Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 57 The Queen and the Weird Censorhip

"Ok, so should I go looking for food first, or should we buy our new cultivation bodies first?" Alex inquired as he avoided Asteria's crafty gaze.

"Huh?" Asteria gave Alex a wilting gaze as she said,

"Of course you have to buy from the Endless Monarch first! If you don't, then you will just die if you go out hunting!"

"You make it sound like there are monsters living in this forest." Alex said, clearly remembering the ghastly howl that he heard yesterday. "That will be something that I would not like to see."

"Well, you are right." Asteria replied as she nodded her head sagely. "There are literally monsters in this forest, as we are right now in the territory of Monsters. Capital M for Monsters."

"Oh. Oh. Oh." Alex went silent for a few seconds as she processed what Asteria said. "So I presume that this World is full of monsters then?"

"Well not really." Asteria replied as she swung her legs in the air cheerfully. "In this World, there are two factions that hold power. The Human Faction, and the Monster Faction. The place that we are in right now is the Raju Forest, one of the areas were the Monsters reside."

Asteria made it sound like what she said made sense, although there is one thing that is confusing the hell out of Alex right now.

"Hold on for a minute." Alex raised his hand as he processed what Asteria said. "Why did you drop us here in the Monster Territory? Couldn't you just like drop us near the Humans? I think that it will be a better place than this."

"Why are you worried about that Alex?" Asteria replied as she pointed her fingers around her.

Alex's eyes follower Asteria's fingers, and he saw countless statues gathered in a circle around him and Alina.

Each of the statues depicted shapes of unrecognizable beings that even Alex with his knowledge of fictional beings could not identify them that easily.

"These statues prevent Monsters from getting near us." Asteria said as she pointed at the statues proudly. "So, you two should not fear any assault for now."

"You are still not answering my question." Alex said as he continued glaring at Asteria. "Why drop us here instead of dropping us in a Human Territory? Answer that please."

"Well…" Asteria continued averting her gaze away from Alex, as she started to twiddle her fingers. "You see…"

"No, don't tell me that it will be like that!" Alex sputtered out as he seemed to have reached to the answer already.

With his vibrant imaginatio, and the countless fantasy books that he read, Alex somewhat had a guess on the real reason that he and Alina appeared in this place.

"ASTERIA." Alex tried to keep his voice calm as he gave Asteria a steady gaze.

"Hehehe…" Asteria kept her mouth shut as she gave Alex a shaky grin.

"???" Alina could only tilt her head as she tried to understand what was going on.

"...."

"...."

"...."

"Alina and I will be turned to Monsters, am I right?" Alex slowly said as he felt his heart turning heavy. "That is the most likely reason for us to appear in this place. After all, the best creature that can mingle with a Monster is another Monster, right?"

"Tsk, you got me again." Asteria replied grumpily as she glared at Alex sulkily. "You really a smarta**…"

"..."

All of them stayed quite for a few seconds, as Alex and Alina tried to accept what Asteria just said.

Asteria then continued talking, and what she said next just made Alex's heart feel heavier.

"If you are wondering on how you two will become Monsters, the answer to that is just simple. The cultivation body that you two will buy will turn you and Alina into Monsters that will blend well in this World."

To say that what Asteria said was a bombshell will be an understatement.

"No." Alina muttered in the background, as she felt that she did not like what she was hearing. "Now I do not want to buy that cultivation body…"

"Hehehe…"

Alex let out a sigh as he resisted the urge to just smack Asteria to wipe away that s**tty grin on her face.

Asteria's admission did not sound that good to Alex at all.

After all, it seemed like he and Alina will have to look inhumane in this World in order to succeed on their Mission.

Even if Alex was thrilled to have a new power, he was still unhappy to become something different.

"If we do not buy these new cultivation bodies, what is our chance on succeeding on our Main Mission?" Alex inquired as he and Alina gave hopeful looks at Asteria.

If there is at least 30-40% chance of them succeeding without turning into Monsters, then Alex will not buy the additional cultivation body.

Asteria's answer however once again derailed his plans.

"Zero. Percent." Asteria said as she relished on the disappointed looks on Alex and Alina's faces. "After all, you need to be Monsters first to do the Main Mission. If you don't, then you two will die from the Penalty."

"...."

It took Alex some seconds to compose himself from the hopeless revelation. As for Alina, Alex was not sure if Alina was fine with what was about to happen to them. But even if Alina looks pale and scared, she seems to be not backing out of buying the cultivation body.

"Fine. We shall buy the additional cultivation bodies first." Alex said as he grabbed Alina's hands to comfort her. Alina reciprocated in kind as she tightened her hold on Alex's hands too.

Asteria seems to be somewhat pissed by the sweet scene that she saw as she literally growled at Alex.

"Traveler Alex, why don't you and Alina start purchasing it now?"

"Oh right…" Alex replied as he slowly removed his hands away from Alina, which just served to piss Asteria more. "But before I buy, can you tell me about my remaining lifespan first?"

Aside from his impending cultivation body, Alex was also curious about his new lifespan.

After all, he and Alina just completed a mission that seems to be set at a difficult level. For him to gain some amount of lifespan is already a given.

Now, Alex just needed to know how much he got.

"You only have 20 Years and 21 Days of Lifespan left." Asteria said nonchalantly. "Originally, your lifespan should be 100 Years and 21 Days, but 80 Years of your Lifespan had been used to transport you here in this World."

"I am not sure if that sounds good or bad…" Alex said as he ruminated on what Asteria just said.

Originally, Alex only had 7 days of Lifespan left.

Alex's Bonus Mission will reward him with 15 days of lifespan, and technically speaking, Alex saved Elizabeth, so Alex was able to get these 15 days. 1 Day was subtracted after Alex and Alina slept for almost a day to remove their injuries.

As for the Main Mission, Alex was sure that it granted him 100 Years of Lifespan, which seems to be acceptable, given the difficulty of the mission.

The deduction of 80 Years just to transport Alex to a new World seems to be excessive, but what can Alex do about it? It already happened.

Alex just shook his head as he accepted the fact that he had now 20 Years and 21 Days left to live.

"Well, that is not actually bad." Alex thought to himself, as he knew that 20 Years is much better than just 30 days.

But Alex's relieved feeling disappeared as he remembered that he did not buy the new Cultivation Body yet.

"Asteria…" Alex felt his lips turning dry as he asked the fairy queen,

"How much will the new cultivation body cost anyway?"

Asteria's quick and concise reply reached Alex's ears faster than he could give his disappointed sigh.

"Buying the Monster Cultivation Body will cost you 18 Years of Lifespan. So if you buy it now, you will only have 2 Years and 21 Days of Lifespan left."

"As expected, the Endless Monarch really is a stingy guy." Alex muttered darkly to himself as he decided that 2 Years of Lifespan is better than nothing. "So, Alina will also have to buy the same thing too, only with her Contribution Points?"

"Yes, and do not worry, Alina has enough points to scrape by." Asteria replied as she patted Alina's shoulders in consolation.

This seemed to not do anything good, as Alina still looks scared on what was about to happen next.

Asteria noticed the scared look on Alina's face which prompted her to let out a sigh.

"Listen here hooman." Asteria said as she approached Alina's ear. "I am going to say something to you, and I am sure you will not be scared anymore after this."

Asteria then said some words beside Alina's ear, with Asteria making sure that what she said will not be heard by Alex.

Basically, Asteria was whispering something to Alina.

Asteria's whispers only lasted for 10 seconds, but Alex could see that Alina lost the scared look on her face, and it was now replaced with calmness, and even excitement?

"Oi Asteria, what did you say to Alina?" Alex inquired as he saw Alina and Asteria giggling at the same time. "Is that a secret cheer-up charm?"

"Well…" Asteria cupped her chin as he gave Alex a vague smile. "I just told Alina the appearances that you two will have once you two became Monsters. And as you can see, Alina definitely liked what she heard."

"Oh, then I guess I won't have to be worried about anything then." Alex replied as he began to feel hopeful.

If what Asteria told to Alina was enough to cheer Alina up, then maybe Alex's Monster form will be a good one.

"Ok, just buy the goods already Asteria." Alex said as he could not wait anymore to buy the Monster Cultivation Body. "I want to see my cool form now!"

Asteria seems to look like she was trying not to laugh as she gave a shaky nod to Alex. "I am buying both of yours and Alina's Monster Cultivation Body at the same time so that there will be no hassle... Are you two ready? Here we go. 1, 2, 3!!!"

"Urgh!" Alex felt the same pain assaulting his body, but this time he found it to be bearable.

Some slight feminine grunts beside him tells Alex that Alina was also experiencing the same pain too.

Alex tried to not make his imagination wander from these grunts as he focused on enduring the pain.

It was exactly after 30 minutes have passed by that the pain disappeared, and that Alex could feel his body able to move again.

After regaining his mobility, the first thing that Alex did was to look at Alina. After all, she was the one that was more scared for their transformation.

"Alina are you oka-" Alex's query was cut off as what he saw took his breath away.

In front of Alex was a tall, statuesque woman standing around 6 feet tall.

She looked to be around 28 years old, and her appearance had reached the peak of feminine beauty.

Her body was extremely shapely, with it adapting a perfect hourglass curve.

The woman's chest and butt were extremely perky, and her willowy waist just exemplifies her appeal.

The woman's pale white skin and ebony black hair perfectly frames her luscious lips and her extremely beautiful face.

Everyone, even Alex, were sure that many countries will wage war just because of this woman's beauty.

"Alina?" Even though the woman looked somewhat foreign to Alex, he can still identify that this mature and smoking hot woman in front of him was his Companion Alina.

"Good thing you still recognized me, Alex." Alina replied with a sultry voice. "I thought that with me becoming a Vampire Queen, you will fail to recognize me."

"You are Alina, so I will not fail to recognize you." Alex retorted as he ruminated on what Alina said.

"So you are a Vampire Queen now huh. Well, that pale skin of yours shows that you are a vampire." Alex commented as he tried to touch Alina's skin with his tentacles. "Up close, your skin really looks nice…"

Wait, tentacles?

Alex froze in his spot as he realized that there was something wrong with him right now.

"Slither…"

Alex tried to not shout as he realized that the slithering tentacle in front of him was under his control.

Before Alex could try to rationalize the presence of that tentacle, he saw more and more tentacles waving all around him.

"Slither…"

"Slither…"

"Slither…"

All these tentacles were waving in a jerky fashion, clearly representing Alex's chaotic feelings right now.

"Wh-what the hell is happening here!" Alex shouted out as he tried to understand the presence of the tentacles around him. "Di- di- did I turn into a tentacle monster?"

"Oh, it seems like you got the correct answer, Captain Obvious." Asteria replied,as she played with one of the tentacles.

Asteria seems to be not scared of the tentacles as she continued on talking.

"But actually, Tentacle Monster is not the right term. Technically speaking, your Monster Form is of a Great Elderitch Monster with Tentacle Mutation."

Suffice to say, Alex did not sound any happier with that answer.