Chapter 2308: My dream |
As it turned out, even Karvev did not know the actual origin of the ring. He found it on the corpse of an enemy orc he killed during his time serving in the army. The ring appeared to have no limits. Its internal space extended far beyond anything they could sense, and the deeper one checked, the more valuable the resources became.
At the same time, there seemed to be no way to properly gain control of it. Whether they used blood to bind the ring, or their spiritual energy, or they communicated with it, nothing worked.
The problem was that some people could see more in the ring than others, and certain races could sense that the ring was incredibly valuable. Such a thing was nothing but a time bomb. Karev was not so driven by greed that he could not see its dangers, which is why he left it behind.
Even now, the ring offered no solution.
In truth, River and Pearl had even asked Cliff about the ring. Lex, in turn, had looked into it. The ring’s origins were cleverly hidden, and if he wanted to discover them he would need to exert more energy than he cared to. He also could not discern the true means of bonding with it, though when he investigated it he did gain some insight.
The ring once had a spirit that controlled it - a treasure spirit to be precise. For some reason, that spirit had died, which might be the reason the ring could not be accessed.
Lex himself felt some temptation for the ring too, but he could not use it yet so there was no need to think about it. He would need to improve his necklace some more before he could safely use the ring with attracting attention or alerting anyone who might know of the ring’s existence.
Instead of saying that, though, he only said that to learn the secrets of the ring, they’d need to pay 500,000 quest points. That effectively put an end to their efforts to learn its secrets since, basically, that number of points was more than enough to turn them both into immortals!
Once their routine at the Guest House was set, River once again started to venture out to explore for new treasures and bring back valuable items. It was more dangerous than it used to be, so whenever he ventured out, he took the necklace with him.
Unfortunately, one could not just become immortal just because they wanted to. It was an incredibly difficult process - one that restricted most of humanity from taking that step.
Eventually, the long awaited day came.
A passing group of travellers, seemingly entirely ordinary, stopped by the Guest House. They remained entirely unaware that Pearl’s formation had long recognized that among the group there was one Earth Immortal and twelve peak Nascent Soul cultivators.
Such a large group could basically bulldoze through the Upper Battlefield and find no opponents.
Unfortunately for them... the gates of hell were closed, but they came barging in.
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"To call it a fine weapon would be to call gold dirt," said Bob as his gaze fell upon the golden brown baguette being presented to him, untold wisdom hiding behind those eyes. He brought the baguette close to his ear and pressed its center firm.
A fresh baguette would give off a fluffy sound, with the slightest crunch from the outer layer. However, this baguette which had been aired and aged, which had been fanned from the tails of generations of Drama-cats, gave off no sound at all. It was firm, unyielding, as if the destruction of the world itself could not cause it to bend.
Which teeth dared to dig into this magnificent rod of gold? None!
"Through a thousand generations, through hairball epidemics and yarn shortages, we cats have endured," spoke the Drama-cat standing in front of Bob, a grey colored robe hiding his body and face. "Through pain and pleasure, we have endured. Through glory and dishonor, we have endured. With hope in our hearts when hope did not exist, through strength in our resolve when we lacked it in our limbs, we have endured!"
The Drama-cat suddenly looked upwards towards Bob, the hood on his head falling back, revealing uneven braids and locks that would leave his hair tangled for days. Gasps echoed in the room as the other Drama-cats looked at the one speaking, horrified at the condition of the speaker!
"I am merely an insignificant captain in your army, honored with the post of Midnight Inn Daycare mascot. What future I will see, I do not know. But I pray, Lord Bob, that my descendants see the day when the Drama-cats rule the world."
His words echoed through the hall, washing over the congregation of Drama-cats, fueling in their hearts an ambition they had never known before.
It was true. Most common Drama-cats were pathetically weak. Besides Bob, they had no strong warriors, so it would make sense that the dream that most resonated with them was of acquiring strength.
Yet amidst the sea of widening eyes and awe filled hearts, Bob remained unmoved.
"What feeble dreams," Bob uttered as he placed the baguette on his shoulder and turned around, looking up into the heavens. There, in the sky, hung a star in the shape of a crow. Of course, Bob couldn’t see it because there was a ceiling in the way, but why did that matter?
"Is it power you seek? The strength of your arms?" Bob asked, looking wistfully at the sky that he couldn’t really see.
"How many can grow strong? How many can become rulers? How many can leave behind legacies? Dost thou not wish for something more original? More unique?" his voice bellowed, shaking all the cats free from their stupor and bringing their eyes to him.
"The dream that comes to me in my sleep, and the dream that lingers, lingers even when my eyes open and greet the light of dawn, is far greater than that.
Every land has a king. Every realm has a ruler. Every tiny speck of land in the fabric of existence has one who places his posterior upon a throne and calls himself master. Everywhere you go, you will find some stronger than others.
"To dream of strength? Futile. Mundane. Mayhaps, it could even be called boring. What I dream of is far greater. What I dream of is rare. It is precious. It is like a taco that has survived Tuesday.
"I dream... to follow the captain. To witness with my eyes the age his footsteps shall leave behind. To witness the chaos unfold... to see for myself his grand designs so that one day... one day I can, perchance, say, with tears in my eyes and glory in my heart, that I was there. I saw him. I followed him."
Tears streamed down Bob’s eyes, and as the Drama-cats watched him speak, the passion overwhelmingly packed in every word he spoke, tears started to stream down their eyes too. Bob was like looking at the sun with their bare eyes - blindingly bright, and radiating the very warmth that sustained life.
A single cat fell to his knees, and then one by one, so did the others. They now had a dream so beautiful that... they couldn’t fully understand it. Who was the captain? What was he captain of? Why was Bob following him?
These were questions they didn’t have answers to, but that hardly mattered. All that mattered was the dream.
While Bob was trembling, trying to hold himself together as he welled up. The dream was too beautiful.
Yet, as if omniscient about what was happening here, the captain sent a message to Bob that very moment.
An Inn worker approached and, after knocking, entered the hall filled with kneeling cats and handed Bob a small note.
"We’re about to leave. Come back."
That was all it said, but it was enough. With his baguette in hand, and a smirk on his face, Bob teleported away - the three Boblings watching from in the corner, shaking from excitement.
The crew all gathered onto the Jolly Rancher, and used a tavern to head to the Origin realm, from where the Henali would secretly escort them to the Folklore realm.
As a result of all that was happening, almost all forces inside the Inn were watching Bob, Jack and their crew. Their departure was highly suspicious, and could grant leads on the Innkeepers next moves, or even his whereabouts.
Amidst all the silent plotting and conniving happening, no one seemed to notice that there was a small group who were exclusively watching Z, and recording all his moves.
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