Following the Valkyries led by Brunhilde, Todd and Hudgens walked through a huge cavern and came to a tunnel built of granite.
By the light of the torch, Todd looked at the tunnel walls. Large pieces of gray fossils were partially exposed, while half of them were embedded in the stone wall, stretching endlessly from the entrance into the depths of the tunnel.
He carefully examined the fossil's structure: spurs, spikes, spines... This creature resembled a giant snake with some erect dorsal fins on its body.
Feeling the ground beneath his feet growing steeper and watching the Valkyries slowly descend into the earth, Todd could no longer endure this silent journey.
Where are we going?
Brunhilde turned her head: "Follow me, and you'll soon find out."
"Besides you and me, has anyone else been here?"
"In my memory, you are the first outsider to walk into this tunnel."
Upon hearing this, Todd exclaimed in surprise, "I'm the first?! I don't understand why you trust me so much?"
“Trust?” Brunhilde stopped in her tracks, her eyes gleaming in the darkness. “Listen, chieftain of Twilight Town, this has nothing to do with trust. I have never left this land since birth. I have guarded my village, guarded this ruin, for a full one hundred and twenty years…”
"One hundred and twenty years?!" Todd exclaimed in surprise, his foot slipped, and if Huggins hadn't caught him in time, he might have fallen straight to the ground.
Brunhilde ignored Todd's words and continued, "...For so many years, as Valkyries, my sisters and I have seen no miracles from the gods, nor heard their teachings. All we have faced is this graveyard of bones and stones. We are weary of it all and want an answer!"
Todd looked at the Valkyrie standing facing him and swallowed hard: "The answer?"
“We are warriors, servants, not gravediggers! We want to know the meaning of our existence! If you are truly the legendary ‘alchemist blessed by the gods,’ then please tell us the whole truth.” With that, Brunhilde turned around and continued on her way.
Todd steadied himself and, while following in the footsteps of those ahead, rested his chin on his hand and pondered the Valkyrie's words.
The group continued forward for another twenty minutes. Just as Todd was looking at the giant snake fossil in the wall, which was still stretching forward, and wondering just how long the monster was, the Valkyries stopped.
We have arrived at the ruins of the gods.
Before them lay a colossal, cylindrical space, hundreds of meters high. A metal triangular pyramid, resembling a pyramid, rose from the earth, standing upright towards the sky. The walls surrounding the cylindrical room were scattered with fossils of all sorts of creatures. There was the skeleton of a giant, about four meters tall; the remains of bizarrely shaped beasts; and the skeleton of a giant serpent, emerging from the tunnel's exit, embedded itself in the wall of the cylindrical room, spiraling upwards until it disappeared into the high ceiling.
Todd had been surprised so many times today that he didn't show much discomfort at this scene, as he was already mentally prepared.
“This room has existed for a long time. The mission bestowed upon each generation of Valkyries is to protect this place at all costs.” Brunhilde walked to the triangular metal cone in the center of the room and gestured for Todd to come closer: “Come, alchemist, come to me. First, I want you to tell me, what exactly is this spire-shaped thing?”
Todd walked up to the metal spire and first examined its exterior. The spire protruded about 80 centimeters above the ground, and its surface looked smooth and textured. With the help of the light, some strange patterns could be vaguely seen 'floating' inside the metal.
Todd looked at Brunhilde with a questioning expression on his face.
The latter extended his right hand, responding with a "please go ahead" expression.
Todd turned around and tried to touch the surface with his fingers. The metal was cold and piercing, but the moment he touched it, he had the illusion that his soul was deeply immersed in it.
Todd moved closer and tapped the metal surface with his knuckles. Surprisingly, there was no echo. Upon closer inspection, the object was unlike any metal he could recall. Then, he squatted down and dug away the soil where the metal met the ground. The metal was still underneath, suggesting that the spire must have risen from underground.
"Alchemist, how about it?"
Brunhilde received only a helpless shake of the head in response.
The Valkyrie lowered her head in dejection.
Todd said, "I don't have any experimental equipment with me. If I can pry a sample off this, maybe I can find out what it is."
Brunhilde shook her head: "Don't waste your time. No weapon can leave even a scratch on it. Come, alchemist, I have something else I need you to see."
Climbing to the far corner of the cylindrical room, the Valkyrie lifted a man-high boulder and moved it aside. A room resembling a showroom appeared before everyone.
One after another, slabs of obsidian stone were laid flat on the stone platform, with ancient pictures and difficult-to-understand characters emerging from the slabs.
Brunhilde led Todd to the first stone tablet and pointed to the text inside, saying, "These are runes, which are said to have been created by Odin after he gave up his left eye in exchange for a spoonful of the 'Fountain of Wisdom'."
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