Chapter 257: Prophecies of Stone
“Uh, hey buddy, you doing okay?” I asked as I stepped off the bridge onto the platform. In front of me floated the exact same face in the wall I had seen when I first awoke it. I didn’t have the slightest clue what I could do here, or why Unakite would occupy their entire own platform like this.
Yes, now that I thought about it, I understood they should be here. They had access to the soul chat menu after all. But why would they get their own initial platform? It would seem much like Maud and Karlinovo that they should be branched off a hub. Was it possible these locations would rearrange if I bonded more beings?
That, of course, led to the question of how many people I could bond with. Which in turn gave me a near-shattering revelation. I knew how to deal with the soul knots. The series of events that let me do this, again, seemed far too coincidental.
The idea that a soul-siphon mana orb with the exact mana skill I would need to deal with this was just waiting for me in our first dungeon delve was one coincidence too far. There was an intelligence behind this. And as easy as it would be to accept Rabyn’s explanation of fate, I just couldn’t do it.
But this fell again into what I had told Elody regarding her special sight of me. There was nothing I could do about this if it were true, and as far as I could tell, whatever it was seemed to be intervening in ways that helped me. Though that did assume it wasn’t also the cause of the problems.
It was a conversation I’d loved to have had with the others, but how could I possibly do so in private? If there was some force behind this, it would have to be watching us constantly. That again was the biggest push toward it being something as abstract as fate.
I had to stop this line of thought before I became stuck in a mental death loop. Right now, I had an awakened rock’s soul reflection to figure out. Then I had friends to help. There would be time to dwell on this once that was done. Somewhere in the back of my head, I wondered if it would ever actually be done.
“Heart of stone, brain of brass, sliding, cracking, breaking,” was the cryptic answer I received in return from Unakite.
The only idea that was occurring to me was fully awakening them as a golem, but that required another rank in the deep cave mana orb. Was this something like Maud’s that was beyond me at the moment? Was leaving this place even possible without figuring both of the platforms out?
Out of ideas, I pulled up a chat window.
| Dave: Unakite is one of the platforms here, and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. Unakite: Rumbles from below. Gnashing, grinding, pulverizing in the dark. Karlinovo: I can’t tell if those messages are getting stranger or not. Beta: Unakite is the empire in danger? Unakite: Deep within the danger grows! Dave: Wait, did they actually just reply to you, Beta? Unakite, what is the danger below? Unakite: Claws and teeth, fury unbridled! Beta: I have solved a mystery for the empire! Karlinovo: I think they are trying to answer us, in their own very odd way. Let’s assume they did wake up confused, and we’ve been understanding this wrong the whole time. What if their confusion is from something they feel and have been trying to warn us about in the only way their mind is currently capable of? Dave: The Orcs that fled below ground. We know they could be a problem. We’ve had this discussion before. Unakite, are the Orcs a bigger problem for the empire than we realize? Unakite: Deals and treachery, things the Earth knows little and understands less. The rocks hear, they whisper, they do not comprehend. Dave: I’m taking that as confirmation. The words make me think the GPA is involved. But I still feel like we are missing something. Can you give this conversation verbatim to Pryte? Karlinovo: Yes, but I’m not sure how much more he will be able to figure out. Dave: Me either… Wait, gotta go, something is happening here.
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