Master Of None

Chapter 2263: 2263. Risky Inspections

”You already know that these things came from that dried riverbed that we found. But my king, why would earth parasitic monsters have been within a riverbed and dormant there in the first place? They should hate the water.”

The same attendant that had been running the messages to and from Walker to the king of the deep was also busy with Terron too. But right this second, the attendant was asking why the king of the deep had glossed over this important fact when Walker and Terron would both wonder the exact same thing.

”They have no reason to care about that when we can not access that area right now. It would be wise to come with some theories though.” the king of the deep sighed as he changed his focus from one table of papers and began pulling out a few sheets that explained the discovered cave systems below Genesis.

While many of the dwarves and workers knew of these documents because they had also referenced them as they worked, the king of the deep caves had a more detailed version. His were sharing the kinds of rock making up the cave, the projected maps of the caves, and very much more.

All things that could help him plan for what they would be working on next.

”But… I want to know that too.” The king of the deep caves had wondered how a parasite like this ended up staying within a riverbed and remaining dormant even though it had been dried up and would have been an ideal place for them to live. Yet, they had remained dormant until now.

Without waiting to hear a response of any shape or form from Walker, he began to walk in to the area that they all had been told to avoid. ”My king!” The calmness from the attendant or any of the attendants who had been there waiting too was out the window. They were all worried about what might happen right now.

”You all think that I would have stayed here even when that hero gets back here? Just stay there and I will get a few answers.” It was hard to walk on the broken stones and ground because there were too many of the small earth eater parasites.

Part of the king of the deep caves felt that it was too crazy to think that the earth itself could be parasitized. Yet, how could that be further from the truth. All races could be said to be parasites of some form. They lived off the land in some way. The dwarves even mined the valuable metals from the stones too, but this was very different.

These little worm like things could be broken and beaten but they would keep living. They would eat apart all the stone and anything that contained earth mana as they grew. Leaving behind places that could not recover and would be impossible for other monsters or races to survive in.

His feet cracked and broke the stone leaving his footprints to prove just how much damage had been done to the stone carved or placed for the underground territory to grow. All the work that had been put in to it had been ruined. The evidence for that lay in the broken stone pillars carved from the ground itself too, it was high quality work that was completely destroyed.

However, the king of the deep caves ignored those things and walked deeper in to the cave that they had broken open. This cave no longer had an inlet or outlet. Somewhere in the past it had been sealed.

Everyone had originally thought that they had discovered a naturally collapsed cave system, something which was not unfamiliar to their race since they delved in to many caves. What stood out though, was the fact that this didnʼt have any of the cracked ceilings, broken stalactites or stalagmites, and even the walls were too perfect. All of that together was a massive red flag for them.

He could still see this evidence while walking inside the broken open section. He also saw that many of the small stones they had identified as river rocks had been chewed apart or were just shells which hadnʼt even been eaten completely. He did notice that there were no walls or anything else touched. Which was odd, because the walls were stone too.

Following the walls, the king of the deep caves did not see any runes or any magical means to suppress a parasitic monster. So, it begged the question, what had caused this? And was the spot sealed in some way so that the parasites would be trapped here?

Whether he wanted the question answered or not, the king of the deep caves realized that in their panic, the dwarves who had left and alerted others of the dangers here had left behind some of their lanterns and their pickaxes. But nearby that gear, he saw an odd stone outcropping that had also never been touched.

Noticing that the metal mining boots he was wearing were beginning to be attacked due to the fact that they were made with earth runes to attract earth mana, the king of the deep caves shook off the earth eaters which were clearly beginning to grow in size over the last few days. His focus wasnʼt broken though.

He noticed that the odd stone shape was clearly connected and not fallen or gathered by the force of nature. Which was why he pushed ahead even though he felt his boots breaking due to the speed at which they were being damaged.

”Iʼll be needing an appraisal scroll for this…” The king of the deep caves opened a scroll attached to his hip. He had made sure he carried at least five of these at all times ever since they became more available. It had already helped him identify some high quality ores found within some of the basic ores that had been mined recently.

ʼStatue dragon remains

One of the few ancient dragon remains left within the world. These ancient remains are considered impossible to utilize due to the fact that many of them have become completely different than when they were alicv or recently perished. As such, they are more likely to be better considered as a relic of the past.

The statue dragons were a less intelligent dragon species that believed that becoming stone itself was the best method to become a proper earth dragon. That they would be able to become one with the earth and mountains by becoming stone.

Naturally, this was a failure causing them to become extinct over time. However, their strength lay within the incredible resistance to anything else that consumed, controlled, or manipulated earth mana. Their abilities to resist and control it were much higher due to their focus on becoming one with it.

Many of the statue dragons were thought to be carved statues by ancient followers or dragonkin. However, that was false.

While being less intelligent than other ancient dragons, their nature allowed them to understand larger threats to the overall ecosystems they lived within. Often causing them to appear in places to prevent mountain collapses, earthquakes, and even battles between powerful ancient monsters.ʼ

”Ha! This dragon sealed a threat it couldnʼt kill and we let it out!” The king of the deep caves felt pain on his feet and realized that the earth eaters were beginning to break in to his armor overall. They would make short work of everything he wore to protect him while he mined and worked in the caves.

”You are really risking a lot by coming in here without safety in mind.” The voice wasnʼt the one that the king of the deep caves expected to hear.

”A royal dragon came all the way here to look in to this? Thatʼs unexpected.” the king of the deep caves looked at the shadow where Mordant had just appeared.

”This royal dragon just returned from his business to hear that there was a risk to the very foundation of Genesis itself. I decided that I would check and see how decaying dark dragon breath affected this parasite. Instead, I found a king trying to get his body eaten alive because it is too full of earth mana.”

The decaying dark mana was barely slowing the earth eaters down, but it did deter them enough to shoo them from the king of the deep caves and allow for Mordant to guide him outside. Clearly though, Mordant was unhappy seeing something resist his dark mana controlled shadows. He held back a lot, but the threat of his mana control was very high.

”Walker is nearby, I heard that he is working on a solution right now.” Mordant half growled this, he did not like the waiting game at all.

”I will trust him then.”

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