After smashing mother nature into a powdery wind, Nagan, Hopscotch, and Bluebell, ventured further into the gaping entrance to the interior of the mountain.
The walk was made smoother with how there was barely anything but flat ground in sight.
"I have to admit, I'm definitely not the most evolved one amongst the usalians," Hopscotch said with an amused smile as she looked back to the demolished nature from the height, right before they all entered the gaping hole of the mountain. "Maybe the ant felt a little bit tough after carrying a dried leaf home."
The radiant glow of the wafting away strings appeared much more divine the closer the eyes perceived this phenomena. They danced and throbbed, yet swayed and floated their mindless existence away without much care in the world.
"Well, the more you know, the less you feel about your own worth." Nagan activated his psycast again, he seemed to be appraising for any potential danger within the hole. "But an ant that feels small won't be able to take down a bigger insect that is attacking their nest. Sometimes, what needs to be changed is a tiny screw of mindset, instead of your whole reality."
"But aren't we rabbits?" Bluebell said innocently.
"Except the Patriarch."
"Patriarch is a rabbit too," Bluebell said with a comfy smug. "A bigger rabbit without the rabbit ears."
"Alright, I can see some energy fluctuation inside. It's not tied to any active contraption, but some of them seem to be hidden by something beyond this world." Nagan removed his psycast aura. Wondering what lies sleeping inside this place, he scratched the back of his neck, feeling that something felt a little bit out of place despite his initial optimism of this place. "It might be the source of those golden strings floating around, but there is another type of energy. A familiar one, at that. It's not the kind of energy that would make you happy when hearing what it actually does."
"Should we continue this exploration?" Hopscotch said. "The Queen did mention that there are chances of relics and powerful treasures hidden somewhere in a wayward world. This might be one of them. Of course, I will trust your utmost judgment."
"Relics and treasures? Will there also be food inside?" A drooping drool was already hanging on the edge of Bluebell's gaping mouth.
"Who knows." Nagan snickered, still contemplating on whether to go inside or not. "The treasure might be a heavenly fruit that will give you immortality or godly power when you consume them."
"I want that!" Bluebell's drool suddenly raced into the ground.
Hopscotch couldn't help but to feel a little bit hungry after hearing those two talking about food, "Don't get your hopes up, though."
Thus, the exploration group decided to hunt and grill some meat over the campfire before proceeding any further into the belly of the mountain.
A small tint of orange hue began to creep at the horizon.
"Say, Patriarch." Hopscotch casually asked as she was chewing on her grilled skewer. "What is your experience with your fellow human? Maybe like your friend, family and many other parts of humanity that you encountered."
"Well, it's definitely a mixed bag, I tell ya." Nagan slouched as he tilted his head, pondering the past paths that he had trodden. "It depends on how you see it. If it's the bad parts, then sure, we have plenty of those.
"Corrupt bureaucracy trying to maintain their status quo while leaving the ship that they are commanding to slowly sink into the abyss. People who lack the logical boundary of freedom, thinking that they can do anything and say everything because it's their rights as a human, not minding what the other side had gone through.
"Those who disregard the state of the living to ensure their success of vanity within their lifetime, those who put a wool over their eyes, leaving themselves to be led by the visionless and the blind. And many more, actually. Even a youth by human standard will experience this side of humanity.
"And then we have the good side of humanity." Nagan looked over the distance as he scratched his chin. "We help one another without asking for anything in return, even to an animal or the personification of nature itself.
"When the situation is drastic, humanity will always unite. You can try opening the unpackaged memory of how the human race fixed a hole in Earth's atmosphere."
"It's the consequences of their own actions though." Hopscotch took another skewer from the campfire. "Much as I want to credit their goodwill, they are still animalistic."
"At least they don't act like a real animal and go around all naked," Bluebell commented before she chowed down on her skewer like a rabid animal.
"At this point, the human race is neither a part of mother nature and its ecosystem," Nagan said so casually, "We are already a social construct that can fabricate the fate of our planet, the more we expand our technology. It's a matter of whether you side with humanity or against them. It might not be much but bias can really stretch your perception of reality the more you're contained in a single environment."
"How about you, Patriarch?" Hopscotch slowed down her chewing. "Which side do you take as a human?"
"I choose the side of the Kingdom of Lunatic Kaleidoscope," Nagan playfully replied. "We already have enough humans that side with humanity, and against humanity. So we might as well make our own."
"Huh, I guess that's one way to commit to something without being biased."
After the non-eventful rest, the exploration team decided to finally enter the hole before the creeping dusk.
Alongsing the exciting pack of golden strings, glowing moss inhabited the walls of the natural cave. The smell of morning dew entered the tongue and throat even though it wasn't even morning anymore.
The more distance they traveled into the depth of the cave, the more audible the melodies that came with the golden strings. Peaceful, and enticingly ambrosial symphony.
And then, before them was a large space with a large ethereal cracking on the ground. That crack was the source of the golden strings that were coming out of the mountain's hole.
"Wooaaah," Bluebell's eyes gleamed as if she had just found a treasure trove.
"There seemed to be much more of the golden energy from below." Hopscotch commented. "It might just be a gut feeling, but I think it nearly encompassed the entirety of the mountain."
"You're quite spot on, Hopscotch." Nagan walked over, peeking into the golden crack as he smeared his fingers onto the wafting strings of gold hue. "We might as well say that the whole mountain has become a natural battery for this energy."
"Does that mean that there is something that's producing it?"
"There is a small entrance over there!" Bluebell pointed to the very dark corner of the room. It was nearly impossible to discern with naked eyes, even Nagan with his scanning spell didn't notice it.
Nagan went over to the small entrance and prodded over the rocky frame. His face shifted its expression as if a ghost had just appeared in front of his view. "... This is a psycast formation."
"A psycast formation?" Hopscotch parroted.
"It is a type of spell that you put to be working indefinitely as long as there is a source of energy that can be converted to keep the spell activated. Or in some cases, activating it when certain requirements are met."
"Woaah," Bluebell said," I don't understand what that means."
Only after a while, Hopscotch noticed what was happening. "Wait, if there is a psycasting formation here…"
"A human, or an intelligent lifeform, somewhere, within some point in time in the future or the past, had come to this place and installed the psycast formation in this place."
Nagan had already revealed some bits of how psycasting is not something that was supposed to exist in this time of the history, due to the reason that it was actually a type of psionic magic that was developed by humanity somewhere in the future.
And unlike exotic magic, psycasting spells was easy to discern from the footprint essence that was emitted when they were manifested out from the psycast field.
Of course, there was a chance that other civilizations or life forms outside of Earth managed to develop the psycast magic. But for it to closely resemble the psycast footprint on Earth, the potential conclusion was jarring at best.
"And this entrance is merely a decoy." Nagan then performed a basic psycast to probe the psycast formation, prodding to see if there was any defense mechanism installed, before breaking the formation with a fist coated with psycast energy onto the vulnerable part of the magic array. "The actual thing is on this side of the wall."
The three of them then entered the newly revealed entrance.
There within the predominantly empty space, was a cube made out of total darkness embedded into the cracked ground where it seeped its energy into the mountain.
It was the first time for the Bluebell and Hopscotch to see their patriarch this flabbergasted.
"... Why is this thing here?"