I told her that I’d leave to get help. It didn’t feel good to lie to someone like that, but for some reason the thought of just leaving Saltrock and running to someone stronger didn’t sit right with me. Why was I getting stronger, if not to use that strength for something? Maybe I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t useless, but I didn’t think that was the main reason I was doing this.
Something about this whole situation bothered me, and I knew that the small ember of anger in my chest wouldn’t go away until I did something about it.
My Mana wasn’t yet back to full, so I decided to just walk all the way back to Saltrock normally. It was a good opportunity to train the passive aspect of Lightning Steps and, probably more importantly, check to make sure I had all of my stuff prepared.
Back in Ironhold, after I bought my cloak and bandolier, I’d gone ahead and gotten a bunch of potions as well. Most of them would probably be useless here, I had 3 water breathing potions that I was beginning to regret buying, but there were certainly a few that I’d be able to use.
In order from the top to the bottom I had the High-Grade Healing Potion, 3 Low-Grade Healing Potions, 3 Willpower Potions (which would increase my Willpower by just one), and 3 Swiftness Potions.
Apparently drinking multiple buff potions was a terrible idea, because they could easily react badly and have some unknown effect, so I’d have to wait until I saw the fight to decide which of those to use. Using more than one Healing Potion at once could have similarly bad effects, though for different reasons that I don’t quite understand.
Before I knew it, that creeping sense of unease, of Danger, was back and the village was in sight. I didn’t bring any Crabs with me so Luke would probably be able to guess that something was wrong, but I couldn’t exactly do anything about that now so I put it out of my mind.
He was probably planning to do something this morning, but he didn’t realise that I’d be able to tell that something was up. I guess I was lucky enough to get out of danger, and yet here I am jumping right back in.
When I finally arrived in the village I immediately noticed that something was off. The villagers, who I’d previously been completely unable to discern the features of, looked anxious. The mental blur that had previously completely disguised their faces now looked insubstantial, and there was a jitteriness to their movements that made me think that they were fighting to stop moving.
Something had clearly changed, although whatever it was I didn’t know nor care about it. All that mattered was finding the ringleader of all of this and… I don’t know. I didn’t know what I planned to do when I found him, but it was going to involve Lightning, and then this whole mess would be dealt with and I could go home with a clear conscience.
The villagers noticed my presence quickly enough and, as one, all pointed towards the same place towards the docks. With no other plan for where to go, I followed their directions and found myself on a pier overlooking the ocean. Was there supposed to be something there? As far as I could tell the place was pretty much empty, so then why would they send me here?
I looked back towards the village, there were a few villagers in sight, and each of them were pointed almost exactly in my direction. No, wait. That wasn’t quite right. They were pointing at something below me…
Under the pier?
Without any better ideas, all I could do was jump onto the small bank of sand underneath, landing in a crouch that launched sand in all directions. Somehow some of it even got into my mouth, but my cloak protected me from the worst of it.
Blech, gross.
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Trying to ignore the feeling of sand in my mouth, I looked around for something significant. Of course, it only took a second to find the massive opening in the cliff face that was wide enough to fit 3 people side by side. Well, it was massive in my experience, I’m sure there’s some bigger ones out there.
I walked inside and the light level immediately dropped until I could barely see my hand in front of my face, forcing me to stumble through the darkness until I took a deep Breath and used Lightning Generator to get a little bit of light in here. I was glad that I’d done that just then too, because I was just a few steps away from slamming into a massive stone door.
It was carved to look like some kind of mutated Crab thing, with the same familiar shell but with longer claws and what looked like antennae sticking out of its head. I couldn’t shake a strange sense of familiarity, but I couldn’t remember any time where I could have seen something like this.
“Weird.”
The door itself was split by a seam down the middle, but it didn’t seem to have any handles or anything so I was at a loss on how to open it. The obvious solution was to use Lightning Burst, but that would also use up a lot of Mana, and Lightning Bolt had similar issues.
But all that planning was rendered useless when the door opened on its own, and a voice echoed from deep inside. It was too far to really hear what it said, but it sounded like something along the lines of “Come on in, adventurer …” and then he mumbled incoherently for some reason.
Not one to refuse a polite greeting, I walked past the threshold of the door, only to hear it slam shut behind me. I didn’t really think anything of it at first, but wasn’t it strange that he has mind control and door control? It could be something else, I supposed, maybe he has a minion with door control or something.
After just a few steps, the rough cavern walls transitioned into smooth stone, and then into brick, leaving me wondering why it looked like that anyway. Did he carve this to look like bricks? Because I’m not sure they work that well on- I glanced around at the walls of the hallway- every surface.
Soon, the hallway transitioned into a staircase that led down into a vast underground church-like place. The roof was held up by several thick pillars, and the walls were lined by rows of stone sconces. At the very end of the room, kneeling before a dark hole in the wall, was a familiar man with his hands clasped, seemingly in prayer.
My footsteps echoed loudly across the stone, but he didn’t seem to notice and just kept praying at the hole. Is there something in there, or does this guy literally worship a hole?
“Hey! Luke! I heard you’re some kind of mind controller, is that true?” It always pays to double check, trust but verify as they say.
His head twitched and he stood up and turned to face me in one fluid motion, a clearly fake smile plastered on his face, “So you met Mother then? And she told you everything?” He said the word ‘Mother’ with such disdain that it was mildly surprising that he was able to keep his tone even for every other word he spoke.
“Maybe, I don’t know what she didn’t tell me, but I guess there’s probably a lot that I still don’t know.”
“Such as?” What does he expect me to say here? I don’t know what I don’t know, how am I supposed to know what to say here?
“Well, your Path for one. I’ll admit to being a little curious about it.”
“Yes you would be, wouldn’t you? I suppose there’s no harm in telling you, after all you won’t be surviving the day. What I have is slightly different from your pathetic Paths, and it’s oh so much greater. I have the Pact: Leader of the Lobster Cult. Although I’m not certain you could call it a cult since I’m the only true Believer.” The way he speaks is completely different from before, what’s up with that?
“Oh, right! That’s what it was! A lobster!” I knew I’d seen it before, but I just didn’t know where or when. Of course, I wouldn’t know that, because it was in my dreams. I’ve seen them a few times in that place, it’s strange that they also seem to exist here.
“Ahem, right. That’s the origin of my God. He Who Emerges From The Depths, the one who will devour the pathetic mortals of this land! He is the one who offered me mercy in my final moments, and so I will forever serve Him, do you understand? You will be given the great honour of being fuel for the growth of a God! Do you understand?!” As he spoke his voice got louder and louder, and I noticed a crazed glint in his eye. How is a lobster supposed to devour anyone? They’re so small!
Suddenly, a rumbling shook the foundations of the Church, and Luke cackled madly.
“He awakens! It is time, adventurer, He Who Emerges From The Depths will arrive momentarily! You may weep and beg for mercy like those before you, but it shall do you no good!” Wait a second.
“Do you not know my name?” Luke was startled for a moment, but before he could refute my claim a painfully sharp scraping sound drowned out anything he may have attempted to say.
I took a step back, then took three more, as I began to see the figure emerge from the darkness (and no, the aptness of that statement was not lost on me). It was at least twice my height and though I couldn’t see it, I could only assume that its length was at least three times that distance. Its outer shell gleamed a dark, almost black, blue and made its form indistinct and hazy. Almost every other feature was obscured by the blur, but I could clearly see the razor sharp claws that it held in the air in front of it, ready to tear my limb from limb.
“Oh,” It was slightly larger than I anticipated, to say the least.