Colt climbed down the tree. That is to say, Colt arduously and carefully scaled his way down the gigantic tree nearly the exact way he came up. His work before carving out hand-holds and footholds into the tree’s surface proved fruitful, it made the descent much safer. Considering now his biggest alarm was a monster on an opposite tree that could fly—well, he was thankful that his journey downward had that blessing, at least.
It was safer to start.
The biggest challenge was the darkness. As he descended down the surface of the tree and left the world of starlight above, he once more entered the shade and dark as the greedy trees above claimed most of the sky.
Every couple of hundred feet down the tree, life got a bit darker.
Eventually, he had to search for his foot-holds by feel; sometimes, it was impossible to find them. In those cases, he wrapped an Edict around a foot and defaced the tree with yet another hold.
Time went by like this for a while.
It got darker. Sweat poured from him as he went—sure that he was missing the big and mighty branches he was able to rest on during his journey upward. Now, though, it was impossible to spot. If he got too lost from the trail of handholds up, he might as well forfeit any right for a break until he found them again. Of course, he could sit there and carve out a better hold to grip onto for a moment to relax, but…
Well, climbing was taxing. And appropriately, he used his Olympic Mandate every chance he got to give his body a minute of reprieve. The enhanced endurance helped with his recovery, and after that minute was up, he felt all the more refreshed.
Whenever he did find a branch, Colt made the most of it.
———
You have gained 1 point of Endurance!
Olympic Mandate (Basic) has gained a level!
———
Most of the trip downward was one of silence and darkness. The only companions were his panting breath and stinging sweat from the effort. Though the trip had the occasional welcome guest in the form of a cold gust of air crashing into the tree—if he was lucky, that guest brought another, its buddy, the creaking massive branch. That noise reminded him that he wasn’t dead. That this all wasn’t some eternal tormented hell of climbing on a piece of tree in the afterlife. That really, he was up on a massive tree in a godforsaken forest in the middle of this new world’s dungeons—
Maybe the creaking branches and existential dwelling on his current situation weren’t all that helpful.
Another hour passed. Two, maybe.
Then, the spell of darkness was broken with the glimmer of a crackling fire far beneath. From up here, it was little more a glittering gem far below. Barely perceptible in the dark void of this forest. But barely was the keyword. He could see it. It meant he was close.
Colt doubled his efforts to descend, pushing harder, straining his will as he stopped the cautious approach of looking for the route he’d taken down.
Every foot descended was another foot closer back to the sweet ground, and no longer having to worry about his hand giving out and him cratering to a terrible death.
The fire came closer.
Colt pushed even harder. Sweat ran down his body, and every movement of his limbs was wrapped with cut. Up here, he came to really understand what it meant to have a greater understanding of the edict. It was a part of him, a truth to life. Things resisting cut was natural—as it was an oppositional and dividing force. Yet, when the emphasis was put on the force, that’s where the beauty of it shone. Brightly. Like that sweet fire below that got all the bit closer with every foothold and handhold carved on this massive tree.
———
You have gained 1 point of Endurance!
*Soul And Mind Fortitude* (Intermediate) has gained a level!
———
Each second brought him closer. Every drop of sweat was spent gladly on his goal.
A step at a time, he worked and toiled.
Then, it happened. His foot touched solid ground. Colt didn’t trust it at first; sure that it was a branch and this was all some elaborate trick by a monster—yet, he observed Sarah at the fire, her sharp eyes locked in on him. The rest of their group splayed out and asleep nearby.
She gave a slight wave.
“I was getting worried. I didn’t say it before, but going up those trees seemed kind of stupid. When we saw that a massive monster crashed and died on the ground with its wing chopped off—well, I realized it was stupid. What the hell, Colt?”
“You know, about a hundred feet up, I had the same thought. Then, I had another. Who’s to say I couldn’t climb this massive tree? And if I could climb it, then couldn’t I do anything?” Colt asked; he worked his fingers. The poor things ached with a deep soreness that set into their very joints. His skin was raw, torn, and wounded by all the harsh bark and wood grips he scaled. But the pain was a sweet kind. The type that came from hard labor and the rewards it brought.
“Sounds like some self-improvement motivational speaker,” she scoffed and waved him near the fire, “Those things never did a thing for me anyway. I listened to them almost every day before the System came, and what did it get me? A year working in the kitchen of some jackass who couldn’t stop cheating on his wife and yelling at everyone.”
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Colt slinked over, his eyes running across the darkness nearby. No monsters. That he could see, who’s to say a giant snake wouldn’t appear, though? Still…
“It’s not like that. There’s something refreshing about this world, y’know? You can put in effort, and there’s an immediate reward. Scaling that tree? I gained a lot of skills and some points in endurance. A direct result of what I did. It was hard. But it rewarded me. Life wasn’t like that before.”
“You’re telling me.” Sarah sighed and poked at the fire with a stick. A trio of embers and a plume of smoke and ash broke off with a crack of the log.
“So. I saw the top of the mountain. And yeah, that’s what we’re going up. A mountain.” Colt confirmed.
“And?”
“It’s… Confusing. It’s like the sky is touching the tip. Actually, it was kind of terrifying, and it was hard to look at. But I think that at least one of our objectives is there… If we went the other way, the forest ends in some kind of black void. Which is as equally terrifying, to be honest.”
“Colt, all of this is terrifying. Not a single thing that has happened since our kitchen got yanked into our tutorial dungeon has not been terrifying. Also, have you sat there and thought, where did all the people go? If New Nashville were rounding up everyone who got teleported away and survived, where are all they? If only half of them had made it, there’d be hundreds of thousands, right?”
“Maybe. Or there’s just a lot we don’t know.”
“Or they’re all dead.” Sarah pointed out.
“Or that,” Colt confirmed.
“How’s it not cripplingly, awfully terrifying to you? Nate, I get it; the guy was a soldier. He can adapt and survive. Julia has a screw loose—and Nick—well, I don’t understand him. But you? Man, you were a cook, too. We aren’t that different.”
Colt shrugged and rubbed his eyes; it ached to keep them open. And the warm fire was like a welcoming embrace whispering for him to call it a night.
“Today, I climbed a massive tree as big as a skyscraper. If you let yourself step back and think, that’s kind of cool. That was something I could control, so that’s the sort of thing you should focus on. Anyway… I have more to say about what I saw, but none of it is important right now. Might as well wait for everyone to be up so I can deliver a report and not repeat myself. Especially since I’, exhausted. You mind if I head to bed while you keep watch? Dunno how much longer before the sun comes up.”
Sarah shook her head in disbelief and returned to her fire, giving it a poke. “Go ahead. You need the rest. I’ll get Nick up in an hour for his watch.”
“Thanks.”
###
Next day began with breakfast. Nate cooked on his steel pan—part of their standard gear for dungeons. They took food, cooking equipment, and sleeping rolls. They’d brought the same to Athena’s dungeon but there… Such gear wasn’t required there. Given that three members of their group came from a tutorial dungeon where they very much ran the risk of running out of food and starving to death and rationed appropriately, that sort of thing left a deep scar on people’s psyche.
Nate cooked them a giant snake, which had a bit of a rubbery taste and texture to the meat. According to the description, it wasn’t venomous, so they trusted it to function just like regular meat.
Which it did, more or less. Besides it being not easy to eat.
While attempting to eat their giant snake steaks in front of the fire, Colt reported on the totality of his trip up the tree—from the birds to the antelope creature to the further discoveries on top.
Then, he went over what he saw when he reached the apex of his tree.
All five chewed on their thoughts in silence as he tried his best to describe the ethereal sight; they also chewed on the snake. Eating a chunk of meat from that took will and determination.
“It just confirms our destination,” Nate concluded, first to speak. “We investigate that and keep an eye out for this group.”
“There’s not a good way to find them here; even if I was to shoot my light arrows everywhere, they wouldn’t see it. A flare aint gonna find them neither.” Nick said.
“Defeat a boss; maybe they’ll get out of hiding. If we can clear the dungeon, maybe they can escape.” Colt answered.
None of them really went into the fact that these strangers could be dead, and wasting weeks searching for corpses eaten by these oversized monsters might get them precisely nowhere.
“They’re probably dead,” Julia said.
Ah. Well. Colt thought nobody was going to go there, but then she went and did.
Sarah scowled at her.
Julia shrugged and took another big bite of her snake steak—chewing for another five minutes in forced silence from her desire to eat. Nate gave up and then made a second breakfast out of rations for those who gave up on the quest to consume oversized snakes. For some, it was too much of a challenge. For Colt, he took his knife, abused cut, and minced the meat into a fine-super-fine dice. Which… Made chewing a lot easier.
Soon, they packed all their things back up and returned to their travel, cutting through the dark forest floor with the light of Nick’s bow and abilities to guide them.
About an hour into their morning trip, they came to a sudden stop.
There was a screech.
And then a massive tumble as something gigantic collapsed—everyone shared a look as there was another wild screech and an earth-shaking roar. Colt’s heart almost jumped to his throat at the sound… He felt it vibrate not only in the physical world but echo in his very soul. Behind that roar was the force of an edict, and it radiated a certain strength that was hard to define.
There was another crash, slightly closer. Dust rose on the horizon, barely perceptible in the dim light down here on the forest floor, yet one was it like a wall of dirt among the trees.
Colt pieced together what was happening. Two monsters were fighting, and in the process, trees were getting knocked down. One of the monsters was stronger, based on that roar.
They all shared a look. Nate furrowed his brow.
“Colt, with me. We’re going to investigate. Everyone else, stay here.”
“What if you get lost?” Sarah asked, eyes wide.
Nate shook his head, “Then I guess we meet at the top of the mountain. The mission stays the same. I think this might be one of the bosses. We’re going to take a look if we can.”
And, Colt noted, he didn’t say if they were going to fight it. Nick looked like he was about to protest, probably thinking along the same lines, but a sharp glare from Nate put that to bed. There was a real chance this wouldn’t go well. And if it didn’t, then the three of them would have to survive. Nate was putting his trust in Colt’s power, yet…
If they ignored a potential boss, who was to say how long it would take to find again?
A plan and a backup plan in case he and Nate died.
Colt stretched out his shoulders, put on a smile for the rest of the team that was going to remain behind, and lifted his head up high.
There was another earth-shaking roar, another collapsing tree; the sprig of doubt flooded him, along with fear. Whatever was capable of doing that had to be deadly. Colt shoved that thought away. Focus. Here and now, and on what you can control. With a signal to Nate that he was ready, the two crept along right toward the noise’s source.