Chapter 13: Tools of the Forgotten
The Grand Elder's laughter followed us into the tunnels, a sound like cracking ice.
"Three days, little rot-bearer," he called. "Bring me Wen's toys, and I'll consider sparing your friends."
The roots sealed behind us, plunging us into darkness. Only the faint glow of Joren's ember-lit palms guided our way.
(Earth Sense: Detecting mineral traces northeast. Match: 89% to Elder Wen's tools.)
I stumbled, catching myself against the wall. My vision swam with black spots. The Cleansing Strike had burned through my reserves like wildfire.
(System Alert: Mental Energy - 7%. Physical Integrity - 49%)
Lina pressed a waterskin to my lips. "Drink." The liquid inside tasted of iron and lightning.
(Analysis: Mountain springwater. Mineral content accelerates recovery.)
(Mental Energy: 7% → 11%)
Joren kicked a root tendril. "How do we find tools in this maze?"
I pressed a palm to the dripping wall. "We ask."
(Earth Meld Initiated: Querying geological memory.)
The stone whispered back in fractured images:
A young Wen placing a jade compass in a crevice...
A bone whistle buried under a landslide...
A dagger plunged into a pool, its hilt wrapped in root-skin...
(Quest Update: Locate Elder Wen's Tools - 3/3 Marked)
"Got you," I muttered.
The first tool hid in a fissure choked with bioluminescent fungi. The compass glowed faintly, its needle spinning wildly despite the stagnant air.
(Decay Analysis: Compass attuned to corruption flows.)
The moment my fingers closed around it, the vision struck:
Wen stands before the Verdant Dawn council, the compass in hand. "The mountain's heart is fracturing," he warns. "The Harvest Ritual will—"
A blade flashes. The Grand Elder (just a novice then) watches as Wen is dragged away.
The first Eclipse test begins.
(Insight: The compass doesn't point north—it points to corruption sources.)
Lina gasped. The needle had locked onto my chest.
Joren slapped it facedown. "We'll fix that."
A rockslide blocked the next tunnel. Joren's fire barely softened the stone.
"Stand back." I pressed both hands to the rubble.
(Earth Manipulation Level 7: Targeted vibration.)
The stones shivered, then parted like a curtain, revealing a skeletal hand clutching a whistle carved from a single spiraled bone.
(Warning: High-pitched frequency detected in memory imprint.)
Lina reached for it—
SCREEEEE—
The sound wasn't audible. It was inside our skulls. The walls bled black sap as the whistle's memory activated:
Wen blows the whistle at the mountain's base. The earth heaves, throwing back a dozen Verdant Dawn harvesters. Their skin bubbles with parasite larvae.
"It calls the mountain's immune response," Wen whispers to his apprentice. "Use it only when—"
The vision cuts off as the Grand Elder's dagger finds his back.
(New Ability Unlocked: Seismic Cry - Mimics whistle's effects via earth vibrations.)
Joren stuffed the whistle in his belt. "Hope we don't need that."
(Mental Energy: 11% → 9%)
An underground pool blocked the last path, its surface oily and still. The compass needle pointed straight down.
"He really threw it in?" Lina eyed the water with distrust.
(Soul Rot Alert: Parasite larvae suspended in liquid.)
Joren rolled up his sleeves. "I'll dive."
"No." I grabbed his wrist. "The mountain will give it back."
I knelt and pressed my forehead to the stone.
(Earth Meld + Decay Synergy: Requesting aid.)
For one terrible moment, nothing happened. Then the pool *boiled*.
The dagger shot upward like a spear, its root-wrapped hilt slapping into my palm. The vision came unbidden:
Wen plunges the dagger into the mountain's sacred spring. "I bind my knowledge here," he chants. "For the one who comes after."
The water turns black.
The Grand Elder smiles in the shadows.
(System Override: Toolset Complete. Analyzing...)
(Revelation: These aren't tools. They're *keys*. To what?)
We didn't hear them coming.
The roots dropped from the ceiling like nooses, snaring Lina and Joren mid-cry. The branded instructor stepped from the shadows, his curved dagger gleaming.
"The Grand Elder grows impatient," he sneered, prying the tools from my grip.
I lunged—
(Alert: Mental energy insufficient for Cleansing Strike.)
—and collapsed as the roots wrapped my throat.
"Pity," the instructor sighed. "He hoped you'd last longer."
The last thing I saw was the dagger's tip hovering over my left eye.
Then: Pain.
(Warning: Soul parasite injection detected!)
(Emergency Protocol: Decay Veyra Level 8 → Forced Evolution Initiated—)
The world exploded in screams. Mine.
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To Be Continued...