Chapter 3: New Locations

Halus held his head and let out a confused groan. It took a while for his brain to make sense of what he’d read. Challenge system? Why were there words appearing in his head all of a sudden.

Grand Challenge: Get Home

Rating: SSS

You and your group have been taken from all you’ve known. Your challenge is to make it back alive! Cross the galaxy and explore the many worlds.

Rewards: ???, ???, isn’t getting home the best reward?

“What is this?” He asked the air groggily. Waving his hands in front of himself he found that his fingers were still visible through the words.

Halus was trying his best to get his thoughts in order, but his mind was stuttering. He didn’t know if he was hallucinating or if something bigger was going on but what he did know was the word ‘survive’ from the first message meant danger.

Not trusting his vision Halus cast his soul out further in all directions. It took less than a fraction of a second for information to start to trickle in and immediately he felt something was wrong. The Ether was…different.

The mountain that the order called home had some of the densest Ether on the surface of the planet. There were a few spots better the deeper you went but they remained inhospitable to most. The mountain was sacred because it had dense enough ether to help push aspirants over the edge and past the first gate with little effort. The ether had somehow gotten six, maybe eight, times denser.

With his soul fully extended he could feel that the cave they were in wasn’t the same as it had been moments ago either. They had been standing at the entrance but now the group was deeper inside than the original had extended in the first place.

The entrance had shrunk to a small crack, barely big enough for Halus to squeeze through and the candles and their holders were absent, like they’d never been there.

He turned to the entrance to try and get a look at it through the floating words. If he squinted he figured he’d be able to see just between the sentences. It sort of worked but the words seemed to demand his attention even as he tried to ignore them. He wished he knew how to get rid of them.

That was when the words vanished. There was still a blinking light in the corner of his vision but he could see again.

Halus fell back down twice before he was able to stay on his feet for a step or two. He had to use the wall of the cave to keep standing as he made his way to the crack. The blue light of the world outside grew brighter and brighter as he got closer to the outside world.

Outside the cave looked out over an alien landscape. The crack split the side of the mountain and below an ancient forest whose trees sometimes flickered filled a valley of ruins that hadn’t been there before. A domed roof was visible over the treetops. At one point it had been a pristine marble like stone but now it was dyed in the colors of the forests after who knew how long.

Closer to the cave entrance, at the edge of the forest, a being saw Halus poke his head free of the cave. It watched as the man overlooked the forest with interest. Clicks and beeps were the only sounds that disturbed the creatchers near perfect stealth.

Halus didn’t notice his watcher, too busy trying to make sense of what he was seeing. In the distance, just on the other side of the ruins, there was smoke. A single smoke stack from what might just be a camp fire.

He was wondering where the other guides and their groups had ended up. Or if they’d been brought here at all

Back in the cave a groan signaled that someone was waking up. It had only been a few moments sInce Halus had first read the notification and he’d not checked on any of them yet.

Thoughts of his niece filled his chest with guilt.

It was when rushing back, as much as he could rush in his condition, that he noticed that there was more cave than he had thought. The back of the cave was actually the beginnings of a dark tunnel. At the edge of the light from the cave entrance his group was starting to come to themselves.

“Where are we?” Edgar was the first to wake up and start moving. Halus wondered if that was because he was the first to fall or if there was another reason but before he could think too hard about it the others were all moving and getting up.

“Is this all sweat?!” Berra hissed as she lifted the soaked sleeve of her tunic and took a reluctant sniff. The disgusted face she made after confirming it was as she feared.

“This isn’t the same cave as before. Uncle? Did you bring us here?” Shae asked from the wall she was using as a back rest.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“No. Not me.” Halus shook his head. “This isn’t even the same mountain. I'm not sure where we are or how we got here but this is a dangerous situation.”

He explained what he had seen outside the crack. Hecate rushed to the entrance the moment he’d said that they were overlooking a weird forest and the others followed when he didn’t stop her. They all seemed to be stiff but their movements were improving faster than his were.

“Since when are there magic forests?” Berra asked with awe.

“Since we might have ended up on another planet somehow.” He told them about the notifications he could see and the blinking light in the corner of his vision. As it turned out they each had a blinking light of their own. Bringing it to their attention caused the same notifications he had read to pop up in front of them.

“One says “Grand challenge” and the one after that just says “challenge”. What's the difference?” Hecate was swiping her hands in front of her like she was trying to disturb the floating words only she could see.

Halus focused on the light in the corner of his vision and pulled his own notifications back up. The first two were still there but there was a tugging at the back of head that told him he could keep pulling. He did and another notification appeared.

Challenge: Escape the Star Seeker valley

Rating: B

Star Seeker Valley is on the verge of collapse. This spatially displaced island is folding in on itself and sucking in innocent challengers to die along with it. You and your group were unlucky enough to be caught in its gravitational pull. Get out before this floating island becomes your grave as it has for those who once called it home. Can you survive?

Rewards: Survival, Concept Vision

Halus read the notification twice. His head was feeling mostly back to normal and he was starting to wrap his mind around what was going on. Suddenly appearing somewhere brand new, disoriented and in pain, had thrown him but he didn’t have the time to slowly understand. He had five lives he was responsible for right now and they needed him to focus on figuring the situation out.

“The fact that there are rewards shows that these tasks are something someone wants us to complete.” Prince Edgar broke the silence.

The young prince was disheveled but calm in the face of the unknown. They all were and Halus had to wonder if he’d gotten lucky with a calm group or if the situation had yet to sink in for them. Hell, it hadn’t really sunk in for himself yet.

“So what do we do?” Shae gestured to the crack in the cave wall that led to the forest. “Do we try to climb down the crack? If we have to leave then shouldn’t we get a move on?”

“We need to figure out where we are. The notification said that we were on an island.” Halus agreed. Standing in the cave was getting them nowhere. They didn’t have any information and they needed some to make a plan. “It’s a steep drop off the side. That would make it a dangerous climb down for most of us.” It seemed like heading into the darkness might be the best move for their group.

Halus reached into his candle pack. It was still around his waist as whatever had brought them there had included everything on them at the time. He still had a large supply but lighting one would have to be enough.

“I will lead the way. Stay a few feet behind me in case we run into anything. This isn’t the mountain and there are likely beasts roaming.” Halus started towards the dark.

“Wait- but you don’t have any weapons.” Hecate pointed out.

“Uncle doesn't use weapons. He’s a pugilist.” Shae assured her. “Don’t worry. He can fight my father to a standstill even when father is armed.”

Halus nodded to his niece in appreciation and decided to not point out to her that he hadn’t fought her father since before he’d become one of the king's guard captains.

He stepped into the darkness and it parted like a curtain in front of his candle. The flame was small but in this almost absolute darkness it was more than enough.

They followed the tunnel down into the unknown in anxious silence

____

Back at the crack in the mountain a metallic hand reaches through to pull a small clicking

form over the edge. It lands as quietly as its form would allow it in the empty cavern.

____

The group had been walking for the better part of an hour before something changed. A set of doors appeared to their left. Not the typical rectangle with a handle type of doors, these were grand pieces of art that looked like they could stand at the entrance to a throne room.

“So we’re gonna go in there, right?” Hecate was the first to speak. The group, as one, looked to Halus. When the guide approached the door a new notification appeared.

Challenge: Dungeon of Flowers, Bones and Sinew (waning)

Slots: 0/7

Rating: B+

The Dungeon of Flowers, Bones and Sinew beckons you forward. The last challengers before the dungeon dies deserve something special.

“A dungeon?” Halus questioned absently.

“Like, where Edgar would keep his prisoners?” Hecate asked.

“I don’t keep prisoners.” The prince protested. “Our dungeons have been empty for years.”

“I don’t think it's that kind of dungeon anyway. It says that it's dying and that we deserve something special if we challenge it. You can’t really challenge cells.” Halus interrupted before the conversation became unproductive.

“You can if the goal is getting out.” Bab shot back. It was a statement that couldn’t be argued against.

“Lets cut out the middle part and just not go in? We can say we did and not get trapped in dungeon cells.” Shae joked.

Halus was actually going to agree. The potential danger that came from exploring didn’t seem worth it with what little information they had. He was about to tell the group that they would keep going and maybe circle back if they didn’t find anything when he was interrupted.

“I think we should go in.” Edgar locked eyes with Halus. “I feel like what I’m looking for is in there.”

Whatever it was the prince felt he needed to use as his first aspect was here.

A look in both the way they had come and the way they were going showed no sign of anything else through the darkness that was worth checking out immediately. If the prince could get through the first gate the group had a better chance at survival. It was an easier choice when he thought of it like that.

“We aren’t sure what's in there, so if we’re going in we’ll have to be careful. Keep close and point out anything suspicious.” He told his group as he put his hand to the door. Before he could pull it open he and the rest of his group were sucked in to face a new challenge.