Chapter 95: Another Farewell

"W-wha?! You're leaving?!" Tomimi asked loudly, enough to take the attention of some Tiacuhs. While they surely are muscle-brained, they could still piece everything together after seeing her talk with Shiro.

"Shiro's leaving?!"

"What did you say?!"

"Did I hear that right?"

Seeing this, Shiro could only sigh. He said, "That's right. By tomorrow, I think?"

"I see..."

While she's cautious against him before, she found that he's nice when he lived here. It's only been a week since they arrived, but its undeniable that his popularity reached its peak in this village as well as Zumama's.

Even the Tiacuhs from other villages are interested to see him.

"Don't worry, I'll visit y'all."

"You said it." She said while staring at his blindfolded eyes. At first, she thought that something went wrong with his Arts. With some explanation that it's to restrict his power, her worries went away.

"Right, I've been meaning to ask you this."

"What is it?" She replied.

"Do you know about the originum vein and the underground city nearby?" Shiro asked as he recalled what he'd seen just when he returned.

Surprisingly, there's a huge underground city just near their village. This city has a huge resort and futuristic technology. That, and the people with small stature who lived in it.

"No? I mean, this place was supposedly explored by the Empire decades ago."

"It seems like someone pocketed that budget and didn't do it properly."

"An originum vein..."

This is exactly what was feared by most mobile cities. While they could mine for originum in those veins, no one knows just when it'll become unstable and explode, spreading oripathy everywhere. The only way to know when it'll do so is to see it personally a few months before they do so.

That's why many countries used Sarkaz as mining slaves due to their high originum resistance even as an infected.

Once found nearby the mobile city, they wouldn't hesitate to move miles away from it.

"It wouldn't pose a threat here, actually. Just its depth alone is enough for the land to prevent it from spreading here."

"So it's the underground city." Tomimi said as she realized his underlying intent.

"That's right."

Underground cities could only be built by a handful of Ancient Races. Tomimi, who received the High Priest's guidance, knew that it's most likely the Durins.

Durins are the dwarves' counterpart in this world. Their main specialty is in building... everything. From infrastructures to mechanical items, they are proficient in creating them. Also, Kal'tsit mentioned to him once that they possess advance technology that would make the surface world drool.

An example of that is the huge dome in their underground cities that perfectly replicates the skies of the surface world. There's also their subways that connects one underground cities to another.

"After I leave, you might be able to form connections with them. Though, I'll have to warn you about their tendencies to do public voting. It'll decided whether you'll succeed or not."

"...I understand." She paused for a while before she added, "Thank you, Shiro."

Tomimi tried her best to hide the blush on her face. As for it is caused by embarrassment or something else, no one except her knows.

Shiro, who learned how to handle younger sisters thanks to Strea, patted her head. As a result, she became too comfortable with it and almost slept...

*****

The next day.

In contrast to Shiro's expectations, the village threw a farewell party that night. This ended up knocking many Tiacuhs out after he brought out some booze from the Chat Group.

That wasn't enough to make him tipsy, however. Thus, he visited one last place after saying the bye's in his acquaintances here.

"Thanks for the meal."

Shiro mumbled as he awakened the Devouring Power inside him. Unlike before, the darkness are spread out, covering at least a few dozen meters of the ground before seeping on it.

Then, the feast began.

The moment the Devouring Power made contact with the dark-red crystals, it slowly crumbled into nothingness.

[Originum +1, +1, +1,+1...]

Since this is a vein, it's far more greater than any other originum that he'd eaten. The proof of it is his Originum stat reaching 100. That's only 20% of what's in this vein!

[Originum +1, +1, +1, +1...]

By the time he devoured every single originum, he reached [Originum: 300], giving his Aura and Mana stats an additional 240 points.

His originum reserves became vast, allowing him to use his Hydrogen Arts to the fullest and create explosions comparable to a hydrogen bomb.

With his maxed control stat and the boost in perception, he found it easier to modify the surrounding hydrogen into different types of hydrogen isotope. After heating it through his [Carbon Arts] and [Oxygen Arts], the explosion made wouldn't be any less than that of a nuclear bomb's.

Furthermore, it will not produce any radiation since what his [Arts] produces is a hydrogen bomb, not a nuclear bomb.

After the sense of satisfaction died down, Shiro used the aurora curtain to arrive at the place where Kal'tsit's SUV is parked.

"The originum inside you... increased again?" Kal'tsit asked the moment she noticed his change thanks to her new ability, [Great Sage (UR)].

Not only did it boost her computational ability a thousand-fold, one of its functions allowed her to analyze every single thing in existence. Coupled with her vast knowledge in her 10,000 years of living, the deductions that it gave is detailed to the extreme.

Ironically, its in contrast to her, who couldn't get rid of her lengthy explanations.

As for its power, it can evolve infinitely by being used often - kind of like the same as skill proficiencies in a game.

"I saw an originum vein yesterday. I should thank my luck since I only saw it after gaining this new power."

"Metaphysics, I understand." She replied.

Then, she looked at the Sarkaz who wielded a huge blade. Knowing the war that's happening in Kazdel, she could only give an advice so as to avoid being used there.

"If you want to keep your current life, don't go to Kazdel."

For a second, Surtr was confused. Only after she 'saw' some painful memories did she understand it - the Sarkaz's collective memories is accessible to her.

"Alright."

This time, they would separate from Kal'tsit who plans to return to Babel. Being stuck in Iberia for months is the limit that she'd set, considering that many things can happen within a few months.

Even if there's her other colleague assisting Theresa, Theresio might catch them unexpectedly with another plan of his.

Shiro took out their ride, [Motored Cuirassier (SR)], something that he got from the Random Spins. This is the same motorcycle that Artoria had used [Alteration] and [Reinforcement] on, except it's much stronger.

The original is already on par with Divine Beasts when it comes to speed, much more this modified version. With it, they can arrive in their destination in less than five hours.

As for Kal'tsit, she already used [Alteration] on her SUV. Together with [Great Sage], she managed to enhance it in the same level as Shiro's motorcycle.

"It's farewell... for now." She said before entering her SUV.

Shiro thought of something for a while and said, "I'll pay you a visit once I'm done with my stuff in Colombia."

"You already have your identities. Don't mess around too much."

In less than a day, she managed to help them with their identities thanks to a person whom owed her a favor. He's the one who led a black market in Sargon, thus it's easy for him to do so.

"I promise, I wont." Shiro replied, to which she only responded with, "We'll see."

Soon, her vehicle zoomed away from their vision.

"We should get going too."

Shiro rode the motorcycle. Due to his [Riding (Expert--99%)], he immediately became familiar with it. No practice was needed as the memories of riding the motorcycle popped in his mind.

Meanwhile, Surtr also rode it and hugged him from behind. Of course, with her usual stoic face.

Before they set off, Shiro also casted [Wind Magic] that would nullify the wind impact and prevent sand from touching them.

Vrooooom-!

With that, they left Acahualla, leaving behind a trail of blue light as they went off with speed comparable to Mach 1. What everyone didn't know is that the moment Shiro arrived in this world, the fate of Terra itself had been altered.

His departure only signified the vast changes that he would bring in this world full of suffering...

*****

A/N: To those wondering why I gave her [Great Sage] and not [Wisdom King Raphael] or [Manas] is to create a more reasonable development. Like, the latter two would be broken if given at this time. Though, her [Great Sage] slightly differs from the original as it can evolve to the said skills independently. Other than that, it's completely canon-wise.

PS: There's no fun facts again, sorry. I'm too tired today to make one. As for the chapter, it's the advanced chapter, actually. I've only finished half of the latest advanced chapter today, so I'll finish it tomorrow along with a new chapter.