"Would you hold your tongue, you savage?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday, Août 17th, Year 1734 in the Thorian Calendar
I woke with a groan, confused and unsure of where I was. Again. I didn't know why, but for some reason this was becoming something of a new trend for me.
Groggy as I was, it took a moment before I had all of my memories returned to me.
It wasn't a long moment.
Full lucidity stuck my groggy mind like a carriage, and full throated panic overtook me in less than a heartbeat. I shot my hands towards the wounds on my stomach with a speed like wildfire, and was too scared to even dare to open my eyes on the off chance that some lingering hints of magelight would illuminate for me a most horrifying and gruesome sight.
My panic lasted a few frantic moments, but when my hands felt nothing but smooth, undamaged skin, relief swept over me like the morning tides. The wounds were gone, completely. An indescribable joy overcame me, and for a few moments I did nothing but lay on the cool ground, sighing with pleasure as the tension in my stomach abated and the sensations of being alive, and of being whole, took over my mind.
There was no room for doubt. What I had experienced in that other world was no fever dream of a dying man; it was real.
Relaxed, but still slightly shaking, I moved to a sitting position with something of an absurd grin on my face, slowly cracking open my eyes as I did so.
I hadn't even managed to open my eyes more than an inch before a searing pain lanced across them, shooting needles of agony all the way into the back of my skull. Bright blue and red light… Boxes… were dancing across my vision, repeating incessantly, one box after the other in a constant pattern. Accustomed to the dark as I was, it hurt my eyes to even glance at them.
Welcome hero to the Orion Demigod Complex! You have earned the blessing of the God—
< Error >
< No Celestial Consciousness detected >
< Processing >
< Searching >
< Critical Error - Unable to Establish contact with any celestial being >
< Engaging Emergency Failsafes - Activating Total Extermination Protocol >
E̵̡̲͐r̶̍́͜r̷̲̗̎o̵̐͜͝r̵͓͝ ̸̻̠͐Ę̷̡͋r̵͍̻̊̃r̸̘̕ò̵̧͉r̷̙͔̽̌ ̶̯̅E̷͕̿̈r̸̜̉r̴̖̤͛̍ọ̴͐͠ṟ̷̏ ̷̥̞͌̈́U̴͎̤͠n̴̛̘̐k̴̡͎̈̑n̷͖̜͋͒ö̷̗͖́͝w̵̹̌n̴̜͌ ̸͖̽v̴̨̼͗̈́i̶̟͉͌͊r̴͉̈́u̸̼̅̀s̸͔̋ ̶̣͆d̸͇̬̉̇e̵̡̧̍͆t̸̩̒e̸̗̺̔͆c̸̳̈t̴́̉͜ͅẽ̴̖͇͂ḏ̶̍ ̷̱̹̆̔ŝ̸̭̀y̷̩̳̍s̸̓̿͜ͅt̴͓̄ê̶̖m̷̺͝ ̸̭̌̃m̵̘͗̈́a̷̘̺̍l̴̩̯͂͘f̵͎̘̿û̷͓̘̇n̵̦͑̚c̷͚͌̓t̷̨͇̍ḯ̶͕õ̶͘ͅn̵̩̓̋ ̴̨̘̈́͒ḯ̴̥̙̌m̷̘̘̾m̶̠͓͐̎i̶͚͝n̶̩̖̅͝ẹ̸̥̈͒ñ̴͍t̶̽͜ ̷̛̭̥̀Ḛ̶̰̅r̸̭̪̒r̶̙̎o̸͓̫͌r̶͇̃͗ ̶̺͚͑E̴̡̼͆ȓ̴͔͓͝ŕ̸͙̈́ò̴̹ŗ̴̐ ̵̳̯͌
< Extermination Protocols Deactivated - All Processes Normal >
—Who in Their Infinite Wisdom, Has Seen a Spark of the Divine Within You. You Have Been Gifted a Chance to Exceed Your Revolting Mortal Limits, Should You Show That You Have the Will to Achieve it!
As soon as I finished reading the final word in each of the boxes, they disappeared. The red messages in particular seemed especially disturbing. I couldn't imagine "Extermination Protocol" meant any sort of benevolent action. However, it still brought me some measure of relief to see that the wanderer had at least kept his promise. If it seemed that he barely stopped the Gods' creation from killing me, well, at least I now had access to something no man had had access to for millenia. A beggar couldn't be a chooser, I begrudgingly reckoned.
What I needed, more than anything, was more information. Were these communications just old, dead messages sent out into the ether, or were they a sign of intelligence? Could this thing respond to my questions? Thoughts?
Mentally, I sent a request for more information. Nothing happened.
Maybe it required my voice?
"Can you... Can you give me some information about how... how do you.... Can you tell me how any of this actually works?" I asked quietly, my stuttering voice a wandering echo in the darkness.
Question Received! The Orion Complex is a Monumental Work Created by the Divine to Uplift Inferior Beings Such as Yourself!
It Consists of Two Parts: Individual Statistics and Divine Skills.
Your Individual Statistics Represent Your Ability Within Certain Domains Compared to the Rest of the Human Population. A Score of 100 is Completely Average, While a Score of 200 is Better Than 99.9999% of the Human Population. Through Your Actions, Celestial Aid Will be Given to Raise Your Traits to the Height of Human Potential.
Your Divine Skills Are Unique Powers That Are Granted to You Upon Completion of Great Deeds. Upon Completion of Various Achievements, Certain Powers Will be Offered to You. You May Choose Only One Power From The List Provided, Whereupon All Other Powers in the List Will Become Unavailable to You.
< Alert - Due to Appalling Insolence, and Shameful, Classified Incidents, Individual Statistics Are Now to be Capped at 200. Any Attempt to Circumvent This Limitation Will be Met With Protracted Torture and Deadly Force From All Celestial Beings >
"I... see" I replied, my brow raising ever higher the more I read.
The mechanics of the Orion Matrix seemed simple enough. I actually found the warning more amusing than threatening. In fact, the idea grew funnier the longer I dwelt on it. It had to be one of the most absurd warnings I'd ever seen, even if the intention was deadly serious. It seemed that someone in the past had grown a little too ambitious for the Gods' liking, and that ambition had not gone over well at all.
It was of no matter to me. I had no intention to challenge random Gods, and besides, it was still up in the air whether anyone was around to even pay attention to me if I wanted to. I would take the wanderer's information with a grain of salt, but as of right now I had no great cause to doubt him. The Gods may very well have abandoned all of us.
"Orion," I called out, deciding to try this shorthand as its name. "Is it possible for you show me my Individual Statistics?" It would be interesting to see how I compared to the rest of Humanity. I hoped my pride wouldn't come out too badly injured by the end of this.
Command Received! Bringing Up Individual Statistics!
< Error >
< Warning: Critical Error - Unable to Establish contact With Central Data Banks - Human Averages Unknown - As a Precaution, Celesticial Aid Towards Stat Increases Will be Currently Disabled >
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
< Error >
Birth Name Simon Depuis Sex Male Intelligence < E̵̡̲͐r̶̍́r̷̲̗̎o̵̐r̵͓͝ > Strength < E̵̡̲͐r̶̍́r̷̲̗̎o̵̐r̵͓͝ > Constitution < E̵̡̲͐r̶̍́r̷̲̗̎o̵̐r̵͓͝ > Dexterity < E̵̡̲͐r̶̍́r̷̲̗̎o̵̐r̵͓͝ > Charisma < E̵̡̲͐r̶̍́r̷̲̗̎o̵̐r̵͓͝ > Luck < E̵̡̲͐r̶̍́r̷̲̗̎o̵̐r̵͓͝ > Magical Power < E̵̡̲͐r̶̍́r̷̲̗̎o̵̐r̵͓͝ >
"Why of course!" I exclaimed with a snort. My mood instantly soured.
Of course a mysterious soul devouring creature from another dimension couldn't be trusted to actually help you. Wow, what a discovery I'd made! Thinking I could gain something from such a creature was brilliant, my finest moment even! Only a true genius like myself would ever make such a deal with one. Scholars would be lauding, no, standing in awe of my intellect for centuries!
"Fucking Bastard." I muttered, hanging my head. My voice was dripping with scorn towards the wanderer, but also towards myself.
Honestly, the worst part of it was that I had expected this sort of thing, and yet had made the deal with the wanderer anyway. It certainly seemed better than death at the time. After all, I would never get the chance to bring justice to those wretched vermin crawling around back home if I was buried a league under the Earth.
Of course, maybe I was just a coward. I could dress up my reasonings anyway I wanted, but I knew I would never be able to extinguish the lingering doubt that all these justifications of mine were nothing more than childish, craven delusions.
"Useless... Everything I do is always so utterly fucking useless." I defeatedly murmured. Maybe I had traded my soul for pig shit, but, in truth, I supposed I was lucky to get anything at all from a creature buying men's souls.
Remembering the other part of the complex mentioned earlier, I slowly perked my head up, and a sliver of hope began to return to me.
"Orion can you at least tell me if the... divine skills or talents or however its called are restricted to me as well?" I almost hesitantly ventured into the empty air.
Question Received! There are Currently No Limitations to Divine Skills at this Time.
"Well, there's a minor miracle." I sighed.
The air of despair that had been starting to take hold of me abated somewhat. While there was clearly something wrong with the Demigod Complex which was preventing me from using its full potential, it still seemed able to offer me some semblance of the power I would need to regain what I was owed.
My curiosity satisfied, I once again took stock of my immediate situation. I decided that, for now, worrying anymore about the Complex would probably do nothing but waste my time and energy. The old stories, the ones I could remember anyway, and the recent information from the comlex bluntly stated that the system rewarded extraordinary feats with unique powers, and I doubted I was about to do anything extraordinary in the present moment. Besides, if all went well and I got out of this disaster in one piece, I'd have all the time in the world to do study the powers of the Complex.
With the boxes gone, the aching within my eyes gradually abated, and I was left to savour the pitch blackness of my would be tomb. It seemed the mage light had gone out while I was... wherever I had been.
It took some time, but I managed to regain most of my emotional stability. I still remained in a sitting position, and there I stayed for many more minutes, simply enjoying the feeling of cold air entering my lungs, and the pounding of my heart as I thought of nothing at all.
My period of rest drew to a close, and I began to think about my situation. As far as I could tell, I was right where I landed earlier. Admittedly, what I could tell was just about nothing, as I was completely blind. It only took me a few moments of soul searching to conclude, that, without light, I was screwed. There was simply no way I could navigate towards the upper chambers of the mine with no light. I needed to find the mage light, and get it working, somehow. I apparently had magic within me, if recent events were to be believed. I did have a different soul, but the wanderer had assured me he'd grant me magical power, whatever that was really worth. He couldn't outright lie, or at least, he hadn't yet. It must be present within me, somewhere.
Or so I hoped.
I could only hope for the best, really. Demoralization would not help me. I did have magic; I would consider no other thoughts.
I needed to find the mage lamp, and then channel magic into it until it worked again. It seemed like the obvious course of action, and it couldn't be too hard, right? I had had magical lessons during my childhood, back when it was assumed I'd eventually show the talent like many in the family. Surely with a few hours of tinkering, I could do something as simple as channel some magical energy into a device designed to eagerly accept it.
I clicked my tongue, and with no better plan, I got on my hands and knees and started feeling for the lantern. I was confident I could find it before too long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm fucked" I declared into the void, for what must've been the 10th time.
Being upbeat was easier said than done.
It'd been a few hours at least, and despite my most valiant effort, I couldn't find the damn lamp to save my life. The room I'd fallen into appeared to be massive, as I'd yet to even touch a wall in my hours of searching. Even though I'd been careful, and was crawling around on my hands and knees, twice I'd fallen down into small, unseen craters, getting my ruined clothing soaked with muddy water and jamming two fingers of my left hand. The throbbing pain it gave me did not improve my mood.
I struggled in the dark for some time more, not willing to give into despair, or my rising anger at life in general and the wanderer in particular for leaving me trapped to die here. If he had the ability to return me to life, and give me strange powers, at the very least he could've--
Achievement "Acolyte of Hades" Completed!
Spend at a Day More Than a Half a League Underground in Complete Darkness!
New Divine Skills Unlocked!
Congratulations! You Have New Divine Skills Available! Feel Free to Select a New Ability Whenever You Are Ready
"Gods take me to hell!" I cried out in shock.
The sudden burst of light caused another explosion of pain in eyes, and it took me a few moments before I was able to even read whatever the hell this thing was trying to tell me. I'd avoided wasting time worrying about the complex up until now. As it had told me earlier, I needed to do great feats to gain great powers. In my mind, slaying a thousand men in battle or climbing to the peak of a mountain was a great feat. Whatever strange powers it could grant me, it had seemed obvious that crawling around in a dark cavern wouldn't meet the requirements to earn one of them.
Luckily for me, I was very wrong.
"Yes, I would like to choose a new Divine Skill." I answered.
Command Received! Bringing up a list of available Divine Skills!
Divine Skills Relevant Information Heart of Darkness You Are Completely at Home in the Dark. At Night or in Dark Places, You Will Never Experience Fear, No Matter the Circumstances. In Darkness, You Will Heal at a Vastly Accelerated Rate. Nocturnal Sight Darkness Holds No Secrets For You. You Can See Everything Shrouded in the Darkness as Clear as Day, Albeit Without Color. Shroud of Darkness Shadows and Darkness Naturally Surround Your Body Like a Shroud Whenever You Will it. Both Animals and People will have trouble Noticing Your Presence In Dim Places.
I slowly read through the options available to me, and it was immediately apparent that I would have no other choice than to pick Nocturnal Sight. Both of the other options were quite useless to me given my present circumstances. I needed to be able to see, nothing else was nearly as important. I supposed Heart of Darkness could have some use in helping me survive potential injuries down here, but I no longer had any serious injuries, so the point was moot. The worst option was Shroud of Darkness, which would do absolutely nothing for me, and therefor I gave the idea of picking it no more than a disdainful snort.
"Orion, I would like for you to give me the Nocturnal Sight Skill." I finally announced.
Command Recieved! Granting Ability in 3, 2, 1...
I held my breath anxiously. I still gave half a thought to the idea that something disastrous was about to happen, or that the Complex wouldn't work at all. For once in my life, I was pleasantly surprised.
Well, sometime afterwards, anyways.
A searing pain immediately caught root deep within my eyes, followed by a blinding white light that flared across my vison. The shock of the experience made me collapse from where I had been kneeling, and I feel unceremoniously onto my face. A new jarring pain shot up my nose to accompany the pain still cascading across my eyes.
The ordeal wound down as quickly as it arrived, and I took slow, deep breathes to regain my composure. I pushed myself to a sitting position, eyes still closed, and I felt a warm liquid drip down from my nose onto my lips. I licked them and tasted blood.
"When it rains, it pours..." I whispered.
At least the pain wasn't too great.
Though I was still apprehensive about anymore blinding bright lights, I summoning up my courage and gingerly cracked open my eyes to look upon the world around me.
The differences were night and day.
While before I hadn't been able to see my hand an inch in front of my face, I could now see every detail in the cavern. The cracked walls stood over a hundred yards away from me, and piles of rubble, deep craters, and muddy water filled nearly every inch of the room. It was certainly odd, as everything before me was shades colored in shades of grey, but potential of this power, simple as it was, sent my mind in a dozen different directions. I suppose it wasn't world changing, as of course many mages could do something similar, but only at the cost of mana, mental fatigue and headache.
As my initial feelings of wonder subsided, I idly scanned the room for Alex's body, and even the old mage lamp I had been using. I never found the lamp. Whether it was buried under rubble, or under water, I did not know. However, my search for Alex gave me more success. I managed to spot Alex's sprawled form half buried among a pile of rubble some 40 yards to my right, which was still a surprising ways off from the room's opposite wall. I began my walk over to him, ever mindful of the terrain. I made sure to keep my eyes firmly focused on my feet, as I had no wish to break an ankle through carelessness, or trip and get any wetter and colder than I already was.
Within a few moments, I was upon him. He was quite obviously, very, very dead. The corpse was not a pretty sight. Its skull had burst open like some overripe tropical fruit, and cracked bones were jutting out of its dead skin at odd angles like some sort of over the top theatrical display you'd see at a low-brow theater.
I stared at Alex's corpse for some time, my thoughts silent and my mind empty. There was honestly something unreal about the sight before me. While I had, of course, seen death's grisly handy work a few times before, I had never seen a sight quite like this. It was awhile before I looked away.
When the novelty of the experience had worn off and my thoughts returned, I idly mused spitting upon the corpse before leaving, as a final insult for all the trouble the bastard given to me.
I do not know whether it was just my exhaustion or some lingering sense of propriety deep within me, but I didn't bother.
I turned my gaze upwards towards the ceiling, and with some difficulty, spotted the opening towards the mining chamber we'd both fallen down from earlier. A small smile broke across my face as I took in the entire scene. Cracked rocks and rubble towered up all the way up towards the opening. I'd known it would require some climbing on my part to get out of here, but I hadn't hoped for something as easy as this. A mischievous child could've climbed up this incline with one hand.
It remained to be seen whether luck like this would continue for me. Cave in's could have quite easily sealed off access to the tunnels and rooms that lead above. Dying of exposure or asphyxiation later on was certainly not out of the question.
But those were worries for later. For now, I had some climbing to do.