The God of Jesters
Chapter 551 - 8.14.3 This place sucks.

Chapter 551: 8.14.3 This place sucks.

It’s been a while since I enjoyed the seas.

My current form was that of a seagull, while my core was that of a wooden Idol that my old friend Malidi once sealed me in. However, with his departure and some further understanding of runes and such, this idol had become an important tool for me.

"But it’s draining." The idol was capable of isolating me from outside influence, a sort of protection considering how weak I used to be in the early days.

This constrained wooden idol always made me feel suffocated and made it so that it was harder for me to enjoy the surrounding signs. Increasing my hatred for it.

But in comes Lord Emotion and his little bits of trickery, I had long understood that it won’t be long before my fall at his hands.

I was not blind, I had seen his desires, his wants, and his greed for me. And the reason? It can only be blamed on the body Lord Emotion Inhabited, a shitty pirate that used to rule the seas, but turned into a vessel for the God of Emotions by the little bits of manipulation on Malidi and my side.

Turning him into what he is today.

A day that I do regret at this point, but I also understand that I will end up doing it again considering there was a need for a powerful force to protect Ikaros’s legacy and his country. This is why I made a deal with Malidi all those years ago, causing the fall of Quatol where Lord of Emotion was born.

It was also the last time I saw Malidi and his words, I still remember well enough. "The hatred hasn’t gone away, careful." Such a warning can be ignored by the arrogant, but as someone as arrogant as me, I made sure that I could establish a reason to be arrogant all this while.

I need to make sure I won’t fall for his tricks, and in case I did, there will be a backup unsullied by him. Which is where my current soul form came to use.

"Though the memories and details in this body are lesser than the original, my capabilities are just a fraction of what I used to be, my knowledge even limited and no amount of reading will fix it. Such restrictive soul."

I cursed at my fate for a bit before finding this experience a bit entertaining at the same time.

Since awakening in the Idol, I had only a couple of years before my soul dissipated. That was the limit of this parted soul.

As for the souls that develop their own identity? They were also under the same restriction, they would exist as long as the core existed even if they turned completely different from what their core used to be.

Well, that is, unless one of them ends up devouring the core. ’He is looking for a replacement.’ I had little time, I had to act fast, I needed to get to Malidi and request for his help again.

Though the direction I flew was much different than the seas itself.

Many people have made the mistake of thinking that Malidi had run to the seas due to the oppression he faced on the land. Though who can tell those ignorant people the truth, there are few things that can scare Malidi.

His surviving all those forbidden zones was not out of luck alone, he had the strength to back up his expeditions.

And currently, if the information in my head was not false, Malidi would be exploring the. The Cave of Wonderment.

An infamous place among the higher level individuals while being hidden from the majority of the world due to how hard it is to reach by mortal means.

Few knew of its existence, and few had dared to ever venture close to it.

As for those who had dared to enter out of ignorance?

The majority of them died, among the survivors, most died out of paranoia due to their harrowing experience, and among those that did survive, virtually all of them ended up bound.

The reason? Well, the survivors never say what happened.

And well, there had only been a couple of survivors that went blind, to begin with. Such was the fate of all of those who entered that accursed place.

As for where it was? Obviously pretty close but pretty far away.

A place that you can never find on your own, as it’s a place that keeps moving, possessing the entrances of countless caves that exist on the Brihma continent, making it much harder to keep track of its entrance.

And even if you do end up finding it, it’s by only giving up your mortality that you can enter in, which in the Cave’s rules is anyone who walks on the path of transcendence.

Meaning that even with the appearance of a cave close to mortals, the most it would do is cause the transcendent close to it to have dreams of countless riches the cave possessed. Which has made many give up their life.

If I am not wrong, the place where this cave appeared is closer to the Pulgasiri mountains which are riddled with caves made by dwarves after a millennium of living there.

"This body is weak." On the third day, my body pummeled and fell into the sea. Before the bird died, I did send a certain signal to the weak-minded fishes in the ocean, who timely caught the bird in their mouth, followed by me possessing the small swordfish.

I can be considered lucky as this little fishy was much faster than I had anticipated, though it can’t compare to the flight of a bird. But beggars can’t be choosers, I am limited by the options at hand. ’Hopefully, I can arrive on time before this soul dissipates.’

*****

Rosso woke up in a dark cave, feeling much weaker and thinner than before.

Even if he had ascended to the ranks of Grandmaster, he was still a slave to his biological needs. Which in this specific case was desiring food for his weak body. ’I lost too much.’

Dragon had no remorse for him, all Rosso remembers is the pain of his bones breaking and his flesh sizzling from all the heat generated by friction.

An odd occurrence as he was not a mere mortal to be easily hurt by heat caused by friction unless the speed at which he moved in the atmosphere far exceeded his limits. "I need new clothes as well."

Rosso got up and started to look around the surroundings before his ears picked up some sound causing him to turn and look into a distance. "He is there." Although the door was shut, Rosso could see that the Dragon was not far from him sleeping.

’Huh?’ Which felt odd for a bit before his nose picked up the scent of cooked meat on the side, though all he found was cleaned-up bones and nothing more. "I should hunt I presume." Rosso was not the old him, truly.

With the evolution of his blood came the evolution of his talents. With his eye of insight, he can see things much more clearly, even if he is divided by walls.

However if there was one thing that surprised him, it would be the density of magical elements in this place. ’It would be heaven for a mage.’ Rosso spoke as he looked at the surrounding air along with the lives that were lit up like fireflies in his eyes. "First sustenance, then the rest." Considering how volatile Dragon was, it would be stupid to wake that monster by himself, so the most Rosso can do at this time is rest and tend to his wounds.

Though such thoughts of Rosso soon turned to worry as he explored more of the mansion and he inched closer to the door. ’So many corpses.’ Although the clothes on them were worn down, by the little bits of frills and colors he could make out, it was easy to see that these were servants.

Otherwise, the clothes won’t match so much. ’Does this place used to be his hideout? Or is it a place that man recently discovered? Depending on the answer, his fate might differ in the future. ’Ho, I will obtain answers once he wakes up, for now, focus on dealing with this hunger.’

Opening the door, Rosso was left speechless. ’What?’ This place, this place felt like heaven to him.

Though more than feeling like heaven, there was a sense of oppression the more he looked at the place. ’Forbidden.’ His eyes bled in this place, and his nose and body started to feel pangs of pain as memories not his own started to fill his mind.

There were villages in these memories, cities, and even entire islands.

However, the moment a dark figure appeared, all of these would be turned into ashes. "Seal." Rosso’s eye of Melancholy suddenly lit up in red light helping Rosso break away from the dirt that tried to sully his mind. "This is too much." Rosso put his head down, not daring to look up at all.

’This is a forbidden zone.’ he came to this realization as his stomach growled. ’Hah.’ Closing the door without daring to look outside, Rosso was left with frustration as he could see deer-shaped things jumping around, but he didn’t dare to walk out in fear of what he might see. ’I guess, I now understand why these people didn’t go out.’ Rosso spoke, looking at the corpses around this dead mansion. ’It’s a tomb.’