Chapter 11

While we excavated, awoke, and evolved the Spectrobes we'd found, we all were kind of concerned about what had just been revealed. The Spectrobe Master on Wyterra, someone who cared for Kamtoga enough to rescue him from that time ago and was so kind... he was now the ruthless and evil leader of the Krawl. Their hive mind. It made me very uneasy, as well as Jeena and Maja.

"I don't want to meet Krux at all... but if there is even a tiny chance that some of his humanity is still intact, maybe I can release him from his torment..." Maja said with some kind of hope. But there was no hope to give when dealing with Krux.

"Krux is able to teleport on a whim, summon and revive fallen Krawl, and he created you and the other High Krawl to attack and destroy at his command. There is no hope," I said to her bluntly, Maja sighing at that as Jeena and I upgraded our arsenal so that we now had an evolved form Spectrobe each, me having Rydrake and Jeena getting Ukabi to turn into Ukazeer. We then went back to Kamtoga and we saw that he was still a bit upset, but he had recovered somewhat.

"Hey, guys... did you get your Cosmolinks filled with Spectrobes and at least 2 Evolved Forms?" he asked.

"Yes, we did," Jeena said as she and I showed off our full Cosmolinks and Kamtoga smiled at that.

"That's great to see that you did that. Now for part two. You'll need this to get part 2 accomplished, however," Kamtoga smiled as he handed us a strange rainbow-colored seal that I thought looked cool.

"What's this?" Maja asked.

"It's called the Cosmokey. It's a special device that will allow you to find special markers that contain legendary weapons that only users of the Cosmolink can wield. There should be a marker in the Long Snowfield on the path to where we first met. All you need to do is get a legendary weapon and show it to me. Then I'll let you know where the ruins are... and be careful with those weapons, because each one has the powers of an Evolved form Spectrobe within them. They could hurt Maja here just as much as the regular Krawl and the weapons also have type attributes depending on the Spectrobe it's based on. For instance, a Paga would have a Water property wepaon while a Zappi would be a Sky element," Kamtoga said.

"Thanks for the intel, Kamtoga. We'll be back soon with that weapon," I smiled at him as our group then proceeded out of his hut and towards the Long Snowfield to the northeast, our group picking up some more minerals on the way until we came upon a cave that, upon us approaching it with the Cosmokey, a strange barrier was let down from it and we got inside of it. We then saw a glowing marker and I touched it with the key, the marker coming to life and hovering in the air as a weapon was formed. And it was a Blaster weapon! It looked very powerful and I saw that it looked similar to what Jeena's Paga looked like.

"I hereby dub this weapon, Paga Blaster," I smiled at it as it then went into the Cosmolink for both Jeena and I, which made us smirk at that.

"Now time to head back to Kamtoga. Now we can finally get that shard," Jeena smiled as Maja looked into the distance and she sniffed the air, her looking confused at something.

"Is something wrong, Maja?" I asked her.

"Well... I can't be sure... but I smell something very odd nearby... I don't know what it is, but it doesn't smell like a Krawl... it smells more like fire of some kind, but with a hint of Krawl inside... you don't think the other High Krawl could be here on Kogoeria with us, do you?" Maja asked, me wondering if she was right.

"I don't know, but from that description, it sounds like Gelberus. We should be on alert while hunting for that shard," I said as we proceeded back to camp and Maja kept watch out of Kamtoga's hut while Jeena and I went inside.

"Where's Maja at?" Kamtoga asked.

"She's keeping alert for any kind of trouble. She sensed a strange presence nearby and doesn't know if it's friend or foe, so she insists on standing guard while we met with you," Jeena said.

"I see. And I can already tell by looking at your Cosmolinks that ya got the Paga Blaster. Now you're all set to go out to the ruins for sure! As for where they are, here's what you do. You go down the path to the northwest of the camp and then, when you get to the large open part, go to the east instead of continuing north and you'll find a cave that takes you to the upper parts of the Ice Cavern. Go along the path from there and you'll soon find the ruins. But be careful, because the way there is sure to be chock full of Krawl. No one in this camp has gone up to those routes for over 2 weeks," Kamtoga said.

"Okay, we'll be careful," Jeena said as we then left and I frowned at the fact that I was actually going the right way the first time before I fell in that crevasse... it was my fault for being bullheaded and I needed to do just as Krux said to Kamtoga. I had to learn to reign it in.

"All clear, Maja?" I asked her when we met back up with her.

"Not really... I can smell the fire more clearly... I can smell it... I know I've smelled it in the past... it's just got to be Gelberus, like you said... I'm afraid of what will happen when we face him," Maja admitted with a look of concern on her face.

"Well, he might not attack at all if he sees you on our side," Jeena said.

"I don't know. Gelberus is a bit of a hothead both literally and figuratively. He's hot to temper and he's hot to touch. If we face him on Kogoeria, then we're going to need to avoid any kind of melted ice," I said as we proceeded to the northwest and through the snowy path until I happened to see something in the snow. Burnt patches. And they looked like footprints with 4 toes.

"These look like my feet... it's Gelberus," Maja gawked as she put her bare foot on the charred part of the snow, her foot being smaller, but being the exact same in shape.

"You're right, Maja... we need to be careful," I said as we moved forward while sticking close together, entering the pass Kamtoga mentioned until we got onto a large bridge and on the other side we entered a cave filled to the brim with icicles. And once we got through that while collecting more minerals and fossils, we then got to the next part, which was a winding path around the mountainside where we saw some more charred tracks on the ground as well as saw that there was a large gap that impeded our progress.

"I got this. Grab hold," Maja said, me smiling and latching around her, accidentally touching her chest in the process and blushing as Maja took me to the other side.

"Uh... sorry, didn't mean to," I said to her, Maja smiling at that.

"It's fine, accidental," Maja smirked as she got Jeena and we moved forward some more before Maja sniffed the air.

"I smell it... he's up ahead. Gelberus... I'll proceed forward first and pretend to be on his side," Maja said.

"Okay, we'll follow closely, but stay out of sight," Jeena said, me and her following Maja from a distance and hiding from behind some pillars as we saw Maja approach a fiery apparition that then formed into none other than Gelberus himself.

"Maja? Is that you?" Gelberus asked.

"Yeah, it's me," Maja said to him with a smile, faking it very well. At least she did keep that trait on her.

"Master Krux has been concerned as to where you went. He wanted to know where you vanished to as your job was to keep Nanairo patrols busy and to prevent them from entering this system," Gelberus said, Maja looking at him with a sigh before shaking her head at that.

"Sorry, but I can't remember that... I got hit on the head pretty badly," Maja said with a frown as she showed the goose egg she still had on her head from where I landed on her.

"I see. So why do you have that orange-haired brat's Prizmod on your person? Did you finally eliminate him?" Gelberus asked. Maja simply smiled at that and sent out Daigyo while also summoning her sword.

"He's my boyfriend. And I don't want to be compared to a monster like you or the other Krawl ever again! I don't want to be a monster that destroys worlds! I want to protect them from your despicable kind!" Maja growled, me and Jeena then rushing out and joining her as well, Gelberus growling at that as I felt his flames intensify.

"So, you decide to rebel against your own kind, Maja? Very well. Then as a favor to Master Krux, I shall put you down right now," Gelberus said with anger as his form became encased in a giant fiery tornado, his body changing into his battle form! His body grew by at least a foot, his arms turned into giant hammers of molten lava and rock, and his body hovered off of the ground on a flume of fire!

"Let's do this! Iku Ze!" Maja said, making me proud at how she was using my catchphrase. Now we were going to be facing a High Krawl... with a High Krawl on our side!