Matthias had been clutching his ruined arm and the side of his body. The poison within the spine needles had penetrated deeply as his flesh had begun to darken and decay. He was thankful that the damage to his own body had only partially limited his movements, his swimming ability had never been the best and he had struggled to locate his leader in the sea of lost ships.
None of them were familiar to him, aside from being made of metal. The presence of the demi-god hadn’t given him pause though as he was at least a little aware of the secret that it held. The thought saddened him that such a powerful creature had such fatal weaknesses but he knew that as long as he kept a good distance away and posed no direct threat nor was armed then it would likely ignore him.
The robed woman had found him inside his own rest room, eating and busy conversing with the construct whose company he had found pleasant before she had smashed in the door and told him that his group leader had left.
A person he had promised to support and protect had been forcefully moved to a demi-god arena and there was only one way to immediately attend her presence if he was willing to accept pain and the possibility of losing an arm.
Matthias had agreed as the robed woman had pulled out a small sea urchin before crushing it in her bare hand and stabbing deep into Matthias, the fact that he and Carissa had formed a group meant that as player-candidates they would both need to stay in the same location according to the rules of the Ocean Gateway system.
A necessary sacrifice for my leader.
The woman had promised him that Carissa held something that could save his arm and stop the poison within the claws of the sea urchin before it would paralyse him and reduce his breathing ability. As it was his face was fixed in place and there was a numbness which told him that his ears and nose had become swollen.
The poison wouldn’t kill him, not yet and even if he would injured he
Despite the pain he barely managed to swim along to find Carissa in time. Thankfully he had been transported only a short distance from her location, her own senses weren’t as keen but as he drew closer there was a scent in water.
His own grey suit adapted his vision swiftly and enabled him to see but Matthias was also thankful for the light streaming down from the surface. When they had formed a group as fellow player-candidates a loose connection was generated between them, as long as he was in a reasonable distance from her he could find her location.
This had been how he had found her again inside the Deep Water Temple Facility when he had chosen to leave her to her first combat and kill. She could do the same for him but only in a reasonable distance.
The waters around them didn’t flow easily but were fairly still aside from the movement caused by his own swimming and the aftershock of Carissa being smashed underwater and propelled until she impacted with a shipwreck.
Alive. She’s alive. But...no. Dying. Lady of the Lake...please. Please hear me. Save her. Save my friend.
When he saw the condition of her body he saw that there were tears and rips in the grey suit across her body, parts of it had begun to repair and rebuild but not all. They had an opportunity and he doubted that even opening his own spatial bag for the bare medical supplies he held was going to work underwater. He had no time, not to stabilise her, not to heal her.
For a bare second he hoped that the ocean gods would accept the trial was clearly over and then send both of them to a room for physical repair and produce both of them back into peak physical condition.
His own beloved Lady would do this for suitable contenders who participated in fights. They would spar heavily with the knowledge that wounds would be healed entirely and they would receive the blessing of their goddess in turn.
his hand wrapped around the statuette which she had been barely holding onto to as he crushed it with his one uninjured arm.
Once the statue had broken into wooden shards a bright energy and a sense of warmth was released, flowing into Matthias and Carissa as the power of a high-level player was experienced by both of them.
For Matthias, the poison within his arm diminished and old flesh was simply replaced with fresh tissues as his arm straighten and the damaged side of his body where he had managed to rip out the poisoned spines began to cover over.
The grey suit had given him a layer of protection as he knew that without it the spines would have either penetrated deeper and hit his internal organs or worse.
Flexing a grey suit hand which no longer experienced pain he cradled Carissa trying his best to examine her in the underwater conditions and see how the statuette was trying to repair the damage from her severe injury.
Her face was pale and weak and the grey suit had turned transparent when he had laid his fingers gingerly on the injured areas of her body. The massive abdominal scar which she had survived from a tremendous injury remained stitched up but he could only see a portion of it along with a metal bar which had pierced through her suit and her abdomen.
Rather than try and pull it out Matthias grasped it with two hands and bent it straightening it out and pulled Carissa directly forward into his chest as the statuette worked it’s own high-level player power on her form.
I’m sorry Carissa. I’m so sorry. They tricked me. I failed you. Failed our group.
A message came to him from the Ocean Gateway System regarding the now broken statue.
[Player-Candidate Designate: Carissa and Matthias.
Tool Received from Player: Mike
-Second-Life Statuette/Altered.
-Will absorb medium amount of physical or mental trauma only.
-Single Usage only for group designate Thalassophobia.
-Self-Destruction Upon Single Usage.
-Item cannot be transferred or sold to other players.
-Warning: Statue has been used.
-Warning: Message exists from High Level Player creator Designate Mark 1. Play message Y/N?]
As Matthias held Carissa in the still waters and saw the blood flow from her body slow down he was thankful for the fact that demi-god arenas were entirely devoid of life. If there had been hostile creatures in the water attracted to the scent he would have found it difficult to protect the both of them as their injuries recovered.
Given that Carissa was beginning to recover the demi-god with the title of JIM and his own body was still weak Matthias had little else to do except to play the message from the man that Carissa had told him was her own tutorial teacher.
If the man had been anything like his own when he had arrived then he pitied her. They had either been here too long or their own power had changed them in unforeseen ways. There was another possibility but Matthias preferred to put it out of his mind, the transformed scientist and his private record notes had been a nightmare to read.
The high-level players were closer to angels than mortals given their sheer power levels they possessed. He had broken a sword on bare flesh within seconds of trying and been thrown a considerable distance off a floating platform into an ocean as he had to swim for at least an hour to get back.
The message began to play in his minds eye, just as Carissa had trained him in. He was thankful for her efforts. She was damaged and angry but then so was he, they all were. He would do his best to protect her and follow her orders to fulfil his own goals.
[Player Candidate Designate: Carissa Acqua
-High Level Player: Mark 1 KZ (Mike) has sent you a recorded message, only playable on usage of Second-Life Statuette.
Yeah. You used it. I hope it saved your life and for what it’s worth I’m sorry. Sorry for lying to you and sorry for hurting you. We’re going to be allies if you survive. There are plans within plans. Deals and promises we have to make to protect you and guide you. You never asked for this. Carissa, you will have a future. Until I met you I’ve been alone. They kill us on arrival you see. The genetically changed, the slave caste in our own worlds. We escape our own and these freak watery gods kill us out of hate. Did you know you’re old enough to be my daughter? I promise you, I’m going to save you from this watery hell. We’re going to dry them out. You have power in you. Power they fear. I’m sorry Carissa. Forgive an old man’s tears and dreams. I hope you lived after using it. Try and contact me when you can. I left traces in your spatial backpack. You beautiful genetically altered person of perfection. Be safe. Mike.]
Sad. How sad.
Matthias wished that he had never played the message. This was the same as the communication device which contained a message directed towards Carissa from a man called Liam. His love for her, his concern and his desperation for her safety and well being.
None of this was his concern though, he barely knew the woman although they had joined as a dungeon team he had done similar before. If she knew that his wariness came from betrayal within teams when he had been a knight errant.
She had never asked for the communication device, not inside the dungeon called the Deep Water Purification Facility, nor in the waiting room when they had both emptied out their own spatial bags and not even when they had entered a room with a floating globe and a fountain filled with sand.
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Either she had forgotten or she had simply not wanted to know. Matthias hadn’t pried further beyond discussing his life story with her and she with him as they shared common areas to be able to identify each other via messages or in person.
In his arms Carissa began to move as her internal and external wounds healed to the point where she had regained consciousness and was able to breath the water through the grey covering her face.
Alive. And awake. And angry, very, very angry. Understandable. The Lady would be the same.
She sent a message to him directly and he just squeezed her hands in response as Matthias looked up towards the creature known as a demi-god. The entire time it had simply turned around and walked back the way it came until it reached a point and then repeated the pattern.
Endless meandering walking simply pushing or smashing any obstacles out of the way. The being had made no attempt to communicate or aggressively attack them and with the answers that he had been given by the bluish skinned woman in her shining scale robe he understood it.
This wasn’t something they could kill. Even High-Level players with all their strengths and abilities would find it nigh impossible to defeat. The Ocean Gods had wanted demi-gods as their champions but lacked the understanding and ability to truly create them so they had stolen the ability to do so from the Deep Water Purification Facility.
More than that he knew little of but the basics of the demi-god called Jim he had a clearer idea. The thing was entirely trapped inside a fantasy world inside his own mind as his body continually reinforced and repaired itself and automatically attacked any hostile intent that drew close no matter the size or shape.
An unkillable knight in modified armour who followed no orders or instructions but obeyed the ocean gods out of a sense of belonging only.
Matthias sent his own message back as he saw that Carissa’s grey suit had several puncture marks and torn areas which simply refused to seal over. Her bare skin was exposed to the open waters of this place which mingled with the blood, silt and rust.
At the least he needed to make sure they leave this place. He had barely participated in the demi-god combat trial so there would be repercussions, dungeon trials always did. If you failed to stick to the rules the operating magical control core would punish you as he had been several times.
Matthias hadn’t used the Ocean Gateway System, not pushed himself or the limits as Carissa had. He didn’t understand how it operated, aside from that it controlled the environment, the player-candidates and responded to the will of the gods.
As Carissa regained her vision again she saw Matthias holding her hand and tried to pull it away. There was a sharp pain still within her back, by her spine which although it had been reduced was enough to stop any immediate thought of movement.
A message came notifying him of the completion of the trial and the reaction of the ocean gods to the performance of Carissa.
[Player-Candidate Designates: Carissa Acqua, Matthias Fischer.
Group: Thassalaphobia
-Set Mission: Demi-God Trial Complete.
-Trial Engaged by Player-Candidate Designate: Matthias
-Warning: Partial failure. No damage inflicted on demi-god target.
-Demi-God Designate: Jim.
-Warning: Penalty imposed on group member Matthias, secondary random compulsory scenario for player-candidate….cancelled.
-Warning: Penalty imposed after player-candidate status removed. Full Starter Level Status will be enabled.
-Warning: Transfer to Floating City...error..player-candidate penalty in place.
-Congratulations: Player-Candidates, you have survived an encounter with a demi-god.
-Calculating Rewards…
-Emergency Resource Survival Pack Removed.
-Single Item Upgrade – Conditional upgrade to Starter Level Player Item.
-Transfer to Floating City halted. Override by Ocean Gateway System Administrator: Classified Oannes. Transfer to Floating City postponed.
Warning: Indirect transfer to waiting room on authority of Administrator designate Oannes.
Warning: Detection of severe damage to surviving player-candidates.
Warning: Indirect Ocean God interference. Administrator Access Denied.]
Matthias tried his best to understand the rolling text in his mind’s eye as he gave Carissa a look from her own covered face and nodded his head as he squeezed her hand.
[Player-Candidate: Carissa Acqua. You have illegally used forbidden technology in your demi-god trial. Please desist from further action. This action has been logged by the Ocean Gateway System and an Administrator has been notified. Please desist from further action. A discussion is in progress.]
The young woman began to struggle from her injuries and the torn parts of her own grey suit as she reached a damaged arm towards her shoulder attempting to loosen her own spatial bag.
Matthias saw the movement as the waters around them began to darken, the light from the surface faded and the situation of being stuck in this situation amongst wrecks. He was certain that the area they were in had begun to change, the waters around them began to grow colder and darker and even underwater there was a shift in the current.
Carissa found that her arm was mostly healed but remained stiff, she needed to move a little to regain her full range of movement but the cold water on her bare patches of skin no longer covered by the suit was beginning to affect her physically.
The tiny spark of energy she held within which powered the technological mount designed to regulate and control her own body temperature internally and externally on her body wasn’t enough and nor did she want to draw notice to it.
Clearly the Ocean Gods had been watching her performance and were either displeased or had realised that the one who scared them, the anathema who called himself Horus had left and they no longer had anything to fear from mere mortals.
Pulling on her dwindling energy reserves she sent a message to Matthias to force her spatial back pack from her damaged shoulder and get it into her hands immediately.
If the gods refuse to act I’ll make them. Trying to delay so I die of injuries or cold shock response. Sudden immersion in freezing cold water to stop my heart. Even gods have predators.
Reading the urgency of her message Carissa was barely able to make out Matthia’s eyes as he looked concerned. The waters around them continued to slowly darken and the temperature dropped further as he pulled her spatial backpack, forcing it past her damaged body and into her hands.
Carissa was aware that she had been hurt badly. Even with the statuette likely she would succumb as it had been designed by Mike to protect her from damage rather then heal her and Matthias. She knew from a message that Matthias was injured but healing, the fact that he was able to be here was enough.
They’d have a good discussion about his actions of abandoning her again when they were in a better and safer place then this. The grey suit had peeled back from her hands trying to spread and cover as much of her bare skin as possible especially the severely damaged areas of her body.
The bare areas of skin and her hands was beginning to cool down, a clear sign to Carissa that she was going into initial cold shock. Likely, she only had a short time before the next stage began.
The waters around them now were entering darkness, herself and Matthias had the physical impression of being on a sunken navel boat and the sensation of the metal around them but they were unable to see it. Her own eyes refused to adjust any further as the spark within her diminished entirely and ran out.
Her spatial backpack was within her rapidly cooling fingers as she lost heat and she struggled to open it and stuck a hand inside. The difference in temperature clearly uncomfortable, as she reached out an item which she had taken from the dried up fountain in handfuls and stuck inside as an afterthought.
Grasping it as tight as she could in her fingers, fine particles of entirely dried up sand trickled through as Carissa tried to pray. Not to the Ocean Gods but to a being who in his presence felt as pure anathema to her but had treated her with kindness and respect.
She willed the grey suit to retract from her mouth as ice cold water rushed into her mouth and ignored the desire to breath in as she spoke silent words in the water.
Horus. Hear my prayer. Make the ocean gods send me to a Floating City and heal me and Matthias entirely or kill their experiment. Please.
Two messages entered her brain as it began to slow down and her body entered the next stage of cold shock. If her technological implants and mount had been operating at even half-capacity this level of cold water would have done nothing.
Struggling to send a final message to Matthias in a gesture of thanks she experienced a moment of clarity as an Ocean Gateway System message all but burnt itself into her brain.
[Player-Candidate Designates: Carissa Acqua, Matthias Fischer.
Group: Thassalaphobia
-Set Trial: Demi-God Combat complete.
-Reward: Random Item Upgrade in progress…
-Immediate transfer to random entrance gate of Floating City
-Removal of Player-Candidate Status and Promotion to Starter Level players.
-Congratulations Carissa and Matthias. You have survived an encounter with a touch of the divine and overcome challenges.
-Bonus: Automatic Standard Health Restoration Package enabled as additional rewards.
Good trick kid. Good trick. Never pray to me again or your planet and you, and everything from Terrus cease to exist. I was blamed for this interference. I’m not losing my vacation time because of you. Oannes, get back in contact with her as per our agreement. You’ve ignored her long enough. A promise made is a promise kept. Casey? Next world!]
On the edge of her consciousness a dry hand touched Carissa and she felt the hot warmth of the desert air before everything was submerged in darkness.