The stone gave out a faint glow. ".... What's this?" he asked himself, examining the pebbled stone. He raised it to his eye level, studying it closely. "I wonder if there's anything I can use to understand this stone." Then, a thought struck him. "I wonder if the voice can understand this stone."
He paced the room, his entire body aching, with bleeding legs and hands. The pain did disrupted his thoughts, but he pressed on. "So... I need to... Let me try."
"System, what's this stone?"
Silence replied.
Flynn nodded, "So, definitely, the voice isn't a System, okay."
"Voice, what's this stone?" Silence replied again.
Flynn frowned. "So, I should just call it Ring. What's this stone?"
The monotone voice sounded in his head.
"Bug-Creature blue-lifestone(Rank D): A common spirit bug-like entity relic of the Spirit Gate. Exchangeable at Devil's Door for 50kpts."
Flynn's face lit up with surprise. "...Bluestone Relic? Rank D.... Wait, Ring, what rank is the bug-like entity? Or is it the artifact that's Rank D?"
The monotone voice replied, "...The bug-creature, Rank D! Artifact Rank D!!"
Flynn's curiosity piqued. "...So, where can I find the Devil's Door?"
The voice remained silent, offering no further explanation.
Flynn tried again, "Ring, where do I find the Devil's Door?"
But instead of a response, the monotone voice blared, "[FEED ME! RING HUNGER — 97%!!!]"
Flynn cursed under his breath. "Sh*t!" His frustration grew, but he decided to give up. With the Ring Hunger this high, he knew he wouldn't get any information from it, but instead, pains and suffering.
He examined the stone more closely. That's when his eyes caught a white energy signature.
Turning, he froze.
A ghostly figure hovered around one of the cocoons - A ghost of the digger boy who had jumped into the water in the previous dome cave. Flynn's eyes shook in terror, his pupils dilating wildly. The struggling he saw within the cocoon... it was unmistakably the digger boy trapped inside.
".... I...." Flynn tried to speak, his legs moving involuntarily towards the ghost, his hands reaching out, when a sudden blast struck him from behind. He spat out blood, clutching his chest, and turned to face the attacker.
That's when he saw it - an hovering red energy ball.
"What the—"
[RING HUNGER — 97%!!!]
[BEWARE THE DARK ENERGY WHEN GHOST EYES ABILITY ACTIVATED— CURSE 30%.]
Flynn's gaze locked onto the energy ball as the voice warning echoed in his head.
The red energy ball wasn't alone. Multiple floating energies drifted through the space, each one having an ominous glow.
Flynn reeled as another strike landed, this time from ahead.
The voice in his head blared urgent warnings:
[LOCK GHOST EYES ABILITY!]
[HOST CURSE - 40%!!!!!]
[ACQUIRE DRAGON-ARMOR TO MINIMIZE CURSE!]
Stunned, Flynn struggled to respond. He knew that seeking the Ring's guidance about this 'Dragon-armor' would only worsen his situation, so he began, "GHOST EYES ABILITY! LOCK—"
Before he could finish, a blast of energy from above slammed into his stomach, sending him crashing through the cracked ground, formed from the fight against the bug-creature.
The surface gave way beneath him, and Flynn's body plummeted downward.
[GHOST EYES ABILITY! LOCKED!] The voice echoed in his head as he fell. In his fading line of sight, Flynn saw the ghostly image of the digger boy slowly vanish.
.....
'Blurry lights...'
No...
'Blue lights...'
These were the first things Flynn saw as his consciousness returned. He slowly rose from the cold floor, but his momentum was halted as pains shot through his body. His quickly gaze darted around, taking in his unfamiliar surroundings. "I hope I won't encounter any creatures here!" he exclaimed, anxiety filling his voice as he struggled to make sense of his environment.
Flynn found himself standing on a series of interconnected floating platforms, separated by vast spaces and linked by massive chains sturdy enough to climb.
In the distance, seventeen towering pillars surrounded the area, each topped with blue flames that hovered in mid-air.
Flynn carefully walked towards the edge of the platform, and was met with an abyss of pure darkness. Nothing else existed beyond the void.
He wondered, "Why's almost everything here blue? Where am I—"
"WHO DARES TO STEP INTO THE DOMAIN OF THE KEEPER!"
The deep voice thundered through the air, and Flynn's head jerked upwards. Fear gripped him as he locked eyes with the piercing red gaze of a humanoid figure hovering above on a floating platform.
"I AM KHAOS, KEEPER OF THE GATE OF SPIRITS," the figure boomed again, its voice paralyzing Flynn to the ground. "YOU HAVE ENTERED THIS DOMAIN... YOU WILL DIE."