Ice Palace

Despite some unexpected events, the journey has progressed quite quickly so far. Two apprentices have been found, and apparently the path is clear for the other two to be found soon. However, Vektor is about to explore a region of Netern Island that he hasn't studied much, meaning what comes next is still a mystery.

After calmly flying over the village, he lands the royal mini-airship on a grassy area. One detail about this place is that there is much more grass there than in Etykiran City. Despite being surprised, the citizens' reaction is quite neutral. Well, airships must be something natural for the inhabitants of the island in general.

After walking through the village, he heads to an inn to gather information about the other Etykiran apprentices. As soon as Vektor arrives at the inn, Sych casually appears before him saying:

"Oh, Vektor, you're here..."

"Sych! Yo!"

"I see your journey has brought you to Haidora Village just like me."

"Yeah... By the way, how did you get here before me?"

"I found myself here right after starting my route. It's not that difficult to get here through the Valley of Music."

"That place is really convenient..."

"I decided to stay here and gather information, only to discover that an Etykiran apprentice lives in this village."

"Really?! And where are they?"

"I visited her house earlier, but her parents said she went to the desert for some reason."

"Desert? The one near the coast of the island? Looks close... I'll go and take a look later to see if she's still there."

"Okay... And then, how's your journey going?"

"Ah... Well, so far, I've found two of the apprentices. After I see the one you mentioned, there'll only be one left. One of the apprentices I found is the island's princess, and her father, the king, lent me the royal mini-airship so I could defeat a certain 'Villain of Evil'."

"Who's this one? No one around here told me anything about someone like that."

"Well, I've expected he wasn't that famous. I already defeated him, so now I'm just traveling around the island until I find the Etykiran apprentices. I think everything is progressing well so far."

"That's good to hear."

"Sure it is, but the important thing now is that I'm going to the desert. So Sych, please tell me everything you know about that place!"

"As you wish. Well, according to what her parents said, the only reason their daughter would go to the coastal desert of the island would be to go to the Ice Palace."

"Ice Palace? In the middle of the desert?"

"I was also confused when I first heard about this, but let me explain. The Ice Palace is created by a set of Ice Crystals, which react with each other in a strategic manner and sculpt the palace itself."

"...I don't think that explanation was so clarifying."

"Even if you don't understand now, you'll eventually do when you get there. That palace is rebuilt daily around this time of day. By the way, I think you better walk when you get there. If the palace hasn't been rebuilt, you'll have to look for an area with lots and lots of Ice Crystals on the ground. Don't worry, even though the desert is wide, it's still just a beach after all, so it won't be that hard to find. This reconstruction event happens at 1 PM."

"Wait, 1 PM? What time is it now?"

"I think it's around 12 and a half."

"It's gonna be soon, then! I must hurry!"

"I can go along if you want."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this myself, it shouldn't take too long. In the meantime, stay here and wait at the inn, I might have to ask for your help again soon. I'll see you later."

After this conversation, Vektor quickly returns to the royal mini-airship and flies to the desert, where he lands and continues his journey on foot. Considering that he arrived at the village at 12:30, and it has been about 23 minutes since he arrived at the desert, then the Ice Palace will appear in about 7 minutes.

After spending these 7 minutes walking, he arrives at a place where he finds countless Ice Crystals on the ground. The Ice Palace will soon appear...

"...Huh?"

Strangely, Vektor sees a ready-made ice room about 50 meters away, before the rest of the palace appears.

Before he gets the time to investigate, the Ice Crystals begin to glow, and beams of light emerge between them, forming lines. More lines appear and bend as they travel. After countless lines have formed, he realizes that the lines have turned into shapes, which in turn have created the shape of the palace.

Something Sych didn't quite explain was the fact that Ice Crystals create ice using the moisture around them, but when connected, they create this ice in defined shapes.

And that's what happens here. Since the desert is actually a large beach next to a snowy mountain, the humidity in the air is quite high due to the wind coming down from the mountain. The significance of this is that, after the palace shapes are established, their insides turn into ice very quickly. The real Ice Palace finally appears before Vektor as the lines dissolve.

Vektor puts on his coat and enters the Ice Palace. The place is a frozen maze inside. After getting lost in the palace corridors for a few minutes, he gives up on traditional methods and melts the ice walls using his Burning Silver until he reaches an ice door. This must be where the Etykiran apprentice is. Upon entering the room through the door, Vektor finds the girl, who only shows slight astonishment:

"Ah!"

"E- Excuse me..."

"By any chance... are you Vektor Drenn?"

"...Yes, I am. How do you know my name?"

"I see, so it is you...! I didn't think you would actually appear around here. I am Yuko Haidora, it's a pleasure meeting you."

Yuko is a beautiful girl with blue hair and delicate appearance. Her clothes are thin but modest. Her appearance gives off the impression of harmlessness, but Vektor gets a bad feeling for some reason...

"...Alright, pleasure's all mine, but how do you know my name?"

"Well, it's that... some boy came in an airship earlier and said something about wanting to get revenge on some Vektor Drenn who was coming here. I thought it was weird but decided not to say anything. For some reason, he went back to his airship and hasn't returned yet..."

"A boy in an airship...? Could it be...?!"

A familiarly annoying voice comes up:

"Yes, it's me! Good to see you again so soon, Vektor Drenn."

"Not you again! Why don't you give up and stop getting in my way already?!"

The "Villain of Evil" reappears inside a new robot.

"Do you think I'll just forget the humiliation you made me go through?! I spent a lot of money building everything you destroyed! After that battle, my fortress fell on Haidora Peak. I, who had escaped in a mini-airship, went there, found my most powerful robot, and then, upon seeing you here, decided to find Yuko Haidora and then wait for your arrival. I knew you would show up, so I prepared myself to finally get my revenge!"

"You're really honest when you're speaking, admirable."

"Now that you have an idea of ​​my genius, it's time to feel the power of my ultimate machine!"

"Okay, just give me a moment."

"Wait, what?"

Vektor takes off his coat, puts it in his backpack, and then hands his backpack to Yuko while saying:

"I'm sorry, but could you hold this for me for just a little while?"

"Y- Yes..."

Vektor wields the Burning Silver and returns to his place on the battlefield, saying to his opponent:

"Okay, I'm ready. Shall we start?"

"I'll have you know, no amount of preparation will help you now."

"That's my line. None of your toys stand a chance against my sword. I'll make you feel it for the second time."

Thus begins the final battle against the "Villain of Evil". Vektor starts attacking the robot with the Burning Silver, but the robot doesn't take any damage, something that amazes Vektor, while his opponent laughs:

"Haha! Did you really think this robot would be as weak as the last one? This time, I used the best metals in terms of durability and heat resistance!"

"Kh! But what about you, how will you attack me? This robot doesn't even have arms."

"Who said robots need arms to attack? I have something way more efficient than that."

The robot then reveals an attached laser gun, which immediately begins charging.

"...!"

Without much time to react, Vektor clumsily defends himself with the Burning Silver. The robot fires a laser, which bounces off the sword's blade and opens a hole in the ice wall with just the heat. Vektor is instantly angered:

"Hey! Don't go around shooting that at people! That's really dangerous! Someone could actually get hurt!"

"Why all this worry? These lasers aren't even concentrated, no one's gonna die from just that. You're a Drenn, aren't you? A little heat like that shouldn't be a big deal."

"(Even if you say that, there's still someone else here who could get hurt in the middle of all this...)"

Vektor's vision quickly focuses on Yuko, who is using her powers to protect herself with an ice wall as a precaution. As such, Vektor no longer needs to hold back in this battle. His goal is now to disarm his opponent's robot.

More lasers are fired by the robot and deflected by the Burning Silver. Little by little, the lasers destroy the walls of the Ice Palace, causing all the ice that comes into contact with the beams to evaporate.

Meanwhile, unsure of where to look for Maken, Kder searchs for information visiting the Arsenal of Shadow, where Mitsuko greets him:

"Ah! The legendary swordsman is here! What's the owner of one of the most powerful weapons doing here again?"

"Sorry for bothering you, but I'm currently looking for someone. Could you please let me know if anyone has visited the arsenal recently?"

"Hmm... I can't remember of any special visitors in the last few days..."

"I see... Do you know about any recent incident involving Shadow Crystals?"

"Incident?"

"Yes, like a robbery or anything in the same level."

"No. Things are as monotonous as ever around here. Has anything happened that I should know about?"

"...Don't worry. It was just a misunderstanding of mine."

"Well, if you say so, I won't try to argue. Changing the subject, are you interested in the weapons in our arsenal? We have everything from knives to machine guns. I'm sure something will come in handy!"

"D- Don't worry...! My sword is enough!"

"I see, that's a shame..."

"I'm sorry for all the inconvenience, but I shall leave now."

As he moves away from the Arsenal of Shadow, Kder notices smoke rising from the desert:

"(Smoke...? Could this be one of apprentice Drenn's battles? I think I should go there and give my support if necessary.)"

Kder starts running towards the Ice Palace, while processing the information obtained in his conversation with Mitsuko:

"It seems like he didn't obtain the Shadow Crystals from the arsenal... How was he able to acquire those crystals? An external source? But is that even possible...? ...I can't let this distract me from my main objective. Once I'm done checking the desert, I have to continue searching. Only then I will get the answers I seek..."