Meanwhile, Urie felt a sense of urging from the pillar.

At the structure that even hundreds of adults couldn't embrace together if they held hands—he held his hands up to the surface of its wall and gathered mana around his fingertips. A bright red hue spread out and the humming sound around the pillar grew even louder.

The pillar's surface was like a dry lake bed, as Urie's mana soaked in like water from a sudden rainfall. The light from his hands passed along the wall and reached the weird slab of protuberance on its side. Pieces of the outcrop started crumbling as the red-colored mana passed along its cracks and slowly revealed a huge doorway.

“Get inside, quick!” Urie took his hands off the wall and grabbed the wrists of the two girls before running towards the entrance that had appeared.

—I don't know what's inside but it's better than being out here with that mad rock drake!

Past the large doorway, they entered a long corridor that led to a wide, circular room. Aligned with the room's interior were a few pedestals encircling a small mirror. Facing upwards—it reflected a dense column of light piercing down from the ceiling.

“Is everyone alright?” Urie asked while trying to catch his breath.

“Both—both of us are fine... hah... Are you sure that... that thing won't be able to come in here?” Elicia spoke with staggard breaths as she and Celeste supported each other. And the moment they felt they were out of danger, what little strength they had keeping them standing quickly disappeared.

“Celeste, Elicia—you guys should rest, I'll try taking a look around,” Urie urged them to catch their breath whilst he got up and started walking around to inspect the mysterious room. For the time being, he decided to check if there was anything in the room that might prove dangerous.

—It's surprisingly well-lit in here.

The light from the column reached every inch of the room—making the presence of any dark shadow scarce.

—I wonder what that is?

Urie's eyes fell on the small mirror carrying a pillar of light. He stared at it for a few seconds before shifting his attention to the strange pedestals that encircled it. He approached the nearest one and observed its details. The pedestal appeared to be made of the same type of material as the room they were in. On the top part of the pedestal was a small platform, wide enough to place a small vase.

—Hmm... What's this hole for?

There an indent in the middle—the size of a coin—holding a miniscule amount of clear water. A few grooves that didn't seem to be part of the pedestal's design were running across from the indent to the platform's edges.

Urie brought his hand forward and reached out, intending to touch the small hole, only to feel his fingers pierce through a layer of cold, biting air, a foot away from the pedestal's platform.

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“Wah! That's cold!?” Letting out a small cry, Urie drew his hand back in surprise.

He waved his left hand towards the two girls who were about to stand up to check on him and indicated that he was fine. Looking at the hand which he used to reach for the indent, a thin layer of frost had gone up from his index finger to his wrist.

—Odd but... It doesn't hurt so I guess it's fine.

Urie shrugged his hand and moved to see if the other pedestals shared the oddity.

—This one seems different from the first one.

This next pedestal looked as if it were newly sculpted, with no signs of damage on its surface. And unlike first one—there was a clear, colorless gem inlaid inside of the platform's indent.

—There's no cold air like the other one.

Feeling nothing unusual as he skimmed his hand along the pedestal's flat surface, Urie decided to proceed to the next one.

—Clean. It doesn't look as brand new as the pedestal before but it isn't covered in dust or anything.

This third pedestal didn't have much of a difference from the previous one, aside from being free of built-up dust and having a few scratches—it had the same small indent as the others.

“Ya, Urie what are these things?” Elicia stood and approached the second pedestal. Watching Urie place his hands one by one on top of the pedestals had enticed her to get up and do the same. Once both of her hands were on top of it, her grim expression from earlier had slowly disappeared and turned placid.

Placing her hands on the thing seemed to have a calming effect on her as Elicia closed her eyes and started to relax. Celeste, curious at her sudden change in countenance, also came over to a pedestal.

“Wait! That one—“ Urie tried to say that there was a problem with the first pedestal but was met with Celeste's indifferent gaze. She had no problem with it. A soothed expression—the same as Elicia's—appeared on her face before she also closed her eyes.

—That's weird. Does it work different for other people? Celeste seems to fine with the cold...

Seeing as no harm was done, Urie turned to the fourth of the five pedestals in the room. It was the most eye-catching one. A layer of green had grown around every inch of it, except for the small indent on its head.

—I'll skip this one.

He passed on touching the mossy pedestal and moved on to last one.

—This is warm!

Even having a built-in heater in the form of his red seed—Urie still felt the warmth from the air surrounding the final pedestal, and a familiar stirring bubbled up within him.

Since entering the mysterious room, the gauge indicating his curiosity had been steadily increasing, and upon facing the fifth pedestal—the itch on his nape suddenly evolved into a full-blown rash.

—That feeling from earlier... was it coming from this?

Different from the empty holes in the other pedestals—the indent was slightly larger with a wisp of red light peeking from inside. The heat spreading out into the air was coming from that small flicker. Urie glanced at his two companions.

—Would placing my hands on this make me as relaxed as they are right now? Is this a good thing?

Wondering if he would experience the same sensation of comfort that the other two seemed to be feeling, Urie raised both of his hands and placed them on the warm surface of the platform.

As he closed his eyes, the small light flickered more intensely, as if it were welcoming his presence.