Chapter 9: Taking Risks.

Memories had come unbidden.

Scenes of laughter and revelry.

I recalled the words I’d said to Henry less than a day ago.

How I’d promised to keep the party going with Vince and Luigi. How I’d been complaining about the time and the levels of intoxication we’d reached.

What a fool I was.

I should have told him to put on a shirt and gone out to eat with him. Everything had smelt so very tasty. The mere memory of it caused me to salivate as I trudged along in the darkness.

I should have called my parents too. They’d be worried sick now. Wondering where I’d gone. Why they couldn’t reach me. The dorm had security cameras, but those probably wouldn’t have picked up teleportation or whatever had happened.

Would this be categorized as an Esper crime? Would they be forced to wait until a special crime unit was assembled?

How long would pass before the cops gave me up for dead? How long would my parents be waiting for an answer? An update? A clue? Anything to grasp onto?

Would I have a funeral? Would the lads show up to comfort my folks? Would they look at my parents the same way I looked at Doris’ father?

“Stop it. You idiot. This isn’t helping. Positive thoughts are the way forward. You have to stay positive.”

“Okay, the next person I meet will be the one. I’ll open up about what happened. We’ll have a chat and hopefully they aren’t a filthy thief.”

Despite my forced enthusiasm, things were looking bleak.

My training had not allowed me to conjure two bolts at once and no amount of swinging the ethereal wisp around seemed to do any good. To make matters worse, I felt terrible all around. It was a deeper ache than before, all the little cuts at my feet merging with the wounds on my arm and hand. The hunger didn’t help either.

My stomach was grumbling about missed appointments with the cafeteria slop, unsubtly reminding me that dirty cave water did not make for a fulfilling diet. The pangs made all the misery stand out more, taking more of my focus.

I wanted to stop somewhere and take a break. Another good long nap to help smooth out the edges digging into me.

“Stop it, Sully. You have to keep going. Have to find people in need. Have to find a group to join. Don’t think about distractions. Think about the purple energy. Keep working on it. Something is bound to happen.”

‘Especially since you don’t know when a monster might take you by surprise. Or another person for that matter.’

Knowing I was right, my focus returned to bolt duty. I felt I could stretch it as far as it would go, but I still couldn’t make it hit harder. Or, well, I couldn’t tell if it hit harder, but it didn’t feel like it. I also couldn’t overcome the period of forced inactivity no matter how I tried to slip the energy through.

It felt like throwing my own weight against a massive steel door, hurting myself over and over again for nothing.

The same was true for [Message].

The mechanics behind the process weren’t a mystery. I think something on my end and another person picks up on those…

‘Wait, what if I could transfer more than words? I’ve been doing things the same way for a whole day, but the system said it didn’t give out ability descriptions on purpose. It wants us to experiment. At least, I think it does. What if I tried passing along feelings of trust and sincerity?’

That query festered as I considered the ways it could go wrong. Or right. It could go very right, depending on the approach I take. Some people might consider that kind of thing mind-control.

As I walked, the floor beneath started to change. Once there had been uneven cavern surfaces dotted with pebbles and little puddles. Now the path started to resemble a soft layer of sand laid out on a smooth surface.

It was still difficult to traverse, but the number of little annoyances had gone down drastically as there were less bits of debris sticking to my feet.

It was also better for spotting already triggered traps and spots where traps might be hidden. Any corner holding less sand than usual was suspect, as bugs that passed through soon found out. It meant that the bottom of the floor would give way to pitfalls filled with all manner of nasty surprises.

Realizing how many of the things were scattered about made me glad for my luck thus far, but it also infuriated me.

Others trapped here with me might have been doing everything right and keeping the enemies at bay, when an errant step would kill them.

How many people had died to stupid pits in the ground? How more would die because they couldn’t spot the traps, even as they knew they were there?

In the grip of frustration, I made a [Mental Bolt] appear on my side and ordered it to go around me in a circular trajectory. I used all that I’d learned to keep it at bay while dragging it around my torso, over and over again. Then I pushed it along with more ferocity, faster and faster.

The power cut through my fog and started dissipating, its edges falling away as I pumped more effort into it.

That was when something peculiar happened. The bolt took in more Psy. As it did, its diameter doubled, as did its speed. It was now as big as a tennis ball, spinning in the air as it whirled and whirled around me. Stunned, I tried putting more of myself into it. Leaning into the sensation was marvelous and exciting.

It went faster as I willed it to, becoming larger and more impactful.

Before I knew it, it was four times as big as it had been at the beginning. It now buzzed like a saw, shredding air from whatever unreality it was located in.

“Finally! About time I got this right! Let’s go super shot!”

I searched for my target and found three centipedes off in the distance, more of those non-hostile critters and a couple of eels.

Not exactly the kind of targets that I had in mind.

So, I moved a bit further down the tunnel, growing the payload as I did.

Suddenly, I felt a wave of excitement as I got three signals in the distance. A big, unknown monster, fighting against two humans.

Without hesitation, I let my wrath loose on the beast. It felt stronger than anything I’d ever faced before, even from here. Its outline shimmered with hidden might and the two facing off against it roiled with panic and determination alike.

[Mental Bolt] Struck like a meteor taken from the night sky.

It landed on the target and created a splatter of silence in my senses.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

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System Notice:

Student has made a breakthrough with an ability.

Level Gained: +5 Maximum Psy. +3 Ability Points.

Ability Evolving: [Mental Bolt] 3 has grown to [Mental Bolt] 4

‘Oh sweet! A level from the new monster and a level from the improved shot! I’m double dipping on success!’

Weary as I was, this achievement brought a smile to my lips. It was another step taken on the road to becoming strong enough to bust out. Something far more important now that the whole dimension hopping theory looked more likely.

It was somewhat dampened by the realization that four of the points I should have had were used to advance my bolts without my input, but it was a small matter at the moment.

The two fighters gave off feelings of confusion for a few heartbeats. They took positions at each other’s backs and squared off to meet any incoming threat.

‘Walder! Get behind me! Don’t panic now.’

‘Sir! I can’t see anything! I don’t know where the blow came from!’

‘Walder! Don’t lose courage! Keep steady and try to feel anyone else speaking to you! The evil speaks in your mind!’

Wow. What do you know. More people that don’t like me. I’m shocked beyond words.

On a more serious note, this had been going on for way too long. The Bunny man and the prepper zombie woman have got to be flukes.

I’ll just try talking to them the normal way. If it works out, I’ve found myself a team. If it doesn’t, I’ll hide and bail.

With a steadying breath, I moved further in their direction, rounding the corner and calling out.

“Gentlemen! Don’t be scared. I don’t mean you any harm.”

One of the men turned my way, bloody sword in one hand and a kite shield in the other.

Yes. An actual medieval sword and shield. The former was chipped and cracked in places, while the latter was made of wooden boards banded with metal. On the man’s chest was a set of chainmail draped over a sweaty gambeson. The cloth was yellow beneath the layer of grime and dirt that covered it. In the middle of the shield was a black dog in a running position.

His partner held a broken spear, and looked as if the mere sight of me would kill him from fright.

Next to him was the body of a giant rodent. Maybe a mole of some kind?

A closer inspection dispelled such carefree notions as I saw a pair of massive lobster claws on either of the thing’s sides.

Those were almost as big as the rest of the monster put together. They would have been a hindrance on any animal from earth, weighing them down to the point where movement was impossible.

Its entire body had been ripped open, starting from the brainstem and going down the spine. Its death had been messy and near instantaneous from the look of things.

Below it was a growing pool of viscera, painting crimson streaks on a canvas of tinted glass and colourful sand.

“Ah. A fellow traveller. Great to see a friendly face lad and I’m sorry for your…” The man paused to look me up and down. “Recent troubles.” He finished with a resigned sigh.

“Sir. This stranger’s clothes are all rags. He looks to be in trouble.”

“That he does squire. That he does. Unfortunately, we cannot spare bandages, but we still have to do all we can to help the poor. It is the way of a knight to offer a helping hand whenever possible. Come stranger! We have some jerky to spare!”

I was stunned. I hadn’t even asked for help yet. I was going to, but he’d offered it to me without being prompted in any way. After the attempted mugging I’d just endured, this scene was touching enough that it brought me to tears.

“Oh, thank goodness. Thank you. Thank you. I can’t explain how hard it’s been.”

I stumbled on my way over, and my body hit the floor. The two men helped me to my feet and the smaller one, the squire, put my arm over his shoulder.

Together, we travelled on until we reached a gargantuan open space. The ceiling here was hundreds of metres above us, well outside my fog’s reach. It shone like a pile of scattered diamonds, or a bunch of disco-balls taped together.

As for the length and width of the place, I could only guess. Mushrooms the size of oak trees littered the landscape, making it difficult to judge distances. They appeared to have solid obsidian spikes growing out of them, stone branches twisting at odd angles. Among them, I could sense new monsters flinging themselves from perch to perch before traversing deeper into the forest.

Some kind of shadowy lemur or a very agile badger.

We didn’t go near the treeline however.

Instead, the three of us sat around a ring of stones, some large, some small. Within the ring was a pile of charred centipede corpses, smoldering embers long extinguished.

The knight withdrew a fresher corpse from one of his bags and threw it onto the pile while the squire drew a flint and got the fire going. The monstrous insect lit up at once and its juices warmed the air as they melted.

“Here you go lad.” The knight said afterwards. “Some salted jerky to fill your belly. I know it isn’t much, but its what we can spare.”

“Its what we had with us when we were taken.”

My hands were shaking as I accepted the gift. The meat was tough and, in all honesty, not very tasty, but it was enough to fill me up a bit. All the thanks I gave were completely sincere. Every single one. For the first time this day, I felt a degree of real safety.

Sustenance brought relief and relief brought exhaustion. I leaned against one of the boulders marking the edges of the camp started to converse with my new allies.

The men, Pete and Walder, were lovely to be around. They freely shared everything they’d learned, telling me about a bull made of steel they fled from and how it killed most of their friends.

Walder, as it turned out, was just a kid. Barely 15 years old, and he was an actual squire for sir Pete, fighting in an actual war. A war that, going by the details, involved several cousins arguing over who would take over some vineyards. It didn’t make sense to me, but that wasn’t any of my business.

They had been in their respective tents, getting ready for another day of marching when they were taken.

“It was fast, faster than any other thing I ever felt.”

“And spooky! It was spooky too. There was grass under us one moment and stone the next. Both me and sir fell down and had to deal with the magic stuff.”

“Indeed. But have no fear boy. We are men of justice and we will always prevail against the forces of evil.”

“Right. Hold on. When you say magic, what do you mean? Are there wizards where you two come from?”

“Wizards aye, and witches too.” The man spat to the side.

“They gave a friend of mine the pox you know. Back in Antwerp. There was this old mean hag living out of a hovel with a twisted cane and an even more twisted nose. He wanted a cure for his rotting stones and the crone gave him a potion. Well! The stuff nearly killed him. We all went back and burned her hut to the ground as punishment. It was she who’d done this. Marked me and the lad out for her spirits to carry us off.”

“That she did sir. It seems killing her wasn’t enough.”

“No lad. It wasn’t.”

It took a few seconds for the words to set in. For the meaning to make its way through my thick skull and grant me that juicy context.

‘Oh. These two have killed people.’

The realization that there were murderers in the labyrinth was shocking, even after my recent exposure to cleavers and shotguns.

It really shouldn’t have been, given that they’d both admitted to being soldiers, but I must’ve disassociated from the implications of their statements. Distance and unfamiliarity dulling the fact that these two polite men were killers.

Worse was the fact that the killers in question were sitting right beside me.

Cold sweat erupted from my back and my eyes began to drift away from the camp, drinking in the emerald sands around the clearing and the scattered boulders that littered the landscape.

There were plenty of places where an errant step might obscure me. Plenty of cover to hide behind too. Maybe give me enough time to cover myself with illusions.

Something in the conversation drew me from the grip of terror and my head snapped to attention.

“Wait a minute you two. Hold on a moment. You think someone in your, area, might have done this?”

“Aye. It was a witch man! Pay attention! They’re the ones that get into people’s heads and hear their thoughts.”

“And throw fire from their fingers!”

“And do other scary things. This window that showed up is their magic. I know because one of them was beside us when we were taken. Some lass, a bit wide at the hips and a bruise on her shoulder.”

“She said that she was scared for her life and that her husband was going to kill her.”

“Right, she told us a tale of how her husband had drunk too much and become angry and then, when we’d almost agreed to help, she starts going on about the same window we’re seeing.”

“And she says that she’s something called a Telepath.”

“Aye, long story short, she claimed to have been turned into a witch all of the sudden and even had the nerve to say she was innocent! Ha! An innocent witch! Could you believe it!?”

“No sir, I couldn’t. Witches are all evil!”

“Right!” I echoed in what I sincerely hoped was a convincing show of enthusiastic bigotry. “So, what happened to this witch you caught?”

“What do you mean what happened? We’re loyal servants of Saturn. Of course, we killed her.”

“I drove my spear through her belly!” Spoke the boy. “The tip of it went in one end and out the other. Like a ham. But bigger and with more screaming and pleading and begging. I did feel a little pity, but I did my duty!”

“Ha! That shows you’ve got mettle boy! A lesser man might have flinched and doubted his duty, having to face an unarmed woman. You knew that a witch is never not dangerous and that they all have to be put down. You’re a hero.”

“Naturally.” I agreed at once. “A shining example of what a hero should be.”

My own comments caught me by surprise. The lie had been so easy that it would appear as truthful sentiment. Somewhere, adrenaline had overridden my normal social tells, granting me an eerie calmness.

I could feel a slight twitching of my fingers then, fed by fear and anxiety.

From then on, I focused on recovering as much Psy as I could before having to leave. As a precaution, I began to fiddle with [Hide], readying the ability within me and preparing myself to go at the first sign of aggression.

It never came. These two treated me cordially till the very end and offered to share the campfire a while longer if I wished to rest.

I declined them as politely as possible, making myself seem distraught at the idea of burdening them while they were on such a noble quest.

The two of them bought it, hook line and sinker and I was able to leave in peace.