Chương 348: Chapter 334

In the end, Katie didn't manage to get more information out of him, though she tried very hard. But Sam was made of sterner stuff than that. And while Katie's surprising obsession with whom he was romantically interested in was a bit unexpected, he wasn't really ready to share with them. Hell, even he wasn't sure about his own feelings. Maybe they were real, or maybe he was reading the signs wrong… Who knew?

'Once this war dies down, I can deal with my feelings…' he promised himself – his chronic procrastination once again showing itself.

'Feelings are hard…' RING Shaking his head, he turned his attention to his messages. It was Lucy's message, reporting on the progress of the event. One of the guilds had just declared that they had reached Wave 45. Dismissing the message, he turned to the others who were gathered around Katie and commiserating about his idiocy.

"Hey! Stop gossiping and let's go!" They rushed toward their next – and last – destination without any care for who could see them during their run. Clarissa switched from Melody's sweet embrace to sitting behind Sam on the back of the enlarged Lucky, who was running full tilt toward the town of Bliss. Dan was surfing on the back of Hawky, who also gained the ability to grow in size.

Puffball was nowhere to be seen, so Isabella called upon Sable, her wooden spirit, who transformed into a giant panther whose back was carved into the shape of a shallow tub. Which in turn was filled with soft, pillowy moss and grass – and a few wildflowers. The two lovebirds were sitting on the grass and having a full-blown picnic as the icy countryside sped past them. While Sam found the scene ridiculous, he was happy for them. Plus, he knew that in the future, even more ridiculous mounts would be introduced.

Especially if he made what Liz had discovered public. Sam never planned to keep that knowledge to himself. It was certainly not possible. Use it once to defeat their enemies, bamboozle their detractors, and impress their admirers – then publish it with an open licensing option and sit back and watch the fireworks. He knew that Lucy recently delivered a big stack of books penned by Liz – well more like printed – about her new magi-technology to Nowhere. It was his way of circumventing the system.

Because he was a hundred percent certain that there was no way the system that governed Magic Unbound would allow them this monopoly. Either the AI would place pieces of knowledge in other places for other players to discover, or simply arrange the knowledge to be leaked, stolen, or in some other way broadcast to the whole wide world.

Instead, he very loudly discussed his plans to release for everyone to use the secret of magi-technology – with the exception of a few things just to keep their edge – after the war had concluded. A sort of celebration of their victory… The town of Bliss definitely lived up to its name. It was situated on some cliffs with a breathtaking view of the tundra and the rest of the lowlands. On clear days, one could see for miles and miles. And at night?

You could see more constellations than anywhere, the boundless night sky filling any watcher with amazement. Their trade? Hot springs. The town itself was situated in the shadow of giant rocks – protecting it from the elements, but all around it, the entire area was dotted with small dwellings, buildings, and inns centered around steaming hot springs. There were public baths with separate areas for men and women. Restaurants where the food was served on floating trays, as you enjoyed the healing waters.

There were ones accessible for everyone, and ones where you would need an insane amount of money and have political connections to the right people to even ask for entry. Lucy and the Heavenly Forest team had been trying to get a permit to build a small, private hot spring here, but the locals were very resistant to any outsiders muscling in on their turf. Most of the players here were tourists in a real sense of the word.

They only 'played' the game to experience the natural wonders, see exotic creatures, and then eat those exotic creatures. Hell, there were even businesses focusing on offering travel packages around the world of Magic Unbound for those who didn't want to interact with the gaming element of the game. Even Heavenly Forest had that option.

If a guest wished to see some part of the Emerald Kingdom or the surroundings, they would be escorted by a select group from the guild in carriages designed by Liz and the rest of the crafting teams. Absolute privacy and comfort, for a price that could be categorized: 'If you have to ask, then you can't afford it.' Heading toward the gate, a very snobbish guard instantly redirected them to another entrance, much more hidden from the tourists, when Sam waved their tickets around.

God forbid anyone bothers the tourists! As always, the fracture portal was surrounded by government officials – who looked much more rested than the others they had met during this adventure – checking the tickets of those who were standing in line. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The entire area was protected by giant wooden walls that made sure people from the touristy part of the town of Bliss couldn't come into contact with the dirty fracture delvers. Looking at the fracture portal, he saw that it was icy blue, with a tinge of hospital green. Stepping up to it, he read the screen that appeared. [You entered a new fracture!] [Fracture: Bliss-in Life] [The town of Bliss is blessed with an abundance of hot springs and a beautiful vista to admire. However, one particular hot spring holds a dangerous, dark secret. Not that kind. Nothing that kinky happened there. We hope. It's undead. It is always undead.] [Time Limit: No Limit] [Charges: Unlimited] The team appeared in a courtyard, surrounded by tall, well-built walls. All around them, they could see a garden filled with plants from the tundra in an aesthetically pleasing way, as a stone path led them through it.

There was a gentle music drifting through the air, aided by chimes and some kind of stringed musical instrument. And deep beneath that sound, Sam could hear the gentle bubbling of the hot springs. Over their heads was a cloud of steam, gently rising into the air as the setting sun rays broke upon them, bathing part of the environment in a kaleidoscope of colors. It was beautiful.

The serenity, however, was broken by a shrill scream EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK All of their heads snapped toward it, disregarding the natural beauty of the place. Sam also turned, already knowing what to expect. Katie was in mid-swing as a ghostly apparition of a woman dressed in a servant uniform lunged at her with mouth open much wider than possible and emitting a scream that shook the very air. It was so powerful that its effects were visible to the naked eye.

The sound traveled like waves in the air, spreading from the monster, aimed at Katie, shattering rock sculptures and shredding decorative plants along the way. Sadly, Katie's swing didn't just cut through the monster, but it even split the attack into two, shredding the magic's cohesion, which in turn caused the attack to fizzle out before it could hit anything important.

"Yeah, you need to stay on the path…" Sam said glibly, sending a look at the overexcited young woman who just looked back unbothered.

"I know!" she replied.

"But I thought we needed to hurry. So, I thought if I baited out all the monsters, we could deal with them in one sitting." Sam blinked in surprise. That was more thought than Katie would usually put into her actions. Glancing at the others, he saw that they were also surprised. He quickly went over his own plan, then shrugged.

"Works for me…" Katie grinned and threw her arms in the air to celebrate.

"Wohooo! Here we go!" Then, with the same energy, she spun around and decapitated a nearby statue with her giant greatsword.

"Maximum Destruction! LET THE CHAOS FLOW!" They stood there for a moment, watching the girl start her rampage, then looked at each other. Isabella cracked her neck.

"I could use a bit of de-stressing…" she murmured, then unsheathed her own weapon to join her girlfriend in causing general mayhem and chaos. It was at that moment that he spotted that Melody was already next to Katie and swinging his own sword to cut down the scenery. Sam sighed.

"Come on, guys! Let's go before they raze the entire place to the ground."

"Do we really need to?" Clarissa asked, idly looking at her nails. Sam thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"Fair enough." So, instead of joining, the three of them watched as their other two teammates and one murderous goose, systemically destroyed the entire hot spring – and the monsters inhabiting it. After the banshees, the monsters became a little more varied. Ghostly servants summoned either steam shaped like weapons, breathed fire hot enough to melt stone, or rained down ice on their heads. Dan was in heaven. He pocketed all the skill book drops and materials, claiming them for his research.

Funnily enough, they even managed to get a pair of tickets as loot from a mini-boss. The tickets were for one of the famous hot springs in the area. There was a brief battle of wills between Dan and Katie as they butted heads over the ticket – seeing that they were the only ones in a relationship, but in the end, the tickets stayed with Dan. Which caused Katie to pout before Isabella quietly told her they would just go to a real-life hot spring over the weekend. The rest of the fracture was a breeze.

After the servant ghosts, the next apparitions that appeared were dressed like nobles and their retainers, always appearing in groups. One noble, escorted by their own personal servants. A tricky fight for those not prepared. Sam and his team were the exact opposite of not prepared. They cut through them like a hot knife through butter. The fracture ended up with them standing across from the first male ghost of the fracture. He was dressed in extremely decadent clothes, with an arrogant look on his face.

The story was rather depressing. The man owned the hot spring and the surrounding establishment. After he was rejected by the 'love of his life' he broke and began luring in women whom he then murdered. Started with the low-born, before escalating to the nobility. He was finally struck down, but the resentment and dark feelings his actions had created had cursed the pools of the hot spring forever.

The boss monster used beguiling illusions and disorienting sounds to try to trap them, but with Sam's skills, most of those were ineffective. Pretty good practice for low-level players who had never met a debuff-focused boss, though. Finishing the fight, they approached the pool from where the ghost emerged, only to find a simple wooden tray with two saucers and cups next to a heart-shaped porcelain tea kettle. The veins were done with blue pigment, while the muscles were articulated in fine gold.

And despite being made out of porcelain, it still moved – beating to an unseen rhythm. With a disgusted look on her face, Clarissa stepped forward, raised a leg, and brought it down, crushing the offending piece of 'art' into tiny pieces. As soon as the kettle was fully destroyed, a screen appeared in front of them. [Congratulations!] [You have found and destroyed the keys to the Heart's Torment!] [Find where the Heart of the Nation was buried, and cleanse the world of their darkness!] [As the first ones to find the keys, you will be rewarded with a unique title if you manage to cleanse the Heart's Torment!] Sam grinned at the others.

"We did it." Then he looked around at the slowly dissolving fracture around them and clicked his tongue.

"However, we need to hurry if we want to be the first at the portal."

"You know where Heart's Torment is?"

"Sure. There is a giant mausoleum in the old capital of the country where one of the old queens was interred. She was often called the Heart of the Nation, due to her beauty and sheer presence," he explained as they exited the fracture.

"Some legends even say that the very glaciers shed tears when she passed away."

"So, it's going to be even colder there?" Clarissa asked, pulling on her winter jacket.

"Probably. But I'm sure Lucy already prepared some stuff for us," he declared cheerfully as he sent a surreptitious message to the aforementioned woman to have someone local meet them at the location with a bag of the good stuff.

"Now! Time to head out for one last time!" he declared loudly as he once again summoned Lucky, who spent a minute just collecting head pats from everyone before standing before him and growing large enough to carry two people. A few seconds later, three familiars – a giant black wolf, an enormous burning hawk, and a panther made out of wood – barreled through the tundra with one destination in their minds.