As the darkness slowly faded into a greyish blue, I blinked a few times and tried to look at my surroundings. Moving my head even slightly caused me to become nauseous, and my hands came up to hold my head. Then I stared at my hands. I turned them around and looked at my skin and nails. I seemed to have the same hands I had before my mental trip down the rainbow.
Blinking a few times more, I realized I was back in my body, or I hoped it was my body. After a few deep breaths, I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around again. I was in a large room. The walls, floor, and ceiling looked to be made out of a greyish-blue polished stone. I found myself sitting at the center on what seemed to be a stone table. I also noticed I was wearing a form of primitive clothing, a dark brown tunic, pants, and sandals on my feet. Another box flashed in front of me as I pushed down my nausea and swung my legs off the edge and hopped down.
[ System Notification ]
Due to the lack of adequate conditions for your transfer, you have been randomly given two rare traits. May they serve you well on your path.
Obtained the trait Auto Loot.
Obtained the trait Core Consumption.
What in the world are traits? I have no idea what either of them could mean, or what benefits, if any, they gave me. Turning around, I found I had been lying on some type of stone altar. Below the stone slab were metallic pipes and large glowing crystals or gems surrounding the entire thing. I couldn’t make heads or tales of their purpose. Walking around the table, I came to where my head was and found a counter just below the stone slab.
Thinking back to what I learned, I speculated it showed two-hundred and fifty-five, then a few moments later, it ticked up to two-hundred and fifty-six and stopped. With no idea what the timer was for, I searched around the rest of the stone room.
There was nothing inside the room beside the altar and a door. That door was made of wood and a blueish metal I had never seen before. Not finding anything else to study, I opened the door and stepped out into a very dank-smelling hallway. It reminded me of the old ruins on my homeworld I used to explore. The walls were made out of bricks from the same greyish-blue stone with mortar between them.
Every three meters or so, I could see a small nook with a floating orb of glowing fire. Stepping forward, I took a closer look at one such orb and found it radiated no heat. Testing it out, I slowly poked at the orb but only felt a slight tingle.
Turning around, I let out a gasp of surprise. The door I had just stepped through was gone. After searching each brick in the area, I couldn’t see any evidence of the door that had once stood there. Spinning around to look at the blue fire orb again, I let out a small nervous chuckle. This place was full of anomalies, and I looked forward to exploring and discovering how each and every one of them worked.
Collecting myself, I began walking down the corridor to my left until I reached a four-way intersection. Looking down the left, then the path ahead of me, a sound and movement caught my attention. Turning my head to the right, I caught movement at the next intersection.
“Hello?!” I shouted down the hallway. The eternal silence and the occasional dripping of what I assumed was water in the far distance was the only response.
I decided to keep moving forward, not wanting to find out what had caught my attention. Before the next intersection, I came across two doors on either side of the hall. Opening the left one first, I found myself in what looked like some type of holding area or possibly a jail. The room had four large cells against the back wall and a wooden table with a few chairs around it. Both the table and chairs looked to have decayed over time, and I doubted they could support my weight. Turning around, the room across the hall was laid out in the same manner.
Continuing down the hall, I began to hear a ‘clanking’ sound every few moments echoing from further down. As I crept towards the third such intersection, the sound started to get louder. Coming to a stop, I peeked around the corner towards the sound’s source but couldn’t see anything down the hallway. Looking behind me towards the other hallway, I found it was also clear of anything.
Gathering up my courage, I began to follow the sound in the distance. The next intersection was barren, and upon coming to the next cross-section, the sound became almost a rattle as the ‘clank’ bounced off the walls. Peeking down the left hallway, I saw someone slowly walking down the hallway. They looked like they were just skin and bones. They stood about as tall as me but were incredibly skinny, even compared to my body.
“He… hello?” I said just above a whisper.
The figure stopped in their tracks. The clanking sound also stopping. Seeing as they might be interested in talking, I stepped into the hallway and took another look at the figure, or instead took a look through the figure as I could see parts of the blue fire orb further down.
“What the hell?!” I shouted.
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The figure spun around, and I could make out two glowing red eyes peering back at me. Then their jaws began to open and close over and over, causing the same ‘clanking’ sound I heard from before. I started to take several steps backward as the figure raised its arm and ran towards me. A glint of light caught my attention, and my eyes were drawn to the bronze-colored sword in its hand.
As it came closer, I could see the white bones that made up the skeleton’s, well, skeleton, as it continued rushing towards me. I turned and ran down the hallway. I made random turns at each intersection, only slowing down when the feverish ‘clanking’ of its jaw could no longer be heard.
I crashed to the floor, exhausted from sprinting for so long, gasping for breath. After a few moments, I crawled to the wall and sat with my back against it. That was a fucking skeleton! I could see right through it. How in the hell is that even possible? Not even nanites could hold bones together and keep them moving. I kept cursing as I tried to center myself to meditate. After a few minutes, I could hear the ‘clank’ again and got up to begin walking away from that infernal sound.
After a few random turns down the now seemingly endless hallways, I came to a large room behind one of the many doors I passed through. The interior looked like it was half-owned by royalty and never used, while the other half was something I found fascinating.
That half looked like someone had an entire lab set up here. Everything looked primitive, with glass tubes and beakers arranged on many tables. I found a stack of books on the furthest table that I immediately grabbed and brought over to the bed, sized five times bigger than it had any right to be. Testing my weight as I sat on the bed, I found it hadn’t decayed like the table and chairs I had seen.
Grabbing the first book, my heart immediately sank. It was written in a language I had never seen before. I spent hours flipping through each book, looking over the letters or glyphs and images. After going through the last of them, I found I couldn’t decipher a single word in any of them.
I stacked the books neatly on the table nearest the door to take them with me but then froze as I heard a muffled ‘clank’ outside the door. I looked around frantically and found metallic rods on a workbench a few paces away. I ran over and grabbed two of them just as the door shuddered from a fierce blow.
My training from the academy kicked in, and I immediately grabbed one of the books and went to the right of the door. I pressed my back against the wall and dropped the book in front of me. Pressing my right foot down on the text, I hoped it would stop the door from slamming into me when the door was forced open. I didn’t wait long before the door’s latch gave way and shattered, sending the door flying open to slam into the book and stop. I winched slightly at the damage to the book but kept my breathing slowed.
The skeleton walked into the room with all the grace as if it were still built with flesh and looked around the room. It locked its eyes on the bed and began to walk over, its jaws ‘clanking’ in what I could only describe as excitement. I jumped forward when its back was to me and brought both metallic rods down in an arc onto the skeleton’s head. As soon as I heard the crunch of bone, the skeleton crashed to the ground as if its strings had been cut.
I watched in amazement as the bones began to dissolve into a white mist or sand. This white sand began to spin into a small tornado, thickening into a tiny white sphere and what looked like a torn page from a book. Stepping forward, I picked up the skeleton’s bronze sword, replacing one of the now bent metallic rods. I then scooped up the small white rock and paper.
The gem seemed to have a slight glow from within its center, and the paper was covered in runes with a tear on the side like it had been ripped from a book. With no pockets in my clothes, I set them on top of the book I had used as a doorstop and then onto the stack of books.
Going back to the bed, I removed a silken pillowcase from one of the many pillows and stored the stack of books, white gem, and the scrap of paper inside. I took another glance around the bizarre room before walking out into the hallway. I traveled down the hallway and began to investigate behind each door as I came across them. It didn’t take long before I heard another ‘clank’ in the distance.
Ducking into the next door, I found what seemed like a barracks. There were various small beds along the back wall. Each bed had a night table and a chest at its foot. To my right was what looked like an eating area along with a kitchen.
I dropped my pillow sack on the table and began to open the various cabinets and drawers. I hadn’t felt hunger pains yet, but It would be better to get ahead of the issue before I did. I immediately regretted opening them as everything inside had rotted away long ago.
To the side of the wooden cabinets was a large stone box with two doors at its top. Curious, I opened one side and let out a surprised yelp. Under the door was what looked like a black void. The light from the blue fire orbs didn’t seem to illuminate inside the stone box.
Opening the door all the way and resting it against the wooden cabinet, I took the slightly bent metallic rod and dipped into the inky blackness. Pulling it out, I found it to be somewhat cold but otherwise the same. Slowly I dipped my hand inside and felt nothing. My finger didn’t get colder, so I pushed further in, seeing if the box had anything inside. My fingers brushed against something which felt like a burlap sack. I grabbed hold of the object and pulled it out.
Outside the blackness of the box, I found my hand felt normal, but the smell coming from the sack made my mouth water. Untying the strings, I opened the bag and examined the inside, finding strips of what looked like dried meat. Removing one, I sniffed it for the tell-tale signs of the sweet smell of mold but found none. I took a small bite and had to tear the piece away.
Chewing, I was surprised at the savory and tangy taste. Tying the string together, I placed the sack of jerky into my pillowcase and went back to the stone coffin. I found it contained many other small bags of jerky. The other side provided me with water skins and skins of a wonderful sweet-tasting juice that I’d never experienced before.
Removing two skins, I placed them inside my pillowcase and was about to explore again when something at the door caught my eye. It looked like a map of halls with various symbols around it.