("What's wrong?") Silva noticed Seth was staring into thin air without movement and decided to see if something was up.
"Huh? Oh nothing, the system I have just decided to make some changes on me for some reason"
("Oh that, yeah I've heard that happening for some people; Remember the way people perceive the information the world gives them depends on their soul's cognition, so when a change happens what you see may change") Silva explained.
"So, to say, what I'm seeing now is more accurate?" Seth had to ask, if so, that was good news to him.
("Hm I'd say so, I don't think I've heard of any changes ever being detrimental") The capybara gave it some thought before confirming Seth's thoughts.
"I see…" 'So, vitality changed to soul strength, and I gained a better understanding of stamina; In the end I guess it's helpful' He put it behind him after concluding that.
"Let's make our way back anyway, if I have the chance, I'll do some testing I guess" Seth said before setting off once more, he was eager to get back to the castle.
… … …
It wasn't long before they came across a skeleton shambling about in their way, the normal action to do right now would just to be target the core and finish it off quickly, but Seth took a slower approach and observed it from the distance, he quickly activated [Inspection] for a test.
[ Name – None
Race – Undead [Skeleton (Human)]
Level – 3
Health – 100%
Mana – 100%
Stamina – 100% (5)
Stats:
Strength – 7
Perception – 3
Intelligence – 2
Soul Strength – 2
Agility – 6
Dexterity – 4
Mana – 30 ]
"Nice, that's a lot more useful!" He shouted, completely forgetting that an enemy was in front of him, of course he quickly realised and walked up to the staggering skeleton, stabbing the core with his long sword and putting it to rest.
He explained to Silva the results of his little experiment soon after.
("Not bad at all, it's definitely rare to have a higher level of inspection at your fingertips so you'll be able to gauge the enemy better, information is power in the end.") Silva said while nodding his head, perfectly happy at Seth's quick growth.
'As for the other skill, I'll test [Ravaging Devour] the next time I encounter a [Bone Swine] or something I guess' as he thought that they carried on making their way back to the castle; Unfortunately, they never came across another [Bone Swine] so he never got the chance to do so, he didn't feel like eating a skeleton would have gotten him anything, so he never tried.
They were now stood outside the castle walls once more, before he entered Seth stood outside glancing up the large walls once more thinking again how the proud capital, he used to live in was now a pile of ruins at the bottom of an abyss.
("What's wrong? You seem rather dazed") Silva asked after they were stood looking for a good five minutes.
"…It's just I realised when I was speaking to Prince… I mean King Lloyd before I never got the chance to ask him about all this, especially that hell hole in the moat…"
He thought about how everything that was said was entirely at the king's discretion, he never really got a chance to ask much without being prompted which rather annoyed him.
("…I was going to say this later on but since you mentioned it now, I'll do so; You should be more careful")
"With?" Seth asked in a nonchalant tone, though he felt he knew deep down what the spirit was saying already.
("Everything, we've only been together a little while, but I feel you take everything a bit too easily; Sure, you complain but I've never seen you refuse anything or deeply question stuff, just brush it off") Silva said giving Seth a serious gaze, as his companion he felt he had to give this warning.
Seth listened but didn't reply, standing in silence.
("I'm just saying that you should consider things a lot more deeply, it just seems like you don't care for much and just want to move on.")
The lights in Seth's eye sockets flickered and dimmed with weak light though his bones were still unmoving, it took another few seconds before he spoke.
"Maybe you're right, but what should I do? I've lived two lives before this though both were cut short; How am I supposed to change?" He said with reluctance, it's easy to stay as you are but making a change can seem like climbing a mountain.
("Change isn't something that happens immediately, just try not to ignore everything, if you want to do something, just do it, if you want to ask something, just ask it; Don't be passive, all I can say is that I don't see that as living") The spirit said with a hint of melancholy, Seth listened once more but didn't reply.
He never did, instead he started to walk again making his way to the castle, Silva saw this yet didn't say any more, in the end it's up the oneself to change and nothing else.
They walked and floated one behind the other silently as they made their way through the castle, the barren garden stood still, the hallways stuck in the time of attack as Seth's bony footsteps echoed giving movement to the sense of stillness the world had.
It was as if the world were frozen in time, an eerie calmness swept over everything without a hint of life; Before long they had made their way to the giant silver doors, they were familiar with; This time though even with spirit vision there was no activity on the array so Seth pushed them open slowly until a gap formed where he could walk through.
As he entered his sight swept over the room, but to his surprise it was incredibly different; The room that was littered with treasures and gold piled up to the half-way point was completely barren, it was now a pure white room with the only adornment being the throne on the stairway in the distance.
'What? Where is everything?' Seth was confused, how did this all disappear within such a small amount of time?
He looked around whilst standing still, every nook and cranny of the room was entirely bare without any hint of the treasures that existed before.
"Hello?" He couldn't help but call out in hopes he'd get a reply, yet nothing spoke back to him.
"Silva?" He looked at the spirit next to him hoping to get some answers.
("Lets just keep going") It said, not mentioning anything else, Seth just nodded and continued taking steps deeper into the room.
Compared to the rich atmosphere filled with light before the room felt incredibly cold, comparable to a gravesite where even the appearance gave the observer a chill, they managed to reach the bottom of the staircase without incident, so they made their way up, step by step Seth rose the stairs until he was stood before the throne like he had been before, paying extra attention to not get surprised like he did before.
As soon as both his feet made landing in front of the throne a clank echoed throughout the entire room.
""?!"" Both Silva and Seth were surprised, the sound was ridiculously loud and felt like it could shake the entire castle.
Before their eyes, the throne in front of them sank to the floor and the wall behind it cascaded downwards eventually revealing another long staircase that moved upwards in the direction of the central tower.
"I was wondering how we would enter that tower, I guess that answers my question; Guessing this is an invitation for us to go forward?"
("I guess so seeing there's nothing else here") Silva was in agreement, they both made their way in to the staircase that led upwards through a tunnel that seemed to bore through a large mountain, it took a few minutes of walking in darkness for them to reach the end which let to another open room.
Unlike the room before, this one was filled with a myriad of colours covering each and every inch of the walls, there were patterns covering them that moved and shifted in a complex pattern like they were dancing or singing a ballad.
"Is this a giant array?!" Seth couldn't believe his eyes, compared to the one on the door before this one made it look like an absolute joke, it looked like it covered the entire floor and walls, he looked up and he could see the inner section of the tower that was completely hollow and yet was filled to the brim with inscription patterns.
("This is truly impressive, I don't think even I've seen an array this large before") Silva's eyes almost sparked when seeing the massive array, its size was quite ridiculous.
"Ah, so you've returned finally; I've already made the preparations for you to leave"
They turned their head and saw in the distance the figure of Lloyd in the distance before a console of some sort inputting directions, next to him there was a small dragon not comparable to the grand size they say before, of course this was Azula.