Chapter 7: Blue Tears and Royal Blueprints

Chapter 7: Blue Tears and Royal Blueprints

Jack trudged across the glowing perimeter line into the sanctuary of the Elemental Cooling Shrine. The moment the oppressive heat lifted from his skin, he let out a long, weary sigh.

"Hey, I'm back," Jack called out toward the wooden cabin.

The wooden door swung open with a bang, and a tiny blue blur zipped out. Aria flew straight up to his face, flailing her small arms excitedly.

"Hey, welcome back!" Aria chimed, hovering right at his eye level before crossing her arms and puffing out her chest. "Well? Don't just stand there like a useless brute! Did you get enough beast cores to feed my magnificent shrine, or were you uselessly running for your life out there? Show me! Show me right now!"

For a fraction of a second, a strange, bittersweet sting hit Jack's chest. Back on Earth, whenever he walked through the door of his apartment after a grueling fourteen-hour shift, he would say that exact same line. He used to wait for Zoey's quiet, soft voice to welcome him back, wondering if he had managed to bring home the snacks or dinner she had asked for.

Now, standing in a volcanic hellscape, the voice welcoming him back belonged to a loud, dramatic water fairy who sounded like a spoiled goddess demanding tribute.

Jack shook off the nostalgia and pulled up his system interface. "Yeah, I got the cores. I managed to bring back a hundred of them."

Aria's jaw dropped so wide it looked like her tiny face might split in two. She hovered in mid-air, froze completely, and then threw her head back in sheer disbelief.

"A hundred?!" she shrieked, her voice cracking into a high-pitched, whiny squawk. "How in this hellish, boiling, sulfur-reeking nightmare world did you kill a hundred monsters?! Did you trick them?!"

"Relax, I didn't kill a hundred monsters," Jack said, waving his hand nonchalantly. "It turns out I was the very first survivor on this entire server to hunt down a wild beast. The system gave me a First Kill achievement reward."

Aria immediately lowered her hands, smoothed down her blue dress, and placed a hand over her heart with an air of smug superiority. "Ah! See? I knew it! Our amazing luck is obviously thanks to my divine presence as a water fairy! We are so unbelievably lucky to have me here!"

"We?" Jack raised an eyebrow, looking down at her.

"Oh, cut it out!" Aria wailed, flailing her fists dramatically in mid-air with giant tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "Don't act like I'm a stranger! I am graciously helping you rescue your precious girlfriend, and I'm practically slaving away giving you my precious water to keep this shrine running! We are a team, you ungrateful mortal! Now, hurry up and tell me—did you fetch us any other grand treasures, or did you come back mostly empty-handed?!"

Jack chuckled faintly at her theatrical breakdown. "I got a treasure chest. Oh, and a failed attempt at using my class skill on the lizard corpse to raise an undead, but that's about it."

Aria's eyes instantly sparkled like polished sapphire. She flew circles around his head in a flurry of blue light. "A treasure chest?! A real, shiny treasure chest?! What's in it?! Open it right now! Don't keep a majestic fairy waiting!"

"Alright, give me a second," Jack said. He pulled the heavy bronze chest out of his system inventory and set it down on the cool ground near the shrine spire.

[Bronze Treasure Chest]

[Opened successfully: Obtained Bread x20, Wooden Staff (Trash) x1, Water Bottle x20, Building Scroll (Random) x1, Volcanic Stone x5]

[Building Scroll (Random): Upon activation, grants the blueprint for a random territorial building.]

"Oooh! A magic scroll!" Aria gasped, landing right on top of the chest and leaning over to stare at the glowing parchment. "Open it! Open it! Open it!"

Jack unrolled the shimmering scroll, letting the system process the data.

[Opened successfully: Ashen Lodge Blueprint]

[Ashen Lodge Blueprint: Allows the user to construct a specialized shelter capable of summoning a Heat-Resistant Dwarf Worker.]

[Dwarf Worker: A versatile, hardworking unit capable of accelerating base construction, mining raw materials, repairing damaged structures, and managing resource logistics. Can be upgraded along various specialized branching paths, such as the Blacksmith Route to forge advanced weapons and armor, the Engineer Route to build defenses and traps, or the Craftsman Route to process rare materials.]

[Building Requirements: Volcanic Stone x5]

[Time Requirement: 2 hours]

Jack and Aria both stared at the blue floating panel in silence. Then, slowly, Jack turned his head to look at the tiny fairy perched on the edge of the chest.

"Well, isn't that great," Jack said, a faint, sly grin playing on his lips. "And here I was thinking I'd have to use you to carry stones and do heavy labor around here."

"WHAT?!" Aria shrieked at the top of her lungs, her face turning bright red as she stomped both feet frantically on the wooden surface beneath her. She flapped her wings with frantic speed, throwing her arms wide open in pure outrage. "What the fuck do you think I am, a giant or a golem?! Look at me! Look at this gorgeous, delicate, top-tier body! I am a tiny, cute, undeniably beautiful water fairy! You can't force a divine creature like me to do dirty peasant work!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Jack laughed, raising his palms in surrender as he smiled. "I was just joking. Besides, I wouldn't want to overwork my only water source anyway."

Aria huffed loudly, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and puffing out her cheeks in a massive sulk as she turned her back on him.

"Hmph! That's right! You better remember that!" Aria said.

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