Ray:”Woah, that thing is massive. I can't believe they just casually have them in that size. How did they manage to fit it in?”
“Yeah, that thing sure is massive. I guess advanced technology allows for a few liberties to be taken.”
On top of the island sits a massive temple, it is mostly a deep shade of green but it is covered in a lot of vines and other plant growth. Very befitting of an earthen goddess.
We proceed inside the temple and are greeted with some beautiful art. Presumably of ancient human myths that humans probably don't even know about. The walls are absolutely covered in drawings, it would be a dream for any archaeologist to even see this place. Let alone analyze it and discover ancient human history. It's kinda creepy to think the IEC has been observing humanity for this long, and knows things about us that we don't even know.
“Woah that one is super cool!” Ray says as she points to a particularly colorful painting of a battle. It appears to be between a black fog and a white haired goddess that is radiating white light. The goddess seems to be wielding the glow around herself to push back against the fog. Somehow it feels familiar.
We pass by many such displays, including highly detailed statues. The effort that went into this one altar must've been insane. To think that this is only the first trial and they have already put so much effort in. I can't wait to see what some later trials might contain.
We enter a grand throne room, upon the throne sits a fairly reasonably sized human. She feels as though she is radiating power itself. I wonder how the IEC managed to do that, perhaps with some clever sounds?
“Welcome mortals! To my humble throne upon this beautiful world. I hope you enjoyed your travels. We have many interesting sights to see. If you should wish to seek my aid in your expeditions you must complete two more stages.
Firstly, I have an interesting challenge that shall definitely put you to a test. My acolyte shall guide you and give you further information.”
The Pota then guides off into a side chamber. Inside is a lab of sorts. There are all sorts of strange glassware things that look like they are straight out of an old alchemy book.
“Contestants, the second stage of this trial is to create a perfume befitting of her eminence. You shall find many different ingredients that should come in useful. Good luck, may the stars be ever in your favor.”
Ray:”Really! We get to make perfumes!”
“Do you know how to make perfumes? I've got no clue.”
“Uhh, kinda. One of my university friends was into perfumery stuff. So I've got a little bit of knowledge.”
“Well that's good, I don't know squat about perfumes. Just a worthless NEET that has only worn cologne once to that dance back in high school.”
“Well, you did a good job that time. You smelled quite nice.”
“You gave me that cologne and told me to wear it. Stop complimenting yourself.”
“Waah, no, I wasn't complimenting myself. Merely complimenting you and the person responsible for your nice outfit.”
“Yeah, you were the one responsible. Ms. Genius Prodigy Superstar. Though I do admit, you did a good job taking lil ol me and turning me into quite a spectacle.”
“Yeah, people wouldn't stop staring at you! I had to put in so much work to get them to shift their attention to me.”
“We also managed to absolutely demolish everyone on the dance floor back then.”
“Well of course, we are the Moonlight Duo of course. No one can possibly outclass us when it comes to style.”
“Don't forget, luce lunae per aspera ad astra et ultra.”
“Of course, now let me put my knowledge to the test and give this goddess a perfume worthy of her glorious nature.”
Ray then proceeds to fiddle around with many ingredients and the lab equipment. It takes her about two hours of messing around. Seriously, she looks to be having so much fun and has not even a bit of seriousness. She boils stuff, mixes stuff and of course takes some smell tests. Though some of them clearly go wrong.
What do I do during this? Why I sit in the corner and watch her work with a big smile on her face. Ever the worthless NEET willing to let others do all the work. Of course, she is the one that didn't ask for any help. So I am not obligated in the slightest to assist.
When she is finished, she presents several vials of a brownish liquid to me.
“Give it a sniff! It's perfect!”
I take a sniff and am amazed. It smells quite earthen, but it also has a nice floral scent.
“I even managed to add in a fragrance that nullifies the odor of rot!”
“You always continue to amaze me. Is there anything you can't do?”
“Well, apparently I'm not very good at strategy games. I always lose at chess or shogi.”
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“Fair enough. Let's go present your masterpiece to her eminence, this should blow her mind.”
We proceed to very carefully transport the bottles from the lab back into the throne room. As always, it seems the goddess is sitting calmly on her throne.
“Ooo, my lovely mortals, you have returned so soon! Or is it late? Time seems to lose meaning after a few billion years. It gets quite tedious sitting on this throne eon after eon. I am scarcely allowed to go outside! Can you believe it?
Now, present me with your creation! I can't wait to smell what you have come up with.”
Ray walks up and proffers the vials to the goddess. The goddess then proceeds to smell them for quite a while. After maybe five minutes of silence, a big smile spreads across her face.
“Brilliant! This will make a great addition to my repertoire. You made a very pleasant scent, it even manages to cover up the revolting stench of this planet! With this I say that the second stage is now complete.
Now, for the third stage. One of you will play a game with me! If you manage to entertain me with a good challenge I shall bestow you with my crown of approval.”
Ko:”I shall gladly accept your challenge, your eminence. What shall be the nature of this game?” I say in my most respectful tone possible.
“Hmm, I think I would like to play the game known as ‘chess’. It seems like a good way to test one’s worthiness of my patronage.”
With her words, a large chessboard appears between myself and her. It seems to be a standard chessboard. No funny business. Well, good thing for us, I was the chess champion of my entire district. So this little goddess should be no issue.
We then commence with a very intriguing game of chess. She appears to follow none of the established openings or reasonable lines. To an inexperienced eye, she might seem like an amateur. But about an hour and a half later the game is over.
I lost.
“My my, that was surely an intriguing game of chess. You are a worthy opponent indeed! I found myself in several tricky positions. Though, in the end I did manage to come out on top.”
“Indeed, I have yet to face an opponent of your caliber. Truly impressive indeed!”
“My, what kind words from a mortal. Good sportsmanship is a great trait! With this, I bestow this crown of the Earth upon the two of you. The Grasia Altar is now completed.
Little mortal, I do hope that you will come and play with me again sometime. It would greatly please me!”
“I shall keep it in mind should I ever pass through here in the future.”
“Wonderful news, I shall be anticipating your return, even if it takes a few eons.”
Ray:”Good job Ko! You were so cool. I mean, you played chess against a goddess! How many people can claim that?”
“I would daresay that I might be the only person to be able to claim that.”
Pota:”If you will follow me, I shall escort you out of the altar and back onto your ship promptly. Good work on this altar.”
04:00 IST, Fourth day, Second month, 3079 PV | Grasia Orbit / Sycos Battleship / Bridge
Just having gotten back we sit on the bridge awaiting Sy to give us our next destination. Initae of course welcomed us back with much teasing about how fun the pile of rotting biomatter must've been.
To her chagrin, we manage to rebuff her teasing by countering with the fun we had fighting those giant dragons. Sadly, they didn't let us keep the rifles. Apparently they are some super prototype weaponry specifically designed for dragonkilling.
Sy:”Attention passengers. Coordinates for fourth altar received. Destination: Castil, planet of chaos. ETA: 07:00 IST, Fifth day, Second month, current year. Please prepare for acceleration into hyperspace, first voidlith encounter in ninety minutes.”
Ray:”So, as typical. Why the klack is is called the planet of chaos?”
Initae:”Well, this time its fairly simple actually. It simply has a lot of storms, making it very chaotic due to the constantly shifting winds and such. I hear they have some pretty nice waves that are cool to look at.”
Ko:”I suppose that doesn't sound so bad. Perhaps we can enjoy this one’s sights a bit more. Rather than be forced to dredge through a horrific bog, or a volcanic wasteland.”
With that, Ray and I go sit down to watch some anime until the voidlith. Which I am getting much better at handling thanks to my constant training. Also, aboard these ships we get all the latest seasonal anime streamed directly from Earth. We don't even have to pay for a billion subscription services like before! Man, this contestant gig sure has some fantastic perks.
I manage to guide us through the voidlith with only a little bit of exhaustion. To remedy my exhaustion, Ray has a brilliant idea.
Fifteen minutes later, we are back at the bottom of the pool. Only instead it is I who is laying my head into Ray’s lap. I can once again feel the soothing healing power remove the inae exhaustion. Albeit, it seems it's not quite as effective due to requiring the inae to defy buoyancy and keep us at the bottom.
We spend a few hours like that. While doing so, I put some effort into inputting a lot of recent information into my codex. I've been slacking a bit. Hopefully Ray hasn't been too confused due to lack of information. Since I'm sharing my codex with her. (But not the entire journal for obvious reasons)
In doing so, I end up mulling over recent events. After all, in just the past few days a lot has happened. First we started the trial with a big ceremony. Were sent to a very volcanic planet and climbed a massive volcano in cool mechsuits. Thus we had to cook a bland meal for a fire god.
Then we were shot out of the sky and trapped on a random planet for several days. Though we did get some combat training and precious bonding time out of it. Only to be attacked as we left and shown a tiny fraction of Initae’s true might.
Next, we went to a water planet and used some cool water mechs to dodge some horrifically monstrous creatures in the deep depths. Then Ray got to do a horse race/obstacle course in front of the Water God. Which I still find the idea of extremely amusing.
Most recently we were forced to trek through a bog reeking of death. Oh, it was also infested with massive dragons. Then we had to make some fancy perfume and play a game of chess to appease the Earthen Goddess.
Now we are heading to the last altar, a planet of storms. Which I'm sure will be equally if not more interesting than the previous altars.
This journey is sure to be a fun one. I can't wait to find out what else the IEC has in store for us contestants in the upcoming trials.
As Ray and I sit at the bottom of the pool, I think I eventually fall asleep. I have a wonderful dream about a time Ray and I went to a pool back in middle school. It was a nice dream.
I awaken to find myself floating at the top of the pool. With Ray’s hand in my own. I check the time and realize that we are about to arrive at Castil. I wake Ray and we float on top of the pool looking out through the skydome.
Once we drop hyperspace (which is an even more weird sensation while floating on the water), we get our first glimpse of Castil, the planet of chaos. I would say that it definitely earns its name. It appears to be one gigantic ball of storm systems. I can see lighting arcs through the clouds even from this far away. I can't even see the surface through the thick cloud cover.
It sure looks like it's going to be a fun adventure. I can't wait to see what the last altar has in store for us.
But, no matter what comes next, so long as we are together. We will conquer anything. So, bring it on.
End of Chapter 39
A/N: Greeting dear reader. It is I, your author of great eminence (was that too arrogant? Oh well. Though, I don't think I'm allowed to use that title, I'm not nearly a good enough writer yet.) Back yet again! I hope the transition from gigantic dragons to perfume and chess wasn't too much. But hey, that's just how the universe works sometimes.
As always, if you are enjoying reading this ever expanding webserial, be sure to follow/favourite/rate/share it with a friend, it is always appreciated. See ya in the next one, dear reader.
- Cathrix