Chapter 264 - Pengwins

Timothy opened a portal in the castle, the one that would take them back to the main universe. The flow of time between the two universes were massively different, with an hour in Purpureus Mundi equating to fourteen days back in the main universe. Considering that they spend well over thirty-six hours here, it meant that around sixteen months had already passed in the main universe, a flow which gave them a great example of how time dilation worked!

Now Timothy and the team couldn’t afford to leap sixteen months into the future, because they had a time-sensitive task to attend to. The coral reef was waiting for them, and it featured a list of procedures necessary for its transformation! Simply put, if they didn't transform the reef into a place that could host hundreds of Mana Root plants, before the summer, then they might as well quit their mission.

For that matter, Timothy tilted the portal in front of him, thus, reversing the effect of time dilation between the two universes. Since he and the team had already shifted back into Arctic Terns, they didn't waste anymore time, and leaped through the portal immediately. They felt that they were done with Purpureus Mundi for a while, because they reaped every benefit out of the place that they could currently think of. It was time to go back to the main universe, and float graciously across the sky!

As soon as they made it to the other side of the portal, they spotted a giant Sea Orc slithering below them. This confirmed that the portal reversed the effect of time dilation, because technically, they popped up a minute or two after the Sea Orc had tried to eat them whole! Timothy deliberately brought his group one or two minutes forward in time, just so they could avoid the Sea Orc's murderous leap, the same leap that forced them into Purpureus Mundi hours ago. Two minutes was ideal.

“You big, greedy bastard… What kind of Sea Orc tries to eat small birds? Pathetic!” Tim sneered at the beast, and he made many incoherent bird noises.

Afterwards, they flew towards the sky, to distance themselves from the dangerous sea as best as they could. Their bellies were full of bug meat, so they didn't have to risk their lives fishing across the sea for a day or two.

…

The team made it to the North Pole in no time. Travelling overall became quite easy for them ever since they’ve turned into birds. As Arctic Terns, they could travel 1,400 kilometers a day with ease, and one day they even used their powers just to travel faster, which boosted their reached distance for the day to 2,000 kilometers! They made great progress, and therefore, this planet’s massive size became less and less of a problem for them.

It was apparent that they reached the North Pole, because aside from the temperature dropping to -40°C, they also saw a large patch of snow and ice covering the area in front of them! If this wasn’t the North Pole, then they would be out of ideas, because it was unlikely for another area to fit the description this well.

Once they landed on the snow, Timothy said. “Well, I don’t see any dragons here. Looks like we have to spend a couple of days searching for those eggs.”

“Of course we gotta search! You didn’t expect the dragon eggs to be laid out for us here ready to grab, did you?” Gustav added.

“I didn’t, man. Just making conversation.” He said, “Let’s shift, cause I doubt that the Frost Orc eggs are gonna be on top of the ice. We need to hit the waters.”

Shapeshifting was mandatory right now, because they couldn’t swim the depths of the cold seas while they were Arctic Terns. It wouldn’t work.

The matter of shapeshifting was perplexing, though, because they couldn’t decide what creature to shapeshift into. These cold waters had multiple challenges, including vast threats from the various, big creatures that lived around here, which made their decision even more difficult. They figured that Frost Orcs were even more violent, and deadly versions of Sea Orc dragons! It wasn’t hard to predict that other creatures of the same, draconic sizes roamed these waters as well.

“We could turn into orcas, but I don’t think they’re worth the mana level sacrifice. We’d be too much of a target for hungry orcs, and I don’t think we’d be able to withstand their attacks either.” He explained, “We’re better off turning into something unsuspecting, like seals, or penguins.”

“What the heck is a seal? Or a pengwin? Goodness’ sake.” Ortana asked.

Tim cackled first, and then he followed along. “You’ll come to discover them on your own, but I really think that we should turn into penguins. They’re small birds that can swim really well, so we’ll have it easy to sneak around down there. Arvena is stuck in the ghost world, studying, so we don’t have the firepower to fight a bunch of orcs anyway.”

“Well, that makes sense, but you’re going to have to turn into this… bird first.” Ortana followed along, refusing to say penguin, because she realized that she was saying it wrong. “We’ll shift based on your example.”

Timothy cooperated, he led by example. It only took him a couple of minutes to shapeshift into a penguin, considering how small they were as creatures. He ended up being seventy-five centimeters tall, or nearly two-and-a-half feet tall. His yellow beak, and slim head represented the species of penguin he turned into quite well.

The system had cited that this species called Gentoo penguin was the fastest swimmer amongst penguin species, so naturally he picked this one while he shapeshifted. Since the system showed him a picture of this species as well, he didn’t struggle with the shift whatsoever. He now was a fine, six kilogram (thirteen pounds) specimen of muscle and feathers!

Ortana followed his example. She observed Timothy’s features as thoroughly as she could, before she turned into the same species. She was just a bit lighter in comparison, as her original size reflected into any species that she shifted into. She couldn’t do anything about this aspect of shapeshifting, so of course she was then teased for being a little old lady, even though she technically didn’t look old at all! She was sixty-five centimeters tall now, or just above two feet.

Gustav was bigger by stature, so he ended up being the tallest penguin here, at ninety centimeters tall, or nearly three feet tall. He also weighed the most, that being a stunning nine kilos of pure muscle and feathers! He was happy.

Skendus wasn’t so far behind. He turned into an eighty-five centimeter tall Gentoo penguin, and was just a pound lighter than Gustav. The two of them were very attractive penguins!

“Okay… looks like we’re ready. This is the best, fastest swimming penguin species that I could think of, but remember, speed itself might not be enough to keep us alive down there. With that considered, don’t hesitate to use your powers even at your slightest inconvenience. These cold waters ought to be brutal, so it’s only natural that we use even the smallest shit that’s at our advantage.” TImothy said, and then they dove into the body of water close by.

With more than half of their actual mana pools being limited to the size of the species that they shifted into, the task in front of them was bound to be difficult. Even their powers were half as effective now, so they’d be in a vulnerable position the minute they got attacked by something in the waters. It wasn’t entirely ideal to be a penguin around here, but this was their best choice, appropriate to their arsenal of powers, and so, they could only hope for calmer waters!