Chapter 275
When the half-beasts entered the first chamber of the village’s main building, they were astonished at all the wealth of culture that seemed lost in that place.
For Meredith it was just an interesting fact to have something so old in such a remote place, even more so because this village could have existed for thousands of years, thanks to the low temperature of the place. However, to Luke it all seemed really fascinating, and the half-fox only noticed because he had his mouth open while looking at everything with his eyes shining.
She smiled at seeing him so interested. ‘He’s been so quiet and tense the last few days. It’s really refreshing to see him so engrossed in something other than his own thoughts.’
Luke walked ahead without waiting for Meredith, until he stopped in front of a large panel that joined several stone blocks together. On the edges of this stone panel were strange designs, or rather runes that were completely distorted, and in the center was an illustration of a crescent moon.
Before he even touched the moon, Luke felt something strange. Old memories were returned to his consciousness, causing him a mixed feeling of strangeness with familiarity.
At that moment, he recalled the sight of a woman on his back and her soft voice that was strangely familiar to him. This woman’s face had thin features, her hair was yellowish like the petals of sunflowers, and on her back was the same symbol of the crescent moon that was drawn on this wall of this chamber.
Curious, he touched the moon.
Meredith saw Luke touch the drawing and also saw him remain static for many seconds. His eyes were fixed on the moon figure, at the same time as his body was paralyzed.
In the half-wolf’s mind, everything was even stranger. The instant he touched the figure, his consciousness was covered by a dense snow, as if he was waking up after sleeping for a long, long time. Initially, his fingertips touching the figure began to tingle, then he could feel this same sensation all over his arm.
He couldn’t think of anything too complex, like wondering what was happening to him, he was just existing in a deep nothingness.
Somehow he knew that this feeling, this feeling of strangeness, was fleeting and that it shouldn’t last more than a few seconds. When the fog in his mind finally cleared, he felt every muscle in his body pulsing and a voice resounded in his mind, telling him:
[You are close to finding out, but it is not yet time. In the future, offer me an unbreakable promise, and I will help you with any goal you desire].
After the soft voice spoke this, he recognized it as the voice of the blonde woman he met in one of his waking dreams. Luke couldn’t tell if these strange visions and sensations were being caused by his curse, or if something greater was really watching over him.
Right after the woman’s message, Luke woke up with a weird feeling, as if there was something stuck in his throat that he wanted to talk about.
Sweating, he looked at the half-fox behind him. Meredith was looking at him with a bit of fright and fear, for he had only been staring at the moon figure for a few seconds, only now he was suddenly panting and wide-eyed.
“Are you okay, Luke!?” She asked.
With his hand on his throat, he tried to say something, but the second his vocal cords quivered to produce a sound, he felt something brake them. There was definitely something in his throat.
So he put one hand against his throat, bent forward, and began to try to expel whatever it was.
Meredith quickly noticed all this. “Are you choking on something!?” She ran up behind the half-wolf, who, although he tried to deny it with his left hand, could not stop her.
From behind, she put her two hands together at the height of his abdomen and pressed three times.
Suddenly, Luke expelled something shiny, which fell to the floor of the dark chamber. They immediately focused on that strange object, whose brightness ranged from very intense to almost nil. In addition, the white glowing object emitted a kind of low buzzing sound, but in that chamber it echoed in the stillness.
The half-wolf came closer, and saw that this object was a rather unusual looking brooch. The brooch was shaped like the head of a wolf with long ears and an elongated snout.
“Urgh! Luke, when did you swallow that?” The half-fox asked, finding the whole situation strange.
He turned quickly to look at her. “I-I didn’t swallow that thing…probably.”
With his attention returned to the brooch, he slowly moved his hand closer to take it. As soon as the half-wolf touched the brooch, the glow became more intense, the buzzing louder, and the object began to vibrate in Luke’s palm.
[Gods Tuner found.]
This time the voice that resonated within the half-wolf’s mind was different from the others. The voice that was normally soft and feminine, this one time was a thick and masculine voice.
Meredith noticed that Luke paled once again as he picked up the metal brooch. “Luke, Luke! Wake up, Luke!” She shook him, in desperation.
The half-fox already knew that Luke was cursed, so she was always wary when he acted differently than normal.
Just as Meredith called out to him, Luke returned from his state of surprise. “I heard a different voice…” He stated.
“Huf… Are you okay? What do you mean a different voice?”
“You know when we acquire a new Gene Skill? Some people say they hear a female voice, for others it’s a male voice.”
“I know, I know. I heard a female voice when you gave me that skill as a gift.”
“Normally, I would listen to a female voice too. But I heard a male voice when I played this…” The brooch was still in his hand, and it no longer vibrated or glowed.
“Wait, you touched this and the voice resonated? What is that? Maybe you mistook it for a core, ate it, and your stomach didn’t digest it?”
“I-I wouldn’t swallow a blow job. I know how to differentiate it from a Monster Core.” He blushed. “The voice said that’s a Gods Tuner, I don’t know what that means.”
“Gods Tuner?” The half-fox arched his eyebrows, because he remembered something. “I think I’ve read about that somewhere.”