Rock climbing wasn’t as easy as deep-sea diving. Deciding I didn’t need to breathe was passive while sticking to walls like Spiderman took a little more active participation. It didn’t help that the aquans constantly noticed me. After death number nine, I decided to take a break.
“Switch to semi-immersion mode.”
The next thing I knew, I was back in my living room while a full-person view of my perspective in the game was projected in the air in front of me. I could control my character with a thought and move about my apartment with another. It took a little mental juggling but most gamers were able to do it. There were alternate controls for those who couldn’t.
I used the restroom and grabbed a snack while I went over my dilemma. No matter what, the stalactites were the key. There was no way a level one nothing was going to defeat the sentries, let alone the boss. I didn’t want to call for help. I was greedy. Asking Jed to come would result in giving up half the loot. If there was any, that was.
Since sticking to the wall wasn’t working, I needed a new concept. Some way of satisfying the world’s laws while tricking the AI into letting me do what I wanted.
“What does it take to climb a wall?” I asked. “Mountain climbing gear?”
While that might exist in the game, there was no way I had access to it in a hidden dungeon. Maybe from the system shop for real-world money but I absolutely refused to pay to win.
“What else is there?” I was getting frustrated.
“Proper equipment is important when mountaineering,” the house AI chimed in without my asking it to do so. “However, improving your fitness level is paramount for a safe and productive experience. You will weigh less and enjoy the benefit of additional core strength and flexibility.”
“That’s it!” I roared in triumph. Both me and my character jumped at once. “Weigh less!”
“Indeed,” the AI replied. “Would you like me to adjust your diet and workout schedule?”
“No!” I snapped. “Return to full dive.”
My house faded and I was back in the game. I touched the wall of the cave, thinking the words, ‘light as a feather.’ It took a few tries and a lot of abstract thought but eventually, the laws of physics began to obey my mental gymnastics. I found purchase on a crack in the wall and started to climb. The less I weighed, the easier it was to grip the rocks as I climbed the narrow walls of the cave.
While I felt noticeably lighter, I was unable to make myself completely weightless. That meant no flying, or floating as the case may be. Still, it was enough to not only scale the wall but also to hang nimbly from the ceiling. Once I was satisfied, in the relative safety of the entrance, I proceeded to the cavern with the aquan camp.
It had been a while since my last death so the aquans stopped searching for me. I decided to begin my ascent a good distance from the camp just to be safe. Maintaining the mindset that I weighed nothing took active concentration, so I had a few false starts where I dropped to the ground and had to start over. Fortunately, I was far enough away that this didn’t arouse the suspicion from the camp. Eventually, I got it down and climbed all the way to the ceiling. That took more work as I no longer had the purchase in footholds. The primary thing that kept me going was that, no matter how long I climbed, my hands never ached and I didn’t get tired. My hands were like vises as I gripped one stalactite and then another, swinging across the ceiling like George of the Jungle. Eventually, I found myself high in the cavern directly over the aquan camp.
“Let’s call this ‘Operation Spike’,” I whispered to myself.
Labeling the mission: Operation Spike.
I rolled my eyes. The AI was always listening. The next challenge was figuring out how to dislodge the stalactites. They were remarkably solid and I weighed next to nothing. No matter how I wedged myself against them or kicked at them, they refused to break free.
It was after one particularly hard kick that I lost my grip.
“Oh, shit!” I cried as the world spun in slow motion. I was about to die again. This time from falling damage.
It was like a falling dream. Fortunately, like the dream, everything faded to black before I hit the ground. I found myself back in the cave by the water.
“Well, that sucked,” I muttered.
You have died.
“Thanks for stating the obvious,” I grumbled.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
You’re welcome.
When I returned to the cavern, there was quite a commotion at the aquan camp. The sentry was gone and a few of the tents collapsed.
“Did I do that?” I asked in disbelief.
Even at your reduced weight, your mass still caused impact damage.
“Impact damage?” I repeated. “Interesting.”
A strategy formed in my mind as I climbed the wall a second time. From above the damage was more obvious. My body fell on top of a pair of tents situated beside one another. The aquans, including the boss who was twice the size of the others, gathered to salvage what was left of them.
As they were all together, they made a perfect target for me. I closed my eyes and imagined myself weighing as much as a freight train. It was the opposite of what I did to make myself lighter, and the effect was near instantaneous. My grip on the stalactite started to lessen as my feeble level-one strength couldn’t keep up with my newfound weight. Right as I was about to let go, the thing I’d been trying to do since the beginning happened. With a resounding crack, a particularly large stalactite snapped off the ceiling and plummeted along with me.
“Cannonball, motherfucker!” I bellowed as I crashed into the gathered aquans.
This time, my vision did not fade to black. I slammed into collected monstered with a deafening boom. Then my vision faded and I was back at the entrance cave.
Operation Spike was a resounding success.
Congratulations! You have reached level 2!!!
Congratulations! You have reached level 3!!!
Congratulations! You have reached level 4!!!
Congratulations! You have reached level 5!!!
Labeling your new skill: Cannonball.
“I have a skill?” I asked, laughing at the audacity of it all. This was going to be a unique game indeed.
I hurried back to the aquan camp with no regard for my safety other than having a spear at the ready. I needn’t have worried though. The camp looked like someone dropped a bomb on it. A crater stood where I landed with all of the aquan sprawled inside of it. A few of them groaned feebly but were fairly easy to put out of their misery with the spear.
I checked them but none had any interesting loot. Just rags that weren’t any better than my clothes and basic weapons like the ones I’d found in the crate. That was until I came to the chief. While he didn’t have anything fancy on him, he did have a key, and I knew just what it was for.
The chief’s tent was one of the few places that wasn’t damaged by my impromptu attack. I walked in and sat on the bed while looking at the chest. The bed smelled of fish, yuck! I popped the key into the chest and it opened with a satisfying click.
Aquan Tunic
Uncommon Item
Stats: Defense: +5, Dex: +5
Special: Swimming Speed +++
Level to equip: 5
The Left Eye of Poseidon
Quest Item
There was also a bag of coins in the chest. It contained ten gold coins, fifty-seven silver, and twenty-two copper. I was rich! Or was I?
The quest item was an emerald the size of my fist. I turned it over but found nothing special about it. At least nothing that gave me any clues as to what it could be for. The tunic was also green. It was more of a vest made of a sleek material than an actual tunic. I pulled it on over my shirt. It was remarkably sturdy for how thin it was. Part of me wanted to return to the water to see how fast I could swim but I had a feeling there was more to the hidden dungeon.
Also in the tent, I found three additional pieces of armor.
Crude Leather Pants
Common Item
Stats: Defense: +3
Special: None
Level to equip: 1
Crude Leather Sandals
Common Item
Stats: Defense: +3
Special: None
Level to equip: 1
Crude Cotton Bracer
Common Item
Stats: Defense: +3
Special: None
Level to equip: 1
They were nothing to write home about but they covered me better than my starter gear. They also matched the aquan tunic. After scavenging for a bit and dropping everything of value I could find into my inventory, I proceeded further into the cavern.
At first, I thought that was the end. There were no caves or other openings on the other side of the cavern. I walked a full circuit from the entry cave and didn’t stop until I came back to it. Just as I was about to leave, it hit me. Something dripped on my head. I looked up and saw a shadow near the ceiling. It was lucky I’d learned to climb during my fight with the aquans or I never would have been able to explore the anomaly.
I made quick time getting to the source of the drip. It wasn’t much but there was a hole up there, conveniently shrouded in darkness. I wiggled into it and shimmied into the narrowest passage imaginable. Claustrophobia kicked in and I was forced to revert to semi-immersion mode. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it in full dive. The thought of being trapped under tons of rock just made my insides roll.
The narrow passage continued for a while before opening up into yet another chamber. I was higher up this time and much closer to the bottom of the lake. I could tell by the water dripping from everywhere. I scanned the room for any sign of monsters but it was difficult while watching on a screen, so I switched back to full dive. Once I was properly acclimated again, I examined my surroundings.
There was nothing there. Just pockmarked earth under a dripping canopy of rocks. I peered into the many holes in the ground. All I could see was pitch blackness. Each hole was the same size as the one I’d shimmied out of. Was this how I was supposed to get to the next chamber; by exploring the many tunnels in the room? Something felt off.
It started as a rumble that reminded me of an earthquake. Only it got stronger as time went on. The quake culminated with a loud pop right behind me. I turned just in time to see a massive worm towering over me. Then it opened its maw and descended on me and I was sent back to respawn.
“Well, that was interesting,” I muttered as I stood at the entrance once again.
My stomach growled and I almost reached for the nasty food in my inventory when I realized it was probably a sympathetic growl and I was hungry in real life. “Open a meal app.”
Restaurant choices popped up on a floating screen that I scrolled through by flicking my finger in the air. Food delivery was a thing of the past. Food replication had been perfected long ago and many restaurants around the world stopped making food in favor of licensing their recipes to be used for replication. That way, you could get any meal you wanted recreated almost instantly in the comfort of your own home. It was even healthier as only the most nutritious ingredients were used.
I ordered a steak and switched to semi-immersion mode. By the time I walked over to the dining room table, the meal was already coming out. I took a bite and rubbed my chin. “Please pass the salt.”
As the AI complied, I got an idea.