The canyon started to almost imperceptibly narrow as they traveled along it, until Sam suddenly realized that the distance had been vastly shortened. The other side was still quite a bit away, but it was in sight. However, there did not seem to be any further narrowing going down the canyon, which was visible because of how straight it was. This was the best that they were going to get.
Looking down over the edge, Sam saw what they were supposed to do. A hanging city of crudely constructed wooden huts and massive rope bridges extended across the canyon, and it was populated by dozens of cyclops. The bridges were truly gargantuan, in order to fit such massive creatures. From up here they looked quite small, but they were really the size of highways, with the buildings as tall as small skyscrapers. It all seemed a bit precarious though, at least the buildings. Sam could see the gargantuan creatures lumbering around the city, and it was abundantly clear that this was how they were expected to get across. Upon seeing the monsters, the others paled. They recognized them, as they had all seen the cyclops at the siege, the one that had broken through their walls.
“In the name of the lord! We’re supposed to fight those?” Eduardo exclaimed, in an uncharacteristic display of emotion.
“It seems so. But, there might be a way to get past them. The last time that I fought one of these creatures, they seemed to have rather poor senses of those smaller than them. If we are careful, we might be able to get across.”
“Oh. Well, how are we supposed to even get down then?” Eduardo asked in response.
Sam pointed to a rough hewn staircase that looked like a recipe for distaste. It was covered in slippery liquid, and had large bumps and cracks all over it. Sam started down it, and Eduardo followed, crossing himself as he took in the height. The others came soon after, Rax having some trouble with the stairs. Eventually Jeffrey picked the herpetopede up, and carried him down with him.
The staircase was miles long, and it twisted disconcertingly at regular intervals. It seemed to get even steeper as time went on, and soon they had their first incident. Pyotr slipped on a rock, and went tumbling down the stairs, taking a few of the others with them. Seeing this, Sam smashed his mace down into the ground, rooting it there, and grabbed on with one hand. With the other, he reached out and stopped the others in their tracks. After they got their balance again, he pulled out the mace.
“Damn, that was close,” Addas said, his face a bit paler than usual. He shot Pyotr a glance, but did nothing more than that. It had been bound to happen eventually. They continued with no further incidents, and eventually reached a small platform at the bottom of the stairs that led off to the city. On it was a small plaque, bearing a short poem.
Two paths lead from this very plaque
One of subterfuge, and one of attack
The first might lead you to your destination
But the other might grant you riches beyond your station
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Traveler, make your choice
They read it a few times, until the meaning became clear.
“So, we can either sneak through the village, which seems to indicate that we will not be found, or we can attack the cyclops in the hopes of gaining something from it. The wording of the fourth line must mean that the regards will be large,” Jeffrey said. “I remember these puzzles from my Basic Dungeoneering class all those decades ago, although this one is pretty easy regardless.”
“Basic Dungeoneering class?” Sam asked. “Is that why you knew all that stuff about that dungeon that we entered during the beginning of the initialization?”
“Yeah, it was. I’m a bit rusty though. Living on this planet for so long has made me complacent, although my edge is starting to come back now. Anyway, what’s the plan?”
“Well, we should have a vote on it,” Sam said, as he was deliberating on which option he preferred. The quick and easy route was tempting, but he had never gained anything through cowardice. This text promised great rewards, rewards that they would need to survive. “All in favor of attacking the cyclops?” Sam said, raising his hand. Eduardo and Pyotr raised their hands as well. “All in favor of sneaking to the other side?” Jeffrey, Addas and Lao raised their hands. Everyone looked over at Rax, who had not voted so far. It was up to him. The herpetopede thought for a moment and then made his decision.
“I want to attack the city. We would benefit a lot from that.”
“It’s decided then,” Sam said. “We will fight. We need a plan of attack though.”
Over the next few minutes, they drew up a quick and dirty plan for how they were to storm the city. Most of it relied upon the large size of the cyclops. Despite their power, at least at this rank, they were unable to move especially quickly compared to those who were normal sized. They were still very fast though, so the group would have to be careful.
As they walked down the rope bridge towards the cyclops city, they spotted a small cyclops gazing in their direction. It narrowed its gigantic eye and then bounded forwards. It was a very weak cyclops, well it was peak F Rank, but that was weak for the cyclops in general.
It had seen the party as an opportunity to get some food, and had not alerted the other monsters to their presence because of this. It leaped over the gap between two different rope bridges, and came crashing down on their bridge. Sam stepped back. He had confidence in the abilities of his compatriots to take down this solitary cyclops. Jeffrey overcharged his blood cannon, and a large ball of acidic blood splattered all over the cyclops’ face, burning off its skin. It roared, or at least tried to roar, through melting vocal cords. Gazing at them with hatred in its eyes, it charged them.
Eduardo slid between its feet, and thrust his rapier straight up, sending a bolt of light up its crude loincloth. There was a high pitched squeal, and the monster collapsed. Sam winced. At least they knew it was male now.
Pyotr leaped forwards, and clubbed the monster to the ground with his rock coated fists. It reached out and grabbed him, starting to squeeze. The rock began to crack beneath its hands, and Pyotr screamed. Eduardo raced up the monster’s body and thrust his rapier into its ear, sending a wave of energy that boiled its brain. It fell to the side, and lay there, smoking slightly from the mouth. The smiles on the faces of the captains told Sam that they had all leveled up.
By the time that they were done with this little expedition, Sam would be surprised if they had not all reached max level for G Rank as well. Still, none of them had the titles that he had, but they likely had some good titles. Sam believed that Lao had quite a good title, based on how quickly he had formed a Dao after Sam’s. He was probably in the top hundred if not more, depending on how the rest of the universe had progressed. Even if Earth was doing better than everywhere else, there were still far more aliens out there than there were people on Earth. There were bound to be a few powerhouses here and there.