200. Druids of Orobora Galaxy
Clay is standing on top of a mountain as he looked at Bellvid City. Like jewels sparkling from afar, the design of the city deserves high praise.
To a simpleton, the glamour is captivating but for creatures of mana like Elves, the opposite side of the mountain which is barely illuminated by the moon is more attractive as the source of mana within the area is buried at the center of a shrine, the same shrine which contains important knowledge of countless Elven generations.
Clay took a deep breath and let the cold breeze touched his face before walking towards a waiting shed where an Elven woman is seated.
When Clay was climbing the mounting earlier, he already sensed the presence of this woman and even without using his divine sense, he could already tell they have met before as this person has a unique mana control and she is none other than the woman with four Mana Hearts who joined his recruitment mission not long ago.
“If you’ve been waiting for me, I recommend we get straight to our point and call it a night.” Clay has no plans on being acquainted so he immediately stated what he wanted. Unlike the 6TH Circle old man whose presence is imposing even without releasing his power, this woman looked like a harmless cub.
“My name is Elstre Lustera and I would like to remind this senior that the moment you enter the shrine, you will be required to accompany me during a trial five years from now. Failure to protect me or inability to deliver satisfactory performance is equivalent to death.”
“And you wish to participate in a trial with such low cultivation?” Clay is baffled by the fact someone with high mana potential and strong Elemental Affinity is still a 1ST Circle mage.
“The coming-of-age ceremony for someone like me is different but tomorrow, I should be able to start properly cultivating and this shrine will be locked to accommodate my need to breakthrough to 5TH Circle.”
“Great. Then I won’t disturb you until you’re ready.” Clay turned around then took out the crest given to him by the old man and imbued his man on it sending out a signal towards any nearby guards that he is cleared to visit the shrine. At the same, he had already formed two wings at his back then levitated through the air.
If possible, he would like to continue walking until he reached the center of the shrine but when he had a glance of the place when he arrived earlier, the entire three kilometer area surrounding shrine gave off a familiar feeling prompting him to observe everything up-close while flying.
“Please refrain from flying in the future. The entrance is inside the third residence near the first berry tree and the repository is underground”
Not even a second passed and Clay already received a telepathic message from one of the guard nearby forcing him to speed up and land on the said residence. The area is surrounded by a two kilometer radius lake and at the center is a flat land spanning at least a kilometer containing a huge pyramid-like temple in middle.
Clay knew someone would warn him but he is confident they will overlook his first mistake and the reason he would gamble offending someone is to confirm the structure of the image reflected on his Godly Eyes.
Setting aside the Mana Vein which is almost depleted, the flow of mana seemed to be naturally flowing on a circular motion consistent to the shape of the area and it is worth noting that many of the shrines he had studied all have hexagonal shapes but this has circular shape.
Clay is getting confused but he still maintained his composure and followed the instruction and immediately entered the underground passage and after a minute of walking, he finally arrived at a huge and wide metallic door.
“I knew it!” Clay mumbled to himself as he touched the fortified gate.
During his past life, he had piloted his own spaceships and while he has no intricate knowledge about this craft, they share common principles. This gate before him is an entrance hangar and this entire area was once a spacecraft.
Clay closed his eyes then spread his divine sense to scan everything. From his understanding, this shrine is among the oldest temples dating back as far as two million years ago and with the passage of time, almost everything is buried in dirt including the engine room where the heart of the Mana Vein is located.
Except for the three spacious hangars reconstructed to look like a library, Clay noticed a small tunnel leading to an unknown room. He guessed it is probably the hidden room the 6TH Circle old man was referring to.
Clay walked a few meters near the corner of the fortified gate and located the dedicated entrance and with the crest on his and, a narrow door automatically opened.
Clay ignored the hundreds of bookshelves that greeted him then walked straight to his left until he hit a wall. On the wall was small crevice and even without instructions, Clay understood he needed to place the token.
After inserting the token, the wall retracted creating a passage enough for two people to fit in.
“Fancy.” Clay is getting more bewildered. The area looks abandoned for ages and looking at the amount of dust that accumulated, he estimates that the last person to have had entered probably was a hundred years ago or even longer.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Clay scanned the tunnel for traps before entering and after a few minutes of walking, he finally arrived inside the unknown room.
Except for the crystal ball the size of a human head placed on top of tree-looking pole, the room is empty. The space is around ten by sixteen and a height of four meters and on the walls are mysterious symbols inscribed on them.
“Two, four, eight, … thirty, sixty-four…” It was child’s play tracing the Gathering Formation laid on the floor and after counting the major nodes, he took out multiple high grade mana crystals from his spatial ring and scattered them around the room and used his mana to guide the crystals towards each node and almost instantly, the Gathering Formation around the room started to glow as it absorbed the energy then the crystal ball at the center gave of a golden light.
Zzzzzk!
Clay ignored the electrical noises and walked towards the center then placed his hand on the crystal ball.
Arrggghhh!!
The moment his hand landed on the crystal ball, an unknown energy passed through his hand then towards his head.
Clay cursed as information flowed into his mind. Similar to the language transference he had experience during his previous life, they share the same method.
As Clay was recovering from the pain caused by forceful intrusion of information to his brain, the entire room became alive creating small holes all around and sucking and cleaning all dust rejuvenating the room like it was constructed yesterday.
(Welcome, human. I am an artificial intelligence that once assisted this ship. )
Clay stretched his head sideways to expel the lingering headache and having confirmed his body is fine, he turned to see a holographic cube that manifested and is currently floating not far from him.
Clay was confused as he thought this place was dedicated for learning the ancient dialect. At the same time, he recalled his life back at Gar Wahger. When he was following the so-called traces of immortals, he came across Mur Brung and this name he met again during his reincarnation at A’U planet. Now if he meets him again this time, then he is confident this universe has an active consciousness.
“Ti…. Ta… Tell me your purpose and manufacturing origin.” Clay stuttered as he tried to speak in the Druidic language he just learned.
(Developed by Orobora High Science Council on Cyclical Date 247-12220, I have been installed on MQ1 Ship to assist on Hikh Planetary Expedition. Please be mindful of your request. I am configured to self-destruct when asked with the wrong questions.)
Clay was relieved the A.I did not respond with Gar Wahger Federation.
“And what you are programmed to answer?”
(My last order is to impart knowledge related to Spiritual Qi and Mana Vein synthesis provided your civilization has reached maturity age capable of handling complex questions. As these information are considered classified, the brightest of your kind must first pass a test and I will act as the examiner.)
“And if I ask something else?”
(Then I will go into hibernation. If I detect any unauthorized intrusion to any information within my system, then a self-destruct sequence will be triggered leaving nothing behind.)
“There must be an exemption, right?”
(If you can show me a proof that you are a part of Orobora Science Council, then you will have full access to this ship’s database.”)
Although disappointed at the configuration of the AI, Clay anticipated the response. He was once a captain and if this AI had received command to only function under certain conditions, then he will have zero chance of getting answers tonight.
“Before I leave, I noticed that the Mana Vein outside is dying. With your current state, I don’t think you have enough energy to power up when the time to impart knowledge comes.”
(Your point being?)
“I have sufficient mana crystals with me and I’m sure it is the reason you’ve woken up. My only request is you play the last Captain’s Log and ....”
Clay was in the middle of his sentence when the holographic image of the A.I disappeared. Although it was a long shot, he might as well leave than risk self-destructing this AI. However, as he turned around to leave, the A.I reappeared again.
(Wait!)
(Leave a thousand of the same quality Mana Crystals you used to power me up and I will play the log for you.)
“If people know you have such amount of Mana Crystals, they will dig out this place.” Clay warned as he dropped a thousand crystals.
At the same time, the room slightly dimmed as a figure with white greenish skin with reindeer horns materialized at the center then seconds later, another hologram took over the room.
“My name is Captain Lufrak of Hikh Expedition. Nine hundred thirty eight years after we arrived, I am announcing that our primary mission had succeeded. The Black Energy Gardens had been constructed and for as long as there Spatial Tears supplying Spiritual Qi and Mana, these Gardens will autonomously function. I hope the other nine expeditions have succeeded as well.
Unfortunately, this planet and all heavenly bodies within this solar system showed no signs of Evolving M-q Class planets giving birth to Aether Veins.
To you descendants of the civilization emerging on this planet, I want to let you know that next level of cultivation requires a much higher form of energy called Aether. And we the Druid Race have searched the entire galaxy for a Vein and have yet to find one.
Many distinguished scientists, myself included have come and gone and all of us believed that there are objects within our galaxy that’s preventing the birth of Aether Veins however, every expedition we sent out failed to discover the existence of these objects.
I hate to leave the database of my ship intact as it may influence the development of your technology towards same path we took but I trust your civilization will use these information properly when the time comes. Maybe then you will figure you out why the endless spatial tears and its relation to the absence of Aether.
You probably are wondering, why can’t we just travel beyond our galaxy? Sadly, our galaxy is located within an isolated void and travelling to nearby galaxies is almost impossible as our galaxy is surrounded by destructive and unstable Void Holes and Cracks and that is not even considering multiple sightings of unimaginable void beasts. If you plan on traversing the impassable, the only way out is to use the technology shared by the outside civilization who responded to our call and we call them Masters.
Sadly again, they can only cater to Mages with extreme talents. And to determine who is worthy, they instructed us to build these Gardens. Anyone willing to pursue greater heights of power must undergo their tests.
I pray for your success and my only hope is you won’t forget our cursed galaxy.
Glory to Orobora.”
Clay stood motionless as the room went dark again.
The first time he reincarnated, he learned that cultivators from higher civilizations control weaker planets by installing inter-star portals and only allowing specific people to pass through. He then experienced it again later during his other life at AU planet.
And now it looks like he will be experiencing the thing but with a few twist in the rules called Master’s Trials.