Versatile: Alternate World

1012  Agartha's Night Time

With the successful acquisition of the Excalibur, the next thing I did was to get out of there. With Excalibur out of the picture, there is a chance that the monsters that were previously evading the area might start to linger and even take over the place. I know I am going back here in the future to return the Excalibur once everything is over but for now, I will have to borrow it for the sake of fulfilling one selfish wish of mine and to also save my world from the impending world order that the Goddess of Life had planned.

"How are you doing? You swallowed the Excalibur just fine right now. Are you okay? Anywhere painful?" I asked to the Shadow Dragon.

"So far it was uncomfortable. Compared to the other weapons I have devoured, this one can indeed not be digested by me. It does burn in my body and if not for the relic that I swallowed beforehand, this thing might have destroyed my insides in no time."

"But you can still utilize the power of that sword yes?"

"Yes. I can do that, but since I didn't devour and assimilate the power to my body, my control and the number of times I can use it is limited. If you try to do so, it takes a lot of toll on my body, so if you want to practice the power that Excalibur possesses, you need to be calculative on using its power and practicing it so that it also doesn't ruin me in the process," the Shadow Dragon explained.

"If that is the case, let's practice later. For now, we should get out of here and find a safe place we can camp out. I am getting tired and although I can't tell whether it is nighttime or morning on the surface, I can somewhat feel it for some reason."

We left the cathedral and just like what I expected, the junk monsters started to get near the area. They do still look like they are not going to try their luck approaching but they are not proceeding much just yet.

I ignored them and we left the area with the trike. Compared to before, the junk monsters are no longer chasing me, in fact, they are now actively evading me. From the looks of it, the Devourer that devoured Excalibur has now taken the role of repelling the monsters passively. But that is a good thing for us, with the monsters now actively avoiding us, also means fewer battles that I need to take and I can finally rest without the need to keep my other eye open at all times for danger.

As I started cruising on the streets of the ruined streets of Agartha, I noticed that even though there was no nighttime, the buildings were now lit up in lights. The previous establishments that don't have their lights on are now bright and the signboards of some places have finally shown their signs of life as well.

This might be their way of telling that nighttime has arrived in this sunless world. Since I also felt tired from the battles, I think finding a good place to rest is a good move. Since this place is very similar to Earth, that also means places like hotels should be present in the same areas.

I circled the streets and looked for a similar place that I suspected to be the hotels of Agartha and it didn't take me too long to find one. It is currently present in one of the skyscrapers. If not for the signboard that has the bed on it, I wouldn't even recognize it as one.

09:58

I circled the streets and looked for a similar place that I suspected to be the hotels of Agartha and it didn't take me too long to find one. It is currently present in one of the skyscrapers. If not for the signboard that has the bed on it, I wouldn't even recognize it as one.

Stopping and parking the trike, I walk towards the entrance of the hotel. The place looks like it is still in a good situation, only that it is abandoned and no more people or former residents are working in this place.

"Why are we here, wielder?" the shadow dragon asked.

"I am looking for a place to sleep for the night. This place should be the same as back in my world where they make this place a business. You can think of it like inns in this world."

"Oh, is that how it is?"

"Yeah. Anyways, can you detect any enemies in the area?"

"It's faint but I can sense an enemy indeed. However, I can't pinpoint it properly so I can't say for certain which place. You shouldn't let your guard down."

I nodded and started to move around and opened room to room. I opened some rooms and although I could see that they were indeed hotel rooms, some of them smelled bad so I didn't use those rooms and closed them back. There are plenty of rooms in the area so I didn't just settle into one room and instead look for the room that has less or no odor at all.

After checking for quite some time, I soon found the room I was looking for. Not only was it clean but it was also odorless, making it an ideal room to stay for the night and recuperate my energy.

"This is much different than the inns we have previously used. It is even more different than the room you have back in the mansion," the shadow dragon is currently appraising the room.

"Yeah, of course, it was different. This place does seem to be more on the side of looking like a modern hotel room than its traditional inn. Still, this is good."

I checked the bed and it is still in good condition without any sort of damage. The other room is a bathroom, although lacking the necessities like shampoo and soap, the place is equipped with a functioning toilet, shower, and bathtub. Too bad the hot water option on the shower and bathtub is not working but the cold shower and water are working just fine. There's also a small living room present in the room as well where people can take their time musing about their day while staring at the window.

Seeing how it looks like the modern world's hotel, I kind of wonder why it was like this in Agartha. However, I didn't have any sort of idea why it was like this in the first place.

I took this chance to get some good rest. After locking the door and securing any places that enemies might get in, I place the Devourer beside me and lay on the bed. I checked the bed for any sort of traps or trouble hiding on it, but since the result was negative, it is safe to use.

"Have a good rest, wielder. I will take over the way of guarding you while you sleep," the shadow dragon offered.

"Don't worry, I am still not going to full sleep. I am taking my guard up in case enemies start to show their presence."

After doing so, I went to sleep. I made sure to keep my consciousness still active while I rest my body. After many years of becoming used to this kind of lifestyle, I no longer felt bad that I didn't get enough sleep. Even in this state, I can rest properly like normal. The only difference is that I am half awake and half asleep.

The night slowly passes on as I sleep properly. So far, nothing has appeared or has shown any sort of problems and that is good. However, that assumption broke down when I felt some presence not too far from this room. It is not inside, but something or someone is wandering around the halls.

"Wielder, are you awake, by chance?" the shadow dragon asked.

"I have been awake for quite a while."

"So you felt it as well?"

"Yeah. It is getting close but it still hasn't detected us or anything just yet."

"It is kinda big, don't you think?" I whispered.

"It's kind of hazy but it was indeed a bit big."

We continue to feel the movements of the entity outside. It is getting closer like it was indeed roaming the hallways. But for this entity that felt so big, how come it was able to roam around in this area just fine without destroying the walls? Is it some sort of spirit or it has an undefined shape that it can fit in any space it moves in?

I slowly reach out to the handle of the Devourer. It is getting real close and I can't afford to risk myself in danger even if it isn't a dangerous monster. We continued to observe the movements of the monster and waited. Then, it stopped just in front of the room. All of its movements are halted and it was like it wasn't moving at all. I didn't dare do any movement and I even urged myself to hold my breath as I continued to detect its movements.

After what I thought to be an eternity, the entity started to move again and passed the room. I sighed in relief after it passed but I was mistaken. As soon as I started moving, the entity outside the room barged inside the room, destroying the wall that divides the room and the hallway. Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m nov𝒆lb(i)n.c(o)m