Hearing Shine's words, Atlas immediately understood. The strange feeling he'd been experiencing must be tied to the [Astera Mindweave] skill, likely triggered by one of their newly hatched siblings in the cave. With that thought, both of them grabbed handfuls of eggshell fragments and took off into the distance, driven by the urgency in the mental call.

Atlas's body ached, but the pain had greatly subsided thanks to the bizarre metabolic reaction to the Elder Spiris's poison. As his muscles burned with newfound energy, he couldn't help but marvel at his [Mana Core], even in its current [Minor] state. The sheer efficiency of his recovery was astounding.

'Imagine all the fitness junkies back on Earth going nuts over this… feels like I'm cheating. Almost.'

After all, this was a natural part of his body now. If he couldn't take full advantage of it, then who had the right?

"Hey, Shine," Atlas called out as his hexlimbs propelled him forward. "What abilities can you use when we get wherever we're going? Can you use this [Astera Mindweave] in combat? Actually, scratch that—just tell me how to unblock mine, please."

He wasn't sure where they were heading, but Shine seemed to know. As they moved, the mental call grew clearer with every step, like a distant signal slowly gaining strength.

[The [Astera Mindweave] is an evolutionary trait of our people,] Shine began, her tone shifting to something far more mature than her earlier theatrics. [It has countless uses, and is one of the primary reasons we warred with humans. To unblock yours, focus inward, sinking your mind as deep as you can without thinking. Let your mind drift until you find a gate. Open it, but don't let it close completely.]

Her sudden seriousness caught Atlas off guard. "Thanks… Are you good? You seem… different."

[Of course. I have tasted my first meal, and my mind is quickly absorbing its nutrients. What happened before… never speak of it, or I will ensure you regret it.]

"... So you don't think you're some inter-galactic super-queen of all divinely majestic queens anymore, right? Or what are you saying?"

[S-Shut up! Everyone goes through that! It was a completely reasonable misunderstanding.] Shine's voice faltered before regaining her composure. [I know you probably never had that phase, but others would!]

Before Atlas could respond, the System chimed in with a slightly mocking tone.

[Host, you are embarrassing her. It's actually quite common for hatchling Astera Spiris to misinterpret their bloodline memories as past lives. In fact, most can't even speak at birth due to intentional suppression from the Elders responsible for their eggs.]

"Why suppress them?"

[Would you enjoy greeting hundreds of hatchlings, only to hear every single one blast their mental speech, grandly proclaiming misunderstood memories and demanding food?]

"I think I'd rather walk on hot coals. One delusional sibling is enough to make me consider living alone forever."

It seemed hatchlings tended to misinterpret their bloodline memories as past lives. This was, bluntly speaking, hilarious to Atlas. It made sense, but it was so absurd that he'd pay to see what the Elders actually went through when hundreds of the little cretins hatched at once.

[Do you understand now? This is a normal mistake, do not mention it when we reach home. I will not forgive you!] Shine repeated. It seemed her first instance of black history had already formed.

As they continued through the cave, a chill settled over them, though the air itself didn't seem to change. The further they went, the more Atlas felt like something was watching—no, studying—him. The musty scent of damp stone and moldy gravel thickened, but it was the stillness of the place that unnerved him. Every footfall and clatter of his hexlimbs echoed back in eerie silence. The usual sounds of cave life—scurrying creatures, distant winds—were absent.

"Alright, before we get there," Atlas began, shaking off the uneasy feeling creeping up his spine, "I want to make something clear. When I say something, you listen. Got it? I don't want you messing up because you go left when I say right. I'm not going to throw you into danger, but we'll do more damage together if we coordinate."

He spoke with a seriousness that left no room for argument. Shine, seeing his expression, relented.

[Mm. Okay. I will follow your lead. Do you have a plan?]

"Not yet," Atlas admitted. "Hard to plan for something you know nothing about. For all we know, we're just helping someone who got lost… though I doubt it."

[Understood. Unblock your mindweave before we arrive. It will make coordination easier. And… I want to know if you hear what I hear.]

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Shine's tone carried a strange weight. Atlas glanced at her, noticing a flicker of uncertainty behind her usual confidence.

Atlas furrowed his brow. "You're still hearing something strange? What does it sound like?"

[Please, just unblock your mindweave, brother. I can't explain it properly. It's like ancient Tetharis, a whisper that yells, a shout that's too soft to hear clearly.] Shine's frustration was evident as she shook her head.

Atlas hesitated for a moment before nodding. He closed his eyes, letting his hexlimbs carry him forward as his mind sank deeper. The unsettling feeling returned—like he was sinking into a void that stretched endlessly beneath him. There was no light, no shape, just the sensation of falling into nothingness.

After what felt like minutes, something appeared in his mental landscape: a gate. Dark as the void itself, yet faintly solid. He focused on it, imagining a smaller version of himself pushing it open, just a crack.

The moment it shifted, the whispers crashed into him. Loud yet soft, booming yet distant. The voices carried emotions—desperation, pleading—but the words were too fragmented to make sense. Atlas flinched, his eyes snapping open.

"What the hell?"

[So you hear it too, then?] Shine's voice was calm, but her expression was strained.

"Yeah... It's exactly like you said. A yelling whisper. A booming shout that's too soft to understand." He frowned. "Could it be one of our siblings?"

[Impossible. If it's Tetharis, there's no way they'd know it. We no longer speak that language.]

Atlas's heart pounded as an unsettling thought crossed his mind. "System?"

The System's face grew grim, a rarity for her. [Host, I'll be honest. I have no idea what this is, and on the miniscule chance any of my conclusions are correct, I sincerely hope I'm wrong. If this truly is ancient Tetharis, and not a misunderstanding, then the situation has escalated beyond dangerous. That language hasn't been spoken in over twelve million years.]

Atlas blinked, his mind blanking at the number. "Twelve million years? You're telling me things live that long?"

[Not most beings, but yes, some do. The ones that do are far beyond anything you have the right to know about.]

"Shit… so what the hell should we do?" Atlas asked, his voice low.

[Brother, I do not believe these whispers are malicious, but I cannot shake the feeling that they are not of this cave.] Shine's eyes narrowed as she glanced around. [It's like they come from everywhere and nowhere at once.]

Hearing this, not only Atlas grew more solemn, but so did the System. Atlas had a few conjectures he could come up with but no way to confirm them. He'd read many stories and could imagine many kinds of powers, but the situation Shine had just described sounded eerily similar to an Old Dominator or equally vile creature of Lovecraftian mythos.

'I pray with all my fucking heart that this isn't related in any possible way. Please for the love of all that is not the System, let this be simple.'

The System though, had an equally solemn expression. This was because it knew far more than Atlas and every conjecture it came to was a very very bad one.

Atlas's stomach tightened, the eerie feeling returning in full force. The cave seemed to pulse with a life of its own. The walls no longer felt solid—they were oppressive, looming, as if the stone itself had become aware of them.

[Host, I urge you to complete your task quickly and leave this place. This is not something you have the right to meddle in. Trust me, I do not wish to see you die before I can prove you wrong about your new life,] the small form of the System said, seeming eager to leave this place.

As his lips tightened into a grim line, Atlas nodded, "I was planning on it. How many eggs did you bring?"

[Only three, including yours. This will be the last one.]

"Good. Then let's pick up the pace and get out of here. it's felt like the whole cave's been watching me since the moment I hatched. I don't wanna stick around to find out why."

As they sprinted deeper into the cave, the whispers in Atlas's mind seemed to grow louder. It wasn't just the unsettling murmur of before, this time, they felt sharper, like something was clawing at the edge of his mind, trying to force its way in.

"Shit… what is that?" Atlas muttered, shaking his head as the pressure mounted.

[Brother, something is wrong.] Shine's voice came through, tight with urgency. [These whispers, they're not just distant now. They feel… closer. No, not closer, but something is changing.]

The walls of the cave seemed to pulse around them, a low hum vibrating through the stone, as though the air had become heavy and bore down on their chests. Each step forward felt like wading through dense fog, and yet Atlas could feel the presence, everywhere at once, pressing against his senses. The soft click of water dropping on stone echoed too sharply, their sound distorted, as if stretched.

His hexlimbs twitched, every instinct screaming for him to turn around, but he pushed on.

And then, just as they rounded a corner, Atlas stumbled.

His hexlimbs faltered as a sudden wave of cold swept over him, it wasn't physical, but mental, like a chill that burrowed straight into his mind. For a split second, his vision blurred, and the whispers weren't whispers anymore, they were shouts. Desperate. Pleading.

[BRIDGE—]

The voice surged in his head, too loud to ignore. He staggered, barely catching himself against the wall as the pressure mounted.

"Fuck… Shine, do you hear that?"

[I do.] Her voice trembled now, and for the first time, she sounded genuinely afraid. [It's getting stronger.]

Atlas gritted his teeth, forcing himself forward. Whatever was happening, it wasn't just some distant call. It was bearing down on them, like a storm about to break, and they needed to bolt before it did.

"We need to get to our sibling. Now," he said, pushing past the discomfort, even as the whispers clawed at the edges of his mind. He could feel it—something was coming.

They ran faster, every footstep echoing too loudly in the oppressive silence.

*Clang* *Swoosh*

"Do you hear that?" Atlas asks, feeling the cave might be playing tricks on him, it sounded like a sword strike, or a rebuffed spear, followed by some kind of distortion of the air.

[Yes. It sounds like battle.] Shine nods, confirming his thoughts.

"Can you sense how close we are to the source of the distress message?"

[I believe our sibling is just ahead, the source of the sounds should be whatever they might be fighting. This, or it's a very ill-timed coincidence.]

Nodding his head, Atlas peered forward with all the strength he could focus into his eyes. He didn't feel any vibrations, yet he heard the sound clearly, meaning it was just that loud even from a distance.

"If we've got a battle coming up, then here's the plan..."

[Understood. Hopefully, that's enough.]