Chapter 34: The Lagujarna Lake
As soon as they landed on the land corrupted by miasma, The elves made an expression of discomfort.
Especially High elves, since they were closer to nature, the thoughts and emotions of slowly dying plants and the soil was directly transmitted to them without any filter.
Meanwhile, Kyriaki looked around with a natural expression while Euclid frowned slightly.
Lagujarna Lake, also known as The Lake of Stars, was so famous it appeared in history books often when Titans were mentioned. It was a place where noble Titans execute their funerals, a holy place that were used for rituals and ceremonies.
If she compared it to the Earth, the lake was as big as Mongolia in sheer size. But does size matter when it was on the verge of becoming a monster hoard?
Half of the lake and the land near it had been painted charcoal black with miasma corruption. And the gate that looked like a dot from far away hovered above the lake surface with an unpleasant aura.
"...I feel suffocating." Adam opened his mouth with difficulties.
If it was that much for an ordinary elf, how much would it be for high elves who directly communicate with nature?
"Tsk." Ethan made an angry sound with his tongue and tried to look away, as if he was ignoring something annoying like an insect.
"How are we supposed to reach the gate?" Kyriaki knelt down near the rear and hovered her hands an inch over the black water.
If an ordinary human touched it, they'd be corrupted and would become monsters.
On the other hand, to a hatchling, it had no effects. Yet Kyriaki was always cautious when it came to her own life and plans. Hence, she refrain from directly touching it for the time being.
"We are going to cross the Lake." Said Bjorn.
"How come?"
Bjorn, who was calmly looking at the children like a mentor from a Chinese martial arts novel with his four hands hidden beneath his snow white robe, took long and calm steps towards the lake.
He knelt right next to Kyriaki and touched the water without hesitation. His hand and fingertips glowed in a beautiful turquoise hue Mana.
As soon as his mana touched the water a small ripple of water splashed and the water surface began to vibrate as if it was a water glass caught in an earthquake. Instinctively recognizing what was about to happen, Kyriaki hastily got up and took a few steps back.
Contrary to her concerns, the lake water calmly split in two like the Red Sea. It was a slow and awestrucking scene that managed to impress almost everyone watching it. The eyes of all the children shone with admiration.
To control water like this, one must be an expert of meticulous mana and elemental manipulation. And to do it with chantless magic, he was a true mage that anyone would admire.
"Can you run?" Bjorn turned around and asked calmly. His eyes shone under the winter sun like ice crystals.
Kyriaki and Euclid reflexively looked at each other. A wild grin crossed their faces as if they thought the same thing. Excluding Bjorn, they were the only two people with high physical strength stats. If it was running, they could make others cry of envy by a single move. Just as they were about to execute their silent agreement of a race, an unidentified presence entered their detection range.
Both Kyriaki and Euclid immediately took a fighting stance.
Flap. Flap.
White feathers floated and as a puzzling scene stole their view. A white bird, so adorably tiny, flew past the two hatchlings and landed on the arm of Ethan.
Kyriaki's eyes widened at the sight of a quetzal the size of a jackdaw in white hue gracefully looking at the titans as if it won some unknown battle against them.
Bjorn's calm eyes wavered. And the elves made a confused look.
"Tch." An irritated sound came behind Euclid. And a swoosh sound filled the rather quiet surrounding.
A spine chilling scream like it was from some horror movie startled the elves.
It was horror itself. The scream was so close to a human that banshees would shy away from the sheer power.
"Wh-what—" Levana stuttered, looking at the fallen bird stabbed by a sharp dagger.
Erik stepped forward and bent down with a twisted expression, muttering under his breath; "You fxxxxxx idiots. How could you let something like this happen?"
"...! What the hell did you do!!!" Ethan's pupils shook as he looked down at the blood covered hand and the dead bird near his feet.
"Sir Ethan…No." Kyriaki's sharp voice cut through the confusing and cold atmosphere like a knife.
Yet the High Elf boy was too busy panicking and getting furious that he failed to notice how fed-up Kyriaki already was.
"Bu-but he killed an innocent animal!" Levana was the next to open her mouth. She looked like the dagger stabbed her heart instead of the bird's.
"Stop it. Hah… Don't talk unless you know what happened." Kyriaki sighed out loud, pressing her temple in disbelief.
Her voice was clear, so clear that if one paid even a bit attention to it, they might have grasped how utterly exhausted and annoyed she was. Except for one person, not a single one of them noticed her voice, let alone her demeanour.
At that point, Kyriaki had to rethink what all of her titles, dragon aura and smell are there for. Aren't they useless if she couldn't even get the attention of less than ten people?
"Bjorn…" Meanwhile, Erik gritted his teeth as he glanced at the elves.
"...yes, Your Highness?"
"Am I supposed to work with this kind of once in a millennia fools? This is a disgrace to me! No, not only a disgrace, now these fools have put me in danger too!!!" His roaring voice shut the mouths of complaining elves.
His expression was that of a bookworm who was forced to socialize inside a crowded room instead of reading books in his comfort-zoone room.
Kyriaki sighed again and Euclid looked around with confused eyes with a hint of anticipation. Bjorn tightly closed his eyes like he had no excuse and then slowly opened his mouth.
"...My dear guests, that bird…is said to bring misfortune in Titan culture. We kill them on sight by the laws of our kingdom. It has been like this for thousands of years."
"Ah!" Finally grasping the truth, Euclid's ivory eyebrows arched and he immediately glanced at Kyriaki.
"Hah…" For the third time, she sighed like there was no tomorrow.
"But it's just your belief, no?" Adam blinked in disbelief.
"Right!? It's just something from your folk lore! That bird was begging me to save it just a moment ago and you killed it in an instant!" Ethan glared at the two titans with fire in his eyes.
"I did it because I wanted to. What are you going to do about it?" Erik snorted at the sight of elves protesting against him, his gaze was very unkind.
"Hah…" Bjorn joined Kyriaki's sighing contest as if he was told that Santa was fake and the real Santa was a mafia boss who bullied penguins and ice bears in North Pole for fun. It couldn't be helped that he was getting stressed every second he spent there. "Ogofa. That's the name of the bird. Since the population is very few there are no detailed reports about them, It's a native bird that was known only to us and dragons. However one thing is certain. They definitely bring misfortune. I suggest that you stay here for a few more days before starting your mission for safety reasons."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Is this your scam to lock us here?!"
"Revealing the truth is our responsibility, believing us is up to you. But please note that you are standing on the land of Titans. You follow our rules here, that's the will of His Majesty and King Elysium."
"Ugh…" Levana groaned.
"Fxxx" Ethan swore and walked away.
Meanwhile Euclid came closer to Kyriaki like a snake slithering and whispered to her ear.
"Do you believe it?"
"..." Kyriaki held back her sigh.
'Believe it?! Yes! Yes I do!!! Since I learned it from the time's whispers, I don't have any evidence to prove it. These records might be in the Monarch's Archives, but even so, I can't recklessly reveal it outside.' She glanced at the dead bird with an indescribable expression.
'Ogofa brings bad luck. This is making me anxious for no reason.' Kyriaki frowned and began to plot a few more backup plans in her head.
She wasn't sure what misfortune would fall on them, but being cautious was never ineffective. A few more plans wouldn't hurt her.
"I've never heard of such a thing." Euclid, who was watching her subtle reactions, came more and more closer to her with an amused smile. "I never knew there was such a bird hiding in this isolated island. How fascinating." His ocean blue eyes sparkled.
"We should be careful on our mission." Ignoring the boy with a tone that practically screamed; 'I am very annoyed right now', Kyriaki said in a stern voice.
"!!"
"Team leader—no, Your Royal Highness! Do you truly believe that?"
"It doesn't matter whether I believe it or not. There's a saying that If you attend a bat's wedding you have to hang upside down to blend in. So don't question their laws and obediently follow them, do you understand?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
The three elves fell into despair filled silence.
"Let's vote." Kyriaki extended her hand, opening a hologram. "Please make a public voting chart for me, EESOP."
[Ding!]
[Voice confirmed]
[Student number: Z10100VQK-001]
[ Association: Team leader of KyrioswithoutKyrios-13 from the 13th group of First Mission of First Year]
[Activating student rights under article 567-A]
[Creating a public voting chart]
[Please choose the chart topic]
White holographic screen appeared from her smart watch as if it was a given.
"Voting for >Mission Delay<. Voting rights for Student number Z10100VQK-001, Z10100VQK-003, Z10100VQK-027, Z10100VQK-105 and Z10100VQK-168 of Team KyrioswithoutKyrios-13. With the highest votes for mission delay, Student number Z10100VQK-001 will personally inform the Ochros Palace of the reasons and delay the mission for a few days as Lord Bjorn suggested. But if the votes were against it, team KyrioswithoutKyrios-13 will continue our mission right this instant."
[Loading]
[Voting chart completed]
[Ding][Ding][Ding][Ding][Ding]
Holographic notification bars popped out of smart watches belonging to all five of them. Just like Euclid did the same when choosing the official name of their team without her knowledge, she did the same this time.
"Please vote, I am willing to follow my team's opinion in this matter." When Kyriaki nonchalantly said and pressed her own vote, another notification sound went on.
Levana gasped and Euclid chuckled at the vote that went in favor for mission delay. The two titans watched the situation from the side. Bjorn seemed very interested in both their devices and their choice. And Erik rolled his eyes and yawned as if he couldn't stand the boredom.
Soon, the small voting was completed. Kyriaki held back her sigh as she looked at the results.
"We have four votes to continue." All four of them nodded in sync with her words.
"I don't believe in titan bxxxxxxx." Ethan shrugged his shoulders with a smug smile, as if he had won a battle against the Dragon King. Adam nodded along with him with eyes full of hatred and distrust.
"...I'm sorry Kyriaki. But I don't believe the excuses these titans gave us." Levana fiddled with her fingers, unable to look at her, but stubbornly insisting on proving titans wrong.
Oh, how immature they are.
"I just wanted to experiment if it's true or not." Euclid cheerfully grinned.
Kyriaki was speechless for a moment, but soon regained her rational thinking. There's a chance they'd obey her if she put on her 'Heir to the Throne' air, but that's not allowed. In this mission the highest authority of a team leader isn't enough to convince them strongly.
"I understand. But keep in mind that this is your own choice." Hence, she calmly declared. "Now, let's get started. We have a mission to finish."
Kyriaki kicked the ground. Her body moved like lightning as she ran towards the Gate in the far distance.
For a second, others stared at Kyriaki's distance back with a dazed look. Then as if waking from a dream, Bjorn took the lead on following her. Kyriaki felt his presence beside her before three seconds passed.
He wasn't fast nor slow. He matched Kyriaki's speed perfectly and calmly followed her with a relaxed expression.
Behind them was Erik, followed by Euclid. The three dark elves were a bit behind due to their core rank being the lowest.
"We are about to enter a dungeon in a newly created dimension between the Void Plane and Primal Plane, a place very dangerous for us. The moment we step in, make sure to be on alert of any danger." As she ran, Kyriaki gave little advice to her teammates.
"If you face an unexpected situation, you are allowed to take actions with your own judgement. But don't forget our main goal. We must break the Dimensional crystal as soon as possible. Remember what we learned in classes? A Dimensional crystal under E rank is within 1 Kilometer range, so we must manage our sense of direction and time well." Kyriaki suddenly turned her whole body around without slowing down her running. It was amazing how she still ran with her back facing the destination.
"The communication system of the smart watches doesn't work on other planes except for the Primal Plane, and surely not on temporary dungeon dimensions. According to our mission rules, we are forbidden from using the smart watch for anything except for map creation and compass anyway. So don't rely too much on it and don't panic if something happens."
"Be rational and think of your next step instead. Analyze all monsters you face and make a few backup plans if they are too much for you to face alone. You must rely on your teammates, always stick closer to the person next to you. Don't even think about doing it alone. Soloing a gate with our current rank is impossible, do you understand?"
"Yes!" Everyone replied in unison.
Although the elves were in a displeased state, they never forgot to obey their team leader. Reluctance was evidence on Ethan and Adam's faces, but there was nothing they could do. Both Erik and Kyriaki were people they could not and should not mess with. They at least knew their own situation.
Kyriaki's eyes landed on each of her teammates. Her Golden yellow eyes fixed on Euclid for a half a second in addition before she glanced at Erik. He flinched slightly under her calculating gaze and looked away, pretending he didn't care.
Kyriaki smiled meaningfully.
"Let's make a new record if possible." She turned around and kicked the ground with strength.
Swoosh!
Kyriaki was the first to disappear into the Grey-dark green gate. As Bjorn paused right In front of the Gate, Euclid chuckled happily and jumped into the gate without hesitation. The three elves obediently followed them half a minute later. Only Erik stopped beside Bjorn.
"..."
"..."
A comfortable silence settled between them as only the surface of the darkened lake rippled without a sound. The gate glitched in response.
"Misfortune is clinging to them." Bjorn whispered.
"I know" Erik stared at the gate with no emotion on his pale face. "Are you going to take care of that thing now?" His gaze, which was glued to the gate, slowly lifted and landed on the dark shadow of a dead tree on the land far away.
"Yes. His Majesty commanded me to capture them dead or alive." Bjorn also followed Erik's gaze and looked at the dead tree's shadow.
The shadow flinched.
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