Chapter 34 - 33. Where Fragments Meet
"What do you mean we can't take the shard?"
The three researchers almost jumped in front of Zein, eyes widened in horror. It was as if their research fund had been canceled out of the blue. Bassena had to pull Zein back before he got pounced. He had seen enough of Han Shin throwing tantrums in Guildmaster's room.
"Just like I said," Zein shrugged and casually explained like he didn't just shatter people's hope and dreams. "The shard had already taken root for a long time. If I had to take a guess, this is the place where the fragment fell originally, and the other shards scattered from here."
"Wha..." Han Shin looked at him with glassy eyes. "Like an anchor?"
"Like a core," Zein looked at the shard floating there. He had never thought there would be a day he would explain something to other people, being the ignorant and less knowledgeable about things as he was. "If you want to form a fragment, you have to bring other shards here."
"And we can't take that away?"
"Can you take the one on top of the tower away?" Zein asked back.
They fell into silence then, as the answer to that was obvious. "I don't know how the Tower looks or functions, but this...domain, probably works the same way," Zein looked up, at the sturdy dorm formed from sturdy woods. "Minus the trials and everything."
"Since there's no deity to fuse the power into fragment..." Bassena muttered.
They looked around the 'domain' then, the fortress made of trees and the abundant lifeforce felt like a different world altogether. There was a rich scent of mana that made the esper feel like they were inside of the dungeon, except that there was no miasma here.
Right—like they were inside the floor of trial.