Now that I have a map of my destination and a cool magical satchel with a storage dimension, I'm well on my way to paying off my ledger.
I crack my neck, roll my shoulders, and bounce on my feet, getting ready to fly to my first quest in the Celestial Realm. It's exhilarating having elemental powers back. I breathe in the fresh air.
As I fly through the sea of clouds, past mountains shrouded in more clouds, I look at the Celestial Realm's compass, stationed in the sky, and veer northwest. The wind rushes through my hair as I fly past other immortals on their divine bird beasts or their magic-imbued swords.
I spot a mountain glistening blue with barely any foliage. It looks like a floating comet. That looks like a place where Starfall Caverns might be hiding. As I get closer to the mountain, my flying seems to falter. There's a gravitational pull on this mountain, and I torpedo against my will, straight down. I quickly flip my body and brace myself to land on my feet. I hit the ground a bit too fast so I tumble to a halt. Not quite the entrance I was envisioning. I pop back up, flick my hair, and brush the dust off myself. This body's not that bad actually. It can take a hit.
There appears to be a golem standing sentinel at a gaping mouth on a precipice in the mountain. Well, that's one way to stay conspicuous. I make my way to the Golem. It stirs as I approach it.
"Halt. State your name. And purpose."
"Ling Yue. One shard of Lunar Jade."
Its eyes light up and it scans my body from head to toe with its eerie red rays.
"You are a different species, one that's never stepped foot in the cavern before. You may proceed."
Huh, that was easy - too easy. I'm getting very suspicious now. All the ancient ruins that I've been to, have some tests or some death traps. Even in my master's basement, there are death traps. This golem is the most easygoing guard ever.
"Excuse me, Mr. Golem. Is this Starfall Caverns?"
He stiffly nods, his neck cracking as the pebbles press together.
"Thank you."
I wave to him, entering the cavern. He's quite helpful too.
Inside, stalactites hang from the ceiling, and there are stairways carved in stone, spiraling down.
I cautiously descend the stairway, eyes peeled for booby traps. No darts are flying, no pendulum of death. This is too safe.
"Hello?"
My voice echoes. Silence. Here I was, hoping for some action. This place seems as rigid as the realm's many rules. I wonder if there's a correlation.
I recall the warning of the Crown Prince.
He said, "If you get overcome by greed, you'll be dropped to the netherworld."
If I was a shard, where would I hide in this cavern?
Then I spot a wisp, many wisps suddenly appear and transform into howling ghosts. Am I heading to the netherworld? Okay, this ghoulish scene is a good reminder of where I can end up.
If I ignore them, I wonder if they will return the favor. They seem to see me, but they're not attacking me. I'm just gonna keep walking. If they don't hurt me, I won't hurt them.
I hear a whisper.
"Ling Yue..."
A shiver runs down my spine. Okay, this is getting creepy now.
A mountain of air-cooked krill floats to me. It looks scrumptious. I sniff it. There's no aroma to it. It's unlikely my master is hiding around here to cook for me. Ah, the temptation of greed. I see what the Crown Prince is talking about now.
All this walking and no action is making me restless. Finally, something glowing. Is it an artifact?No, it's a lever. I pull on it out of curiosity. Then the wall opens up. Of course, I'm going to go in. I was sick of seeing the ghost anyway.
As I pass the threshold, it turns into a slide, and I'm sliding down. This is fun. I raise my hand in the air. The bottom curves up and I follow the trajectory. There are spikes in the ceiling. I freeze mid-air. This brings back memories. I wonder whether this place was my master's inspiration for the traps in his basement.
I close my eyes, sensing whether there's any elemental power around here. There's a surge of one not far from me. It's another golem standing sentinel at an entrance. This must be where I need to go. As I approach him, his eyes snap open. He raises his blade. Okay, this one doesn't look as friendly as the one upstairs.
He rigidly steps forward.
"Halt. State your name and reason."
"As I said upstairs, my name is Ling Yue, and I'm here for the Lunar Jade."
"Defeat me, then you may pass."
I cracked my knuckles and my neck. I was itching for a fight.
"Challenge accepted."
I charge at him. As he swings his blade, I dodge below and punch him in the gut. My body vibrates from the impact. That hurts. He elbows me, forcing me to the ground with a thud. I roll over and thrust my leg straight to his side. He stumbles away. He snaps back at me.
I flip to my feet. He swings his blade at me again. I jump above him, and with the back of my heel, I kick the back of his head. He stumbles forward from the momentum... and falls off the platform into the abyss.
I land back on my feet and brush my hands off. I peer over the edge. It looks like a bottomless pit. That should do it. I turn to the entrance, and the Golem is in front of me again.
Before I can make a snarky remark, he strikes his blade straight towards me. I dodge to the side as his blade barely misses me, and snips off a lock of my hair.
You did not just do that! I kick him in the shoulder, unintentionally bouncing off him. Brute strength doesn't work on this one. What am I doing? I've got elemental powers. So I blast water tendrils at him, and he continues to strike his blade at me, unaffected.
Of course, stone overpowers water. But what if I do this? With my free hand, I summon an air tendril and blast at him. It chips his stone armor away. This seems to be working. I fly around him dodging his attack as I use the air tendril until his stone armor is removed. I kick his arm with the blade and it falls off. I spin and kick the other arm and that one falls off. I kick his legs. Now it's just the torso left. He drops to the ground with a resounding thud.
"You may pass."
"Why thank you!"
I take a gracious bow.
As I enter through this entrance, different hues illuminate the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Which one is a Lunar Jade shard?
I touch a shard that's glowing yellow. Zap. Electric currents run through me. Ow! I don't think I can go through all this to get the right one. I should be more strategic in which color I touch. Lunar Jade, let's see, I can't see it being blue, green, or purple.
I spot a single one in the middle, shimmering in silver-blue light, the same color as my hair, shining like moonlight. That one probably is the one. It has my name on it. I am named after the moon after all. I cautiously float to the middle, avoiding all the other stalactites. How do I break it? Oh, maybe I should use the Golem's blade. I dash back out, pick up his blade, and dash back in, using its tip to pry a shard off. I shouldn't touch it. An electrocution a day keeps the physician away.
I reach into my magical satchel for a glass vessel. I pop open its cork, using the blade to chip away a shard, a piece falls into the glass vessel, and pop the cork close.
The whole cavern shakes, and rumbles. Uh-oh. I didn't even get a chance to go for another one. Oh, right, I'm not supposed to be greedy. I dash out, flying straight to the top, not bothering to use the stairs. The cavern continues to crumble, I'm dodging falling debris as I fly to the top and out of the cavern.
Sunlight bathes my skin, and when I turn around, the meteorite mountain has vanished.
I rub my eyes and look again. I reach for where it used to be. Nothing. The whole mountain just disappeared in a blink of an eye. Well, I'm glad I rushed out then. Quest complete; I have a shard of Lunar Jade. I put the Lunar Jade in the satchel. Better not lose that. This is a one-of-a-kind and expensive material. I pluck out my quest list, and the line vanishes.
Another line pops up and glows. Oh, another quest, yes. I should head back first to give the item to the Crown Prince. Besides, I want to boast to my master.
***
In the Royal Chamber, my master and the Crown Prince are sipping tea. I pluck the Lunar Jade shard from my magic satchel and hand it to the Crown Prince with a flourish.
He accepts it and studies it.
"This should be just enough."
With a flick of his finger, the item floats to his table and gently sits there.
He gives his friend a knowing nod.
Long Fei stands up and hands me a parchment.
It reads:
"Courage: Level 50
Elemental Power: Level 50
Physical Power: Level 50
Strategy: Level 48
Agility: Level 48
Speed: Level 48."
I haven't had my stats read for a while. This is a pleasant surprise. I must have leveled up without realizing it all this time with all the drama.
I grin, bouncing. The next quest can be put on hold. I'm going to evolve!