Finally reaching the entrance of the tunnel, they stood again, facing toward the four tunnels before them, with the entrance tunnel behind them. Their next tunnel was the fourth one, saving the third one for last. The third tunnel was the one that led to the Chamber of Knowledge. To shorten the time it would take to search the tunnels, they would proceed in a way that they would be able to reach the Chamber of Knowledge as quickly as possible, which meant saving the third tunnel for last.

Drake stared at the small chamber they were in, looking at the five tunnels. For some reason, he knew he had to see something in the small chamber. Something about the way it was set up was trying to tell him something. There was a single tunnel that led outside, and then there were four that were lined up in a row. He appeared deep in thought. He had realized something, yet hadn't been able to define it.

Chad stared at him, unease squeezing him like a snake. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly, worried about the way Drake was thinking. It was bad enough with the eerie feeling consuming them and the added sensation of dread that chilled their bones; now, Drake, the way he was thinking. He was on the verge of breaking into a cold sweat.

Drake looked again at the entrance that would lead them outside the tunnels, then back at the four in front of them. "Doesn't this resemble a hand?" he asked quietly. They had to remain quiet, not wanting the tunnels to collapse.

His friends gave him no answer; they just kept looking at him, waiting for him to answer Chad's question or to go into the tunnel. They didn't answer Drake either.

Drake sighed, then pointed at the positioning of the tunnels.

"Do you think it means something?" Drake asked, looking around them, then at the floor. He hadn't focused on the floor, only the positioning of the tunnels. He knew it meant something, but he just didn't know what it was. When he looked at the floor, he could see it. Beneath the dirt, something was hiding. "Do you see that? Right there in the center of the palm?" he asked quietly, still trying to keep his voice down.

"I don't see anything," Mike complained. He kept his eyes focused on the spot Drake was indicating.

"Me either," Chad whispered. He watched the spot in question intently.

Drake bent down and carefully scraped at the dirt. As he whipped away one thin layer at a time, a green glow pierced through. Drake smiled. He had just found the key that was meant for him.

Once it was completely revealed, he placed it with the other keys. Then toward Chad. "I believe the next one is yours. You're the only one that hasn't found one yet, that means you will find the next one."

Scanning his friends, he was about to speak, then stopped. He just walked toward the fourth tunnel. As they entered, he finally decided to talk about what he was thinking because he understood something, and he needed to get it out. "I was in the palm. Mike was in the first finger. We came from the thumb. Renn was the second finger, and Chad's will be in the tunnel representing the last finger. The book we need is in the tunnel, representing the third finger. But that one splits into three. It has to mean something."

"Maybe Ruby was meant for that tunnel," Mike suggested.

"I don't think so. If that were the case, we would have been attacked there instead. I think the beasts were added because we changed the quest by gaining a new member of the cohort. I think there is something special about the third tunnel," Drake explained. Then turned to Chad. "Don't forget, you're the one who's supposed to find the last key, so keep searching. The rest of us will continue looking. There might be something else we need to find other than the keys."

The last tunnel wasn't very long either. It was hard to concentrate, though; the eerie feeling the tunnels were giving them remained, and so did the feeling of dread. They kept at it anyway, searching for the last key.

"Is it just me, or is this quest more complicated than the last one?" Mike grumbled. "I mean, we did have a lot of issues with all the shit that was going on, but the quest itself wasn't hard. It was pretty basic. I'm not sure why, but I just know it was basic."

Without thinking, Drake explained. "The first ascension quest was to confirm we are a cohort. All members had to be present. It was a confirmation that we were in this together. This one is about critical thinking and our ability to retain knowledge and use that knowledge as a team. We gain knowledge from what we learn and see. The hand is important. I can tell it is. Each finger is us. I am at the palm because I'm the dimension master heir. You're at the fingers because you're an extension of me; You're my cohort. At least that's what I see. The third tunnel would be the middle finger, regardless of which hand you look at it. I feel like it represents our path. Where we all lead."

Chad nodded approvingly. "I'm pretty sure you're on point. Besides, he said, smiling, we're already at the end of the tunnel." Chad stood at the end of the small tunnel scanning the walls, floor, and ceiling. He didn't see anything. He pulled out his sword for more light. That's when he saw it. The light of the sword made a faint glow beneath his feet.

He bent down and uncovered what was hiding in the dirt. It was a glowing white key. He picked it up, smiling brightly. "I found it," he whispered.

Drake thought about it for a moment, seeing that Chad had found his key using his healing sword. That told him that the swords needed to be used as well. They needed to keep them all glowing, in case they came across something that only the glow of the swords would find.

"I think our swords are going to play a big part in completing this quest. So far, we've been lucky, but I feel like we need the keys first, then find the combination to open a preverbal lock to gain access to the book. My gut says that the three tunnels are the lock, and we need to find the combination to open it," Drake murmured. He spoke softly, still thinking. He was trying to figure out everything that was happening in the tunnels. His gut told him that it was all important… Every detail. The quest was teaching him to look at things as pieces of a larger whole.

He turned around and headed out of the fourth tunnel toward the palm. 'Pieces of a larger whole…pieces of a larger whole…pieces of a larger whole… 'Drake kept mumbling to himself as he walked. His friends glanced between each other, then at Drake. Neither was willing to ask him what he was thinking.

Drake's mantra never stopped. All the way to the end of the tunnel until they were back in the palm, He kept mumbling. He only stopped when they reached the palm, ready to go through the third tunnel where their real work would begin.

The eerie feeling persisted, and the feeling of dread remained, but he fought through it as he tried to decipher the tunnel's hidden secrets. Drake knew that everything was important. The hand… it told him the positions of he and his cohort. As a whole, the tunnels were a hand. The one going outside leads to the dimension. Drake and his cohort acted as a hand to the dimension to keep it safe. He was at the palm, the one guiding the fingers to do what needed to be done. He knew he needed all his fingers to do that. Lacking any, it would make it difficult to do their job. The hand showed that he and his cohort worked on behalf of the dimension. The middle finger was the path, but it was also the lock. They were the key to following their path. Drake smiled to himself as he continued his mantra.

"What do you mean, pieces of a larger whole?" Mike finally asked. Drake had mumbled the same sentence as if it were a mantra the entire way back. If it was something that Drake was fixated on, it had to mean something, and it had to be something important.

Drake shook his head. "I'm just thinking. Everything we find and do in these tunnels is just pieces of a greater whole. Everything is important and means something; We need to remember that. It's the only way we can complete this quest. I know that as well." He smiled widely. "Besides, I figured out the meaning of the hand."

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