Act 2 Chapter 1
Sunlight sparkled down from a clear sky. It was a welcome, but blinding, change to Dan. This would be the first sight of the outside after arriving into this world.
Dan wore some very different clothes now. He was off for an adventure so he wore some novice-looking adventurer garb. Some of it came from the clothing of the three men he killed. The short sleeve tunic (which felt like a long basketball jersey) came from [shy guy], the boots came from the old man, and a sleeveless vest came from Herk.
The real achievement was the long sword Dan wore over his back, shoulder-sling style. The core him was essentially defragmenting its various memories into a useable database. Hopefully that will take the core from almost 893 separate sets of memories to one. Among those was probably someone who was a chemist with metallurgy knowledge right? Until then, tho, a bit of sharp metal with a handle will have to do.
Shield in his off hand he gave the cave entrance a one more glance, incase he had to find it again. Although, thanks to an artifact he had found amongst the loot, that wouldn't be necessary.
May and Linda saw him off. May seemed unenthusiastic at first but finally gave a “...have a safe trip...”
Linda, her face equipped with professional smile bid Dan “Please have a safe trip, Master!” Before bowing stiffly towards him.
“...yeah, I'm off.” Dan awkwardly said his good byes and began his trek down the valley.
Sometime after he had traveled out of sight, Linda sighed and breathed deeply. She turned around a preceded back into the cave, May in tow. They never spoke much before, and now their lives were upended.
May glanced at Linda sideways, “What, do you think will happen to us?”
Linda “...why are you asking me?”
May opened and closed her mouth like a gold fish. It was true, neither had been any more alone with their new master than the other.
The awkward silence setting in, May took a look around the 'lair' they walked through. It was hard to believe what sort of transformation the cave with a few rooms had gone through. The cavern she had found herself tricked into working in was no where to be seen.
Well, that was a bit of an exageration. The first long tunnel like corridor was still there, except once you reached the end of it, smooth squared halls branched off to either side.
In awkward silence the two walked from the old lair's corridors into the new lair's corridors. It was very different, lacking the organic natural cave curves this new corridor was definitely manufactured.
Passing a critical eye to the walls, Linda wondered if it was deliberate in making the hallway seem so...straight and artificial? Linda had seen the Crystal Core simply absorb the rock face by shining a light causing the wall to fall into dust.
“Linda, can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?” They stopped in the hallway. With Dan gone, they were essentially left to their own devices within the cave.
“Uhm...are you,” May struggled to find the words “yourself?”
“Yes...I think so? Did I worry you?” Linda frowned slightly.
“Why did you say all that stuff the other day. You sounded like...” like she had been brainwashed. Dan had shown a surprised face at the time too.
“I'm not sure what you are talking about, but he could have killed us. By all accounts, I doubt that many wouldn't have just killed us...” Linda shook her head.
“...oh yeah, I guess you would have said those weird things in that situation.”
Linda sighed in her heart, “Exactly, with our new positions, if we don't ingratiate ourselves to our new master, why would he keep us around?”
“...is that all?” Linda looked quizzically at May. “I didn't mean anything by it, you just seem like you are acting different from when I remember?”
“Huh?”
“Like when I got here, you were fawning on Herk...” May was really confused. “Did you...”
“Hm?...Ew, with Herk?! Gods no, he's a bit too...rapey? Is that a word?” Linda tilted her head.
Dan was enjoying getting out. Walking in the park and hiking in woods, no matter how hot sweaty and annoying the bugs, always left him with a feeling of revitalization. And now, he was in a world that seemed ripped from fantasy. The sense of adventure was kindled and the world was begging for exploration.
As the trail sloped downward, he stopped and examined some plants. They were very similar to the earth weeds he remembered, yet different. “I wonder if any of these have special qualities that I can make pills from,” he mused whimsically.
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“I mean, this world has magic,” Dan straightened up again. “I can't trust my old...mundane world's standards here. Hmm...I wonder what those stoners from back then would think of Magical magic shrooms?” A scary thought occurred “Would the hallucinations become real?! Nah, the world would have been destroyed by technicolor elephants, rampaging midgets, and clouds that taste like percussion instruments.” He chuckled a bit.
Orchids, Lichen, and dandelions littered the cracks and crevices of the cliff wall and ground. These weren't actually the terrestrial plants he remembers but similar enough for him to think of them as anagrams. “Should I actually take some back? Medicine will always be a good source of income.”
Dan frowned again as his eyes drooped. He didn't pay attention but a slouch in his posture was definitely visible. “How am I going to live here? What can I do?” Shaking his head like a wet dog, he dislodged his unuseful thoughts. “I'll figure out all that once I find civilization in the first place.
As he took in his surroundings, he noticed he was approaching the end of the cliff wall and the beginning of a densely wooded area. A quick check of his equipment, including the glyph he had looted from the old man's stash, reassured him that he was prepared for whatever would come.
Actually, he was more than prepared. His original body had been refined to an amazing degree of healthiness. He had gone over his body and patched up the wear and tear of life he could find. Bone fractures were fused cleanly, frayed ligaments were reattached and muscle fiber was bolstered and invigorated with more protein.
The easiest to handle was repairing the skin, and circulatory system. Cleaning out arteries and veins, as well as enhancing their girth was time consuming rather than difficult. Not being able to help himself he had found and purged the last of the nicotine from his lung wall, and repaired it all. His heart was made larger as well, although he had to wonder if he couldn't replace the heart with some kind of magic pump. He lacked confidence, and knowledge to do more.
The trail left the cliff wall behind, and turned into a wooded valley. The trees were young and dense, but not so dense to be dark. Birds were chirping unseen, and a soft carpet of old leaves were everywhere in sight.
The sound of running water drew Dan towards a cleft in the forest floor where, sure enough, he found a clean stream.“It should be safe to drink right?”
Having come to a complete stop, Dan realized his body was covered in aches already. The arm weighed down by the shield was especially sore, despite the shield feeling relatively light several hours ago.
“I wonder why? Did I not increase the right kind of muscles?” Dan turned and hit a tree near to him with his fist.
Thwump...Crackle! The tree bent under his fist, its three-foot diameter trunk splintering abit under the sudden impact of force. His power was stronger and more explosive than a professional weightlifter due to the altered muscle fiber he had slipped in from the demon's body. Not like a direct transplant, but mimicry through magical modification. Due to that he was strong as an ox without the bulk.
“...inhale...OWWWW!” His bones had also been reinforced, but his skin around his knuckles was not. “...why didn't anyone mention that punching hurt you and the other guy?!” he asked no one in particular through gritted teeth.
“...But now that I think back, I guess bronze knuckles and MMA gloves exist for a reason, right?!” despite enough pain to cause a tear to his eyes the skin was already starting to scab up as the blood vessels emitted a gentle glow the same color as the Core's light. “Good thing I didn't bring the girls with me, never be able to put up a 'wise master' face again if they saw this.”
“Grawar...”
Dan was startled slightly by a new noise. Turning to his side, he saw several creatures slinking about through the trees. Like small mischievous children, they hid behind trees and only moved behind roots.
Frowning, Dan realized that his thoughts were wrong. They were more like furless monkeys than children, and their eyes and bared teeth carried an air of maliciousness not mischievousness.
Satisfied that he was alone, one crawled out from behind a tree flaring its nostrils...well its face slits which were where the nose should be. The squinted eyes, thick bone ridge of a brow and protruding jaw made this creature very ugly.
If Dan had to put a label on them it would be 'Goblins'. Or 'Gremlins'. Short little wicked creatures that were usually the first things a new adventurer came across.
But what really made it ugly was its lack of clothes and fur. Despite each having some sort of spear, or knife, or club none of them felt the need to wear pants. This meant that both of its weapons were being brandished at Dan.
“Nope, Nope, F**k Nope!” Dan scrambled up to his feet, tugging his longsword from his over the shoulder sheath. “Why is this thing...Hey guys firstly, I come in peace,”
“GiyAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” One of the goblins screeched at Dan, who came to the conclusion that they didn't.
Meanwhile, Dan was struggling to draw his sword. The blade was about as long as his arm, so when he extended his arm, about three inches of blade was still in its sheath.
Dan was starting to panic a little, “This isn't the way it normally happens...” he managed to stop himself from saying something like 'in the movies'. “Have all my ideas come from fiction?!”
The viscous little creatures charged at him.
One club swung at his face as he peddled backwards.
“Calm down, Dan. You are still stronger and faster than them. Yeah, okay!” He cheered himself as his shield blocked a club strike, he barely noticed the shock running up his already tired arm.
“GUUU!” another goblin, this one with a long pointed stick, thrust at Dan's waist.
Forsaking all dignity Dan fell away, tactically. He landed on one of the little things, and rolled off it reflexively, “sorry, I didn't...wait a minute!”
Spitting a leaf out of his mouth he noticed his sword skidded to a halt infront of him! “No we're talking!”
The Goblins were charging after him giving him no time to form a plan.
Taking up his sword, he was ready to strike back. His sword was made with the knowledge he had brought with him from earth! With Iron made to his exact specifications, and shaped perfectly, he was ready to attack!
One of the goblins was close, he swung his fiercest homerun swing ever! A swing that may very well have put any baseball into literal orbit! A slight impact shook his arm, like a twisting feeling, but it wasn't important.
His heart was pumping, he was ready for the next foe, a goblin with the spear appeared before him “You again?!” SWING!
...Something, the spear Goblin was still there. Not dead. Apparently it couldn't figure out why either. Goblin looked at Dan, Dan looked at Goblin.
“Guhi?! Guhuyuyuyuy!” The sound of chortling laughter came from one of the other goblins. It pointed at Spear Goblin's feet as it ran up to it.
“Gu? ….Guuuuu! Gu gu gu gu...” Spear Goblin, looking down saw that a puddle had formed, and a pile. Embarrassed, it cried into its own arm in shame.
“...But you're already walking around the forest naked and all--”
“Gu! Guri guhu!”
The laughing goblin came along at this moment and started pointing at Dan. And laughing. Specifically at Dan's sword. “Huh? What the!”
The blade was snapped off almost at the hilt. The goblin from earlier was dead, sure enough. He was lying against a tree. The tree had a gouge like something had burst against it.
“Twisted, the sword twisted...” and snapped apparently. Another sneaking feeling came down his spine “I don't have any idea what I'm doing, do I?” A terrible lesson to learn in front of enemies.