Once everyone grouped up and made their way out of the mountain, following the path Neia, Ruven, and Mimi/Jud took to reach them, Lee got a good look at where he was held captive.
It was inside the mountain which surrounded the horizon. The same one that half of Felispar was built into. They were a few miles away from the city, as the city itself was off to their left, half visible from their current vantage point. The sky was cast in the gloomy shade of darkness. It was nighttime, maybe an hour after sunset, as it wasn’t yet pitch black.
In normal circumstances, the view from up high along the mountainside would have been a beautiful sight. But, this wasn’t a casual outing. The city was lit up like a beacon in the night, wisps of green fire flickered across rooftops and the walls that kept the civilians safe. Occasionally a large green scaled figure could be seen swooping low over the buildings, a stream of sickly fire trailed from its maw as it engulfed everything in its path.
Before he could register the massive loss of life taking place in front of him, Mimi/Jud tsk’d loudly by his side. “Gods dammit… The lizard destroyed the temples.”
“The temples? He’s destroying everything…” Lee countered, a frown marred his face as his rainbow eyes swirled in the night.
“This sucks. I’m going to have to walk so far…” Mimi/Jud murmured.
Em, with unstable footing due to her large size, carefully scuttled forward to join the conversation. “Why?”
Mimi/Jud’s form twisted and morphed, turning into another Dark elf, a female with skin tight leather leggings and an open billowing robe. “I need to go to a temple to finish my quest. I have… a sense to tell me where the closest one is.”
“Lee, your hospital has—Had a temple.” Em said.
Scanning the city once more, Lee tried to find the relative position of his hospital. At this point, most of the city was aglow with green flames, and with the information he had available to him, his hospital was probably gone.
Tearing his eyes away from the burning cityscape, Lee saw Neia and Ruven sitting on some nearby rocks with their hands on their heads. They looked weary, downtrodden, and frustrated.
“Neia, Ruven.” Lee gave them both a nod as he sat down next to them. “Sorry…”
Neia flicked her eyes towards him, but plastered on a forced smile. “It’s not your fault. We just—We just hoped that this was going to be good for us. After finally being able to leave the Shadowgrove, traveling for two months… just to have the city everyone was going to be staying in be destroyed by a dragon.” She took a shuddering breath, calming her emotions. “We’ve had a rough time traveling.” She fidgeted with her hat. “The sunlight is too bright.”
“I still feel guilty.” Lee shrugged. It felt like his fault, even though it was mostly out of his control. If he had let the Healer’s Sanctum have their way, maybe everything would have ended up better in the short term.
Mimi spoke from right next to him, causing him to jerk in fright. “So, what are we doing? Are we going to kill the dragon?”
Everyone’s head swiveled towards the mimic, making her the center of attention. She preened and straightened her robe, held head high with a smile. “I doubt we want to sit here and wait for the lizard to come to us?”
Lee gestured towards the former prisoners who were huddled in a group, staring blankly in defeat at their burning city. “I don’t think we can kill a dragon. I have some options, but it’s a single minute of all out offense. If it doesn’t work, we die. Even if it works, several of us are still probably dead.”
“I could probably kill it, but It’s not worth the risk.” Mimi said nonchalantly.
“Do you even know what level it is? It’s like, a thousand years old. You’re the highest level person I've ever met. So…” Lee said.
Neia stares at Mimi, cringed at her form, then looked down to the rocks beneath them. “Higher than my father?”
“Yes. By a decent chunk too. Nitus wasn’t level 500 yet, Mimi is closing in on 600.” Lee said, causing Mimi to narrow her eyes.
“Do not share my secrets like that.” The icy tone caused Lee to shiver. Looking up Mimi bore a hole into his form with her sharp blue glowing eyes. All civility and nonchalance was gone.
“Sorry.” Lee said, before he could even think of what to say. The word rushed out of his mouth.
“Uhh, Lee? The dragon is gone.” Em’s voice, full of confusion, broke up the suddenly tense conversation.
Looking over to the burning city, there were no more flashes of scaly hide gliding amongst the rooftops or walls. Lee stood, alert and ready for anything, as Em spoke again. “It… vanished?”
“Vanished? Dragons done just disappear, Em—” Lee was cut off as Em’s massive metallic form… blinked out of existence. There was no magical poof, no warning. In a millisecond, she was just gone.
Everyone stood up alert and ready. Mimi,by far the highest level of their group, didn’t move a single muscle. She looked like a statue, her eyes zeroed in on Em’s previously occupied space. “That… is new.”
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Then, Em was back. She looked unharmed, and was exactly where she was previously, not an inch out of place. Her bulky weight and reappearance didn’t shift the pebbles beneath her feet at all. If Lee hadn’t seen her disappear, then he would have never guessed that she left. Her face… her face was full of terror. Normally, her face was pale, but now it was white as a sheet.
A second after her reappearance, Mimi blinked out of existence. Again, with no fanfare or warning. “What the fuck is happening? Em!? What happened?”
Without answering his plea, Em lowered herself to the ground and tucked in her legs. Her fangs, which looked like human legs covered in plate armor, flicked upwards as she wrapped her arms around them. The stalwart defender of the realm, strong willed spider, and his best friend, rocked back and forth like a scared child.
Lee slowed in his approach, then kneeled down so that her downward tilted gaze could see him. “Em?”
Her listless red gaze slowly hovered over him. Then, she spoke softly. So softly, that Lee could barely hear her even from two feet away. “It’s watching. It’s… fixing.”
Then, to everyone watching.
Lee disappeared.
—-----------------------------------------------
One second, Lee was staring into Em’s frightened red eyes, and the next, he was knelt looking upwards in a cyan-blue abyss. There was no floor beneath him. There were no walls. He couldn’t breath, move his eyes, or move a muscle. He couldn’t do anything but stare into the space he was looking at.
But, he could think and process where he was. His heart wasn’t beating, he was frozen. He wasn’t dead, as he was obviously alive and in… this place. Was this where Em and Mimi were sent? They were gone for less than a few seconds. Already, it felt like he was here for half a minute.
As his mind ran through its paces, trying to understand what was happening, how to get out, and what this meant, the cyan-blue ceiling came to life in a very familiar way. Words, letters, and numbers appeared, sprawling out a notification in the sky. Or was it in his eyes? He couldn’t tell depth here, but he could read what was being written clearly.
// SYSTEM SCAN INITIATED
// SUBJECT: Lee Barnes
// USER_ID: #5728968413219165498435132186846778510216600451851987450
// CLASS: Miracle Worker
// PROFESSION: Otherworldly Academic
// STATUS: CRITICAL SYSTEM ERRORS DETECTED
--- CORE DATA ---
HP = 525 / 525
MP = 354 / 800
Level = 57
XP = 7837 / 10000
Unused_Attribute_Points = 4
Attributes = {
Strength: 15,
Dexterity: 30,
Constitution: 45,
Wisdom: 45,
Intelligence: 70,
Luck: 15
}
// ERROR LOGGING INITIALIZED
--- SYSTEM ERROR DETECTED ---
**Critical Skill/System Conflict: {Abilities}** **[Arcane Synthesis] - granted by [Arcani, Goddess of Magic] // Non-fraudulent // ERROR
ERROR TRACE: Skill [Arcane Synthesis] has introduced anomalous modifications to user data.
IMPACT:
- Unauthorized integration of high-tier spells.
- Overridden level restrictions on class advancements and spell tiers.
- Title [Miracle Worker] flagged as fraudulent.
ORIGIN:
- Trace to **[Shane, The God of Travel]]**, User ID 3446511657, involving direct tampering with Lee Barnes’ system logs. [Language Comprehension], [Healer’s Touch], and [Hidden Cache] flagged as fraudulent.
- [Dendros, The Wicked Flame] intervention detected, violating World Accord and introducing external power defusions. Power defusion confiscated.
--- SYSTEM WARNINGS ---
1. Skills: Invalid acquisition of class-defining skills. Several skills exceed progression rules.
2. Spells: Overloaded spell matrix with advanced/expert tier spells outside user capacity and acquisition. // [Arcane Synthesis]
3. Class Progression: Miracle Worker class fraudulently assigned via external interference. Flagged cause, [Healer’s Touch].
--- ENTITY INVOLVEMENT ---
- **[Shane, The God of Travel]:** Perpetrator of travel tampering via God Law. World Accord bypassed due to travel origin. Non-fraudulent.
- **Dendros, The Wicked Flame:** Dragon entity classified as *World Breaker*. Direct system manipulation detected. Deleted.
--- SYSTEM RECOMMENDATIONS ---
1. Investigate and isolate corrupted system skill, spells and abilities.
2. Nullify external modifications pending system arbitration.
3. Sanction entities responsible: [Shane, The God of Travel] and [Dendros, The Wicked Flame]. Logging of [Arcani, The Goddess of Magic].
--- SYSTEM ESCALATION REQUIRED ---
STATUS: Arbitration pending. Immediate system intervention advised.
* COMMENCING ARBITRATION -