Underground town - morning

Nunnalé, Quincy, and I are exploring a cavern we found at the edge of this town. Quincy said there was bound to be one since the other towns had them too. It’s been made from the rocky surface that covers this entire town. The tunnel we’re currently walking through is a straight, but spacious path. It’s dank in, but thanks to a lanter Quincy has, we’re able to navigate with minimal problems.

Nunnalé is behind me while Quincy leads onward. This way, Nunnalé can respond to any attack while Quincy wants to be the leading man for this investigation.

“How far do you think this tunnel goes?”

A pointless question, but ask it anyway.

“Who can say? We can only continue down this path,” Quincy answers with confidence.

“I am amazed by the interior of this tunnel. The surface of the walls are smooth with little to no rough edges or bumpy surfaces, even the ground has been evened out."

"You're right, but why so much effort for a simple cavern?"

"Judging from the other underground towns I've seen, and this one, the ones who used to inhabit them were craftsmen who most likely wished to craft an aesthetically pleasing village."

It makes sense, this cave, and the buildings in the town, hell even the roads proves that fact.

"How many of these towns have you been to?" I ask..

"Two so far. Both of them are identical to this town."

"What's the point of making the same town?"

"I have yet to uncover the reason. Exploring those places proved dangerous since there were living armors keeping me away from the inner sanctums of their caverns."

"Living armor?" I repeat.

"Yes, they moved as if a person was inside, but I was able to knock off one of their helmets. There was no one inside it."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing. Of course, I couldn't investigate it since it was stronger than me, so I ran from them... However, this time around, I am convinced they will hardly be a problem now. We’ll be able to uncover what this cavern holds." Quincy is getting giddy as he lets out a slight giggle. "...I am unable to hold in my excitement.”

"Glad you're excited."

"Of course, why would I not be? These are the moments I live for."

In any case, it looks like we'll be in for a fight.

"Nunnalé, get ready for a fight."

"Understood. Please stay away from me and the enemy when we encounter one."

"Okay, but I'll come in and help when I can."

Ahead, there is a light coming from the other end of the tunnel. It only takes a couple of seconds to reach it. We’re at the end of the corridor. Lanterns hang on the walls, filling the room with bright lights. The walls as well as the floor are smooth, polished like glass. Even with my shoes on, I can still tell how inhumanly smooth this surface is.

“There it is, an armored guardian.”

On the far left-hand side of the room, a full set of armor is blocking our way… Hold on a moment!

"I've seen this thing before!"

"You have? Where was it?"

"It was--"

The armor enemy’s sword comes out of a metal sheath while it grinds against the inner part of it..

"Here it comes!" Nunnalé spawns her sword, taking a one-hand stance. "Master Richard, do not interfere."

"I won't get in the way. Just avoid any needless damage!"

"Understood."

Without any delay, Nunnalé flashes forward, reaching the enemy in the blink of an eye. Her sword aims for the enemy’s head. He whips his sword at hers’, changing its course. She responds with a kick, distancing the two of them. Nunnalé grips her sword with both her hands.

The brief exchange leaves me breathless. A single mistake on any of their part spells out death for the two combatants.

The armor opens the next exchange as Nunnalé intercepts. Each blow from the other is being blocked as their swords clash. The sound of steel clashing echoes in the room. The air gets denser and denser as this short exchange goes on. Their pace picks up to unhuman speeds. Even if I want to help, there's no room for me to interject. One misstep, that armor will lop my head, or I could get in Nunnalé’s way.

"Hm, it seems as if this battle can go on for a while," Quincy says.

"Not like we can step in without getting killed."

"Then we provide support without getting close."

The only way to do that is by throwing something at it, but what would that be…? My back hits the wall as I step backward without thinking… That's it!

I move a large quantity of Source into my left arm. My arm smashes in the wall behind me. Rubble falls from the small hole I made. I grab a piece of stone to use as a projectile.

"Master, get out of the way!"

Nunnalé's warning has me turn my head to her and the enemy. The armor enemy is about to slice me with it's sword. In the blink of an eye, I'm dragged away from the enemy. Quincy pushes me behind him.

"Thank you, Quincy!"

"Think nothing of it!"

Quincy brings out his weapon to block the incoming attack. He barely withstands the attack as his knees buckle from the unbelievable power of the blow. Despite this severity in power, he's able to block the next attack again. It forces him onto the ground. I jump at the side of the enemy. My Source heads to my right arm, enhancing its capabilities. I deliver a sloppy punch, but it's enough to push it away from us.

As it's feet grind against the ground to stop itself, Nunnalé punts it towards the wall. The wall breaks as the enemy hits it.. Despite such a heavy attack, it catapults itself at Nunnalé. She redirects its course with a sword strike. Deft with her footwork, her sword zones in for another strike. The armor enemy uses its arm as a desperate measure to block. However, Nunnalé cleaves it like butter.

In terms of pure power, the armor is weaker than Nunnalé since she’s enhancing her sword with my Source. The armor is probably made out of sturdy material, but it’s only strong as long as nobody can cut or dent it. However, since Nunnalé is already physically strong and is enhancing her blade with Source, the result is clear. However, the blade held up fine against it. Must’ve been made out of stronger material.

"All right! Finish it off!" Quincy orders.

"Understood."

She goes for a strike to the head, slicing it into halves. It's body staggers from the loss of its head, but it doesn’t stop moving.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"So I must destroy the whole body."

Without warning or a signal, both of their blades shoot for the other. Their arms and swords are a blur, making it impossible for me to see who hit the other first. However, the result is clear who hit the other first. The armored enemy is split into two from the waist up. Both halves hit the ground, making a loud metal thump.

Nunnalé relaxes her posture as her sword disappears from sight. "The enemy has been defeated."

"Excellent work. I knew you would carry us through."

"Don't you have any shame?" I ask Quincy.

"As long as I can further my investigation, shame is but a fleeting concept."

"I see."

I don't know whether that's a positive or negative thing?

"Richard, you said you saw this thing before. Where was it?"

"At the King's Tower. It was when me and Proxy we're about to exit. It was standing at the entrance...waiting for us."

Wait a moment, what did I just say!?

"Now that's curious. Why would it be doing that?"

Is this another revelation to the mystery of why we're here? Actually, I remember Marie calling him the Silent Knight.

"Quincy, does the Silent Knight mean anything to you?"

"It's a character from a local legend. Was he the one you saw?"

"I think so. When we first met Marie, I told her everything that happened, or at least when we arrived in this world and that the book brought us here."

"I see… Then we'll discuss it later. For now, we need to focus on investigating this town."

"Right."

"I'll wait by the door. Check up on Nunnalé."

"Right, we'll catch up with you in a minute."

He heads to the giant door while putting away his weapon.

"Hey, Nunnalé, are you okay?"

"Yes, I am unharmed, but I am sorry that the enemy almost harmed you due to my negligence."

"I'm fine, Quincy was there to keep me out of harm's way."

"And I appreciate his assistance for it. However, are you sure you are okay?"

“I am, I promise.”

Her eyes observe my body, scanning for any wound on me. "Very well, then I shall leave it at that. As long as you are not harmed, then that is a satisfactory result.”

“Exactly. So, are you ready to go?”

“I am ready whenever you.”

“Then we’re proceeding!”

We approach the door as Quincy is about to open it. “Are you ready?”

“We are.”

“Then let us go further.”

He pulls open the door with all his might. Dry, humid air rushes out of the other side of the door, pushing against my body. Inside is a small room with furniture next to a fireplace. The colors in the brown color of the room gives a nice, relaxing but sophisticated vibe to the room. There’s a bookshelves at the other end of the room, surrounding a medium-sized desk cleared of any object. They should easily be able to hold tons of books, but there’s barely any of them on the shelves.

“This appears to be a study,” Quincy points out.

“Yeah, but it’s so dusty compared to the rest of this town.”

“Well, with the armored guard, this place hasn’t seen many visitors.” Quincy moves to the bookshelf, taking a single book off the shelf. He skims through the book. “...Useless, it’s about the study of birds.” He picks up another and speeds reads it as well. “...Just as useless, this is on the study of agriculture.”

“There has to be something in this room if it was being guarded.”

“I agree. Search this place, there must be something worth guarding…”

Nunnalé searches the fireplace while I search everywhere else. There has to be a secret around here, just in case the guard was defeated... Nothing, I can’t seem to find any clues on a hidden room, or a hidden tile. I lean against the wall that’s facing the fireplace. There’s a picture of a funny looking animal that has the body of a goat. Ugly suits it better.

“Why would anyone have a picture of that?”

While I’m wondering to myself about that, I noticed there are no other pictures around here. There isn’t a self-portrait of a person in here, or of anything else, just that weird creature…

“Hmm…”

It’s a bit odd for such a place like this to have a picture that’s out of place in the first place.

Approaching the fireplace, I put my hands on the frame of the painting. Being able to see the wall behind the painting, there are small letters on the wall. Touching them, they slightly move. It feels like a dial. I push up to confirm my suspicion.

“Master Richard has found something."

Quincy joins us from the bookshelf. "Is that a dial?"

"I think so, but why is it on a wall?" Putting the picture down, I touch the surface of the wall. It feels colder. Knocking on it gives a hollow sound to it. Is this a fake piece of wall? "There's something past here."

"Master Richard, I can cut it open the wall, if you like?"

"No, let's not do anything rash. If possible, I'd like to preserve this place."

"He's right, let's not do anything," I tell Nunnalé.

"Very well, then let us discover the method to open this wall."

"Then let us…" Quincy pauses, his attention is on the picture. "...Let us investigate the picture."

He presses his fingers against the inner edge of the frame, moving along the straight path of it. His fingers stop at the lower-left corner. He tugs something of it; a piece of paper.

He unfolds the neatly folded paper. "The flower that signals the creation of a new life. Is this a clue to the dial?"

"I think so. Let's see if there's something about it in a book over--"

"There are 3 flowers in particular that have to do with creation of life: The Yulis flower, Prona flower, and the prima flower."

"Each one has 5 letters, and there are only 5 dials."

"I recommend we try the Yulis flower, for it is able to hold the meaning for the creation of life. Meanwhile, the others I have mentioned only hold one meaning for life or creation."

Nunnalé enters the letters for the flower. A click echoes through the room. The wall creaks open as dust comes flying from the safe. Inside, there's a small book made of leather. It seems to be a bit worn.

Nunnalé hands it to me. Despite its appearance, the leather feels nice, cool to the touch. I flip through the pages to see what's in here. Only half of the pages in this book are filled. I go back through the pages I turned through. As I'm turning it, a word catches my eye: doll.

Stopping on that page, I take a look at the context of the page. "...The manufacturing of doll bodies has increased ten-fold as we have been commanded by the supreme king to manufacture more. Making Source circuits for them is a strenuous task. Our production rate is 22.6%, even our finest craftsmen are unable to make them as quickly. And even when we make them, the amount of Source they can produce and handle is a minimal amount. Compared to the father, we are unable to create them in such a hasty manner, and their quality is low-end at that. We will do the best we can with what we are able to create. Our pride as craftsmen depends on it."

Flipping through the pages, there are 8 more pages filled before hitting the end of the entries.

"Dolls, could he mean dolls like Nunnalé?" Quincy ponders.

"It is possible, however, I would not consider myself low-end."

"So there are more of you? If so, then where are they?" The room goes silent as nobody tries to answer my question. "Then who is this father?'

"Who can say. But judging from the writer's interpretation of him, he must be the original creator of Nunnalé's kind."

"Maybe so, but what is Source Circuitry? Teacher never told me anything about that."

"It is the system of which Source flows through from within our bodies. Each part of that circuitry has an opening point where you can allow your Source to flow freely around your body. This is how we're able to interact with our Source."

"I see, so are these circuits physical?"

"Not to the naked eye, and they are tangible, yet not tangible at the same time."

Static plays in my head as I'm wrapping my brain over this concept. No wonder teacher didn't tell me about it; it probably was pointless for me to grasp it for now, especially if I can't do anything with that information.

"...However, the construction of Source Circuits are complicated, and require a vast level of understanding to create them," Nunnalé continues with her lecture. "From what was written, they only had a base level of understanding of it. Producing the doll bodies would only require one to gather the components that compose a human being. However, this in itself requires an enormous understanding of the human body and how each part plays into the other."

"So essentially, the process of making dolls is a difficult one. No, more than difficult; nearly impossible."

"In the perspective of a normal outlook, we should not exist, I should not even be a possibility. However, the one who created me has a clear understanding of Source circuitry, how to make vessels, and the human body. My existence is nothing short of a miracle."

Now I understand. Even if you understand the human body, you need to understand such a concept called Source itself. On how it works, I understand, but on the understanding of what Source is beyond being the essence of the soul, I have no idea. Actually, what is a soul? How is one able to understand the idea, the makeup, or the construction of the soul. So how would one be able to make Source circuits? These questions are pointless for me to speculate since there’s no way I’d be able to figure it out.

"Regardless, I think we should go over what's inside this book. It seems to be about 50 pages worth of material, so it won't take too long."

Quincy is right, we should stay here and read over what's inside of this book. Besides, we might learn about who Nunnalé is from this book.

…

"The three that went into the room that was guarded are still in there. I can't say what they are doing, but I'll keep monitoring them."

A mysterious figure stalking Richard, Quincy, and Nunnalé cuts off their radio. They decide to retreat for now. Since there's nowhere else for them to go in the cavern, it'll be best to watch them when they leave it...