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Chapter 208: The Artifact Of Desires
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It wasn't long before he reached his destination, a massive forest encompassing the horizon itself, spreading as far as the eye can see... Strangely peaceful.
Before anyone even enters the forest, they would notice something unusual, there is very little activity within the forest and its surroundings.
That's not to say there is no life within it because Yasuo is able to detect an abundance of it, and he also knows there is quite a bit of wildlife within due to the old granny's memory.
However, what's peculiar about the place is that the life within it is strangely weak, relatively weak in contrast to the outside.
There is never a peaceful day in the dark continent, and activity could be noticed everywhere. There is always something dangerous ahead forcing one to always be cautious.
That's not the case in the forest, it's a safe haven for the weakest of animals as the predator seemed to have sensed something, and stayed away.
The black dragon flew over the forest, ignoring the signs of danger it can sense for it's already dead.
Darco was leaving sonic bombs behind, bringing terror to the inhabitants of the forest as something like this has never happened.
It was like a catastrophe falling upon them as they retreated to their lairs in fright.
Yasuo paid the frail creatures within no heed, instead, he was focusing his senses on his surroundings.
His domain was fully spread, everything within was within the palms of his hands.
Of course, he sensed something, how could he not? It was too obvious for him, and evidently, it was also too obvious for Medusa who just emerged clinging to him and staring warily in a certain direction.
Surprisingly, his first stop wasn't in the direction Medusa was looking at, there is something he prioritizes more hidden next to a tree.
The forest looks extremely vast from upwards but one can only appreciate its massiveness if his feet are on the ground.
Everything is massive, the trees are hundreds of meters tall to even a mile.
Even on the hottest and brightest of days, sunlight breaching through the trees and feeding the small amounts of undergrowth beneath is a rare sight.
There are too many trees acting as a shield against the bright colossal sun.
What's hidden beneath the trees' numerous rich branches is nothing but darkness, making the place even darker than it already is.
However, there are places rich with life the sun can reach, vast expanses with very few trees within.
Yasuo has just passed by such a place, a vast expanse filled with rubbles instead of trees, and life.
The place seemed curse as not even a speck of life could be seen anywhere within or near it.
What looks like the remnants of an ancient sentient tribe. The remains don't seem that old as even signs of the things that brought destruction upon them still remain.
It's quite obvious because in contrast to the humid air everywhere else in the forest, this place is way too hot.
Well, the burn marks everywhere made it obvious, and the fact that everything seemed to have been melted.
The signs of what had happened here seem to have stood strong against time, the ages that have passed weren't enough to extinguish that fire as if it's a curse.
With the dragon's speed, anything on it would be sent off unless they're strong enough to cling to its scales.
However, Yasuo was seated comfortably on its back, not clinging to anything, yet the air pressure was no match.
His control domain allows for that to happen, so when he canceled that control, he was naturally faced with the full force of the accumulated air pressure.
Naturally, he was sent back while the dragon flew away into the horizon, specifically, towards the dark clouds far above the atmosphere.
Yasuo was in a perfectly calculated free-fall towards his exact destination Until his feet gently touched the ground, elegantly landing.
His eyes were glued towards a specific spot next to a decayed tree, in fact, the whole area seemed corroded.
The surroundings' future was predetermined to be death as every life around had their life force devoured, slowly but surely.
Yasuo slowly walked towards the most corroded tree which looks like its disintegrating, most of its branches were already devoured by nothingness.
Not a speck of grass could be seen anywhere near his goal, and his goal was buried just right next to that tree.
He stood over the area for a second, doing some actions of caution that couldn't be seen, just in case.
Only once he made sure it's not dangerous to him did he unveil what lies beneath as the object just suddenly appeared floating before him.
A half-spherical object which looks completely clean, not a speck of soil or corrosion on it.
"It's regenerating huh," Remarked Yasuo remembering how it looked after the old granny's used it for the last time, "At the cost of life around it."
Yasuo then closed his as his amplification domain got activated, surrounding the object and studying it thoroughly.
His study didn't last long as a bright smile surfaced on his face only a few minutes later, "Yeah, just as I thought."
His study not only consisted in looking into the depths of the artifact with his domain but also looking into its ancient past, looking to its very roots, the day of its birth.
Yasuo let out a small laugh directly after, "Humans can survive and plan for countering the vilest of calamities, but they can't survive a self brought calamity."
Then he turned his face, gazing in a certain direction. His eyes were seeing through space in order to see the source of the artifact until he disappeared.
He emerged from the shadows of the night not long after next to an outlandish small grotto.
Outlandish as in everything around it is dead, the same as the surroundings of the artifact, not a speck of grass or plant life around.
His feet only touched the ground for less than a second before he disappeared again, a scene that repeated itself several times.
In contrast to the outside world where darkness envelops everything, the insides of the cave are quite bright.
The grotto is incredibly beautiful and fascinating with bright lights everywhere, the entire cavern was filled with glowing stones of all kinds of colors radiating their lights upon the darkness and casting it away.
Yasuo noticed water puddles everywhere, some small and some extremely large. All the plashes of water were notably bright, radiating with different glows, forming a mixed glow.
The same could be said for the stream of water going all throughout the cave which is the source of those puddles, and the reason why the grotto is so wet.
It took Yasuo several teleportations to reach the thing he saw in the artifact's future. The grotto is extremely long, stretching deep into the ground.
The first thing Yasuo noticed about his destination is the richness of energy within.
His destination was a massive expanse at the end of the grotto, a large glowing naturally shaped hall.
The richness of the energy was unrivaled by none of the places Yasuo visited before, even the large expanse where The jellyfish Epithymías' tentacles lie.
It seemed as if the large bright, and harmless hall was a natural attracting machine, sucking every speck of energy towards it, akin to a black hole.
Strangely, against Yasuo's expectations, he felt no danger within the place or around it.
However, the bells of danger still range in his mind towards his other destination, the same was for Medusa who paid the place no heed and was still gazing vigilantly in a certain direction.
Yasuo turned his attention to the artifact he's still holding in his hands, feeling it acting strangely.
It was trying to move as if attracted by something in the cave. The artifact that couldn't previously do anything started flying in a certain direction once Yasuo let it go.
Its happiness was unrivaled as it traveled through space to reach a large bowl-like stone filled with glowing water.
However, its happiness was short-lived because just as it was about to touch the water, it disappeared, again appearing in Yasuo's hand.
Only then did Yasuo turn his attention to the stone bowl. He would've noticed even without the artifact of desire's actions.
It was quite an unusual object even among the unusual hall where everything shines brightly, and the reason is quite simple, it's because it's not shining.
The stone bowl was the exact opposite of everything within the grotto. The water in it was glowing instead of the stone it's naturally made of.
The water glow however was extremely faint, seemingly a fire on the brink of extinguishing.
The other obvious thing about Yasuo could sense is that he could hardly sense anything about it.
It was exactly like a black hole. One could clearly see it or at least see its effect but can never see what's within it, the thing that truly matters.
Yasuo can see its effect, he can sense energy slowly flowing into the cave through the gaps of space, it was coming from everywhere but mostly from the bottom, the depths of the planet.
That energy is none other than Nen, an energy that exists everywhere and in everything, but it's so faint it's almost entirely impossible to detect, even in the dark continent.
In the grotto however, it could be said that there is too much of it, most humans would feel suffocated even standing within it, unable to breathe and death will come soon after...