Soon, they headed down into the hole.
Celina still seemed a little flustered from the innocent kiss a few moments ago, but it was fine; he was just sad he couldn't do it sooner.
In fact, it would be nice to get to know the rest of the girls more than he already did.
After all, he felt like there was still so much to find out—their goals, aspirations, and whatever else he could imagine.
Nonetheless, he realized that Seraphina had put in quite a lot of work.
The hole led downward in a spiral-shaped frosted staircase. It wasn't slippery in the slightest, and no wind was coming in either.
The walls had nice ornaments etched into them, and honestly, it seemed pretty darn cozy.
Yet the further down he went, the warmer it felt, which didn't really make sense, but he rolled with it regardless.
"Hey, Celina?" he said, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Y-Yes?" Celina tilted her head, almost biting her tongue.
"Your nails are digging into my palm," Neraxis pointed out.
They had walked down hand in hand, and over time, her grip on his hand strengthened.
For a while now, she had been digging her nails into his palm, and while he didn't exactly mind, it seemed like she had a lot on her mind.
"Sorry." Celina raised her hand, easing her grip on his palm.
It didn't even manage to pierce the skin, but the scraping was definitely there.
Nonetheless, before she could back off, Neraxis held her by the hand again—just this time, he interlaced his fingers with hers.
"You don't need to worry about hurting me. I'm very durable," Neraxis remarked with a chuckle.
It seemed like she thought of it as a joke, so with a mere giggle, she put her attention back onto the stairs, making sure she didn't fall.
Finally, after a few more seconds of traveling down, they arrived at what appeared to be a giant plaza.
There was a couch, several dozen rooms, and off to the side, a giant ice elevator which seemed to be connected by cables.
He could somewhat see the hole in the mountain he had made as it was visible through the transparent elevator floor.
Hmm... this is beautiful, Neraxis thought, admiring the rest of the home.
It lacked normal furniture, but the basics were already there. He could also see pools, game rooms—practically everything he could ever imagine.
Basically, if he wasn't living like a millionaire previously, now he was.
Celina seemed equally in wonder, and after a few seconds of walking around hand in hand, she finally separated, heading toward Aurelia and the rest of the girls.
Now, he wasn't even sure how to go about it, yet he knew this sanctuary wasn't fully finished.
After all, the message said he was missing something.
I should probably ask Amaterasu... Neraxis sighed as he looked around.
To his surprise, Amaterasu was simply resting in the only part of the mountain that had a glimmer of sunlight.
Evangeline was busy with Eris, Elara, and Zaria; Seraphina finally joined in as well.
She was still doing a bit of texture remodeling on the place, but despite that, she seemed pretty relaxed.
Still, Neraxis ignored them and approached Amaterasu, tapping her on the shoulder.
"Busy sunbathing?" Neraxis asked teasingly.
"Um... something like that..." Amaterasu replied in a low voice. "I'm thinking of how to kill the dragon next time... maybe with a shovel?"
"But I can't put sharpness on a shovel... hmm... this is going to take a long time, isn't it?" Amaterasu muttered. "No... what if I just use a wooden sword, maybe then—"
"I hope you realize there are other games, Amaterasu," Neraxis said with a sigh. "But aside from that, I have a question."
"What's up?" Amaterasu tilted her head toward him, her golden eyes shining like the sun.
She really is talking like Evangeline and Seraphina now, Neraxis thought with a small smile.
"What's a Sun Core?" he asked.
The moment he did, her playful expression vanished, replaced by a look of seriousness.
"Why? Why are you interested in that?"
"I have an ability that lets me create a safe haven for us, a sanctuary of sorts," Neraxis explained. "It's currently at around 80% capacity, and for the last 20%, I need a Sun Core."
"That might be a bit of a problem, then." Amaterasu scratched her cheek. "In order to get a Sun Core, you must go inside the sun and kill a certain entity... I don't think you'll be able to do that just yet."
"Are they strong?" Neraxis asked with a tilt of his head.
"It's not that they're strong, it's more like..." she trailed off and extended her palm.
Immediately, a faint yellow flame appeared, dancing around as it shot toward Neraxis's forehead.
Yet before it made contact, it vanished.
"What's the theatrics for?" he asked.
"Just lightening the blow, I guess," Amaterasu replied and took a deep breath. "The being you have to kill is, quite frankly, yourself."
"Hm?" Neraxis's brows furrowed. "And how does that make sense exactly? Am I going to be revived right after?"
"No. You'll turn into a Sun Core, which people can use for... certain things," Amaterasu said. "Basically, it's a sacrificial ritual, and only those who have a certain resistance to the sun can even get close enough to the altar."
"So technically, if I were to find a person who can get there safely and sacrifice them, then I can obtain a Sun Core?" Neraxis asked for confirmation.
"Pretty much, though I'd say good luck finding someone like that. You're very likely to have some trouble yourself. You would probably be melted," Amaterasu remarked. "But on the bright side, it's a good training method. Endurance, y'know?"
"Right..." Neraxis sighed. "Thanks for the tip. I guess I'll have to put off getting a Sun Core for the time being."
Amaterasu giggled. "There's a time and place for everything, and don't worry, we're plenty strong to survive even with only 80% capacity... but if you don't mind, I'll go back to planning my great dragon kill."
"Suit yourself," Neraxis replied with a shrug and left her to her own fantasies.
But just as he was about to go out to do some furniture shopping, Evangeline's teasing voice rang out inside his head.
[Your mother showed us your childhood photos.]