Chapter 462: Ninety-Sixth Floor, Divine Armament (3)

Chapter 462: Ninety-Sixth Floor, Divine Armament (3)

[Find materials. Time remaining: 3 hours 45 minutes.]

A map of the storm had formed in my mind. I didn’t know exactly how it had formed, but I did know one thing. Its center—the eye—would be calm, while the outer regions were far more violent.

Even just from looking at weather photos, that much was obvious. The outer bands of clouds always fanned out wide. That meant the farther from the center one went, the more intense the wind and air pressure would become.

Of course, discerning those subtle differences while standing in place was no simple task. My senses were sharp, but the storm’s reach extended so far that it had practically swallowed the entire sky.

Given that I was less than half a meter wide from front to back, detecting even slight variations in air pressure would be nearly impossible. To sharpen my perception, I withdrew the divine energy that was reinforcing my barrier. The sound of sand striking against it grew more piercing.

Tat-tat-tat—

With that heightened sensitivity, I analyzed the wind’s speed and flow, along with the force of the sand battering the barrier.

Okay, I have gauged this location’s strength.

Maintaining my focus, I began walking forward.

Considering the sandstorm’s scale, moving a few steps wouldn’t make much of a difference. I advanced slowly, analyzing the pressure as I moved. After walking for some time, I finally noticed a faint shift. The wind’s force had weakened, just barely. It was such a minuscule change that I would have missed it if I hadn’t been concentrating so intently.

If the initial gusts had hit me with the strength of a hundred grains of sand, it was now closer to ninety-nine.

Seems like I am heading in the right direction.

I wanted to narrow down the exact angle, however. Turning slightly, I began walking toward what I estimated as my one o’clock. Step after step, the feel of the wind brushing between the fine hairs of my skin changed subtly. It was changing at a more pronounced rate than before. That meant the diagonal route was closer to the storm’s eye than my original path. I turned one last time, toward three o’clock from where I had started. As I continued forward, I noticed a change in pressure, but less than before.

That settled it. I knew where to head.

Four hours total.

The eye of the storm likely wasn’t too far. I had two reasons to think so.

First, the time limit itself.

I had been summoned into a storm where direction was meaningless. Someone like me could reason through the situation only because I had lived on Earth and understood such phenomena. Climbers from undeveloped worlds probably wouldn’t have known where to start. Moreover, it wasn’t a life-or-death trial, which meant the goal wouldn’t be placed too far from the starting point.

My second reason was the sheer scale of the storm.

Even when I had first arrived, I could tell. The wind spirit had reacted instantly, and although I had erected a barrier, the gale hadn’t been strong enough to lift me off the ground.

Sure, I have far surpassed human limits, but a storm this large should be more powerful.

If I had appeared at the storm’s outermost edge, that first moment would have been enough to throw me skyward.

In the end, I didn’t have to worry about that. I had a direction to head in, and even if the storm shifted, I could adapt my path as needed. I braced my barrier and took a step forward. After gauging the pressure of the wind, I gradually increased my speed.

***

[Find materials. Time remaining: 2 hours 32 minutes.]

As expected, my heading remained the same. I made a few small corrections, but overall, nothing significant.

At first, I wondered if the storm was simply too large for my progress to register at all. Then I remembered something I had learned long ago. The larger a typhoon grew, the faster it traveled. After walking for nearly thirty minutes, I concluded that the storm wasn’t moving. It was fixed in place.

That isn’t scientifically possible—if it is natural.

However, if it had been created artificially, it was entirely possible. At least moving through it wasn’t overly taxing. Something vast and unseen pressed down on me, but it was nothing compared to the oppressive auras of the gods I had faced before. Even as that weight grew with each step, the wind’s force weakened little by little, making it manageable.

After another half hour, I began to run faster.

If the eye turns out to be empty, I will need time to search elsewhere.

If I failed to find the material, I would have to change course. Saving half my remaining time for contingencies was a safer choice. Even if this trial wouldn’t kill me, the quality of the reward mattered. What I obtained here could determine whether I died on the next floor or not.

Despite the relative calm, I felt a steady sense of tension.

Before long, I knew that the eye of the storm was close. The oppressive weight pressing on me had intensified to the point that taking a single step became difficult. At the same time, though, the wind’s pressure had diminished noticeably. I could no longer run, but I had endured worse before.

Clearing my mind, I forced myself forward.

One step. Then another. And another still.

I wasn’t sure how many steps it took.

“

Huh?

”

The moment my foot touched down again, light flooded my vision. The harsh drumming of sand against my barrier vanished, along with the suffocating weight that had been crushing me.

Silence. Utter silence.

For a brief moment, it felt as if I had stepped into a completely different world.

The sky stretched bright and blue above, a golden sun suspended high within it. Beneath that light lay an endless desert. At its heart, I spotted an oasis.

A small spring.

It was tiny compared to the vast storm that surrounded it, but the water shimmered with a distinct, otherworldly glow. Beside it, a modest tree bearing several crimson fruits hanging from leafy green branches caught my eye.

Looks like I found it.

My guess had been right. The eye of the storm contained some materials. I just hadn’t expected it to be an oasis. Honestly, I had assumed an enemy would be waiting, like a godlike being that had conjured the storm or some colossal beast born of the desert.

When I extended my senses, though, I didn’t notice any hostile presences. I cautiously approached the oasis. Even up close, it was no different. The pool contained clear water infused with a faint, mysterious power.

Maybe I just have to take some of it with me.

Judging from my first experience with the World Tree, that appeared likely. Still, there could be something else. Perhaps a hidden passage lay beneath the oasis that led to whatever had created the storm.

I will wait before collecting the water for now.

If touching it caused the Flame of Aspiration to summon me, I wanted to inspect the area first. Even if there was nothing else, I planned to pick one of the fruits from that tree. They didn’t look ordinary.

I turned and made my way toward it.

Up close, the fruit looked even stranger. It was clearly red, yet faint streaks of blue shimmered within, glinting faintly in the light. As I puzzled over the fruit, a notification window appeared.

[Storm Ruby]

- A fruit miraculously borne by a tree that took root near the Spring of Storms.

- Contains the essence of the tempest. When consumed, it grants the power of a storm, fortifying and purifying the body.

Oh, not bad.

While it likely wouldn’t enhance or purify my physique much after all the elixirs I had taken, it contained a storm’s power. Since I possessed a wind spirit, that effect would surely resonate with and amplify my own wind abilities. Or perhaps I would gain an entirely new form of power altogether.

The notification describes it as a storm’s power.

There weren’t many fruits on the tree. Only three in total, which made sense for something as powerful as an elixir. The fruit would suffice, and since I had already obtained the Primordial World Tree’s power, there was no need to take the tree itself. Using the wind spirit, I carefully gathered the rubies. Rather than eating one immediately, I decided to store them for later.

As I began to place them into the mimic, however, the spirit hesitated and refused to hand over the last one.

“

Huh?

Why?”

It had never refused an order before, so I was confused. Not long after, its intent came through our connection. It wanted one of the rubies for itself.

Can a spirit even consume something tangible?

I had never seen it eat before. It had absorbed my mana plenty of times, but never anything physical. Regardless, if it was asking for it, perhaps it could. Thinking about it, a wind spirit would naturally desire a Storm Ruby. Also, if we both absorbed its power, maybe our connection to the wind would grow twice as strong.

I couldn’t be sure, but with three fruits, I could spare one.

“Go ahead. It’s yours.”

The words had barely left my mouth before the wind spirit devoured the fruit in quick succession. One bite. Two bites. Three. The ruby vanished into its wispy form as if swallowed whole, leaving no trace behind. After staring at it for a second, I decided I hadn’t noticed any changes.

I shifted my attention back to the oasis. Its water was so clear that I could see the sand resting at the bottom. Extending my sense below the water, I didn’t sense a passage leading below. Since I hadn’t left the desert, the water appeared to be my desired material.

Is it drinkable?

The Storm Ruby’s description had referred to this place as the Spring of Storms. Whatever mysterious energy creating the sandstorm originated from the oasis. If that was true, then drinking its water could grant effects equal to or even greater than an elixir.

Still, I couldn’t drink it just yet. If I did, the Flame of Aspiration would probably immediately teleport me back. I settled on filling two large bottles. One to serve as the forging material, and another to consume alongside the ruby.

I pulled two empty bottles from Mung-chi and sat before the spring.

At that moment, the wind spirit hovering nearby began to emit an unusual aura. Before I could even turn my head, a vivid blue light spread before my eyes.

Wh-what is happening?

The energy from the Spring of Storms was flowing into the spirit’s form. The transfer didn’t appear dangerous, and it looked remarkably similar to what I had experienced during my own transformation.

Perhaps the ruby was far stronger than I had thought.

Soon, the force inside the spirit began to expand, and the blue light it emitted grew even brighter.

Is it evolving?

No, that didn’t feel like the right word. Spirits weren’t monsters. Whatever was happening, however, I was confident that the wind spirit was changing.

Wait... is it becoming a Spirit King?

This wind spirit was already high-rank, just below a Spirit King. If it grew any further, there was only one level left to reach. It was an intriguing sight. I had always assumed that spirits were born as powerful as they would ever be.

Well, it made sense that they could grow. Just because a spirit was born weak didn’t mean it stayed that way for thousands of years. Besides, mine had absorbed both my mana and divinity, and now it had consumed a Storm Ruby.

There is plenty of time left.

Rather than rushing to bottle the water, waiting for the spirit’s transformation to end seemed wiser. Whatever it was becoming, it was certainly something rare.

I watched closely as the wind spirit began to change.

A fierce gale swept through the oasis, wild and thunderous, similar to the birth of a storm.