Rhode remembered the Throat of Dishonor had its leg injured by the Black Dragon, and later he and Warm brought it here. He wondered how they were doing now.
"There's a Magic Array at each end of the Summoner's Rift. The one on the east leads to the Wailing Abyss, and the one on the west leads to the Twisted Jungle. You can go anytime you want."
"The east... which way is east?"
It's no wonder Rhode couldn't tell directions, as he had never seen the sun in the Summoner's Rift and couldn't discern the growth direction of the bushes.
The trees and moss in the wilds grew whimsically, growing whichever way they pleased, without any reference.
"The river outside flows east-west. Once out of the valley exit, ahead is north, behind is south, left is west, and right is east."
The Marine Sub-Dragon pointed out the directions for Rhode in detail, reminding him, "But it's best not to go there now."
"Why not?"
"The Wailing Abyss is bone-chillingly cold, and if you go, the Poro will have to look after you constantly and won't be able to rest properly."
Rhode asked, "What if I wear more clothes? Can't it be resisted with Magic Power?"
The Marine Sub-Dragon said, "It's no longer a regular cold; it's better to wait until you've mastered the power of Purgatory."
Is it that serious? Rhode, receiving the Purgatory Dragon Soul and maintaining his Little Dragon People form, asked, "Is this okay?"
Heat radiated from Rhode's body, drying his wet clothes and hair. The rain evaporated the moment it landed on him.
The Marine Sub-Dragon thought for a moment and replied, "They say if you can only use the Dragon Soul's power by transforming like this, it's just a half-baked effort."
"Half-baked?"
"Seems like it means you should adapt to the Dragon Soul's power well enough to use it without transforming, at least a portion of it."
A bit like using the power of those wild creatures, right?
Rhode asked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"Because everyone felt like they hadn't known you for very long, to us it's like we just took a nap and suddenly you're facing an enemy too strong to handle. The Mountain had praised your rapid progress before."
"Mountain Sub-Dragon… seemed to always find me annoying before."
The Marine Sub-Dragon laughed, "Because you always disturbed its sleep, Mountain is lazy and not straightforward."
"Oh…" The Mountain Sub-Dragon is indeed tsundere, Rhode seriously considered the Marine Sub-Dragon's words, "So I should thoroughly study the power of the Dragon Soul, and I shouldn't visit the Wailing Abyss for now."
"Yeah, yeah." The Marine Sub-Dragon showed a satisfied expression but suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahaha... if you went to the Wailing Abyss to tell jokes, would they become cold jokes? Hahaha, cold jokes haha..."
"Eh…" Rhode felt this cold joke was an improvement over the previous one, but the Marine Sub-Dragon's laughter, once unruly, was somewhat mesmerizing.
Feeling a bit like Cai Ming.
Finally waiting for her to finish laughing, Rhode asked again, "What's the situation with the Twisted Jungle then?"
The Marine Sub-Dragon said, "It's quite similar, but it's cold in a different way there."
"Cold?" Rhode looked up at the rainy sky, "Isn't it the same here, all wet?"
"Not the same!" For the first time, there was a hint of dissatisfaction in the Marine Sub-Dragon's tone. Rainy days were her favorite, couldn't believe someone wouldn't like them?
And a Dragon Soul bearer... oh, right, Rhode had too many questions when he first arrived, and the jokes were too funny, she forgot about the Ocean Dragon Soul.
The Marine Sub-Dragon casually stuffed a green light ball into his body, "Research my Ocean Dragon Soul first, and you'll soon love rainy days!"
"…" Can't you just stop the rain for a bit? Rhode felt that the Marine Sub-Dragon would fit right into Fairy Tail.
He reminded, "Aren't we off-topic? We were discussing the environment in the Twisted Jungle."
"Oh, the coldness there isn't due to dampness, but rather a special environment. It feels like being harassed by ghosts there."
"Hmm... you've seen the wolves there, right? Spending too much time in the Twisted Jungle might turn you into them, eroded in various places."
"No, you're human, you'd probably turn into a Ghost, and your hands would become skeletal claws, your clothes tattered, drifting."
In some ways, the Twisted Jungle might be even more terrifying than the Wailing Abyss, Rhode nodded.
Upon hearing the Marine Sub-Dragon's final remark, and recalling her fondness for cold jokes, Rhode casually replied, "If the flesh on my hands rots, there's nothing I can do, but I can change clothes if they're tattered."
The Marine Sub-Dragon was stunned for a moment, then burst into uproarious laughter, "Hahaha... you can change clothes, hahaha..."
Her laughter was so exaggerated that Rhode felt a bit uncomfortable, was it that funny?
The jokes on meticulously arranged magazines elicited no reaction, yet an offhand comment triggered such laughter.
A peculiar sense of humor.
Once the Marine Sub-Dragon had laughed enough, Rhode continued discussing Dragon Soul issues with her, then began preparing a place to stay for himself.
The Dragon Pit was all water, at least for now he had no intention of sleeping in it.
The wilds had flat ground, but who knows if those wild creatures might come out to play at night; it was more reliable to bunk with the Marine Sub-Dragon.
Tomorrow, when there's time, he'd explore what's up with the high ground, defense towers, springs, and see if there's a better place.
The nights in the Summoner's Rift don't fall into complete darkness, the light only dimming slightly, and no stars could be seen in the sky.
Rhode tried to see if he could use Earth Magic to raise a platform without receiving the Dragon Soul, but after tinkering for half an hour, there was no progress.
To use the Mountain Sub-Dragon's Earth Magic, he'd have to partially receive the power for now.
Rhode worked while he experienced, slowly building a small stone house by the rock wall.
It wasn't aesthetically pleasing, but the foundation was high, the roof and eaves wide, able to block rain and water.
He used partial reception, simultaneously experiencing the power of the Purgatory Sub-Dragon, drying himself off, then took out his spare bedding from his changing space.
Rhode didn't immediately sleep. Instead, he meditated first, needing to continue raising his total Magic Power.
After finishing, he carefully arranged a schedule, including exploring the Rift, a jungle plan, strength training with the Marine Sub-Dragon's support...
Besides that, he needed to allocate considerable time to studying Dragon Soul and learning Fairy Radiance.
If he wanted to return sooner, he'd have to work harder and push himself more than he did before.
Too many things had happened today, both physically and mentally exhausting, and Rhode soon fell into a deep sleep.
But in the middle of the night, Rhode was startled awake by a dream about the Black Dragon.
He sat dazed for a while, took out a photo of Mira and a group photo of the Guild, looked at them, and placed them under his pillow to continue sleeping.
To meet tomorrow's schedule, he had to regain his spirits.
Acronologia, just you wait.