessed with these heroes. As you know, there’s racial tension between the fairies and humans. So to break the tension, I got them to collaborate to put on a play.]

[Lena: To do that, I also needed to learn from the books. Here’s what I got. Long ago, an evil god known as the Dark One threatened to destroy the world. It’s unclear what the exact meaning of "destroy" means here. Anyways, most of the world worked to oppose him, as he destroyed kingdoms and more.]

[Lena: The six heroes as we know them today did not know each other. They were simply six powerful individuals who got together to jump the Dark One. They consisted of Alton, Hero of light, whose name is too similar to that idiot Afton. Rena, the Axe of Justice. Phoenix Master Henry. Elusive, who apparently had some sort of relationship with one of the previous Herene Empresses. The elf queen, Lillia. And some dude who calls himself Spectre. That’s not even a real name. I guess we can’t complain, though..]

[Lena: I was SO WORRIED that I wouldn’t be able to handle this. It’s clear to me now I’m much better than all of these idiots deserve.]

[Lena: I hate them. Not because of anything else, only because the situation is stupid. Fairies were kidnapped, and these guys are busy blaming a... radio? Yeah man, I’m sure the radio kidnapped your children.]

[Lena: Alright. Things are rather stable now. I’ll look into slaughtering onion monsters now. What kind of contrived story is this?]

Renan’s smile only grew larger the longer he read her messages. Cute Lena. Such good progress. He always believed in her.

[Renan: Hey! I’m out of Masteria. How are you holding up? I see you’ve made good progress.]

[Lena: Hai Hai~! Hi Renan! How are you doing?! Look, I’m using your real name. Isn’t that cute~? I’m doing good personally. I missed you lots. We spent some amazing days together, and now you weren’t here. It was a bit hard to enjoy myself without you while knowing what I do now. That’s sad, I’d like to be with you more. But I get it.]

Renan’s heart skipped a beat as he read the message. Had he... should he had taken Lena? He felt guilty.

What am I doing?

He shook his head. There was no point in that. Taking her would only reduce EXP for both of them. Plus, he needed someone he could completely trust to take care of other plotlines.

Other plotlines...

SMACK!

Renan directly facepalmed.

The whole point of building up my reputation, what the world is relying on, is getting the players to contribute towards Masteria.

Why haven’t I done that yet? I have plenty of ways.

[Renan: I miss you too! I wish you could be together with me in Masteria like we were before. I’m trying to think of ways to do so, but it doesn’t become feasible until later. I’ll talk to you later, I’m arriving at an island.]

In front of Lumi, the main island’s coastline became visible. They had been sailing this far in the inner sea of the C-shaped Mora, now they were back on Mora. The coastline was dramatic, with tall cliffs of iced rock rising from the waters, broken by narrow beaches of black sand and gravel. They found a suitable landing spot in a sheltered cove.

"From here, we proceed on foot." Lumi announced. "We can consider this enemy territory. Expect surveillance, traps, and heavy resistance."

Even with as trivial as the mission had thus far been, Valeria, Susie, and the Knights grew serious.

They moved inland through what seemed like wild, natural landscape.

"Stop." Elara said suddenly, kneeling beside what looked like a natural ice formation. "This is warm. Feel the air movement?"

She closed her eyes. "The air... there’s an updraft."

The others came closer and hovered their hands around to check. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Indeed, there was a slight updraft carrying warmer air from somewhere below.

Elara reached down and shoved snow out of the way. Examining closer, she found tiny vents cleverly integrated into the ice. "Look, right here."

"That’s a ventilation system." Susie confirmed. "There must be an underground base here."

She approached her wand to the vent, and closed her eyes, deep in thought. "The air coming out is at about sixty degrees. However, wherever it’s originating, it’s much closer to three hundred before being cooled."

She gestured westward with her wand. "The heat is coming that way."

"Indeed." Elara confirmed. "The wind flowing west to east, in those pipes."

"Presumably, pipes." Zara corrected. "Not a guarantee."

"Let’s find that entrance." Lumi ordered. "Look for more signs. But stay within sight. This is likely to be the most difficult part of our journey on Mora."

"Let me feel." Jin spoke, kneeling down at the ground and closing his eyes in concentration. After a moment of sensing, he got back up and stated, pointing down. "I can confirm the base is entirely below us. Electricity is running all around, if we trace it..." He followed the current, until he was standing atop a large mound of snow. "Major power concentration here," he announced. "Like, huge."

The group turned their heads to the suspicious mound and walked up to it. Valeria looked to Lumi. "Shall we?"

Lumi nodded.