Matt continued to walk down the corridor. The environment seemed to have been designed more efficiently compared to the previous location. Torches hanging on the red walls seemed to illuminate the interior and the boy tried to touch one to verify the veracity of the sensations he should have perceived. He felt his hand burn before reaching the flame and withdrew his arm soon after.
"The fire looks real." he thought. "The sensory projection system really seems to work properly. What kind of technology did they use to make it so realistic?" He wondered. Then he continued until he reached the end of the hallway.
A huge two-leaved door was now in front of him. Two torches on its sides were lighting it properly, showing off the solid wood of which it seemed to be made. Again, Matt didn't feel confident about the material the door was made of. He didn't even care. What interested him, however, was the inscription set in a large metal plaque that seemed to seal the two doors, keeping them closed.
"May you find light in the darkest hour. May you achieve happiness at the end of your ruinous path."
Matt snorted. His hand slid behind his back to reach the hilt of the greatsword. Immediately, golden runes appeared on the wood, magical symbols of a language that Matt did not know at all.
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Matt was seized with a fit of anger. He slipped the greatsword out of its scabbard and released a slash towards the metal plaque. The object ended up shattered on the spot, releasing shimmering chips that scattered on the floor.
<< Spare me your summaries. >> while trying to maintain a composed tone of voice, Matt's anger leaked from every syllable he uttered. << I have little time to waste and you are in my way. >>
The boy raised his leg and hit the wood of the door with the sole of his foot. The double-leafed door swung open, revealing its interior. Matt sheathed the greatsword and proceeded.
It took him a few moments to get used to the sunlight that penetrated the place and illuminated it in every corner. There was no roof, or rather, the roof consisted of the cloudless sky where flocks of birds flew very high and appeared to him like small points swimming in that infinite blue.
There were no walls or floors. Nature seemed to have claimed this place, as it was delimited by shelves of rocks from which streams of clear water gushed and which elegantly fell within the body of water that was part of the central section of the whole place. Over there, a small stone temple stood above an islet and was the final destination of the only path in small marble slabs that, the boy noted, originated under his feet.
The boy looked at the structure from a distance. There were no walls, as the roof was a single concave stone ring the size of a small gazebo, supported by columns of spiral-woven trees, the ends of which rose like capitals and ended their shape as fronds that arrived on the roof and protected the interior from the sun's rays.
In there, there was a stone arch as if it had been the first step towards a new door to be built. However the door was not there, the arch revealed nothing but the landscape behind it. Matt looked up at the sky, as if expecting new voices to give him instructions on what to do. Receiving a cryptic silence in response to his grumpiness, he looked back. The door he had come from had disappeared and there was only rock behind him.
He turned his gaze towards the temple. And he walked.
The marble plates magically float on the surface of the lake. When Matt passed over it, it seemed like he had walked over a solid bridge. As he walked, his hearing perceived the sounds of the environment and he could not help feeling a strange bliss. The chirping of birds, the flowing of the waters and even the wind that whispered through the trees...it all seemed part of a score, the pieces of which perfectly matched in an emotional harmony. The boy sighed, trying to ignore that annoying sensation.
The stone arch appeared much larger up close. In fact, the entire square of the gazebo appeared larger once Matt set foot inside it. The boy had a doubt as to whether it was an artfully scripted sensation by programmers. Carefully, he rummaged in his pockets. The Stone of Eoden was still in his possession.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
There was a flash of dazzling light. Matt held out the magic stone in front of the stone arch and, by magic, it was as if a mirror was reflecting a new landscape within the arch itself. A green prairie now appeared on that reflection, where herds of lions ran in the grass moved by the wind, under a sky as clean as the one who was blessing the temple.
<< No. >> Matt said, cold. << Destination, Sharan desert. Initial area, Akhuan dunes. >>
The reflection, as animated by the boy's order, began to project a different landscape. Majestic dunes with golden sand, perpetually struck by powerful sunbeams. Rust-colored rocks that were desperately trying to get out of the yellow expanse that extended imperiously beyond the visible horizon, in all directions.
<< Yes. >> Matt nodded satisfied. He put the Stone of Eoden back in his pocket and, without hesitation, proceeded beyond the projected reflection.
"It will be easy." thought the boy. "We will start fast and determined and in no time we will be ready for the event." his eyes were still closed, he was trying to reopen them but the teleportation procedure, he knew, would take a few moments of loading before he could go back to using visual sensations.
The plan was simple. He would have opened his eyes and found himself in the Akhuan dunes. He would immediately track down the others and together they would immediately put in place the path they had studied for months.
The plan was simple.
<< Uh? >> Matt opened his eyes. His avatar was levitating in the void, everything around him was infinite black which did not allow him to delimit the boundaries of the environment in which he found himself. He could see that it was not a dark place as he was able to look at his virtual limbs. "It's an empty room, left by programmers." he thought. "What am I doing here?"
<< ...here you are. >> said a stern woman's voice behind him. Matt turned and looked at the figure in front of him, who looked like an old woman with long white hair. Part of them were styled in the shape of horns and at the end of their ends, something red had been used to dye them. Despite the age, the woman looked beautiful, her eyes were golden and her pupils had the vertical shape of a reptile. He wore earrings made of what appeared to be black onyx and wore a red-tinted robe, adorned on the shoulders and belt with what looked like crow feathers. It gave off a strong smell of ash but for some strange reason, that smell seemed pleasant and comparable to the smell of incense that Matt had previously perceived in a corridor before.
The boy didn't think twice and tried to react. He thought of putting his hand to the greatsword and hitting it quickly, without asking for explanations. But the woman was faster. And before he could even pull out the blade, the woman had turned the palm of her right hand towards him and a jet of dark flames with black outlines sprang out of it.
It all happened within a few moments. Matt saw himself done. In the brief instant when the flames were about to envelop him, a new figure came between. The speed of the event did not allow Matt to understand much. Long black hair, dark as night. A white robe. Maybe a priestess. Maybe a Non Player Character who was left there by mistake. Too fast. Too little time to think. Too little time to understand.
Matt found himself thrown to the ground, the impact caused him severe back pain and for the first time he was able to ascertain the severity of an injury suffered in the game against his nervous system. Then suddenly he began to feel a lot of confusion around him.
<< How the heck did he get here? This is a neutral zone. >> said a male, stern voice. Matt tried to open his eyes but he saw everything blurred by pain. He tried to get up but his back ached heavily.
<< I saw him teleport. Is he a hacker? >> a young girl said. Now the outlines were starting to get sharper. Lying there on the ground, he seemed to see a wooden roof, broken through by something that apparently fell from the sky. Everywhere there was the smell of wine and cider, and roasted meat. So many people were talking but his hearing was not working properly.
<< In my opinion, yes. Hey, wait a minute. I know this avatar. >> he seemed to hear now, from someone else whose young man's voice sounded strangely familiar.
Matt could now see very well. And the first really clear thing he saw was the impending fall of an ax blade over his head.