CHAPTER 243 – UNEXPECTED WISDOM

Tom was wide awake and leapt up from his sleeping position. His spear in his hands, not because anything had set him off, but longer-term survival instincts ensured it was available… it was prudent. The energy from the dreams infused him and demanded action, but like always he paused to assess the situation.

His initially solitary bedroll that he had set up out of the way to the side of the entry doors had been turned into a makeshift camp while he slept. There was no campfire present, but scorched marks on the stone and the lingering scent of fried meat suggested that a magical style solution had been briefly put in use. Five bedrolls had been laid down while he slept, and three of them were still occupied.

He had jumped to his feet silently, so they continued to sleep undisturbed. As for everyone else… four must have been doing challenges because Michael was the only other present. He sat with his back against the closest magical door to the inner zone. Given Phil’s note that you couldn’t go outwards once you went in, Michael’s positioning was the safest spot available. Nothing could get him from behind.

The scene was unexpected. Tom glanced around in confusion his mind slowly filling in the blanks. Michael was clearly on guard duty… which meant… He groaned at the implications.

“Discipline,” the healer told him quietly. “We’re in a zone, with the threats apparently contained.” He waved at the pedestals and their challenge crystals. “We could assume that the area’s safe… We could,” he repeated softly while his shaking his head. “Assume lots of things, but they’re pretty big assumptions. If we were wrong, it would be a terrible reason to die. Being killed in your sleep because you cut corners is not a risk we want to take.”

Tom grimaced at the unspoken rebuke.

“There is no certainty that this area is safe. There were no system announcements about safe zones. What happens if these challenges have some sort of mechanism where they spit out monsters either on a timer or if someone dies?”

“They would make noise. I would’ve woken up?”

“Maybe…” Michael acknowledged. “But you no longer sleep as lightly as you once did.” He nodded pointedly at the fire and the people who were sleeping. Tom had vague recollection of them coming and after assessing they were not a threat falling back into slumber. But those memories could be a dream or wishful thinking as much as real. It was hard to tell they were so ethereal. “Next time you need to have a sleep wait till someone is available to take the guard position. When you’re crafting, you’re the guard and the rest of us can rest or complete puzzles, but if you’re sleeping….”

Tom glanced at the doors to the other zones. They were all shut, and the simple traps that he, Thor, and Harry had installed in front of them were still in place. They were only noise ones, but they would stop something sneaking in. However, Michael’s point about the safety of the zone, as opposed to external threats was an accurate one. They didn’t know how the area truly functioned. There could be monsters out there, either biding their time or waiting to be released on a timer. “I get it! I screwed up.” He wanted to hit himself. His anger was that intense. “This is not the first time. I keep reminding myself not to get sloppy… But… ”

“Tom, it’s okay. I understand … the transition from solo to group is tricky. All those tricks of holing up in a defended space don’t work because you can’t afford to hurt your allies. Then there is the question of how much you can rely on others. It’s honestly tricky. Are you going to be okay?”

Tom nodded slowly. Michael’s point on the challenges was an accurate one and one that he had thought himself.

“Well, if you’re good, then I guess thats my cue. The logic puzzles aren’t going to solve themselves.” He got up and began to walk away.

Within his mind, he remembered the two animals he had seen both with the healers and the humanoid. It was not information to sit on. “Wait.” Tom blurted. “I need your help. I have two monster types to find.”

Michael stopped. “Two?”

He nodded.

“Your dreams were that successful?” the other man paused momentarily. “What am I talking about? Of course they were. Well, what are we looking for?”

Tom explained in detail the monster the healers were facing.

“I know that. I just completed a puzzle with that theme,” Michael interrupted suddenly, and he spun and walked hurriedly toward a spot just beyond their own tile. “Yes, I was right.” he stopped on a tile. “I’m sure this is it. Come and check.”

Tom swiftly joined him and studied the map. It depicted a terrain that consisted of small pools and ferns with large fronds that shadowed most of the non watery land mass. Images of the singular monster type in the zone were everywhere. They ranged from tiny to giant, and he wasn’t sure if that was an indicator of rank or quantity. He guessed it probably didn’t matter. The headless creatures were as ugly as he had imagined them to be. “Yes, that’s definitely it.” He glanced back at the tile that represented their current position. A frown washed over his face.

“What’s with the look?”

He ignored the healer for a moment and checked the route to confirm that it was as bad as he expected. The optimal itinerary was both too convenient and not.

He stared up at the sky and wanted to find a hole in the ground and hide.

There were GODs up there. Manipulating things to get the right ones of their followers into this trial. They were probably working at cross purposes. The terror gods cooperating against the other ones and they had engineered this. Was this new challenge for their entertainment? Or was the cost of handing him a simple victory too costly for the friendly GODs to implement?

“Tom?” Michael asked in concern. “What are you thinking?”

He chuckled bitterly at the question. The healers needed saving, but the faster route to reach them was via the flower gathering quest, then the four-way war and then what looked like two kills quests, basically what they had planned to do and then the additional zone. That would mean to save them they had to clear five zones plus the starting one that Phil had cleared. His gut suggested it was possible, but his brain rebelled. Everything told him they were not supposed to be able to complete five zones at their rank in sixteen days even with the aid of the map. “What do you think our chances are of completing five zones?”

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“Five?” Michael shook his head his expression clearly reflecting his view. “I’m not sure that’s possible. This place isn’t built like that. The zones are designed to take three to six days to clear. This zone suits us. Keikain and I both love logic puzzles. Honestly, if we started with a thousand people the two of us would be in the top three at these types of things.”

“Then why are you on guard duty?”

“I needed a break. Thor will go back to guarding once he finishes his challenge, but,” the healer frowned. “He’s taking longer than the minimum. Anyway, we’re built for these puzzles and it’s still going to require three days to reach sixty percent and more like seven if we go for a perfect clear.”

“That will give us twelve days for five zones.”

“And I think with us at rank with them the clearance time is supposed to take four days.”

“Maybe that’s the answer. We rank up.” Tom suggested after a moment. “We’re below level. As Phil showed, if we focus on our strength, we might be able to clear that fast.”

“No! We’re not doing that Tom.” Michael said firmly. “I trust your dreams, but we’re not throwing away our strategy to save some aliens we don’t know. Ranking up now will cripple us for the next few rings and also drive the cost of traits up for all of us. We’ll be so much less when we reach the centre. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

“Not some aliens.” Tom protested. “Don’t call them that. These are good. With a capital G.”

“I don’t care if they are fucking Mother Teresa.”

“Well, that’s sort of what they are.”

“No, they’re not.” Michael argued instantly. “She fought hard and sacrificed herself. These things follow their nature. It’s like saying a rabbit is better than a wolf because it doesn’t prey on other animals.”

“Rabbits are horrible.” Tom said with a mock shiver.

Michael snorted. “The metaphor was about Earth rabbits, not monster ones. The point is the rabbit doesn’t get credit for not killing prey because it is only following its nature. I suspect it’s the same with these things.”

Tom remembered the mind he had experienced and its complete conviction. Alternatively, there was the small one and its fear. “They struggle more than you think.” Tom promised the other man. “But Michael I’m telling you that we need to save them. The dream didn’t show me them this early for no reason.”

The healer sighed heavily. “I don’t see how we can. Maybe if Selena’s team paired up with us.”

“Then we’ll do that.” Tom said simply. “They’ll die if we don’t reach them. They were not pushed by their GOD to enter the trial for that to happen to them.”

“Nothing changes for now.” Michael said. “We stay with your plan. We’ll try to push, and if we’re not going fast enough, then maybe Selena’s squad can be bribed to help.”

Tom wanted to object, but there was not much he could add to the argument. Michael’s stance was sensible. They would try, but not to the extent of risking themselves. “My second dream had rodents in it. They were shaped a little like boars with lots of horns.”

Michael seemed perplexed by the description. “I can’t recall anything like that.”

“Nor could I,” he admitted.

“Well, you might need another vision to track them down. Because rodents don’t sound like a primary monster.”

“And they might not have been.” Tom conceded. “The dream included details on a skill that is guiding him. Some sort of precognition linked to a feeling in his gut. From the glimpses I saw, it is powerful stuff and what can help us get him on side.”

“That explains it then.” Michael said. “Now can you see those pedestals with the vegetable next to them in the inner rings.”

“Yes.”

“They’re fighting challenges that we’ve put aside for you. There should be ten or so hours of combat in them. You don’t have to complete them, but I figured when you need a break you can use them to blow off steam and get you some contribution points.”

“You’re starting me on the fourth ring?”

Michael laughed at the tone of the question. “There was an argument to beginning you on the fifth, but there were only four fights in the inner rings and we presumed you would be dissatisfied with so few breaks. So we expanded the range slightly. I recommend you do them in order of easiest to …”

“I’m not an idiot, Michael. I’ll do some crafting and do one in an hour.”

“Good plan. Make sure you leave someone on watch when you go.”

Michael went off to do his allocated challenges, and Tom returned to the sleeping area to continue working on his new golem. Given it was in the form of a spider it would not be called Golly. He was pleased that the wire had been purchased for him and he incorporated it into the design. As he laboured, he did not let his guard down, Michael’s words about the importance of the guard duty still ringing in his ear, but he still found himself in a type of battle trance crossed with a crafters version. He was aware of all movement and then once it was deemed as friendly he forget about them.

“Tom?”

“What Keikain?” he responded without looking up and with a bit of effort suppressed a more aggressive reply.

The earth mage took a hurried step back having caught the irritation in his tone.

Alarm bells went off, and he cursed himself for the snapped words. He put the stone he was working on down and gave the other man his full attention. “Sorry… was lost in my work… umm… How can I help you?”

“It is how I can help you.” Keikain sat down next to him. “I like the design you’re going for. I think it is very practical.”

“But…”

Keikain smiled ruefully. “You’re right there is a but.” He hesitated.

“Spit it out.”

“I reckon you’re misusing the Drake Crystal Stone.”

“Really. It’s the hardest stuff I’ve got. Putting it on the end of each leg maximises its potential.”

“It does…” Keikain agreed hurriedly. “But have you considered structural stability. I mean,” he sped up his speech. “Have you thought about what mixing different rock on the one limb will do.”

“It shouldn’t be much of an issue… but you obviously think differently.”

“Well, I never constructed golems but…”

“I’m a big boy. You can tell me I’m stupid to my face without me smiting you.”

“My suggestion is to make the front legs completely out of Drake Crystal Stone. They’ll be the ones doing the majority of the fighting, so they need the extra toughness. The others I would do out of granite. The legs aren’t thick enough to mix rocks, keep them pure to avoid introducing structural weaknesses.”

Tom considered the suggestion. He understood what the mage was talking about. Any join between different rock types by its very nature was a point of weakness. Discrete materials would bend by varying amounts and shatter. A homogenous leg, even one formed exclusively out of the weaker and more brittle of the two materials, would outperform the composite leg version when subjected to sheer forces. “Fine.” He agreed.

“Fine,” Keikain parroted back at him. “Fine? You’re just going to accept the advice.”

“You’re right. What else do you expect me to do? I didn’t survive as long as I did in the tutorial by stubbornly sticking to the same tactics when they were failing. I’m not going to do it now. If you would excuse me I have even more work to do.”

Keikain did not move.

“What.” he almost growled.

“The puzzles aren’t using my mana. I was wondering if you would like me to shape pieces of your creation. If its convenient, I can take sections with me and start carving details on the shell. Are you interested?”

“Yes.”

“Great.” He sat down and concentrated on a section of the body that was completed and let his magic rip. There was a crack and a chunk only slightly larger than a book broke away. The stone cracked so that when it was pulled away, the grooves, the locations the wire had filled were visible. “This will do it. Now I’m off.”

“Not so fast.” Tom said, standing up with a smile.

“What are you planning?” Keikain asked suspiciously.

“Michael said someone needs to stand guard and I’m off to do some fighting.”

“Tom, is this because I was right about the rock?”

He shook his head, but he knew his motivations were obvious.

“Tom…” Keikain said imploringly. “That’s unfair. I only interrupted you to be helpful. Surely you can get someone else to stand guard.”

“Nah. I need to fight now. Someone knocked me out of my groove.” He winked at the other man. “You’ll only be stuck here for less than ten minutes. When the next person comes out flag them down.”

Smiling to himself, he headed off to complete his first challenge. Before entering the crystal, he examined the tile that it was standing on. It was a single monster tile and the pedestal, like the other one he had used was filled with scenes of violence. Tom then got down on his hands and knees to study the lizard in more detail. It appeared to be a physical based monster that would be four or five times his length and weight and just as agile.

Satisfied, he put his hand on the crystal and willed himself to enter the trial.