Master Of None

”Is that mold? Or is it just a mass of fungus growing here?” Su had stopped walking because she felt that the more they traveled the more this sickly green mold was growing around them.

”It’s definitely a mold of some kind, but I think it has been growing here for too long. It’s making the air toxic and without Alice’s song purifying the air and us we would be getting sick.” Walker knew that they each had their own ways of countering this sort of poisonous thing, but they would still feel some effects from it when they encountered it.

’Vile bloom fungus

This is what many people believe to be a fungus easily scrubbed away, however, that would make this monster grow more vicious to those who inhale its toxins. Like a mushroom or any fungi, this fungus releases spores to try and grow pieces of itself elsewhere, those spores are incredibly poisonous and will cause paralyzation, bleeding, and a decaying effect on the body.

While unmoving, this is a monster and intentionally aims to poison and kill others so that it can use the rotting corpses as a place to rest and grow more. It also hopes that those poisoned by it travel further from where it poisons them and allows for new pieces of itself to grow elsewhere.

Surprisingly, it can be used to make a very potent paralyzing poison ideal for some healing work if properly applied to needles for stitching and amputation when needed. It can also be used in war as a method of poisoning walled cities…’

Walker stopped reading the all around appraisal out loud. He didn’t want to know how the ancient angels might have used this. If it was here there was most likely a reason. If that reason was that it had been stored in a room for war purposes later, he didn’t want to know and would prefer just to burn it away for ever.

”Gross.” Walker turned to see Midnight kicking a patch of the green mold, it seemed to be dripping toxic water and she was already using some of her dragon flames to clean her feet and boots. While she disliked having her scales get dirty in her dragon form, she felt the same for her clothing and gear in her dragonkin form. Some could say it was just the way her dragon’s pride worked.

”Just start to burn it up slowly while we go. Alice’s singing is purifying it but that is a monster believe it or not so we should treat it like one.” Walker had a feeling Midnight had been too curious and wasn’t listening to what he had said. However, Su was already looking around the passageway more disgusted than before knowing that this might have been a tool of war. The implications were horrendous.

”What do we need to do to get rid of this and make it safe?” Su had a feeling they were heading in to much more of this judging by the way the walls and floor were covered.

”Fire and Alice’s magic is all we have. I think we will find a lot ahead so we should take it slow and just move as we need to. Midnight, can you leave the cross marking on the wall behind us to let everyone know to stop and not follow us?” Walker knew this was a simple symbol but it was the best they had for the time being. They didn’t want to turn around and leave this problem to keep growing.

Moving forward though, was troublesome. The vile bloom fungus was releasing more spores in to the air with each step on to it. Not to mention the caustic green slime that was trying to decay their boots. If they didn’t have buffing skills and good gear, they would have been looking at something breaking away their gear entirely and even burning in to their feet.

It was also clear that the passageway was getting wider despite the thicker layer of fungus on everything now. Not that it was unexpected, Walker knew that they were removing toward a larger open space. Exactly the kind of place that might have a way to explain the rune formations and everything else about the fallen city.

”Is this a storage room?” Alice had paused in her song and looked around. The way that the fungus had grown was like it covered certain crates and shelves. However, there were several pillars in the middle of the room that seemed too out of the ordinary to be a storage room.

After scraping away a little fungus using a shovel that Walker kept within his multi dimensional storage, they saw that the wooden crate Alice was looking at had been almost fossilized due to the decaying and ageing of time. The fungus wasn’t doing anything to it because it wasn’t able to decay in the same way any longer. This was something they had seen in other ruins but was very interesting to witness here now due to the state of this area.

When he used his strength to break it open, the remnants were surprisingly intact. However, they were not food rations rotted to dust or anything bottled like potions. They were small metal tubes. Each covered in runes of their own.

’Rune coded tubes

These tubes were covered in runes. Each can be used to create a small rune formation. While not complicated, these rune tubes have immense teaching ability to share the basic formations of runes for young rune carvers. The fact that they were used in ancient times makes it a testament to the angel race and their desire to learn more about rune formations.

These were invented by the twelve winged angels who were remembered as the founder of layered rune techniques. When they passed away these rune coded tubes were mass produced to share more knowledge. While these are somewhat damaged, the legacy can still be passed down to the…’

Walker halted in reading and realized that he was looking at what could be the last remnants of the way that the ancient angels used to teach people how to carve runes. They had become so trapped in their own fighting about elemental purity and what elemental manas to study that they had lost some history. Something like this history was so valuable that it could be called one of the foundations of the angel race as a whole.

”We just found something that will make the angel race and every race sit in shock.” Walker’s grin was enough to light up the disgusting mold covered room. Yet, with the constant purification from Alice and the flames from Midnight, the room was beginning to show a great deal more. Especially the three pillars he could now begin to identify.

’Spent mana crystal pillar

This pillar was once a solid mana crystal that had been carved in to shape to ensure that mana gathered and flowed in to it to field the rune formations within the floating city of Grenin. As such, these pillars were made to move through and attached to several pillars acting as control rooms within the entire city. Due to the loss of mana and the decay rate of the carved mana crystals, it is impossible to utilize them once again.

The angels that controlled these pillars in the collapse spent their own mana to lessen the damage to the pillar control rooms allowing for there to be remnants left behind for their people to receive. The carved runes upon these pillars interact with the copper rune rods so that they can activate various formations. Unfortunately, in the current state that is impossible to achieve.

To create another pillar, several years of rune carving, mana crystal carving, and harvesting must be taken in to account. Each pillar took seven years to prepare before they could be incorporated in to the greater city of Grenin…’

Now it was Su’s turn to look at Walker with a smile. She knew that this meant they had uncovered one of the places that the researchers absolutely needed to get to. Besides the rune carved tubes for imprinting runes for education, this room was protected by the angels with their last breaths. Their bodies taken away by time and monsters, but their knowledge and history preserved.

”The fungus is coming from the side passage, most likely leading to a proper storage room. We can purify it all and make sure that the researchers can get here as soon as possible.” Walker internally praised the ancient angels who had ensured all this was safe. He knew that the angels of today would find great pride in hearing this information while also beginning to learn where they had come from. It would mean the world to them to know that they had a history deeper than fighting amongst themselves.

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