With our newly acquired ability to go to the 4th World, not only physically but in our dreams, Nicole, Alden and I focused every spare moment we had training. While our rigorous GDF training had finally begun, we wanted to continue to push ourselves even further. For that, we decided to pay a visit to a place called the Decaying Mountains. The Decaying Mountains were a notoriously harsh environment which made great training for defensive quanum control.
“I don’t like it here,” I whined while rubbing my arms, trying to return what little warmth I could.
“You just don’t like the cold,” Alden snickered.
“Correct, I don’t like the cold. I also don’t like being surrounded by freezing POISONOUS miasma. Not to mention the ice snakes…ICE SNAKES!” I continued.
“What, you don’t like snakes? I think they’re cute,” Nicole said, with an odd look in her eyes.
“Don’t get me wrong, I like snakes, but I’m not really a fan of venomous snakes that can freeze you with a single bite. And I’m especially not a fan of them on this goopy mess of a mountain—lose concentration and we’ll get sucked into it in an instant,” I complained as we trekked along the icy snowscape.
The mountain wasn’t hard like rock; instead it was made of a mud like substance that flowed slowly from the top, somehow never running dry. It took precise quanum control to stand on the surface without sinking, all while maintaining a barrier to defend against the cold and poisonous miasma. On top of it all, there were the ice snakes that had quanum concentrated in their bite which could easily break through our already difficult to maintain quanum barrier. Their bite seemed to be incredibly dangerous, not only because of the sheer strength, but also due to the venom it injects. It is a liquifying toxin that melts you internally and freezes the victim into a block of ice. Once the victim is frozen, the ice snake slithers into the ice, swimming through it as easily as a pool of water. This allows it to feed on its prey while being protected and prevents any rescue of their target.
“Eh, stop being a baby, just don’t get bitten and concentrate on maintaining your barrier,” Alden mocked, as we trudged up the mountain.
“Still, I can’t believe how tall this place is, can you believe it’s the 3rd highest place in the 4th World? If not for this miasma I wonder how much we would be able to see,” Nicole marveled.
“Yet another reason to hate this place…” I grumbled.
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…” Alden said, cheekily.
“That would be because I didn’t wake up. I'm still SLEEPING. We’re ALL still sleeping! GAH!” I yelled in frustration as I stomped off.
I wasn’t trying to be in a bad mood or anything, even though I really did hate this place. For some reason I was just in a foul mood.
“Hmm? That’s new,” I heard Alden say from behind me, and as I turned around, a flying bat-like creature swooped down towards us.
It was simple enough to avoid—a quick duck getting us clear out of danger. It was a small creature, with bat-like wings and dark yellow scales. It really just looked like a sad attempt at a mini dragon.
“I want one!” Nicole said, almost squealing.
“Why…?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Because I do! Go get me one,” she demanded.
“Really?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes, really. Since you’re mister grumpy pants, you can go do something nice for me for having put up with your attitude,” Nicole huffed.
I looked at Alden, but he just shrugged as if saying ‘I’m not getting involved’. So off I went in search of more of those weird creatures…or so I thought.
It turns out that they’re actually of a swarming variety and just over the goopy hill was a massive swarm.
“Enemy detected. Large amounts of Tolgn ahead,” Cadeyrn alerted, several moments too late.
“Run!” I yelled as I quickly turned around, my tone indicating there was no room for debate.
“Run?” Nicole asked, but quickly noticed the swarm as Meigetsu and Nero both sounded their own alarms.
“Run it is!” Alden said, as we started running in the opposite direction.
We ran hard and fast as the massive swarm gained on us. We could have flown but that would have defeated the purpose of our training.
“I’m not sure how we deal with this, I definitely don’t have enough control for a wide area attack while maintaining my barrier. How about you two?” I asked.
“Nope,” their responses came immediately.
“Ok…” I said, as we continued our run.
The Tolgn were only a few meters behind us now. As we ran across the goopy mountain, a plan started to formulate in my mind. I quickly stopped, spun around and swept my leg down and into the goop. With a reinforced barrier around my foot I kicked the debris into the air creating a massive screen of icy-mud. The effect was rather immediate as the swarm flew straight into the mess and became very stuck.
“Wow, nice thinking,” Alden said, a genuine compliment despite his usual sarcastic ways.
“Let's head up quickly while they’re stuck. I’m not really fond of finding out what they can do,” Nicole said as she made her way back up the mountain.
“I thought you wanted one!” I chided, as we ran to catch up.
“That was before I found out they were of the swarming variety, that would just get annoying!” She yelled back.
Near the top, we could see that the mountain began to solidify and could feel the extreme decline in temperature.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Warning, temperatures have exceeded recommended parameters. Ambient temperature is -53 degrees celsius,” Nero warned.
“Yikes…and it looks like it gets even colder…look how solid it is up there. Want to keep going, or are you guys good here?” Alden asked.
Honestly, I wanted to turn back, but I knew Alden would keep going, and I didn’t want to leave him on his own. Besides, he might find something really fun to fight and I wasn’t going to let him have it to himself.
“I’m good, how about you Nicole?” I asked, feeling some concern as her quanum control wasn’t typically as good as ours.
I quickly noticed however, that her barrier was immaculate. She seemed neither cold, nor hot, and seemed entirely unbothered by the environment at all. Instinctively I began observing her with my aura and noticed that this wasn’t the work of her Dratmana, but simply the result of her own fundamental understanding of herself.
“Hmm? No, I’m fine, I really want to see what the top looks like,” she said, smiling with excitement.
“Well alright then, let’s press on,” Alden said, waving us onward.
As we ventured up the mountain we could periodically feel the occasional deep tremor in the mountain. At first they were barely noticeable but slowly and consistently they began to feel like they were getting closer to the surface.
“That feels a tad bit concerning, no?” I asked skeptically.
“Eh? It’s probably nothing we need to worry about. And even then, it’s likely nothing we can’t handle anyways,” Alden said with a shrug. “On another note, how much longer do you think we’ll have to endure basic training for?” Alden asked.
We were getting much closer to the top now, and had just broken through the miasma cloud to reveal a beautiful snowy cap and a bright iridescent sky.
“Wow, this looks amazing,” I said, looking around at the skirt of miasma clouds below us. “And honestly? I’m not sure, they’re short on officers so I would imagine they can’t afford to keep us here for too much longer. I’m sure once we complete the next couple rounds of testing we’ll be officially sworn in and given assignments,” I said, continuing to observe the natural wonder.
“Yeah, I think I agree with that assessment, although we do have some of the strictest proctors in the GDF so we’ll see. Luckily since I’m only doing operations I don’t have to get as high on the combat testing,” Nicole smiled cheekily.
“Lucky you, although I plan to score perfect marks,” Alden said, pounding his chest proudly.
“As long as I pass, I couldn’t care less honestly. I just want to quickly get on to solving the mystery of the island and figure out how that relates to the Graff and Sundals,” I said, my face stiffening as I mentioned them.
“That’s fair. I think we’ll have a good opportunity to do that here,” Alden finished, and just as he did the mountain began to rumble violently beneath our feet.
“Uhh, what the hell is that?!” Nicole asked, looking down into the icy mountain top to see a swarm of the ice snakes burrowing upwards.
“Hurray…more swarms of things. I’d rather not stick around for these, they’re a bit too dangerous, even for us,” I said, making a tactical assessment.
“Yeah, we’re not quite ready for that yet. Let's fly off, it’s important to understand our own limitations after all,” Nicole agreed.
“I mean, sure? But I think I could do it,” Alden said, scratching his chin in contemplation.
“Alden, no, we’re not doing it,” Nicole said sternly.
“Fiiine,” he said reluctantly as we began to fly upwards.
Just as we made it four meters into the air, snakes began to burst out through the ice, angrily lashing upwards at us.
“Good thing they can’t fly?” I stated before making a concerning observation. “Uhh…I think they’re combining?”
“What do you mean- Oh no…” Nicole said, as she too observed their actions.
The snakes had begun swarming onto each other creating a writhing mass of snakes. Slowly but surely a massive, long and slender body began to form before our very eyes. The swarm of snakes transformed into one massive snake, complete with a pair of flight capable wings.
“Yay!” Alden yelled in glee.
“Not yay…” Nicole said, burying her face in her hand. “Just… Don’t blow up the mountain…” Nicole grumbled.
“Can do!” Alden said, as he summoned his swords and armor.
“I said DON’T blow up the mountain,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, alright,” Alden said absently.
“Yeah, ok…he’s not listening, you boys have fun…I’m going to send in a report…” Nicole said with a large sigh.
“Can’t win them all I suppose,” I said, as I began flying over to join Alden at his side.
“Nuh uh, where do you think you’re going?” Nicole asked, as she looked up from her tablet.
“Uhh…to fight the giant snake monster?” I asked, confused.
“You can play support if he screws it up, I don’t want to have to rescue both of you and I definitely don’t want more to add to my report,” she said, her tone authoritative.
“Fine…you have fun Alden,” I said, defeated and floating backwards to rejoin Nicole.
“Oh, I will,” Alden yelled back gleefully as he was already halfway to confronting the snake.
-----
“Seven times… SEVEN TIMES?! Surely the first two were enough for you to learn but SEVEN?!” Nicole shouted, lecturing Alden who kneeled on the ground, head bowed apologetically.
We had flown wordlessly back to base where Nicole ordered Alden to kneel on the ground and explain his insubordinate actions.
“To be fair-” I started but cut off as soon as I saw Nicole’s glare.
“Well…the first one was by accident, and then the second was to make sure I understood it correctly. After that it was…science?” Alden offered with an awkward smile.
“You got eaten seven times for science?” she asked with a blank stare.
“Uhh,” Alden said, considering his words carefully. “Yes?”
“Alright, it’s official. You’re both idiots, and I am writing that in my report. I’m leaving. You boys… clean yourselves up, we have emergency rescue training in five hours. Don’t be late,” she glared before storming off.
“In my defense she told me not to blow up the mountain…” Alden said once Nicole was out of earshot.
“I…I’m going to go take a shower, I’ll see you in a few hours,” I said, at a loss for words.
I understood where Alden was coming from but it was training to follow orders and directives. Nicole was designated the leader as she was training to become an operator so I felt Alden was definitely out of line, but it was a good training exercise against a completely unknown enemy. It did seem like Alden was getting a bit too invested in the fun aspect of being a Guardian rather than the duty aspect. Either way, I had no plans of getting in between the two of them, I wanted to take a hot shower and nap. That was my plan of course, but waiting just inside the doors exiting the courtyard was Nicole, her steel gaze locked onto me.
“You know, I could have used your support,” she said, her tone and expression cold.
“I know, I’m sorry, but I didn’t want to undermine your authority. I figured that me getting in the middle of it would complicate things,” I said in an effort to explain myself.
“Except you did try to get in the middle of it before I cut you off. I get that you two have been friends for a long time but that doesn’t mean you get to team up to undermine my authority and put us in unnecessary danger. You know what, I don’t have time for this,” Nicole said, before storming off angrily.
“Oh boy…it’s going to be a long day…” I muttered before heading off to take my shower.
I barely made it three steps before remembering one crucial piece of information, I was still sleeping.
“Son of a…”