This wasn’t a game, and I didn’t expect some magical feature to appear to assist me with the threat that was steadily charging after Bedevere and I. A monster so high in level that I couldn’t even analyze it was a monster that was too big a threat for me. Even with my reliquary traps, it was unlikely I could defeat or capture the monster on our tails.
So we tried to increase the distance. First by hopping over bushes and then swinging from vines. It could have been a smart move, but then again, I was just a newbie to this world and its denizens. By which I mean to say the crocodilian snapping turtle hybrid charged through the bushes at full speed. It did the same with the latest tree I was swinging from and sent my Beelebian and me rocketing forward as the tree came down.
It was a bumpy landing, but we continued our pace and I was soon close enough to my friends to hear their voices, if not their words.
Which was just as well. Turns out letting myself be a human hypersonic muscle was a good way to miss out on saving anyone.
I really needed to quit letting myself be knocked out like this.
***
When I woke up, it was in the presence of a sight right out of a fantasy novel. Looming above me was the sedan sized face of a snapping turtle- no, not a snapping turtle. Definitely a dragon’s face. Nostrils the size of monster truck tires flared on its face and steam drifted out of them.
“You are awake. Good. I was beginning to become impatient, outworlder.”
The ground shook as I heard the words, as much a roar as speech.
Before I answered him, I looked at my surroundings, checking for my friends and for Bedevere. A few feet away from me, they were all in a pile. My little bee monster on top of it. I breathe the side of relief before turning to look at the preacher before me.
Its mere bulk dominated the local skyline. Its head was the size of a sedan. It was shaped like a cross between an alligator snapping turtle and a dragon. This meant its head was very menacing. Its shell was covered in spikes and down. What would have been the spine of the shell was an even larger set of spikes. That bore the same long alligator-like tail of the creature I had seen earlier and ran from, and its limbs resembled a cross between a snapping turtle and an alligator. While its gleaming eyes were orange, its skin was a midnight almost black tint of blue, and its shell was like shining armor.
“I am.. but you will have to excuse me. Impatient? You can talk?”
“Obviously I can speak! I am a beast king. Show respect, mortal, or you court death.”
“Apologies.. but I didn’t even see you here.”
“No, you saw my child. And I saw you and your friends pilfering my domain.” It was perfectly calm, but the word that followed dropped me to my butt just from the force of its speech. “WHY?”
I hadn’t expected the Kaiju to be into us or directly involved. I expected random generated dungeons at least for barely explored ones. But as I fought for the right words, the beast nudged its head closer to me. I could almost feel the unspoken word “answer” in his body language.
So I gave it the only answer I could. “I’m here to get stronger, because I realize that if I don’t, I won’t have what I need to protect those that I care about or my family.”
The great dragon turtle simply watched me for a moment, tilting its head and breathing out tendrils of steam.
“So you trespassed on my domain for that? Ho ho! Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho hahaha! What do you think you are, young man? Some sort of story book character?”
It took an earth shaking step and brought its face even closer to me.
“Because I can provide you power, but nothing comes without a cost, not in this world or in any other. I will grant you power, but it will cost you.”
“Cost me what? Don’t have much gold, but I can get you it.”
The dragon turtle blew steam in my face, raising its voice after it did.
“I have no need for gold! Nor silver! Nor copper, or any other simple currency which you humans utilize! Nothing short of a well-baked pastry interest to me from human commerce. But I offer you power. Power should be paid for with power, life should be paid for with life. You want strength to protect people’s lives? Then you will pay with time. My price? Four years. One year from your memories, you may decide the year of your life to be taken. One year from your lifespan, and one year where you will come to me and act as my squire after you have completed your current trials. Finally, one year to be paid how you wish.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
That made me hesitate. It would be power, but it would be power specifically costing the same thing that I was already fighting against. Still, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to say no. It might cost me four years, but it could save Eris even more. That alone made it worthwhile. But it wasn’t alone. After all, it would make me stronger. So it isn’t as if I would be veering off of my plan. I would still be heading towards the goal of saving my family.
“I accept, and you can take my tenth year of memory.”
“And for the final year of payment?”
Out of nowhere, a voice came, “Don’t listen to my idiot. I’ll pay for the final year.” I didn’t even need to see her walk from the shadows to know it was Melody.
Beside her stood Rurin, who gave a nod. “Me too. Take a year of my life span to free him from the year of squiring.”
Just let the dragon let out another chortling laugh. It was someone unbecoming. Dragons, even dragon turtles, were supposed to be regal, yet this monster was laughing at us as if this was Showtime at the Apollo.
“And why would either of you do that?” It questioned.
“Because! He is supposed to be my brother. So that means I’m supposed to look out for him!” Rurin cheerfully chirped.
Melody shook her head at Rurin, but then gave her own answer. “If I’m honest? Mostly because I don’t want him to be older than me, and suddenly trying to lord it over me. But also if he doesn’t do it, I lose even more time whatever he’s indentured. So shut up dragon, and take a year off my lifespan. If you don’t, I’m just going to knock the idiot out and take him right out of the dungeon with me.”
“So be it.” It boomed.
Before I could even shout “don’t I have a say in this, they can’t sacrifice themselves for me without even asking!” It was done.
Energy washed over all of us. A push and pull of seafoam green energy that turned orange and blue in places formed a diamond between us. As the energies roiled, I began to get a headache.
The energy slowly dissipated from Melody and Rurin and then finally was a straight line between myself and the dragon turtle.
“Take my power and my blessings.”
It spoke, and I felt a wash of memories. Somehow seeing a small alligator snapping turtle monster like its spawn and seeing a man in an ancient garb and armor beaming down at the turtle. I saw both perspectives and heard this turtle’s name.
Aristotle the Drachlys.
Memories between them came in a wash, with this man- a Punic warrior told his monster partner stories of how he arrived to Hekatondrona -he was hit by a runaway cart of cabbages- and images of them fighting alongside each other and Aristotle growing followed.
Images and memories of my own tenth year, a hard year for me, flashed before my eyes and suddenly I couldn’t recall them.
And entirely fabricated images came as well. Scenes of myself, Rurin, and Melody training under and living with Aristotle the Drachlys Beast King. Scenes of us being taught and trained in fighting. A scene of me hatching an egg that resembled the infant form I had seen in Aristotle’s memories.
Purely imagined fictional scenes in the last case. Why were they there? I figured he was going to take some of my life energy.
And yet Beelebian, Moriah, Alek and Calvin remained in their pile. Untouched and unharmed. My body ached and my clothes were too small somehow, but more than that, I felt a boulder against me.
A boulder that looked just like that infant form of Aristotle the Drachlys I had imagined.
“What..? Aristotle, how did?” I asked, only to notice swarms of the tiny dragon turtles behind Aristotle.
“You may call me Arist, Wade Duncan Calhoun. You may call me if you need and must know that my door remains open for greater training and power. For now, all you have to do is simply remember it.”
The turtle turned and the energy in the dungeon hyper charged with electricity. Suddenly the air itself became all the colors of a television static and then blacked out.
As color came back, we were at the entrance of the dungeon, at the standing stone. Melody, Rurin, Alek, Moriah, Calvin, Bedevere, and myself. Numerous reliquaries lay scattered around the likes of my friends- ones I had not seen in the presence of the Beast King.
With a croaking roar, the announcement of that tiny turtle, with a trio of tails, one alligator-like one and two, and stubby turtle tails. It had alligator-snapping turtle hybrid limbs like its parent. It was largely a mirror of its larger form, like the Cindnutum and Fornyosoma shared features. Its face had cute, almost cartoon-like features which took inspiration from turtles, snapping turtles, and alligators. Only other thing worth noting was its shell was easily twice the size of what it should be.
Without hesitation, I analyzed it and found the tinny voice of the monster bible immediately piping into my ear as I read the status entry on the screen.
[[Totlelong are among the greatest predators in all of Hekatondrona for their size. Do not allow their appearance to confuse you towards this. Favored by pirates, smugglers, and marines, this creature has a swim speed which outclasses most boats and can carry passengers on its shell. Totlelongs are believed by some to be one of the earliest creatures in Hekatondrona, and it is rumored that one of the Beast Kings began its life as a Totlelong. This Totlelong is female. All Totlelongs are primal and water-primarily aligned monsters. This Totlelong has a secondary fire alignment. Its tertiary alignment is locked. It is level 5.]]
That meant it was on par with my other primary monster partners, at least - but if those strange dreams were real somehow, I wanted to know. How did that affect my stats? And hadn’t Marlie said time bent for no man, beast, or god? What exactly did the time that we had paid mean?