Rockette's stone form was (mostly) hidden outside as Adam and his new... prize?
As they both were consumed by ghost Rockette and brought into the caverns.
He gently placed the green eye stone on the table, the rest watching from a distance.
...It was looking around.
Adam shrugged. "I don't know what to do with it."
Sister Quan? Exasperated. "HONESTLY, don't go bringing odd things in here! WHY did you bring it in here!?"
He reached out... and poked the eye again. It blinked. "Because the 'Bone Walker' was freaking me out, and I was worried that if I stayed out there any longer, more and more eyes would show up. Or it would move. Or it wouldn't, but I would move... or something."
Little Tianshi was sitting near the center spiral staircase, technically 'doing her homework' on the spreadsheet that was ignored beside her. "It's creepy that it keeps staring at me."
Adam blinked. "Hmm?"
And stepped left.
And right.
And left?
He nodded. "Good catch Disciple Tianshi! It IS staring at us!"
A guard ignored her tiny 'Tee hee' and began to circle the table. Concerned. "Are... are you sure?"
Adam paused. "Am I sure what?"
The man glared at the eyeball. "Are you sure it is staring at you? Like right now?"
The boy glanced back at the eye. It blinked. "Yep."
The guard was on the opposite side of the table. "Because right now, I am positive it is staring at ME. How can it be staring at you?"
...Adam turned to the others. "Just a quick check... Does everyone see the eye as looking directly at you?"
A lot of nods. Then the eye blinked... and everyone pointed at it. "''''''It Blinked."''''''
...Huh. "Neat how a single eyelid can blink an eyeball in multiple directions at once."
The lead guard groaned, her voice strained. "Which means it may not be 'looking' or 'blinking' at all, and is only CONVINCING our minds that it is. Marvelous."
Adam hummed. "Well... at the very least, I guess we can leave now."
That caught SEVERAL guards... off guard? Heh. "What?"
He shrugged. "You know that 'pull' that had been guiding us this way?"
Nods.
He pointed. "This was it."
They all turned to the eye.
Yep.
Adam poked it again. "From what Rockette and 'Research' can determine, each of those... things..." Gross gross gross. "Not only was part of the 'Bone Walker'... but had their own cultivation network. And from what was detected as I absorbed this object?"
His skin tattoos blackened as his curse marks throbbed with energy... and the green eye sort of curled up into a smile, eyelids closed in happiness. "Each eye seemed to resonate with a different type of spiritual energy." Didn't it only have ONE eyelid before? Odd.
Sister Quan glanced back at the (disturbing) viewing panel showing the outside. "That seems... really improbable that you would bump into it that easily."
He shrugged. "I didn't. This thing felt my curse tattoos touching the 'Bone Walker' and came over to check them out. It's probably why it didn't resist me plucking it, and why the thing didn't complain about me stealing it or consuming it in here."
...Was the eye PURRING!? It was almost trying to pet itself against his curses.
One of the other guards was still staring at the monstrosity outside. "So what are we going to do about... that?"
Adam shrugged. "Nothing."
He looked up... and paused at the stunned expressions everyone had. "What? It isn't doing anything but standing in a swamp, I don't want it inside here, and I found the thing trying to connect us together."
His hand lifted the eyeball and idly tossed it in the air, playing a version of catch with himself. The orb seemed amused. "Now that I HAVE the... whatever this is, we can leave. This swamp bog thing may have some neat energies in it, but Rockette's had a month to sample and sort stuff... I am beyond ready to get out of here."
It looked like Sister Quan was voted by the others to act as the voice of reason today. "But... Adam, you can't just steal that eyeball and leave!"
He blinked. "Why not? I think this whole adventure went rather well! Besides, I'm sure this isn't the ONLY oversized possibly reality destroying monster around. This one seems happy enough to stand in a deserted swamp and do nothing."
The boy paused thoughtfully. "Or stand still, doing nothing, and thus CREATING a swamp. Either/Or, really."
Another guard was watching the bone structure outside... shift. "I'm happy not to try and mess with this thing." She grimaced as more eyes vanished and moved around... some on the legs, most on the 'potato' body. "Heaven help us, if you brought that thing in here, no matter WHAT FORM it takes... I don't think I could sleep again. Not in the same area. Hell, not in different areas."
Adam nodded. "Exactly. It is gross, I don't need whatever it is, it is gross, Rockette can get energy samples elsewhere easily, it is gross, even if I stole it I would have no use for it, it is gross, and I am worried if we stick around this creature will... wake up. Or move. Or something."
He pointed. "Also, it is gross."
Sister Quan backed up another step as the eye blinked again. "Adam, please get that thing out of here. I am seriously freaking out over the thing."
Huh. Well, fair enough. "Rockette?"
Ding!
The eyeball vanished... and showed up in the room with the Asura Stone.
Adam ignored the eye that was... now blinking rapidly as it appeared and vanished from the walls of the crystal cave full of white fog and black poison. It seemed happy enough. "There, I put it away."
One of the guards seemed to be nearing her edge. "Good. Can we leave now? I want to leave."
He nodded. "Sure! Which way?" Glancing at the screen... "We have lots of legs to choose from, so feel free to give me a hint and we will get started."
The lead guard glanced at... some sort of object. And pointed. "That way is toward our Sect." She pointed to the left, ninety degrees away. "Can we flee that way? So that, if this thing tries to follow you later, we won't lead it to our home?"
Everyone shuddered slightly at the thought of white pillars falling from the sky.
Adam gave a weak smile. "No problem!"
Glancing back at the screen... he sighed. "Now... Now I have to go back out there again. Alone. With the gross. Great."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Sister Tianshi and Mr. Whiskers watched the eyeball from their tree house, Rockette being nice enough to let her have an observation window setup near her vine couch.
It was neat! Especially without the whole... gross, mutant spider part attached.
The eye was oddly happy looking, trapped in a crystal cave filled with white fog, black poison and curses. It would open up on the wall, floor, or ceiling... look around... then blink away to another surface.
...Watching it was oddly soothing.
As for stuff going on outside, Adam managed to run away without issue. Though there WAS a bit of a freakout when a random eye had opened up and he nearly stepped on it on his way out... but he didn't kick it, the Walker didn't move, and no other eyes were seen on the following (rapid) 'RUN AWAY' expedition.
Which was good!
So her master was back to running on a white column in the sky... although the emotional atmosphere inside Rockette was MUCH better now.
Not heading towards a possible mouth or actual mutant demon spider? Everyone was FAR happier now. Even the guards forced to taste the many, MANY fruit, vegetable, and herb varieties for Sister Quan were complaining with a happy heart and a smile!
Which was good, those teams always complained until they found the next surprise... then they would brag for a few days about how awesome they were, which was ALSO annoying.
The most recent surprise?
Planting poisonous plants in Soil Squares that matched the Corpse Bog? It caused the bushes, trees, and vines to draw in even more poison... which made the produce growing on them safe to eat. Mostly.
Because all the dangerous stuff was too useful for the plant to allow it to enter the leaves, fruits, and so forth. It kept being pulled into the roots and stalks.
This meant that the root products became DOUBLY dangerous to eat, but also that several deadly berry bushes and killing fruit trees suddenly began to produce safe materials to grow and harvest! And those amazing white berries that Da always ate could now be grown safely so that SHE could eat one too!
You know, without instantly dying or having her organs explode or something.
Just in case though, Adam was the final tester for all the more... exotic and dangerous things grown in the crystal gardens. Which led to some humorous side effects, like when his skin turned blue for a while or hair grew everywhere.
Easy enough for Adam to shake off and fix, but it would have been risky for... more fragile people. Like everyone else.
Her attention shifted back to the screen as the eye vanished... and moved to the black pool edge.
Neat.
Mr. Whiskers made a grumble, and she shared another 'Meat Turnip'. Had the texture and flavor of a very VERY mild flavored steak, but was shaped like a turnip. Mostly bland, but Mr. Whiskers loved the things.
It was a bit unfortunate, but the more flavor something had the more likely it was for the product to have... odd effects. Da claimed he could start producing less exotic produce eventually... At least, he was pretty sure he could once he consumed some farmland and fertile soil samples. And did some tests. One day.
The plains had been wild land after all, and the Corpse Bog and Ash Forest were not exactly normal growing ground either. Once he knew what NOT to do, he could safely make food that wasn't so... strangely shaped, oddly flavored, and bizarrely textured.
At least, that was what he claimed.
Though... Sister Quan had told her that the REAL problem was Adam himself.
He was scared to let anything grow for too long.
So the only foods they could actually harvest... were the strangest ones. The bushes, trees, vines and roots that could produce fruits and stuff SUPER fast, rather than at 'normal' rates. And of course, such strange plants could only make stranger results.
When she asked why her Master was concerned, Sister Quan had mumbled something about Da being terrified about singing cabbages or something.
...Which sounded like him, really.
Anyway, Sister Quan was having a quiet argument with Tianshi's Master every night after dinner. She said she could convince him to let the various farm squares actually GROW some normal food eventually... but it would likely have to wait until they could find some farmlands outside and he could examine them first.
Then maybe, MAYBE he would listen to her and trust her opinions about how long a growth period would still be 'safe' for harvesting.
For now? Pink apples and stripped berries for everyone!
Idly, as she and her tattoo pet watched an eldritch eye playing in a cursed room of death and poison, the little girl wondered why her Master was worried about strange cabbages at the same time while raising an entire FARMLAND of mutant produce.
Seemed counter productive.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam was perched on one of the LAST leg segments. Only the long white column downward to (Presumably) the Corpse Bog surface moss below!
Most importantly... "FINALLY! I. Want. Out!"
Time to see something OTHER than white bones, blue skies, and and endless gray sea of mist!
Rockette vibrated on his shoulder, a soft woman's voice near his ear. "You will want to turn a bit... yes, that way... Good, you are now pointed toward the Sect."
A glance... good, it wasn't an angle heading back towards the massive sort-of-spider. That lead guard gave reliable directions! Woo! "Right, here we go!"
Two steps back... and LAUNCH!
The wind sang in his ears, his eyes closing and a smile growing on his face... as he fell.
Free from the bonds of earth and gravity (But not really), he just enjoyed the heavy wind whipping past his body.
He would have 'Momentum Redirection' prepared for the eventual landing... but that was later.
He would have to again flee alone across the land again... but that was later.
Right now?
He watched the sun glisten in the distance as he seemed to hover in the sky, nothing nearby to help judge his speed or angle other than the vanishing white columns behind him.
Landing? Yeah, he could use both 'Momentum Redirection' and 'Ablative Bashing' to both capture this speed and burn off any excess, and it would be useful to ensure easy travel later now that he had so much practice at 'hovering' and high speed directional movement.
But for the moment, Adam felt truly free...
It was glorious!
Considering that the Xiantian Cultivation Realm had to be crossed before reaching the Saint Realm, flight was normally far, FAR out of reach for a boy still trapped in the latter Orders of Houtian Realm.
But for now, the skies were his.
Some time passed peacefully.
A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. "Adam?"
He blinked, and glanced at Rockette... who was floating along, like a falling rock shouldn't really be able to do. "Yes?"
The guard's voice seemed amused. "You... You are going to safely land, right?"
Adam blinked. "Yes? Why do you"
He vanished into gray moss with a massive splash!
