[//Wyvern-2 – Entity detected!]
It’d been less than 30 minutes since the fight. I had one wyvern circling overhead while one scanned through the forest as I followed behind in the emperor. Yang took up rear security. With that goblin escaping, I’d been put on edge. And when I got that notification, I thought we’d finally found our escapee.
I switched to the wyvern’s camera feed but found a startled old man nestled into the trunk of the tree. He wore rags for clothes and stared back at the wyvern with refrained curiosity. I marked that wyvern with a waypoint, and my agent brought up an icon on my HUD that pointed me toward it. It was less than 60 meters away. Wyvern 1 50 meters to my right in the sky. I had it scan the immediate area for an easement, or at least, a path that brought me close to them.
A break in the forest was found ahead. I broke off the riverside road there. Traversing offroad, as expected, wasn’t easy for the emperor. It lifted, but the weight created an issue in the muddy patches while the steps kept catching on to anything that protruded. The path found wasn’t a straight line and I hated that the entire way.
Eventually, I got within 10 meters of the area the man where I disembarked.
Bird songs from the thick canopy above made me uneasy. There were no walkways. No large concrete buildings offered clear paths around, or through. Trip hazards are everywhere. Branches and twigs… all between tall untouched trees with diameters thicker than my steering wheel. It was a lot. Dirty. It was easy to put out of mind while on the road, but being in the forest proper was… Jarring.
“Hey there,” I called out as I approached at an angle the old man could see. Since he was the first human I’d seen since coming here, I scanned him,
[// SCAN:
Peter the Wandering Priest
Faction: The First One
Blessings: The First One’s Protection
FRIENDLY ]
“Oh, hello there young one.” He tried to smile as he pulled himself out of the tree. His skin was wrinkled, with a few liver spots. His arms and legs were covered in scratches that bled. The rags that he wore as clothes stank like polluted water. Yet, there was a certain youthful glow in his eyes.
“Hello,”
“You… Wouldn’t have happened to see where the wolf riders went, did ya’?”
“Yes, I have. I killed them, just up the road.” I jutted a thumb over my shoulder.
“... Oh! Then you must be the Champion!”
“... Champion…?”
“I knew the First One would send a Champion! I saw it in my dreams long ago. When monsters began to crawl from the depths of the earth without fearing the Veil - when the stars would fall as mothers and children walked their death marches to safety - when the false gods would attempt to invade the pantheon… When the world as we know it would end, the First One would send a champion!”
“That’s a lot of when…”
“Ah… Sorry, Me’ lord, I’m just excited to see a prophecy come true.”
“That’s great and all, but to be honest, I’m only here because A – I mean, the First One, told me to come get you and help you. A sort of payment for helping me out of a bind.”
“That sounds like most stories involving gods,”
He chuckled before he gave me a small bow.
“I’m not big on mythology, but… Could we continue this conversation… Somewhere else?”
I brought Peter to the emperor. He marveled for a few minutes, inspecting it with childlike wonder. He eventually turned his attention back to me and it came down to business.
“You mentioned that the First One had sent you to help me.”
“Yes.”
He looked… Disappointed more than happy. He sighed and then smiled before continuing. “I see… Truly, after all these years, she answers my prayers…”
“Hey, Choom,” I snapped my fingers as he began to look at the ground. It startled him. “Look, rain on your parade, but I need you to focus. Helping you — problem. But we’re in the middle of –” I waved my arms around as my patience began to reach its limit. “And I’d like to not be here before more monsters arrive. So, I’d like you to get in this thing and tell me where we’re going and what you need help with.”
It’s hard to stay patient with people who seemed to not take the context of the situation in order. He had been chased by monsters, monsters I killed after being dropped into a world. I then took on a deal with a powerful entity that was looking for a reason not to kill me. I’d like to say I had a penchant for not losing my marbles, but that was when things moved along at a good pace or even a fast pace.
But I refused to slow to a crawl. There was a lot of things that caught up to you when you did.
I ushered him into the front passenger seat while Yang and wyvern-2 stayed on overwatch. We got back to the road. I loaded the wyverns into their charging stations and Yang into the back seat. Peter was able to give me good information on the road conditions. We eventually were able to stay between 25-45mph depending. The road was slightly overgrown, but he said that souls of the valley took care of it. For when the First One returned. I didn’t stay for the story drop, and pushed him back on top.
“So, this rift, where is it and what’s the issue with its presence?”
“Years ago, they were called Dungeons. They –”
“Is this relevant to what the problem is?”
“Yes…”
“Okay, go on.”
“They were called dungeons. Dungeons were often fixed points of concentrated miasma. They attracted it, cleansing the lands. But in turn, they created monsters - mutants that took on twisted forms of natural beings. Goblins are thought to be twisted forms of halflings. Direwolves… So on. Given this, the races above cleared out these dungeons time from time, but as time went on, the miasma became too great with too many souls.”
“Miasma is?”
“We believe its the phenomenon of evil - the darkness of living souls. Malfeasance, murder, or misery. Things we all few as bad. In small portions, they disperse into the wideness of our world where they cease. I believe it is tainted mana that takes on the evilness.”
“How so?”
“Mana is but powerful paracuasal force that takes on strong wills. Such as it is, means that those with strong minds, or events that trigger strong emotions, will influence it.”
“Okay, that makes sense. Back to the rifts.”
“As I said, dungeons were once fixed points in our world where monsters were born. But ten years ago that changed. In a now-dead kingdom far to the west, a rift opened near the sea after the largest naval battle took almost 100 thousand lives. Most of them were slaves forced to be fielded by the said kingdom. The miasma from all that death… It opened the first rift I heard of…”
The trees began to thin as I saw the end of the valley of the distance. I wanted to say that we were going up, but Yang had actually explained we were going down at a small angle.
“The first you heard of?”
“The information I gather comes from other travelers, or in towns I pass. This rift is the one that seems to be agreed upon as the first.”
“Oh.”
“It was said to be a mile tall and half a mile wide. Its borders were raging red flames and the inside was a hellscape. Within it, red demons similar to imps poured out into the sea and swam amongst the wreckage. The sailors of the Wendover Empire speak that the monsters feasted upon the dead and danced upon the burning ships. From there, they said the monsters swarmed onto the land and attacked the kingdom. Not it no longer exists and the monsters hold it.”
“They hold it?”
“Yes, they occupy most of that kingdom’s lands. Their neighbors now have used the natural mountains as borders to contain the monsters from this rift. Many mercenaries and soldiers are fielded to try and lower their numbers monthly. Both forces are at a stalemate.”
“So… Is this the kind of situation you need me to help with?”
“No, no. Not that one. The one I wish for you to help with is far smaller in scale. Its opening no larger than a doorway. Its not the same blood red hue, but blue. The Mercenary Guild had issued guides on rifts for reporting, and I believe this is the lowest threat one… But that could easily change…”
“You mentioned miasma comes from bad things and miasma forms these rifts, right?”
“I… Didn’t exactly say that…”
“Don’t play coy. We both know what you’re alluding too. To be honest, I will not help you if you’re not going to help yourself by giving me the information I need to deal with the situation. A asked me to help you – well – told me to help you as payment for not killing me. Which means, I need to deal with your issue. I can’t do that if I don’t have the information to do just that. Do you understand?”
“Yes… Me’Lord… As you say, the report I got from the guild mentioned that extensive miasma creates rifts. The Wizard Towers believe that the world’s population is too much for the dungeons, and in turn, the world is creating the rifts to deal with it. And a mining town to the south-east had a rift open up in the night and overwhelm it.”
“Explain to me why.”
“Why…?”
“You’ve already explained why rifts form, Peter. Now, why did the rift form?”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
I was raised in a powerful corporate family. I understood corruption, greed, and most of all, I understood evil. If… I hadn’t had experienced what gave me my cyber arms, I didn’t doubt I would have turned out like my sisters. Unlike them, I experience the consequences of my actions – my hubris. I’d like to believe that experience mellowed me out. A perspective of sorts.
“The mining town operates more as a smithing town. The miners are prisoners from all over the kingdom. The Valley of the Forgotten was once called the Valley of the Mother – now called The First One – used to be a network of valleys. But as the First One was said to move on from our world to continue her work among the pantheon, it was abandoned as generations went on.”
“Get to the point.”
“The Northern Iron Valley is the outermost valley in the network and its home to rich iron veins, as well as ruins that contain artifacts of worth.”
“Prison labor.”
“... Yes, but from what I understood, the conditions have worsened when the Duke of this fief appointed a second Baron to the valley to oversee the prisoner side. Baron Hensley. The Duke’s brother. He has a reputation for… being a violent man. The other Baron, Baron Hembree Oxnard, oversees the town itself. They both have been at odds as Baron Oxnard is an upright man. Oxnard has oversaw both sides for five years without incident. Until a year ago when Baron Hensley took over the mines…”
“I don’t believe in upright people, only people who do what’s convenient.”
“Believe what you do, but there had not been an incident until now. I’ve been here many times to visit this valley over my long years. I am sure that there hadn’t.”
“What changed with the Duke?”
“Nothing of… Wait.. I… Yes… The Duke had spent much of his time in his fief. With the rise of the Rifts, he has since been called to the capital. He has left the workings of his lands in the hands of his wife.”
“Government issues then.”
“Government issues?”
“Yes, it’s quite common. It sounds like the Duke was a competent official, but his wife is an incompetent one. Handing positions to family and friends – nepotism – is a common act, but often leads to government shortfalls. Most of the people I’ve seen gain their positions this way are often ill-suited to do their jobs. Hell, most don’t want to.”
“I see… I am not one who dabbles in the affairs of government, but that of the spirit. I’ll defer the judgement on that to you.”
“Great, now, where do I come in?”
“I wish that you clear out the town of its monsters and close the rift.”
“How do I close the rift?”
“Dungeons are fixed and have no way to close them… But with the rise of the rifts, we noticed that these are… more temporary. The miasma forms a sort of core. An orb similar to a perfect pearl that rests at the center of the pocket dimension of the right.”
He tried to hand me a piece of brown paper but Yang took it from him and scanned it.
“You can destory or remove the orb. Destroying it will teleport you out of the rift and close it. Removing it from the rift is harder. Monsters will chase you relentlessly to take it back until you leave. From there, the rift will shut. Any monsters that leave the rift will have to be killed or they will exist within our realm until they die.”
“Easy.”
“It is not.”
“No?”
“Dungeons are underground labyrinths of varying sizes. Always castle-like dungeons but nothing more than three levels with a simple layout. Rifts are different. It is said their dimensions take on fields, towns, caves, or even entire mountainsides. Their scales are different each time. You can only gauge their approximate size from their opening and coloration. Even then, it could be anything.”
“Any recommendations on where to start?”
“We can head to the Fort Town of Amberose.”
----------------------------------------
Original chapter
With a new system UI, and accepting a task to return the favor to A - or rather, Avery; I had doubled our travel speed to intercept the refugees, and lead them toward the fortress.
I had the cyberware to double my speed. To be honest, though, it was quite a pain to do so. My lungs burned more from the cold than the physical strain. I had a base suite of physical enhancements that were geared to assist me in escaping another kidnapping. While I had a cyberware combat augmentation, it would not help to traverse down a mountain. Which, was the current pain point.
Yang had taken point during the trek by necessity. We found out quickly that the ground was uneven and there was debris under the snow here and there. It made sense honestly. Forest. Branches on the floor, or rocks… It was… Enlightening.
Putting that aside…
We now overlooked a large bend in a U-shaped valley from the top of a low ridge. Directly ahead, in the far distance was the vestige of a coastline. It sat past one large mountain similar to the one I was one and one nearly one-fourth its size - but twice as rocky. To my left, north, was a giant column of smoke. The mountain I had crashed on slopped downward on the opposite side to a smaller mountain. Thus, creating a mostly closed valley where a town rested.
The smoke came more from the inner section of the town. It seemed more built into the side of the ridge that connected the two mountains. As of right now, a trickle of ant-like dots left what looked to be the main entrance of the town. They headed towards my direction, about a half-mile away where a mass of dots gathered. I guessed they were the town inhabitants by how several larger dots that made faint horse-like outlines stayed between the group and the town.
It seemed they were just finishing their evacuation. There was already a trickle of dots slowly moving their way south toward me. They kept towards the center of the valley, which looked like their cut-out path. I followed the path and found it forked towards my section of the bend. One path went east and another continued south. I followed it by eye and found it was actually a more steep carved path up between this mountain and the smaller rocky one.
The path continued up and over, disappearing out of sight as it fell over the ridge. Beyond it, I could see the plains. A faint outline of what looked like a castle was in the distance with a fair amount of structures around it.
All of this was viewed through Yang’s one good optical eye. I exited out of his view and noted that its power pack was running low. It had a solar panel on the back of the battery pack, like all of the models of its kind. There just was the tiny issue of it being clouded, and it looked like I wouldn’t have the two day's time needed to charge its pack in these conditions. Night would be here soon and I doubted neither I no the people fleeing could spare two days.
I also didn’t want to abandon Yang… While I hadn’t admitted it to anyone yet but… I had grown to like having the robot around. It was.. Comforting. To not be alone, even if it was just a robot.
“Hey A,” I called out as we made our way down. I would probably have less than 30 to forty minutes to spare once I made it to the fork in the road and contact with the native people.
[A: Listening.]
“I have an issue I hope you can pull through with a favor,” I said as I navigated down between some large boulders.
[A: Depends.]
Going down took more effort, so I could only respond for nearly five minutes. Once I’d found a solid perch to take a rest on, I responded. “Yang’s gonna be out of juice -” I brought up Yang’s status window in my UI. “ – In about 2 hours. Can I get some support? I don’t want to leave him out here.”
[A: It’s just a robot, leave it.]
For the first time in a while, I felt anger rise up in me. Even the thought of my brother killing me hadn’t gotten a rise out of me. Maybe it was because I expected that kind of sleaziness from him, but to abandon Yang…? That was out of the question. “No, Yang is my companion. He’s been with me since I was 15, I’m not just abandoning him.”
No reply came for a while, not until I was halfway down.
[A: Look to the sky.
A: Supply drop inbound.
A: The first hit is free, but I’ll be charging for the rest.
A: ;].]
I was confused for a moment, then looked up to see something akin to a meteor rip through the sky. With no clear origin, it was apparently from outer space. It broke through the atmosphere with a large bang. The object had been engulfed with flames, now sputted free of them. Did it look like some sort of… pod? I had a hard time distinguishing what it was until fire erupted from its earth-facing side.
Yang tracked it and detected that it was slowing in speed. The robot put a holographic trajectory in my view. It was headed towards the fork in the road. Within two minutes, it crashed into the trees by the fork. Thin wisps of smoke slowly rose from it.
“I’m assuming that’s what you’re talking about?” I asked.
[A: Yup~.
A: Also, I won’t be as around as I have been.
A: I was tuning your system..
A: A hint, monsters drop little mana cores. Pocket them and stick them in the deposit slot in the shop.
A: If I don’t reply within five minutes of you calling me, use your mail function again.
A: Have to go close a few dimensional portals opening now.]
Within an hour, I was down by the fork. The pod had landed ripped through the canopy of several trees and lodged itself at an angle in the dirt. Night had fallen. Thankfully, it was a full moon. The night was bright but I still had my optics allow more light in for better visibility.
Our initial guess was right about the object.
It was some sort of drop pod. Similar to our company’s Orbital Drop pods. In fact… It was exactly our pods. The design was the same with a few alterations. Mainly, all the additions that allowed humans to use them to survive. Which meant…
I found an external latch and the door swung open upward. Inside were empty rows of panels except two. One that held a replacement battery, and one that held a new arm for yang.
----------------------------------------
It was about 30 minutes later when the refugees reached me. They were aware of my presence for a while as we spotted each other as they made their way down the valley. It was thanks to them clearing a good portion on either side of the road. And the fact I waited for them on the trunk of a fallen tree. During that time, I switched out the heavy power pack inside Yang and replaced it.
Now, as several horsed soldiers approached me, I was finishing up with replacing his damaged arm.
“Who goes there!?” A hoarse male voice called out as they came to a stop about 60ft from where I worked on Yang.
There were three riders.
“Shouldn’t that be my line?” I called back out as I finished connecting the final harness in and latched down the armor that hide them.
“Don’t be smart with me!” The man called out again as he dismounted and brandished a sword. He wearily approached me, sword at the ready. “Who are you?”
“Sir,” I sighed, more so from the events of the day rather than his attitude. “I was here first, and you approached me. If anything, who are you?”
He paused for a moment. His expression was obscured by a knight’s helmet so I couldn’t see his reaction. “I am Sir Hembree Oxnard of Joy’s respite!”
His tone was more respectful this time. So I responded. “Mercy Xu, of nowhere now.”
“Of Nowhere Now? Is that a joke?” His tone rose slightly at the end.
I shrugged. “Not really. When I left, my city was about to be attacked by a much greater force.”
There was silence for a few moments. He finally spoke again. “... I see. You have my sympathy, Mercy Xu. May I know the name of your city?”
“Pacifica,” I said.
He nodded. “Mercy Xu Of Pacifica, I greet you. I apologize for my rudeness earlier, however, we are currently fleeing from our town. The dungeon —”
I waved him off. “I know.”
“You know…?” He asked.
I nodded as I sat up, brushing off the few snowflakes that had fallen into my lap. “Yes sir. Let’s just say a certain Goddess sent me to offer you my services.”
“I respectfully decline,” He said. “We have neither the coin to hire you nor the need for random apostles to try and take advantage of these poor folk.”
“Oh, I just should have reworded it.” I chuckled as I approached him. “I’m not asking for payment. I’m actually repaying a favor to the previously mentioned person. She asked that I help you guys get from the town up north to the castle on the plains. She mentioned guiding, but I figured I’d ask you what you need.”
“Can you fight?” He asked as he sheathed his sword.
“Mhm, ranged and melee. But consider me a beginner in both.” I gestured over my shoulder with my thumb towards Yang. “My guard here will do most of the fighting. Just consider me an add-on to Yang rather than Yang an add-on to me.”
“Is… Are you Yang’s Artificer?” He asked.
“...No?” I tilted my head to the side, not understanding. “I’m Yang’s Pilot. A pilot is a general term referring to whoever controls an android or drone. Yang is quite autonomous so the name is really just a title to whoever Yang listens to.”
“I.. See..” Hembree nodded. “Well, given all that. Yes, I could use help. If you were sent by a… Goddess, then be aware that the monsters that overran us will catch up within the hour. The people will make it over the ridge by then, but then the monsters will catch us on the way down.”
“What if we went toward the ocean?” I asked with genuine curiosity.
“... Are you aware of the area around here?” he asked.
“Not a single inch.” I said honestly.
He sighed. “The road pass will take an additional day to use. It’s only for carriages and wagons. The ridge pass is for foot or a single horse column. Given this, it will be far quicker to use this trail than the pass.”
“Well, I see.” I said.
As we finished the conversation, the staggered group of refugees came by. They were led by torchlight. Which… Reminded me that both of us had been talking in the moonlight. I for one had the optics that allowed me amazing vision in full moonlight. He on the other hand…
I looked at him but then decided against asking. The outfits of these people placed them in a strange medieval era. Despite this, the few soldiers that guarded them held finely made armor. Yang estimated a high probability of steel, though would’ve needed a closer look to confirm. Which, I waved off which garnered a strange look from the people passing.
Sir Oxnard moved closer to me as he pulled his horse over. “Take up the rear with me, I’ll fill you in.”
For a little more than an hour and a half, we stood guard as around 400 people had to squeeze through the narrow trail. My heart ached for them as I saw women, children, and mostly elderly men struggle up the trail. The ones that led the pack were mostly clean. Obviously terrified, but the ones in the back were either covered in dust or dirt or wounded.
I know being part of an elite family meant I would never understand hardship like this. Even now, with my current situation. I held power. I had means. But this? I couldn’t even imagine it. I wouldn’t try. I was aware that the world outside my bubble was different. I wasn’t always aware, but when I had been… With the situation with the scavs in my teens, I had been introduced to the ugly side of the world.
This… Maybe this was similar…?
Sir Oxnard also filled me in on the situation.
As A had said. There had been quite a few missions posted around the guilds. Ones that attracted many mercenaries and adventurers. This had left Joy’s respite ill-equipped to keep the dungeon in check. The story was known from there. Since they were not diluted about what would happen, a lot of the people were already prepared. They just weren’t prepared for how fast and ferocious the monsters came.
“It was a storm…” Sir Oxnard said. “I wasn’t at the entrance. I was heading there to start my own watch when it happened. Something akin to ash blew out of the entrance. It engulfed the entire entrance area… That was when the screams began. I couldn’t push forward. I ended up rallying soldiers where I stood while I–”
He stopped as both of us saw tens of small fires rose at the top of the valley. The mass of darkness then rushed forward.
“Monsters on up the valley!” Sir Oxnard yelled toward his people. “Hurry your asses! They’ll be far sooner than we estimated!”
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