To the Depth of Abyss

Chapter 215: Can Relax - Calming (Skadi)

"What's she doing?"

"Just like you see, she was beautifying the graves of her friend."

"That's not what I'm asking. Why is she doing that herself?"

At the back of North Coast Palace, right on the edge of the cliff, Skadi is building more beautiful graves for the five existing graves.

That makes Ars questioning Skadi's doings.

"Well, because she wants to build it herself, of course."

"In a world where the human body breaks down into mana particles and leaves no remains, why did she build a grave in the first place?"

In Abyssal Terra, only Black Hunter has their body decomposed. That is because they use dark mana, source of forbidden power from the Older World. 

Even so, as much as possible their bodies should be burned and cremated.

Because of that no burial system was in place, as Skadi was doing.

World Stone replaced the burial system of the heroes of conquest expedition.

Meanwhile, for those who died apart from that, their names will be given to the territory leader and imprinted on the Citizen Grave Stone.

"That's, Citizen Grave Stone!"

Arlene shouted that and made Ars realize his mistake.

"Ooh, ya, I forgot about that. Since this territory is not included in the Abyssal Guild list yet, I didn't think that far."

"You misunderstood that. The five of them, uh, I mean, Skadi's four friends died long before you took control of this territory. So it should be-"

Supposedly, the World Stone appeared in the North Coast Palace, or at least Mild Green Hill. 

However, the stone that engraved the names of the heroes did not appear.

Arlene has had her name listed on several World Stones in several territories. She did not know about Skadi. 

Even though she was not as strong as she is now, Skadi and her comrades should have already made their names recorded in the few of Northeast Region World Stone.

"How does World Stone did not appear in this territory?"

Arlene wondered. 

Even in non-government territory like the Forest Rift Market has its own World Stone.

While Arlene wondering, Ars had joined Skadi on building the grave. 

"This cement mix is too dry. You will have a hard time flattening it later. Add more water and mix again."

"Understood."

Did not know since when Ars already wear yellow helmet. 

He started to act like the head of the project, and Skadi was the worker. Whereas previously he had questioned Skadi's decision to build the five graves.

"I don't want to participate."

Arlene goes inside the castle, leaving the strange couple working on their project.

When Skadi worked on the project alone, she was moving very slowly and didn't seem to know what to do.

Ars' arrival improved the situation, and he immediately took control of the project.

"What do you want with this grave?"

"That Lisa's grave. She was a Caster. I want it to be feminine, but look strong because she is strong."

"If you want this graveyard to look strong, then we have to build it with iron. But it looks like it's wrong. So ditch the idea and make it feminine just fine."

"Alright."

The two of them working on the project like a professional. 

They finished working on five graves at once in just half a day. 

Skadi engraved a name on each grave. 

Ars looked at Skadi's process and found a name he was familiar with.

"Victoria? Isn't that your own name?"

"Yeah. But Victoria had died along with them. So now, I'm just Skadi."

Ars cannot understand. 

He took out a park bench and sit on it while looking at Skadi. 

Arlene and Skadi both have a nickname which made them famous for their fighting strength.

Arlene has Ophelia. Ophelia is a great marksman who bear the Black Sky Spine.

Victoria has Skadi. Skadi is a strong female warrior who bear the Silver Sky Spine and a black sword.

Arlene still holds the title as Ophelia. But she still wanted to be called Arlene.

Meanwhile, Victoria is the opposite. She even throws away her original name with the grave. Now she is Skadi, the super female warrior. 

Skadi was done carving the names on each grave. She walked backwards, then sat down with Ars.

They finish work in the afternoon. 

They both smelled their own smelly sweat. The sweat wasn't from the fight, but manual labor that shouldn't be done by someone as rich as Ars and a woman like Skadi.

However, they both enjoy the job.

"I haven't laborry work like this in a long time. This makes me feel nostalgic."

The last time Ars worked as a laborer was before meeting Fafnir. At that time he was still a subordinate to stronger people and received payment on a commission basis.

Now, here he is. Became the richest person in Floor 2. 

"Do you have any other request besides this?"

"Request?"

Being asked suddenly like that made Skadi curious.

"Yeah. Something like, make a Citizen Grave Stone and engrave your names there?"

Ars' suggestion made Skadi think. "Aren't you supposed to do that once this territory is recognized by the Guild?"

"Well, it's okay to do it now. After all, there wouldn't be a big problem like the other day since there weren't any Black Hunter higher ups on this Floor."

Echidna was the only high-ranking Black Hunter on the 2nd Floor. She was the culprit of all the major events that had occurred during the past year.

With Echidna defeated, peace returns to the 2nd Floor.

"Hmm, maybe that is a good idea."

Skadi answered that with leaning her head on Ars' shoulder. 

Skadi is a very quiet woman. If you don't ask anything, start the conversation first, or she has nothing to do with you, she won't open her mouth.

But, she is a very honest one. She did not say her honesty by mouth, but through attitude.

Now, she was leaning on Ars' shoulder, and taking Ars' hand for her to hold. 

The serenity was very calming. Until Ars suddenly stand up and princess carry Skadi. 

Skadi immediately knew what Ars going to do. She did not fight back, but  

"I need to take a bath first."

"Then we can take a bath together."

With that, they took a bath together. 

Another calming day passed in Floor 2.