Chapter 546: Inside the worm
Michael and Reena must have been falling for a solid minute as they travelled through the digestive tract of the worm.
His original plan was to grab Reena and fly her out of the worm’s mouth.
However, he felt something in his chest that was calling to him. It was a strange feeling, one that he couldn’t quite explain.
He didn’t know why he was feeling this way, but he knew that he could only find the answer at the bottom of the worm.
What can it be? Maybe a treasure left behind by the auction?
This was a good guess from Michael since he knew that Barnaby’s auction happened once every year. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that they would reuse this specific Pocket Dimension throughout the different games of the bidding.
Because of that, there must be a chance that the worm swallowed something during that time.
And that something was good enough to be put in the auction.
This was enough of a reason for him to take the risk and plunge himself deeper into the 8-star monster.
So, with Reena at his side, they traveled down the worm’s body before eventually landing softly at its stomach, which was flooded with a greenish acidic liquid that was slowly disintegrating the chunks of solid earth and fallen trees that it ate while on the surface.
He landed onto a small floating island with a single oak tree still attached to the ground.
He softly let down Reena into the ground. She was unconscious and sleeping, with her body slowly trying to recover from her own poison.
And once they were safe, he took a gander at his surroundings.
Hmmm...this place is quite cold, he remarked.
Despite being inside the worm’s stomach, the temperature was low enough for him to produce smoke while breathing through his mouth. He wouldn’t be surprised if he found a block of ice somewhere around here due to how cold it was.
The density of mana around here is also low. There’s not much Air mana around.
There was a real solid risk of them suffocating if they were stuck here for too long. He knew he would be safe because he had his own Air mana supply from his cores, but Reena would be left with nothing.
I want to explore, but I can’t leave here all alone here.
Michael decided to build himself a temporary house made out of all the fallen trees that the worm swallowed.
He began stacking logs in a rectangular pattern, following a simple wooden cabin blueprint that ChatJK4 gave him.
Building something with his own hands again made him reminisce about the times when he was just a kid and he was building homes in the Vanderbilt estate. He has come a long way now.
After building the roof, he then worked on creating a source of fire to keep himself warm.
Using some firewood he chopped into planks, he used a simple Fire spell to light up into a campfire.
It was at this point that he felt some movement beside him.
Reena had finally awoken from her sleep and was now starting to realize where she ended up. There was a look of despair on her face seeing the endless darkness of the worm’s stomach. But then, her eyes softened once she saw Michael right outside of his wooden cabin, warming his hands on the campfire.
"You’re awake. Come, warm yourself up. It’s cold out here," he told her.
Reena shivered. Just like he said, the temperature here was comparable to a deep winter.
"I’m...I’m fine by myself," she said stubbornly, turning her head away. "I can... perfectly take care of myself."
She tried to command her Red Dust to form around her like a jacket. But then, she remembered that all that was left of her Aubility was a few pinches of dust.
Her body continued to shiver. She can’t take this cold for long. Not only that, but the low oxygen in here made her feel a little bit nauseous and dizzy. It was as if she was hiking at the top of a mountain!
"Don’t be a stranger," Michael shouted. "Sit by the campfire or you’ll get frostbite."
She bit her lips, conflicted. There was still some stubbornness inside her about wanting to become independent and self-reliant. But the cold, freezing temperatures of the environment forced her to reconsider.
"You can have this campfire for yourself, if you want. I’ll just go inside the house," he told her.
She quickly held up her hands. "No, it’s fine... I’ll sit by the fire."
She slowly inched closer to the wooden log next to the fire. "I... I’m just temporarily borrowing your campfire! I’ll pay you back some other time!" she said, her head turned away from Michael.
Is this what people call a tsundere? he asked himself.
"You know, you can just say thank you."
Reena remained quiet and didn’t reply.
With the fire crackling, the two spent a few minutes in silence as their bodies warmed.
"Why did you save me?" she asked him, her eyes downtrodden and looking at the fire. "You could have just escaped by yourself."
Michael shrugged. "It looked like you needed saving."
Reena made a self-deprecating chuckle. "I was the one that attacked you first, yet you still saved me."
"Let me ask you this. Why do you want Spice Vise to become part of the Major Factions?"
She thought he was joking for a second. "Isn’t it obvious? It’s because I want our company to succeed."
"And then what happens after that?" he asked her again. "What do you want to achieve?"
His question left her speechless. In her pursuit of greatness, she had never once asked herself why she was doing what she was doing.
She just focused on grinding, making herself better than before. And because of her efforts, she was able to make Spice Vise become part of the Rising Six.
But if she was going to be honest with herself, she had no clue why she was doing this.
"I don’t...know...." she muttered out.
"Well me, I started my company because I wanted people to become comfortable. I wanted to create inventions that would improve the lives of everyone in this world.
If I had let you die just because I wanted to win in the auction, then it would violate the very reason why I’m doing this in the first place."
Reena looked up and looked at Michael.
She saw the genuinity in his eyes. It wasn’t the naive and innocent eyes that she had expected from a kid like him. Instead, she saw seriousness and dedication in his gaze.
It was at that moment that her vision of Michael completely changed from a kid who didn’t know what he was doing, to a man who knew exactly what he wanted to do and would do everything he can to achieve it.
"Hm? Is something wrong with what I said?" Michael asked her, wondering why she was staring.
Reena’s cheeks blushed before she quickly averted her gaze and completely turned her head away from him.
What am I doing? Stupid father! He’s the one who put all of these ideas in my head!