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Part of the old story, make sure to check out the remade Alteration here.
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After turning Alteration on again Blake went to the canyon and entered it carefully after confirming that the minotaur was far away. He then went into it with hurried steps and nervously studied everything around him. There was no vegatation at all in the canyon. The floor was gravel and the sides were made from piled up stone rocks. The light was a bit dimmer but enough was coming from the cracks that one could still see relatively well.
I wonder if there are other guards around here?
He continue walking and suddenly noticed a chest next to the side of the canyon and a huge woodden club leaned on it.
What's this mark?
He saw a mark on it from the side and approached it to see better. A rune was carved into the club, but it looked like a really rough work. Blake decided to ignore it and looked at the chest.
Now lets see what we have here.
He slowly tried to move the club from the chest but it was far heavier than it looked. He got a part off of it, but it was far too heavy for him to hold even with two hands.
Gently.... If this falls down the minotaur will hear for sure. Come on, slowly and carefully.
He carefully lowered the club bit by bit with a reddened face. It was so big that he nearly lost balance but he managed to recover. Finally he put it down without it falling out of his hands and he turned to the now free chest.
It had no lock so he opened it easily.
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[br][/br]Roasted boar meat
Delicious boar meat that is well seasoned. Can be sold for a very high price if still fresh.
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[br][/br]Armor of the fallen
Armor Locked
Required class: Sanguine paladin
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-''Tsk...''
Too bad it looks really strong. And good...
It was a leather armor which was made out of crimson and black parts. Its design was very unique and it looked like a quite rare armor. It reminded Blake of demons and fire with its colors and the original design also looked a bit malicious.
At least I will get quite a lot of money selling this.
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[br][/br]Very sturdy rope
A rope that is used by many adventurers.
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I'm sure this will also come in handy.
He stored the items with a satisfied expression in his bag.
I might also find some items here that can be used as a reward for those guys if they manage to do it. Nothing too good though... The roasted boar could be a start , maybe also some mediocre armor parts if I find them.
As he was thinking in front of the chest he, noticed that the light tremors started again.
The minotaur is approaching! I have to go.
He hurriedly went deeper into the canyon and kept walking for a few minutes until he stopped feeling the tremors. Once he noticed that they stopped he slowed down and again inspected his environment.
Something seems off...
The stone walls on the sides were now complete. They weren't just rock chunks, it looked like someone made them.
If the walls are man made then maybe also...
He swiped with his foot a bit of gravell from the floor and discovered that it was also made out smooth stone.
It looks like the whole canyon was constructed, but why? Some dungeon maybe? Or was I previously right and this is an underground faction? This whole massive stone walls and floor are a bit similar to a palace or a temple. I will have to continue and see.
Blake continued walking and found himself in a spot where the canyon started to go deeper into the earth and widened. He couldn't see where it was going because the light that came from the cracks in the floating forest wasn't strong enough to illuminate the deeper parts of the canyon.
I will be going quite deep down if I continue... even now the wall's height is around twenty meters I can't really guess how much it's down there, but it's safe to say that I will be quite far from the surface. At least I won't have any trouble with the light.
Blake stretched his hands out in front of him and made two Lava orbs.
Wow, it's really easy even without words now that I'm used to it.
The orbs made the canyon light up in red and with that he continued to go further into the canyon.
He walked for what seemed like an eternity and the canyon widened considerably. There was now at least a distance of fifty meters between the walls.
This is really creepy... Why would someone build such a huge hidden canyon? Or should I call it tunnel because it is partly covered with the floating forest? Ah, it doesn't matter either way.
He nervously looked around himself every so often. After a while he noticed that something was sticking out from the walls a bit farther away.
Finally something appeared in this canyon-cave!
He hurriedly approached the thing he noticed but stopped once he came a near enough to see. It was a huge stone ball thrice as big as him that seemed to be stuck in some kind of hole in the wall.
Looks like just about half of it is sticking out. Whatever is behind it nothing can be seen... Maybe it's some sort of corridor or entrance? Maybe it doesn't cover everything.
He approached the ball and wanted to inspect it when he noticed the carving that were on the front of the ball. Blake decided to first take a look at that and he approached it with a puzzled look on his face.
Is this...a rune?
A big complicated symbol was engraved into the ball.
It is huge! And all the lines and form... It must be an extremely complicated and powerful rune. Why is it on this ball? Could this be some sort of enchanted tool maybe? I have no idea what it is if that's correct. I wonder what's up ahead.
Blake walked to the middle of the canyon-tunnel and threw a Lava orb as far as he could. It lightened the canyon up and showed what was further ahead. The walls had all spheres like this one stuck in them. After a few seconds the orb exploded revealing another huge part of the canyon, but it was all the same, filled with tens and hundreds of stone spheres in the walls.
So...
Blake stood with an expressionless face, still looking ahead.
Now I know that these balls are pretty important. Is there anything else here besides them?
He walked towards the front part of the nearest ball and starred at the rune.
I think I'll note the shape somewhere maybe Teruna knows something about it.
-''Note. Manual mode.''
A window appeared in front of him and he started carefully drawing the rune on it. He had to give it a few tries until he found the sketch satisfactory.
After finishing he traced the lines with his hand to confirm that he hadn't done anything wrong or missed something.
*thump*
Suddenly he heard a sound that made him jump in surprise. He looked in bewilderment at the side of the ball where the sound came from. A shape was hiding in the shadows that the ball was making.
Blake was staring intently at the shape hidden by shadows and tried to recognise it. He moved the Lava orb slowly to the side and the shadow in which the creature was hiding got weaker. Blake now recognised a small furry creature with four legs and tail.
What the... A puppy?
A puppy was hiding in the shadows and looked at him with a confused expression. Blake relaxed and a smile crept on his face.
I guess that it's a neutral animal, but how did it get here? Maybe it's a baby monster? Or could it be one of the monster races that are used as a pet by some classes? Well I have no idea but it seems like I startled it. Ah the poor thing looks scared.
Blake spoke up with a silent and relaxed tone, trying to calm the puppy down.
-''How did you get here little guy? Did you wander into this canyon by accident?''
The puppy made no move and continued to stare at Blake.
Do I have something for him to make him open up a bit easier? The meat would be a good idea, but I wouldn't be able to approach him while he eats... Something that would serve as a treat would be good I think. Oh!
Blake started digging through his bag until he found something.
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[br][/br]16x Nuts
An ordinary nut.
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This will do.
He turned to the puppy and slowly extended his hand while talking soothingly.
''Oh, you poor thing. You must be starving! No need to fear me little one.''
He stopped his hand with a complicated expression.
He might take it as aggressive behaviour if I get too close to him... I'll try to carefully throw it in front of him.
He softly threw the nut and it landed just in front of its paws. At first the falling object surprised the puppy and it jumped up, but it immediately noticed that it was harmless. It slowly approached the nut and started sniffing it. After a few seconds it took it in the mouth and ate it with a crunch.
Seeing that a wide smile appeared on Blake's face.
-''That's it lil' guy, no need to be scared. Here, another one.''
Blake threw another nut before the puppy and he readily ate it this time, but he still didn't stop looking confusedly at Blake.
He still seems very cautious of me. This method won't really help me much more. I need to change my approach.
He took three nuts and put them in his open palm showing them to the puppy.
-''Look! More tasty snacks for you!''
He extended his arm and stepped in the direction of the puppy. Suddenly an impossibly deep growl came out of the mouth of the puppy and its whole shape turned black. He leapt in Blake's direction and suddenly started changing its shape in mid-air.
Blake was frozen from surprise and soon found himself on the floor, eye to eye with a pair of black eyes. He tried to move with widened eyes and a terrified expression but the paws of the beast were pinning him down and he couldn't move even a bit. His face was full of terror and he found himself even unable to scream, not that it would do him any good.
He slowly looked at the whole beast and what he saw didn't calm him down in the slightest.
It is... a huge dog? No... A wolf.
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The wolf's body was made from stone and black energy like stripes between the stone parts. It seemed like the dark stripes were connecting the stone or it could have been the opposite. The wolf gave out such a blood-freezing feeling of terror that the stone might have actually restricted the darkness and kept it inside. The very being of the wolf seemed unstable and unfathomably dangerous.
But it wasn't the body which made Blake so terrified neither the ferocious face with its huge teeth.
No, Blake couldn't look away anymore from the beasts eyes. They were cold eyes of a predator which was calculating how it should deal with its prey. Its jaws slowly opened and two rows of sharp teeth came into Blake's vision.
He tried to struggle one last time with all his strength, but it was in vain. He couldn't move at all. The wolf slowly lowered his head to Blake's and then the latter realised that the wolf wasn't even leaning hard onto him before this point. Blake's breath was pressed out of his lungs and he found himself unable to inhale. His bones were also getting gradually more and more weight pushed onto them so cracks were slowly starting to be heard. Blake's face was distorted from pain and his face was turning blue from the lack of oxygen.
Why... is this happening..? I'm certain... I turned the pain setting down...
Finally the wolf lowered his head all the way down to Blake with jaws wide open. The wolf then looked directly into his eyes, chilling him to the core and Blake heard a loud thunder like voice echoing inside his head and giving him goosebumps.
-''What are you?''
Blake's mind was growing darker by the moment, but he used all that was left to try saying a word. The unbelievable weight of the monster wolf was keeping his lungs from filling and only whispered and unintelligible sounds came from his mouth.
Air... Need... Air...
Suddenly the wolf stepped down from his chest and a thunder like voice echoed again in Blake's mind.
-''Speak!''
Blake gasped for air and continued to pant, trying to recover, but he never looked away from the wolf. Every breath he took and every move he made was painful. It seemed like quite a lot of his bones were broken. He wasn't able to stand up and tried to press a word out between his ragged breathing.
-''Human...''
The wolf was suddenly again standing above him with a pawn leaned on his hand. Its voice shook again through his mind with wrath that made Blake cringe.
-''I will ask you again. What. Are. You?''
The wolf applied stronger and stronger pressure to his hand until loud cracking noises were heard by the final word. Blake screamed out in agony while trying to speak back to the wolf.
-''STOP! ARGH!''
The wolf suddenly moved his pawn from the smashed hand to the other. The voice which echoed in Blake's head was devoid of any mercy.
-''I'll ask again nicely, what are you?''
Blake was drenched in sweat and he breathed heavily trying to suppress his pain and talk.
-''Log...out!''
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[br][/br]Failed to execute order. Error: Unknown
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Blake closed his eyes not believing what he saw.
Suddenly the wolf lifted his stone pawn and brought it down with such force on Blake's thumb that the ground beneath it cracked. Only a red mess remained where once the thumb was.
Blake screamed out, eyes wide open with terror, experiencing excruciating pain.
He let out a whimpering, confused whisper after losing the energy to scream.
-''Impossible...why..?
The wolf lifted his pawn again and put it over Blake's wrist.
-''NO!''
Blake screamed out with a hoarse voice seeing what the wolf was about to do again...
The wolf's eyes were staring into his eyes, seemingly seeing every thought and emotion. The voice rumbled cold as ever.
-''I recommend you to talk. You will do that anyway sooner or later, that I guarantee.''
Blake trembled, feeling that every word he heard was true. He quickly started talking as clearly as he could in his pitiful state in hope that the monster will stop.
-''I'll...tell you...''
He pressed the words out with great effort, trying to ignore the unbearable pain.
Must...make him...stop... Why didn't I.... faint... from the...pain? Game effect..?
-''I'm human... but not... from th...''
The voice shook his mind again.
-''I know what players are. Do not repeat to me things I know or I might just decide to motivate you a bit more.''
The wolf leaned a bit on Blake's wrist. The bone didn't break, but it was very close to doing so. Blake suppressed a scream and the wolf lifted his pawn again.
Blake continued talking like before, pressing out every word with immense effort.
-''I'm a player which went... through a ritual. It made me a... part of this world... I am now something in between... a resident of this world... and mine.''
The voice was heard again and the wolf looked him in the face, as if trying to decide if it's the truth or not.
-''Interesting... Who did this?''
Blake was heavily panting now, not having enough air or energy to continue giving long answers, but he did his best to evade another pulverised bone.
If this went on he might just die from blood loss if his regeneration wasn't high enough. It was hard to say because the rules were either broken or he was standing right at the edge of dying which would actually save him.
-''L...Hedgehogs...''
The massive stone paw landed heavily on Blake's wrist, making him loose the control of his hand and replacing it with horrid pain.
-''Are you mocking me boy? There's no way that the hedg...''
The words inside Blake's voice came to an abrupt stop as he was crying out in pain again.
-''Could it be? No, that's impossible, but I must still ask you. Do you by any chance mean the volcanic hedgehogs?''
Blake had no strength left and every breath he took was hurting him so he made the faintest nod while still panting and screaming.
Out of the blue the formerly cold voice which echoed through his mind turned into a happy one.
-''They survived! I'm so full of joy I could explode.''
The wolf lightly hopped on the spot making huge noise with his heavy stone body and making tremors. Blake was still unable to do anything but breathe and occasionally scream up, but he watched this with a complicated expression.
Ah... I must have gone mad... from the pain.
The wolf turned again to Blake, but his eyes weren't cold anymore. They now had a cheerful spark which only made Blake's belief firmer that he lost his mind.
-''Boy, bring me to the hedgehogs! Today is a good day for both them and me. Also what's your connection with the hedgehogs?''
Blake managed with much effort to stop screaming and now looked at the wolf with a blank expression, not understanding anything that was going on.
-''I'm... their leader...''
The eyes of the wolf turned cold again for a second, but he continued cheerfully.
-''Just bring me to them and then we'll see. ''
A little bit of light returned to Blake, despite his broken body continuously agonising him.
-''I'm dying... because of you...''
A puffing sound was heard inside his mind and then the wolf's voice echoed again in a nonchalant way.
-''No, you are not. I was careful.''
He sounded like everything was resolved with that. Blake continued with a hoarse voice.
.''I'm bleeding... and totally broken... I can't go anywhere... Not even log out...’’
The voice resounded again.
-'' Don't worry I stopped now. You are a player right? You should have good regeneration. Also yes, you aren't able to log out. Just bring me to the hedgehogs.''
Blake tried to stop thinking about all the things that made the situation wrong and worked on the problem at hand.
-''This isn't supposed to... happen to a player... I should have died from that much... damage... What did you...do?''
The wolf just shook lightly his head.
-''Unimportant. Just tell me how I can hasten your recovery!''
Blake thought what could be done as hard as he could with his mind clouded in excruciating pain.
-''My bag... I think I found a recovery potion a few hours ago... pour it over the wounds.''
The wolf stuck its head into the bag and dug through it. Finally he rose with a vial in his mouth and inquired.
-''Is this the one?''
Blake was still lying there, suppressing the pain and he lightly nodded.
The wolf now approached Blake and asked again with a confused way.
-''What should I do now?
Blake understood immediately where the problem was. Both his hands were broken and the wolf had no thumbs to use for uncorking the potion.
Perfect...
He talked to the wolf with a strained voice.
-''Bite the upper part... off and then carefully pick it up and... Pour the content over me.''
The wolf lowered the vial and did as instructed. He bit the upper part off with no problems thanks to his powerful jaw, but put too much force into it so shards flew everywhere and a few dug into Blake's thigh which made him whimpered at the new source of pain. Nevertheless Blake managed to stay more or less calm and continued to instruct the wolf.
-''Pour it over the worst wounds first...''
And with that the wolf started to pour the potion on Blake's broken body. The latter moaned and winced continuously because his bones were regenerating and going ever so slowly into their right place. In the middle of this the wolf's voice was again heard in Blake's mind.
-''You really made my day, well both of our days actually.''
Blake forced himself to talk again because of the outrageous words.
-''How do you... mean that? You tortured and...nearly killed me. ''
The wolf just continued in a tranquil voice.
-''You actually got more out of this than me. We both got an ally, but you will also get a lot of knowledge. Don't complain about your body it will soon be as good as new again. What is important is the end result. Just bring me to the hedgehogs and everything will be superb.''
-''...Yes.''
Blake pressed the word out with much effort and he fell into a half unconscious state, waiting for his body to fix itself.
I will bring you to Teruna don't you worry. I'll also recommend you as a snack if you don't turn out to be very, very useful.
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Thanks for reading
Here is another chapter. I know that it isn't quite long, but I wanted to turn Alteration into a story that gets weekly new chapters. I hope you like it.
Here is the link where I will sometimes put some info regarding Alteration and when the next chapter will be released. Feel free to comment.