"I already told you, they're not good people!” Samantha interrupted Hellion. “Look at them. They’re obviously an evil cult. They can’t save anyone. Help us fuck them up instead.”

“We'll get out of here together!” Eli echoed, pulling the crusader gear they’d found out of his inventory and handing it to Simon as the ritualists began descending upon them.

“You’re going to need these,” Eli said. “Can you fight?”

“Sure I can,” Simon replied, standing up fully for the first time, towering over Eli.

“Where is Ephraim?” he demanded.

“We killed him,” Eli replied. “He was a corrupted priest, a monster.”

“Join our party,” Eli said, inviting Simon, who seemed to understand and accepted the invite. Eli tried to do the same with Hellion, but found he couldn’t even invite the young man. The corrupted human tag was not a good sign. Did that block everything? Or did it just mean he wasn't part of Infinite Innovation Solutions?

It wasn’t the time to get to the bottom of such questions. Not now.

Simon drew his sword at the approaching ritualists. They looked less human now, their faces strangely elongated and their teeth appeared longer and unnaturally white. Most wielded daggers, but the old lady and two of the old men stood back, the tips of their fingers glowing as they looked to be preparing spells.

Hellion leapt forward, screeching with a sword in his hand that Samantha must have given him, while she herself used her beam of light to knock ritualists aside. Simon buried his sword in Sebastian's chest. It came away bloodied as the first ritualist fell dead to the floor.

Sebastian's dagger bounced and skittered on the floor, and Eli picked it up. He found that while he could hold it just fine, attempting to use it in a fight was impossible. Not that he was a terrible fighter, which he obviously was, but that he couldn't even will his hand to move in a stabbing gesture when holding the weapon.

Unable to wield weapon type: Daggers

Quickly putting it into his inventory and bringing out the staff he'd stored in there while climbing, he focused on healing his comrades instead. Simon had fallen to the floor with two of the ritualists on top of him, repeatedly stabbing into his chest with daggers. Eli healed him from the brink of death, then cast Light in The Dark to summon. Using the weight of it, he knocked one of the ritualists off Simon's chest, blinding the other.

Once he was able to move, Simon didn't hesitate, cutting down the two once he got his feet under him. There was something wild in his eyes. The man was terrified, but there was something about his actions that was disconnected from that terror, like Simon was able to push past his feelings and remain effective. Where Charlotte had completely collapsed under the pressure, Simon almost seemed to thrive.

Hellion was cutting into the spell casters, laughing, keeping them occupied. Samantha was on the floor.

“What the hell!” Eli gasped, healing her. She had a dagger still in her side, and he ran to her, sidestepping a blow from one of the ritualists, to reach his friend. He pulled the weapon out. Blood gushed out of the wound, dark red spilling onto the floor. He healed her again and the wound quickly sealed itself back up. She was still pale, but regained consciousness and sat up with a grunt.

Eli stood and blocked a knife strike on his Aegis to keep a ritualist from reaching Samantha. Unable to really hurt them back, he pushed the man who'd attacked him back and into Simon's reach. The Crusader thrust his blade forward and into the ritualist’s back. The man let out a brief cry as the metal blade pushed all the way through, coming out of his chest right in front of Eli. Then, he died and Eli switched focus to Hellion, who took hit after hit while fighting the remaining ritualists.

The young man didn't seem to care that he was getting hurt. Flames erupted from one of the spell casters, scorching Hellion. A screech of pain erupted from Hellion's throat before it, too, was burned away. With every heal Eli cast on Hellion, his health plummeted back into red within a second as he stood in that continuous torrent of flame. Still, there was nothing else he could do, so Eli kept healing.

Or was there?

He focused on his orb of light, trying to will it forward and strike the spell caster. The orb would not obey while Eli cast healing. Focusing on two things at the same time proved impossible, and there was no way of letting up on healing without the young man dying almost instantly.

"Simon. Can you do something?" he asked through gritted teeth. Healing this much was making him winded, and his mana was running low.

In that moment, before Simon had a chance to act, the fire cut off. The old woman stood there, her eyes wide with surprise, a sword buried in her chest. Hellion had kept walking forward to strike the old woman, despite being burned alive. The skin quickly regenerated from Eli’s heals once the spell was no longer cooking him, restoring him to his previous self. Unfortunately, Eli's healing couldn't do much to restore Hellion's clothes.

Ding! You have reached level 34.

The only ritualist still alive turned away from Simon to make a run for it. Without flinching, Simon cut off his arm in a single swing. It landed on the floor, but the ritualist didn't even look as he fled screaming toward the other end of the room where something was happening. A sliver of light appeared, widening into an oval shape, through which they could see a sunny field of grass.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Eli pointed. "A portal! Has to be!"

Hellion ran screaming and laughing after the ritualist and quickly caught up, leaping onto his prey's back to drive his sword into him, killing the ritualist instantly and cutting off his wail of pain. Watching that unfold made a cold shudder run down Eli's back. Hellion wasn't right.

Eli turned to check on Samantha but found she was alright, if a little pale.

"How did you get out of the pit?" he asked. "Didn't the ooze reach you, either?"

"Oh, it reached me alright," she said, shuddering.

Simon walked up to the two of them. "Why am I not in a pile on the floor crying?"

"What do you mean?" Eli asked.

Simon looked down. "Well, I just killed a bunch of people. Cut them down with a damn sword. Very up-close and personal. I mean, I’ve shot people in combat before, but nothing like this. Yet, I don’t really feel much of anything about it."

"I have a theory about that," Samantha said, looking around at all the corpses. "I think this place numbs us to it somehow. Almost no one reacts the way a sane person would to any of this. I mean, the game system, killing monsters, getting wounded over and over again. It’s strange, but I think there’s something or someone messing with our heads."

Eli thought about it and agreed. "I think you’re right."

Samantha looked over at Hellion and shouted, "You probably shouldn’t touch that!"

Hellion’s voice sounded floaty as he yelled back, "Screw you, assholes!"

He touched it. And just like that, he was gone.

"Should we go too?" Eli asked.

"We don’t know where it leads," Samantha pointed to the stairs. "But I'm not going back up those. That thing looks like it leads outside, so you can just Warp us back if we end up somewhere strange or dangerous."

"Fair enough."

Eli checked the corpses, but found them all empty. He wondered who they'd been, or what. Their defenses to magic damage—well, light damage at least—had been impressive, but they’d immediately folded to simple physical attacks. Resistances were something he’d have to consider more going forward. His class being strong against undead monsters didn't mean he could fend for himself entirely. This place showed him that.

Standing in front of the portal, Eli reached up for it.

"Hold on a moment," Simon said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I think I should go first."

"I'm almost three times your level, Simon."

"But I’m the tank, right?" Simon replied. "That’s what this class is, isn’t it?"

They exchanged a look, and Eli nodded. "I guess you’re right. It’s a little strange we found you down there. Did Ephraim tell you why he wanted you to select that class?"

"He wasn’t big on sharing information," Simon said. "But he kept promising to send me home. He brought zombies into the church for me to kill and level up to level 10 so I could select the specialization. He did know about those and was adamant I pick Crusader. The whole thing was strange."

"Fucked up is what it is," Samantha said. "All of it."

Eli turned to Samantha. "Talking of strange, you used to be shy. Not so much now. What gives?"

"I was never really all that shy," Samantha admitted. "I just acted the part because I didn’t like talking to people. Being in that office made me want to rip my eyeballs out, but keeping up inane conversations about people’s children or their favorite sports teams was even worse. So, I pretended to be a little shy and withdrawn. That way, people left me alone."

"That's... That's actually pretty clever. But you changed your approach when you landed in Aryxia?"

She shrugged. "Once I got settled, it kind of came to me that it wouldn’t be such a great idea to be by myself here. I don’t know how anything works."

"Your increased Wisdom and Intelligence stats are serving you well, then," Eli joked.

"I think that actually has a little something to do with it. I’m feeling clearer in my head, and I react better than before. It’s subtle, but I do think the stats matter. Just look at Strength for the warriors. They’re definitely getting stronger and faster. And I don’t think it’s just the levels."

"Maybe you’re right," Eli said, glancing at the portal. "Okay, Simon, you want to do the honors?"

Eli taught Simon how to equip items properly and gave him a quick rundown of how everything worked as they made their way over to the magical gateway. The armor rustled and clanked with each step as Simon, now wearing the plate metal armor, stepped up to the portal.

Without ceremony, Simon touched it, and a pop-up appeared before Eli.

Enter portal? Yes/No.

Eli selected yes.

In an instant, the three of them were transported to the front of the graveyard. The portal disappeared behind them. They saw no sign of Hellion anywhere, but James and Dana were standing around among the graves, looking confused. The zombies and skeletons were all gone.

"Hey, guys!" Eli shouted.

The pair started walking over, waving. "Hey, where did all the zombies go?" James asked, stopping mid-wave.

Eli looked around and saw that Samantha and Simon were frozen as well. Then the voice returned, speaking directly into his mind.

"You did well, my Champion. Zombies and skeletons are no match for your Inner Light. You conquered the church, proving that my Blessing was not misplaced. Perhaps the Light still has a chance."

"What do you mean 'proving'?" Eli asked darkly.

The graveyard began to turn, undulating and spinning. The stone church folded in on itself, brightening incrementally until Eli needed to shield his eyes. When the light disappeared and he opened his eyes again, the entire graveyard was gone.

"What did you do to it?"

"It served its purpose, so I am reclaiming it. Now it’s time for you to quest outward and find new challenges. The Light must spread."

"Wait, did you make this place?" Eli asked.

"I have some measure of influence here despite my weakened state. What better way to use it than give you a way to test your strength and grow as an ambassador for the Light?"

"What about the people in there? Ephraim and Hellion? The ritualists?"

"The people were real, and Elijah," Light whispered. "A whisper in one’s ear can change their future forever. The corruption was real as well, though you won’t often find such physical representations. As for Ephraim, he was a loyal follower and friend once, an age ago, Eli. It goes to show you that even the best of men can fall to the lure of power. I have been slumbering for a long, long time, but your appearance here awakened my spirit. Gather your allies and spread my word. We will speak again soon."

A moment passed, then she added. "Here is your reward for finishing my quest, Champion."

You have rescued the prisoners and burned away the corruption in the Church of The Dying Light.

Find and rally other humans from Earth (1/5).

Rewards:

1 talent point

5 skill points

Ding! You have reached level 35.

Time unfroze.