Elementalists
Chapter 34 - Dungeon

The giant polar bear came down from his throne, he walked around Arya and Rena with his eyes unblinking. Her hunting breath made Rena feel uneasy, after several times circling around them she stopped before Arya and Rena.

Slowly the bear bent both of its front legs to salute the two of them.

"Since the news of you guys starting to reappear, I've been waiting for you to come to this place. My lord introduce, I am the leader of the 555 Polarians, you can call me Ragna"

"Thank you for the welcome, Ragna" Arya replied as she stroked the polar bear's head.

Just as Arya's hand came into contact for the first time with Ragna's white hair, a glittering light appeared and spread throughout the region. Forming a giant ring that continues to expand out of nowhere, Rena who saw it certainly can only stare in wonder.

"E...anyone can explain what really happened?" chirps.

"The Polarians have a perpetual oath of allegiance to the Ice Elementalists from generation to generation" Arya replied softly.

"A debt of gratitude to be exact, as long as our people are still walking on the surface of the earth. We will always side with you" Ragna added, raising her head.

"And...Where did you know this? Arya?" asked Rena again curiously.

"Astral" said Arya briefly while following Ragna who walked out.

Seeing their leader walk casually with the foreigners made the other Polarians more calm. They begin to return to their respective posts leaving Stella who still looks frightened because she was left behind by Arya for a while. The horse neighed softly and immediately approached towards them.

"So why are you attacking us?" arya asked finally while calming Stella down.

Ragna apologizes immediately and explains why they attacked Arya and Rena, not knowing that Arya and Rena were riding the Pegasus. He had only received reports of an alien being flying over their territory, to avoid trouble. He finally ordered his troops to attack.

"You certainly understand why I did it" Ragna closed while looking at Stella with a mysterious look.

"If I were in your position, maybe I would do the same. Because the last time the Pegasus were seen was probably almost as long as the beginning of the disappearance of the Alchemists from the face of this Earth"

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Ragna brought them to see the settlements of the Polarians, the Polarians were not really much different from the other races. They hunt, make settlements, and look after their children like other races in general. Polarian children will be guarded by the females until they can forage themselves.

It is usually marked by the growth of their armor. True, the armor of the Polarians will grow miraculously from their bodies. It was one of the unique abilities of these creatures, and to a certain degree they were able to eliminate and form armor according to their individual desires.

While passing through the settlement, Arya and Rena see polar bear cubs chasing each other. They are seen having fun, aware of the arrival of the Aryan group. The little polar bears immediately ran for protection to their mother. Arya could see them peeking out from behind her mother's back.

Arya smiled then walked up to them, they were shrieking softly with trembling bodies. It seemed like it was the first time they had encountered a creature other than their kind, one of the Polarian children was seen venturing closer to Arya. The boy threw a questioning look towards Ragna.

Right after receiving the nod from Ragna, without waiting any more the boy immediately climbed up and climbed onto Arya's shoulders. Arya just laughed amusedly as a result of the stomp from the tiny soles of her feet, seeing her theme seemed to be having fun. The other Polarians came closer, and in the end Arya and Rena ended up playing together with them.

As time passed quickly, Arya and Rena did not realize it was so fun to play with the Polarian children. Arya only realized when she heard Stella's annoyed grunt, Arya turned to her kindly. But the horse immediately threw his gaze in another direction.

"What's Stella?" arya asked casually.

"Religion-chihik"

"What the fuck is that with your attitude? You can't possibly be jealous? Just because we both played with these polar bear cubs" Arya commented as she rolled her eyes.

Stella did not respond to him and just stared in the other direction as if to say "Think about it yourself"

"Pfft--?!"

Arya immediately turned her head towards Rena, but quickly Rena also immediately threw away her face with cold sweat drenching her body. He was already deterred from insinuating Arya's habit of talking to Stella.

When the sky was dark, they finally parted with the Polarians. They walked to the shelter that Ragna had provided for them.

"So? What business do you have in coming to the land of these ancestors, my lord?" ask Ragna at last.

Arya began to tell about the Elementalist Examination as well as what kind of thing they were looking for in that place.

"Honestly I never thought the thing you were looking for was really my Master, I even thought the story of it was just a fairy tale" Ragna said after hearing Arya's explanation.

"Actually I also had the same thought as you" Arya replied.

"Then? Why do you still think you can find that thing?" sahut Ragna with wonder.

"Oh, a hunch is possible" Arya said, giggling softly.

Ragna seemed to think hard for a moment, after being silent for quite a while she finally said "There is one place that has a high probability of where the thing you are looking for is, which is, we used to call that place by the name of Dungeon"

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The next morning Arya and Rena were already preparing to leave for the Dungeon, Ragna would be the guide for them. That morning their departure was ushered in by a herd of Polarians, Ragna announced about where they were going and also handed over the leadership to her son as long as he was not around.

Ragna approached her eldest son and kissed him on the forehead, then they embraced as if they would never meet again. Finally, their departure to the Dungeon was accompanied by the roar of polar bears that filled the North Pole air in the morning.

Arya walks next to Ragna, while Rena rides Stella carefully. Arya deliberately chose to walk to better know the area around the place.

"Rageo? Why are you doing farewell in such a way?" arya asked at last after they had walked quite a distance.

"Why indeed, my lord? Is there something wrong with what I'm doing?" Ragna asked back.

"Not really, you can't call it wrong. It's just.you act like-"

"Will never see her again?" ragna continued while looking towards Arya.

"True, I don't understand the reason why you're doing such a thing" Arya said softly.

Ragna then laughed out loud, making not only Arya who was walking next to her startled. But also Rena and Stella were shocked to hear the laughter of the giant polar bear.

"You will understand later, when you have lived long enough in this world" Ragna replied casually.

"The pretty wise words of a bear that can speak human language" Arya commented with a smile.

Ragna just chuckled softly hearing that. Arya did not realize that the sentence she heard at that time would have a great impact on her life in the future.

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"Mmm...I did not expect that this lake would melt, what if you and Miss Rena just fly with the horse My Lord? I'll catch up with you after swimming through this lake" Ragna suggested.

"That's not necessary" said Arya.

Arya then flicked her hand casually, the lake immediately froze from end to end. This certainly makes Rena and Ragna surprised, considering that Arya is still not a perfect Elementalist but she can already freeze a lake easily.

Arya herself was quite surprised by her own abilities, she could feel the power of her element increasing by several folds when she arrived at this place. Finally they crossed the frozen lake casually, Ragna told them the place they were headed to was directly across the lake.

Ragna then began to tell about the place they called the Dungeon, actually what they called the Dungeon was just a large gate that looked like the mouth of a giant monster. No one knew what the contents of the Dungeon looked like.

Ragna also told that there were no living creatures wandering around the place, even the lake they had just passed was not inhabited by fish and other aquatic creatures. No creature in the North Pole dared to approach the place, but according to Ragna it could be because this was the territory of the Polarians.

When Ragna finished telling the story, Arya and Rena could see far away a scene that was quite terrible. And it seems like that's the place they're headed to.

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Arya directed her hand towards the Dungeon gate, making a large amount of coldness blow towards it. The cold weather hit them as they passed, this resulted in the bodies of Rena, Stella, and Ragna shivering for a while.

Arya closed her eyes while not saying anything, a few minutes later she finally opened her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"The room inside this place is very complicated and confusing, I doubt that we have entered. We can't get out easily" he lamented as he ruffled his hair.

"Is that all the information you get?" asked Rena while approaching her.

"Unfortunately not just that, all over this place I feel a lot of trap triggers. So we have to be more careful in stepping"

Arya also told them about a room that was in the middle of the Dungeon, the room was closed as if strengthening their guess that the North Blue Frozen Crystal was indeed stored in this place.

Arya and Rena seem to think for a moment to plan how they can get in and out safely. After thinking for a long time, Arya got up from her seat and turned to look at Ragna and Stella.

"Ragna I want you to stay here, let out your best roar every 1 hour since we entered the Dungeon. We'll both use that as a clue where the exit is, do you understand?" arya's orders are fast.

Initially Ragna seems to disagree, she prefers to join Arya and Rena to enter the Dungeon. But finally after Arya explained how important this role was to do she accepted it with a chest of air. Next Arya faced towards Stella who was already wagging her tail excitedly.

"Stella, come and pick us up. Wherever we were when you heard this voice" Arya said, stroking Stella's head.

Then he whistled loudly by sticking his fingers on his lips. Stella blinked a few times indicating she understood what Arya was saying, although she actually wished she could go with Arya and Rena inside.

"Smart kid" praised Arya with a warm smile.

Then he immediately drew closer to Rena and grabbed her right hand, making Rena squeal softly with a reddened face.

"mmm? What's up Rena?" arya was confused.

"T.tt.ti.it's okay! Ha..ha..just, do we really have to hold hands like this?" timpal Rena slow.

"Not really, but like I said before. Inside is full of traps and rest assured the lighting there is also no less bad, so...isn't it better if we are like this?" arya replied as she raised her hand that was holding Rena's hand.

"A.a.a.ah.so yeah..I think I'm thinking too much about it. I'm sorry, hehehe" Rena said as she let out an awkward laughter.

Finally after waving at Ragna and Stella, the two entered the gate that looked like the mouth of the giant monster. And in accordance with the words of Arya, the lighting there is very bad. This causes Arya to be willing to several times her legs stepped on by Rena.

Arya also had to stop Rena's steps several times to avoid the active triggers of traps. He blew cold air from his mouth so that the triggers were clearly visible before them.

After some time passed that was filled with the sound of the bears roar and the effort to avoid traps, they finally arrived in front of the room in the middle of the Dungeon. Arya knocked on the door three times, and it miraculously opened itself.

"How did you know the door would open in such a simple way?!" ask Rena astonishment.

"What?! Don't look at me like that, everyone always puts manners first, right?" arya replied casually with an innocent face.

The room they entered was very large and gave off a bluish light, but the second step immediately came to a halt when they saw the figure in the middle of the room. The creature was seen to be made of ice, he carried a sword with an attitude ready to pull it at any time.

"What is that creature...living?" asked Rena in a clenched voice.

"Sure he's alive, don't enter the 10-meter radius around him. Or else he would react, I didn't expect a Protector Knight-level magic guarding this place" Arya replied as she approached something that looked like a stone monument.

Rena immediately followed him and seeing what was on the monument, she frowned in disbelief.

"I can't read what's written there" he said slowly.

"It's....Runes, like the Elves used" said Arya while raising her eyebrows, "Let's see what's written here, mmm.it looks like it's a"

"E...Aryans? Can you read it to me?" pinta Rena with guilty face.

"If he eats, he lives. But if he drinks, he died" read Arya slowly.

"If he eats, he will live. But if he drinks, he'll die? What kind of creature is that?!" rena protests.

Both of them were silent for quite a while thinking about the puzzle, at the same time they seemed to realize something and then looked at each other.

"Are you thinking the same thing as me?" ask Arya.

"Maybe yes, maybe not. The problem is how the creature reacts if we answer wrongly" said Rena while glancing at the Protector Knight.

"Let's find out" Arya chirped while throwing a ignorant smile at Rena.

The two of them approached the stone monument, both of them placing their right hands on the stone monument. They took a deep breath then looked at each other while nodding signaling themselves to be ready.

"Fire!" yell at them at the same time.