Gol-4's warning snatched Oscar's attention for a brief moment and lowered his guard, and right nearby, an immobile purple vine, cut off from one of the spiders, sprang up and popped into the air. The wriggling and writhing plant shot toward Oscar's face, and he beheld its strange and unsettling nature. Rather than containing the familiar plant fibers and porous layers that stems usually contained, the purple vine had endless circular rows of thin feelers that wriggled around with sharp tips that secreted a purple liquid.

"What the fuck!" Oscar shouted, losing a bit of his composure, but he retained his senses, and right as the feelers of the purple vine came close, almost reaching his nose, Oscar invoked 'Steel Scales'. The silvery metal coated his entire body and repelled the sharp tips of the feelers, and Oscar sighed in relief, which quickly ended. He saw the purple vine latch itself, spreading its feelers to cling onto his silvery skin, and other cut-off vines followed suit, clumping up around.

The purple vines ruined his beautiful silver form, turning it into a grotesque mass of writhing purple vines and feelers in the shape of a person. Underneath this pile, Oscar frowned and called out to Gol-4 from within. "Gol-4! What are these purple vines? Do you know them?"

"Aye, they're the remnants of the Forest Heart Clan's arsenal. These purple vines are parasitic vines; they are weak but latch onto creatures and pierce in with their feelers to take control of them. During the war, they unleashed these to take control of weaker Exalts and normal people. There are stronger varieties, but thanks to the unique conditions set to the realm now, they can't grow stronger than your realm."

"That's troubling," Oscar willed his deer anima to stampede across the battle, and it swung its metal antlers and stomped its metal hooves, breaking apart and crushing many of the parasitic vines. But some of the parasitic vines latched onto his deer anima and began drilling its feelers into it, causing Oscar to feel pain. Then, a gray hammer flew in and knocked off the vines that tried to latch on his deer anima.

"These vines are annoying but watch out for the spiders!" Orden said from within his stone tower that soon collapsed from his will, and he ran out, smashing his hammer into the head of one of the spiders. His hammer anima returned to rotate around him, blocking off the parasitic vines that came close.

'Ripple Shroud'

Oscar blew away his silver armor and ran ahead with his silver lance to skewer another spider. As more vines tried to latch onto him, Oscar threw ten miniature silver stars, which exploded like scatter bombs and rained down on all the vines. They wiped out the spiders and destroyed the parasitic vines in a few moments.

Staring down at his arm, Oscar saw a parasitic vine had managed to wrap around him, and he twitched from the disgusting sensation of this vine trying to burrow its feelers into him. However, his arm, clad in Edureisclad, prevented the sharp feelers from piercing his skin. With one hand, he squeezed the vine, popping it like a balloon and tossing it aside to the stone floor. "Are these really vines or something else, Gol-4? They behave more like a type of blood-sucking leech."

"There are many types of plants in the world. The Forest Heart Clan certainly never ran out of ingenuity and variety, constantly trying to develop new spells to spread their accursed plants and experimenting with creating new species to control. All of which they gleefully let loose during the war." If Gol-4 could express emotions despite his mechanical voice, Oscar knew it would be anger and hatred.

Oscar picked up Gol-4 and turned to Orden with a nod. They decided to split the gains halfway, and after spending some time harvesting all the materials, Orden started another fire to cook the spider meat. As Oscar chewed on the tough spider leg, he glanced at Gol-4 to his side. "Gol-4, I didn't ask this before, but why did the two clans go to war? What could have prompted two powerful clans that could own and transform entire realms to fight to the death?"

Orden perked up from Oscar's question and leaned forward to listen. He had picked up the bits and pieces from Gol-4 but wanted to know the full story. Like children at the campfire, they waited for the grandfather, Gol-4, to tell his story as the flames cracked and flickered.

"What other reason would they have? Earlier, you told me why you are killing each other in this realm and your goal. It's the same reason. The clans were powerful, but no matter what, they craved more power." Gol-4's blue eyes reflected the orange flames as he spoke.

"Was it the Divine Essence?" Oscar asked.

"No, there was no such Divine Essence. It is surprising to hear that the Forest Heart Clan left it here. Or maybe it gestated within the world after they left for an unknown reason."

A Divine Essence could appear anywhere in the world, even in the most barren of lands with minimal amounts of Ein, which made it plausible to believe a Divine Essence developed in Ashen Grove despite the restrictions to Elite Exalts. However, the growth and development of the Divine Essence needed much more power. Some Divine Essences were lucky to form in an abundant place and fully matured to create a divine land, but others, like the one in Ashen Grove, remained dormant until someone could take it to a better place.

"If not for the Divine Essence, what were they fighting for?" Oscar grew curious about what was at the center of the great war in the past.

"I cannot confirm the information. I am the keeper of the vault and have a general knowledge of Stonehaven, but the reason for the war remains shrouded to me. Only the high elders of the clan knew the reason. I can only say what they didn't fight for." Gol-4 said truthfully, to Oscar's disappointment, but then continued. "However, they fought to destroy one another. It must have been important."

"Well, that's a letdown." Orden stood up; his brown eyes glanced at Oscar and then up into the ceiling of the large cavern that held this stone district. The ceiling was smooth and devoid of any protrusions and rough-hanging rocks. He yawned and walked toward an empty house, kicking the door open to let out the dust. "Sleep, for now, Oscar. We'll pick up in the morrow."

Oscar killed the flames and took Gol-4. "I trust you won't try anything."

"Naturally." Orden chuckled and went into a stone house, disappearing from Oscar's sight.

"Quite a strange set of circumstances for two people who tried to kill each, working together," Gol-4 said.

"We'll go back to killing each other soon. I need to find Austin and Erik first. Hopefully, they're not dead in this place." Oscar found an empty stone house and took out a mattress, laying on it with a tense face. His breathing became rushed and uneven, and his hand moved toward the inhibitor in his ear. After pulling it out, Oscar's face twisted, and his teeth clenched so hard they could break.

Gol-4 floated above, peering at Oscar's pained expression. "You are pained in more ways than one."

"Quite obvious, isn't it?" Oscar berated Gol-4 for talking and focused on withstanding the pain after the golem quieted down. Once the pain began to subside, Oscar wiped his pale sweat-covered face with a towel and groaned. He placed the inhibitor back into his ear and plopped down on his bed.

Gol-4 hummed as he dropped onto Oscar's chest, prompting him to lean his head forward to look. "There might be a way to heal your ailment."

Oscar's eyes widened at Gol-4's words, and he sat up, holding Gol-4 between his rough hands. His obsidian eyes glinted from the light of the crystals that shone through the cracks in the boarded-up windows. "Are you serious? An elder told me this was an ailment of the mind and that it was up to me, somehow. But I couldn't find a way."

"Within the central palace, there is a place that could let you face the issue in your mind. But it's a dangerous path, and I don't know if it still exists." Gol-4 answered.

Oscar sighed and laid back down in exhaustion. "That's right; who knows how much had changed in that time."

"If it still exists, it'll help. I must recover now. Farewell." Gol-4 dropped and clattered to the floor, losing the light in its eyes.

"Good night."

…….

The next day, Oscar and Orden cleared out the rest of the district, crashing in from one stone house to the next and taking anything of value. However, most of what they collected was from the monsters that lurked around the dark places but were rendered into bloody messes by Oscar and Orden's powers. As they passed from place to place, Gol-4 tried to find the optimal way to continue.

"The other exits are all caved in," Oscar knocked on the boulders that covered the entranceway to another section of Tectusen. They found several bridges and stairs that led to other places, but most were caved in, and Oscar did not wish to risk collapsing more of this place.

"Wait!" Orden shouted. He pointed to a small opening below, held by wooden beams. "That looks like a mine."

"Indeed! The mines of Tectusen run under the entire city, linking to everywhere district." Gol-4 whizzed around and floated down. "This is our best chance."

"Fine," Oscar recalled the mines of the Ataer Pits, feeling slight discomfort from remembering. But he leaped down and grabbed Gol-4. "This place is relatively safe and won't collapse, right?"

"I cannot make any promises." Gol-4's voice echoed across the tunnel, and a roar resounded back in response.

"Little head, I think you're a source of bad luck." Orden shook his head, coming to Oscar's side. "Heading in?"

"Of course." Despite the roars that filled their ears, they stepped into the wide tunnel. Suddenly, the walls began to crack, and the rubble and dirt fell on Oscar and Orden, who placed their backs on each other. Although they were wary of each other, this incoming threat warranted their full focus.

Then parts of the wall burst out as a sharp metal pyramid protruded out. It went back into the wall and slammed out, destroying more of the wall and allowing the creature to get through.

"As I said, I cannot make any promises."