Chapter 12: Adventurers (3)
The group then turned to the blood leopard's corpse; it lay there lifeless, its once-glowing red stripe already dimmed. Its purple blood leaked onto the floor, a sizzling sound coming from the ground as the blood burned the floor.
"Kenny, do you mind removing the beast core?" Arnold asked, turning to Kenny.
Kenny nodded. He crouched down, circulating mana to his hand, covering it in a protective coat so the acidic blood wouldn't burn him. He put his hand through the chest, feeling his way until he grabbed onto something. He yanked it out.
He quickly pulled back, purple blood dripping from his hand, but it was unable to burn him. He removed a piece of cloth from his clothes and wiped the core clean. The group surrounded him, each staring at the core. The core was spherical in shape, with no bumps on its surface. It was the size of a handball and a deep red in color.
"We truly are lucky. There's no impurity on its surface at all," Kenny said as he held onto the core.
"Not to mention, there's still the cubs we could take," Sona said with excitement.
On the platform, the silver orb stared at the beast core.
The energy was similar to the one the figures who had destroyed its ship were using. It also matched the energy signature of the force field that surrounded this planet. The humans in front of it also seemed capable of using it to some extent, although at a much weaker level than the ones it had fought earlier.
Whatever this energy was, it seemed the inhabitants of this world were heavily reliant on its power. Awaken ship interface, the orb thought.
How long was I in hibernation? It asked.
<100 years, 34 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes, 21 seconds.> It replied.
Regaining the energy it had lost seemed to have taken longer than it had thought. But it wouldn't matter—it was awake now. And it was time to begin conquering this planet. But first, it needed to take care of the adventurers in front of it.
The adventurers approached the altar where the nest was. The cubs lay there sleeping, unaware of the fact that their mother had just been killed. The adventurers' eyes glinted with greed as they grabbed the cubs, lifting them into the air.
Aurora, however, noticed something different.
"Hey guys, was that sphere always there?" she turned and asked the group.
The group turned, now noticing the giant sphere that levitated on the altar. It was a pristine silver, and like the altar itself, no vegetation grew on it.
"Huh? I could've sworn there wasn't anything there before," Sona said.
The sphere began vibrating rapidly. The group stepped back, putting the cubs back onto the nest. They drew their weapons, ready for any sort of conflict.
"In position," Arnold said.
The group understood. The two twins moved to the side, and Aurora and Sona went behind Arnold. The group tensed; they had never seen anything like it, but they had spent years adventuring, and their instincts had never failed them—and now, they blared in their minds, warning them of danger.
The sphere vibrated even faster, then began to melt, forming a silver puddle at the bottom of the altar. The group raised their weapons. The pool also began to tremble, the liquid rising and taking the form of a humanoid figure. It opened its red eyes, gazing at the group.
"A golem?" Kenny asked.
"What stage is it at, Aurora?" Arnold asked.
A magic circle appeared in front of Aurora's right eye, spinning as it attempted to assess the figure's level.
"I don't know. I can't detect any mana coming from it at all," Aurora said.
Arnold swallowed hard. This could only mean one of two things: either the creature had no mana present in its body, or it was so powerful that Aurora couldn't determine its level—meaning it was far stronger than them. Arnold was inclined to believe the latter; after all, nearly everything had mana in it.
The silver figure stared at the group, its eyes moving from one person to the next. They appeared to be conversing, but once again, it couldn't understand their language. But it wouldn't matter. It had seen them battle the feline creature; it had analyzed their attack patterns. This battle, it was sure to win.