A shy stone

Now that they knew what was causing the problem, their trouble seemed to have been reduced by half. The other half was to find its exact location. So it seemed to not matter if they checked the energy abnormalities. But he still completed the ask. Even if they didn't need to find the energy changes, they could still sweep the areas and if their luck was favoring them, they can obtain the energy stone in one fell swoop.

So they continued the journey, Ajay in reality and Dhvani following as a system. She scanned the energy abnormality positions and found that there were vortexes that seemed to spin and the energy was being absorbed in some while it was emitted in some. Dhvani scanned and stored their data as a graph. She loved doing this when she was studying. Now that the opportunity presented itself, she didn't have to shy away, right? In addition to the tools provided by the system, her task was like a walk in the garden. It provided her with happiness and beautified the data.

Ajay who had a Goldfinger finished his part of the work very quickly and then waited for the group to return. He had to wait for a long time so he just meditated. Meditation always lifted his spirits and the journey ahead would require an energy-filled mind.

Dhvani also knew that she had to be well versed n the magical fighting techniques and this warranted a quick search on the system mall. The system mall had advanced things so she could check once. Even if she couldn't talk to her boss, the mall worked just fine. She justified that the system mall had some preliminary things loaded somewhere and the coins just pushed them out. Just like a vending machine. It facilitated users' needs everywhere without differentiating the environment the user may find. A good way of providing essential needs, if you may say.

The programming of the system mall was impeccable. The 'else' case of the 'if' statement with the 'if' statement is if the users are in a system-reachable environment and the 'else' case is if they weren't anywhere where the system options can find them. Because of this particular reason, the issue of the 'else' case was distinctly glaring.

Now they were essentially trying to survive in the particularly obvious 'else' case. At this discrete moment, the system mall's programming was genuinely prominent. It was shooting straight toward them with its available survival kit which could be earned by points.

Dhvani opened her side of the system panel and looked out for the more needed amenities. She sorted them into types like urgent, may be required, and emergency. She was still sorting through the materials when Hiten returned. Even if he was dressed in simple cotton clothes, he still held himself with the grace of a star. She quietly shook her head. Habits are hard to change. She ignored him and went through her lists again.

One by one, people kept appearing. Vihar came panting which readily demonstrated that he had been running. But to save the energy and time for explaining the matter, he chose to remain quiet. The dude could have walked instead of running to save energy. Manav, the self-affirmed cool guy walked like he owned the place. Dhvani felt that she was shaking her head often in the presence of these guys. Garv like an over-energized bunny came hopping, she meant, jogging. Akash also came running but his energy was lower than Vihar so he lost points there.

As soon as Akash calmed down, Vihar started talking.

"We will report what we found first. Then let's make a plan."

Seeing that everyone nodded in understanding, he motioned Ajay to start first.

"We found a native rock spirit who says that this was caused by a golden stone," Ajay silently threw a bombshell.

His words ignited everyone and they all talked at once. Vihar, the nominal head of the group, yelled at them to quiet down. Dhvani wondered how Vihar managed to subdue these guys.

"If we find the golden stone, we can go back, right?" Garv managed to say first. Everyone seemed to have a soft spot for Garv maybe because he was the youngest and also the baby of the group.

"Then we went out in vain."

That was Hiten complaining.

"Does the rock spirit know where to find the stone?" Akash asked the most important question.

"Don't you all want to meet the rock spirit?" Manav complained.

"Now Ajay will answer the questions one by one."Vihar motioned Ajay to start.

"The golden stone is the source of everything here. Once we control it, we can find a way to leave. The rock spirit doesn't know where the stone is. And the rock spirit left us. Maybe it is invisible."

Well, the rock spirit was invisible to them. Hiten pouted because he was not answered.

"You can still tell me your findings."

Each of them found a cluster of vortexes absorbing energy and the one in the middle were emitting energy. Surprisingly this was consistent with all of them. Sometimes coincidences cannot be called coincidences. It all looked like a giant net but they couldn't unravel it. Dhvani added the info she learned to her maps and also updated her maps. The graphs and maps, when she used the system tools to analyze showed a shocking image. They all formed an array or precisely they formed a hexagon and the center was the village.

So the village being the nucleus can be argued as self-evident. The whole village was concentrated in the painting. It was obvious but they were still running around in circles. The stone should be present where no one would think.

She surreptitiously handed the data to Ajay. She did want to alarm him by saying that the stone was there without confirming the fact. But showing him the information was her job anyway.

["Analysed data samples."]

["Mapping is complete."]

Ajay clicked the map open. He also felt that the stone should be in the center. So he told me his options. They did not agree or disagree about it but they agreed to once check it. Even if the stone wasn't found there, they would eliminate a large amount of area for further investigation.

Ajay told them the details of the stone. The stone is golden n color and should be the size of a coin. The most important thing is that there are nearly ten huts at the center. They could check it within three hours. So each went their own way.

Ajay armed with the almighty scanning system went to his assigned huts. Dhvani could scan the place. Don't ask her where she got the ability. Her system did not have many functions, but it had excellent scanning and detecting programs.

She felt these programs were being unlocked as her system experience points rose. This system was making her almighty. She giggled with joy thinking about it.

But when she scanned the hut, she didn't find any golden light. Not even when she scanned the total center she had concluded. Ajay also thought so. He circled the entire village and Dhvani kept scanning continuously. But as often expectations turn out to be, she was disappointed. It hurts when expectations are crushed so Dhvani also felt very down. Maybe her being a system was completely useless. If she couldn't work her job well then what about her family?

What about Ajay who was in danger now? A small clue could save them. If this situation became dangerous, she had to keep her eyes open. But her performance now was very disappointing. Maybe the boss did wrong by choosing her. She wasn't outstanding in any way. She was just, normal. Like other heroines who were systems in books, she couldn't give perfect analysis and predict things. She can just help him in some ways. That's all she could do.

"System, can you check again all the places we marked?

Ajay's voice brought her back to the moment. She concentrated on the map and found that the hexagon was still working. The places simultaneously absorbed and emitted energies. She thought about what the energy stone was doing. The energy stone turned the two-dimensional painting into a three-dimensional world with the time being one day. But it didn't mean that the stone was absorbing and releasing energy, right?

Se voiced this question to Ajay.

He thought for a moment and nodded.

When they all returned without any success, Dhvani felt the sadness they unconsciously displayed. They were at a dead end. They knew they wouldn't be able to stay here because their energy would be lost and then their lives. But they did not blame each other here. The friendship they had with each other was admirable. A brotherhood like this wouldn't be easy o find. No matter how much they belittled or joked among themselves, they had each other's back during danger.

Seeing this healed Dhvani's soul. She just had to do her best. She wouldn't be the best system there was but she could be the best Dhvani who was a system. She felt that some shackles seem to loosen around her soul.

They then circled the perimeter and stopped at the place where the rock spirit was found.

"This is where I saw the rock spirit," Ajay told them.

"Are you sure you weren't deceived?" Vihar questioned Ajay.

His scrutiny didn't make Ajay feel bad.

"I am certain."

He had a strong trust in the system.

Manav and Garv leaned against the tree and started playing. Akay knew they were trying to ease the situation so he was thankful to them.

But Dhvani who felt the need to analyze every minute detail found something interesting. The tree being moved by the two guys shouldn't be able to move, right? But why was it moving under the movement of the guys?

["Host, can you knock on the tree?"]

Ajay felt weird but still obliged.

He knocked on the wood and everyone felt that he had gone crazy. Because from their point of view, it looked like Ajay was banging on the trunk of the tree in grief. They also felt very bad. It was their outing that dragged him in. He was still new to all of this and was stuck in this kind of danger.

Ajay didn't feel their sad eyes and he didn't feel anything wrong with the tree.

But Dhvani found that after the tree stabilized because of Ajay's approach, there was a solid feeling to it. But the last knock inadvertently revealed a sound that could only be made when things were hollow.

["Host, this tree seems to be hollow."]

If she had an x-ray scanning system, then all this would have been avoided. But you take what you get.

Ajay also felt this and he was stunned.

The guys wanted to comfort him so they approached him but Ajay turned around like he was possessed. That look stopped them in their tracks.

"Dude, it's okay. We still have time." Garv said these words seriously.

"We will find a way," Vihar patted him on his back while the other nodded seriously.

Ajay did not pay attention to the wrong look in their eyes and exclaimed loudly.

"This tree is wrong. I found the stone spirit here. I should have known. Guys quickly use magic and surround the tree."

They did as he said maybe because they wanted him to calm down.

Ajay quickly used his sky magic and broke the trunk in half. The trunk which was vibrant and green turned brown and all the leaves withered away. As the trunk fell, the inside of the tree which was below the cut was revealed.

The shock was so nerve-wracking that they had their mouths open. Because inside the trunk was a nest. It couldn't be called a nest. There was a small bed and a small dressing table with chairs. But the most important and astonishing thing was that a stone was lying on the wooden bed. It even had a little blanket that it tried to wrap around itself so that no one could see it. It seemed to be thinking that if it couldn't see anyone, they also wouldn't be able to see it.

They all ignored these facts but they were wide eyes because this stone was golden. They found it. They were saved.