Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 134: A dangerous one

They made their way outside; they were uncharacteristically silent. Everything so far had not gone according to what they expected. Even Vale wasn’t feeling the satisfaction of clearing the ruin.

They made their way over the snow-covered ground. Vale studied the environment, his eyes laid back. ’This ruin is really useless. Even the environment can’t be used for things like farming. The snow that’s covering everything makes it hard to do anything reasonable’

Even the palace itself is worthless because it’s made of ice... Maybe we should have brought the workbench? At least we can sell that for scraps’ Vale laughed inwardly, then sobered up as he thought of all that had happened since.

’I thought I was reasonably powerful, but only an aura was enough to turn me into jelly. What if that monster hadn’t found me useful? Then I’d be dead, and the decision wouldn’t have been mine. Again, I felt the helplessness of not being powerful enough to change and affect one’s fate’

’I must become an Errant Knight as soon as possible. The difference between each rank isn’t something that can be crossed so easily. Even I, who’s very powerful in the Knight rank, will find it difficult to defeat the weakest Errant Knight’

’The differences are usually clear and strong... Of course, that’s not taking into account ganging up on the Errant... or using a powerful Artifact... or even getting a chained Artifact...’

Suddenly, a voice jarred him out of his thoughts. It was Slya, who was now walking closer to him so she’d be covered by his heat.

"I’ve not seen snow on a large scale like this before," she said, kicking some. "The only time I’ve seen any was when the circuses passed through my village when I was a kid. Right. They also filled me with stories about how grand the Knights are."

Vale grinned. "You’re a Knight now. Don’t you feel grand?"

She scowled. "I can’t deny that the powers are... cool," her face grew serious. "But it’s a very dangerous place, where even a single mistake will mean your death."

Vale stopped smiling as he remembered Xan. Indeed, their world was a dangerous one.

She continued speaking. "But it’s far better than being an ordinary human. At least I have the power to fight against a choice I don’t want. I can fight."

Vale smiled a little. He could still remember when what she wanted was to get a construct while she worked her way through the mine.

He sighed. It felt like ages ago, though it had only been a few months.

He changed the topic. "Right. The Hinterlands is a dry place. Well, except for the Ryujin Delta, which is at least linked to the sea. That’s what I read anyway."

She shook her head. "I’ve never been out of the Athrimir mountains."

It was called the Athrimir mountains, but there wasn’t really much of a mountain range. Vale didn’t even have anything to say to that because he’d not been out of the territories held by his Clan either!

All he’d learned was through books. Suddenly, he stopped and grinned. "I learned something in books too. When there’s this much snow..."

"What?" Slya said in confusion as she looked back at Vale, who had stopped walking. Just then, something white blurred out in front of her and slammed into her face.

She gasped in shock, her face full of snow.

"Vale!"

The others also stopped to find out what the commotion was about.

"What? You’ve never heard of the snowball game? It’s a game common with the Greater Clans and some parts of the High Clans. You do it like this... and then throw!"

This time, Slya ducked, but another one hit her in the face as she stood up again. She glared at Vale, who only shrugged and began to make another ball. Then, she took a deep breath and packed a handful of snow, quickly molding it into a ball.

Then she straightened and threw it, straight at Tiber!

The big man glared at her and didn’t hesitate to pack his own ball to fire at her. Slya squealed and took off to avoid it, Tiber fast on her heels.

Vale packed two snowballs, and with that, the three of them shot off like released arrows. Their forms flickered as they weaved on the snow, throwing snowballs at each other and laughing.

The others were forced to wait for them in what Serdan called "childish." But Dlodus had seriously shaken his head and said, "Leave them be. You know when they’ll ever get the chance again?"

Serdan snorted and slammed her rod down impatiently. "They can find an Elemental Knight with ice magic and still get this. Don’t you agree, Manefor?"

The man grunted but didn’t give an answer.

Serdan sneered but didn’t say anything. Eventually, she brought out a drink from her space, which seemed to calm her as she waited for them to finish their "childish" behavior.

They did get tired eventually, their clothes wet, and Tiber and Slya had red noses and numb hands. Vale warmed them up with his heat while they sat to eat.

Since they were in the ruin, they settled for roasted meat with spices and soft bread.

Then they continued walking, and with Manefor’s sense of smell, they were able to make their way back to the mountain where the portal to return was standing.

Serdan told them to gather around, and then she used her rod, which turned into a tree, to lift them up to the ice mountain top where they quickly entered, returning to the Borderland.

They walked through the door of the ruin and back into the real world. The first thing they noticed was that the oppressive aura that clung to the ruin was gone.

Now the ruin looked like an ordinary mountain with a black spinning opening. They glanced around. It wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

Everything about the environment seemed to have changed somewhat. Nothing physical, but they could sense something that wasn’t there before. It was as if something that used to make the Core the center of the second layer was gone.

Dlodus grimaced. "And there goes the Core."

Vale ignored him and thought inwardly. ’Can I finally convince some Knights to follow me to the forefront now? It’ll be nice to take a team along’

Just then, at the same time, they all felt a presence that hadn’t been there before.