The Realm Between: A LitRPG Saga (Books 7 - 10), page 50
“We thought that you and Jin would want to see,” Princess Zadori replied gently.
“I doubt he gives a fuck about seeing it.” Azure pulled himself to his feet, trying not to let his anger flare from his disbelief that they hadn’t joined the Life Resin Orb with the Memory Lantern yet. “What he probably cares about is not getting murdered by monsters. He’s still out there, you know, fighting his way to get here.” Azure gestured back toward the forest, thinking about how bad the elf had looked the last time Azure had seen him.
Without another second’s hesitation, he turned his attention to the woman holding the orb. “You will cast that thing into the fire now.”
She seemed appalled by the demand, her mouth hanging open for several seconds while she glanced from one life cultist to the other as if she needed their approval.
“Azure is right,” Uden stepped in, “Jin does not need to be here to witness this. This area will not be safe until the orb and the lantern are united.”
Princess Zadori looked to Rerdam, but he only shrugged. “I don’t care, either way.”
As it was, Azure just wanted the quest to be over so that he could feel safe taking his party to find Jin. Remembering how difficult it had been for him to get back made him anxious with every passing second that the elf was gone.
The woman holding the orb clutched it closer to her chest. “There has always been a tradition with this.”
“Fuck tradition.” Azure strode forward and snatched the orb out of her arms.
You have received the following item:
Life Resin Orb
Durability: 1/1
Item Class: Legendary
Quality: Exquisite
Weight: 5.0 kg
Uses: Quest Item
He did not take the time to be impressed by the orb’s stats, though he normally would have. In all his travels in The Realm, Azure had never come across an Exquisite Quality item. The fact that it had a Legendary Item Class on top of that meant the orb was absolutely priceless. It was also disturbingly warm, which he tried to ignore. Despite his frustration over the situation, Azure felt a sense of peace as soon as the Life Resin Orb was in his arms.
“Azure!” Princess Zadori chastised him, but he wasn’t listening.
Without a second thought, Azure turned and tossed the Life Resin Orb into the Memory Lantern.
As soon as the orb met the flames, a blinding flash of light had them all covering their eyes. The burst of wind that followed made them cower away. It was a hot wind, like the summer sun blowing over the desert, and it smelled oddly like water and fresh-cut grass.
When Azure lowered his arms, he saw a beam of light shooting straight up to the heavens from the lantern. Song filled the air so loud that it drowned out everything else—children singing in a foreign language. Though Azure could not discern what they were saying, he knew that the song was peaceful and happy. All was right in the world again with the orb and the lantern united.
The song lasted for about a minute, and as it played, their eyes adjusted. One by one, they let down their guard and watched as images began to form in the light of the lantern, all of them painted in the same soft blue shade as the embroidery on The Children of Dyasitets’ robes.
As they watched, Azure realized that he was witnessing the story of creation—how The Realm had come to be. Standing in a circle at the perimeter of the light were all six Gods. They raised their hands in unison, and matter began coalescing at the center of the lantern. Slowly, a planet formed. Finborh pounded the perfectly round orb with his fists, defacing it with mountains and craters. Then Mhanuu vomited onto the surface, filling those craters and dips with water. Oceans, lakes, and rivers dotted the previously plain orb. Steq exhaled a breath, allowing it to circle the planet. Clouds hovered above it, creating a distant barrier to keep the oxygen in. Once that was done, Dyasitet outstretched her arms, embracing the sphere. Wherever she touched, greenery erupted from the solid ground. Where there was water, life began to bloom inside. Soon, there was all manner of creatures, most small, at first. Though he could not see it, Azure knew it would take years of evolution before humanoids donned the face of The Realm. What he was seeing was only the beginning.
Once Dyasitet released the planet from her embrace, Steoper stepped in. Strategically, he tapped the surface of the ball, spinning it slightly. Wherever his fingers landed, the planet pimpled with volcanos. It seemed like a small effort compared to the others until he turned away and faced outward. There, he made a circular gesture in the sky, forming another orb, though this one was made of pure fire. When he was done, he set it in the firmament above The Realm to light the planet as it rotated.
Luuq was the last to take his turn. All the Gods knew that the planet would quickly become overpopulated if it was left as it was. The greenery they had jointly created would be used up, as would the rest of the life-giving resources. There had to be a balance. And so Luuq bestowed the final gifts upon The Realm—gifts that many would think of more as curses. He gave the creatures on the planet a lifespan, forcing them to age until they expired. Assigning them into groups of predator and prey was his second gift. From that point on, some animals would naturally seek to consume others to sustain their own lives. Those that died of old age would go back to the land, feeding the plants. It would not be until humanoids walked the face of the planet that he would bestow his final gifts—greed and hatred.
With the planet created, each God claimed their own territory, settling down there to watch how their area would grow and evolve. This was the memory of the Gods. This was the memory of The Realm.
The blue and white vision they’d all been watching with intensity vanished, the light in the sky dying in an instant, leaving behind only a brightly burning Memory Lantern. Immediately, Azure felt culpable for denying Jin the experience, but perhaps he’d seen it before. The elf had lived much longer than any of them.
Pushing his guilt away, Azure turned back to his friends. “It is done,” he said with the weight of his relief to hear those words coming from anyone’s mouth, even his own.
“It is done,” Rerdam agreed with a nod.
Princess Zadori remained staring at where the images had played out before them. Tears streamed down her face. “That was so beautiful.”
Uden kept his voice low, averting his gaze. “I want to cry because I’m glad we’re out of danger.”
“I think we can all agree with that.” Azure chuckled.
As he redirected his attention to outside the gates of the shrine, he could see that the monsters that had gathered around from the beacon of light were slowly leaving. The show was over. They had lost the Life Resin Orb yet again, and they could return from whence they had come. Life would go back to normal, as would the forest surrounding The Shrine of the Mother.
Azure looked to the closest Child of Dyasitet, not caring which had the most authority. “We will leave as soon as our friend arrives.”
Normally, Azure would have loved to spend the night somewhere safe, but he didn’t want to linger at the shrine any longer than necessary. He still felt bitter regarding The Children of Dyasitet being stubborn about opening the gates to the shrine to let them in.
The woman nodded, not saying anything in response, which Princess Zadori soon informed him was because these particular life cultists had taken a vow of silence. Azure could not have cared less, having no interest in the history of The Children of Dyasitet.
As the group waited for Jin to return, they regaled each other with tales of their harrowing ordeals facing the overwhelming number of monsters. Now that the quest was over, they all confessed that none of them had any illusion that they would be able to defeat all the monsters around the shrine.
“I was pretty sure we were going to die,” Uden admitted. “My Gods, I was never happier than when Jin gave the order to scatter and run.”
“It was our only real chance of survival,” Rerdam said. “Had we stayed together, they would have all just chased after us.”
“I honestly hadn’t known what was going on when I saw Jin run past.” Azure’s eyes widened as he recalled the memory. “One second I saw him, the next, he had disappeared into the forest.”
“At least, you got the message. That’s all that matters.” The old knight patted him on the shoulder.
The sun dipped over the horizon, relinquishing its rays to the dangers of darkness. Azure watched the elf’s Health drop and recover in his peripheral vision, feeling more anxious with every passing second. He stared at the tree line where he had seen Jin disappear, expecting him to reappear from the same area.
Uden stepped up beside him. “Your boyfriend will be back. Don’t worry.” He smirked. “That son of a bitch is too stubborn to die.”
Azure quirked his head to the side and sliced the half-imp with his gaze. “Not funny.”
Uden’s expression went serious. “You have to laugh. We almost died. Who knew we would get this chance, and who knows if we will get it again tomorrow?”
It was a strangely profound thing to say. Tomorrow was never guaranteed. Still, Azure didn’t find the joke funny. He was watching the forest so intently because he was supposed to be out there protecting the elf, not sitting in safety waiting for him. Beyond that, Jin was Azure’s friend, and he did care about his well-being on a grander scale than just duty.
An hour passed before the elf finally stepped out of the darkness, though he appeared at the right gate of the shrine, not the back. With no more monster threats around, The Children of Dyasitet did not hesitate to let him in. His Dark Cloak of Racial Concealment was tattered and covered in blood, but the hood still did its job hiding his face. Despite how Jin had looked when Azure had last seen him, he did not appear to be in as bad of shape now, probably due to drinking several Potions of Minor Healing.
“It took you long enough.” Uden placed a hand on his hip.
“We were so worried about you!” Princess Zadori threw herself into the elf’s arms.
For a second, he held his hands up like he didn’t want to touch her, but then he gingerly patted her on the back before stepping away.
“Sorry. Have you guys been waiting long?” Jin’s eyes moved from one comrade to the next.
“It’s been a few hours,” Rerdam informed him, but he didn’t seem upset about the lost time.
“Azure took a while to get here, too.” The half-imp nodded in Azure’s direction.
“So what did take you so long?” Azure tried not to sound irritated. Jin probably had a perfectly good excuse for making him worry.
“There were so many monsters in the area, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get more experience.”
His response immediately made Azure’s expression droop.
Though Azure was ready to go, the elf insisted that it was best if they stayed the night at the shrine. The monsters in the area were still in the process of dispersing, so there were still more than usual. Since all of them but Azure and Princess Zadori had completely used up the Durability on their Silk Leggings of Life, and they were low on healing potions, Jin thought it was safer not to take the risk.
If The Children of Dyasitet were annoyed by their presence, the group couldn’t tell. Four of them stood as sentries, one manning each gate, and the fifth watched over the Memory Lantern as if she feared it might go out if she didn’t keep her eyes on it. They made no attempt to be friendly or share provisions.
Luckily, Jin wasn’t upset that Azure had taken the initiative to unite the Memory Lantern with the Life Resin Orb, though he did seem a little sad that he hadn’t gotten to witness the vision that everyone else had.
“Oh well. I made my choice by deciding to stay out and fight monsters. That will serve me better in the future than the memory anyway,” he had said with a sigh. Then the subject was dropped.
They slept in the next morning, making sure that they were all fully recovered before they left.
With fewer monsters to defeat, the journey should only take nine days instead of ten. Azure was happy that it would not be long before they’d be able to collect on the experience they were owed for the quest.
The trip back to Dyasitet was blessedly peaceful. In fact, the monsters hadn’t so much fled as entirely disappeared from the area. They didn’t encounter a single one, though the aftermath of their previous occupancy still remained. Basilisk trails continued to pose a nuisance, though the ground had mostly healed from their damage, dotting the trails with dry spots so that the group didn’t need to detour far to get through.
For his hunting efforts, Azure was only able to shoot two rabbits and two deer, which didn’t give him much experience. While the monsters had left the area, it was still taking a while for game to return.
You have received the following items:
Rabbit Pelt
Quantity: 2
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.1 kg
Uses: Crafting
Deer Pelt
Quantity: 2
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 1.8 kg
Uses: Crafting
Uncooked Rabbit Meat
Quantity: 2
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.5 kg
Uses: Cooking
Uncooked Deer Meat
Quantity: 110
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.5 kg
Uses: Cooking
While they walked, Azure Foraged, a luxury he hadn’t had on their way there. As if gifting him for all the fighting, he was somehow able to find a bunch of Dyer’s Ink Plant.
You have harvested:
20 False Weed
Uses: Alchemy component, temporarily increases HP by +10 if eaten
You have harvested:
22 Betty Leaf
Uses: Alchemy component, temporarily increases SP by +10 if eaten
You have harvested:
22 Dyer’s Ink Plant
Uses: Alchemy component, Restores +20 SP if eaten
For the first few nights, they took the same watch shifts they had on their way to The Shrine of the Mother, but they soon discovered that being so vigilant wasn’t necessary. Their nights were as peaceful as their days, which allowed plenty of time for cooking and crafting.
Congratulations! The skill: Cooking has reached Level 18. You have to eat to survive. Your mother would be so proud.
Azure spent most of his free time making arrows, feeling like it was the most useful of his crafting skills next to Alchemy. With all the loot he’d collected, he wasn’t at a point where he needed to drown himself in the putrid stench of tanning hides or work his fingers to the bone sewing clothes.
Since there were few birds around, Azure had issues finding feathers for his arrows. When he couldn’t collect enough components in the day to craft them, at night, he’d just relax by the fire and talk with his friends, happy to be alive and that they were able to continue their journey together. Some downtime was needed, and he didn’t feel guilty for appreciating those moments with his comrades. They could have easily had to spend the trip in mourning.
Of course, Rerdam insisted that Azure cast Summon Mount for Princess Zadori so that she wouldn’t have to walk. Speaking about what had happened to Flicker was uncomfortable. Both Jin and Rerdam told Azure that he had just done what needed to be done and shouldn’t feel bad about it, but Uden saw the weakness in Azure’s soul and guilted him relentlessly about the horse’s death.
Azure warned Princess Zadori that the new horse was not as gentle and advised her against riding it, but Rerdam contended that they should give it a try anyway. To Azure’s surprise, Asshole was receptive to the princess. While he looked at Azure in fear, the horse’s eyes softened when he gazed upon Princess Zadori, and he allowed her to mount him without any issues.
“A woman’s touch,” Jin had told Azure.
There was no other explanation, so Azure just decided to believe him.
GOD OF LIFE
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE REALM – DAY 735
“We have done what you’ve asked of us.” Jin gazed up at Dyasitet. “What is our final quest?”
Her eyes shifted from person to person, a soft smile on her face. “I am happy to see you’ve all returned. My gift has served you well.”
“It was a close one.” Rerdam sounded weary, despite their smooth travels back to The Crystal Forest.
“It always is.” Dyasitet’s smile broadened, as if she found their struggles amusing.
A notification popped up, distracting Azure from his discontent at the God’s expression.
Congratulations! Quest: The Orb and The Lantern has been completed.
Ten days you traveled in peril to unite the Life Resin Orb with the Memory Lantern. Through sleepless nights and bloody days, you persisted. The magic of Sheidan has been preserved because of your efforts. You are rewarded 1,015XP.
Azure gawked at the amount of experience they had received for the quest. That was over a third of an entire level’s worth. While he hoped that Dyasitet’s final quest was less dangerous, he also hoped it would pay out just as well. The sheer increase in experience was almost enough to make the ordeal worth it. Almost.
“What would you have us do next?” Jin pressed.
The smile fell from Dyasitet’s lips as she began explaining their final quest. “To the southwest is the village of Smallguard, which consists of an all-female tribe called The Sapphire Eye Warriors. This village has existed for hundreds of years, originally made up of a group of women who lost their husbands during the Battle of Hallow Hill. At the time, it was rare for widowed women to remarry, so they decided to form a village of their own to offer each other support.
