Free Web NovelChapter 74: Strange Object
"Our race always repays kindness and favors, especially something as great as this," the elderly woman said in a dignified tone. "My name is Murima. I am the eldest of this small tribe. After... the former leaders, Luvinah’s father and mother, passed away, I became responsible for leading our race until the Young Matriarch is old enough..."
The woman whom Luvinah called Grandma introduced herself and explained the situation. Then she looked Priam in the eyes and added,
"Young Humanoid, if you ever need anything, please feel free to tell us. We will certainly do our best to repay you."
"No need."
Priam shook his head.
"The reason I saved her was simply chance. I had the means to help, so I couldn’t just ignore it. My original goal was actually to obtain a Pristine Core."
"W-What?"
Priam’s answer made everyone immediately lift their heads. Their expressions changed slightly. freewebnøvel.com
Priam snorted.
"I have no intentions against any of you. I only came to bring her back safely. But in the future, if I find another Pristine Core for sale, I’ll buy it without a second thought. So there’s no need to thank me."
Noticing the sudden change in everyone’s expressions, Priam turned around to leave and quickly headed toward the exit.
"Wait!" Murima called out hurriedly.
Priam stopped walking but didn’t turn around.
"Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about this place."
"No," she said, walking toward him with her slightly bent posture. "You saved the most important person in our tribe, so you’re the benefactor of our entire race. How could we not trust you? You said you needed a Pristine Core, didn’t you?"
Priam froze in surprise and turned around.
Murima smiled gently. Her cloudy eyes shifted toward a middle-aged man standing beside Luvinah.
"Rozeon, let’s give Ginnima’s Core to our benefactor, shall we?"
A complicated turbulence appeared in the eyes of the middle-aged man called Rozeon.
After two seconds, he sighed.
He didn’t hesitate further or make things difficult. He simply nodded.
"Of course."
"Then that’s wonderful," Murima smiled.
"Young one, we happen to have a Pristine Core available. Rozeon’s wife... my daughter... left it behind after suffering severe injuries in the past and passing away. Although many years have gone by since then, it was sealed by the power of nature, so it remains practically intact."
Priam’s eyes widened.
A Core deliberately left behind by a Pristine Wild-Spirit...
That meant it was a perfect Core, without any flaws. Something no one who captured and killed a member of this race could ever obtain.
"You’re really going to give that to me?" Priam asked quietly.
Murima nodded.
"Naturally. I would never allow an evil person to take my late daughter’s Core, even if it cost me my life. However, if it can repay the great benefactor who saved our Young Matriarch, I’m certain even Ginnima would be pleased with it."
Priam turned toward Rozeon and met his gaze.
Rozeon nodded without showing any displeasure.
"I agree. However, to prevent malicious people from taking it, the seal is extremely difficult to undo. I’ll need at least a day to break it. Please, Benefactor, stay here for a while during that time."
Priam took a deep breath, feeling somewhat relieved.
He truly wanted that Core, but he had already accepted that he probably wouldn’t get one.
Yet after everything, he was going to receive a perfect one, something that would greatly help his father create a cure for his mother.
"If that’s the case... then thank you very much. I really do have an important reason for needing it urgently."
"No need to thank us. Your great kindness can never truly be repaid, no matter what we do," Murima said.
"Rozeon, go ahead. Once you’ve removed it from the seal, deliver it directly to our benefactor."
Rozeon agreed and then turned around, heading off into the distance.
"That’s great! I didn’t want to part ways with Big Brother yet!" Luvinah exclaimed excitedly.
She hurried over to Priam and tugged on his sleeve.
"Can I show you our home? Even though it’s small, I’m sure you’ll like it."
"Luvinah, don’t be so hasty. First, we should take him to the Goddess’s temple," Murima said seriously.
Luvinah froze, and the light in her eyes changed.
At the same time, the expressions of everyone around them shifted subtly.
At that moment, Priam felt a strange tension in the air.
"Benefactor, the Goddess left us long ago, but our race has never stopped worshipping her. Would you come with us to the temple? We simply wish to pray for the Goddess to bless you," Murima said slowly.
Priam took a deep breath.
"Before that, if you don’t mind me asking... do you know what happened to the Goddess?"
Murima fell silent, her expression thoughtful.
"You said earlier that you felt a connection to my bloodline, right?" Priam explained quickly. freёwebnovel.com
"The truth is, I’m from the Vanculari race. In my clan, there are records saying that we also worshipped the Goddess in the past. When she disappeared, my race nearly vanished forever."
"I see... so that’s it... I understand..."
As soon as he said that, Murima’s expression changed to one of understanding and relief.
Then she looked directly into Priam’s eyes with utmost seriousness.
"Young one, I know this is difficult to believe, but the current Six Sovereigns are not what people think they are. We don’t have many details, but the few records of the Goddess’s words that have been passed down through the generations clearly describe those six as *Celestial Thieves*."
"The Goddess ascended last, becoming the seventh Sovereign to appear. But when she discovered the truth, she opposed the actions of the others... In the end, they accused her of being an *Invader* and started a war across our entire world to kill her."
The gazes of everyone around them turned cold and filled with anger.
Priam listened, and his eyes lit up.
So this Goddess really was an ally!
But...
Murima continued slowly.
"The Goddess knew that resisting and fighting back would only result in countless deaths through a prolonged war. She didn’t want that, even though she could have resisted for a very, very long time."
"According to her own words, the Karma created by so much slaughter did not justify her resistance. So she chose to sacrifice herself and leave us peacefully. But... her final words were clear:
*It is only a farewell for now.*
She would never truly leave us and would return one day. Until then, all of her allied races were to fight to survive."
Priam felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over his back.
This was a thousand times more information than his clan possessed.
At the same time, he felt deeply discouraged.
He had gained and lost a powerful ally in a matter of seconds.
Knowing that she had truly died made him certain that his journey would be lonely and difficult.
"That is truly everything we know," Murima finished, looking directly into Priam’s eyes.
"Alright. Let’s go to the temple. Even though my bloodline no longer carries any inheritance related to the Goddess, nor worships her in the present day... we’re not strangers."
Priam spoke, and everyone nodded, now looking at him differently.
Indeed, the Vanculari were not enemies.
As such, Priam saving the Young Matriarch almost seemed like the Goddess herself guiding fate.
The group moved together toward a specific corner of the sanctuary.
Soon, Priam saw a small and simple wooden cabin with a small wooden statue standing in front of the door.
The statue lacked detail and was only about one meter tall.
Its feminine silhouette was visible, with its hands clasped before its chest, and beyond that...
"She has wolf ears and a tail? Wait... was she a Primordial Chaos Beast?" he murmured thoughtfully, since she resembled the beast-women he had seen in fantasy games and books back on Earth.
Murima replied softly,
"From what we know, the Goddess belonged to a race of Demonic Beasts from the distant past, a race that no longer exists today. We don’t know the exact name, but it was some kind of wolf that devoured Corrupted things to grow stronger."
Priam nodded and carefully observed the statue.
The only other truly detailed feature...
...was a small object hanging from the statue’s neck that resembled a gemstone.
What was shocking was that it appeared to be made of wood just like the rest of the statue, yet it emitted a gentle glow of amethyst and cobalt blue.
Was there something inside it producing that light?
Almost all of the Pristine Wild-Spirits knelt several meters away from the statue and closed their eyes.
"Young one, please come forward."
Murima gestured toward Priam, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Priam walked toward her, approaching the statue.
"!"
When he was five meters away from it, his feet suddenly stopped, and his eyes widened.
And it wasn’t just him.
Everyone kneeling nearby opened their eyes and nearly jumped in fright.
At that moment, the strange colorful object on the statue began pulsing with a vastly brighter glow.
At the same time...
Deep within his soul, Priam felt the Nexus Seed react with a subtle vibration.
