Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye - Chapter 404 - 404: The Node atop the Snow Mountain
150 kilometers south of the Imperial Capital, Luca was parked outside an abandoned town.
“So you’re saying the closest target point to us just moved?” he asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.
Of course, the person he was addressing was Sophia.
Before leaving the Imperial Capital, he and Sophia had selected three target locations, which were, in fact, three nodes leading to the Eternal World.
Through these nodes, they could investigate the current state of the Eternal World.
Moreover, by examining the status of the nodes, they could also determine whether or not it was possible to gain the energy needed for a second awakening profession change through them.
According to their original plan, they would visit the three target points one by one, starting with the nearest and moving outward.
But after only traveling 150 kilometers, Sophia suddenly delivered some shocking news to Luca.
“Yes, the node closest to us suddenly shifted 17 kilometers to the east,” Sophia’s voice echoed in Luca’s mind.
Luca turned his gaze eastward.
Seventeen kilometers away stood a towering snow-capped mountain.
This mountain was the only high peak between the Imperial Capital and Refuge 102.
Because of its prominence, even after the monsters descended, it had remained a crucial landmark for humans.
The fact that the node had suddenly shifted to the snow mountain was hard for him to accept.
Even before the monsters appeared, this mountain was rarely visited, and since their arrival, it was unlikely that anyone had ever gone there.
There was a chance that powerful monsters might be hiding within the mountain.
“Maybe we should just skip the first node. Charging up a mountain that high is bound to be extremely risky,” Sophia suggested, hoping to play it safe.
She had traveled to several towering snow mountains back in the Eternal World.
Even with her teacher’s protection, she’d still encountered plenty of danger.
“No, that would be a waste of our time! Sure, heading up the mountain is dangerous, but I think we can handle it. After all, you’re a powerful frost mage.”
In reality, Luca wasn’t really counting on Sophia to provide him with much help.
His words were simply meant to express that Sophia was capable of ensuring her own safety. That way, Luca could devote all his strength to searching for useful clues.
In the end, Sophia was convinced by his reasoning.
Luca then turned toward the direction of the snow mountain.
On the way to the mountain, he was surprised to find many monster corpses scattered along the route.
All of these monster bodies were facing away from the mountain, as if they had died while fleeing from it.
“Could it be that there’s some reclusive master living in the snow mountain? Did this master move the node to the summit?”
With his vivid imagination, Luca even started to speculate about the possibility of a hidden expert residing atop the mountain.
Seventeen kilometers wasn’t a long distance for Luca. It took him less than twenty minutes to reach the foot of the mountain.
There were no monster corpses at the base of the mountain.
He looked up toward the summit. With his maxed-out Perception ability, he saw nothing but rocks and the snow and ice covering them.
There was no trace of monsters or humans anywhere on the mountain.
Under normal circumstances, the absence of both monsters and humans would indicate safety.
But Luca had a feeling that things were far from normal right now.
Just as he was hesitating about whether or not to climb, Sophia’s voice rang out again.
“With your maxed-out Perception, have you detected anything abnormal?”
Luca didn’t answer. He just slowly shook his head.
“I haven’t sensed anything unusual either. But I don’t think that means this mountain is safe! For all we know, a huge crisis could be lurking beneath the calm surface.”
“You’re right. But since we’re already here, there’s no reason to back out now.”
Luca drew his weapon.
He was fully prepared for a fight.
Sophia fell silent.
Though she wasn’t particularly powerful, she could still use her frost magic to assist Luca if things got critical.
And so, Luca began making his way up the mountain at top speed, heading straight for the summit.
As he made his way forward, he felt his body temperature dropping rapidly.
The air around him was unnaturally cold.
“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure your body temperature stays normal!”
Sophia’s voice sounded just in time, and at that moment, Luca felt warmth return to his body.
After a quarter of an hour, Luca finally reached the summit of the snow mountain.
Lying beneath a thick layer of snow, a door glowing with blue light hovered up and down.
This door was, in fact, the node leading to the Eternal World.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen a node in this form.”
Luca didn’t rush to touch the node—he had a feeling there was something off about its appearance.
“We should stay away from the node. Until we have more information, we shouldn’t make contact with it,” Sophia quickly warned Luca.
But her warning came a little too late.
Just as Luca took a single step back, the blue-glowing door suddenly swung open from the inside.
A mass of vines burst out from the node.
These vines were covered with twisted fangs and eyeless eyes,
and they radiated a strong curse power.
The moment they appeared, all the vines surged straight toward Luca.
“Knew it was a trap!”
Luca was a bit surprised, but he still reacted quickly.
He used both his weapons to block the incoming vines, all the while trying to probe the situation inside the node.
Judging by these vines, the node seemed to be linked to a forest region of the Eternal World.
However, he couldn’t sense any of the life force that should be emanating from the forest area.
Just as he fended off the vines’ attack, a swarm of bats flew out from within the node.
The moment these bats entered the real world, their bodies swelled to dozens of times their original size.
The giant bats kept dive-bombing toward Luca.
Dealing with these bat-like monsters was proving a bit difficult for Luca.
After all, these monsters were able to continuously draw power from the node.
“It looks like we have to close the node if we want to weaken these monsters!” Sophia shared her idea.
Luca agreed, of course.
The problem was, he had no idea how to close a node.
Normally, each node was extremely precious.
No one had ever wanted to destroy a gateway to the Eternal World before.
That meant Luca would have to figure out, step by step, how to seal this node.
“The simplest way is to destroy the node by force! Protect yourself—I’m going all out now!”
Luca gave Sophia a warning before launching his attack.
Sophia was still not in great shape, and she might not be able to withstand such a powerful shockwave.
After making all the necessary preparations, Luca gripped Obsidian tightly, dashed past the giant bats, and charged straight toward the door of the node.
In just two breaths, Obsidian struck the node directly.
In that instant, the blue glow of the node rapidly dimmed.
At the same time, a strange blue light started to emanate from Obsidian in Luca’s hand.
He immediately let go of the weapon, acting on instinct.
The eerie blue light was already crawling dangerously close to his hand.
If he hadn’t released Obsidian in time, that strange blue glow would have invaded his body.
After letting go of Obsidian, Luca retreated at top speed, putting more than ten meters between himself and the node.
He finally managed to distance himself from the node.
The strange blue light quickly left Obsidian and returned to the node.
As the node began to glow blue again, a black shadowy figure gradually appeared inside it.
“Who are you? Friend or foe, you should at least show yourself and face me!”
Luca stared coldly at the shadowy figure inside the node as he spoke.
Only a sinister, chilling laugh came from within the node.
It was clear that the figure had no intention of answering Luca’s question.
“In that case, don’t blame me for what comes next!”
Luca’s expression turned ice-cold. He gripped Starseeker, clearly preparing to launch another attack on the node.
But in the very next instant, he suddenly leapt off the snow mountain.
Everything he’d done just now was only for show.
Luca had already decided that this was a fight he could not win.
So, to ensure his and Sophia’s safety, he had no choice but to retreat for now.
Jumping off the summit was the quickest way to escape.
However, not long after jumping, he was shocked to find himself back at the top of the mountain once again.
He was both stunned and confused.
“Did you really think you could escape with such a childish trick?”
The cold voice came from the node once more.
The black figure slowly advanced toward the front of the node.
Finally, a middle-aged man in formal attire, leaning on a scepter and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, gradually emerged.
From the man’s clothing, Luca immediately identified who he was.
“You’re actually a senator from the Via Empire! Which senator are you? Why are you here?”
Luca could hardly believe it—a senator from the Via Empire had appeared in the real world.
And what’s more, this person was openly hostile toward him.
“Oh? You could tell I’m a senator of the Empire?” The elegant middle-aged man looked a bit surprised. “If you can recognize who I am, then you should also know why I’m here.”
“Are you here for the artificial monster technology?” Luca ventured his guess.
The man’s lips curled into a faint smile. He stared intently at Luca but offered no reply.
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