Chapter 984 - Those of inquisitive nature

Carried through the sky by Sofia, Gabriela guided them to a rather remote mountain range on the eastern side of the northern region.

“It’s– right there,” Gabriela said, pointing toward a forest-covered valley, struggling to catch her breath due to the altitude even if Sofia was flying quite low and slowly for her own standards. “But security–”

“Yeah I see them,” Sofia noted, counting at least a dozen ECA vehicles spread out around the forest and at least fifty people patrolling on foot.

“From– that far?!”

“Yes. Let’s get down.”

Landing on a rocky mountainside, Sofia let Gabriela down. “It’s a lot of people in such a deserted area. Care to explain what we’re here for now?”

“The valley down below is a static entity’s site,” Gabriela explained, “It cannot be moved so we guard it to make sure nothing happens.

“Do I need to kill it?”

“I am not sure. But either way you will want to talk to it. You just need to be mindful of what you say.”

“So it’s a monster chained underground, something like that?”

“No… It’s a statue. It’s one of the oldest entities under our supervision. Normal people who stroll near just wither into nothingness. Trained soldiers can approach but the statue holds them in contempt. Only our most elite soldiers and other entities could converse with it. It calls itself the guardian of the grand relic, and is waiting for a worthy warrior, supposedly.”

“I see… Does that warrant so much security, though? The more I look at it the more defensive layers I catch.”

“It does. And there is probably more security which you cannot see. Getting past them might not be simple even for you.”

“It will be fine, I have my ways. But I am really curious as to what warrants such protection.”

“The statue holds an offering bowl, sacrifice the core of a slain entity in there and the statue will reward you accordingly. What you get is unpredictable, but it’s a key asset of the ECA, sometimes it even produces other entities as a reward. The higher ups would never give you access to it, not even if I vouched for you with my life, but if you truly intend to hunt the more dangerous entities, then you deserve to know. The resources the statue provides are invaluable.”

“Now you really have my attention, speaking of which… Actually let’s move for now, they could spot us from here.”

Sofia quickly carried Gabriela to a forest on another mountain in a few jumps, and built a small bone house in a clearing in less time than the scientist needed to catch her breath.

Stepping inside last, Gabriela sat at the bone table Sofia had set up right in the middle of the only room. She curiously rubbed and scratched the table before looking back up at Sofia, “It’s some kind of crystalline structure just like your wings, yet it behaved like a liquid just moments ago… Your powers are fascinating.”

“It is like my wings because it is made from my bones,” Sofia pointed out, snapping off one of her wings and placing it on the table in front of Gabriela, who looked at the wing, then at her, at a loss for words. “It grows back fast, don’t worry. Look. Just like new.” Sofia’s skeletal wings fluttered behind her back.

“Can you make it into anything?” Gabriela asked, poking the inert wing bones on the table.

“Ever tried sculpting clay?” Sofia asked in return, “It is a bit like that,” she said, before controlling the cut-off wing and morphing it into a sword.

Gabriela was strangely silent for a moment, her fingers caressing the blade of the bone sword, before looking up at Sofia with a burning passion in her eyes.

“I want to study you.”

A brief source note: this chapter was taken without the author's permission from where the story is published; reading there supports the author.

Sofia shrugged. “You can ask questions if you want but I cannot stay and be your little test subject. I have a few questions for you as well.”

“I– I know, I know… It’s just… Very few entities are sane and amicable enough to hold an actual conversation. So someone with your knowledge and dispositions is…”

“Do not get your hopes up,” Sofia said, glancing at Pareth who was looking out through the windows. “To begin with, the way our powers work is fundamentally different from most of the entities I have seen so far, so there is very little I could tell you that does not apply only to us. Nevertheless, let’s exchange some information,” Sofia concluded with a smile.

Gabriela adjusted her hair, immediately regaining the serious air she had when Sofia had first seen her the other day. “What can this humble researcher help you with?”

Opening her empty palm over the table, Sofia produced a single truesight pill.

“I want to know everything you know about these things.”

Gabriela grabbed the pill, checked it from up close, and placed it back on the table.

“True sight pill,” Gabriela started, “Some entities are invisible to the naked eye. Some you cannot even touch or interact with unless you see them. We developed these pills as a countermeasure. It’s not perfect but it lets us perceive them.”

“Hmm.. Is that all?”

Gabriela shook her head, “They have a few quirks and side effects. They sharpen all the senses, not just vision, but you need regular consumption for the effects to stick for more than a few hours at a time. The issue is, they are very addicting, and also cause chronic fatigue… Typically our soldiers carry a few in case of emergency. I have been on them a few times, it is never pleasant.”

So instead of chronic fatigue we just pass out for a bit. Is that just a trial rule or is that supposed to be because we’re stronger so we react differently?

“How common are those invisible entities?” Sofia asked.

“Rather rare. But it is always serious when one shows up.”

“Alright… Then how are those made, do you know? I might need to make some myself later.”

“Of course, it’s classified information but most of our researchers have had to help with production at one point or another. You crush an entity’s core into a fine powder, mix it following a precise ratio of one part powder, two parts crushed silver, three parts salt, and submerge in any strong liquid acid, the stronger the better. Then you bring it up to a boil and mix slowly until there is no liquid left. Wash the blue crystals that formed with some distilled water, let dry, crush into a powder, press into a pill shape. Really easy. Oh, the fumes are very toxic, so you need a gas mask and a well-ventilated room at a minimum.”

“That’s… Alchemy, huh… Oh, what about the condensators?”

“Wait, you know about that?!” Gabriela exclaimed, surprised, “It’s, uh, well I did not bring them up because you said you wanted to make them yourself. It’s some of our laboratory equipment. Once the mixture is ready we just place it in there and it processes it into pills by itself. The number of pills it makes for the same materials is higher but it is very slow. If the facility is still standing then there are a few you could steal…”

“No, I looked when we flew out, the entire place collapsed.”

“Then it is unlikely you could one… But assuming the ECA remains willing to work with you, it should be really easy to convince them to give you a steady supply.”

“Them? You said ‘us’ and ‘our’ before.”

“Ahah…” Gabriela laughed nervously, “I– The more I tell you the less likely I am to get accepted back into the ranks. But talking with you is too good an opportunity to pass up, so well… May I ask a question of my own, now?”

“Go ahead.”

“How does your bone manipulation work?” Gabriela asked excitedly with a glimmer in her eyes.

“This is going to take a while…”

Considering the one hour weakness following the [Avatar of Zeus] use still wasn’t over, Sofia really did not mind some downtime chatting with the scientist, who also proved to be a very good source of information.

It was already evening by the time they stopped, Gabriela pretty much falling from exhaustion, after their long discussion. Sofia would bring her back to an active ECA facility the next day, and would decide on how to proceed depending on how they react.

But first, she and Pareth needed to take their daily truesight pill.

To avoid putting Gabriela in danger, they flew back to a large city they had passed on the way and broke into an empty house on the outskirts. There they could all sleep in relative safety, as the proximity to a lot of people would prevent the dream eater from showing up.

Pareth and Sofia still slept through their pills in turns, to be safe. And later during the night, they left Gabriela behind with a few skeletal thralls for protection, and returned to the protected mountain site.

Let’s see what this ‘guardian of the grand relic’ statue is all about.

The graveyard nymphs pulled Sofia and Pareth underground; past all the security, they emerged directly into a buried shrine, under the intense gaze of the ancient statue.