Reborn as an Extra Chapter 547: What are you? Part-2.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
The cube remained silent to Rio's inquiry, being merely an artifact devoid of any self-awareness, leaving Rio to shake his head and examine the engravings on the pillars instead.
'Could this site have been constructed to chronicle history or something similar?'
Rio observed depictions of airplanes, trains, and ships etched into the enormous pillars.
In today's modern era, air journeys rely on floating magic ships, while trains harness magical power too.
Yet the illustrations on these pillars showed ordinary planes and trains from a time before mana and miasma ever appeared in this world.
'Did a person from that bygone era erect this temple once mana and miasma began to manifest here?'
Enduring the spirit realm saturated with miasma to construct such a building demanded immense strength and resolve to withstand prolonged miasmic erosion.
'Who might have forged this in such a spot? It surely wasn't King Allen; legends claim he entered the world decades following mana's initial arrival...'
Rio lacked deep knowledge of history, forcing him to shake his head once more and press onward.
The cube of possibilities continued directing him along the same path, compelling Rio to venture deeper into this domain.
Crossing the threshold, he advanced, where the fog thinned just a touch, enhancing what he could see.
'Just as suspected, it's the remnants of a temple...'
A vast, crumbling temple loomed ahead of him.
Much of it lay in wreckage, with only select pillars and sections of walls remaining whole.
Scattered debris and rubble littered the ground, while miasmic corruption gnawed at every stone and item within the ruins.
Enormous pools of liquid miasma dotted the landscape, and the swirling miasmic fog amplified the peril of this forsaken spot.
To evade treading on the temple's shattered remnants, Rio lifted into the air briefly, then glided forward while surveying his surroundings.
'This level of suppression on my detection skills proves truly troublesome...'
Rio employed miasma detection to scan the vicinity, yet the pervasive miasmic fog disrupted the miasma's flow, shrinking his sensing range far below normal.
Progressing further, Rio encountered a colossal stone tablet.
Corruption had ravaged it severely, and marks from weapon strikes suggested it suffered incidental harm from a nearby clash in the distant past.
Such details held no interest for Rio; he positioned himself before it and deciphered the inscriptions on the massive slab.
'Arneices? Does that refer to a planet's name or an ancient locale?...'
Those words plunged Rio into contemplation.
'This inscription appears to recount the myth of the world's shattering, rearrangement, and rebirth upon mana's descent...'
Similar to how the earth expanded through spatial growth, and the solar system realigned and grew after mana graced this planet, perhaps other worlds underwent comparable upheavals.
'The world fragmented?... Might that imply the planet Arneices splintered into multiple fragments?'
'And what defeat do they reference in that context?'
The deeper Rio delved into these thoughts, the greater his bewilderment grew.
Academy history texts had never mentioned anything like this to him.
While Rio struggled to interpret the etchings on the stone tablet, a faint melody echoed from afar.
It resembled the notes of a musical instrument being played nearby.
At that remote tune, Rio's gaze sharpened immediately, his hand drifting to the flute at his waist.
'Music in this barren, apocalypse-ravaged wasteland? That's an ominous development...'
Rio hadn't anticipated encountering even one rational entity in this infernal abyss.
Thus far, every being he'd met here was a mindless abomination, twisted by miasmic corruption.
'No creature from this nightmare could possess the clarity to create music.'
Rio glanced at the cube, seeing it aimed straight toward the music's origin.
'Leading me to whatever's producing this melody? Implying clues to Liam's whereabouts await with the one crafting this song?'
Doubt flooded Rio then, but with miasma scrambling his instincts, he couldn't determine if trusting the cube was wise.
'Sigh... No alternatives present themselves...'
His primary purpose in entering the spirit realm was locating Liam, which required heeding the cube's lead.
He'd seized complete dominion over the cube, ensuring it wouldn't intentionally defy or deceive him.
Nevertheless, hesitation gripped Rio.
'Never mind, I'll deploy the spells from principal Raji to flee if the situation sours...'
With his left hand resting on the flute, Rio soared ahead at a deliberate, unhurried speed.
The melody sharpened as he progressed, guiding him through the ruins to their heart as he pursued the sound.
The miasmic fog parted somewhat, revealing a towering statue of a sword to Rio's eyes.
This immense sword statue stood upon a grand base, crafted with exquisite precision.
The double-edged blade featured patterns of interwoven threads twisting in intricate patterns.
Rio instantly recognized the motif as the 'threads of destiny,' with the snake emblem on the hilt representing 'loyalty' or 'promise.'
'This stands as a monument to the 'Sword of Promised Destinies!'...'
Yet the statue wasn't the scene's greatest surprise; more astonishing was the unidentified figure perched on a rock amid the rubble.
In their grasp gleamed a radiant lyre, and astonishingly, Rio detected no trace of this individual's existence.
As though the figure possessed no aura whatsoever, it took the shape of a youthful boy clad in a blue-tinged robe.
His locks bore a greenish hue, and his vivid emerald eyes sparkled, enhancing the allure of his strikingly attractive features.
The youth's beauty left Rio uncertain if he truly was male or a female in masculine attire.
As Rio touched down on the ground a short distance away, the figure concluded his tune and met Rio's gaze with a smile, uttering,
"Greetings, fellow traveller..."
Brushing aside the figure's greeting, Rio demanded in his typical flat voice,
"What are you?"