After the fruit incident, it didn’t take long for Diven to reach the black stone he had spotted from the top of the hill. Even after dragging his feet as much as the horde allowed, the rock was already in front of him.
(Well, it looks awfully familiar. It's identical to the other one where we met the guardians.)
[I almost expect them to appear from behind the stone. How much do you want to bet this is our final destination?]
(We can’t bet with each other, idiot. We are the same person. But I don’t know, why would the faceless want us near that stone?)
[I have no idea.]
“You’re probably wondering why an army was mobilized to bring you here.” Dog’s voice echoed from the stone as he and the other two guardians revealed themselves.
[I win.]
(I wasn’t playing.)
Neither of them was interested in answering the guardians. While En had wanted to believe in the guardians, he wasn’t that naive. Their hand controlling the horde was always a possibility.
Now, Div and En needed to keep their mind sharp and look for an escape.
“Not answering?” Dog asked.
“I don’t know what to tell you. Why is there an army of monsters chasing after me? I guess…”
“Monsters?” Dog said. “It certainly explains why you’ve been so aggressive toward them.”
“I don’t think we’ve been aggressive. They attacked us first. Erm, me, they attacked me first.” Div and En slipped, they had started thinking about themselves as a collective. However, since they shared the same body, they needed to make sure they used the right pronouns. Both to avoid weirding out people and to keep their mind skill a secret.
“They just wanted to guide you there. You should be more open-minded. Our Basic Rank brethren are less articulate than we are.”
“You’re all faceless?” Diven blurted out.
“Faceless? Is that what you call our race? It’s descriptive. I'll give you that.”
“Anyway,” Feline interrupted. “Let’s get this over with before he ruins another of his skills.”
“Right, I’m quite upset you attuned four skills to rot,” Dog said. “Especially Echoes of the Heart, it seemed like a really nice experience. Sadly, we’ll have to be content with what is left. Although…”
Dog turned his head toward Bird. “This Sundered Mind seems a little concerning.”
Bird shrugged.
[What’s going on here? What are they talking about?]
(They’re too invested in our skills. They’re faceless, monsters, we can be sure it's for nefarious reasons. Plus, from what they said, they’re clearly Evolved Rank.)
[Are you sure?]
(They could be Ascended Rank but if we operate on this assumption we might as well give up. At least, we might be able to run from Evolved Ranks.)
[We might be able to fight Evolved Ranks.]
(Certainly not. Not three of them and their army.)
“We should get started then.” Dog said. He raised his voice to address the army. “Thank you for bringing the human to us. We will proceed with the ceremony. Now return to your stations.”
Just these words from the guardian were enough to scatter the endless horde that had chased them all the way here.
(I don’t like the sound of this ceremony.)
[How do they even talk if they don’t have a face?]
(I don’t think this is important at the moment.)
[Just a stray thought.]
As the army walked away, many of them lingered, their gazes drawn to Diven, the stone, and the guardians, the latter were busy drawing shapes in the ground.
Triangles, squares, circles, stars, and various other patterns were carefully carved into the earth.
[A ritual of some sort?]
(Looks like it.)
“So… Why did you bring me here?” Diven asked.
“You’ll see,” Feline teased. “We’ll tell you.”
[Should we just run?]
(Let’s wait and see. The more we wait the farther the army is.)
Skill leveled up: Sundered Mind Lv7 -> Lv8
(As nice as it is, I don’t think it’s going to save us.)
Div and En didn’t miss Bird cocking her head toward them and gesturing something to Dog.
“Skills are not supposed to be leveling this fast,” Dog said. “How about you tell us what Sundered Mind does? Maybe we can help you.”Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
But Diven wasn’t about to give them more information than they already had. “No, it’s fine. I got it under control.”
Dog having to ask tipped them off. While Bird clearly had a way to see their inner world, she couldn’t see everything. Specifically, she didn’t know what his skills did.
[We can work this to our advantage. There’s no way they know the effect of our rot-attuned skills.]
(Aside from Echoes of the Rot Heart, it’s not hard to guess.)
[But they don’t know that it’s not hard to guess. If things go south, we can attune…]
(I won't let you corrupt any more of our skills.)
[It’s the only solution!]
(We don’t know what they’re preparing. Maybe it will be fine.)
As much as he wanted to believe it, En doubted their situation would be easy to resolve. All humanoids they were, the faceless were clearly monsters. Dog, Feline, and Bird hid their lack of face behind masks, but it didn’t change the core issue. If anything, it only made them more dangerous.
Thus, Div and En kept quiet, their gaze discreetly hovering between the things the guardians were drawing in the dirt and the retreating army.
If it was a ritual they were preparing, it wasn’t a simple one. With speed befitting of their Evolved Rank, they were close to covering the entirety of the ground surrounding the black stone with symbols.
[Do you know what any of these patterns are for?]
(Of course not. I didn’t take ritualistic lessons behind your back.)
[I guess we could ask them.]
(We already did.)
[It doesn’t hurt to ask again.]
“What do these symbols mean?”
Feline answered without interrupting his work, “Oh. It’s very complicated, we don’t have time to go through everything now. But you’ll see what it does when it's complete. A few more minutes.”
Once again, Diven was left without answers.
(This is awkward.)
[We could just leave.]
(The army is far enough that we could probably escape them. The only question mark is the guardians.)
[But it’s not going to change if we wait longer.]
Div and En quietly walked away from the scene. With how focused the guardians were on their ritual preparation, there was a chance they wouldn’t notice.
Unfortunately, their attempt was quickly noticed. Dog immediately saw through their move, “Where are you going?”
“Since you won't explain, I'll be on my way.”
“I’m afraid we can’t allow you to leave,” Dog said, shaking his head. “Your presence is necessary for the ceremony after all.”
“And why is it required?” Diven asked.
“Well,” Dog said, standing up. “I guess I can take a few minutes to fill you in on the details. The others are almost done.”
Dog dusted off his clothes and stepped closer to Diven, “As I’m sure you’re aware, we are in a rift.”
Diven nodded.
“You see, it’s quite difficult to exit a rift. Outsiders like you can just take the exit portal, though. But for those of us born inside, the only way out is through the entrance portal. Unfortunately, it is only possible to exit through it for an instant when the rift connects to the main world. Are you following me?”
“Yes.”
“So,” Dog continued. “It’s not that we don’t cherish our home. But for Evolved Ranks such as ourselves, the temptation to see the outside world is great. Who knows? Maybe we could break through to the fabled Ascended Rank. We’ve tried many ways and now we’re reaching the end of our lifespan.”
“So?” Diven asked. “What does this have to do with me?”
“There’s no way for us to leave through conventional means. But thankfully, us three together have a very interesting skill combination. It has given us great hope, and you’re the best chance we have before it's too late for us.”
Dog paused, examining the drawings on the ground. “Great, everything is in place. Diven, since you’re being so helpful, I’ll let you know exactly what’s going to happen.”
He was visibly excited, a state Diven hadn’t believed possible for the stoic guardians. He was almost bouncing from one foot to the other.
“Through his bloodline, Feline was blessed with The Fifth Direction. As you’ve no doubt remarked, it’s a fantastic skill. Once he pushed the skill over the evolution threshold, he gained the ability to teach the skill through methods you’ve already seen for yourself. But it wasn’t the only change… No, he became convinced The Fifth Direction could take us through the exit portal.”
“So what’s stopping you?” Diven asked.
“He was convinced he could go through the portal, if the skill ascended,” Dog said. “But all hope was not lost, with Bird’s talent at seeing through people, my own at ritualistic magic and years of engraving inside several black stones all over the rift, we’ve devised a way for Feline to push his skill through the barrier.”
[En, I don’t like where this is going.]
(Me neither.)
[We need to attune The Fifth Way to rot. Now!]
(It’s… No. We can’t do that.)
[We have to! You’re seeing the same thing as I am. I know this is not what we wanted, but if we let them have their way, keeping our skills clean will be for naught.]
(Div…)
[En, please. Listen to me. I promise we’ll find our way back home. Rotten or not.]
(Fine… Do it.)
“Honestly, you should be happy you can repay us this way,” Dog rambled. “You’ve only survived thanks to us in the first place. It is only fair we take your skills. I just hope your pathetic level will be enough for Feline to ascend. Unfortunately, our brethren have proved incapable of learning The Fifth Direction. We’ve had to rely on explorers like you. I guess the rift is so remote that only a few have entered it in a century. But it’s not too bad, if it was easily accessible, a powerful expert might have wiped us out. Things are working out perfectly.”
Div and En were hardly listening anymore. Instead, they had turned their attention to their inner garden where they stood next to the Rot Heart.
[Are you sure?]
(Don’t make me change my mind.)
[Sorry.]
Div put his hand on the throbbing organ of rot. He felt the vastness of the mana contained inside.
[Let’s do it together. I can’t control it all by myself.]
(I can’t. Div, just get over with it.)
[I’m sorry En. I need your help. If I do it alone, the rot attuned-mana has more chance of spreading to our other skills.]
(Trap Detection and Sundered Mind…)
At this point, even if Trap Detection was corrupted, it wouldn’t change much. But Sundered Mind was something else entirely. For Div and En, the skill was the source of their existence.
(You’re right. We can’t risk it.)
En drew in a sharp breath before placing his hand on the Rot Heart. He almost jerked it away immediately as he felt things wiggling under his palm.
[It won’t take long. Follow your instincts.]
The rot-attuned mana started trickling out of the heart and fell onto the dirt path representing The Fifth Direction. Under its influence, the path warped, and the surface bubbled as if boiling. Some sections disappeared and others turned into pools of putrid goo.
The Fifth Direction - Basic - Lv4 has transformed into Blighted Passage - Basic - Lv4.
(It’s done.)
[It is. Let’s see what this new skill is capable of.]
Back in the real world, Dog had continued speaking. “Anyway, I’m talking too much. What I really wanted to say was: I’m sorry. I know you’ve done nothing to deserve it, but you need to understand our position. It’s either you or us.”
He was interrupted by Bird shouting in surprise.
(Right, she can see our skill has changed!)
[I hope the transformation was worth it. We’re going to need it now.]