Chapter 1720: A Chamber of Memories - Frosttusk

As we flew down the tunnels of the burial ground, doing our best to avoid being spotted by guards, I was doing a more and more terrible job of reining in my emotions.

Nostalgia, rage, and sadness seemed to surge throughout my non-corporeal form as we travelled through these tunnels and I began to remember more and more of a past that used to be quite fuzzy. It had actually gotten to the point that Zhen Shi had taken notice.

I suppose this was one of the major downsides of [Possession], but a conditional one that required me to lose control of myself.

’Frosttusk...are you okay?’ Zhen Shi asked with more sincerity than I honestly deserved. ’Your soul feels rather turbulent right now.’

[I don’t have a soul anymore...at least, I don’t think,] I replied, unsure if I was actually being truthful on that front.

I couldn’t see Zhen Shi’s reaction to my statement, but I could feel that he was directing a flat gaze at me.

[What?]

’The curators, and my own grandson, assured me that you and your kin are essentially made of the same stuff as souls. So apologies if I think the statement that you don’t have a soul is utter bullshit.’

[Hmm. I guess you’re right.]

When I was alive, I had lived a life very similar to how Zhen Shi had lived. As such, he was more qualified than anyone I knew to call me out on my bullshit.

I was about to reply to his statement, when the duo of Hurricroak and Zhen Hai called back to us and others about incoming opponents.

To be more precise, they used their combined telepathic powers to inform us without worrying about any ambient echoes.

"I’m detecting eight aura signatures ahead of us," Zhen Hai reported. "They’re weaker than us, though, so we should be able to plow right through them."

"You don’t think any of them will have the ability to slip away and alert the others on what we’re doing?" Zhen Long asked his son.

"Probably...but we also have enough skills between us that can make sure that won’t be the case," Zhen Hai answered before directing his attention towards me and Zhen Shi. "This is going to sound odd, but do you have anything quiet enough to take them all out?"

"We do not," Zhen Shi answered for the both of us.

"But we got something," Hakon said as he and Nepherage flew forward.

A dose of [Heroism] turned out to be the exact thing Hakon needed to undertake this trial with the boldness he needed to succeed.

And, as it turned out, he proved to be quite compatible with Nepherage.

As Hakon flew forward, he began to channel torrents of fire and earth aether into his palms before diving down and slamming his fists into the ground.

[Volcanic Rock Ricochet!]

Under their combined influence, perfect spheres of molten rock shot out of the ground and began to bounce off the walls and ceilings of the tunnel forward.

The warrior guarding the passage, a group of five Aether Masters and a trio of Grandmasters, were all caught completely blindsided as the volcanic rocks bounced from weird angles and impacted them with the power of [Chaos].

The Aether Masters had no way of blocking the attack with their meager abilities, but the Grandmasters did their level best to block with their [Regalia]. However, that was a pointless effort on their part.

The look of horrific realization that their carefully crafted [Regalia], the armor that was the representation of a warrior’s [Conviction] made manifest, falling away to the power of [Chaos] was something that always brought a smile to my face.

That sounded cruel of me, and it was, but many of the enemies that minn Jarl and I had faced were always quite full of themselves.

Minn Jarl always seemed to enjoy the look of utter shock and bewilderment whenever these blowhard warriors got their comeuppance, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that such a behavior didn’t rub off on not just me, but the other kaijin as well.

Hakon’s and Nepherage’s combined attack knocked the wind out of the Aether Masters, but the Grandmasters were still standing if somewhat injured.

Thankfully, they were dazed long enough that Zhen Shi and I could take out one, while the other two were dealt with by Terra and Zhen Long/Slug-at-Arms.

"Okay, I can understand now why Father was able to rock the shit out of the Wolfe Family when we finally came to blows," Zhen Long commented as he pulled back the power of poison that he had gained with Slug-at-Arms possession. "I don’t like all the cursing I’m doing though."

"I’m okay with it," Zhen Shi surprisingly answered. "Makes me feel oddly young again."

"I mean...you did also get oddly younger after Frosttusk merged with you the first time," Zhen Long commented. "Wait, now that I think about it, why didn’t that happen with me or any of my brothers?"

"It’s because I broke through while possessed," Zhen Shi explained. "The surge of aether from that combined with Frosttusk’s innate [Chaos] did...something to me. Either way, I ain’t complaining about getting a couple of years shaved off my face."

After that brief combat encounter, the rest of us continued to fly down the corridor towards my former resting place.

However, as we flew, I could feel that Zhen Shi was sensing something odd about the space ahead of us, or at least, something that went against his memories.

Not only that, but it was something shared between the other Zhen Clan members.

"Hey, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the last time we were here, it got colder the closer we got to the axe," Zhen Hai asked his elders. "I remember feeling like my toes were about to freeze off the last time we were here."

"It was," Zhen Shi agreed. I could feel twinges of worry bubbling up from our connection.

"So why does it feel like we’re entering the spring side of the valley?"

Eventually, as we got close enough to what should’ve been the final resting ground, we got our answer as to what was going on.

"Huh...that’s new."

"Those weren’t here before."

And I got the explanation as to where the [Death Echo Amber] that carried my essence came from.

[Huh...]

The five us entered a large, natural chamber that was clearly used as a secondary campground, as evident by the burnt out fires and sleeping rolls laying about.

At the center of the chamber should’ve just been the skeleton of the Ice-Blood Mammoth and the ancestral axe embedded in its forehead.

My old body, despite its high cultivation, should’ve withered into dust by now, especially if the aether concentration was as thick as the others had reported.

All of the aforementioned was true, but the presence of the Collectrix’s forces had changed the environment.

Dangling from the ceiling were thick three roots, thicker than the trunks of redwood trees, that spiralled down and wrapped themselves around the skeletal remains of the Ice-Blood Mammoth and several of the larger aether crystals in the chamber.

From these thick roots hung golden-colored stalactites of amber that occasionally dropped big globs of sap.

This root network radiated a warm vitality that seemed to repel the cold in most of the cavern except in one singular spot: the ancestral axe.

An aura of vicious cold was encapsulating it like a snow globe...and explained that poor bastard from earlier.

"Alright, I’m confused," Terra admitted as she remembered this chamber being a lot colder than before and a lot less. "What the fuck is all this?"

"If I had to hazard a guess," Zhen Shi began to explain as he walked over to a fire pit and examined that the fires and only been put out only recently. "The tribal warriors here probably set up camp down here to try and secure the axe, but in the process of doing so, their constant fires and influxes of outside aether, stimulated the cavern in an unexpected way. Namely, melting the ice and allowing those roots to come down and ensnare the skeleton."

"Okay, that makes sense," Zhen Hai nodded as he looked around the chamber and picked up a piece of fallen amber. "But why haven’t these guys try to remove the roots?"

"I’m going to guess laziness," Zhen Long speculated before spotting something that immediately changed his answer. "Or the tree roots are the incredibly reactive type. Do you get that type of dangle from a neck snap or strangulation?"

"What are you—oh."

Mixed into the roots, obscured by the stalactites of amber, several dead warriors could be seen.

Judging from the way they looked somewhat juicy, suggested that they were only recently slain.

As the others in my group began to discuss how they were going to approach the axe, I used the moment to sweep my own senses over the roots.

For reasons I wasn’t sure about, but the roots felt...oddly familiar.