Because of his involvement with the discovery of the sixty-second floor of Fyor, Aznod had been making frequent trips back and forth between Fyor and the Ashtanu palace. For the most part, he volunteered to cook for those who were excavating the area around the gate, knowing that it would very likely take them a long time to remove enough ice to eventually find the next gate.
After the discovery of the floor itself, and the process of the sixty-first floor being cleansed of its miasma, multiple specialists were brought in to determine the next gate’s location. While they had an approximate direction, nobody was able to grasp the exact range for one reason or another. All that they could say for certain was that it wasn’t anywhere nearby, and that they would need to get a lot closer to find the exact coordinates.
When Aznod arrived at the camp, he was greeted by the sight of a laser drill boring a hole into the ice wall in the direction that the guides had indicated. Every time the laser flashed, a tunnel formed in the ice more than a kilometer long and sixty meters wide, and they had to drive the drill forward to continue. Given that the drill was still fairly close to the camp, they had only recently started operating it.
“Ah! Hello, sir!” A halfling male ran over to Aznod when he noticed his arrival, a small smile on his face. “Sorry, I didn’t see you arrive.”
“That’s fine.” Aznod shook his head, looking at the tunneling machine. “I’ve prepared a simple meal for everyone, if you’d like.”
The halfling’s eyes went wide, and he couldn’t help but gulp. Whenever Aznod came by, he always made sure to pack some food for everyone in the camp, regardless of how many people there were. Even now, there were just over five thousand workers, between those digging the tunnels and those constructing the base around the gate, but he had no doubts that Aznod truly did cook for everyone.
“That would be greatly appreciated, sir!” He said with a nod. Aznod simply smiled, moving over towards a tent where he often passed out the dinners. The halfling immediately turned around to run and tell everyone that it was time for a short break.
One by one, the workers walked over to the tent, where Aznod retrieved a small, square box that he used to keep the meals packed and warm. Each box was designed for a specific worker, having taken the time to learn their preferences. As for how he stored them all in his inventory… he may have cheated, using his Optimization domain to alter his inventory’s storage space slightly.
When each worker arrived, they thanked him, taking the boxed meal and moving off to the side to begin eating. Considering that this was a frozen realm, having a warm meal offered comfort even for those that did not technically need to eat anymore.
As for Aznod himself, he was simply happy to be able to offer this small reprieve from their monotonous lives on this floor. He watched the diminishing line, greeting the halfling again, who was the last to retrieve their own lunch. “Parna, did the others go on vacation?” He asked, looking at the sixteen lunches still in his inventory.
The halfling, Parna, blinked. “Others?” He asked, looking around. With so many people working in the camp, it was easy not to notice if a few were absent. “I don’t think anyone has left recently. We were planning to rotate out half of the group next month. Who exactly is missing?”
Aznod began to list off the names of those who had yet to receive their meals, causing the halfling to purse his lips. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen them around today… Give me a minute to ask around.”
Without waiting to eat his meal, the halfling rushed off under the curious gaze of Aznod. It was almost half an hour by the time he returned, a concerned look on his face. “Gan and the others were working on a building near the western wall, but nobody has seen them lately.”
Aznod’s brows furrowed, and he nodded his head. “You enjoy your food. I’ll go take a look.” He said, already starting to leave the tent.
“No, I should go with you--” The halfling began, before Aznod looked back at him.
“Just eat. If there is anything dangerous, we don’t want to lose more people.” He said with a soft smile, pulling a pair of kitchen knives from his inventory. The halfling hesitated, but nodded his head. He wasn’t there as a fighter, just an on-site manager.
Aznod’s senses swept out, scanning the area to the west. It didn’t take him long to find a building near the wall that had only been half-completed. When he arrived, he saw that sheets of metal and various tools were strewn about, but there did not seem to be any sign of the workers.
The disappearances had all happened at roughly the same time and place, so the odds of them having simply left without notice was extremely low. In that case, it was just a question of how to lure in whatever monster it was that attacked them.
Looking at the various tools, he concluded that the most likely cause would have been sound, as there would be a great deal of that. By comparison, it was almost impossible to see too far in the ice, and he could not detect any lingering energies that would draw his attention.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
With that in mind, Aznod knelt down, smashing the handle of one of his knives into the ground. Afterwards, he closed his eyes, listening. He could hear something faint, like hissing and cracking.
Once he had identified the direction of the noise, he slashed his knife in that direction, coating it with a black flame. This flame carved through the ice with ease, forming a gash in the ground that extended all the way until a pained scream echoed out. Aznod judged the distance, realizing that the target was less than a hundred meters out.
With the gap caused by his slash, he could tell that it was a massive eel-like monster with icy blue skin. The ice melted in its path, immediately freezing after it had moved by. However, it seemed that the monster was running away now, after having been injured previously.
Aznod’s brow furrowed, and he created a small spark of black flame, when he threw into the crack. The spark shot out like a bullet, colliding with the location where the monster had previously been struck. Immediately, it erupted in a massive, directional blast that ate away hundreds of kilometers of ice.
Because this was a ‘devouring’ energy as opposed to an explosive force, there were no shockwaves to speak of in the camp. The workers present only heard the monster’s scream, and felt a pulse of energy from the western wall.
Meanwhile, Aznod had a contemplative look on his face. He could instinctively understand what had been devoured by his energy, as it was one that was made to help him cook. Thus, he knew that he did not only catch one giant eel. Instead, he caught thirty of them, as well as various smaller monsters.
Still holding his boxed meal, Parna rushed over in distress. “Is everything alright, sir?” He asked, having felt the surge of power. Upon arrival, the only hint of what had happened was the giant cut leading deep into the ice.
“The immediate problem has been dealt with.” Aznod said solemnly, rising to his feet. “However, I would suggest putting in an urgent request for fighters capable of battle in frozen environments. There are numerous monsters swimming within the ice, and some of them are certainly hostile.”
Parna’s face went pale at that, and he nodded his head. “Yes, yes, I will do so immediately!” He said, before turning and running off.
Aznod crossed his arms over his chest, lost in thought. Now that he had noticed the problem, it would be irresponsible of him to leave before the reinforcements arrived.
With a thought, he sent a message to Udona. Sorry, I might not be able to make it home in time for dinner tonight. He said, before explaining the situation.
Udona, although surprised, swiftly responded back. That’s alright. Just make sure that you take care of yourself, as well. I would be surprised if there aren’t monsters capable of killing gods in floors this high.
Aznod was well aware of this, but he thanked her for the reminder regardless. He walked over towards the drill, noting that it was the most likely place to incur the wrath of these monsters. Hopefully, it is equally effective at scaring them as it is getting their attention. With that thought in mind, Aznod sat, his knives at the ready.
----------------------------------------
Udona let out a sigh of relief as she sat in the palace, having just finished her talk with Aznod. If anything, she was relieved that he was going to be in Fyor for a little while. The reports about memetic entities had arrived shortly before he left, and this would give him a reason to stay away from the danger for a little while as she took care of things.
Granted, the danger was far lesser when it came to the core worlds, but the Goddess of Life was protective. Besides, there wasn’t much that he’d be able to help with specifically when preparing for the new changes.
In the back of her mind, Udona was more worried about how she could raise awareness and prepare others to deal with such memetic entities. She had consulted with Cici, and discovered that Codex Chaotic couldn’t be used to simulate normal memetic monsters, as that was outside of its parameters. There were only a few differences between memetic monsters and void monsters, but those differences could still save lives.
“Hmm…” She pursed her lips, thinking about the problem. She placed her hand on her desk, creating a small book. She was also the Goddess of Education, so perhaps there were some things that she could prepare? Her eyes twitched as an idea came to her, and she abruptly sat up.
Terra. Stories Terra, I mean. And Chelsea! Are the two of you free? She asked, a growing sense of excitement as her idea grew more and more.
Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’m here! Terra’s voice responded. Not often I get a call from you, sis! What’s up?
I’m here, too. Chelsea said, sounding exhausted. Sorry, I’ve been trying to come up with contingencies, and backups for the contingencies, and it’s just a mess.
Education, Security, and Stories. Udona sent the two of them, earning only a sense of confusion. We could make educational guides that adapt to the situation! The Stories domain provides the situation. The Security domain analyzes the variables to determine the safest course of action. And the Education domain helps to quickly impart that knowledge!
There was a long pause, before Chelsea spoke up. That’s… not a bad idea. We’d have to do some tinkering, though. In a lot of situations, the safest course of action is to simply run faster than your friends. Let’s try not to promote that type of content. What do we call it, though?
The Goddess’s Guide to Exploring the Galaxy? Udona suggested, but Chelsea immediately retorted.
I feel like you’re going to get sued if you go with that. Let’s just go with the Security Manual.