Chapter 62: Acquaintances Everywhere in the Previous Life
It took Joshua three hours for Hei to gradually adapt to moving in a human body. (www.2)
This was a very normal thing. A dragon who had never experienced walking on two humanoid legs could not possibly immediately adapt to the unfamiliar body's movement methods after transformation, especially since Hei lacked inherited memories, making it even more so.
In three hours, the warrior painstakingly managed to get the black dragon girl to walk and run relatively smoothly, and to speak a few words of human language.
As early as a few months ago, Hei could understand human language, but the throat structure of the dragon form made it impossible to speak. However, even so, Hei often communicated with Joshua and the others through roars, so she actually learned language faster than walking.
"Master..." Refusing the help of the Steel Element Chu Hao, the dragon girl, trying to walk on her own, stumbled and fell again. She slowly stood up from the steel floor of the Time Vessel's bottom cabin, letting out a soft cry.
Hei's human form had a light, pleasant voice, but she spoke haltingly: "Without a tail, human... walking, balance is so difficult."
As she said this, she looked at the warrior before her with an expression of admiration, as if standing steadily on the ground was some remarkable feat.
"Zi, zizizi." Beside her, the Steel Element, brought in to help Hei with walking training, also nodded slightly, making an unintelligible noise. At the same time, Hei coughed again, and instantly a straight pillar of golden flame appeared out of thin air, scorching the cabin's steel floor red hot.
Around them, there were seven or eight similar traces of melted marks.
"..."
With one sleeve already burned off, Joshua opened his mouth to speak but couldn't utter a word. He could only shake his head and sigh. However, Hill and Fina, who were watching from a corner, indicated that in such a short time, the black dragon girl had already reached this level, which could be considered intelligent and talented.
"When I first transformed into a human, it also took me a considerable amount of time to control the balance of power within my body."
Fina played with her pointed ear, smiling slightly: "But I had inherited memories. It's only been a few hours; Hei couldn't possibly master it so quickly."
"Starting from zero, this progress is indeed not slow." Hill nodded slightly. He stretched lazily, looking somewhat tired, and said, "I think, Joshua, you should rest a bit now... Anyway, I'm going back to rest. I had just fallen asleep not long ago when you guys woke me up..."
Since the black dragon girl's training was nearing its end, the elf youth took his leave. Fina also encouraged the dragon girl with a couple of words before following him. The sound of their chatting came from the corridor, leaving only Joshua, Hei, and Chu Hao in the cabin.
"Alright, it's good enough."
The warrior muttered to himself. For him, whether Hei could quickly adapt to life in a human body was secondary; as long as she was happy. After all, the humanization spell could be freely switched after the first casting. If it really didn't work, he could just let the dragon girl revert to her dragon form and guard the Time Vessel with Fina, then slowly train her after returning to the territory.
Thinking this, Joshua's originally somewhat helpless expression softened. He reached out and rubbed Hei's hair, which was as smooth as silk, and said in a low voice, "You fought with the sea beast earlier, and then I dragged you into training. You've worked hard."
After speaking, he looked up at the cabin located at the bottom of the Time Vessel, then shook his head and said, "You're in human form now; you can't stay in a place like this. I'll find you a room."
"Mm!"
The black dragon girl seemed a bit worried that if she spoke, she might accidentally breathe dragon fire again, so she covered her mouth with her hand, only letting out a faint sound of agreement. She nodded repeatedly at the warrior's suggestion, looking very happy.
"Hold my hand." To prevent Hei from falling again after a few steps like before, Joshua reached out his hand to Hei. After making sure the girl had a firm grip, the warrior turned around and led her and the Steel Element out of the cabin.
On the other side of the Ark.
—Time Vessel Ark, Temporary Alchemy Laboratory.
Although it was called temporary, this alchemy laboratory located inside the Temple Ark was by no means crude. In fact, this laboratory, occupying an entire large cabin, was well-planned with bright internal lighting. Every item was placed in an exceptionally orderly manner. In mid-air, several fist-sized, bee-like small constructs were busy flying back and forth, transporting materials and data, exuding a professional aura from start to finish.
At the center of the spacious cabin, a series of large alchemical machines were running quietly. They were connected to a large silver-white workbench, above which floated a massive silver metal ring three meters in diameter, with countless light blue runes flowing around it.
In front of the workbench, a petite gray-haired girl wearing goggles was looking up, working intently. She manipulated the runes in mid-air, fine-tuning the structure on the metal ring bit by bit, and inscribing one magical formula after another onto it.
A gentle woman with platinum blonde hair and an eye patch stood behind the fully focused girl, quietly watching her.
Time passed. After who knows how long, the gray-haired girl finally inscribed the last rune onto the huge metal ring. She tiredly removed her goggles and rubbed her eyes: "The third stage of holy script inscription is complete... Sister Sa Ya, now we can try to embed the sacred artifact."
"Mm, you've worked hard."
The High Sister slowly approached the workbench. She looked up, 'seeing' the metal ring floating in mid-air, and said with some surprise, "Norni Nolan, no wonder you're called a genius alchemist. I didn't expect you to be able to manufacture the sacred artifact carrier according to our requirements so quickly and complete the joint magical formula inscription... Truly impressive."
Sa Ya was not a person of many words, so she could only praise like this, expressing her inner delight. The girl previously called Nornuo was also very pleased upon hearing this. She said softly, "Actually, I owe it to the previous alchemist who left me complete data. Otherwise, I couldn't have completed the construction so quickly."
"If an ordinary alchemist wanted to understand the research data of another professional in the same field, it would probably take months. We couldn't afford that much time."
Walking up to the workbench, the High Sister once again used her special vision to perceive the slowly rotating metal ring. After a long while, she nodded with a smile: "Perfectly meets the requirements. Truly impressive, Nornuo. If we can destroy the Abyss Rift this time, you deserve at least a third of the credit!"
"It's my duty." Taking the opportunity to hug Sa Ya's arm, the gray-haired girl stared at the ring on the workbench, a complex light flickering in her eyes.
All the regions in this world related to Chaos and the Abyss were actually confined within certain limits. The Plague Land in the Western Mountains and the Famine Land in Moldavia were like this, guarded by the Church of the Seven Gods or local guardian families to prevent the chaotic power within from spreading widely.
Only the Abyss of Anos was different. The Abyss Rift was hidden deep in the sea, making it impossible to confine.
In the past, the Church could still send clergy to guard this sea area. But now, with the Five-Colored Dragon Clan besieging the Holy Mountain, the Church had no spare strength. Coupled with the dragons' apparent dealings with the Abyss, this further solidified the Holy Mountain's resolve to completely destroy it.
This metal ring on the silver alchemy workbench was the Church's preparation for destroying the Abyss Rift.
The full name of the metal ring was the Holy Light Wheel, developed three hundred years ago by a Church believer proficient in alchemy. It had the function of gathering energy from several sacred artifacts and amplifying it. Initially, this believer only wanted to invent some kind of powerful weapon, but it turned out that the Holy Light Wheel was more suitable as a defensive core for supporting church barriers.
So-called sacred artifacts were objects containing Holy Light. Since there was no natural Holy Light energy in nature, most artifacts were personal items of successive generations of clergy. After years of infiltration, these objects often contained a very large amount of Holy Light power. Gathering this power could form an indestructible defense, or an unstoppable attack.
After adjusting the design of the Holy Light Wheel, the Church of the Seven Gods transformed it into a one-time consumable that could release all the Holy Light from the sacred artifacts in an instant. As long as enough sacred artifacts were sacrificed, its power could even surpass the Legendary-level energy output in an instant. Such an explosion was enough to destroy the Abyss Rift and completely disrupt the space-time structure of that area.
Originally, the Church had prepared a Holy Light Wheel as a self-destruct device. But the Time Vessel had never been able to penetrate deep into the Abyss of Anos and enter the Central Great Maelstrom to find the Abyss Rift. During the fourth exploration, the Time Vessel reached the periphery of the Great Maelstrom but was ambushed by several powerful Chaos Monsters. The Ark nearly sank. The then-leader, Robzek, could only choose to use the Holy Light Wheel to block the enemy's attack and temporarily retreat.
However, during the battle, the original alchemist from the Church who was modifying the Holy Light Wheel was severely injured. The Church had no choice but to follow his recommendation and find a disciple of his friend, striving to manufacture a new Holy Light Wheel before re-entering the Central Great Maelstrom.
Clearly, this girl, whose full name was Norni Nolan, was a true genius. In just a few days, she had used the imperfect alchemy laboratory on the Time Vessel Ark to manufacture a new Holy Light Wheel. And judging by the structure, it seemed to have been subtly strengthened.
"Regardless, we must thank you."
Sa Ya was a traditionally gentle clergywoman. Seeing the tired face of the gray-haired girl, she couldn't help but caress her cheek with some concern: "Come on, Nornuo. Go get some rest."
"Okay." Still holding the High Sister's hand, Nornuo showed a sweet smile.
Inside the Rest Cabin.
Joshua, who was introducing the obedient-looking black dragon girl to Robzek and Loranda, caught a glimpse of the High Sister opening the door out of the corner of his eye.
The warrior didn't pay much attention at first, intending only to greet her. But then he saw the gray-haired girl following behind Sa Ya.
Instantly, Joshua's heart trembled.
—What is this person doing here?!