Chapter 45: Unknown Legacy

Aelia also approached the barrier.

"A slime? What’s that?" she asked.

"You don’t know?" Chris looked at her in surprise.

"How could I know? I was never allowed to go far from my tribe, so I don’t know much about the outside world. Don’t you know that already?" Aelia asked.

"Ah..." Chris awkwardly scratched his head, remembering that she was indeed in that situation.

"Slimes are a type of monster, but they’re among the weakest monsters you can find," Chris explained. "They’re completely harmless and mostly feed on vegetation and the corpses of other beasts."

"Ah, interesting. So this is a slime?" Aelia nodded. She had never heard of such a creature before.

Chris thought for a moment before replying.

"I think so? I’m pretty sure this is a slime, but I’ve never seen one this big in my life."

"So, how should we deal with it?" she asked.

"It’s easy. Slimes are very weak."

As he said that, Chris raised his sword and struck the surface of the slime.

*Boing!*

Unexpectedly, his sword bounced off the slime’s surface without leaving even a scratch.

"Huh?" Chris was stunned. He had never seen such a tough slime in his life.

He raised his sword again, this time putting all his strength into the strike.

*BOING!* *Whoosh!* *Ding!*

The sword bounced back with even greater force than the one he had used to strike. It flew out of his grip and embedded itself in the wall behind him.

Chris just stood there, too stunned to react.

"Pfft... Hahahahahaha..." Aelia burst into laughter.

"Hey! Why are you laughing?"

"Sorry, sorry. You just looked so confident earlier. Pfft... Hahahahahaha... The look on your face!"

Chris couldn’t quite believe what had happened himself, but was it really that funny?

Shaking his head, he walked over to his sword and pulled it out of the stone.

"If that doesn’t work, let’s try something else."

Chris raised his hand and conjured a fireball, putting plenty of mana into it. He was feeling pretty annoyed at the moment.

*Whoosh!*

He threw the fireball at the slime.

*BOOM!* *Tssssss!*

The fireball exploded as soon as it struck the slime’s surface, causing its outer layer to melt rapidly.

Just as Chris thought his attack had worked, however, the slime began regenerating at an incredible speed. Within seconds, it looked as though nothing had happened.

"What the..."

"Let me try," Aelia said, raising her hand toward the slime.

*Crack!*

The slime’s entire surface instantly froze over. She raised her sword and slashed at it, breaking off a large chunk.

Seeing that her attempt had worked, she increased her speed and continued slicing through the frozen surface.

Chris watched in amazement. He already knew about Aelia’s abilities from the memories he had witnessed of her life.

She was indeed a genius, an SSS-Rank warrior with the Ice Swordmaster sub-class. As both a warrior and a swordmaster, she had an incredible talent for learning sword skills. She could also manipulate ice, using it to attack her enemies or imbue her sword with ice energy.

It was incredibly rare for a warrior to possess an elemental sub-class, as most warriors only had an affinity for weapons. Most relied on special weapons enchanted with elemental properties, allowing them to infuse their attacks with elemental energy. Aelia, however, didn’t need such weapons. She could manipulate ice and conjure ice spells with ease.

*Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!*

More and more pieces of the slime broke off, but something unexpected happened again.

The slime trembled, and the ice covering its surface shattered instantly. It then began regenerating once more.

Within seconds, it had returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.

"This is bullshit!" Chris yelled.

Aelia shook her head, feeling the same way.

Then, Chris thought of something.

"Let’s try something Can you freeze it again?"

Aelia nodded and extended her hand, freezing the slime once more.

Chris raised his hand and conjured dozens of fireballs before hurling them at the frozen slime from multiple directions.

*BOOOOM!* *CRACK!*

The explosions engulfed the slime’s entire surface. It trembled violently before finally breaking apart into pieces.

"YES!" Aelia shouted.

Chris smiled as well. It seemed they would get their reward after all.

Together, they climbed the stairs toward the altar.

As soon as their feet touched its surface, symbols began appearing across the altar.

Chris stared at the strange symbols, having no idea what they meant. He couldn’t read them at all.

He looked at Aelia and was surprised to see her staring at them with a strange expression.

"Can you read this?" Chris asked.

Aelia nodded. "Yes. This is the ancient elven language. Only royal elves know it, and we can understand it from birth."

Chris nodded repeatedly. "Then, what does it say?"

Aelia looked at him for a moment before replying.

"It says that two people are needed to receive this legacy, and they must trust each other unconditionally. It also says that if the ritual succeeds, their destinies will be intertwined forever."

Chris scratched his head, looking troubled.

"What happens if it fails?"

"We die."

"..."

Chris remained silent for a moment before turning around, intending to leave the way they had come.

"Then we should go."

"Why? Don’t you trust me? You’ve seen my entire life," Aelia asked from behind him.

Chris stopped and turned back toward her. He thought about her words for a moment.

He had indeed witnessed her entire life, and he could feel a strange connection between them. He couldn’t quite explain what it was, but he felt as though he could trust her completely.

After thinking it over, he nodded.

"I trust you," he said.

"I trust you too. Let’s do it."

Chris stared at her for a moment.

"You’re willing to risk your life so easily?"

"What’s so strange about that? I risked my life by coming into these ruins in the first place. I’m not about to leave empty-handed just because of this. You’re the same as me, aren’t you?"

Chris nodded. It made sense. He knew she would do anything to become stronger, even if it meant risking her life. And she was right. He was no different.

"Are you really willing to be connected to me forever by some strange magic?" He still had to ask.

"I feel like we’re already connected, so it’s too late to worry about that now." Aelia shook her head.

Chris nodded. Thinking about it more deeply, he realized he felt the same way.

"What should we do, then?"

Aelia pointed toward the center of the altar.

"Sit down and extend your hands."

Chris approached the center and sat down cross-legged, extending his hands toward her.

Aelia sat down in front of him and took his hands in hers.

The moment their hands touched, the symbols around the altar began shining even brighter. Two streams of red and blue energy emerged from the symbols and gathered around them, enveloping their bodies.

Chris felt a sudden warmth spread throughout his body. He felt that his body was absorbing the energy at an incredible rate. He closed his eyes and began enjoying the sensation.

As time passed, the energy surrounding them continued to grow stronger. Chris soon began to feel that something was wrong. The heat inside his body kept rising at an alarming rate. It felt as though his skin was burning, and sweat covered his entire body.

The only comfortable part of him was his hands, which were still holding Aelia’s. He opened his eyes and looked at her, only to be stunned by what he saw.

His entire body looked as though it were on fire, with flames dancing across his skin. His skin had turned completely red.

Aelia sat right in front of him, but she looked entirely different. Her body appeared to be frozen, with tiny particles of frost covering her skin. Her complexion had become as pale as porcelain.

At that moment, she opened her eyes and looked at him. They could both see the discomfort in each other’s eyes.

For some strange reason, Chris felt increasingly worried about Aelia. He could sense her discomfort, and his heart ached at the thought of her suffering.

’What the...’ He couldn’t believe what he was feeling. It had been a very long time since he had experienced such emotions.

They continued staring at each other as the energy surrounding them grew stronger. With every passing moment, the sensation became more unbearable. Chris felt as though his skin might melt at any moment, while Aelia felt as if she were about to turn into an ice sculpture. Yet neither of them cried out in pain.

They were both disciplined warriors who had endured countless hardships and trained through pain and exhaustion. Their pain tolerance was incredibly high, but even so, they felt they wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

Suddenly, Chris had an idea.

He focused on the fire energy being absorbed into his body and directed it through his hands toward Aelia.

A steady stream of energy flowed through his hands and into her body.

A moment later, the frost covering her body began to recede, and some color returned to her skin.

She looked surprised, but soon focused her own energy and sent it toward Chris.

In an instant, he felt a wave of cold energy envelop his body, soothing his burning skin and reaching deep into his organs. The sensation was so wonderful that he almost wanted to cry with happiness. He had never felt anything so good in his life.

They continued sending energy to each other, helping one another endure the pain.

Chris finally understood why unconditional trust was necessary for the ritual. He could control the fire energy he sent to Aelia with nothing more than a thought. If he wanted to, he could crush her organs and kill her instantly. He could even place hidden seals inside her body that might harm her in the future without her ever knowing.

He shook his head. He would never do something like that to her.

However, he realized that there were moments when he worried about her more than himself, and the thought troubled him. He wasn’t used to feeling this way.

Aelia seemed to be experiencing similar emotions as she looked at him with a strange expression.

Chris turned his attention to his body, trying to sense the changes taking place within. Although he wasn’t gaining any experience or increasing his level, he could feel that he was benefiting greatly from the ritual.

His body seemed to be strengthening at an incredible rate, and his affinity for fire elemental energy was increasing as well.

Time continued to pass. Chris had no idea how long they had been sitting there, but several hours must have gone by before the energy finally began to subside.

The symbols on the altar slowly dimmed before disappearing completely, and the energy surrounding their bodies faded away.

They both let out a deep breath before standing up.

[Fire Dragon Heart strengthened.]

[Passive mana recovery and affinity with fire elemental mana increased.]

Chris’s eyes widened. The System notification caught him off guard, but a moment later, a wide smile spread across his face.

He needed to test it immediately.

Raising his hand, he conjured a fireball. It was clearly much stronger than before, despite using the same amount of mana.

It was official. His affinity for fire elemental energy had indeed increased. Now, he would be able to use fire magic on a much larger scale while consuming the same amount of mana.

Aelia also raised her hand and conjured a block of ice that floated above her palm. A smile appeared on her face as well. It seemed her affinity for ice had increased too.

At that moment, however, Chris felt a strange attraction toward the block of ice floating above Aelia’s hand. The ice energy felt incredibly familiar, almost as though he had created it himself.

Aelia experienced the same sensation when she looked at the fireball in Chris’s hand.

Without realizing what they were doing, they extended their hands and brought their spells closer to each other.