12 Chapter 12 - What is a Rock? A Miserable Little Pile of Secrets! But Enough talk! Have at you! (2/2)

Too late.The stone statues started waking up and the path to the stairs was quicky blocked by a statue one size larger than the rest.{How many statues were in the room?}

<There are 9 statues in total>

<8 smaller statues and 1 large statue>

The real problem seemed to be the large statue.Each of the smaller statues could be evaded at their current speed but the large statue wouldn't just let him climb over it to escape.At the very least he'd need to destroy the part of the large statue that was blocking his escape.{What weapons do I have enough points to purchase that can be used to destroy a boulder?}

<Currently Master only has enough points to purchase an iron war pick or an iron pickaxe>

<Neither weapon can currently break boulders with Master's body strength>

Like giving a thirsty man a water bottle--only for it to be filled with sand.The AI's timing was perfect; it gave him a bit of hope before smashing it in the very next instant.{So what you're saying is that I'm basically going to die?}

<Negative>

<The statues are receiving their power from a nearby magic generator>

<Destroy or remove the magic generator and the statues will stop moving>

During this conversation Thomas had been running around the entire room, causing the statues to mindlessly follow him.Now he had a goal: Shut down, destroy, or absorb the magic generator.The system should be able to tell him where it's located but to do that he'd need to get close to it.The sound seemed to be coming from the wall to the left when looking at the staircase but it was currently the opposite side of the room from where Thomas was located.

Thomas looked for a way to reach where the magic generator should be but when stopping to figure out where the sound was coming from he allowed the statues to block the straight path to it.The statues were bumping against one another while lumbering towards him so taking the straight path would be dangerous.The path on his left would be too tight of a squeeze so it wasn't safe to take it.That just left him with the path on his right.In that direction was the large statue but it wasn't moving and there were no smaller statues blocking the path so it was relatively safe.

When Thomas was rushing by the statues they reached out towards him but failed to connect.Their sudden movement caused them to crash into one another and two of the statues ended up falling onto the ground.Small decorative bits came off of them but they were still functional and seemed to be trying to get up off the ground.This only left 6 of them to follow after Thomas as he made his way to where the noise was the loudest.Pressing himself against the wall, Thomas watched as the 6 other statues slowly made their way to his location.

<Magic generator located>

<Too far to be absorbed>

<Too far to store>

<Master must get closer to the magic generator>

He was already as close as he could get to the magic generator.All that he could do at this point is watch as the statues got closer and closer.The two that had fallen were now standing and were following the other six statues from a short distance away.{Am I really going to die a second time?}