Monster Integration

I caught up to my skates, or rather the left skate, and picked it up, before taking out the petal from the tiny hole.

It is safe, without any damage.

That made me feel relieved. If it had been damaged or worse, destroyed, I don’t know where I would have found another clue.

The petal is delicate. Too much force and it will be destroyed. If not for that, I wouldn’t have been so scared of getting discovered by the others.

A lot of people had lost the clues they had and many of them were never able to reach Sermon Palace. It is why, they say, that once you get the clue, guard it with your life.

I once again took out the glass bowl, filled it with snow, and melted it, before putting the petal on it.

It spun, and like before; I started to stake across the snow. 

Two and a half hours later, I was out of the icy lake. I looked at the lake with longing and walked out of it.

It was quite fun to skate across the lake, but also dangerous. Nero had spotted a couple of people, two had even seen us, but they didn’t peruse.

Once again in the forest, I moved fast as I could, but my speed is nothing compared to what it had been on the lake.

It is such a regret; I couldn’t activate my armor. It would have made it too easy. 

A few more hours passed, and a morning came. 

Hun!

I stopped by the tree in an isolated place and took out a steaming breakfast, cooked by my clone.

The tray is filled with all kinds of tasty dishes, and I ate them all.

I was feeling quite hungry with all the cold and fighting I had done the last night. 

Speaking of which, I wonder whether that Beastman had been sent out yet.

He should have been the lake had been very cold. 

Even with his affinities, he would have survived for a few hours at most, before the cold took him. 

Well, I hope he learned a lesson and was grateful for the mercy I have shown to him. People are not merciful as I am.

I finished the breakfast and resumed my journey.

Two more days passed, and I am still traveling; there is no sign of the sermon palace, that I am hoping to reach.

Currently, my speed had slowed down even further, with heavy snow falling around me. It is really heavy and takes the temperature down even further.

So much that now I needed to cover the bowl with thick worldly energy. It is protecting the petal and water from freezing.

I am also a little cold, but it had been warden by layers of worldly energy around. 

A few more hours passed, and the snow had become heavier. It felt like the storm will come.

I asked my clones, and they are saying, there will be a storm without a doubt.

A storm won’t be a problem, even without armor. My control over worldly energy is good enough that I would be able to deal with it, but it will be risky.

The risk won’t be a storm, but people noticing me.

It had been four days since I have come here, and people have started finding clues and fighting over it. 

Those fights are bloody.

I don’t fear them exactly, but sometimes people come into groups, which is a problem, because there, the chances of spoiling of clue, increase much further.

Hun!

I thought for a while before taking out my abode and entering, but immediately, I was repelled.

‘How can I forget!’ I said to myself, before taking out a thick tent, which I placed in a hidden location. 

If you are holding a clue, then the abodes won’t work. Even a normal abode won’t work. Thankfully, I have prepared, and this tent will be good.

I set up the tent and entered inside; lighting up a stow and started barbecuing some delicious meat with spices and sauces.

Nero and I ate till we couldn’t anymore before I closed my eyes to sleep.

I haven’t slept since I have come to this place, and since I am waiting. I might as well take some sleep; I had been feeling tired lately, and the sleep will help.

I slept and was woken up by my clone seven hours later. I could have slept further, but seven hours is more than enough to rest my body and soul.

The storm had slowed down, and I decided to not wait any further.

So, I took out my tent and started my journey.

Thanks to Nero, I can avoid most people. With a leaf, I couldn’t change direction, but I could stop and move forward or retreat, which is enough for me to avoid most people.

Those couldn’t be avoided, get dealt with.

I have fought three people since coming to this place, all of them strong. I made all three of them unconscious and left them in the snow.

Time passed, and evening came, and I kept moving, stopping only to eat dinner.

I am now walking toward the tall mountain, while in front of me, a horned woman coming from down from it. She saw me and I saw her, and we both nodded at each other before going on to our paths.

She also has a clue in her hand, what Nero told me right; it is a map.

It seemed to lead us in an opposite direction from the other, which is not surprising. Seeing the clues does not lead us to the palace itself, but to the teleportation formation that connected to the palace.

They are all over this realm, and the clues in our hands are maps and keys to reach and access them.

Days passed, and I kept moving; fighting anything that came my way; In one fight, the leaf is nearly destroyed.

If one looked at the petal, they would see a large crack on it, covering 90% of it. A little more and the petal would break into two and become useless. 

It is why I stopped fighting. Now, all the fights are being fought by Nero; they are quick and efficient.

It is the night of the ninth day, and I am moving through the snowy mountains. There is not a single blade of grass growing in these mountains.

They looked beautiful, but I kind of got sick of them, to be honest. 

I want it to be over, but I don’t know whether it will be.

A few more hours passed, and I have come to another lake. It is not frozen, even in such a cold. When I got close enough; I started to feel warm. 

A geothermal lake, I have come across some on my journey here.

I reached its edge and began to fly over it. I would have loved to take a bath in it, but I couldn’t. I need to continue with the journey, god knows how long I will have to continue before I reach my destination.

Hun!

I was about to the hallway crossing the late when suddenly the petal begins to glow.

I was shocked to see it, that for a second, I wasn’t able to believe it.

It had been more than eight days since I found the petal and had been moving where it was taking me. 

For the first few days, I was constantly thinking about reaching the sermon palace, but stopped after getting disappointed thousands of times and focused on just following it.

Now, after nine days of coming to the realm, I am close to the destination for which I had entered this place.

The petal fell on the lake and the whole lake begin to glow brightly a couple of seconds later, a door begins to come out.

It took a few seconds before it came out in fully from the lake.

It is not a gate per se, but a frame. It is made of rose-colored stone and beautiful carving of vine all over it, that I wanted to touch, but stopped myself.

Instead, looked at the white energy covering. Once I crossed it, I would reach the Sermon Palace.

I took a deep breath and walked toward and took a step inside.

Immediately, I found myself covered in white light before it cleared a moment later.

When it did, I found myself in a beautiful plaza, looking at a giant fountain. People could be see walked around it and some even looked at me, before going their own way.

Everywhere around me are beautiful buildings, with one being the most beautiful, on a hill at the center of this city.

The Sermon Palace.

I have read so much about it and seen its painting, but nothing could be compared to what I am seeing with my eyes.

It is a truly beautiful work of art.