Roman took a moment to stretch, reveling in his most recent power increase. Now that the [ Heartroot Elixir ] had healed the accumulated damage to his body, he could fully sense the changes the system had wrought to his physique. He hadn’t felt such a sense of casual robustness since he was a teenager. Even if he wasn’t quite thirty yet, the past two decades of competitive sports and brawling had taken its toll.
Every muscle thrummed with energy, promising a song of violence once he unleashed himself. He yearned to test himself, to treat the dark forest as an obstacle course to be conquered.
“Hold your horses there, cowboy.” John materialized at Roman’s side, arms crossed. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Roman resisted the urge to sigh. He knew what the guide was referring to. “I’m just taking a look at the Chaos Gate. Shouldn’t hurt, right?”
“Eat the damn [ Heart of Dissonance ], Ro’. Come on, I already had to coach one baby through their fussy eating phase. You never know what you might piss off by just poking your head in there.”
Roman took a deep breath, suppressing his various complaints and arguments to the contrary. The Puremoon buck steak had been delicious--he could still roll his tongue around his mouth and taste little bits of it clinging to his palate. An underlying nausea had begun to creep up on him again, accompanying the sharper focus and jittery euphoria he assumed came from the double-dose of Adderall starting to kick in. So on and so on.
With a thought, he removed the pulsating black-green organ from his spatial satchel. “Mind cooking this up for me before we head out?”
Bella looked up, already in the middle of storing her survival knife. “Couldn’t have said something earlier?”
The carcass of the Puremoon buck dangled from a nearby tree, one leg caught up in Mixie’s enchanted rope. She had already field dressed it, leaving its entrails steaming on the ground below. Her daily rewards from the system had included large, supple leaves she had used to wrap up the meat and edible organs; these lovely packages had been stacked into a small cooler marked with a simple freezing rune to maintain proper temperature.
He shrugged and lobbed the [ Heart of Dissonance ] to her underhand. Frowning, she snagged it from the air. Before she could turn her head away, Roman noticed her unsuccessful attempt at suppressing a gag. You’re telling me.
Soon, the foul stench of rot wafted up from the fire. Roman’s eyes watered. He tried not to think too much about his upcoming dessert.
“You really think it’s dangerous just to take a peek?” he asked John.
The guide shrugged. “Every Gate is different. But when it comes to the Chaos Playground, best to assume the worst. It’s probably best for you to go alone. Bella’s quick, but she doesn’t have a short-range teleport to get her out of dodge. If anything chases you, head in the opposite direction, then loop back around once you’ve shook it.”
A surprised shout drew their attention to Bella. Tears streamed down her face, her arm pressed against her mouth and nose in an optimistic attempt to ward off the stench, but her face was lit up with pleasure.
“All done!” Her cheeriness was somewhat offset by the series of harsh coughs following the announcement. “Making this actually ranked up my basic [ Cook ] ability. Me preparing it should’ve enhanced its benefits. You owe me a serious favor after this one.”
On the contrary, the finished product made Roman suspect her intervention had made it worse. To ensure an even cook, she had sliced the [ Heart of Dissonance ] into strips. Pockets of milky purulence bubbled ominously throughout the charred meat. Bilious liquid seeped out from the livid blood vessels, shedding curlicues of black smoke.
“Wow,” he said, voice full of concern as he selected a strip of meat. “Great.”
Just don’t think about it. He plopped the strip into his mouth. Resisting the urge to throw up again, barely taking the time to chew before each slimy piece slithered down his throat.
Tears leaked from his eyes unbidden. Once the deed was finally done, he sat down hard, burying his face between his knees. Honestly, he preferred being burned alive. Without anything to wash the taste out of his mouth, he seized a handful of autumnal grass and chewed on it, feeling like a particularly stupid cow.
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“Uh,” said Bella. “Imagine what it would’ve been like before I cooked it?”
Roman held up a hand weakly in acknowledgement of her attempted sympathy. He’d prefer not to take that particular bit of advice, however.
[ 4 Node Points acquired (+1 from Cook (II)) ]
[ Available Node Points: 4 ]
Not even enough to gamble on a new node. He wondered if he could strangle John’s spectral form if he infused [ Chaos Touch ] into his hands.
After a few minutes, he regained his composure and with a steadying breath stood back up. He wasn’t surprised to discover John had chosen to vanish. Fuck, he wanted to break something.
“Stay here,” he growled at Bella.
Roman took a couple running steps forward and leapt, shooting some six feet off the ground. He planted a foot against the trunk and pushed off, gaining enough air to snag the lowest branch. With unnatural grace he swung himself up and over.
From his vantage point he noticed nothing out of the ordinary deeper into the dark forest. Activating [ Hunter’s Eye ] revealed an opalescent shimmer in the distance--an invisible barrier, likely delineating the edge of the Chaos Gate.
[ Impose Will ] sprang to life around him. With his Will attribute advancing significantly, its range seemed to have increased by nearly half, stretching now to around seven feet. The sense of connectedness with the immediate area had likewise been amplified, almost like the domain acted as an extension of himself--a reflection of his sense of touch and proprioception, maybe.
Instead of relying on [ Flash Step ], Roman leapt from tree to tree, steadying himself for a moment and making sure the limb wouldn’t snap beneath him before heading to the next. There was something exhilarating about arcing through the air and catching himself, like a child making his way through a jungle gym.
As he approached the barrier, he tested himself more, pushing off a tree with enough force to propel him to the next, planting an angled foot against the trunk just long enough to continue the rhythm.
He came to a stop before the invisible barrier. His enhanced vision offered no hint of what existed beyond the slight shimmering. Clenching his fists, he circulated more of his bronze soul energy into [ Impose Will ], overloading the domain to temporarily strengthen it.
He stepped through.
His ears popped. The world blurred, resolved into a completely new scene. Though he was still clearly within the dark forest, beyond the barrier was a wide clearing that stretched out to the horizon on all sides. Like Mixie’s Store, such a broad expanse of land defied the laws of physics, encompassing far more area than it rightfully should.
The Chaos Gate, or at least its vessel, dominated the center of the clearing. It most resembled an ancient ziggurat, gleaming darkly as if sculpted from obsidian. Ramparts on either side led up a series of shortening terraces, culminating in a simple rectangular building on the roof--most likely a temple. A bone sculpture of a long, sinuous reptile perched atop the roof, its coiled tail of segmented vertebrae encircling the entire edifice; the Chaos Gate warped perspective around it, making it impossible to determine its true size.
The very sight of it filled him with dread, a crawling unease that sent a chill along his spine. He knew, deep down, that was no sculpture. If he had to guess, it was a big fucking necrodrake chilling on top of its roost. And he had no desire to see if [ Chaos Touch ] affected it the same way it had annihilated the gashadokuro’s head. Hell, depending on how colossal the necrodrake truly was, he may not have enough power to transform a large enough surface area to take it out.
Roman nearly tumbled out of the tree from shock when John popped into existence on the branch beside him.
“Oh,” said John. “Shit.”
“Shit,” Roman agreed, gritting his teeth to stop himself from unleashing a more vehement barrage of curses at the guide.
John leaned against the tree as if he were solid; Roman half-expected him to slide into the trunk. “This is…a pretty serious Gate. Not something you’d expect to pop up in the middle of bumfuck Nevada."
“Still think we can take it on in the next couple of days?” Roman found he was talking in a whisper, as if slightly lowering his voice would prevent the guardian from eavesdropping.
John grinned. “Well, who knows in a couple--”
The domain from [ Impose Will ] alerted Roman a moment before a grasping hand emerged from the tree, piercing through John’s chest. The guide glanced down in surprise at the wriggling fingers that had slipped through his phantasmal form without causing damage; they were made of alternating strips of bone and wood, fused into an interlocking pattern.
John disappeared.
Roman reached forward and seized the escaping arm by the wrist, crushing the fragile bones. With a mighty heave, he pulled the rest of the creature out of the tree, the trunk rippling like a disturbed puddle as the humanoid figure emerged. He caught a glimpse of its featureless, egg-shaped head, likewise constructed from bone and wood, before his other fist lashed out in a hook and disintegrated it in a flash of bronze energy.
[ Undying Dryad defeated. 100 experience rewarded. ]
The other trees about him rippled as more humanoids flooded out, a veritable swarm of them forcing themselves from the earth. Roman smiled to himself. Easy experience.
Then a jolt struck his mind, paralyzing him in place. Even with the passive boost of [ Bulwark Mind ], he found himself completely unable to move. Ponderously, the necrodrake uncoiled its tail from around the ziggurat.
It turned to face him.