D.I.O

Chapter 127

Well, I guess its not my concern.

Upon closer inspection, Merlin noticed that Nell and Perrins magic systems were overly complicated and inefficient. Their magic techniques were different from the [Complete] cultivation techniques and schools of thoughts that were available to users. Though Merlin didnt know it, the magic techniques that Nell and Perrin used were actually considered [Complete] for their time; the ones that Merlin had access to were just revised, perfected versions. The revisions were performed by beings who had reached divine status in their respective fields, so the cultivation techniques and schools of thoughts that users had access to were dramatically different from their originals.

Flap!

With the fluttering sounds of wings flapping, a red-colored eagle came down from the sky. It was Merlins pet, Quiet Heaven.

Hey, where have you been? I havent seen you in a while. Henry said.

Ugh, my wings. I materialized mid-air somewhere when you logged back in, so I had to fly a considerable distance. This freaking whale moves fast!

Merlin couldnt help but smile as Quiet Heaven complained while perched atop his head.

What? Hahaha! I guess your login location follows spatial coordinates.

It cant be helped. It would have been nice if you [Recalled] me, then Id materialize next to you, but it didnt seem like you were going to do that anytime soon.

Oh, right. You said I can use the recall function once every hour, right?

In DIO, a users pet could be summoned by the users side at any time, regardless of distance. In case a user lost their pet, the DIO system gave users a recall skill that allowed pets to materialize next to their owners at any time.

Oh, is that your hawk? asked Nell.

Hawk?! Im an eagle!

Seeing Quiet Heaven get angry, Nell quickly apologized.

Oh, really? Im so sorry. I dont know much about animals.

Animal?!

Quiet Heaven began to bicker with Nell and Perrin. It seemed that Quiet Heaven had piqued Perrins interest, as she asked many questions as she conversed with Quiet Heaven.

Im starting to feel a lot of different auras around us.

When he turned his head, Merlin saw Red Blood, the large lion, who he had met the day before, and a weasel running beside him with its short legs. A little further ahead of them, Merlin saw a man with a dragons head and a human body with a black leopard beside him. In the sky, different species of birds with black wings could be seen flying around.

The other representatives are gathering. Dont make a scene like yesterday. Fortunately, we were able to deal with that mermaid prince yesterday without much fuss, but we should avoid making trouble as possible on our way to receive the prophecy, Miho commented.

Huh? But you started the quarrel, didnt you?

There are many variables that could lead to trouble, I wouldnt have taken things that far if I knew what would happen. It was just a competition of pride; I didnt mean for a real clash to occur. So uhm, dont fight from now on. Y-youre my colleague, so Ill protect you.

Mihos flushed face looked cute, but Merlin, oblivious, simply nodded and returned to looking around. In no time, representatives from each power gathered on top of Moby Dicks head.

Wow, what a spectacular scene.

Merlin saw a man wrapped in white armor, as if he were a saint. There was a dwarf running around that looked less than a meter tall, and a fairy flying about. A red lion and a winged creature were chatting, and an elf with a slender body whispered to a fairy that was sitting on its shoulder.

Its interesting to see users in fancy clothes, but this is also interesting in its own way. Is it because theyre all from different races?

Typically for humans, the more people there were, beauty remained scarce, but ugliness became more plentiful. However, unlike humans, all the human-like NPCs were physically beautiful. It was interesting and refreshing just to look at these NPCs. Merlin felt that one male elf in particular, sitting on a railing, looked infinitely cool.

Man, how come I cant choose another race? I want to be an elf.

As Merlin muttered casually, Miho, who was next to him, asked, Huh? Elf? Why?

Theyre so cool and pretty, elven men and women.

In truth, Merlin liked pretty and cute things. One might say Merlin had a little girls taste; he liked dolls and always gushed when seeing pets. Even when Merlin first met Miho, he thought she was so cute that he momentarily couldnt gather himself.

Hmm. Do you dislike your background?

A little bit. Its not too annoying, but to be honest, I think my height, eyes, nose, and mouth are uselessly big. This isnt a joke but honestly, Im a scary guy. It would be nice if I were a bit softer around the edges

Its okay.

What?

Merlins eyes grew round after hearing Mihos unexpected reply. He didnt understand what was okay.

What are you talking about?

I-I think youre really okay.

Thats what Im asking about. What do you mean by that

Ah, were here!

Right then, a loud voice drew everyones attention to one place. Merlin also turned his head.

Whoa! Whats that?

It was a huge crystal tower shaped like a cylinder. It was hundreds of meters in diameter, and several kilometers high. The tower was so massive that Merlin could not even see its peak.

Why havent we been able to see this until now? Something this massive should be visible from far away, no?

Thats because the Tower of Truth isnt visible to those who havent entered the Holy Shrine. Only existences like Moby Dick are able to enter.

Wow.

Merlin looked at the Tower of Truth with an impressed expression on his face. There were many large buildings in the real world, but this tower was taller and more splendid than anything else hed ever seen.

Rumble!

Moby Dick cried out as if stating that he had returned home. After making one revolution around the Tower of Truth, it landed in a lake located in front of the tower. Curiously enough, the lakes water didnt overflow, even though Moby Dicks giant body was immersed in it fully.

Whats with this lake? Somethings off about it.

Its the place that Moby Dick usually resides in. Its called the abyss. It looks like a simple lake, but it's tremendously deep.

Thats what it seems like.

Merlin nodded as he looked at the lake where Moby Dick had half immersed itself. It was not very big. In fact, it seemed barely large enough to contain Moby Dick if it fully submerged itself. If it were an ordinary lake, Moby Dick would have displaced a tremendous amount of water.

Whoosh!

When Moby Dick stopped descending, the representatives disembarked. Of course, Moby Dick was a divine spirit animal, so even though its body was half submerged in water, the distance from the top of its body to the ground was considerable. However, the beings atop Moby Dick werent normal either. They made their way off the massive whale in their own unique ways, some jumping, some flying.

We should head out, too, Miho said.

Merlin nodded. Okay. Hey, Quiet Heaven, lets go.

Alright, but what about these girls? Quiet Heaven asked.

Shall we go together? Im planning on using a spell anyway. said Nell.

With a bright smile, Nell stood beside Merlin and began to mumble under her breath. She was casting a kind of gravitational spell. However, the spell didnt follow the kind of gravity reduction concept that was commonly used among users. Nell was casting a kind of anti-gravity concept spell instead.

Oho, theres even a spell like that.

Merlin analyzed and interpreted the mechanism of Nells spell. Fortunately, it was very simple, at least for Merlin.

Whoosh.

Miho, Merlin, Nell, and Perrins body rose in the air. Slowly, they began to descend.

Merlin suddenly stated, I think itll be better to divide your right magic power pillar in two and rotate them a little to the left.

Huh? What are you talking about?

Magic power?

Perrin and Quiet Heaven asked their questions at the same time. Merlins comment was out of the blue, so it had confused both of them, but Nells expression was completely different.

Do you know this spell?

No, but it looks a little incomplete and unstable. Im an Enhanced Eyesight user, so Im able to look into magic power patterns.

Saying this, Merlin pointed to his right eye. His black eyes turned golden for a moment and then returned to normal.

What Merlin didnt know was that this anti-gravity magic spell was unique to Nells school. Furthermore, the spell had an esoteric structure, as it was considered a hidden card-type of spell. In addition, gravity manipulation spells were famous for their high difficulty, so it was virtually impossible for one to observe and grasp them immediately.

What's wrong? asked Merlin.

Nell laughed. Nothing! Youre a very interesting person.

?

Though Merlin couldnt understand Nells response, the four continued downward until they arrived on the ground. Merlin could have used the spirits that he had to float down to the ground, as they were now powerful enough to do such things. However, since he had received Nells assistance, he respectfully bowed to her.

Thank you.

No worries. See you a bit later.

A bit later?

Merlin was confused, but Nell just smiled and left with Perrin in tow. Merlin observed every other pairing going off in different directions. He concluded that there must be a designated area where each pairing had to go.

Hmm? Where are we supposed to go?

Everyone goes to their designated entrance. The Tower of Truth has a separate entrance for each of the powers. Lets see our entrance is ah, found it.

Miho walked closer to the Tower of Truth, towards an area that seemed to be designated for them. Quiet Heaven, who had returned to its position atop Merlins head, asked Merlin a question.

Im just curious did you receive a quest?

No. I received some minor quests when I was on the island, but I havent received anything regarding the new continent.

Merlin sifted through his memories. When Miho had asked him to accompany her to the new continent, he hadnt received a quest. Merlin had received a lot of minor requests for simple acts, so he felt that it was strange that he hadnt received a quest for something as important as accompanying a representative to receive a prophecy at the Holy Shrine.

Hmm. I feel like something is off. I have a bad feeling about this.

Huh? Why? Do you think weve entered a pre-developed zone?

I hope thats the case

If a user didnt receive a request when accompanying a representative to receive a prophecy at the Holy Shrine, then this entire process was something that the system did not intend for users to participate in. However, the system still followed the rule that everything was open to users. Even though this was the case, Merlin still hadnt received a quest.

Perhaps these monsters arent neutral but opposing forces for users, so a quest event may not have been created for Merlin at least, this is one possibility. Quiet Heaven thought.

Quiet Heaven didnt share its thoughts with Merlin. Since Merlin considered Quiet Heaven to be a virtual entity, sharing such thoughts on the system and its overarching principles might have been confusing or weird for Merlin. At worst, Merlin and Quiet Heaven, who was now connected to this world, could be killed, but then theyd just revive again.

Ting!

While Quiet Heaven was having these thoughts, Miho had placed her hand on one of the Tower of Truths many doors. After a moment, the sound of a door opening rang out.

Once we cross here, we begin the [Trial] for the Blue Forest Islands representative.

Trial? Is it something difficult?

Miho shook her head.

Not too difficult. Itll just take some time uhm, Quiet Heaven, can you leave us alone for a moment?

Eh? Why?

This space will only accept a powers representative and his or her accompanying traveler. Only the two of us can enter.

If this wasnt the case, then the trial would be rendered moot. It was a necessary process to make sure that the right beings with the correct qualifications were receiving the prophecy.

Id really like to enter as my masters pet but since there are other species around this place, I guess it wouldnt be fair to give me any privileges I guess Ill just have a look around the place and wait for you both to come out.

After nodding its head, Quiet Heaven flew up into the air. Quiet Heaven was a skilled flier, and soon became a small red dot in the sky.

Lets go in. said Miho.

Should I place some sort of defensive protection spell on us? Merlin asked because of his experience with dungeons, but Miho shook her head.

Were probably not going to fight until we enter the last room. This first room is where the Tower of Truth checks ones heart, spirit, and body, so only I need to do something after we enter. You should just stand back and watch.

But thats so boring.

Though Merlin grumbled, Miho entered the Tower of Truth without hesitation. Just like how the outer parts of the tower were made of crystal, the entire interior was constructed with crystal as well, from the floor to the ceiling.