As the doors opened wider, he finally gained a better sight of the village under a hill. It was… not like he expected.

In all honesty, he expected a bunch of people living in simply mud and clay huts or tents. Instead, he was met with a tiled hall with tall columns supporting the dirt ceiling above. But more than that, some sort of net formed of roots created a roof to further hold together all the dirt. Small pearls grew off the roots like fruit, which glowed akin to an incandescent lamp, explaining how the entire village remained in clear sight.

However, it was more than that, as besides the tiled homes, he saw how most in this place were not merely living, but worked and traded in the place. At some parts in this hall, where a bunch of forgers heated up iron before shaping it with hammers, he saw how dozens of blades, spearheads, and daggers took up one side of the forge whilst another focused on hoes, axes, and picks.

Another section was dedicated as some sort of hospital. Here he saw some in white robes gently replace the bandages on some individuals and feed them herbal brews. He didn’t know how well they worked, but at least none seemed to be in pain. The wounds inflicted were… heavy to say the least. Eyes completely plucked out, arms snapped and slashed, toes severed, massive cuts across their chest.

No one said anything though, and clearly this was a normal sight for the people here.

One section was full of men and women using wood for either furniture or to create weapons. They used an assortment of metal tools to saw and shape wood as necessary, then using a combination of some yellow glue and a rivet to ensure a spearhead or blade remained in its handle.

Furniture took far more time and effort to craft, although he did notice that one of the older men seemed to focus entirely on cutting into a large log on the side.

No one sold resources in this village, it was a commune in the truest sense and money couldn’t really exist. Although, it seemed that bartering did exist, specifically using the gains of warriors who had left the village.

Special animal parts it seemed, but such things only allowed the villagers here to live luxuriously. For example, a herbalist and their apprentice further focused on creating various brews and sold some to those who required specific concoctions.

And finally, some side rooms existed in the ruins, whereby paths led away to either rooms filled with beds, or other specific places. A kitchen in one, some children being taught in another, and many simply dedicated to being living spaces. Just as the hill appeared massive from the outside, the ruins contained beneath it made maximum use of this space.

And finally, they came to the end of this massive hall, and he noticed the two groups at the end differed from the rest.

On the right, he saw an elderly man in a rocking chair, his eyes remained closed although opened for a moment to smile at him. Joey gulped in sight of the runes covering this man’s fur clothing.

As well as the totems which stood around him, there was no doubt this man was treated well as someone more than experienced in nature magic.

On the other side, he found a younger woman who instead sat around hundreds of scrolls with scrawling ink. Some were star charts, others detailed the parts of very specific plants, and others were just long pages of words neatly packed together.

And, lastly, in front was a second, sprier yet still elderly man in a rocking chair, but beside him lay a massive stone tablet which stretched from the ground to the roof of the ruins like the columns. As he rocked, his finger tapped against the wooden arms without fail, but gently enough such that none heard it.

This tablet… held characters similar to the fragments he found. But without a doubt, it was completely intact without even the slightest chip, he forcibly concluded that his fragments came from a second tablet lost to time. It was the most logical explanation in his mind.

Both warriors knelt at once, however, not to the man but the tablet behind. Whatever it was, it clearly held so much value that it exceeded anything else in this village, even those capable of using magic.

He joined the two in a bow but the man beside the tablet told him, “You do not need to show piety. He has no runes?”

“No, chief. His artifact does not have a similar effect–” The man was cut off with a flat palm from the rocking chief. And then, he stopped for a few moments before deciding to stand up.

A smidge of fear appeared when the warrior, Kalgon, spoke of his cube. But for some reason it didn’t seem to be of interest even as an ‘artifact’.

“I welcome you to our humble village. May I ask… Do you hail from these parts?”

“I’m from across the ocean, but my vessel was ruined in a horrible storm. In the end I found myself in those plains with only my artifact on me,” he told a lie. What was he meant to say, that he came from another world?

Well, it probably wouldn’t matter, he just didn’t trust the people here yet.

“The oceans are a world unto themselves teeming with life far more than the horizon shows… However, the only land on our world is the one which you stand on.” The elder smiled humorously, already picking him clean with merely a single point. Was it a bluff or did the man actually– “It doesn’t truly matter. Whether you are from the stars, or deep below the earth, I welcome you all the same. You must have many questions, as do I… But would you mind if I behaved a bit rudely?”

He stood with his mouth open for a few seconds, struggling to find a good reply after the man called out his lie so casually, and then dismissed the answer. No doubt, whatever came next was a request as even the kindest soul should not be so nice after he’d lied to their face.

“Go ahead… I started it.”

The man stood up from his chair and walked with crossed arms, throughout his finger remained tapping but this time against his arm. He said, “You two may go, thank you for finding this young man.” They bowed to their chief and headed off, uninjured from this job, both knew that the one brought back would draw more attention.

Rather than play the fool any longer, he asked, “So, what did you want to ask of me?”

“Have you noticed it? How everyone here does something strange? Just a little thing, a tiny action, but over and over. Like a compulsion.” From the chief’s grim tone, he knew it to be serious, and tried to search for similar things to the man’s own finger tapping.

And then he saw it.

Every last one of them had their own ‘tic’. Some tapped a finger, other their leg. The other elderly man patted his leg, while even the woman who completely ignored him would shake her head from side to side gently.

From children to village elders, apprentices to master craftsmen, healers to warriors… All of them did it.

“Why? Is it some sort of ritual?”

The chief nudged his back and the two walked through the hall once more at the dozens working with intense focus, very few bothered to lift their heads. And the man said to him, “Outside of these ruins, the world itself is our enemy. A malignant power constricts us, wrestling control from our bodies and turning us into puppets for its will. And we… Become trapped in ourselves, it is not a sensation any of us enjoy. However, we have this place, the tablet wards off the power, but that does not give us freedom.”

As the man took a break to sigh, he couldn’t help but think back to what the warriors had said. “Is it something to do with those runes they mentioned?

On that note, the chief opened a leather drawstring pouch at his waist, and retrieved a fragment of stone plate, one with characters the same as the full tablet. “Even when broken, the tablet retains its power, albeit weakened. Anyone who ventures beyond the ruins must carry these to retain their control for more than a few minutes. We use these to farm, mine, scout, and hunt. So, you must understand how much someone like you means to us.”

A shiver began to pass through him, a silent thought of what might happen to discover how he could resist this power without the tablet or its fragments.

Surely, they wouldn’t…

“Over the years, we have spent more than a little time attempting to decipher the tablet and how it works, but it has been to naught. You saw the Bearer over there focused on her work… That job is a shackle of its own. But she willingly took it on and gave up her name for the village. It is a sign that she may never revoke the position, her heart is simply too large.” The man’s lacking explanation only implied another thing as well.

That none had obtained meaningful results about the tablet even after so many years.

“I don’t understand one thing though. There is so little technology here even though giant workshops exist?”

The man’s eyes opened wide for just a second before he nodded several times. Then the lecture began, “You’ve seen one of the Forger’s bases? That is not a thing you should think of touching… I should answer your next question. The Forger is someone special amongst those controlled, a prodigy many centuries ago when he appeared. He went about creating factories of unbelievable scale, capable of working hundreds of tonnes of metal a day. And with his intellect created living golems to defend them, however, he died long ago and now the golems merely ensure the sanctity of their home.”

It was a lot of information to take in, but he felt glad to have left the place early on. Moving deeper would not be possible without proper weapons and armour, but it absolutely was a treasure trove.

“Then, I assume what halts your advancement are these ruins? You have too little space, and nowhere to migrate.”

“You’re rather intuitive, that’s good. The tablet behind us has another function in truth, it will drop a fragment of itself once every week and regrow overtime. From there, pieces may be combined to create a new tablet, however, we know this requires 20 years’ worth of them… We have not heard from the other villages in years now, and feared sending out more.”

So they’d been hoarding the fragments all this time. However, from the looks of it, fragments alone don’t allow for much time outside the tablet’s protection.

Of course this made sense as the rune pouches all of them carried were only enough to carry a few fist-sized pieces. Enough to have four or five fragments in his inventory.

“This is nice to know, I’ve wanted answers for a while. But… what is it that you truly want from me?” The moment he finished the sentence, he saw the chief’s body snap to the side and his eyes focused on his pursed lips.

Stifling his heavy breaths, the chief finally spoke, “Help us break this curse, just as is the case for yourself… We will aid you in any way we can. So I truly ask from everything that I am. Please help us.”

He looked at the elderly man, shaking from what he could only imagine was a heavy combination of fear, excitement, hope, and love. When he looked out to the villagers around him, it felt as though the boundless expectations he set of himself had reappeared, ones he only barely cast away…

And he said in a broken voice, “I’m not a hero. I can’t be that for anyone; for any price.”

But as the man’s face did not grow angry or sad, nor did it transform wildly or remain frozen, Joey absolutely couldn’t tell how his response impacted the chief. His body returned to its still, stable posture with a finger still tapping without end, and finally said, “I understand. It is unreasonable to expect you to solve this if even we cannot after so many years, I apologise for scaring you.”

The man’s understanding tone almost left him feeling guilty, but when he thought back to the way he saw those villagers, the expectations that would be placed on him…

It reminded him of his dad when told to select a degree. Those heavy weights that a young adult didn’t know how to refuse, but at his age?

He’d learnt to refuse things, to avoid pain with just a single word.

But that didn’t mean he’d throw away the villagers entirely, no part of him was that cruel. Besides, the chief and people here were perhaps the only friends he’d have for months to come, not to mention his only way to learn about this world.

And so, he entered his inventory quickly under the gazes of the chief and a few others intrigued by the artifact. They all saw the blue eye symbol which appeared as usual, and then saw a handful of small stone fragments fall onto the floor before their guest removed his hands from the cube and reached down to gather them.

Where had those fragments come from? But the chief in particular was amazed to see one which could store items, such things were almost invaluable, and currently their village only possessed a small pouch capable of it.

“I cannot, and will not, promise to save your village. However, I came across these whilst mining and I trust these fragments are of use to you?” As he saw just how many pieces he’d dropped at once, Joey found a nearby table used by the woodworkers and placed every last piece on it. “How about an agreement?”

“For what in particular?”

“I’m naturally interested in the tablet as well. So, if I ever find a way to create them, I will gladly share it with you all, or produce more if you cannot for some reason. But for now, any fragments I find will belong to you. What do you say?”

The man regained his composure soon enough though, the intrigue of such an artifact waned with respect to their guest’s resistance to the malignant power. So he replied, “But you do not gain anything from this?” With such age, he was not new to the way some in the village acted for selfish desires. But as they harmed the village overtime… Most were exiled.

“Then we may trade them, you have resources and knowledge I want. And actually, I’m in need of sand right now. It’s kind of inconvenient to obtain myself. Do we have a deal?” He extended a hand, and saw it as a great victory for himself in the long term.

The chief was confused at the sudden change, but in truth the outcome was still exceptional to himself and those here. More fragments meant more, well, everything!

The elderly hand gripped Joey’s, and the deal was done.