'That's odd,' Daz thought as he neared the cause of the endless shaking.

He had crossed some sort of threshold from the looks of things because just behind him, the walls, ceiling, and floor, were splintering from the tremors.

However, where he stood the hallway was completely unaffected, almost as if there was an invisible line that, when crossed, all strange quakes ceased entirely.

"Well, I've lost my tracking method now," Daz said aloud.

He was certain he was in the right area of the palace he just didn't know where to go from here. "System, any hints?"

In response, he got a quest.

Quest Title: Stop The Shaking Quest Type: Side Quest Difficulty: C-rank Quest Goal Stop the shaking that threatens to level all of Lian'Wa'Runda. Quest Rewards The acknowledgement of Lian'Wa'Runda's core.

Daz nodded lightly in surprise. "Not overly helpful but also not unwelcome. Easy too, judging solely by the difficulty rating."

He looked around a bit before choosing to simply scour the place with his Soul Vision. It was as good a method as any other he could think of to find Ellie or the source.

His grey eyes began glowing though he saw nothing new with them, leaving him at even more of a loss.

"Further in, then," he decided as he got moving.

A few hallways down he spotted two souls, one of which he recognised. "Ellie..."

The other was massive. It was less a soul and more a powerful entity of enormous size. At least, based solely on its soul which was a bit rhombus-shaped and about the size of a person.

Ellie's soul, in comparison, was completely ordinary except for the smaller soul linked to it, her mother. It was just a floated orb like any other person's soul.

He frowned but kept his thoughts in his head for now. He instead chose to charge towards her location.

At the end of the hall, a big metal door that appeared to have been frozen over not long ago was slightly ajar. Just enough for a person to slip through.

Ellie and the owner of that strange second soul were in there and he could faintly hear yelling. It wasn't eligible enough to make out though.

'An argument? I wonder what about,' Daz thought as he slowly and carefully stepped through the crack in the large set of metal doors.

What he had entered was a spherical room of pure white. A single bridge spanned from the metal doors he had come in through towards the centre of the room.

Below the bridge was a flowing liquid that was snow in colour but frozen in texture. It flowed endlessly and emitted steam-like vapours. 'Almost looks like molten ice, if that's even possible.'

At the end of the bridge and the heart of the room, Ellie was screaming at a large man-sized icicle that Daz immediately felt a connection to.

Clearly, this was the owner of the soul and its body was the exact same size as its astral form. Ellie's robots also had the thing surrounded, weapons drawn and were threatening to destroy it.

"I'm telling you to stop it!" Ellie yelled sternly. "Don't think I won't break you, because I will!"

"You are not my master. You people killed my master. So I, too, shall die with him. Do it. Destroy me. It'll make the process that much faster," a low humming from the icicle replied.

Its voice was feminine and domineering. Daz didn't doubt for a moment that it would do as it had said. Mostly because of his Eyes of Truth, but there was also a firm conviction in its voice.

It hummed again and then address Daz directly. "Another comes to claim me. I will not allow yo- ... You seem familiar... You are the one who killed my master yet you seem so... friendly."

"Daz?" Ellie called in shock. "I, uh, t-this isn't what it looks like."

He nodded as he approached. "I believe you. I don't imagine you wanted to destroy the palace and endanger everyone inside of it, did you?"

Ellie paled before she turned back towards the icicle in fury. "I told you to stop it! You're going to kill hundreds of innocent people!"

"No one is free of sin. Besides, I do not care. You are free to leave though I doubt my storms will subside even after my destruction," the icicle said in an uncaring manner.

It then focused on Daz. "You. Why do I feel like I can trust you? Why do you wear the guise of a friend when you have killed my master?"

"I will answer any questions you may have for me provided you stop whatever it is you are doing. I promise you we shall not do anything to you, not me nor Ellie here. That includes her robots," Daz offered with open hands in a show of peace.

'This thing isn't made of ice. It's probably a crystal of some sort, hence the desire to befriend me. I can use this. It's the core of this entire mythical city, isn't it? What an opportunity,' Daz thought.

"If my answers don't satisfy you or even if they do and you still wish to be destroyed as your master was, I will not stand in your way," Daz said.

It seemed to hesitate for a moment before asking, "Do you speak in good faith?"

"I am a being known as an Archreaper who evolved from a Justice Reaper, a creature whose very existence revolves around the truth and doing that which is right. Even if I had a reason to lie to you, I wouldn't. It goes against my very nature," Daz explained.

That was true in most regards. He could lie if he needed to but it felt unnatural to him when doing so. That was one of the primary reasons he had reservations about manipulating the media.

It made him feel wrong to not be honest and forthcoming. Not a pleasant sensation, to be certain. Evolving wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. It altered one's very being down to their core.

Ellie wore a sceptical gaze upon hearing Daz's words but kept her mouth shut. A wise move in his opinion.

"... Very well. Good faith must be returned with good faith. I will stop my self-destruction process. For now, at least. Answer my questions. All of them," it demanded.

"Of course, but only if you agree to answer some of mine. That is only fair, is it not?" Daz requested.

"Okay. I can agree to this. I wish for that one to leave though," the icicle said, pointing one of its edges at Ellie. "Its presence unsettles me."

"Hey! I was just tryin-"

"Ellie," Daz interrupted, "It's okay. Icicle..." he left his sentence hanging, hoping to get a name.

"Icicle is enough. You need not know my name," it replied.

"Fair enough. Icicle, Ellie here is a valued friend of mine. Let us compromise. Ellie, can you have your robots leave?" Daz asked.

Ellie wore a complex look on her face as she stared at Daz. Ultimately, she nodded and raised a palm.

All of her robots flew into her outstretched hand and turned into marbles which she then stuffed into a satchel at her waist.

'That's new. What a useful and versatile talent. I wonder if it's a similar technology to what Crusher's hammer uses or perhaps it's magic. She is a witch, after all,' Daz thought as he got a bit closer to the icicle.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed the side quest [Stop the Shaking]. Quest Reward The acknowledgement of Lian'Wa'Runda's core.

He reached out a hand and said, "Do you mind if I touch you? You give off a comforting aura."

That was true but it also emitted strong feelings of curiosity towards him. He couldn't blame it. GriD CrosS and the gems he kept with him from the Astral Crystal Plane were similar.

It likely had never met someone who was so naturally disposed towards sentient crystals like he was.

"You may," it answered.

"Unbelievable," Ellie muttered. "It wouldn't let me get within even two metres of distance from it. It said it would immediately detonate if I did."

Daz turned and gave her a bit of a wry smile, trying to show some helplessness at the scenario. He had no idea if he conveyed his meaning well.

It wasn't an emotion he truly felt. If anything, he was much like Lord Lit'ur here; completely in control. At least, his status as a Crystal Digger made him feel that way.

Should he so will it, he could move this icicle as he wished and he could even crush it with so much as a thought. 'Good thing destruction isn't my hobby, creation is.'

"Please, Icicle, ask your questions," Daz said in a kind, warm tone while he felt the chill of the city's core meet with his flesh.

Advanced Cold Resistance has reached Level 6.

"Why did you kill my master?" was its first question.

Daz nodded. "I did not intend to. You can see the shovel behind me, yes?"

"Indeed. You used it to end my master's life, destroying his body entirely in the process," Icicle replied coldly. "It confuses me why I feel the urge to forgive you and listen to what you want to say unconditionally. It is similar to my master but... different."

'It's somewhat naive, not unlike Grid. That makes two sentient crystals with the ability to talk that are somewhat childlike despite being presumed ancient beings. Odd. Rimmy isn't like this,' Daz thought as he readied his response.

"My shovel is very special. It can only be used by me. I had no plans to kill Lord Lit'ur. He, however, grabbed my shovel, Hamson. I had no control over this. Any who grab him will be consumed, effectively killing them. Any bar me," Daz explained.

"I... I see. And you speak no falsehoods?" Daz nodded immediately. "Oh... How... how tragic. Why were you fighting if you did not wish to kill my master?"

"I wanted to learn more. About him, about this place, about you. I wanted to add this entire place, all of Lian'Wa'Runda to my great kingdom. I have a deep respect for mythical cities like this place," Daz confessed. "I already own two, both of which are ancient and were abandoned. I am working to fix them; to make them whole again."

"Lian'Wa'Runda... That is my true name... How do you know of it? Is what you said true? You value places such as this? You do not seek to destroy it or control it? To destroy or control me?" the icicle asked, a deep sense of hope in its voice.

"The system told me," Daz replied before he tackled the second end of its questions, "And no, I would never destroy such a beautiful and mystical place as this. Perhaps I would lessen the storms, but no. As for controlling... would I need to? I think not. You know... I am the ruler of a city quite like this one."

He smiled softly before asking, "Can this place move, Icicle? I could not help but notice the system calling this place a globe. I can only assume it's a dimension within an item, perhaps?"

"... You are correct," the shard of man-sized ice answered. "Tell of this other place, the one that reminds you of here."

"It's an entire world," Daz said grandly, infusing his Ember of Majesty into his words. "It was destroyed a long, long time ago. A mere fragment remains but it still holds the core of its planet at its heart. It's a flying city that can move. I call it Fort Sky and its core is a sentient crystal that can control gravity. He calls himself Grid Cross." His smile widened. "I'd love for you two to meet."

"That... that does sound nice. I admit, you have drawn me in. I... can I entrust myself to you? To meet this 'Grid Cross'? I have never seen anything like myself in... well, ever. I awakened in this globe on this planet. The family my former master belonged to spoke of more like me where their ancestors came from." Daz didn't fail to recognise the eagerness and raw desire that his Ember of Empathy could sense coming from the crystal.

It sighed longingly. "Fanciful stories I told myself. They had to be. However, to perhaps see someone similar to me, even if not quite the same as me, the allure is too much to not cast aside my pain. Please, become my new master, even if only to allow this meeting."

Daz shook his head. "I have no desire to own you. I do not own Grid Cross. He helps me and I help restore him to his former glory as the core of a planet. Become a part of my kingdom, Lian'Wa'Runda. As a citizen, not as a mere object to be controlled and ordered."

"... I would like that. Tell me, what is your name?" it requested of him.

Daz grinned a little. "High King Daz Crowthorne, but please, just Daz is fine. I'd like to consider us as friends."

"Friends..." A peculiar warmth spread from the spot Daz was touching. "I like that. I do not forgive you for accidentally killing my former master. He was not a cruel man. Not to me, at least. However, I can see the pureness within you. I will happily join this 'kingdom' of yours. Please, take me to this 'Grid Cross'."

Daz nodded. "I will. Not immediately but very soon. Can you stop the storms?"

Advanced Cold Resistance has reached Level 7.

"Yes, I can. Although, there is an issue..." it claimed a little bit ominously.