“Are you sure this is going to work?” Arthur asked for the umpteenth time. The fake sun was high in the sky and sadly the heat it generated was no less real than the actual stuff. Whilst 698 constitution meant it didn’t harm him, it didn’t make it any more pleasant to bear.
“Shut up. Do you have a better plan?” Alyssia snapped back. Being far less durable than Arthur, the temperatures grated on far more. And the fact that Arthur had asked the same question so many times was getting on her nerves. It was her fault for coming up with such a hair-brained scheme.
He remained silent. Alyssia’s plan whilst it was more than a little far-fetched did seem sound enough and he had nothing better to offer. 'The horny bitch will eventually come looking for her toy boy if we lock him up,' did contain a lot more rational thinking than one would expect when observing the sentence at face value.
According to Alyssia, the only reason why Bambam refused to go into his stable was that his girlfriend wasn’t willing to go there and do ‘horsey’ stuff with him. It stood to reason that the opposite would also prove to be true and the mare would get lonely alone and without company on the grasslands. Apparently, the beasts met multiple times every day to get it on.
Now that her partner was locked up, she should very quickly realise something was wrong and come to investigate. The main issue, however, was how they would get the stormwalker to enter the stable, which according to Alyssia was literally an impossibility. The mare really hated confined spaces, unlike the rest of her brethren.
“We’re here now,” Alyssia said, stopping so abruptly that Arthur almost walked into her. He looked around, not realising what was so special about the place at first. It took him a moment to realise that they were standing at the entrance of a cave, it was so well camouflaged with the hill it was on.
He did a double take when he saw it, comprehension dawning when he recognised the particularly scenic lake a few meters away. He’d walked past this place. A number of times. And I never realised this cave was here. Actually, I probably never would have if Alyssia hadn’t pointed it out to me.
It had taken them ten minutes at a brisk walk from the stable to reach this place. The grasslands of crystal water, Arthur had learned, were nowhere near as big as the rolling hills and monotonous scenery made them out to be. Perhaps it was some sort of magic, no, it definitely was; Arthur highly doubted he was so directionally challenged because no matter how much you walked here, you never reached the edge of this ether-created land.
Arthur had tried and failed many times to see where this strange dimension ended, always finding his way back to the horse's stable, the focal point, Alyssia called it, of this layer, the nucleus around which everything in this created world revolved. No matter what you did, you’d eventually find yourself at its doorstep.
“So what’s in the cave?” Arthur asked. Alyssia didn’t answer, choosing to continue with her air of mystery. I swear to god if there’s a massive spider nest or something I'll put horseshit in her dimensional bag. That was just the sort of prank he’d expect from Alyssia, and she hadn’t yet forgiven him for getting shit all over her hairbrush, conveniently forgetting the fact that it had been entirely her fault.
“Are you scared of the dark?” Alyssia called back to him when she realised that Arthur wasn’t following after her. He swallowed nervously. It couldn’t be that bad, could it? She wouldn't do anything that bad to get back at him.
“No, I’m coming,” Arthur said, reluctantly following her into the dark. The entrance to the cave was narrow and low enough that Arthur had to bend over to enter it. The walls were covered in the same vibrant green grass that coated everything outside, one of the many inconsistencies that could be found in the locus when it was put under inspection. Moss, at least, Arthur would be able to understand, but grass growing vertically out of the wall was a stretch.
He didn’t concern himself with it though and followed after Alyssia. How she could see so well in the dark despite investing so little into the perception stat Arthur had no idea, nor did he question it. Alyssia knew how to use ether in ways that he hadn’t even considered, ways that the system didn't classify as skills. A spell to enhance one's vision was simple in comparison. Besides she had to have a magical way to enhance her eyes to keep up with her speed.
The cave angled downwards, not at all surprising because its entrance was placed on a hill so small three steps would have taken one through to the other side. Still, the fact that they hadn’t reached the end of it after even a minute of waking, irrespective of their slow pace was a little unusual, and magical too, considering the fact that the tiny hill they were travelling underneath lacked the structural integrity to maintain it’s shape with such a massive hole inside it.
“We’re here. Stop.”
For once, Alyssia announced their arrival before suddenly stopping, so Arthur thankfully didn’t have to awkwardly apologise after crashing into her back. She took a step forward and Arthur gasped when he saw the sight her small frame had been blocking from him. The narrow cave had finally opened up to what Arthur could only describe as a beautiful piece of heaven.
It was breathtaking, a small cavern that glowed with a blue luminance, the source of light being the various types of mushrooms and flora that covered the place. Oh shit, it really is breathtaking, Arthur thought when he realised he was having difficulty breathing. He was about to take a step back when Alyssia placed a hand on his shoulder and held him fast in place. She smirked at him.
“Calm down. It’s just a little bit of poison.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
He then felt, rather than saw Alyssia cast a spell over him, a sense he’d spent training with her but not yet mastered. The effects were near instantaneous and his slightly laboured breathing immediately reverted back to normal.
Health: 15,837/15840.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that dangerous but Arthur would rather be safe than sorry. It’d be a sad day if he somehow died because of a mushroom.
“Okay, so why are we here?” he asked. Arthur already had an inkling as to what Alyssia’s answer would be, but there was one fundamental issue if his suspicions were correct. Alyssia, being the idiot she was had probably forgotten the one warning they’d been given upon entering the locus. 'Do not harm the Stormwalkers.’
Arthur was pretty certain Alyssia’s plan, whatever it was, definitely involved causing some harm to Bambam's girlfriend.
“We’re here for two reasons actually. The first, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, is so we can poison that upstart bitch. And the second, well we’ll wait and see if the first is plausible before I tell you that.” Alyssia said with a mischievous smile on her face.
Arthur was very quickly learning that the Alverin woman really had a flare for dramatics, always withholding information from him or more often than not, forgetting to mention it altogether. Arthur sighed.
“I can understand you might hate the mare a lot, but you do remember the one and only warning we were given for the trial, right? Don’t you?”
“Because if you’ve forgotten, I can jog your-”
“Save me the explanation,” Alyssia interrupted, raising her palm in a halting motion, “I’m not so stupid as to forget something like that.”
“Just think Arthur, think. How would an ordinary party of five humans under level 200 complete this layer? Locus trials are supposed to be challenging, not impossible and I highly doubt anyone on your planet could beat this layer when even I, someone who specialises in speed, can't catch that beast. At least not without harming her.”
Arthur nodded his head slowly. What Alyssia said made sense. The same conundrum had plagued him since he’d found out about the troubling horse. The fact of the matter was that Arthur highly doubted there was anyone on Earth better suited to complete this trial than themselves. Or at least Alyssia.
Sure, they might not be the smartest pair, but most other humans on the planet wouldn't even be able to see the Stormwalker, nevermind catch it. Not when he struggled with his unlocked perception, and that was without taking into consideration that Alyssia’s entire build revolved around being as fast as possible without killing herself. And Bambam's girlfriend matched even her.
The trial was literally impossible to complete, at least when following the no-horse-abuse rule.
“Okay, I understand what you’re saying, but won’t using these mushrooms violate this layer’s guidelines.”
“Arthur, have you seen any other plants or flora on this stratum besides the grass and trees?” She asked.
Arthur shook his head no. He hadn’t, at least not until now. The only things in the grasslands were the lakes, grass, a few trees, the horses and them. There was no other life here.
“Exactly. This means these mushrooms are obviously here for a reason. The locus warned us against harming the horses.”
Alyssia smiled wickedly. “It’s not our fault if one of the idiotic brutes eats the stuff we left lying around. Especially when it came from the locus itself. Heck, Bambam's already stolen so much of our food. I’m sure his mate will do the same.”
Arthur scratched his head. He probably never would have to come to the same conclusion Alyssia had, but the way she explained everything made…sense, in a roundabout way at least especially when she sounded so confident in herself. And besides, what’s the worst that could happen if she was wrong?
Arthur was pulled out of his inner musings when Alyssia thrust one of the blue-capped mushrooms under his nose. It smelt sickly sweet and looked as poisonous as it was colourful.
“What the hell are you doing with that?” Arthur said, pushing her hand away. He didn’t trust Alyssia’s filtration spell that much.
“Why’d you think I brought you here, to look pretty?” Alyssia asked, once again thrusting the mushroom at him.
Oh shit.
“You have over three times as much health as me. Of course, we have to check out how potent this mushroom is before feeding it to our good friend. Right?”
“We don’t want the stupid mare dying from an overdose, do we? And the stupid animals probably got under a thousand health with how high her agility must be.”
Arthur reluctantly accepted the poisonous plant from Alyssia’s hands, not because he agreed with her, okay he did slightly, but mainly because he knew Alyssia would insist until he gave in. Heck, she might slip the stuff into his food if he didn’t just comply right now.
And he was a little curious about how it tasted.
Hesitantly, he placed the mushroom into his mouth. His tongue immediately went numb and he quickly swallowed the blue candy before he could get any second thoughts. Alyssia watched the entire procedure with glee, eyes filled with anticipation like a child in front of an iPad. Well, she’d be disappointed. Besides the initial numbness, nothing happened.
You have been afflicted with Blue shroomite poison. You will feel slightly lethargic for the next 20 minutes. May cause stomach issues and diarrhoea.
Okay, so something did happen after all, but Arthur didn’t really have any of the so-called lethargy he was supposed to. Maybe it was his high constitution, or maybe the shroomite was just really weak. He checked his health.
15790/15840
Yep, that was looking fine too. When Alyssia saw no change in Arthur, she sighed in resignation.
“Fucking constitution,” she muttered under her breath.
“The stuff’s safe to use. Three, maybe four should do the trick. Any more and we might do some actual damage.”
Alyssia simply nodded her head and began to collect the purple-blue mushrooms. Significantly more than the four he had suggested. He decided not to dwell on what usages she might find for them, already pretty certain that they’d somehow find their way into his stomach when she used them as experimental ingredients. She'll call it resistance training or something. Well, they don't taste bad, just tingly and strange I guess. It'll make for some interesting meals.
“So, what’s the second reason we came here?” He eventually asked.
Alyssia didn’t answer at first, gathering even more of the poisonous plants. She pointed further into the cave, towards its centre.
“Identify that.”
Arthur didn’t know what she was talking about at first, but he eventually saw what it was that Alyssia had pointed to. A small blue orb, so tiny and inconspicuous, he’d passed over it three times before realising what it was. Arthur identified the tiny crystal.
Challenger stone- Such stones can be found on the first and second layers. Breaking them will significantly increase the difficulty of the following trials. So too shall the rewards be greater.