In the museum, Rex and Lazuli were discussing the potential use of a magical machine that could irrigate large amounts of land.
Rex examined it and said, "It doesn’t make sense for it to just water the lands normally. Rember, there’s no sky here, not only do they not get rain, but also no sunlight. They must be irrigating with sothing other than water to accelerate plant growth."
Lazuli partially disagreed. "Have you seen that artificial sun? It clearly simulates day and night cycles and likely gives plants what they need to grow. But it’s possible they added sothing to the water to help crops grow faster."
"We should get one of the translators here soon."
As they were talking, a female human soldier approached them with sothing to report.
"Sir Rex, I can’t find Holan. I don’t know where he went."
"What do you an? Weren’t both of you posted at the entrance? Did you leave your post?"
She shook her head instantly. "No sir! We were both there, but suddenly he disappeared. It’s like he just vanished."
Rex found this extrely suspicious. He had been constantly using his detection skills, which covered the entire building, and only now did he realize soone had disappeared.
"Go back to your post for now. I’ll investigate."
The soldier nodded and returned to her post. When she arrived at the museum entrance, she took her position at the center, keeping a vigilant watch over her surroundings. She suddenly felt sothing wet on her head. She ran her fingers through her hair and looked at the red liquid on the tip of her finger.
’Blood? No, it slls sweet.’
Initially thinking it was blood, she was taken aback by its incredibly sweet aroma, making it impossible for it to be blood. She wondered what it would taste like but knew better than to put unknown substances in her mouth. Yet, as the sll continued to tempt her senses, she finally gave in and tasted it.
"Mhm! Cherries!"
She didn’t know where the cherry tasting liquid ca from but hoped more would fall on her head.
’I wonder where Holan went though…’
The soldier remained blissfully unaware that Holan had never left. He was currently being suspended above her as a large monstrous creature’s unsteady claws slowly ripped him open, carefully removing his heart as if it were the most precious thing in the world, before tossing the rest of his body down the entrance stairs of the museum. The female soldier remained completely oblivious as the body rolled down the stairs right in front of her.
…
"Goddammit! Just when it was about to die, you ca here and delivered it a full course al!"
Torben slamd the table, sending tools flying in a fit of rage. But who could bla him? The creature that had killed all his people, and was on the verge of death itself, had been given a new lease on life thanks to random strangers looting his people’s city.
Sol knew now wasn’t the ti for a bla ga. "Focus, Torben. We’re both screwed if we don’t do sothing now. It’s weakened, right? How long do you think it will take to recover?"
Torben paused, considering the question. "It should’ve feasted by now. Have you noticed anything different? Felt inexplicably happier?"
"No. If anything, I feel worse knowing what’s actually happening."
"Then we should still have ti. It’s been completely starved to the point where it’s down to the level of a law technique user."
"A-Ranker." Sol corrected, using the current, more popular term.
Torben would’ve rolled his eyes if he had any. Semantics were the least of his worries. "A-Ranker, whatever. My point is, even if it’s eaten, it won’t recover its strength quickly. If we’re lucky, it might have learned from last ti and will ration out its food instead of killing everyone at once. That could slow its recovery, giving us a chance, but we need to act fast."
The large puppet reached for a spatial bag and pulled out an assortnt of tools.
"When I realized what was happening, I tried many things with varying degrees of success, but nothing I made could withstand the might of a god’s creation. With it weakened, these tools should be more effective. First, put this on."
He handed Sol an earring that fit snugly behind his ear. Once it was on, Sol heard a voice through the earpiece.
Sol nodded.
Torben turned off the one he was holding and handed him a few more. "These are personal audio linkers, or PALs for short. They can connect with multiple other PALs to create a PAL Network, and their range can reach the edges of the Orna Mountains. We’ll use them to stay in touch. They’re easy to use."
Sol took them, amazed by the device. Communication gems could only cover the distance of a city and connect to one other gem cut from the sa sonorous crystal. The larger version, communication crystals, had a wider range but could still only connect to one other crystal. Once again, he was shown the brilliance of Azrem Dwarf technology.
"Truly amazing. What’s this?" Sol asked, pointing to a tallic headband and face mask. Using [Analysis] showed no results.
"Those were the most effective in resisting its hallucinogenic effects. The headband clears your mind, sight, and hearing, while the mask protects you from sll, touch, and taste."
"Taste? Is that really necessary?"
"Yes. None of your senses are safe when dealing with this monster." Torben replied seriously. He then produced 100 more of each item and passed them to Sol, who stored them in his spatial ring. "Back then, these sowhat worked when the monster was on the other side of the city. Now that it’s weaker, I hope you can resist its effects when it cos for you."
When Sol put on the tal headband, the blue lines running through it began to softly glow, and he felt a cool sensation around his head. His surroundings beca noticeably darker, and the workshop around him lost its color and vibrancy. Then he turned to the capsule containing the blue liquid and was shocked to find a body floating inside, a naked dwarf with dark red hair and a long beard, floating inanimately.
Seeing his reaction, Torben knew it had worked and comnted, "That’s my body, or at least a clone body regrown from my original cells. I grew it to one day regain a body."
"How did it survive all these years?"
"Oh, it didn’t. The bodies would age and die, so I kept test cells frozen and regrow them. I think it’s been recycled around 250 tis. But without the hope of one day being able to breathe, eat, or even shit, I might’ve gone insane."
"Souls, smithing, runes, alchemy… whatever this is, you’re truly incredible. I can’t help but wonder what talents you have."
Sol deeply respected this dwarf, the last of his kind, who had remained mostly sane after so much isolation and despair. But Torben’s next words surprised him.
"Talents? What talents? It’s all hard work."
"No, not that kind of talent. I an, you know, the ones in your status page."
Silence overtook the room as they stared at each other, sensing sothing was clearly off.
After a brief pause, Sol asked, "Have you… not seen your own status page?"
"No?"
Since they were short on ti, Sol quickly explained how to access the status page while putting on the mask. But after trying, Torben got no results.
"Nope, nothing."
"Still nothing? Let try with [Analysis]."
Using the skill, Sol got results, but they didn’t make any sense.
[Na: Torben
Race: ???
Unique
Durability: 1643/3000
Str: 95
Vit: ERROR_UNDEFINED
Agi: 50
Int: 150
Wis: 200
Skills:
[Soul Container] Lv 9, [Compartntalized Tool chanism] Lv 4, [Ethereal Rune Smithing] Lv 7, [Advanced Alchemy] Lv 4, [tal Shaping] Lv 9, [Living Factory] Lv 4, [Quick Repair] Lv 8, etc.]
[Error detected. Would you like to submit a ticket?]
"What?"
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