“We ignore it…” It wasn’t the first time Alyssia hadn’t made any sense. “What do you mean ignore it? How the hell do you even ignore an illusion?” Not for the first time since meeting the dimensional traveller, Arthur wondered if his myriad tongues skill had mistranslated things.
“Remember what I said, Arthur. The locus is restricted to those under level 200,” Alyssia explained. “That means the illusions on this layer are weak. Almost non-existent actually, like background noise that’s just there,” she explained.
“It’s subtly is what makes it so dangerous in the first place. It's taken what's here already and omitted certain details from us. Nothing much. Just the signs of a hoofprint, or a pile of faeces.”
Arthur nodded his head. He was starting to figure out what Alyssia meant when she said they should simply ignore the illusion.
“So what you're saying, is basically that since we know that the visual stimulus our brains receive is being tampered with, it will be more difficult for the illusion to affect us,” Arthur said as he tried to understand if such a thing would even work.
It’s probably done using light magic, Arthur thought. If you can control how it reflects and refracts, you can basically control what people see.
Possibilities and ideas started racing through Arthur's head. His eyes had been opened to the endless possibilities of using illusions. I mean, using water magic to control how light refracts through it and a bit of shadow magic to affect someone's perception of depth, I can basically do the same thing that’s going on here, Arthur excitedly realised. It would probably take him a decade or two of work, or maybe a rank up in the respective skills, but it was definitely possible.
In Arthur's excitement, he had completely forgotten about Alyssia, who was looking at him with a blank expression on her face.
“Uhm, yeah. I have no idea what you just said, at least I hope not,” she admitted.
“I was thinking more along the lines of ‘now that we know it’s here, it’ll only be a matter of time till it ceases to affect us all together,” Alyssia explained.
“I will under no circumstance, start stimulating you to help us break out of this illusion,” she said with a stern expression on her face. “Why the hell would you even think having sex will get us out of here.”
Arthur’s face immediately reddened as Alyssia mumbled something under her breath. He couldn’t quite catch all of it, but the little he did was enough for him to want the ground to swallow him. Something along the lines of horny teenagers being too bold nowadays.
What the fuck is wrong with my myriad tongues skills, he internally complained. First my aura, now this. Its description was definitely misleading. It wasn’t a ‘little flawed,’ the goddamn skill needed to be broken and completely rebuilt from scratch.
“I don’t know what you heard,” Arthur began, “But I wasn’t suggesting we have sex or anything,” he then went on to explain exactly what he had meant, describing in detail the principles on which light operated.
He had no doubt that most of what he said went right over Alyssia’s head, but Arthur at least wanted to try and clear out the air and settle the misunderstanding a little. It didn’t seem to have worked, however, as Arthur overheard her mumbling under her breath suspiciously loud and clear enough for him to hear, almost like it was intentional.
“And now he’s trying to deny his earlier advances. Maybe he really is a spineless coward.”
Arthur was just about to give up on the whole affair when Alyssia suddenly looked up at him with a wide smile on her face. “Relax, I’m just pulling your leg. I know you didn’t say anything of the sort.” she chuckled. “But really, you should see the expression on your face.”
Arthur sighed wearily, as he felt some tension drain out of him. It seemed like first impressions were definitely the wrong impression. She wasn’t some mature alien babe, she was an annoying little minx. Talking with her was just a disaster waiting to happen.
Arthur took in a deep breath, and let it back out, closing his eyes to help him relax and calm down. After a minute had passed, he opened them again.
“So now that we’ve gotten past your little JOKE, can you please tell me how long we’ll have to wait for the illusion to stop affecting us.” He asked. “A straight, simple answer, please. Nothing else.” He kept his tone as serious as possible.
Alyssia responded by shrugging her shoulders dismissively.
“Hmmn.” After a few long seconds had passed. “I dunno. Maybe an hour. Maybe ten.”
Arthur felt like strangling her. She was more annoying than his sister had been. Arthur couldn’t remember his sister getting on his nerves this much. Scratch that actually, she totally used to.
Arthur once again took a calm steadying breath. Don’t lose your shit. She probably gets off on people getting pissed off at her.
“So, Alyssia. Are you telling me you have absolutely no idea how long this will take,” he asked her now resting form. Like a cat, Alyssia had taken the opportunity to stretch out on the beautiful green grass to get some shut-eye as if it was completely normal to fall asleep with level 120 monsters a few meters away from her.
She groaned something unintelligible in response to his question, stretching her arms out languidly.
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“For someone with the aura of an apocalypse beast, you worry way too much Arthur,” Alyssia mumbled, turning her head to look at him through a half-lidded gaze. “If I can’t conquer this locus with YOUR help, then face it, no one on this planet can.”
“Well maybe that Kazi Alukai guy I saw through the illusion screens you humans are so fond of, but that man’s a different breed altogether. I don’t think he’s even human actually." She shivered involuntarily despite the hot temperature within the grasslands.
“In the short time, I’ve known you, Arthur, I’ve come to learn that you underestimate yourself a lot. That's the first thing we need to sort out about you.” Alyssia now had her full attention on him, her predatory yellow eyes reflecting the fake sunlight of the strange realm they were currently in.
“Whilst caution is a good trait to possess, you have far too much of it.”
She turned over to lay on her side facing away from him.
“If you don’t reign it in, it’s going to limit your growth. Fear kills far more than arrogance.”
“Get some rest while you can. I’m sure we’ll have our work cut out for us when we wake up.”
With that final statement, Alyssia became silent, and after a few minutes, the steady sound of her breathing told Arthur that the woman had somehow fallen asleep. It amazed him how carefree the woman could be in such a dangerous and unknown environment, but he couldn’t really pay any attention to it.
He was preoccupied with the final words she’d told him. 'You’re too cautious. Fear kills far more than arrogance.’ Her words were few, and yet they rang true like a bell. Arthur begrudgingly admitted that Alyssia had a point. No matter how much he might try to deny it, Arthur knew that Alyssia was right.
He couldn’t defend himself. For want of a better word, since the arrival of the system on Earth almost a month ago, Arthur had been a pussy. Even with all the absurd titles and advantages he knew he had over everyone else, he had shied away from combat and confrontation.
Like his initial decision to work in the hospital instead of going out and fighting. Sarah had suggested it, and while it sounded great on paper- a perfect opportunity to level his skills to unlock a greater class- Arthur knew deep down that his choice hadn’t been made on such a rational line of thinking.
There had been so many better ways to use his time if he’d put his mind to it, like training his shadow magic and combat abilities. He could've learned healing magic that way too with the injuries he suffered.
But there was a reason why he hadn’t and there was a reason why he still shied away. Arthur started to introspect, and he recalled the words Alyssia had used to describe his unique aura. It wasn’t the first time she’d commented on it, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Others had also complained about it when he was working at the hospital. The reason why he had such a great advantage over others. The reason why he was so much stronger than he had any right to be.
An apocalypse beast. The shadow panther.
It terrified him.
To this day, every time he thought of that monster, it still scared him shitless. The terror it had inspired inside him was something that no other monster had since, and he doubted that any ever would. It was a special encounter, and only an absurd amount of luck had seen him through it alive.
It hadn’t just scared him. It still did.
A nightmare that still haunted him to this day every time he closed his eyes. Arthur’s encounter with the shadow panther had been just that. A simple encounter, and whilst he had neared death during it, it didn’t really explain the irrational sense of fear he still felt for the beast.
One that had only recently been able to classify.
An apocalypse.
Arthur took a steadying breath, a little surprised as to how unnerved he was by just remembering the panther. Almost like…
Wait, is its shadow magic still affecting me? No, Arthur shook his head. He was just making excuses now. No matter how powerful an apocalypse beast may be, the feline that Arthur had killed had only been level 11. Arthur refused to believe that the baby monster had been so powerful. It was impossible.
No, he was just a coward, through and through. Maybe it was because of the loss of his sister or it was caused by some other form of repressed trauma that Arthur had forgotten, but at the end of the day, all that mattered was that he needed to change.
Fast. Or else he wouldn't be able to survive the chaos Earth was to become. Whilst the danger would be great, it also meant that unique opportunities to grow would be present. He had to be ready to make the most of them. Arthur looked over to Alyssia to see that she was still asleep. Judging by her uninterrupted steady breathing, it didn’t look like she’d wake up any time soon.
The storm walkers that had been following them for so long seemed to have lost interest in the pair now that they were lying down doing nothing, and only two of the beasts remained in the vicinity, the rest having wandered off without Arthur even realising it.
I guess they don’t run faster than the speed of sound for no reason, he thought wryly. Arthur hadn’t heard anything from the creature's departure. Not even a sonic boom, which Arthur could only attribute to some magic fuckery. Either that or physics just didn’t work the same way in this place.
The fake sun was still high in the sky, and yet it had grown steadily dimmer throughout their journey in this place, the shadows cast by the hills slightly longer and the hot temperature a little cooler. It looked like the sun here still followed some rules, whatever they were and it appeared that night wasn’t too far away.
Maybe Alyssia had the right idea going to sleep, Arthur thought to himself. It seemed like the locus was created with rest in mind for the challengers. Arthur sincerely doubted that anyone could complete all three of its layers without taking a break. Not whilst being below level 200.
Whilst Arthur didn’t know much about Hercules, the little he did told him that the trials in this place would be anything but easy. Son of Zeus, the master of Olympus, son of God and mortal, Hercules, the hero who defied all conventions. The trendsetter for all who came after him.
And you're just Arthur Ward, a man trying to play God, a little voice told him in the back of his head, but he silenced it quickly before it got out of hand. Maybe he couldn’t compare to the real dead. Maybe he was just a fraud.
But one day, Arthur promised himself, someone would walk into a locus of power and face The Trials of Arthur Ward. He’d become a legend, and if he died trying, then he’d just come back. He already had once, and his twice-lived title seemed to be in need of an upgrade.
Still, despite all his attempts at hyping himself up, Arthur was still afraid. But he wasn’t terrified, which was a start. To conquer your fears, you had to face them, or at least that was something Arthur had once heard somewhere. Maybe it was Mathew. He always came out with cringy shit like that.
But Arthur had acknowledged his problem. And he would fix it one step at a time.
When he finally managed to get to sleep, the stalking panther didn’t haunt him. For the first time in a while, his aura calmed down. It almost became tranquil, only surging here and there occasionally when his dreams took a strange turn.
A few hours later, Alyssia woke up and looked at the sleeping form of her saviour. He almost looks cute, even though he looks like he’s got a weird skin disease. So pale, like milk from a cow's tits, she thought to herself. He looked calm, almost happy, and Alyssia observed the changes that had taken place in Arthurs's aura.
It still felt bad, like a wounded animal that had curled up into itself, but it had lost its bleeding edge. Not the greatest improvement, but it was a start.
Alyssia smiled.
Maybe Dad was right. I’d make a good therapist