COI C216
Acurse laughs nostalgically. Being torn in half and shared by two different groups, the Fuku City and Mihayara District. He never would’ve thought or cared that this city was summoned who. The fools believed their summoner, and only barely a handful knows his existence. The dead had spread the words of their dying people. No escape in this world trying to break free from this world’s forgotten millennia. The summoner dared to return the old era they used to rule. The demon hums inside the gemstone. The countless voices coming from the gemstone are not clear, but they hum altogether nonetheless.
“Someday, you will take responsibility for everything you have done . . . summoner. In the future, your allies will bring forth all the support of your people from another world. All the preserve society you wished to bring, all their cultures, all of their finest and greatest achievements, and lastly . . . all of what taken from us will turn into your version of this world”
Acurse says it without any his serious tone. Laziness and hopelessness tone as the summoner remembered his own prejudice against the other races, like the goblins.
Thunderstorm rain from the top of the hill, where the shrine watches over the adventurers to find traces of battle have gone down to the hole, down to where the machine dug up here. The Rogue and Heist were the only two people take this mission from the quest by the city guild themselves. Heist wears his runic protective equipment, preventing him getting exposed to his limits. The rogue though using her ability, Copy Cat, sparks great wonders for herself. The Agathean from Victory Rooks provide her a very exhausting detail when meeting those ancient robots.
“Hehehe”
The rogue giggles of how she knows how easy her ability against them.
“. . . I guess I’m wrong. They do have magic tiers. Ours are just much stronger than them. Laughs*”
Heist tries to chop her head with his hand. But then gets deflected from her magic charm. Her ego is still the same, but he is glad that this girl is willing to be part of this dangerous mission. City guild adventurers are trying to adapt the 4th moon cycle. With their old resisting equipment alone, the moonlight is indeed a harsh presence to be exposed. The dust was worse, and this light is the one that made those dusts.
Heist said to her “Alright, let’s go down there. Those goblins are taking our job surveying here”
“Those little green weirdos are all over the place when all that dusts turned into light. Everything that was crystallized are wiped clean, and those lights and other stuff are also clean”
“Don’t forget about the demons’ creatures were all died out”
“Yeah, I saw it in the video. They test a mouse to get exposed by it and immediately disappeared in a single flash”
“Cough* Damn it, we are under the moon light for too long. Let’s go back to business”
They go down the hole and there’s the chamber made by Sanquin. The marks of rituals sealed it from going. The first thing they see the ritual is the post with a wooden sign carved in glyphic rituals. The Rogue felt embarrassed and said it to Heist
“I can’t believe Illtended actually teach me about these rituals”
“Yeah, I would believe you to know what this is”
“Just watch me, and you will feel embarrassed as I do”
She goes to the post and gives a closer look. The writings of the rituals, she uses her UI and changed her RAPs into understanding goblin’s language.
The UI has no clear translation, because the writings are all just drawings. The Rogue scuffs at it and uses her device to play a video, a goblin singing video.
“Hooray, Hooray, I don’t know why! we sing to our doom!”
“It’s alright, (this city will make something up) / (Like they are eating our shroom!)”
“Someone is eating the shroom, yeah!”
“And now we come for you with the spirits, Ah!”
“We don’t have the evidence! they will beat us anyway, Ah!”
“Now they put us display, with their weapons ready to beat AWAY!”
Then another one
“We are just walking boyz, goblins got no spirits or had”
“We are just walking boyz, looking at us a threat, (paused)* feels really bad”
“Bu-Bu-Bu-Bu-Bu-Bum” The others sing like sidekicks
“Though I want to beat you a stick / Though he wants to beat you a stick”
“I think it will do the trick / He thinks it will do the trick (Laugh*)”
“The city is getting wilder. Police raised their weapons higher”
“They’re going to beat us up / But it’s all made up (The other goblin sings deeper)”
“(ALL) So I am a walking talking boyz, walking singing boyz”
Sidekicks “Bu-Bu-Bu-Bu-Bu-Bump Tss”
They look at the last guy that did the ‘bump-tss’. The singing goblin beats him an actual stick, and continues on the song. They are on their way carrying the beaten goblin.
“And they say I tell a lie / He tells a lie”
“Taken this rude guy / We abducted a guy”
“Say to the police a goodbye / Another crime goes by”
“Bu-Bu-Bu-Bum Did I lie?” / Gulp* Not even cry”
“I never lie . . .”
The Rogue is actually laughing at the last part of the song. The video shows the actual goblin being taken away after messing up the lead goblin’s song. Heist had already forgotten about it, because that video was recorded during inside Mihayara district ruins. It was funny back then, until the feral spirits laid them into a horrific fight. It was endless, and that funny goblin music was soon forgotten after. For her to laugh like that, she seems to get over it. She turns to him and said
“You should laugh too”
Heist sarcastically laughs “Uh huh? Haha!?”
He laughs pathetically. The post heard their laughter and the ritual begins to release the chamber. The chamber starts to go down. The echoes of the chants from the music video starts to sing along the walls, turning the chamber into a tuner with every moment it goes down and touches the wall. The music plays in such a tribal matter. Until the Jazz music comes along. Heist genuinely laughs at the one
“Laugh* What the actual fuck was that?!”
“Laughs* They are in love our music, aren’t they?”
The chamber is getting filled with rituals as the air is getting thick, smokes that are not usually there appeared out of nowhere. The smokes formed into creatures they barely recognized. Only to see its expression of the monster with eyes and mouths. Not so terrifying how it looks and it gives only its simple drawings. Respectfully in their eyes, the goblins drew such amazing art with their hand paintings. Barely to understand what they drew, but there are some and it was them.
The drawings represent before the siege. The goblins were mix of their existence telling folklores of their spirits both good and evil, and there is something in between. A suspicious being who may have caused this city to appear. As they go deeper down to the darkest parts of the hole. Painted rituals start to move the drawings, portraying the story where ceremonial sounds of the drums play. Soon more and more of their tribal instruments play, and every beat moves the drawings to tell its story.
The paints follow their eyes, giving the illusion they could not look away. It only started from one of the Kes’thars. The Horde Chief spirit who is with Puma, Silfa’s doll, and it sent itself off to the wilderness of the strange dust forms. The body in form of a teddy bear. The voice speaks out from the story rituals
“Dinju!”
It echoes as the drawings fades away and changed the scene what happened next. The Kes’thar had journeyed through the city. Countless monsters already in their dying moments. The dust it touches from its doll size body. Able to resist it, it knows something is not right.
The next scene shows the actual destruction of the Jigeram’s light. The dead spirits are the ones who will reign forth in this light sending deaths to all who are trying to survive from it. They are nasty for their cruel behavior, dragging the unlucky demons’ creature to be exposed again from the reflections of these spirits. Where those spirits wouldn’t enter the city by the presence of the demonic disturbance, still they can be seen from the outskirts waiting for future victims.
The two weren’t focusing on the spirits, they are focusing on what really did make them think. This is what it supposed to happen earlier. The 4th moon cycle will deliberately send a great powerful blow to their city. It sends down the end of all the demons’ remnants in one go. Now they see the doll, wondering around the dust and easily spotting all of the monsters they are worried about. There are also people coming by, losing themselves from the horrors of the light. The doll watches them carried off to safety inside the still standing city barrier.
That incident was a mistake. That time was a lot of people trying to expand what the city barrier trying to reach the entire district of Mihayara, South Shore Bay, and Chojima. It barely reaches Taiyou Industries. The doll could not understand and proceed to go to Chojima where the shrine is. Walking through the Jigeram’s light had turned the city into an isolated environment. No one could try to walk outside and all of them stayed inside. Still, the city is still safe.
The scene was over as they still go down. Heist and the Rogue have already seen what happened. Heist said to her
“Man, who have thought that the moon we experience earlier wasn’t the real thing. From getting here is hard, but we couldn’t believe that there are spirits want us dead”
The Rogue feels something is not right. She remembers what Illtended told her in her private chat with him. The spirits are their diverse forms of characters and cultures. Although they are not many, but the spirits provide the goblins the stereotypical ancestry.
From most goblins she met, or just remembered a few. There are goblins who enriched himself like an assassin. He is the only goblin she remembered when getting mauled by Heist’s stupid duel’s game back in Stranding Island. Then she slowly remembers the part that the goblin also challenged her too. Her luck in turned base fighting made her realized it was one of the reasons why she devotes herself understanding goblins. She leans her head against the wall. She opens her eyes as Heist is looking at her from the side.
“AAH! What’s wrong with you?”
“Your ego is showing. You always get yourself thinking without even bothering what’s going on here”
“Like I’m an expert on goblins or something”
“You were the one who is getting your spare time with Illtended. Are you flirting with him?”
The Rogue reacts with her high dexterity attacks. The swings of her daggers were as normal as his reflexes. It wasn’t even that intimidating for the cat man. She blushes from embarrassment as she couldn’t land a hit.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Heist says to her “Come on now, you do realize everyone is growing strong. You got yourself worked up over a goblin story . . .”
The rogue responds “Would you please stop messing with me? I’m trying not being a sorry ass”
Heist sees she is missing someone. He knows who it was, but won’t try to talk about it. The Rogue knows he is thinking about. Her senses can able to identify what they are thinking through their expression. Or she is been with him for so long because of his cat man features are getting predictable.
She has her reason. This secret alone was so long stuck to her head. She already forgotten about it. Then she remembered Thean, the Agathean man, whispers to her ear about his name. That beginning made her realized what’s going on. Furthermore, the world is what she had started to wonder why. Now going down where Heist had already been here before. She wants to see what apocalypse it was here. The rogue whispers to herself
“Thean, your real name made me go in such a dangerous adventure”
The chamber suddenly stops. The ritual drawings appeared again. This time, it grew hands and trying to hold it in place. A few small silhouettes coming inside the chamber where the walls appeared with ritual figures coming out as gapping mouths. The rituals soon moved around to distract the two. The Rogue signals Heist to ignore the moving rituals and focus on the silhouettes. One of the silhouettes recognized one of them. It stops then proceed to use the flash bang. The bomb throws at them, and Heist quickly grabs it and throw it back at them.
The flash of light erupts with numerous spirits coming out attacking anyone in sight. The rogue pulled out her traps and sling Heist back to her side, while whipping the other two. The two silhouettes revealed as goblins and fell to the whipping trap and the spirits with it. They pushed to the ground and activated their voodoo dolls to escape the fight. One last goblin slaps his own face to see the cowards flee before his very eyes. The maniac laughter reaches to the two.
“Laughs* I can’t believe they run away as soon as they can’t land a sneaky hit. Listen to the spirits you clever little sogs!”
The rogue recognized his voice. “The goblin assassin?”
The spirits shift its brightness towards the goblin’s face. The sheer look of his face made her laugh.
“Oh, is that it? Yo gitz are up in yurs if yo go any with yo ghostis . . .”
Heist hears the goblin’s gibberish and quickly uses his device to full translation.
“. . . And one more thing, you people are heading somewhere down here. Without your gangs”
The Rogue shakes away her head “Not really. We are already prepared for anything, right Heist?”
Heist joins her confidence “Of course, what else we will be in our mission”
The goblin “mission, you say?”
They made to the bottom and many more nasty spirits coming from the dark. The brighten light spirits looks at the goblin’s face. He is looking like he tries to test their confidence again. Then the spirits walk closer to the door and open the revelation of their resolve. Hideous spirits are trying to scare the two. Their unidentifiable features that mix with animals and depraved look of the decaying and the broken. Its images mix with dark textures leaving a trail of imminent horrors.
The goblin goes to the door and said to them. “So? Are you going?”
The two swifts passed him, where he is about to grin, and the goblin could not believe they passed through him. The curse of the spirits tries to engulf the two. Their armors are strong and none of the rituals could ever lay a hand on them. The rune armor appeared before the hidden glow, inside the inner layer of their equipment. The spirits look at the goblin with shocked looks along with their own horrific expression. They are diverting their rituals to him. The goblin assassin was too agile, cutting through with his own dagger, and slicing off their pent-up disappointment.
The light spirits passed the other spirits revealing their cut off imagery. The sparks of crackling sounds of the spirits at the dark horrors. They disappeared after the light touches them It was understandably simple how they act. They are just chaotic. The goblin tribes heard footsteps that are neither machine or their own. The realization of someone is entering this place.
“We are alone, the spirits flee as they see”
“Oh shut that mouthy of yours. The goblin spirits are here too”
“Dinju . . .”
“You heard that!? It’s the boss spirit”
Teddy bear fell from the chamber as it climbed down and held firmly where it almost reaches the floor. The spirits channel its voice where its mighty roar shambled together with echoes and soft screeches. It confuses the goblins, but never easily been fooled by that mighty roar. They head deeper, hid, or left. They will not reveal why they are here. But as for the goblin assassin. He steadfast by the two city adventurers as he is willing as he go along with the light spirits. His rituals started to fell dim than should’ve been brighten. The spirits give the goblins the sign of the Kes’thar.
The two city adventurers step forward to the pure dark abyss. They use their abilities to see through the dark, then slowly diminished back to the blank view after seeing a few spirits here and there. They later use their second options, rune items, and mend it together with their flash lights. Already exposing their position without a care what lies inside.
Heist disappointedly said “Here goes our stealth opportunity, Rogue”
“Yeah, I want to see what dark rituals those goblins can do. Right goblin assassin?”
The goblin laughs “Yeah, sure. Like you could hear spirits”
The goblin points out to the dark void showing a thumbs up. The two redirects their flash lights to the goblin’s point of direction. There was nothing there. The rogue felt a bit excited, but slowly realized herself where they were already found out.
“Are your people won’t going to kick us out?”
“Laugh* They left me behind, remember? I’d say they have their own goals here”
The goblin places his hand on the ground, spreading something on his palm then spread with unfamiliar ooze crawling to the cavern. Writings and drawings are formed, then it lit up for a moment.
The glow appears around them. Then they saw something is erasing it. The goblin warns them.
“Rituals aren’t easy to break, you know?”
The rogue remembers this situation, and said to Heist “We better hurry then. Reports of those monsters supposed to arise from the surface were immediately disappeared. I guess our allies don’t like to share, huh?”
Heist with his man cat like vision saw a bit of the rituals being cleanse off. It was small, and thought it was Puma. But he remembers that Puma wasn’t alone back in the ruins. He just nods, and they proceed to move on.
From where all sight disguised in shrouded black view. The teddy bear swiftly goes into hiding with the darkness.
“Dinju . . .”
It whispers, ready to prowl or ready to observe, and these two had entered the place of the goblin spirit’s descendants. It quietly moves, being outpaced from the steps of the giants. Heist and the Rogue look around and see what the goblin tribes had done to the cavern. Clean of any natural environment and filled nothing but the rituals and its designs, the goblin assassin senses no presence of the spirits, and knowing well that the goblin spirit is right behind them.
They go deeper and finally they see the mess, a battle, an abnormal battle, and it is all full displayed between runes and spirits. The two city adventurers were right, Heist said to the goblin
“Well now, I see you guys are busy. Any of your tribes died from this fight?”
“No . . . maybe” The goblin responds confidently scheming
“. . . There is more than just us here. Still, you guys are safe. You two can only watch them play, laugh*”
A snarky humming of laughter from the goblin assassin’s voice. The Rogue didn’t say anything, with her copy cat ability on and took the goblin’s ability. There she senses the presence of the goblin spirit.
The two already know what’s going on now, only left for them to do is to survey around the area, and finally found the secret entrance when the last time they couldn’t found because of one area they couldn’t pass. Then there they reach it, but something changed. There is a structure that seal the underground lake or pond, and with a nice glass floor to see the dark creatures. They see the corals, but not the sea creatures themselves. Without any delay, they go forward. Then finally, they see the large scraps of machines piled together with rituals.
The goblin assassin moves closer and give them a proper look. The dim light of the machines as they were about to expose with light, quickly moves and immediately starts struggling. The moment of movement ceased as the pile of rituals reacted, holding them off before it gives a chance to escape. The goblin said to them
“This where the fight ends, my boyz have already dealt with them before they failed to stop you guys to notice it. Well then, can I join you guys?”
The Rogue was confused “Wait a minute, I thought you already join us after beating your guys”
“That’s different, I mean, look over there. You two will be needing me”
The goblin pointed out at their backs, there was nothing there. With differences that they found out about strange entity hiding in the dark. Heist sees a small creature who is done something on the rituals, the rogue copies the goblin’s ability again and only sees the goblin spirit lies hiding. Miraculously, the two citizens agreed. The goblin opens his eyes wide as he stutteringly shows his expression with disbelief, and with that, they proceed again. The path blocked by machines were moved by the grasps of the rituals and the spirits. Already known that the goblin spirit is allowing them in.
The whispers of the spirits said so, and Dinju the teddy bear has no saying in it but continue to prowl them in the dark. Its doll body reaches to the machine, and the machine slowly being crushed by its tiny steps. Crushed after crushed, the rituals are gaining strength from Dinju. Primal strength developed in each rituals turning all of the machine into crumpled paper. The runes, vandalized, the mechanical parts, rusted, and the rest consumed back into nature. Dinju absorbed it all and getting through it to face the three people it prowled.
The three of them sense the doll is still going after them, they feel something was off as their senses slowly losing its presence. The rogue and the goblin were about to say something, but shuts up with Heist clapping his hands. Moving his cat ears, he is still about to gain the doll’s tracks. Then suddenly, Heist froze, showing to them he too had lost his senses to the doll. The goblin points out at the gate
“We are here! What the!?!”
There they stood surprised. The teddy bear is here. Revealing itself already at the gate with the presence of the Horde chief, the beast fanged the ruins (They didn’t know about that part).
The goblin looks down and see the trials written on the floor, insect size dust moving across the ground forming the words in the citizen’s language. He said to them
“Any of you can read your people’s language?”
“Our people’s language?”
Heist looks down, and looking a bit annoyed of the insult, yet he sucked it up
“It says: Humans aren’t supposed to be here. If we must venture forth to the gate. We must fight the goblin spirit. To cheat or not”
The rogue said “This is what Illtended expected. The cheat meant that we fight we our rituals, right goblin?”
The doll seems to be patient, and at the same time very tame for a bit. The goblin assassin knows that it just plays along. For a goblin himself, he thought he will be joining the goblin spirit too. The goblin gives them a sign ‘just follow me’ and they did. They took their first step. An enraging roar pierced through their defenses like there is nothing. The resistances from the two city adventurers had removed, exposing themselves the harsh air and pressure from the underground cavern. They continue to move forward.
A growl mumbles, fear reaching into their heads. Heist closes his eyes then moved forward. They are starting to hear the doll’s roar. No matter how intimidating that is. They treated the doll like a dog that barks and no bites. As they moved pass it, the door suddenly closed behind them, and stopping the curse from affecting them. Heist opens his eyes and felt the danger he never had experienced before. All of their stats and resistances are returning back to normal, barely. The city guild adventurers have experience they won’t normally felt but the dusts.
The goblin assassin sits down, feeling relief that the doll didn’t react besides roaring at them. The rogue said to the goblin
“I thought it would’ve fight us in the moment we step forward”
“Nah” The goblin is trembling in fear
“We goblins are always afraid of Horde chiefs whose spirits not align with ours”
“Interesting” The rogue remembered what Illtended had taught her. There is no normal thing to do with the goblins, only the spirits with a specific will do them harm.
She asks “Then what happens to the bad spirits?”
“They are at the surface doing bad stuff” The goblin got quick to his joke.
They raised their flash lights and see what lies beyond the gate. It is true, another sign of old advance technology. But these are not what they expect. It usually to be in ruins, but it wasn’t. The entrance is active and the facility is functional. There they can see no spirits have entered this place. It severed itself away any paranormal presence. The light spirits follow the goblin were gone. All three of them are excited to see what old era has to offer to them. The first thing they encounter is a terminal by the door.
The goblin assassin went cocky and pulls out a pin to lock pick the door. As it tries to find a keyhole, the two muffled themselves. Trying not to laugh how primitive he is. The goblin assassin gives up
“I hear you two starts laughing. If you think unlocking this door really that easy, (he slowly turns around to find the keyhole again then quickly back to look at them), then how about you try it”
Heist goes in and opens his UI. It was obvious this place really hurts their UIs. Thanks to himself to be prepared and was in Taiyou Industries where the Dexter Guild stationed.
He pulls out his device and temporary made forcefield to block the jamming. His device starts to drain quick and proceeds to unlock the door. The door opens as he used his fast reflex to access the terminal. After that, he looks at his device and see he loses for about 40% of his battery. He then picks out his adaptive charger then place near anything that has electrical circuits. The device gives the notification being charged then switch to his battery bank. The goblin was surprised while the Rogue clap her own cheeks for how casual he gets it in.
The goblin said to her “Did he just . . .”
“Me neither, hey! Heist. How do you able to get it to open?”
Heist didn’t respond. He gazed what’s inside and all of his senses reach before the others did. He said to the goblin
“Why am I sensing spirits from the other side”
“The other side? I guess they are already arrived”
The rogue raises her ears to listen to the steps “There is no footsteps though. Surely, the spirits should bring their voodoo dolls and stuff”
Heist hears differently “Then this must some high tier rituals”
The three didn’t stop here and go as far as they can. When they about to reach where the noise Heist heard. A dead end, but the goblin isn’t convinced. He raises his rituals trying to break it open. It did. The entrance suddenly falls apart where numerous failed rituals destroyed. The two city adventures felt a sudden impulse to get in, leaving the goblin behind.
“Wait!” The goblin shouted as something behind him being pulled away.
“AAH!”
“That scares me. I feel something behind is about to lunge. Where’s the goblin?”
The Rogue tries to look for him.
“Shit! I didn’t believe his rogue tier is that low”
The room lights up and it’s filled with computer and bunch of monitors. They see something on screen where multiple of live videos happening inside of this mysterious ruin. There they could see everything. The spirits and machines are fighting it out. Madden against each other with extreme violence and materialistic gore. It never ceased as they both rebuild in their own bases. Heist could not explain to himself what they saw. The silent persists until they saw their momentarily lost friend.
The rogue shouted “Its him! He’s fine”
“What about us?!”
They check their UIs as they are all locked. Trapped in this certain place, with little no sense of danger. They were relief. Then they felt a little tired, once again, they feel the effects of their stats disappearing again. Rune equipment equipped, yet couldn’t resist inside of this place. They are facing dangers, and they are willing to risk. Now in front them, is the tech they have never recognized before. All neatly and never been used for how long.
Heist picks up his device and other Dexter upgraded items. Him and the Rogue will try to figure this thing out. As the facility is fully lighted, the two sees something they did recognized. It’s their city, all hovered correctly and matching the terrain that fits to be summoned here. All written in foreign language, and couldn’t use their UI nor their devices. Alien to be exact, and they record it as much as they can. Then they turn to the terminals and the computers. This is their opportunity to survey the area.
Meanwhile, the goblin assassin survives being pulled and moved deep into the center of the chaos. He almost gotten pulled deeper, and luck puts up to him. A container that fits his sorry ass midget body. Hanging on to his dear life until the grip fades away. Now hiding in this container, he sees that this is not the container what he thought to be. There he sees rituals never made in wood or low qualitied junks. Carved in full steel, lied on the body of a well preserve dead goblin. He reaches out the remains. The remains release its spirit. Spoken in other tribal tongues, the goblin assassin gains the wisdom of this vessel’s victim.