"So yes, this Demigod is female and if I were to describe her appearance in a single word it would be, big," Yue says as she points her chest.
"You don't mean what I think you mean right?" I ask.
"I probably do, she puts everyone I've ever met to shame."
Looking down at my own chest, all I can see is my lap as well as the oncoming depression. As the next smallest in the room, Yue puts her hand on my shoulder and nods silently, as she understands how I feel.
"Don't feel bad about it, flat is justice after all," Aurelia says.
"I agree, nothing wrong with having small breasts," Lia says.
Neither Yue nor I say anything in response, but I can't help but feel the two largest people in the room shouldn't be the ones to say that and looking at Yue she probably has similar thoughts.
Another awkward silence ensues but Wanjing coughs to bring our attention back and says, "so what else is there to share about this Demigod?"
"Right, where was I, her appearance. She looks to be around her late twenties, but she is one of the oldest people alive in Shengdi, this, of course, doesn't include the Gods. Just make sure to ignore her when she claims to be eternally 17."
"Uhh, is she ok? Like mentally?" Wanjing asks putting forth the question the rest of us wanted to ask.
"Ehh... depends on how you would define 'ok' and what you consider a mental problem, but I think the answer is yes, it's just her personality is troubling, to say the least."
I'm starting to get a bad feeling, but before I can say anything, Yue continues.
"On the bright side, she is very energetic and cheerful, maybe too much so as she can act like an overly excited child if she makes a breakthrough in getting closer to completing her Divinity. It's not like she doesn't act her age sometimes, it's just 99% of the time she acts like a child, despite her good figure and large chest. She is mischievous and enjoys messing with people, but her biggest problem is definitely her destructive tendencies when she's excited, you know, a long time ago, I heard that there was a large mountain range and that Zhongyang was actually situated in the middle of it."
"I also read about that in the library, but when you look out there is only a single small mountain surrounded by plains and grassland," Aurelia says.
"From what I've been told from the two Demigod co-founders of the Treasury as well as this Demigod herself, she was the one who completely destroyed the mountains, turning the area into plains and grassland. This was one of the motivations behind the city walls as they lost the natural protection of the mountains. And no one thought to see her for any compensation or even think about denouncing her for her actions"
"And why's that? I would assume it be because no one was willing to mess with her, correct?" Lia asks.
"Yep, spot on. You could consider her a God who walks the mortal plane, no one is willing to mess with her. The strength she has is just below that of true gods and above the rest of the Demigods in the world. For better or worse, in recent centuries, she sticks to herself and focuses on her research and trying to complete her Divinity. But if someone does manage to say her name she makes sure to go and mess with them for doing so, which is why even though there are people who can say her name, no one actually does so. I just happened to have been collateral damage when someone did say her name right and no matter how much she was laughing, it wasn't fun."
"Putting her personality aside, just what are her abilities?" I ask.
"While I don't know the full range, she does manipulate the Elements much like yourself. This is why that silly fox and I thought you might get something out of meeting her. So how about it, would you like to meet with her, there is a good chance you can get a suitable path towards ascension and get the Divine Essence you want?"
Listening to how Yue described her personality, I really don't want to meet her. On top of being top heavy, it sounds like she has a very similar personality to Akkre, I feel like I'd get annoyed real fast. But on the other hand, there probably is a good chance I can form my own Divine Essence, doing so only requires I become a Demigod after all, and since she achieved Demigod status her methods should be possible for me as well.
After a bit of deliberation, the imaginary scale in my mind dips down as my desire for a Divine Essence outweighs my personal comfort.
"I'll meet with her. Are we all going to go?" I ask.
"I don't have any intention to leave you," Lia says.
"From what Yue said, she sounds annoying and I've spent the entire week running your errands so I want a break for once.
"She sounds a lot like a certain someone so I think I'll stay here and continue my library escapades. Although I am interested in her methods, I can just have you tell me later," Aurelia says.
"What makes you think I'm going to tell you?"
"You don't have to do so verbally, I just need to pry it out of your head. Unlike Lia who has a strong mental defence causing me to only be able to read her surface thoughts and Yue who I can't read at all, you are an open book, although the same goes for Wanjing."
"Putting that matter aside for now, in addition to Cordelia, it's only Lia who is coming with me, correct?" Yue asks.
Seems about right," I say.
"Ok, are the two of you ready?"
Since Lia keeps most of her belongings in her pouch or in my stomach, we are ready to leave immediately so we decide to go meet with this Demigod right away. We drop Aurelia and Wanjing off at the inn as Yue guides me and Yue out of the city and towards the only remaining nearby mountain.
As we trek up the mountain, it doesn't take long for us to reach the summit and we find a long dark spiral stairwell that leads down into the heart of the mountain. Bringing us down, I create a small ball of light to show the path but there is seemingly no end to the steps. Down we go, for hours, for far longer than it took to reach the summit from when we left the Treasury. I'm certain we are deep below the mountain. But the steps finally come to an end as we find a thick door blocking our path forward.
Stepping up to it, Yue knocks a few times before yelling, "It's Yue, I've brought someone to see you! Can you open the door!?"
But there's no response. Increasing the intensity of her voice as well as the frequency and strength of her knocking, Yue continues to yell and assault the door before a muffled voice comes out from the other side.
"Go away! I'm busy!"
"Just meet with us, it took a long time to get here! I think she can help you complete your Divinity, she's an Elemental Spirit Dragon!" Yue shouts.
"I don't care if she's-- wait, did you say Elemental Spirit Dragon? Why not start with that?" the voice says as the door swings open.
Not bothering to respond, Yue just sighs as we follow her inside. But mere moments later, Lia and I are cut off by a barrier preventing us from moving forward as a glowing circle appears underneath Yue's feet while she is trapped in some kind of invisible box.
"Hey, what's the meaning of this!?" Yue yells.
Like before we hear a muffled voice coming from who knows where, saying, "you don't need to come, only those two."
"What! Why!?"
"Because I thought it would annoy you. Don't worry that teleportation array will only take you back to the base of the mountain, but it's a one-way trip, bye~."
The last part of her sentence seemed a little cheerful but it's hard to really tell with the distortion in her voice. But after a few seconds, Yue vanishes from sight as the voice says we can continue down the hall.
After a short walk, we push open another door to reveal a brightly lit room with all sorts of tools and books scattered around all over the place. The room is rather large, in terms of length and width it's just a bit larger than Dai Jiang's floor at the Shipping Branch of the Treasury, but the height is close more like the hight of the Treasury building itself. Although the room is a mess, there isn't a person in sight. But the most important thing is that the moment we entered the room, I felt the presence of an Elemental Root, and not just one, but a whole lot of them.
But before we can do any more than step past the threshold of the door, a flash of light shines from the centre of the room, blinding even me, and mere moments later we here a youthful and cheerful voice calls out.
"Emerging from the light comes the girl who's eternally 17 and everyone's adorable genius~, welcoming the guests to my humble big little abode, it's ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan here to greet you~."