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Chapter 566: Lurking Shadows

The following months became a hectic period within Fyor’s history. They had never had to worry much about the creation of large, aerial vehicles. Unlike other worlds, there was no chance of Fyor developing its own space program, given that there was a definite ceiling to each floor that they encountered.

The only other reason that one would use such a bulky vehicle was further rendered moot with the existence of the teleportation gates commonly erected between large cities. Portable versions were even used to increase the efficiency in helping the city be built in the first place. While they did possess some flying craft, those were only used in special circumstances, and not meant for prolonged flights.

What was undoubtedly more frustrating was the fact that Fyor had stricter requirements when it came to developing their crafts as opposed to every other world. If it wasn’t small enough to fit through the gate or inside of some manner of mystical storage, it was unusable for the exploration mission of the twenty-fifth floor.

Even with the remarkable progress that had recently been made in energy efficiency, the fuel requirements to sustain a craft in a gravitational field dozens of times normal left any pilot exhausting their energy faster than they could sustain it. If a pilot was able to last for ten hours on the twenty-fifth floor, then they would easily be able to last as long as they wished anywhere else…

Regardless, the literal and metaphorical pressure gave way to progress in time. Slim, two-person jets were created along with a refined fuel battery. These batteries were small enough to store in a storage space, and would constantly absorb ambient mana while retrieved to convert it into refined liquid mana. Although the speed would not match the rate it was drained, it was still enough to provide the pilots with some relief.

One adventurous duo immediately bought ten of these batteries along with the latest compatible jet, before attempting another foray into the twenty-fifth floor. These two were undoubtedly a pair of thrill-seekers, spending a large sum only for the chance to be the first people to see an entirely unexplored territory.

The couple, a married duo of halflings, set out on their adventure while throwing caution to the wind. Once their batteries were fully charged, they plotted their course and set off to the far west. In order to maximize their energy, they ascended to an elevation of two thousand kilometers, one-fourth of the distance to this layer’s ceiling before allowing themselves to glide at a reduced speed.

Fifteen hours into their expedition, they had passed their previous distance. By alternating between using his own energy and the batteries, the husband of the duo had been keeping himself in top form while his way stayed in reserve. As far as they could see, there was still nothing but an empty, blue ocean.

Another fifteen hours passed before the two of them saw something. At this point the mental exhaustion was more tiring than the actual lack of energy, and the two were eager to simply stretch their legs. That’s why, when they saw land in the distance, they at first thought it was their eyes playing tricks on them.

And in a way… it was. Rather than a continent, what they saw was a great mountain reaching all the way to the ceiling, the upper tip of it being visible from their elevation. Yet this was still enough for them to push on, as it confirmed that there was indeed land beyond the horizon.

At this point, the husband was exhausted in both his pilot’s essence and his mentality, allowing his wife to take over for him to carry them the rest of the distance. She was not as conservative with her energy as he was. Now that they had a goal in sight, she accelerated the jet to its maximum speed, burning through the mana batteries and her own essence within a mere five hours.

Those five hours, however, were enough time for them to reach the promised land. A large cliff rose a hundred meters above the surface of the water, looking to be a sheer drop if one were to fall. The only handholds that one could possibly hope to grab onto were the thick tree branches breaking through the rock wall.

Atop the cliff were giant trees, each one over a kilometer tall and stretching out to cover a wide area. Seeing that, the wife grinned and dove in, finding an open patch of land to aim the jet at. Before they left, they were given an item to deploy, should they reach a sizable landmass. And while she had no way of knowing if this were the largest landmass, it was definitely sizable.

As such, she didn’t hesitate to deploy the item from the jet as soon as she was close to the ground, causing a ring to detach from the bottom of the craft and dig into the soil. This ring was a portable teleportation gate, paired to another gate on the island that they departed from. Although this item had a limited lifespan, it was more than enough time to set up a longer lasting solution.

Back at the island of Gate’s Rest, Petra held an oversized hammer over her shoulder, smiling to herself as she waited. She was surrounded by a dozen hopeful craftsmen and hired adventurers, and would be serving as part of the escort team. In truth, part of her excitement was the fact that she herself had not seen what this layer had to offer.

Sure, Thelsa had brought her to the twenty-fifth floor long ago to acquire the shadow of this layer, but they had never truly explored it. There had been no need to, as it would be more effort than it was feasibly worth. At most, they would gain a few levels as a scout after spending days crossing the ocean in the shadow-world. That time was better spent on other activities.

Now, however, those ‘other activities’ happened to coincide with her desire to explore. After all, they were getting paid to do this as official adventurers. Even just waiting on this small island had proven to be exciting for her! When the day cycle ended, and night fell across the floor, she had seen the dancing lights covering the ceiling.

Although she knew that these lights were truly countless bioluminescent insects crawling along the upper crust of the layer, it was still an incredibly beautiful sight. Every now and then, one of these many ‘stars’ would fall into the sea, only to be swallowed up by a massive whale.

While Petra was thinking about that, there was a low hum from the ring-shaped device installed on the ground. This indicated that the matching gate had been successfully deployed. “Alright! Call the boys!” Petra shouted. Unlike herself, there were many that had gone off to relax while waiting for the ring to activate.

They couldn’t truly be blamed. Nobody knew how far it would be until the nearest landmass, or even if they would be able to find one in the first place. They didn’t see a reason to stick around when there was nothing for them to do.

Once they heard that the ring had activated, though, they immediately entered ‘work mode’. One by one they emerged from the gate, filling the small island with some of the most capable combatants and craftsmen the world of Fyor had to offer.

The prospective head of the twenty-fifth layer’s Guild branch, a gruff dovah, stepped forward to activate the ring. “We’re on a time crunch, everyone.” He muttered, waving his furred hand to beckon everyone to follow him through.

Once the portal was activated, it would remain stable for two hours. After that, the components would begin to degrade from the constant flow of energy, and the portal could destabilize at any moment. Within those two hours, they had to first decide if the location they had been given was suitable for them to build a settlement.

If the land was found acceptable, they had to spend their remaining time constructing either a new temporary gate, or install a permanent one. The former was by far the more common choice, as they could be installed within the time limit. Establishing a permanent gate meant laying the groundwork for ambient mana refining, which meant constructing additional buildings.

Although using multiple temporary gates was more expensive, it was often chosen as the proper course of action due to the ability to rapidly deploy and evacuate in the event of a disaster. Likewise, everyone in this group understood that the guild master had chosen to use this method as well.

In order to facilitate the construction of a basic settlement, the dovah had prepared six sets of temporary gates. Although each one only lasted two hours, they did not have to be used consecutively. As long as they were only used to fetch construction materials and food, they could make them last up to a week.

One week to build the foundation for a small city. For the craftsmen, this was a challenge they relished. For the hired guards, however, it was an entirely different story. For one week, they had to escort and protect this group against any potential threats within an unknown environment. It was quite frankly a bodyguard’s worst nightmare.

Petra was an exception to this, as she never even considered the possibility of failing. Due to the request of both herself and the craftsman, she knew exactly who she was paired with. Her partner was a black-haired human by the name of Shae Dou. More importantly, he was one of the many shadows that Thelsa had created long ago, nurturing his skills over time.

It was thanks to those like Shae that Thelsa discovered something incredible. So long as both she and her shadows existed within the land connected to her shadow world, there was no limit to the distance that they could put between themselves. Even now, there were mercenaries and mages, chefs and carpenters scattered throughout the previous floors, all connected through their shadows.

Anyone could be the face of the Shadow Saint, and it would be incredibly difficult to point them out, unless one knew what they were looking for. Although Thelsa was able to train them, she couldn’t forge them a proper history, which led to them being exposed whenever one were to dig too deeply into their background.

Thankfully, most of this could be explained away by having the shadows claim to be from another world. Few organizations had the authority to track someone across dimensional borders.

But now, as Petra stood near Shae on the other side of the gate, his shadow magnetized to her own, mixed together with the shade provided from the canopy overhead. Petra gave a grin as the two of them began to walk the perimeter, inspecting for any unusual resources or dangers.

This is totally awesome! She couldn’t help but communicate through her shadow, a chuckle being sent back by Thelsa.

Enjoy yourself, but make sure to stay safe. I don’t want to lose you, too. Thelsa’s voice was soft, and Petra subconsciously nodded her head in response.

I know, don’t worry. If anything looks too tough, I’ll hide in the shadow and retreat. It wouldn’t be that easy, and they both knew it. One didn’t earn the title of ‘saint’ from the system by caring only for their own well-being. Petra would naturally do everything she could to ensure the safety of the expedition over her own life. And that was why Thelsa was preparing to act, should the need arise.

“Do you feel that?” Shae asked hesitantly as they reached the perimeter, drawing Petra’s attention away from her conversation with Thelsa.

“Hmm? What is it?”

Shae knelt down, placing one palm flat against the ground. He closed his eyes and focused, before suddenly shooting to his feet. “Tremors.”

“Eh? But Fyor doesn’t get earthquakes.” With each layer of Fyor being built on indestructible, immovable mineral layers, there had never been a ‘natural’ earthquake in the planet’s history. Only outside sources such as mana siphons, druids, or particular spells could create such effects.

“Not a quake. A footstep. A big one.” Shae kept his voice low, gesturing with two fingers to the edge of the treeline. Petra hesitated for a moment before walking over, poking her head past a tree to get a look at what was on the other side.

In the distance, the forest gave way to a vast plain. And within the plain was a lone figure, standing over five hundred meters tall. Just like how Petra carried her oversized hammer over her shoulder, this giant similarly held one of the massive trees as a club.

Now that she could see it, and could see its feet hitting the ground, she was able to notice the faint tremors that spread out along with its footsteps. It didn’t seem to notice them, and it wasn’t coming their way, but it was still too close for comfort.