THE PUPPET GUARDIAN
"Some kind of magic puppet I think that guards the place", I told them.
"The statue stopped at the stairs under the basement and didn't chase us", Minna told us her observation when we were halfway up the stairs.
"Actually, you are right, Minna", I told her.
The statue in the basement wasn't designed to chase intruders. As long as threats were thwarted, their job is done. However, there was probably another reason why the statue didn't chase us which had nothing to do with the objectives and purposes of the statue.
"The statue's magic is drawn from somewhere in the basement and I speculate that if the statue was taken far away, the magical flow may stop and we can disable it", suddenly my memories gave me the response that I said to them.
"What are you trying to do?" Raven asked me.
"I need to try something, you guys return to the carriage first", I told them.
"Are you sure? Don't go down there anymore we don't need any treasure from there", Raven asked and advised me.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing", I replied to him.
After my friends returned and hid inside the Moving Shuttle carriage, I went down to the basement again.
----
The statue was still on the stairs waiting for us to return, immobilized and inactivated. But when it saw me coming, it re-animated again and wanted to attack me once more.
However, I didn't come back into the basement to fight with the statue.
"Ring of Growth"
Magical vines suddenly appeared from near my hands that quickly dashed forth toward the statue. Once they reached the statue, they quickly entangled it and pulled it onto the stairs as it struggled to free itself.
Despite its enormous strength, the statue guard of the basement failed to release itself from the bondage.
Fortunately, my Ring of Growth was an amazing ring that could draw on all my Templar Star attributes to enhance the strength and tenacity of the vines that pulled the statue.
I was already at Awakening Level 4, so I had four stars in all my templar regions, so my vines were both powerful and durable that even a low-level Mercury tiered creature would have difficulty breaking away from.
But the statue wasn't weak because my spell was struggling to keep the statue tangled and in a short time it would break free from my spell.
However, I didn't plan to struggle with the statue for too long, I just needed to pull it as far away as possible from the temple as I dragged it up the stairs.
After I pulled the statue out into the courtyard above ground the magical statue finally stopped struggling against my spell and was disabled, permanently this time.
"What happened to the statue?" Ronnie asked me as my friends came out of his Moving Shuttle.
"I probably cut off its power source", I replied to him.
"You are a genius. How did you know the statue is powered by wireless energy transmission?" he asked me.
"I learned it in my previous life", I reported to him accidentally, but he didn't understand me at all, and I didn't plan to elaborate.
There was a source of magic inside the basement that powered and enabled the statue puppet and the magic that fed the statue couldn't feed it anymore because it was already too far away from the power source.
"What happens if the source of the statue's power is inside the statue itself?" Ronnie asked me.
"It's a gamble. If that was the case the statue would still be attacking me. I guessed it didn't have an independent power source because it didn't follow us out of the basement", I replied to him.
"What in hell are you two talking about, is it safe to go down to the basement now?" Bommurs asked us.
"To be safe, I'll check out the basement first by myself", I replied to him.
After I disabled the guardian statue, I returned to the basement room to check what it was all about and I only now that I appreciated the magic of the place. After checking the place where Bommurs activated the guardian statue, I found another door, a door into the real temple of the basement.
-------
The air crackled with palpable energy, and a sense of foreboding permeated the atmosphere of the enclosed chamber. At the heart of this hidden room, surrounded by ancient, gnarled trees and dried foliage, stood a magical altar.
The altar itself was a masterpiece of unkosher craftsmanship, constructed from smooth obsidian stone that glistens with an eerie sheen. Intricate, curling patterns, etched into the surface, seem to writhe and pulse as if infused with a malevolent life force.
Upon the altar rests a Cruet, a vessel of pure malevolence from the air that surrounded it.
The cruet, crafted from blackened metal and crimson red crystals, was adorned with macabre engravings depicting twisted, monstrous figures engaged in acts of devouring. Its design was both grotesque and captivating, invoking a sense of dread and fascination.
The cruet emits an unsettling, ethereal glow, casting eerie shadows across the altar's surface. The liquid contained within the vessel appeared like a dark, swirling mist, constantly in motion, as if animated by an unseen force. It exuded an aura of insatiable hunger and malevolence, promising power to those who dare to indulge its desires.
Despite my reservations, I was curious about the cruet and took it to inspect.
Strange cloud like essences came out from the cruet that quickly went into my forehead to my sock and surprise.
"Damnit, what are these clouds?" I asked myself.
Suddenly my mind went blank as I reached my soul realm again. The place was unexpectedly filled with strange multi-colored clouds again.
"What happened here?" I asked myself.
Expectedly or unexpectedly, my other self appeared to me again in this realm.
"I didn't expect to see you again in here. I thought you were only a part of my imagination", I asked my other self.
"In a way, I am a creation of your imagination, born from your desire to reclaim the memories of your previous life", he replied to me.
"What are the clouds filling up this place?" I asked the consciousness of my previous life.