Alien Evolution System

The Collector, however, did not agree with the fighter known as 'Kui's' observation.

The goblin swarm, emboldened by Kui's words that the golems were of no harm, began to step forward, the elites treading first to set an example for the champions behind them.

The Collector, however, raised a hand in the air to halt them. "No. Remain as you are as I initiate further analysis."

Kui crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes as he began to reconsider his prior statement, taking the Collector's cue to do some analysis of his own. His eyes lit up with a green aura as he began to analyze the golems more fully.

"I cannot sense anything amiss with them," said Kui as his eyes scanned up and down the body of one ice structure, then another. "These golems seem to me the same as any that are naturally occurring. Defensive landmarks for the environment. To those of us enriched with the essence of the World, with primal energy, they should not hold ill will against us."

The Collector hovered towards the first golem in front of it and assessed it more closely. It created a scouting tendril of green flow mana and sent it towards the golem, wreathing the construct and analyzing it at every minute level.

Initially, the Collector had agreed that the fighter specimen was correct in his judgement that the golems were not threatening. Yet, the Collector desired to ensure this was true.

The green tendril of translucent energy from the Collector's hand wrapped around the golem, transferring information from the construct to the Collector, and even with this detailed analysis, the Collector could find nothing aberrant about its magical composition.

As the fighter specimen had said, the golem was simply an environmental defense system. Comprised of Everfrost and Truefrost held together by primal energy that animated it. Exactly the same as the golems that the Collector had destroyed outside the cavern in its initial scouting.

So long as these constructs sensed a sufficient threshold of primal energy from a specimen, they would not engage in hostile behavior.

But the placement of these golems lining this hallway-like cavern that led into a crucial warp point to further layers of the mountain indicated they were not here merely to protect the environment, but to specifically guard this warp point.

In that sense, it did not make sense that they would not observe hostility against creatures that had primal energy. In addition, the Collector noted a remarkable absence of any living specimen within this hallway or around it.

The nature of the Rift mountains were such that damage done to them would regenerate fairly quickly over time, the primal energy of the environment building back rock and ice at a scale of months, not eons as routine geologic timescales would dictate.

The Collector physically touched the golem's snow and ice formed chest, and the goblins held their breath, sensing the unease in the air.

That was when something remarkable occurred.

Spiral patterns of dark blue rotated outwards from the Collector's hand, spreading across the golem and wreathing it in a blue aura of mana. This unity mana was not the Collector's. It was imbued mana from another specimen.

A Jotnar.

A voice boomed across the cavern, making the goblins jump and unsheathe their glowing light blades in alarm, but the Collector projected a mental order to remain calm, causing the goblins to stay still. Kui was far more relaxed, merely observing what was occurring because he knew even if the golems became threats, he was far too powerful to be felled by them.

"Welcome, Jotnar," said the voice. It was a neutral voice that was neither male nor female, reminding the Collector of the synthetic artificial intelligence voices that often guided Federation starships.

"Maintain your hand upon the golem," said the voice, and the Collector assessed that the voice was projected from every single golem equally, combining into what seemed like one looming, dominant voice that rumbled across the entire hallway of rock and ice.

"Reading…," continued the voice, and the Collector understood that the golem was analyzing the Collector's magical energy signature.

"An anomaly has been detected," said the golems. All of a sudden, the white crystals lining the ceiling tinted a shade of threatening red, and the golems began to shake in initial stages of movement. "Mana signature is impure. Sensing Draconid impurity."

The Collector adjusted its mana flow, sealing off its other cores magically and physically by limiting their mana flow and also by internally stopping their heartbeats. It left only its Jotnar core beating, surging blue unity type mana across its body in a rich blue aura.

It harnessed the trigger of Mercy once more, thinking again that to spare life was to spare it for its potential, that allowing potential to grow to serve purpose was the greatest mercy. This opened the core further, causing an explosive pillar of blue to surge around the Collector's body.

"Reading…"

"Jotnar signature identified and read."

The Collector watched as the dark blue spiral patterns that emerged from its hand and around the golem spread out even further, spontaneously manifesting on every single one of the golems. The ceiling crystals changed their shade from red and synchronized flickering parts of them to a dark blue to mimic a moving spiral pattern.

"Eru Wun Thamir. Your will has been recognized and read. Access level: Successor recognized…"

"Disabling all security systems…"

The golems remained still again, as if they had never threatened to move with crushing force in the first place.

"Removing false warp point…"

The swirling pool of glowing white water at the end of the hallway, the supposed means to reach the next layer, stopped moving, and its glow faded. It became merely a normal pool of water, having lost all its warp capabilities.

"Constructing additional warp point according to the specifications set by Protocol: Succession of the End."

Crackling echoed from the end of the cavern, and a small, distorted point in space formed before flowering out into a swirling, spiral-patterned portal of crackling blue and warped space.

"Welcome to the Urth Vault, O great Successor. May you find the beginnings of your Destiny within."