The Myth Monolith

"Okay?" Krave repeats back, caught off guard by the simple answer.

The Queen chuckles. "Of course, not for free. I have two conditions I will stipulate. But first, I'd like to hear from the party in question." Her eyes fall on Omni again. "Speak freely."

The golem stands, its speech already prepared. "... Yes. As Krave must have informed you, I am Omni. The full name granted to me upon taking enough energy from the dungeon to re-instate higher functionalities is Ad Omne Argentum. Thankfully Dean was there to assist in dealing with the repercussions of that action. Due to the fact that I am a living soul inhabiting a specialized golem core, not much is know by anyone other that the fallen Phycaster kingdom on the inner workings of my being. The improper activation from the energy river phenomena caused damage to my memories, and while Krave's activation restored a portion of them, little outside my personality is still intact." It pauses to let people absorb the information, then keeps going.

"Since then, periods of extreme emotion appear to negatively affect my core and soul alike, and in order to diagnose the issue and hopefully resolve it, I need access to the Myth Monolith."

"... Hmm~... Are you 100% certain the Myth Monolith will help you?" She asks, tapping her sharp fingernails to her chin.

"No. While I've heard they show a more detailed status window, it's possible it won't help at all." Omni states flatly, causing Krave to frown and stare daggers at the golem for even suggesting failure.

The Queen laughs. "I like that. Either way, so long as you agree to my conditions, you are free to use it how you please."

"And those are?"

"I'm sure Krave told you, or you've noticed it yourself, but we are gearing up for a defensive war. Asdea, more specifically the Human and Gnomish kingdoms, are launching an offensive on the entirety of Grimora."

"I am aware." It responds.

She grins. "Good, then this will be fast. For the price of the Myth Monolith, you will have to partake in the war, assisting us in not only repelling the two kingdoms back to their continent, but also capturing the Myth Monolith in Sanctuary to replace Formeldr's, in the case that it is absorbed into your core."

Her words cause a silence to fall in the room. Various emotions swirl in Omni, but thinking of it from a business perspective, it is not entirely a bad deal. Rather, for a relic of untold powers that has an assumed quantity that can be counted on two hands, fighting back a kingdom is... A low price to pay?

"I see. I could certainly help. However, while I am strong, my body is still only stone. I will need to get stronger before I can be of assistance in large scale warfare." It explains.

"Stronger, eh~? Hmm~..." The Queen ponders for a bit, but before she can respond, the throne room is filled with the shrill shouting of a man as the air above the stairs up to the throne ripple. Out from nowhere pops a dwarf with greying hairs, falling down onto the stairs, then rolling down them unceremoniously, his crown skidding to a stop at Omni's foot.

"Bleedin space magic!" The Dwarven King bemoans. The golem offers a hand on instinct, to which the dwarf accepts, getting to his feet and picking up his crown, placing it squarely on his frazzled scalp. He looks around, blinking. "... Am I interruptin' somethin'?" He asks.

The Queen sighs, then a flash crosses her eyes and she grins. "Not at all, King Silverbeard. In fact, this is perfect timing." She points to Omni. "Our friend here requires your help."

Silverbeard looks back to Omni, blinking a few times before taking a step back and gasping. "A golem! And so exquisite!" He moves forward, placing calloused hands on Omni, examining every inch. "Who made 'em!?"

Omni sighs, pushing the dwarf away. "I made myself, thank you very much. And how is this man supposed to help me?"

Silverbeard is stunned by the talking golem. wheeling around to stare at the Beastfolk Queen. "Whuh?! Niramia, those rumours'r true?"

Queen Niramia's silver tail slaps the side of her throne. "Don't address me so casually, shortie. And yes, Omni here is the sentient golem that stirred up quite the commotion a while ago. According to Court Magician Krave's 'advice', I suppressed things so it didn't seem as fascinating as it actually is. Anyways. The dwarves are master craftsmen, working with all manner of materials. Omni here has tentatively agreed to help in the war, but its frame is made of stone. Therefore, the dwarves should help it make a better one."

Omni holds a hand up, interrupting her, slowly losing its patience and not wanting to continue observing proper decorum. "If I may, I am talented in earth magic, and can make my own frames. I can manipulate metal, but to much less efficacy than stone. With time, I should be able to make a fully metal body. But I suppose if the dwarves are skilled in the topic, I would appreciate the knowledge of metallurgy and forging."

Several nobles have left by this point, not interested in the audience that had lost the air of regality. The others remain, watching the golem and keen to make introductions afterwards to try and befriend it for their own devices. The adventurers just seem lost, their mental image of nobility beginning to warp.

Reading the room, the Queen sighs. "Alright, I'm calling the audience over. Silverbeard, Krave, and Omni will follow me to the Myth Monolith." She states with an air of finality, so nobody argues. "Oh, and you too Charlotte." She says, snapping the nun out of her stupor, having been staring at Omni, the being purportedly connected to Twilight.

"Huh? Yeah." She quickly chirps, following closely behind Niramia as she stands. Niramia tucks her crown away somewhere in her garb and motions for the few to follow her. Krave seems stressed at how non-chalant the Queen is acting, Silverbeard seems in his element, and Omni just shrugs, going along with it. After all, if nothing is wrong, just roll with it.

And then it's just the adventurers, the royal guard and the remaining nobles left in the throne room. Christoph coughs.

"I guess... We just go back now?" Christoph suggests, to which the rest wordlessly nod, awkwardly shuffling out. "Why were we even called in?" Ace mumbles.

~⚪~

Through the castle and out the rear entrance, then a straight path going a hundred feet. The Myth Monolith is already in sight, giving Omni pause.

'𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.'

A huge black and white obelisk standing nearly a hundred and fifty feet tall and extending an unknown distance into the ground. The way the light plays off of it reminds the golem of Twilight's mask, the material seemed to be similar.

The courtyard where it lay was quite open, people bustled about in the distance with not a single guard watching the Myth Monolith.

"Shouldn't something so important have guards?" Omni questions to nobody in particular.

Krave speaks up first. "Guard what? The Myth Monolith couldn't be even scratched by the strongest magic we have, and is not only extraordinarily heavy, but also has an extreme degree of imbuement with gravity magic, Twilight's supposed specialty."

"So Twilight was the one to place these? They did not exist back during the time of Phycaster. Were capitals built around them, or were they placed afterwards?" It ponders.

Charlotte answers this time. "A long time ago, us priestesses received a benediction from the great Twilight, to build churches in certain cities of each race, which became the capitals. Once the population of the world passed an unknown line, the Myth Monoliths manifested, one in the biggest cities of each of the separate races."

"Hmm... So he slowly nudged things continuously." It remarked, stepping away from Charlotte, who had kept stepping closer as they walked towards the Myth Monolith.

Queen Niramia shrugs. "There are other gods, but Twilight seems to be the one most intent on influencing the world. Even then, the actions of the gods are so sparse that the general populace aren't even sure if the gods exist, chalking up miracles and blessings to more mundane things like powerful monsters and spirits."

"I see." It mulls over the information.

Silverbeard sighs. "If we could just get a sliver of material out of the damn things. Just imagine the things we could make with it." He laments.

They arrive in front of the massive obelisk, the Queen waving a hand towards it. "Go ahead, see what you can do. The normal function is to place your palm on it and then bring up your status like you normally would."

The golem nods and steps up. Krave waits with baited breath, not wanting to miss a second. He quietly chants the spell to see the various forms of energy and pulls out a notepad, ready to document.

'𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥.'

It places its hand on the smooth surface and brings up its status, which is the same as before, no changes.

"My status is not any different. I assume I will have to make direct contact with my core." Omni states, to which the Queen gives the go ahead.

Omni begins shifting, opening the ribcage and bringing its core to the surface. To refrain from hugging the monolith, it places the core on its palm, then slowly brings the fist-sized beautiful marble to the smooth surface of the Myth Monolith.

Charlotte, Silverbeard, and Niramia gasp equally, seeing the shimmering silver branching nucleus surrounded by stars while Krave grins. He begins scribbling violently on his notepad. "Energy is being to writhe in the space between your core and the Myth Monolith." He points out.

The moment Omni's core touches the Myth Monolith, the courtyard is filled with light, nearly blinding the four observers.

~⚪~ Vacation Zone, Divine Massage and Spa ~⚪~

The tall man known as Twilight sits up sharply, flinging the smooth, scorching basalt stones off of his bare chest and across the room.

"..."

Godfort lifts his facemask. "Something wrong?"

Twilight places a hand against his full-face mask, and begins to chuckle.

"No. Nothing is wrong. Something that should be impossible has happened. How very fascinating."