Chapter 15: Nyara
Abium quickly returned to his calm self, moved closer towards the waterfall, and filled the water in his water pouch. Afterward, he took out a few dry pieces of bread from his space ring, ate it quietly, and drank a few sips of water.
Following that, he moved towards the right side edge of the tunnel, gripped the rough rocks with his hand, and checked if they were strong enough for climbing.
But the next instant, he frowned deeply and shook his head.
'The rocks in this side are slippery.'
Moreover, he noticed that some rocks appeared to be covered in mosses.
He then moved towards the other edge of the tunnel and checked that area.
Thankfully, the water flow wasn't much stronger in that area, making the rocks appears firm and sturdy.
'I think I can use them to get down.'
Nodding his head, he extended his right hand, gripped a pointy rock, and started climbing down towards the side of the waterfall.
He also paid close attention to the falling water and moved cautiously without getting pulled into it.
After some struggle, he finally managed to reach a safer place that was a little far away from the monstrous swirl and jumped into the water.
After that, he moved his hands and legs and started swimming towards the river's shore.
Soon, he reached the land, walked out of the water, and then looked at the dense forest that appeared before his eyes.
He then turned around, looked at the waterfalls, and soon widened his eyes.
At that moment, he noticed that the mountain was more than 1000 meters tall and almost blocked the western sky. The water gathered at the waterfall's base and flowed forward.
The river had a strength that reflected in the surrounding trees.
It flowed on with confidence, taking the form of the river bed, billions of drops moving together.
After a swift glance, he turned his head towards the front and soon looked at the forest.
The community of trees stood tall; trunks reached into the blue above, light filtering through leaves like perfect stained glass.
He looked at the tall trees, unique flowers, fruits, and vines and finally zeroed his gaze towards the faraway ancient tower.
'It seems the only way to get to the tower is by walking through the dense woods.' As he looked over there, he noticed that a strange transparent barrier cloaked that ancient tower and seemed to be protecting it like a forcefield.
'A protective barrier? Does that mean people are still there?' A hesitant look appeared on his face.
'Wandering in this land without any prior knowledge is too dangerous. It's better to move there.' Abium thought to himself and stepped into the dense woods.
'But who built this tower in this forgotten land? Are there any humans still living here? Maybe demons?' Multiple thoughts whirled in his head.
He quietly towards that tower direction, avoided all the strange plants and mushrooms, and finally arrived in front of the tall tower wall.
It was around 5 to 6 meters tall and appeared wholly made of rock. But not a single sign of life appeared anywhere near the tower or the tower wall, causing him to frown.
'I need to find its entrance.'
Nodding inwardly, he circled the tower wall for a while and soon found the entrance to the ancient tower.
It was a small 2 meters tall metallic door and had a symbol of a bird with a flute in its mouth.
Abium stared at the symbol for a moment, unlocked it, and pushed the door open with both hands.
After that, he stepped inside and soon saw vacant land around the tall ancient tower.
But what made his expression freeze in shock was that he saw a statue of a young girl appear next to the Magic Tower's entrance.
The girl in the statue appeared to be around 8 to 12 years old, had long hair, kitten ears, long tail, and the statue's height was about 190 cm tall. At that moment, the girl in the statue also held a unique flute in her right hand and wore a long gown.
It resembled so real, and that gave him an eerie feeling. He also felt that the figure appeared vaguely familiar and soon recalled a memory.
'Wait... Flute? There is only one Goddess who always holds a flute in her hand.'
He guessed the statue's identity the next instant and soon widened his eyes!
'Nyara, Goddess of Trickery!'
'How the hell did her statue appear here?' He was baffled inside.
He never imagined that he would meet this goddess statue in the Forgotten Land!
To meet the most bothersome Goddess here gave him an uneasy feeling inside.
Unlike other Gods, she always liked to prank on people, and her pranks even fooled some Gods.
The authors mentioned her as a spoiled child in the books and even mentioned that she could get anyone who sees her statue into troublesome situations. Although they say she was still a naughty child with a good heart, most people would avoid going to this Goddess's Temple at all costs.
Furthermore, Abium read a myth in a book that she even added a powerful paralyzed potion into Myxenta's food to test how powerful her luck was.
Meanwhile, the poor Goddess of Luck had that food and was fooled by this Goddess. Nyara remained on the opposite table laughing while Myxenta's face was full of embarrassment.
Although these incidents were only based on folktales and oral stories, he still felt uneasy.
'Haa, it's just a statue. I shouldn't get panic in this situation.'
Nodding inwardly, he took a deep breath to calm down his thundering heart and walked forward.
Unknown to him, some mysterious letters on that goddess statue's necklace started to flicker intensely and then dimmed down.
The next instant, the statue's closed eyes slowly opened, and then the head tilted towards the direction where he was walking forward.
"I smell the power of Time!" A low whisper came out of the statue's mouth.
Strangely, Abium didn't hear that whisper, walked forward towards the tower's entrance, and then observed the tall entrance gate quietly.
The gate was closed, but a magical thing happened when he touched it with his hand.
It suddenly opened with a bam noise and seemed to be inviting him to enter that tower.
'Why do I feel something is off here?' He muttered to himself and looked at the deep darkness inside.
Indeed, he didn't find a floor but empty darkness.
'What is this?' He moved closer towards the entrance and noticed that a large city was floating in an empty void.
Just as he was in confusion, the ground under his feet flickered in golden light and enveloped him as a whole.
The next instant, Abium felt blurry and soon felt the space around him start to twist.
Before he could even understand the situation, he opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of a large wide path into a city.
'Teleportation?' He got startled deeply, hurriedly looked back, and soon noticed nothing but darkness!
'What the hell?' He tried to search for the tower's entrance everywhere but couldn't.
'That golden light! I'm currently in the floating city inside the Magic Tower?'
He drew a deep breath, turned his gaze towards the front, and looked at the opened entrance gate.
He cautiously stepped inside the city, glanced at the broken concrete-like roads, and soon saw rows of buildings appear on both sides.
"An abandoned city?"
At that moment, he felt like he was in some demi-plane or a different pocket dimension he heard in stories.
But as he looked upwards, Abium saw an ample magical light at the top and confirmed that he was still inside the large tower.
'Still, how did this city is floating in midair?' He couldn't help but get shocked inside and decided to check the surroundings first.
As he further explored the abandoned city, his face turned more serious.
The city held nothing besides broken buildings, broken furniture, and destroyed roads.
He even entered a random house while exploring deeper and checked for anything useful.
Alas, even the weapons crumbled into dust upon touching.
"Hmm, there is something I need to confirm." He thought of the vision, moved further towards the center of the abandoned city, and finally arrived in front of a majestic palace encircled by towering pillars.
Four massive, round pillars dominated that large palace and were connected by high, vast walls.
Clean windows were scattered across the walls in an asymmetric pattern and symmetric crenulations for archers.
He also saw a sizable gate with thick wood at the entrance and moved towards it.
Soon, he arrived in front of the wooden gate, touched it with both hands, and realized that the door appeared good as new.
Only then did he take a deep look at the wooden gate and notice mysterious engravings appeared all over the area.
After a slight hesitation, he pushed the wooden gate, opened it forcefully, and then walked inside.
'The yard seems to be more like a barren land.'
Abium looked at the outer yard and noticed not even a single sign of plant or insect appeared anywhere.
He shook his head and soon shifted his gaze towards the palace building.
The majestic palace must have stood around for at least a thousand years, and it doesn't appear like it might collapse any time soon.
The palace building was bold. It stood there as if conjured from the storybook of a child. It was perfect. Every stone was even and square.
Those who built were on perfection, and they loved what they made. The walls were constructed to protect a community, echo with laughter, and be the shelter they needed for the millennia to come.
Alas, it now stood with empty silence.
He moved closer towards the palace's entrance gate, opened it slowly, and walked inside.