Entering Apocalypse in Easy-Mode

"What?" Hammer asked. "You not only managed to escape from a Celestial unscathed but also managed to get this pebble?"

"I have burns. What do you mean unscathed?" Clyde replied.

"It\'s just minor burns!" Hammer said with an exclamation. "You should be dead now!"

"But it still hurts," Clyde replied. "Let\'s not talk about it right now. And don\'t shout too much. Can you make it or not?"

Hammer stared at the red pebble in his hand as he pressed his lips together. Then he said. "I can make one. But why would you want to go there again after what happened?"

"Because we still haven\'t found what we\'re looking for there," Clyde replied.

"Path to Nexus of Creation?"

Clyde turned his gaze to him. "You already know about that?"

"Yeah, they told me about that before you came," said Hammer.

Clyde shrugged. "Well then. You already know about it so there\'s no point in keeping it a secret any longer. You know now why it is important to you to build the thing."

"Samuel can take you there with his own amulet, though."

Clyde didn\'t answer right away. He stared at Hammer with eyes full of hidden intent. Hammer instantly understood the meaning of that gaze.

"Is this something you want to keep secret from them again?" Hammer asked.

"Yes." Clyde nodded.

Hammer sighed. "I don\'t know, Clyde. I don\'t think... keeping too many things from your friends is a good thing."

"They are not really my friends and you know it," Clyde said in an even tone.

Hammer stared at him. From the Dwarf\'s gaze, Clyde could tell that Hammer was confused about his insistence on putting up a protective barrier against everyone around him. Even after the fight and struggle they went through together.

"Alright alright." Hammer raised his hands, as a sign of giving up. "I will make the artifact you want."

Clyde answered with a nod and said. "Thanks."

"You have to start trusting other people, Clyde. You can\'t always be alone," Hammer said.

"I have a few people I can trust. And I don\'t think I can trust more than that," Clyde shot back.

Hammer nodded curtly and sighed. Then he left the room without saying anything else.

Clyde who was finally alone in the room looked up. He dropped his head on the bed and tried to find comfort after the long day he had spent.

It wasn\'t even evening yet. He looked at the clock hanging above the wall on the right and saw that it was only ten in the morning. Though, in this Fortress it didn\'t mean much because the sky was always dark.

\'Weird, though I feel like I spent a lot more time than that.\'

Clyde didn\'t really think about the time difference he thought and what actually happened. Because he already suspected that there might be something wrong with time in this place.

When he was alone now and finally able to rest, Clyde finally felt exhausted. It wasn\'t fatigue so great that it was unbearable, but enough to make him want to close his eyes right now.

So Clyde did. He was in a good mood after getting the Oath, and now Clyde thought he couldn\'t hurt himself by taking a little nap.

~~~

A man came out of the portal in the room the Senior Council usually used for important meetings and gatherings. He is one of the ten members of the Senior Council who should still carry out his duties as a spy in the domain of one of the Celestials.

However, this time an urgent problem forced him to come back here. His expression grave and hard, the man gritted his teeth and clench his fist.

The man\'s body was tall, almost reaching three meters. His hair is long and nearly reaches his thighs and is locked in dreadlocks.

His skin is brown, almost close to the color of dried earth. And that skin wrapped around his muscular body.

Overall, the man looks very much like the characteristics of the followers of Goddess Pele. Because he is.

That man immediately issued an order to summon all the Senior Council present in this Fortress as they had a big matter to discuss.

His call didn\'t take long to get a response. It was his presence here that suddenly made all the Senior Council astonished and agitated. He shouldn\'t be here yet he came. Something big must have happened until he could no longer delay his arrival.

Vernik, Madri, and Maethion. Three members of the Senior Council who were always here because they weren\'t spies in the Celestials\' domain or doing tasks that required them to leave, came into the meeting room with the same question.

"Why the hell did you come here and call us in such a hurry, Saulo?" Vernik asked in a confused tone mixed with a hint of annoyance as he sat down.

"You said they would do it subtly!" Saul said. His teeth were still gritted tightly. He stared at Vernik with eyes burning with anger. "You know what they just did?"

Maethion frowned and leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

Saulo turned his gaze towards Maethion. "The party you sent caught Goddess Pele\'s attention. They made Goddess Pele send her warriors and she even go herself to them so they ended up being involved in a devastating battle!"

His words made them all silent. This was something dire because they had finally caught the attention of a Celestial on them. And it\'s not just a small concern that Clyde and the people who went there got to destroy her domain.

"Wait," Madri said, holding up her hand. "You said devastating? Did Goddess Pele not act?"

Maethion and Vernik immediately set their sights on Saulo.

"She is also fighting. She was just about to leave for the Far East but she noticed an intruder before leaving," Saulo replied.

"If so, then the Goddess should be able to stop the party we sent before they could do any damage," Madri said.

Maethion felt his heartbeat increase suddenly. He glanced at Vernik and Madri who looked suspicious of Madri\'s words.

The truth is, Maethion hasn\'t said anything about his knowledge of Clyde\'s Aetheric Records. He hasn\'t said anything about the suspicion that it\'s possible that Clyde\'s Aetheric Records is different from the others in that it\'s not bound by the bound of a Celestial.

If the other Senior Council members found out it could be troublesome.

Saul shook his head. "I don\'t know what happened. But somehow they were able to put up a fight against Goddess Pele to the point of destroying the area where they were fighting."

Vernik frowned. "That\'s so weird..."

"Maybe they leveled up high enough and attacked Goddess Pele quickly before she could use her bound," Maethion said, giving a suggestion to allay their suspicions.

"Yeah, that\'s actually possible. But that possibility is very small," Madri said.

"That doesn\'t matter now. What matters is what if the Goddess Pele tracked them down and eventually brought them here?" Saul said.

"That\'s not going to happen. So far no one has ever found this Fortress," Maethion replied.

"That\'s because no one is actually looking for this Fortress!" Saulo looked furious, his eyes lit up looking at Maethion. "Now, when Goddess Pele has realized that there is a force attacking her, she will not remain silent."

What Saulo said did make sense. Maethion couldn\'t find a way to say something to disprove that.

However, this time it was Clyde who had to deal directly with the Goddess. Maethion believes that it was Clyde who gave resistance to the Goddess causing the domain to suffer heavy damage.

\'I have to ask Clyde directly about this. Maybe he kept some kind of surprise again for this situation. I have a hunch.\'

"So." Saulo glanced at them in turn. "Any better idea for this problem?"

"We can lead her to another place. Let\'s put some kind of false clues when she decides to look for this Fortress," Vernik said.

"I agree," Madri said with a nod.

"That\'s a good idea, I think," Maethion said. "To do that we need to make another necessary mess."

They discussed further about the plan to direct Goddess Pele\'s attention away from the Fortress.

The discussion lasted quite a long time because it contained many things. They have to create a bait that makes sense and isn\'t suspicious. But also have to be extra careful in doing that.

After the meeting ended and they were all satisfied, Maethion immediately left the building. He exhaled and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

\'Time to go meet that boy.\'

Maethion went straight to the infirmary where Clyde was.

When he got there, Clyde was sitting on his bed. In his hand was the Inferno Blade. Of course, now there was no fire on the blade.

"I expected you will come here soon," Clyde said.

~~~