"Careful now," Vox said to Buknet, helping her take a step down the mountain. It seemed the Dwarfs had already thought ahead by building stairs on the ridges, helping miners get up to the Stary Caves and giving them a way to flee if things turned terrible.
Buknet watched her step, though she spent most of the time staring at Vox with thoughts he couldn't quite place.
"You remind me of my Grandfather, but even he didn't have hair this white," Buknet said. "What race are you?"
"Oh me? I'm Human..."
"Human? The only Human in this world is the Mage of the Snowy Plains. Are you one of his descendants?" Buknet asked, sounding intrigued.
"Oh no! I'm..." Vox inhaled and replied after catching his breath, "Look, there's a lot of things going on that I haven't understood, and a lot of things that don't make any sense to me yet."
Buknet stared at him for a moment before looking away. "You know, when you say it that way, I understand."
"You do?" Vox raised a brow. Since arriving in this world, he hadn't been able to vent his thoughts to anyone, and it felt strange that the first person he spoke to actually saw a hint of his value in her own way.
"Yes. There's a lot of things that don't make meaningful sense to me either. Take a look towards those large rocks," she said, pointing at the massive, unusual boulders scattered on the green plains below. "Do you see them?"
Vox nodded. "Yes, what about them?"
"Well, to tell you about them, I have to tell you a story," Buknet said. "A story which took place hundreds of thousands of years ago. Because to understand the boulders, one must first understand the stones."
Vox smiled. An actual story to help him understand the world would be fascinating, and it would definitely help the walk down the mountain seem faster. "Let's hear it."
"My ancestors said we were born from the Great Mountains which also gave birth to the stone giants known as Titans," she said, slowly moving her hand over her head. "They were a massive force of nature, capable of bringing down destructive chaos upon the earth when provoked, but they were also mild to those they protected. These Titans were elders who judged righteously and they were the ones who chose the first King."
She continued, "This continued for thousands of years, until, The last King who ruled before I was born. His name; King Olkhon. He was said to be the most powerful King to ever live in history. They said he had a hammer so heavy it was compared to the weight of a mountain. But it wasn't his strength which won my people's hearts, it was a powerful gift he possessed known as the Monolith Crush."
Vox blinked in surprise. "That sounds... intense."
"Indeed it was. The Monolith Crush was a special move deployed by King Olkhon's strength into his hammer to destroy surrounding enemies, shattering the earth and causing even the Titans to tremble, because it was a power great enough to destroy them," Buknet said with admiration in her eyes.
"Sounds like a cool power to have," Vox noted.
"Well, not that much cool, King Olkhon actually feared his powers. He did say with great powers comes great restraint"
"I definitely see his point there," Vox said. He looked back at the boulders. "But what happened to those large stones?"
Her smile vanished. "My Grandfather told me those are the remains of the Titans."
"I don't understand. What actually happened? Did King Olkhon destroy the Titans—?!"
"No! The Corruption happened!," She said, clutching a fist to her chest, "A dark energy filled every corner of our lands, destroying our mountains and fields, and consumed the very Titans which were meant to protect us. Those who sought to protect us chose to destroy us."
"Wait… if the Titans protected you, why didn't they resist the corruption?"
Hearing Vox's question, Buknet replied with a shrug, "I honestly don't have the answer for that, and neither did King Olkhon when he was alive. Normally, the Titans were simply existing without any evil intent, but when the Corruption flowed into their heart, and twisted their minds, causing them to destroy our kind, King Olkhon had no choice but to destroy the Titans."
"He made a big sacrifice there," Vox mentioned. "To destroy the very things which made you King, and protected your people, would have been a burden he was carried alone.."
Buknet nodded, "Indeed. Sadly, when he died defending us from the corrupted titans, he couldn't defeat one Titan, The Mooneater."
A chill ran down Vox's spine, "The Mooneater?"
"The most corrupt of them all," She looked down at the stairs, "They said it escaped to the depths of this very mountain. It's the terror of our hearts. Our elders have said something about going to destroy the Mooneater in two days' time. Then, we can finally be free.."
Vox heaved a sigh. "That's quite a story. You're a great storyteller, Buknet.
She smiled at his compliment. "Thank you."
But deep in his heart, Vox thought, 'Something is definitely wrong with this world. I know it's a game world, probably an interactive game world, but Buknet is the first character I've spoken to who doesn't sound like an NPC. She actually engages in conversation and speaks of the history of her land. There are a lot of things I'm yet to understand, and I hope I'll learn them without getting hurt.'
"By the way," Buknet interrupted his thoughts , "what were you doing in the mountain?"
"Oh," Vox knew he needed to be careful. He had a conviction that he shouldn't mention suddenly appearing out of thin air. "I... I actually happened to owe a certain Mine Dwarf, who made me work for some Crystal shards. In short, I was paying off debt. What about you?"
"I went to explore the mountain," she answered truthfully. "To see how the corruption from the Mooneater residing underneath had taken a toll on the residents of the cave. As you saw, the gnomes used to be annoying, but now are devouring our kind. The Nightbats have gone berserk... Just as my father feared, the corruption is spreading slowly, and it's fueled by the Mooneater."
Buknet concluded by gesturing for Vox—who had just gasped in respect to her bravery—to look ahead. "We are here already."
Vox didn't even realize they had reached the bottom until she spoke, and when he looked up, his eyes widened. "Wow..."
"Welcome to my land," Buknet smiled.