Threads of the Soul

Chapter 478 - 478: Call of the Void

Hunter led them over to one of these Crystalline Statues, ignoring all of the people working around them. He made sure to keep his distance from it, not moving within arms length of the wretched thing.In fact, no one worked anywhere near any of them. Invisible rings surrounded the statues, creating an area in which no sane person would dare tread regardless of their race or status.

Whether they were touching the wall, like Hunter had warned them not to do, or were standing randomly throughout the chamber, all of the statues had growths of the same strange crystal spreading out across the caves walls and floor, originating from them.

Or perhaps... It was the opposite.

"This, is the Creeping Crystal. We don't know where it comes from, but we know any contact is fatal..."

Hunter gazed grimly at the twisted statues, the statues that were once living breathing people and which had fallen prey to the substance known as Creeping Crystal.

There was nothing left of their original selves. It didn't explode through their flesh, it didn't preserve their twisted expressions of agony and turn them into real statues. It just... consumed them, turning everything in their being into that jagged black crystal that glimmered wickedly in Omelette's azure light.

The only evidence of what they used to be, was their shape.

These 'statues' were twisted in positions that made clear the agony of their final moments. Hands grasping to the skies, as if reaching to the gods for help, or frozen as they crawled across the ground, their legs having turned first before it devoured the rest of their being.

Even if they were just shapes, it was disturbing to think that something so simple as crystal could kill someone, and so fast that they couldn't even run before their entire being was consumed and erased from existence.

Yet even as they analysed the crystal statues, Seth could see the crystal moving, the glimmering of Omelette's flames shifted as bit by bit, the crystal grew. Gaining more mass seemingly out of nowhere, as if it was alive.

However, strangely Seth was not surprised by this sight. As he crouched down, examining the crawling statue at a safe distance, he felt odd. Something was tickling at the back of his mind, like a cat scratching at the door and trying to get in.

Just like before, with the strange little creatures, another name crept into his mind. Void Speleothem. But this time, along with the name, more information flowed soon after.

It was a strange substance that was found in areas of high mana density, which made sense for the dreadful mana wave he was currently feeling. But the information bleeding into his head noted that it was not a natural occurrence. At least, it did not simply develop in these areas, like pressure turned carbon into diamonds.

Instead, it was the high density mana that attracted certain beasts that had essence of the Void. What the 'Void' was, he had no idea, the strange new information seemed to miss that out, but it did tell him that these Void Creatures lived off Mana and devoured it.

When these creatures died, such as from fights for dominance with each other, it was their blood that eventually became this 'Void Speleothem'. It took the Void Creatures capacity to feed off mana, and used it for its own growth. But it didn't stop there, it could consume all sorts of energy. Soul energy, Life force, Radiation, and even basic fire. Attempting to burn it away would only cause it to grow more.

The only consolation was that it grew better from absorbing from mediums, than from airborne mana.

That was all his strange information told him, but he could feel that there was something more. It simply refused to enter his mind like the rest. When he searched the dark recesses of his mind where it had first reared its head, the information constantly slipped his grasp.

Whilst Seth was dealing with information he should not know, Woe was experiencing his own voices slipping into his mind. The boy had grown bored while his brother inspected a weird growth and began to look around.

Eventually, his eyes landed on a smaller chunk of the same crystal. It had cracked from the larger growth and fallen to the ground, where it now lay in waiting for someone to stand on it and feed its growth.

For some reason, Woe felt himself... drawn to it. Something whispered in his mind, calling him to pick it up. Step by step, Woe stalked closer to the crystal, his eyes locked on it as the voice grew louder.

'Pick it up.... Take it, it belongs to you... Reclaim it... It's power is yours... Pick it up...'

The words echoed in his mind, until all he could think about where those words. He was completely enthralled as he slowly bent down, his hand stretched forwards.

At this time, Seth let out a deep sigh and stood up straight. Frowning deeply, he considered the strange influx of information. Once was a coincidence, twice was a pattern. If he could just figure out where it came from, perhaps by prompting whatever it was with more unknowns.

He turned to the Hunter, opening his mouth to ask if there was anything else strange around here, but as he turned the sight of Woe entered his vision.

His eyes widened, his voice catching in his throat before he managed to force it out in a shout,

"NO! DON'T!"

His threads erupted from his body, wrapping around Woe and solidified. As soon as they gained mass and form, they bound him completely and stopped his movement before Seth yanked his brother back just before his hand could touch it.

But the crystal, perhaps by coincidence or perhaps by some unseen will, grew from the ambient mana. A slight growth, the tiniest amount of extra crystal sprouting out the top, was just enough to turn a near miss into a gentle brush against his fingertip.