Chapter 16: Dry Well

When the woman disappeared, a lightning bolt with strong aura and pressure hang above Eldrin. The time of disappearance and that lightning volts were just half a second!

"Damn that Demon, she escape me again." A woman voice yelled before entering the room.

"Eldrin! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" The woman said as she start to examin Eldrin's body if he's hurt anywhere else.

"Who.. who are you?" Eldrin eems puzzled and look at the woman.

"Ah! Wait, let me stop the camouflage." The woman said as her appearance began o change. After a moment, the woman become Rose.

"Mom?" Eldrin asked cautiously.

"Yes, it's mom. So did that demon hurt you?" Rose asked when her husband, Elfred enters as well.

"Did that woman tried to kill you nor threatened you?" Elfred asked as he look at Eldrin who's hugging her mother.

Silence just eat the room until six figures followed inside.

"Brother?! Mother and Father?! What happened?" Elise was surprised to see her family fell in silence. The six of them were just strolling the plaza when a slight blast reverberated, that's why they came here to see what did happen.

"Eh? You're here? I thought you go toward the Eternal Forest direction." Icy said in surprise.

"It's nothing. Just some accident but it's not that serious. So, all of you can just continue your strolling. And Elise, don't let Eldrin run way again, got it?!" Rose said before the couple leave the room.

"Brother, what happened? And why do your neck keeps bleeding." Elise said worriedly.

"Wait, let me cast a spell." Sofia said as she immediately cast a healing spell.

"Angel's Touch!" A sudden green light glows but the bleeding wasn't completely removed.

"Eh? Who did this to you?! This.. this.. is a mark!" Frank said as he look at the source of bleeding. Two wounds from canine tooth were left in Eldrin's neck.

"Eh? A mark? What's that?" Elise look at Frank anxiously.

"Well, only a demon can mark humans by biting their neck with their fangs. Didn't you read it?" Frank explained briefly.

"Well, I'm not interested in demons. Anyway, is it dangerous?! Can it be erased?" Elise asked again.

"It's not dangerous but still, being marked by demon is not a good thing. The demon who marked Eldrin already remember his scent and if by any chance they will come in contact, both bodies will be filled with longing for intercourse. And also, Eldrin has been forbidden to feel any sexual desire for anyone despite it for his lover." Frank added.

"Eh? That serious?" Carl asked as he look at Eldrin with pity.

"You don't need to look at me with pity, I'm fine." Eldrin said as he look at Carl.

"But how about your girlfriend?! What if she know this?!" Elise said angrily since Eldrin seems to take it as nonsense.

"It's my business, so don't mind it. Let me take care of it. And also, I want to go home now thus goodbye." Eldrin said perfunctorily as he look at Elise. Since Eldrin seems determine to go home already, she can't do anything but use the key that was given to her by Rose. The key was a key to teleportation door. To use the key, one should just raised the key midair before rotating it at 360 degrees.

"Eldrin, why are you going home now? Won't you come with us?" Robin asked Eldrin before the latter truly disappeared.

"I'm not numb. I don't want to kill your fun." Eldrin said before the door disappeared.

"Well, shall we continue?" Icy said hoping that the others would come still.

"Why don't we go towards the Gracious Graveyard?" Sofia suddenly suggest something. Actually, Sofia not only come for the competition since she can just ask her father for it, but also because of that Gracious Graveyard.

"Hahaha... Are you kidding? All of us know that place is uninteresting but now that I think about it, exploring it with a friend is interesting. Although there's no treasure but there can be fun." Icy said as she lead the group.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but Carl can't come with you now. He needs something to do, so please forgive him. But you can continue without him." When the six was about to leave the room, a sudden beautiful woman said before she disappeared with Carl.

"Hais... What a pitiful brother." Icy said with sympathy.

"Eh? But why? Did his mother do something to him?" Sofia asked worriedly.

"Hahaha, Sister Sofia, don't think our mother like that. My brother just didn't have the chance to be pressured by battle experience since he didn't qualified even in the first phase, so in order for him to be pressured and breakthrough to peak stage of Divine State, our mother will be the one to give him." Icy explained towards Sofia.

"So that's why, but why do you pity your brother?" Robin asked shyly.

"Well, our mother doesn't have any mercy when it comes to pressure. She will give you pressure until your body gave in." Icy said shivering just from remembering the past.

"I see. Anyway, shall we go on to the Gracious Graveyard? And after we go towards Gracious Graveyard, let us test the famous Infinte Gravitational Stairs." Frank said as he look forward to their trip.

"Okay. So you do know our Infinite Gravitational Stairs, huh? Well, we also have another famous place that other kingdom don't have, and that is the Dry Well." Icy said proudly.

"Dry Well?! You guys should just go towards the Dry Well first! Let that boy who have the mythical bead use its power and called that annoying spirit! Unlimited treasure will be presented to all of you and all of you were given a chance to pick a treasure that well suited you and each of you can even take another treasure for someone in mind but that's if you manage fill that Dry Well with water." The tree spirit said excitedly.

"Guys, senior said to me that we should go towards the Dry Well first. If we manage to fill that well with water, each of us can take treasure and we can even give the one who's not with us." Sofia decided to call the tree spirit senior since it would be rude if she just keep calling the tree spirit as her backer.

"Eh?! Filling the Dry Well? Hahaha, father and mother already tried to fill it up, but that Dry Well is still dry." Icy laughed loudly.

"Ha! As if those guys really tried to filled the Dry Well. They just fool their people." The tree spirit snorted.

"Icy, senior said that you're parents are just acting when they tried to fill the well." Sofia repeat the words.

"Eh?! Really? But don't Dry Well is included in the books for being dry? And also, if we come down from the well, there's a passage that will lead us to a beautiful place. There's also a lot of treasure and valuable items. That's where I always go when I'm bored and in need of treasure." Icy said as she advertise the Dry Well.

"Dry Well is well-known for its Green Paradise that can be found beneath it. It's also well-known for its unreasonable height that almost reach the deepst part of the world. Dry Well can be a good place for cultivation since the Green Paradise can provide you supplements. Dry Well is also well-known for its outstanding defenses against attack. No wonder it can survive even after thousand of years of already being built in that place." Elise recalled the book she had read.

"Is that Dry Well amazing? Mother also said to me that I should go to the Dry Well as well." Robin said as he look at Icy.

"Well, if I'm not wrong, mother once told me that Dry Well has another name that isn't really known by all. Mother said that she only get the knowledge by risking her life by infiltrating through the memories of Earth's Will. She said that Dry Well thousand years ago were called Vibrant Well." Elise said after hesitation.

"That's indeed right. It is called Vibrant Well due to its water that is capable of curing any form of disease once per person's life. And also, the Vibrant Well has a guardian spirit. That guardian spirit is the one who monitor the well and ensure that no human can manipulate nor abuse it. It is also the one who will offer you a treasure once you revive that Vibrant Well." The tree spirit said explicitly.

"Well, may I ask, if father said that your existence might be the very cause of the world war, then, how can we use the spirit that you speak of that can be useful for us?" Elise asked a question that make the tree spirit surprised. It didn't expect the girl to ask such a question.

"That's a good question but your father said if I will reveal myself. So in other words, no human can sense us as long as we don't wish for. Spirits like me, in fact, is stronger than humans." The tree spirit once again explained via Sofia.

"I see. I read it in some books that spirit are stronger than humans since they can wield half of the power of the Earth's Will. Although human can also acquire the use of Earth's Will 's power, but they must need to breakthrough a lot of states before achieving it. And the reason why Spirit is still subdued by human because humans just overly outnumbered the spirit." Elise added what the tree spirit had just said.

"You're quite knowledgeable for your age. You're right. So that's why, you should go towards the Dry Well first. Since that boy with strong physique want to test the Infinite Gravitational Stairs, then getting an armor that can be his life weapom is needed for him to get the Physical Bead." The tree spirit said as Frank gets interested.

"Really? Is there really such a treasure there? But Mother said that the stair is only for measuring physical strength." Frank was elated by such news.

"Have you heard about Golden Physical Bead?" The tree spirit asked Frank through Sofia.

"Yes. Golden Physical Bead is almost like the bead that Robin has. It is rare to find and almost mythical. It is capable of sublimating someones body to perfection." Frank, who is expert when it comes to physical topic, enthusiastically answered.

"Yes, but not everyone has the same physique as you. Although everyone can take the Golden Physical Bead, but like the Spiritual Holy Bead, it has spirit that guard it which is also the guardian of the Infinite Gravitational Stairs." The tree spirit said while continuing.

"If you manage to conquer its hundred thousand steps, and with your physique, it is possible that the spirit will give you such treasure. But everyone can try as well, but to be frank, that girl who have dimensional space won't last for hundred steps. The guy who have the spiritual holy bead can last more than thousands step but even if he conquer the stair, the spirit won't give him the bead since a person can only take one mythical bead. The one who I chose can't be given such bead as well since she can only use magic. As for the lover of the one I chose, he's like her as well with his siblings. So, naturally, it only belongs to that boy." The tree spirit said persuasively and its seems rather effective especially for Frank.

"Well, why don't we go to the Dry Well first?" Frank said with anticipation in his eyes.

"Hahaha, you're getting greedy Frank. It is known that you're the only one who will benefit so why don't we roam around the Gracious Graveyard first?" Sofia said while with the same anticipation as well.

"I see. So you must have treasure in that graveyard as well, right sister Sofia?" Icy, who were observing the people she's with, asked Sofia as she sense suspiciousness.

"To be honest, I just want to find magic bead. And I heard from the audience earlier that Gracious Graveyard seems to have it but is difficult to find." Sofia answered truthfully.

"Well, if you really want a magic bead, promise me that you'll go to the dry Well first and I will tell you where you can get it." The tree spirit offer Sofia a deal.

"Really? Then, I'm fine with it!" Sofia said happily as she convey her words to her group.

"But how about me? Is there any treasure out there for me?" Icy asked Sofia with hope.

"Well, if she wants treasure, if she help in revival of the Vibrant Well then the spirit might give her an Ice Diamond Staff. If she manage to conquer it, then she can make it into her powerful life weapon." The tree spirit once again said that Sofia translate.

"Re--really?! Then we should really go there first!" Icy was then blind by pure excitement.

"Wait, before we really go on, let me ask a last question, can I?" Elise once again raise a question.

"Okay, what is it?" The tree spirit now seems to be annoyed at how persistent Elise can be.

"Vibrant Well is also one of the key to opening the once spirit world portal, right?" Elise asked a question that make her become separated from the rest before she even finish her words.

"You're mother is really annoying!" The tree spirit said with some annoyance in its tone.

"So it's really true. And that's probably the reason why the True Emperor and True Empress of each kingdom refuse to revive the key to reviving the portal." Elise said with a smile.

"You're right about that. The True Emperor and True Empress is actually afraid that the world will fall into chaos again but they didn't know the value of opening the spirit world. Only your mother and father does but even so, they don't care since they're sure that they can live no matter what happen and that is why it's annoying." The tree spirit said as it then cast out Elise from the isolation space.

"Okay, let's go now." Elise said as their group began moving.

"What a cunning spirit! I didn't teach it like that but I like its cunning and tricky plot. It actually wants to evolve into its final state, tsk.. tsk.. let's see if that seed can do that. Hahaha!" The heavenly man who's watching can't help but laugh.

"Hahaha, but what the spirit said isn't wrong as well. If spirit world once again open, then the world's loss of energy per thousand year will be reduced to half and the world's growth will increase by one-fourth. The individuals can also make a pact with spirit although a world war once again might take place in the world. But if they fear such outcome, then the invaders from the outside will be braver as well. Since the invaders must get hold of the disappearance of the portal, that's why it also began charging forward to my world." The heavenly man said with a deep sigh.

"But that girl can be easily fooled as well. Hahaha, I thought she's quite intelligent and won't fall for that seed tricks, but I guess she's human after all." The heavenly man said with disappointment.

"But if the Vibrant Well will be revive, an uproar will come to place again and the Western Kingdom will be devastated by powerful individual. Although each kingdom looks quiet, but actually, a lot of strong individual is just residing and cultivating nonstop. And if the Vibrant Well will be revived, the one who revived it will be haunted as well. And the other kingdom will then revive the key in their territory as well, since the world can't have any imbalance energy." The heavenly man said as he start to think that the tree spirit is selfish but considerate at the same time.

"That Divine Spirit is now having fun at the spirit world. I wonder if it would help the tree spirit or not, hmm... I'm quite excited about it, hahaha." The heavenly man said again.