Ethan wasn’t certain that any version of himself could be truly ready for what came next, as dozens of the beetle-creatures began emerging from the door in the far wall. Valanor crossed the room rapidly, planting his large frame in front of the onrush of insects, and began laying waste with methodical swings of his warhammer.
A trickle of the creatures managed to get around him, but Toby was there in an instant, stomping on them, or smashing them with jagged, stony hands. Ethan was fascinated with the spectacle, moreso when he realized the knight was rapidly employing numerous abilities. Sometimes the hammer crashed into the ground, disabling the creatures, other times his armor burst into spikes, impaling his attackers.
Ethan was forced to look away when a number of the insects managed to make it into the room, crawling along the walls and ceiling. He readied himself, the crowbar poised to attack. Having grown up with three older brothers, he was no stranger to fighting, and he’d even been hunting a number of times when he was young.
Unfortunately, he didn’t think living room brawls and ‘shooting Bambi’s mom’ as his brother had called it, quite prepared him for this. Still, he refused to back down as the beetles approached. Fortunately they were relatively slow, and when the first came within range, the crowbar slammed down, cracking through the outer shell with a satisfying crunch–and remaining there.
The first beetle was down, but Ethan was beginning to doubt how true to life Gordon Freeman’s experiences had been. He pulled harder, managing only to drag the dead insect along with him, while three others approached. Finally he let go, and started moving in the other direction, looking for new ideas.
The room offered plenty of options for alternate weapons, though none of them were ideal. Broken, rotten furniture wouldn’t prove particularly effective, though he continually tossed stray pieces behind him as he searched. The beetles were surprisingly relentless in their pursuit, barely even reacting to being struck, and it wasn’t long before a half dozen were on his trail.
He took a few out with large rocks, a makeshift wooden spear that broke in half after a single use, and even duplicated Toby’s stomp technique when he’d been backed into a corner. While his weight had been enough to injure the insect, he slipped in the disturbing goo that spilled out of the thing, and took a few hits before scrambling to his feet. Super Mario, he was not.
Nursing a few more bleeding wounds, Ethan nonetheless sprinted toward his first kill now that he’d gotten around his pursuers. Planting a foot, he heaved the crowbar out, then wisely moved to stand closer to Valanor as the fight resumed. The flood of insects was slowing, and Toby kindly assisted Ethan with the stragglers as the knight continued the extermination.
Focusing on legs turned out to be a much more effective strategy, and soon the fighting had slowed enough that he could turn to speak to his companion. “Valanor, are the things supposed to be this dumb?”
“What are you talking about?” the knight called over his shoulder as a wave of stone projectiles burst from his chest to slam into the closest insects.
“Well, animals usually have decent instincts. These things are just walking into a meat grinder.” He jumped back as a beetle nearly landed on him after falling from the ceiling, then gave it a golf-swing with his crowbar that sent it bouncing further into the chamber.
“You’re right,” Valanor said, sounding surprised. “This isn’t normal. I don't know what would cause them to behave like this, but there isn’t much we can do about it.” Ethan nodded and went back to work. Though only moments later the sounds echoing out from the bug-filled tunnel started to change.
Skittering shifted to heavy footsteps, and low growls soon followed. Recognizing the sounds, Valanor glanced over his shoulder. “It’s a lacerignus, you should fall ba–” he stopped when he realized Ethan wasn’t there. Grunting, he turned back toward the tunnel. A few final bugs went by, but the knight ignored them, focusing on the true threat ahead.
He backed away slightly, his warhammer dissolving as a long steel lance took its place. He hurled it down the tunnel before him, two more following in rapid succession. Toby was back beside him a moment later as the hammer reformed, and he braced himself for the attack.
The beast emerged at last, howling in rage and pain. One of the lances had buried itself in the thing’s heavily muscled foreleg, slowing it slightly. Exposed to the dim light of the moss, it looked like a dark green lizard the size of a horse, but more bulky. A thick, stocky tail whipped back and forth, and the monster moved sideways to allow the tail to strike.
This also served to keep the small head away from Valanor, who wasted no time in bringing his warhammer crashing down against the beast’s limbs. It was fast, and not every strike was a clean hit, but the knight knew his work, and was relentless. He took hits in turn, but that often cost the lizard as much as it did Valanor, as spikes would rise out of the dark armor, leaving bloody wounds on his attacker.
The battle was monotonous and brutal, with Valanor’s unprotected left side leaving him continuously open to attack. Toby tried to make the difference, but he was too small and slow for this type of opponent, and soon the knight was in full retreat. His hammer moved continuously, but he simply couldn’t do enough damage to the twisting, flailing form of the lacerignus. He was pushed halfway back to their original tunnel when Ethan called out.
“Hold him still!” The voice echoed from every direction in the big empty room, but despite not seeing his unusual comrade, the knight’s instincts took over. With no hesitation he leapt forward, dropping his hammer and wrapping his good arm around the lizard’s middle. Spikes burst out of his armor, pinning him to the creature for good measure.
Valanor looked up just in time to witness Ethan drop from the nearly twenty foot ceiling, the straight end of the crowbar point-downward. He was directly on target, but his arms barely absorbed the force as the improvised weapon pierced directly through the lizard's small head. Three feet of metal tore its way through the monster’s brain, propelled by Ethan's weight and the tremendous drop.
The monster's body was softer than the stone floor, and absorbed some of the fall, but Ethan still flew sideways, rolling and crashing to the ground to eventually stop, groaning in pain. Valanor didn’t fare much better, as the large monster had collapsed on top of him after an already long, painful battle. He dug himself out from under the heavy limbs and tail, then likewise rolled onto his back on the hard floor.
Ethan coughed, struggling to get his wind back. “I’d like to see Gordon Freeman do that,” he muttered, then saw the knight staring at him. “Sorry…I saw the sword guy do it…seemed like a good move.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?” Valanor grumbled, pushing himself up.
“Was that thing dumb enough to hear two voices and think it was one person?”
“I don’t know,” the knight answered.
“Me neither,” Ethan muttered, forcing his bruised body to stand. As he did so, his eyes widened and he pointed.
Valanor didn’t notice, and kept speaking. “Fair enough, I suppose you may have some knack for this. But ‘that sword guy’, is Prince Calevaro. You’ll address him with appropriate respect in the future.” He looked back when Ethan didn’t answer, and followed the gesture to see the line of blue and white energy in the corner of the room. “Shit.”
“Is that what I think it is?” Ethan asked, not sure how to feel. He’d been told by the silver woman and the Mad system that there was no easy way home, but could they be certain? If they were, did that mean the rift led back to Potentia? Ethan didn’t think he could take that chance.
“It’s a rift. The beginnings of one at least. Come, we’ve wasted time and it’s not safe to stay near those things. You’re the least threatening thing I’ve ever seen come out of one.”
“Hey, didn’t you see me slay that demon? I’m more dangerous than these stupid beetles, at least,” Ethan said, following the knight as he moved toward the exit.
“That wasn’t a demon,” Valanor said dismissively. “The opteras and that damn lizard are both native to this region.”
“Hold on,” Ethan called, “I’m supposed to use another survival rock thing.” He was pulling the case from his inventory when Valanor’s words registered. “Wait, did you say those weren’t demons? As in, demons are a thing?”
Valanor turned, watching the process as Ethan gained a new tattoo. “Of course. They’re what come through the rifts. If you’d appeared near the wrong village, they’d have accused you of being one too.” He cocked his helmeted head, “What does that one do?”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
In response, Ethan moved over to touch the lizard corpse, which immediately seemed to deflate, as small motes of light rose from it. Some of the light flowed into the diamond-like symbol that had formed right beneath his inventory tattoo. As it did, messages popped up from the system.
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You have looted [Dawn Rank Lacerignus]:
You have received:
* 3 Dusk Coins
* 147 Dawn Coins
* 1 Lacerignus Gem (Dawn Rank)
* ‘Crowbar’ (already owned)
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“Gods save me, that box had a looting power? Do you have any concept of how much those are worth?”
“More than I did a minute ago,” Ethan mused, looking at the coins in his inventory. “Is it worth more than three ‘Dusk Coins’?” he asked.
“Three? If that tattoo is permanent, you’d need to loot another few thousand lizards to come close to paying for it.”
“Hmm, better get started then,” Ethan remarked, quickly running around and tapping every dead beetle–opteras?–he could find. They only gave a handful of Dawn coins, which were presumably less valuable, but it was an addictive experience. Finally he realized Valanor was leaving without him, and hurried to catch up.
“What’s with all this Dawn and Dusk stuff, by the way?” he asked as they entered the dark tunnel. They couldn’t avoid stepping in bug remains as they walked. Ethan could feel his climbing shoes soaking through from the gore, but chuckled when realized he was still able to loot the bodies he stepped in.
“Are you telling me that whatever backwater you come from doesn’t even know the names of the True Gods?”
Dangerous ground. “We probably…just have different names for them.”
Valanor snorted, “Whatever you say, heretic.” He stopped suddenly as the tunnel abruptly turned, and Ethan walked into the man–it was like walking into an irritated steel wall. “Look,” he said, pointing at another line of blue and white they’d nearly walked into.
The two ducked low to avoid it, then continued on. It wasn’t long before they saw another, however, and then several more after that. Soon they were moving at a crawl, struggling not to touch the things. “Is this normal?” Ethan asked, frustrated.
“No, it’s definitely not,” Valanor replied, his heavy armor making it even more difficult for him. Finally the cluster of rifts ended, and they both breathed easier for a few minutes as the tunnel became more traversable.
“All these rifts, what happens if we touch them when they’re this small?” Ethan asked.
“I don’t know,” Valanor replied, seeming somewhat disturbed. He stopped, turning back to speak. “I’ve never seen them like this before. It’s possible that–lookout!”
Ethan’s eyes had been on the knight, so he didn’t see the new source of blue-white light forming behind him. Valanor’s right hand reached out to grab him, but it was already too late. The light flowed over Ethan’s body like liquid, devouring him before the knight’s eyes.
***
For Ethan, the entire experience occurred in an eyeblink. Much like his other encounters with the phenomena, there was just a flash, and he was somewhere else. It was disorienting, of course, but in a weird way he was almost used to it. He still appeared a half dozen feet in the air, though.
Ethan’s eyes widened as the ground rose up to meet him, and he barely managed to adjust his fall so he’d land feet first. He let his legs fold as they hit, and he rolled with the momentum. Coming to a stop, he groaned, and let himself lay still for a moment. “That was my most successful fall today,” he muttered.
After a few deep breaths, he made himself sit up, and looked around the room curiously. It was a dark chamber, with none of the convenient moss to light it up. A familiar blue-white glow did the job, however, illuminating the small stone room.
Two things immediately stood out, a complete lack of doors or other ways out, and a round object sitting on a table opposite Ethan. It was the source of the light, as the familiar glow zigzagged across its surface. Ethan got to his feet, carefully examining the rest of the room before approaching the suspicious object.
It was in better shape than the tunnels, but clearly of the same construction, so he didn’t think he’d been taken to a new world this time. Running his hands over the stone walls, he was surprised to see more pictures like those he’d seen before, except these were intact.
Once again he found the spirals, though there were actually four instead of three. There were also creatures. Dozens of different creatures, of all different shapes and sizes. Some were vaguely familiar, not much removed from the animals he knew from home. Ethan traced the many images as he drew closer to the object, curious, but lacking the context to understand any significance they may have.
At last he approached a stone table, which gave off the disturbing impression of being something closer to an altar. This was made more concerning when he realized the round object was actually more of an oval…it was an egg. An egg covered in cracks made of the familiar blue-white light. Just being close to the thing prompted a response from the Mad system.
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Disabled [Ultra Rare] Eidolon detected!
Attention: Eidolon is too weak to form True Bond. Consume Bond Stone to Bond Familiar?
Dalton’s Survival Recommendation: form Familiar Bonds to dramatically increase your chances of survival!
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Ethan withdrew from the egg. “There’s really some little creature in there,” he said. “But what the hell is it?” He considered the familiar lights, and the rift that had pulled him into this doorless room. “That woman, she said something was anchoring the rifts…Valanor said basically the same thing. This mountain is a hotspot for them.”
He leaned closer, examining the egg. “Is this all your fault, little guy?” he asked. Then stepped back and tried to consider his situation. There was no way out of this room. There may be no way off this planet.
Ethan was a healer, in a violent world. He’d spent his life refusing to take a path that led down a road like this back home. Plus there could be a godforsaken scorpion-tarantula-bear in that thing. He sighed, looking around once again at the empty room, his eyebrows drawing down in irritation.
“You know what, screw this escape room nonsense,” he turned back to the egg. “I’m going to do this, but not because I have to. This is just a convenient opportunity for something I’ve been thinking about since I saw an evil giant ape explode into a blizzard.”
He walked closer. “You hear me, egg? You’re just a means to an end. Besides, what kind of idiot wouldn’t choose magic powers? Taking them is my choice, and what I do with them will be too.” He pulled out the rapidly depleting survival kit, and grabbed the glowing stone.
Unlike the others, it didn’t melt into his skin right away. Instead, it felt drawn toward the egg like a magnet, and he didn’t resist its pull. As it touched the glowing oval it finally began to behave like the others, though only some of the ink leaked into his hand, while the rest disappeared into the egg. “Please don’t be a horrible scorpion-thing,” he whispered.
He felt a tugging, then, as the coldness of the ink gathered in his chest, and seemed to be pulling toward the unseen creature. All at once the cold seemed to turn to fire, and he looked down to see new symbols burning into his flesh at the base of his sternum. The swirls and patterns didn’t form a familiar picture, but nonetheless he felt the significance of them as they imprinted not just on his skin, but on something deeper.
At last the pain faded, and he was surprised to see the egg still in front of him. He expected it to disappear into light, or become the tattoo or something, instead it was just sitting there, as if nothing had happened. Finally he looked down, seeing messages waiting from the system.
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Congratulations, you have formed a Familiar Bond!
New Bond Affinity: Dimension
Total Bonds: 1/3
New Familiar: (Unnamed) Dimension Devourer
New Ability: (Unstable) Rift
----------------------------------------
Ethan paused, despite seeing that there were more messages waiting. “Dimension Devourer,” he said, needing to hear it out loud. He inspected the egg again, “Maybe you devour itty bitty little dimensions? Ones no one would miss?” He sighed. “I guess it’s alright if you turn out to be friendly…though I’m only now realizing that I have no idea if that’s the case. Even puppies need training…what’s a Dimension Devourer like if it’s not housebroken?”
At last he turned back to his messages, hoping for more clues.
----------------------------------------
Attention: Dimension Devourer has been Bonded in an unhatched state!
Dimensional Energy is required to awaken Dimension Devourer!
Familiar Bond is in a state of flux until Dimension Devourer has awakened!
New abilities are blocked!
Existing abilities may be unstable!
----------------------------------------
“Okay, so I just need to find you a nice, healthy dimension to eat. How hard could that be?” Ethan sighed, shaking his head at how absurd his life had become. “Well, it’s all pointless unless I can get out of this room. I was hoping you would just come out, and kind of solve all my problems. That hasn’t been how my luck has been going though.”
Without another option, Ethan carefully touched the egg to the inventory symbol on his arm. It obediently disappeared, which was lucky, in hindsight. “I didn’t consider that I was putting a hungry dimension eater into my own little pocket dimension. Please don’t eat my inventory,” he whispered. The egg didn’t respond.
“Alright, time to see what all this was for,” he said, opening up his final message.
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Ability: (Unstable) Rift (Dawn Rank 0: 0%)
Type: Dimension
You may create a rift that allows one-way travel through linear space! Mana cost increases with distance traveled. This ability requires an anchor point for precise targeting, and may have unpredictable results without one.
----------------------------------------
“Okay. I understand some percentage of that,” he said. “I guess in a way this is no more dangerous or stupid than some of the other things I’ve done today.” Ethan ran a hand over his face in frustration. “I’ll just keep telling myself that,” he said.
Then, following some strange, instinctual understanding of what he was attempting to do, Ethan did the latest stupid thing.
“Rift,” he whispered, and the blue-white light enveloped him.