More questions than Answers

Did you expect some commentary? Sorry, I'm tired.

(Ps, it seems that once I posted the chapter in the wrong place... Oops)

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'Confused, Silver looked around the pools and eventually decided to leave.'

"... Even if I don't find much outside, I can always come back…"

"I don't have a lot of information on this place to draw anything conclusive... Apart from what Artemis told me, but that was mostly a guess."

It could be right, or completely wrong...

"But I can piece something together based on my visits."

"On my first visit, I went through a lot and was eventually knocked out by those girls before waking up on my bed..."

It wasn't very pleasant.

"And on the second time, I stayed here and relaxed, eventually going back as well after a few minutes, the precise time I don't know."

I must admit, it was indeed very relaxing, but I can't fully enjoy this without understanding what is going on first.

If I want to enjoy some thermal pools, I might as well search for one in the Dungeon...

"If there is someone who knows something conclusive about this place…"

It's the statue outside guarding the entrance…

'Without hesitating anymore, Silver went to the huge metal doors and placed his hand on them.'

"Like last time, there are no handles… But how did those girls leave if that is the case?"

There must be a way out… But I am out of time.

'Silver focused and he suddenly disappeared, reappearing on the other side of the door, he had successfully teleported.'

"That was easier than I thought, I felt no resistance whatsoever…"

"Well, perhaps it was my imagination, but I thought there would be some sort of ilogical wall blocking me from leaving…"

'Silver started to walk down the corridor, and he unconsciously looked at the water running in the corners.'

"... I don't feel as attracted to it as last time, I wonder why… But it's true this water has some rejuvenating properties as it helped me recover a bit when I came here for the first time."

Such a concept isn't foreign to me, it's possible to imbue normal water with healing properties, although I wonder if that would be considered some sort of potion or not…

(N1)

"This water seems to be natural though… Makes me wonder where we are…"

'Silver remembered Artemis' words.'

If I am truly in a Spiritual Land, then that might explain this?

... I am not really that versed as to how Magical power affects the environment...

'Shaking his head in wonder, Silver made his way to the end of the tunnel…'

…

"It's here… So one last step…" Said Silver as he stared at a large boulder blocking his way

/Fwush!/

'Silver disappeared and reappeared outside…'

'He looked around, seeing the beautiful lake with the yellow flowers and the strange egg-shaped boulder in the middle of it, just like he remembered.'

"Easier than I thought…"

"..."

"..."

'Following that, he looked to his side and saw the massive statue of a woman carved in stone, staring at him with a confused expression.'

'They looked at each other for a few moments until Silver said:'

"Hey! How's it going?"

"... How did you?..."

"I don't know, I came here to ask you that."

"Sigh, it doesn't matter… I must ask you to leave while you can, you really shouldn't be here…"

'But Silver only became annoyed, replying:'

"Well! That is a nice preposition! The problem is that I have no idea why I am coming here in the first place! So spill it out please, how do I stop coming back here?"

'The statue remained silent for a few moments before it replied:'

"You did pass all the trials, and as such, you are worthy of some answers… But a question remains, and that is if you are up for it."

'Silver's expression changed to a frown.'

"Is there some sort of big secret that might spell the doom of many or something?" Asked Silver with a frown

'But the statue chuckled, saying:'

"Not quite, I am only saying that since your situation is quite unique, and at the end of the day, you'll end up with more questions than answers… Questions that you may not be ready to face yet."

"So if you aren't up for them yet, go back and enjoy your reward… And come back another time…"

"Otherwise, be prepared to leave this place unsatisfied..."

"Are you talking about the nice bath? To be honest, that seems like a lackluster of a reward…"

'This made the statue's eyes twitch.'

"Lackluster huh… Well, at least you managed to see some beauties, no?" She asked as she chuckled

'But Silver wasn't impressed.'

"... Do I look like a horny teenager to you? The only reward I got was a punch to the face."

'The girl tried to hold her laugh but a bit of it escaped as she said:'

"Haaha… I thought as much…"

'But before she could continue Silver intervened:'

"Enough of this small talk, I need answers and I don't care about the rest."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am."

"... Fine, I'll share with you what I know, don't blame me later."

"But first…"

/Crack!/

/Bam!/

'The statue started to tremble and in a sudden turn of events, it broke apart in one fell swoop, scattering rocks and debris all around the place.'

'Silver protected himself with a blue barrier, but he was in no way pleased about this situation as dust started to fall onto him...'

"It's been a while since I moved so much… I'm all sore… Umm!... My arms hurt…"

'From the dust, a figure appeared, slowly descending graciously from the air like a Goddess. It was a girl with a striking similarity to the statue.'

'Her hair was brown and her eyes were green with a golden tone, they even seemed to shine a little even under the light of the sun…'

"Nice to meet you Human… I am Terra, the Great Spirit of Earth… Hehe." She said with a cute smile as she did a small twirl in the air, scattering brown lights similar to fireflies

'She seemed like a fairy... Perhaps she was one?'

"..."

She's small…

'Terra was relatively small, about the same size as Hestia, however, unlike Hestia, she had childlike features and hence, Silver didn't feel much for her at all.'

'In a sense, looking at her made silver remember Tiona… Just a bit though… Her skin tone was slightly tanned as well, but not as much as Tiona.'

'But because of how sudden all of this was, he stayed there, looking at the beautiful brown-haired girl with a poker face thinking, making the girl ask:'

"Human? He-llo-oh? Are you there?"

"Did my beauty strike you senseless? Sigh... The curse of beauty..."

'Silver raised his hand and frowned as he massaged his temples. And after a minute he said:'

"Okay, I lost focus for a moment… So? Terra?"

"That's me!"

"Okay then... Let's start small… Am I in a Spiritual Land?"

"You are very direct..."

'To his question Terra smiled, she landed on the ground and grabbed his hand, shaking them excitedly.'

"You are very much correct! 1 Point for you Human!"

"... I have a name… It's Mellios… Silver."

"I'll call you Silver since Mellios feels rather strange in my mouth." She said as she thought

"...#!"

This… She has a knack for annoying me without doing anything bad…

"So so? What else do you want to know?" She said as she backflipped in the air...

'Silver took a deep breath and replied:'

"Since there is a lot to ask, let me be direct and ask how did I get here?"

'Without hesitation, she said:'

"I have no idea."

"..."

'Silver started to get angry…'

"I mean, it has been hundreds of years since someone like you came here… Ever since the big guys came down from Heaven, things have been pretty stale…"

"Not that I complain, my favorite pass time is to relax... And sleep..."

"What does all of this have to do with the Gods?... If you are talking about them..." Asked Silver in wonder

"Hum… This will require a deeper explanation… What do you know about spirits?"

'Silver expected such a question to come, so he said:'

"Spirits? Not much really, apart from the usual, they can live for a very long time if not forever like the Gods, they can't have children, and they used to make contracts with people long ago."

'As he talked, Terra walked in circles around Silver…'

"That's it! Long ago, spirits used to make pacts with people in order to help them offset the monsters!"

"However, we became pretty obsolete after the Gods came down."

"After all, our blessings are nothing short of a weakened version of the ones given by the Gods…"

"Since there was no more need for us, most of us decided to live our own lives like before… Nothing much changed for me though, I stayed here enjoying my life all this while, and…"

'Silver interrupted her again:'

"Focus, when does all of this connect with the subject at hand?"

"Oia? You are rather impatient… Well, it's simple really."

'Terra jumped back and the ground she was previously in started to morph into a humanoid shape.'

'She pointed at several areas within the clay figure before she said:'

"You know that there is a lot of potential hidden within the body of a mortal, right? And that normally, it's impossible to tap into said potential without decades of incessant training, and even so, most of this potential would be either wasted or never achieved."

"This was one of the reasons why the mortals had so much trouble dealing with the monsters. Monsters would always come in droves and waves stronger each time..."

"While people did not, each warrior was irreplaceable, trained over the decades... But even so, it was barely enough for them to achieve anything meaningful within their lifetime."

'She approached him and observed Silver deeply.'

"The strongest natural Human I ever saw was about as strong as you... No... A bit weaker..."

"Th-That is already pretty impressive, I thought it was impossible to grow so much without a blessing." Silver said in surprise

That does change a lot... I wonder what happened to the training methods of the past?...

Or were they simply thrown away?... That could've happened.

"I know right?"

"That was why long-living races like the Elves were so valued… They had innate magic potential and they lived for hundreds of years, so it was easier for them to achieve something others couldn't."

"The same reason applies to wizards who were revered as Nobility due to their power and wide scope of destruction."

"Hm..."

I do know that magic didn't really change much, at most it became more refined, and broad, but the principle of traditional magic remained the same...

As long as they had enough Mind and Talent, plus the means of going through the rituals, they would be able to grow as a Wizard.

"Because of their power, people were forced to gather around them…"

'She then shrugged.'

"As you know, people at such heights of power tend to feel superior when compared to others… And as such, it was a common sight to see them tyrannically dictating the lands…"

"However, it all changed slightly when we came into the scene."

"With our support, excellent mortals could rise in power to levels never seen before, and achieve something truly heroic…"

"Although, our blessings only facilitated this process, but the difficulty remained the same."

'The clay figure behind her started to move as she said that.'

"At the end of the day, it was still up to the individual to break his own limits and rise in power… And this wasn't easy."

'The Clay figure jumped into the air and exploded into many pieces, but from within it, a stone figure appeared, looking very smooth...'

'Silver nodded to her explanation, he already had an idea about everything she talked about just now.'

"As I said, 'individual'..."

"Each Spirit could only make one contract throughout their life unless some special circumstances were achieved… And this didn't really help towards reducing the abyss of status between the people…"

"Although the Spirits would normally only make a contract with someone they deemed worthy, it was still hard to fix the already existing mentality of the people…"

'Silver interrupted her:'

"Such problems persist even today, perhaps with an even greater intensity than before…"

'She smiled helplessly before she continued:'

"In any case, the old age came to an end when the Gods themselves descended and the mortals were allowed to receive blessing in droves…"

'She jumped closer to Silver and said as she pointed at his nose:'

"And this leads us here!"

"... So?"

'Silver patiently listened to her words, he knew most of what she said, even if it was mostly from his own speculations…'

"We Spirits, despite not having that deep of a relation to the mortals, were still tasked with helping them in some way shape, or form."

"How many times did I go to seal some strong creature or fight against some crazy monster from the Dungeon? Phew… Don't even make me remember that it gives me the chills…"

"Humans were growing way too slowly… We needed someone capable of taking on the worst of the Dungeon… A Hero for the lack of words."

"And this is where the concept of trials was made!"

"Trials?"

'Terra nodded in excitement.'

"There can only be 6 great spirits at any time, and each of them had their own Spiritual land where any spirit could rest worry-free from outside influence… Or so it should've been."

"And for a long time, it remained like that, until the very integrity of our lives were put to a risk… Some of those ancient monsters were truly scary okay?"

"So you made this place?" He asked as he looked around

'Terra got a little embarrassed, saying:'

"Not alone… All 6 of the Great spirits helped each other in making a home for each… So I can't take full credit for creating this place."

/Cough!/

'Terra let out a dry cough and continued talking:'

"As I was saying… When everyone realized they couldn't just passively observe the inhabitants of Genkai, we made these trials to further help them… Improve past their limits!"

"..."

'Terra pointed to the lake and the forest beyond it.'

"And this what you passed through! The ancient challenges we set up a long time ago… Although… You weren't supposed to be here in the first place."

'Terra scratched the top of her head in deep thought"

"Well, I don't know how you got here. I can feel that you didn't form a contract with a spirit, and this makes things complicated…"

"I can figure as much…" Said Silver as he thought deeply

"Yup. It makes no sense for you to be here without a spirit to guide your way…"

'She gave Silver a good glance before shrugging her shoulders.'

"Your current state proves it all, you aren't here in your physical body, which might've explained a few things, after all, it's possible to arrive at this place by land…"

"But that is not the case as you are here purely with your soul like the ones before you did, and this raises the question of who guided you here."

"You would have just drifted here... Not once, but thrice... "

'She then whispered to Silver:'

"You aren't dead are you?"

'This made Silver open his eyes wide.'

"M… My soul?"

"Hum? Yeah? Don't you know what the soul is? You know, the things that stay deep within you and…"

"No no, I know what the general terms for a soul are, I just wanted to ask if it isn't dangerous for this to be happening? And why and how my soul got forcibly separated from my body?"

"Well, first, not at all… I mean, the level of danger is minimal, on the same level as you falling on the ground and dying from hitting your head too hard."

"As for the rest… I have no idea."

"In any case, there is no need to worry… Hopefully…" She said with a big smile

"Okay… So let me put things straight… I somehow came to this Spiritual land without being guided, and my soul got out of my body on its own… More than 3 times, like the Heroes?"

"I wouldn't say, Heroes… Not everyone that came here is qualified for that Title… But yeah, that is the big mystery."

"How did you arrive at this place and why? That I cannot answer."

"I don't know much about the state of the world outside, but from my experience, messing around with the soul was never an easy feat…"

"Nor one that ended well... Leave this to the Gods up there yeah?"

"..."

'Silver stopped talking and nodded.'

"That answers a few things… But as you said, I now have more questions than before."

"Told ya." She said with a cheeky smile

"I learned a lot today, so I can draw a few things… What or who is behind me being here, this is the big question..."

"And from this, we can draw a few more things so… I will have to think about this deeply some other time." He said as he looked at her

"Sure go on, I won't leave this place anyway." Said Terra as she turned around and climbed the rocks behind her, the stone stand her statue version was previously in

"Just take as long as you wish to think…"

'She then stretched and said:'

"Phew… I talked too much, my throat is sore."

'Silver sat on the ground and started to think, but Terra interrupted him again.'

"If you want to think, do it in the thermal pools back there, it's a reward after all, and as such, it has its own special effects… I'm sure you won't regret it."

"Special effects? How so?"

'But Terra did not reply as she slowly fused back into the stone, giving him a funny face as she disappeared into the rocky mountain.'

"Sigh, I'll be back here anyway, so there is no point in being pragmatic about it."

Great Spirit… She sure has a 'bombastic' personality...

What even is a Spirit?...

Sigh, I will have to think about this later.

"... She seems to have spoken the truth, but I have the impression she is holding some things from me… I don't have much to go by so I will treat her words as the truth for now."

'Silver slowly went back to the thermal pools, repeating the same process as before, teleporting across all barriers until he eventually arrived at his destination…'

'Like last time, he removed his clothes and entered one of the pools, ignoring the paintings on the walls as he relaxed… Or at least tried to.'

'He had many questions in his mind, like what were these paintings? How was this place made? What did these tests really do and how did they help in making the ancient warriors stronger? What had happened to the other Great spirits?…'

'Why was he being brought here? What could be the possible ramifications of these actions? What did the person behind this gain or want to achieve? If we assume it is someone…'

'He even wanted to ask if it was possible for a Great spirit to have a child so he could understand Ais' situation better, but he remained silent and in the end, he didn't ask her that.'

'There was a lot already on his mind and he didn't want to add any more useless info to it...'

'Like for example, wwould Ais be qualified to come here? If yes, then why did it never happen?...'

'So instead of thinking too much, Silver just relaxed in the pool, letting the waters wash his soul clean…'

/A few minutes later…/

"..."

I'm here again…

'Silver opened his eyes to his room, he felt relaxed but his mind was still working at 100%.'

"... There is a lot to think about and research, but at least I know a bit more."

'He looked at a wooden clock hanging on the wall before checking a small calendar on his side.'

"Time sure passed fast..."

"For now… It's time to visit Ganesha."

'Silver got up from his bed and started to get ready…'

...

/At the same time.../

"Ganeshaaa... Shaaa... shaa..." Ganesha whispered towards his follower

"Yes, you are indeed Ganesha." Said the man as he continued to wipe the floor peacefully

"GA-GA-GANESHA-DOOOO!" Exclaimed a strange locked bird in a cage

'It was none other than the Jack Bird Silver captured long ago!'

"..."

I hate this bird.

'The man's eyebrows twitched, but he continued to wipe the floor in silence.'

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Notes

N1

The Dungeon also has something similar, called Cadmus Spring Water and it has a value of 10 Million Valis per large bottle, it is located on the 51 floor so, in the current timeline, it's extremely rare since few Familias can reach that far.

Especially when we consider that the official record for the deepest floor is the 59th floor.

Also, in a side episode, it was proven that Armid's bath water could also have these healing properties.