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After another four days of hard travel, we arrived back as Greyhound. It hadn't changed much, but progress was made every day.
Once the quarry got up and running, we could make better stone sculptures and houses. Most of the town was still wooden, with tiny bits of bricks and stones, but nothing like the cities back on Earth or even Umpedes, the town we came from.
Vesper and Rex were happy to be back home, and Arion was more than glad to have me off his back. The townspeople gathered round to look at all the things we got. As Zarith and Holone helped organize everything, I went off to find Garth.
"How's it been?"
"Not bad." I shrugged. I found Garth in the planning room, reviewing some of the town's logistics.
"Find anything interesting?" Garth spoke as he poured over the papers. I didn't envy his job.
"As a matter of fact, yes." I pulled out the stone.
Garth finally looked up and grabbed the stone. It was round, a sphere with a two-inch diameter, and completely grey. Garth observed it for a while before he spoke.
"What is it?"
"No clue. I hoped you would know."
"I've never seen anything like it. It rejects my mana. Where'd you find it?"
"Some cultists were using it for a summoning array. They were using the magic it contained to power the magic circle."
"What do you mean it contained magic?"
"When the cultist was holding it, it was giving off powerful waves of mana. The magic circle absorbed the mana the stone gave off. When I knocked it out of the cultist's hand, it continued to give off more mana until the circle exploded."
"The circle exploded?"
"I messed it up so it wouldn't work as intended, but that's not the point. This stone was giving off tremendous amounts of mana. I found it similar to Rex's shell."
"What were the cultists trying to do?"
"It was a summoning circle, but I don't know what for. The cultist holding the rock was also chanting something to control the stone. I didn't get the chance to hear the incantation."
"If the stone stopped after it was dropped, it's likely that the cultist used a method to activate it."
"Have you heard of anything like it?"
Garth shook his head but stopped as if he remembered something.
"What were the cultists wearing?"
"Uhh… Black and white hooded robes."
"Any insignia or anything?"
"I didn't see anything, but…" I paused to check the footage I'd recorded—one benefit of having a mechanical body and eyes.
"I think that's a circular patch on their forearms. It's a… black line dividing a circle."
It was hard to see, but small black stitchwork was on the robe's forearms. A black outline circle with a black line dividing it on the white side. On the black side of the robe was the same thing but with reversed colors.
"Let me borrow a piece of paper." I drew the symbols on paper with a pencil.
Garth stood up, staring intently at the symbols.
"I think I recognize this." He said slowly.
"Anything to be worried about?"
Garth shook his head. "There was a cult similar to this a decade back. They gave my dad a big headache, but they all should've been erased.
Even if a couple survived, they shouldn't be strong. But this stone is a bit worrying. I'd like to think we got their only one, but life is never that simple."
"So… should we be worried?"
"It never hurts to be too careful."
I nodded in acknowledgment as I went out. We wouldn't return to Umpedes or any other civilization for some time, so there was no need to worry about it now.
Seeing as I had nothing to do, I decided to join the animals in their frolicking. It had become a habit of mine to scout around town whenever I was free.
Today, I would also practice my flight magic as I joined Vesper and Rex. Flying always gave me a feeling of power as I looked at the ground below.
It also made me feel insignificant as I looked at the stars. It was afternoon when we arrived. I'd lazed around town before taking off, so the sun was setting now. I could see the sun setting behind the ocean now.
Chills went down my spine as I stared at the scenery. It always gave me indescribable feelings: incredible melancholy and joy, insignificance and majesty, wonder and apathy.
I fell on my back and let my magic go. I fell through the air, staring at the unchanging scenery of the stars and sunset.
The wind dragged at my clothes and feet, but I stayed perfectly still. Even my clothes didn't move. From an outside point of view, it's like I wasn't even moving.
Of course, this was because I made my clothes not move. My clothes were extensions of my body, so I could naturally control them.
I was high up, so it would take at least a minute before I hit the floor. For that minute, I just fell, taking in the emotions and the scenery.
As I fell, I looked at the mountains—majestic beasts with snow-capped tops. Gray and black stone covered the ridge, all jagged and, at the same time, smooth. I could make out a few animals here and there.
A couple of mountain goats, some birds, and a Yeti! I didn't expect to see one so close to town. Though, in actuality, it was some miles away. Everything looked tiny from where I was, except for the mountains.
Some of them still rose above me. I could see multiple mountains here that were taller than Mount Everest. A giant planet also brought more prominent features. I wasn't even sure if the measurements I was using were correct.
For all I knew, the humans here could be bigger than those on Earth. My intuition of distance came from my memory and was relative to myself. Those measurements worked for me, so I wouldn't change them.
Arclen had never developed a proper measuring system that was accepted across countries. Aeulus had the Virgate system, but it didn't stick. The government only ever used it for taxes.
These mountains were tall, but a stream of blue stuck out among the monotonous tones of gray, white, and brown. It was barely a sliver, but I recognized it as the river's source. I'd always wondered about the source but couldn't be bothered to check.
I'd taken in the sights for a while, so I collected myself and flew towards the source. I couldn't see a lake or anything else that could be the source from up here.
'I wonder if all this flying makes me look like Iron man. I've already got the iron part down.'