Kelric closed the book, he had read enough for now. He was so immersed in the book he forgot about a few important things. Firstly, he hadn’t checked his wounds yet. Secondly, he forgot the impossible things the bear-like monster had done. Finally, he didn’t know where he was.
He started with the first, the only severe wound he had was his broken right hand.
The second he would think about later.
The last one couldn’t be answered, maybe it was noted in the book.
Kelric stood up, only to realise he had to crouch again to exit. He crawled through the opening into the pit. He was met with the horrid smell again. He pinched his nose and recalled what the book said.
Escaping the pit.
Route 1, the main entrance.
The main entrance is easily visible. Look up, where the light is, is the main entrance.
Recommended route: Climb the wall, and exit through the main entrance.
Safety: 4/10 The Gorgoret guard the main entrance, and the risk of falling is high.
Speed: 7/10 Climbing the wall can take some time, but it's not too difficult.
Connections: 10/10 The main exit connects to most of the cave.
Route 2, Andrena exit.
The Andrena exit, on the right of the safe spot, through the Andrena hive.
Recommended route: Climb the wall, WALK through the nest and stay by the right wall.
Safety: 8/10 The Andrena will not attack you if you walk and do not agitate them, they are highly toxic. The risk of falling during the climb is low.
Speed: 8/10 Shorter climb than the main exit, but walking through the nest may take a moment.
Connections: 7/10 Not as many connections as the main exit, but the main exit can be reached.
Kelric hadn’t read the remaining routes yet, but the Andrena exit seemed like a good choice. He walked along the wall toward the right. Elsewhere in the book, it was noted there would be a noticeable dent in the wall. The dent always indicated a place he would have to climb.
On his way to the dent, he realised he might not be able to climb the wall. Climbing with only one hand was something only experts could do. He wasn’t an expert. While doing a small prayer, in hopes of an easy climb, Kelric reached the dent. He grabbed some glowing stones to take a look at the climb. To his surprise, there was a staircase engraved from the wall.
“Wow, how long did it take to make this?” He thought to himself while climbing it. Nothing was mentioned about the staircase in the book, meaning someone else might have made it. He didn’t have to know who made it, to appreciate their effort.
Once at the top Kelric held the stones and walked forward slowly. A sweet aroma caught him by surprise. Followed by something quickly flying by his head. He looked back but it was already gone.
“What was that, was it one of the Andrena?”
The more he walked along the right wall, the more the sweet aroma increased and a buzzing sound was heard. More and more things flew by and he saw something on the ground. It was a giant bee, about the size of Kelric’s lower body. This was it, the Andrena were giant bees. He panicked a little but quickly calmed himself down. He knew they wouldn’t attack him but it was still scary.
He safely exited the hive without agitating any bees. He was relieved, having a safe way out of the pit was incredible to him. He hadn’t planned any further yet, but he didn’t want to get lost. He also hadn’t memorized any important routes to a water or food source yet. He put down a cluster of stones near the entrance of the nest, walked in a random direction, and placed down a stone every few steps.
***
“Geus, I told you to leave. why are you still here?”
“Wait. You asked me to leave? When?”
“Leave! Or do you want me to kill you?”
“I’m already dead, how’s that gonna work?”
“I was the one who summoned you here. Meaning you are under my control, if you leave now I will let you go pain-free.”
“Oh, right. Wait. Can ghosts even feel pain? Like how does that work?”
“Last chance to leave!”
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“Okay. Okay. But can I know your name? You know that seems kinda important.”
“No.”
“Is that your name or did you just say no? If your name is no then that probably made a lot of awkward situations. Kinda like my name looks like I spelled guess horribly wrong. If you put my name in a sentence…”
“Alright, you asked for it.”
“No, no, no, no, no. I’ll go. I’ll go. Bye.”
“How did that guy ever escape this place? I hope the kid can survive using Geus’ book. If not I can always summon someone else. Well for now I’ll do something else.”
***
Kelric came to a halt when he saw he was running out of stones. He sighed and turned around, but just as he was picking up a stone something happened. His pendant started glowing. He had owned the amulet for many years, but this was the first time it glowed. As a matter of fact, It was the first time it did something other than hanging around his neck. It flew out from under his shirt and pulled itself somewhere. The rope connected to the amulet hugged tightly around his neck. Kelric gasped for air. He turned toward the amulet and grabbed it. It didn’t budge in the slightest, it seemed like something was pulling it. He tried to pull it down again and again, but nothing happened. He took a deep breath and walked in the direction it was pointing. Kelric blindly followed the pendant through the entire cave. Surprisingly he didn’t encounter a single monster, maybe this was also part of the amulet.
He had arrived, the tugging of the rope and the glowing of the amulet decreased. There was something that was unimaginable, something that would be written in the myths. A very small island surrounded by water with lush plants everywhere all located in a cave. But what made it look more like a myth was what was on the island: A large rock with a sword stabbed into it. Kelric looked at it deeply.
“No way. Doesn’t this resemble the place where Geus Deilós found his legendary blade?”
Kelric was right. It resembled the myth of Geus Deilós. The man who found a legendary sword on an island in the middle of a lake, took over a quarter of the world and became a king, but was betrayed and banished into a cave with his mind wiped never to be seen again.
Kelric sprinted forward and jumped. It seemed like a nearly impossible jump to him but he neatly made it over. He quickly walked forward and grabbed the sword. It resisted, but Kelric still pulled it out easily. The sword felt awfully familiar to him, he couldn’t pinpoint what felt familiar.
“This asshole,” It was a mysterious voice Kelric couldn’t hear. “That damn Geus playing his tricks again, I should’ve just gotten rid of him. Giving the kid his own sword, even the cruelest version of me wouldn’t be able to imagine that”
Kelric scrutinized the sword, followed by him squinting his eyes. He wasn’t a sword expert so he didn’t know if it was anything special. He just hoped it was a legendary sword.
He jumped over the water again to return back to the safe spot, only to realise didn’t know the way back. He looked at his amulet but it didn’t do anything. He turned back around, took a sip of the water, and lay down. He closed his eyes and quietly fell asleep.
***
tap tap tap
Footsteps approached Kelric, they didn’t sound like a monster.
Hahahahaa
A devilish laugh spread through the cave.
“There he is.” A man with tattered clothes emerged from the shadows. The man approached quickly. He laughed as he crouched in front of Kelric. He looked at Kelric with a mischievous grin.
“Hey, crazy witch. I know you’re listening. I’m really grateful that you revived me. But being a good guy doesn’t suit me, you should know that.”
The man looked up when a mysterious voice answered him.” Geus. What the hell are you doing! You took over someone’s body, you know that’s a taboo.”
“There are no gods here, so who’s gonna stop me? You can’t stop me now that I have a physical body.”
“Geus! You crazy bastard! You-”
“Should have gotten rid of me.”
Geus laughed again as he pulled something out of his pocket.
“Now now. May I know your connection with this child? Say what if I-”
He pointed a knife straight at Kelric his neck.
“Killed him? Would you die as well, since your souls are connected?”
“Geus, don't you dare!”
“Ah. I see it’s true”
He stabbed the tip of the knife into Kelric’s neck. Blood started flowing.
“Well, just killing him isn’t fun, now is it?”
He put away the knife. Blood was still flowing.
“I challenge you, No.”
Geus was quiet for a moment and stood up.
“Damn, I forgot that wasn’t actually your name. Now you’ve ruined my entire dialogue I set up. I can’t fix my dialogue like this. How about we start over? You know, just act surprised again and then-”
“Shut up, Geus. Just tell me the conditions of your challenge.”
“Tch, fine.”
Geus held his knife up.
“Train this kid over here in one week. Prepare him for a 1v1. Of course not with me, I’ll train someone as well. What do you think?”
“Sure, what do I gain if I win?”
“Nothing. Well I won’t annoy you anymore, isn’t that kind of a reward? But of course, if you lose you’ll die. I don't recommend that personally. Oh, right. before I forget. No. Foul. Tricks. Understood?”
“How do I know you won’t use any tricks?”
“Do I look like I would use-”
“Yes.”
Geus had a disappointed expression.
“Damn that was quick. You really don’t trust me, now do you? How about we sign a contract?”
“That’s better. I’ll make the contract”
Poof
A piece of paper fell from the sky. Geus snatched the paper out of the air. He grabbed a pen out of his pocket and signed the contract without reading it.
“If I knew you were going to sign it without reading it I would have put something different on there.”
Geus dropped the paper and it disappeared into dust.
“Well too bad for you. Does this settle all your doubt about trusting me?”
“...”
“Doesn’t matter to me anyways.”
Geus put his foot under Kelric and flung Kelric upward onto his shoulder.
“And because I’m feeling nice right now I’ll bring him back to his ‘safe spot’. See ya later!”
Geus walked through the cave.
“You know I’m connected to him right?”
“Oh right, you’re still here.”
Geus walked annoyed through the cave.