World Gate: Hysterium - Canyon of Despair

The blade came down at Hex almost before he could react.

He hadn’t expected Rowan to actually attack him.

Why is he so angry?! He’s the one who hurt me!

Hex fumbled through his inventory, grabbing one of the flags he’d retrieved from Minecube. He stuck it in the ground in the same instant the sword cut through his head.

[Death - You have been killed by Rowan Regicast.]

[No Reward.]

[You are being diverted to a Respawn Flag.]

[Please wait.]

Hex stared down at his body like a fly on the canyon wall as the two halves of himself split and goo poured from his insides.

[Please wait.]

Then his body disintegrated into little teal particles and flew into the sky.

Rowan stood there, panting, then dropped his sword into the pink ichor on the ground. He slumped against the far wall.

A light rain began to fall.

[Please wait.]

Hex felt himself being tugged back down toward the Respawn Flag he’d placed just before he died.

[You are being respawned in Hysterium.]

[You have gained a total of 0 Heroic Energy since your last spawn.]

[Your Health and Stamina have been regenerated by 25%.]

His body reappeared directly above the flag, forming again from the shining shards.

Rowan looked up, his curly hair matted wet on his forehead from the rain. He didn’t pick up his sword or even make an effort to move.

"You’re back," he said glumly.

One minute the human boy was fired with rage, the next he was borderline depressed. What in the Creator’s name is going on in his head? Hex wondered.

"I am," Hex said. He felt his body, still in recovery from witnessing it fall to two pieces on the ground.

"How’d you manage that?"

"Respawn Flag." Hex picked up the spent remains of his torch. It was soggy from the rainfall and wouldn’t re-light. "Can you not murder me this time?"

"Wasn’t planning to."

"Couldn’t slice me in half back in Pentory without repercussions, so decided to make up for it here, huh?" Hex didn’t hide the accusation from his tone, as he pulled a new torch from his inventory and lit it, illuminating the area.

Rowan squinted into the light. His jaw was clenched tight, eyes distant. "What do you know…"

"I know that you just attacked me for no reason whatsoever."

"No reason?" Rowan balled his fists. "No reason?!" He stood now, taking a step closer to his sword. "I’ll give you a reason! Because of you I’m trapped here in this Corruption infested wasteland, forced to watch others turn, unable to go home, and nearly got killed myself."

Hex blinked. "What the heck are you talking about? Corruption?" He shivered, remembering his prior interaction with a Corrupt Being.

Rowan took a deep breath and picked up his sword, making Hex flinch. But instead of striking, he slid the weapon into its sheath.

"A pair of Corrupt orcs attacked the town I was assigned to. They turned a bunch of the resident species. I had to run in here to escape." His expression turned pained and he looked back the opposite direction. "I… wouldn’t have made it without… Never mind."

Hex pulled up his map of Hysterium. "What town were you in?"

"L’Minos. Wait. What are you looking at right now?"

Hmm… L’Minos. He found it on the opposite side of the canyon, to the east of their current location. Phew. That means the north is still clear. Hopefully. I can still get to the Embershard Mine.

"Are you looking at your map?" Rowan asked, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, of course. I wanted to see—"

Rowan grabbed his appendages and shoved him against the canyon wall.

"What the heck?!"

"You can access your map? And your inventory too? That’s how you placed the Respawn Flag."

"Well… Yeah." Hex wiggled his body, trying to break loose. "Can you put me down now?"

"Do you have a Transportation Stone?" His voice was almost frantic.

"I have several, but—"

Hex felt the hands release him and he fell to the ground. When he looked up he was staring at the point of Rowan’s sword again. The human boy was breathing heavy, his eyes dark.

"Give one to me," he said.

Hex’s gooey center somersaulted in his chest. It wasn’t the idea of being killed the frightened him, but the desperation in Rowan’s voice.

What happened to you..?

There was no way Rowan wouldn’t have his own Transportation Stones with him. Did he lose them? Or did the Corruption somehow break them?

He’d been surprised I was looking at my map and had been able to pull the Respawn Flag from my inventory. Does that mean…

"You can’t access your inventory," Hex realized aloud.

Rowan gritted his teeth and grip his sword tighter, twisting the angle in his hand. "No… I can’t."

How is that possible?

As if reading his mind, Rowan continued. "The Corrupt orcs had something with them. A strange black orb with red lightning sparking around it.

Hex tried to hide his shock. He’d seen something that fit that exact description when he encountered the Corruption in Minecube.

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"I think it gave me this debuff that disconnected me from the System interface. So I can’t access anything except what’s in my Rapid Use Slots or already on me."

Strange… The orb I encountered didn’t do anything like that to me. As far as he could recall, at least. He hadn’t exactly been in a position to examine his status, but he had been able to open his inventory in the Respawn Hub shortly after.

He opened his Character Sheet now, just to check if there was some hidden debuff that didn’t show up on his interface for some reason. Nothing showed up different. He still had half his health occupied by the black of Corruption. He still had the same list of skills, including the ones in the unknown language he hadn’t unlocked yet. He’d gained several levels, but didn’t have any new skills to show for it. Maybe if he had he could manage this canyon alone…

Hex finally got up, Rowan’s sword still aimed at his face. He lifted an appendage and used the Umbral Bracer to guide the blade to the side.

He’d only interacted with Rowan briefly during the incident, but he seemed apologetic at the time—almost kind. Nothing like the angry, sullen boy he faced now.

"You won’t kill me," he said. "If you do, I won’t use a Respawn Flag this time. I’ll end up somewhere else. If you truly need one of my Transportation Stones, you can’t afford to make that mistake."

It was a lie… Hex would have no choice but to use a Respawn Flag if he thought me might die. In a world this vast, he couldn’t risk being spawned at random somewhere else. But Rowan didn’t have to know that.

Rowan grunted and sheathed his weapon. "What do you want from me?"

Hex hesitated. He’d had one battle with a single scorpion in the canyon and that had left him incapacitated for Creator only knew how long. Going alone wasn’t an option, not at his current level.

"I’m trying to get somewhere…" he said. "Help me and I’ll give you a Transportation Stone when we arrive."

Rowan squinted. "Where are we going?"

"The Embershard Mine."

"Why?"

"I doesn’t matter."

The boy took a deep breath, then let out a sigh. "Very well. I swear on my title as a Prince of New Valour that I’ll—"

"WHAT?!" Hex gasped. "You—You’re a prince?!"

Rowan’s smile was vicious, head raised high. "You didn’t know?"

The glistening armor the human wore took on new meaning. The way he carried himself. He was a prince.

"I knew there was royalty among your friends, but I thought it was Garo’tan Bloodfist."

"Him too," Rowan said nonchalantly, as if royalty just sprouted on trees. "He’s heir to the Chieftain of the orc horde."

"And you’re heir to the humans?"

Rowan’s expression darkened. "No. That’s my brother."

Hex’s expression must have been horrified, but Rowan smirked.

"But yes, either way, you’re essentially holding a member of the human royal family hostage to help you."

Hex’s mouth dropped. No words came.

"So let’s get moving."

* * *

Rowan walked ahead of the slime as they travelled in a general northernly direction.

With his back to the Monster, he finally allowed his facade to break. His neck and shoulder muscles relaxed. He was still tensed and ready for a fight, but at least he could drop the authoritative and composed mask.

Happy Uthen? I killed a Monster.

The feeling haunted his soul almost as much as when L’Rok-tal was overrun by the other Corrupt beings.

Even if it wasn’t a true death, watching the slime split in half with a single swipe, then pour its insides everywhere had felt more like his own heart being torn in two.

Why am I like this? He respawned seconds later. Even the stupid slime was less affected by his own death than I am.

I’ve killed countless scorpions here and didn’t shed a tear for them. They aren’t sentient beings, just creatures, but still… At least he’d gotten over that weakness since his childhood. What a failure he’d be if he couldn’t even strike down a resident creature.

Monsters were supposed to be no different than creatures. That’s how everyone viewed them. Why couldn’t he just fall in line with the rest of the Humanoids?

But more than that, it was his complete loss of control when he saw who the slime was that scared Rowan.

Shouldn’t that be what I wanted? Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? It’s surely what Garo or Osiris would’ve done. Definitely Uthen.

So why did it feel so awful?

He wanted to be like everyone else, but what he became in that moment was wrong. He sensed it in his very soul.

I’m so broken…

As if in response to his thoughts, the ground and walls of the canyon shook.

Behind him, the slime yelped.

Several small rocks and dirt tumbled down from the ledges above, none threatening enough to do any damage, but Rowan held up his shield regardless, defending both himself and the slime.

Hex had been right. He couldn’t afford to let the Monster die and respawn elsewhere.

The stack of strange Corruption debuts still sat at 4, with no sign of ending any time soon.

His only way home was through the slime.

"That felt like a Rift quake," the slime said as the trembling resided.

"There’s no Rift here."

"Then what…?"

"It’s the canyon." Rowan had read about this in his research before coming to Hysterium, but he never thought he’d have to deal with it personally.

"What do you me—"

The shaking resumed, closer this time, and the rust-colored stone wall beside them vibrated violently.

They both shifted against the opposite wall as larger stones fell, even chunks crumbling off the wall, and dust simmered from the ground.

Then the wall moved.

It slid into the intersecting wall, stone grinding against stone. A new path opened up before them as the quaking resided.

"So that’s why the map’s depictions of the canyons are so lacking in detail," Hex said, stepping forward. "They keep changing…"

Rowan held a shielded arm in front of the slime. "Let me go first."

He had no love for his companion, but he couldn’t just let him go skipping into danger with Rowan’s only means of escape.

Sure enough, two scorpions waited on the other side. He dispatched of them easily and they continued on, leaving the corpses.

L’Rok-tal would’ve harvested their stingers and used their poison as the secret ingredient in the ‘famous’ ale of L’Minos.

Now, no one will ever taste that ale again…

It was a sobering thought. An entire village wiped out.

He hadn’t had time to fully digest that until now.

Or how the Corrupt orcs had struck without the System’s knowledge.

Professor Xavus had told them that the System tried to use waypoints to help them avoid Corruption. He’d also said that if you were turned Corrupt you would lose control, essentially going mad.

These orcs hadn’t acted mad… Everything they did was intentional. With purpose, not just some wild rampage.

It had to be that orb.

Something about that—

"Rowan…" the slime spoke up behind him. He hadn’t even noticed until now, so consumed inches own thoughts, but the slime was being awfully quiet. "You said it was my fault you were here."

"Because it is."

"I don’t understand."

Rowan turned to the little green Monster. "I was assigned here by Shaman Ravine to collect the ingredients necessary to cure the zombies."

"Oh…" the slime’s eyes widened with realization. "You think this is punishment for what you and the others did to us?"

"I know it is."

The anger boiled up again. He gripped his sword hilt tighter, but didn’t raise the weapon.

"For what it’s worth, I didn’t tell anyone."

"For what it’s worth, I don’t believe you, slime."

"My name is Hex. And as far as I’m concerned, we’re even. I have no quarrel with you. Only the orc."

"Don’t care."

You’re just a Monster. A tool to get me out of here. I owe you nothing.

He thought the words, but his heart betrayed him. For some reason he did believe the stupid green ball of goo. Maybe it was the sincerity in his tone. Or maybe it was his own weak spirit reading too much into it.

Rowan shook his head and clenched his teeth tighter. At this rate, there would be nothing left but flat stubs in his mouth. Why is this slime so irritating?

"Let’s keep going. The sooner we get wherever it is you’re trying to reach, the sooner I can leave."

"Thank you. For helping me," Hex said.

Rowan ignored the slime and continued forward.

You didn’t leave me any choice.

They turned a corner and found a dead end.

The labyrinth walls shook again.

A trickle of dread ran up Rowan’s spine.

The shaking was right behind them.

"Go!" he shouted, as he turned back the way they came.

The path was closing rapidly and the slime bounced slowly, even at what appeared to be his top speed.

Rowan kept trying to run faster, but the path was too narrow to get around Hex. He picked up the slime and sprinted.

"Hey!" Hex yelled, but Rowan ignored it.

He was almost there, but the closing wall sped up.

It slammed shut with a boom, a cloud of dust billowing out as he skid to a stop before it.

Damnit.

They were trapped.

"Put me down!"

Rowan dropped the slime on his head.

"Ow!"

"Do you have any items that could help us climb the walls?" Rowan asked, already trying to formulate a plan. They couldn’t just wait here and hope the walls shifted again.

"No apology?" Hex asked, brushing dirt off his goo.

Rowan shrugged.

"And no. I don’t have anything that could get us up there. It’s way too high."

"Maybe we can wedge the wall open." He removed his shield and tried to shove it in the corner where the walls met.

"Wait," Hex said. "I just got a System notification."

Rowan stepped away from the wall and put his shield back on. It was useless anyway. That wall wasn’t moving. "What does it say?"

The slime was silent.

"Well?"

"It… It says… ‘You have discovered a…’" He paused. "‘…A Resident Boss. Welcome to the Scorpion’s Nest.’"

The far wall of the dead end crumbled into pieces.

A large circular opening in the canyon lay beyond, ringed with lit torches.

In the center a mass of squirming scorpions skittered about. There were dozens of them. Maybe a hundred. All crawling onto of something.

The mound shuddered.

Scorpions scurried off or fell if they didn’t move fast enough.

Then the thing they were on was revealed.

A massive scorpion the size of a building rose on insect legs as thick as tree trunks. Razor sharp claws snapped and its stinger tail hovered above dripping pink liquid.

"It’s the Scorpion Queen," Hex whispered.

Rowan peered over his shoulder. The way behind was still shut.

There was only one way to go.