"M-Maybe we can talk our way out of it?" Billy said, starting with a whisper and ramping up until he was literally yelling.
Poor kid is panicking badly. He remembered the unbelievably loud engine our backs are up against halfway through that sentence and started yelling into my damn ear. Did he really come here alone? He doesn't appear to be mentally prepared for such a dangerous area.
"By all means, go talk to the Demon. Make sure your hands are raised so he knows you're not a threat." I sighed. "If only the mangled corpses over there had thought to 'talk their way out of it'..."
"Oh come on I'm freaking out here! There's no way we can beat that thing! Can we at least try hiding first?!"
Admittedly I am not fond of battling one versus one, especially against an unknown enemy. I was much stronger when I had a team supporting me. Now that I'm alone, it's become much more difficult to stay alive. Thanks to my useless defense, all it takes is one grave mistake and that's it for me. There's also no way of knowing what'll happen if we fight here. If we accidentally destroy these engines, whatever we're on is going to stop moving, which at the very least is going to inform those in control that they need to come down here.
Looking past Billy, I see a small space between the engine and the wall. Billy looks over and sees it too, promptly shimmying over in that direction. Once he reaches the path, he peaks around the corner for few seconds before beckoning me in his direction.
No argument here. I would prefer to stealth the whole way if we can, but I doubt it'll be that simple.
The sound of the Demon stomping sounds dangerously close, to the point it's overpowering the engine. Willing my sword away, I follow after Billy. When I turn the corner I glance over my shoulder and catch sight of what is making that scratching noise. The Demon has abnormally long arms and claws, with the claws reaching several feet in length alone. The creature is scraping them along the copper flooring as he walks.
Looking ahead I see Billy is somehow already at the other end of the engine. Dashing towards him, I hide behind this side of the engine just as the Demon comes into view. It walks over to the corpses and bends down near them. One by one it rips their clothes off and rifles through anything that falls out of them.
It's looking for something? My curiosity is eating away at me, but I'm not stupid enough to stick around for that alone.
At this end of the hall between the engines there is a pair of stairs going up. We both rush over to them and begin walking up them, still being as sneaky as we can possibly be. He's apparently very good at this, while my small boots are making triple the noise he is. We both reach the top and stop dead in our tracks. Up ahead is a hallway with multiple glass windows on the left side and doors on the right. In the middle of the hallway there is a Demon with the same form as the one below and it's looking right at us. It's not often you get to see a Demon looking confused or surprised, so this was a rather special moment in itself.
For his part, Billy didn't seem to appreciate the novelty, as he was screaming in surprise while throwing his dagger at the Demon. Coming back to its senses, the Demon tried blocking the dagger with its palm, but right before it connected, the dagger swiveled around the Demon's hand and shot straight up into its right eye. Far from impeding the creature, it only seemed to enrage it. The Demon made a loud screeching noise and charged toward Billy with both arms outstretched. In response to this imminent threat, Billy did what he apparently thought was the most appropriate thing he could do in this situation. He passed out right there and then, collapsing straight onto the carpet.
Willing my sword back into my hands, I dashed forward to meet the Demon. I didn't have much time to enhance the sword, but I pumped as much mana into it as I could before reaching the creature. Sword drawn back over my right shoulder, I swung down hard onto the Demon's outstretched claws, cutting both them and its knuckles off. The sound of glass shattering rings out as I finish my swing. The sound of glass shattering in a fight was nothing new, so it didn't even register in my brain. What I did register was the massive force of suction pulling everything in this hallway toward the now-broken window.
The Demon tried grabbing the handrail on the opposite side but flew out the window shrieking in anger as it remembered it no longer had any fingers. Billy and I were sucked out behind it, with Billy banging his head against the wooden siding on the way out as the broken glass cut a large gash along the entirety of my right arm.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Billy yelled, apparently having woken up after banging his head.
He was given no time to process anything, as all three of us were falling into a massive propeller below the airship that we were riding on moments ago. The last thing I saw was a look of pure confusion and horror etched onto his face as the three of us were chopped into pieces.
----------------------------------------
I hit the carpet in the rest area while grabbing my right arm. Normally this is when I'd meditate to steady my breathing and regain my calm, but Billy apparently had other plans.
Grabbing my shoulders, he shakes me back and forth while yelling, "You alright Mister Keith?! What happened?! Nothing should be able to hurt you in here... What the hell man?"
"G-Give me a minute Billy, please..."
Billy let go and crossed his arms. "Um, okay...? I hope you're alright."
Breathing in and out slowly, I meditate for about a minute before standing up and checking the necklace.
Fifty percent.
Five more tries before I need to warp out of here for a while. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but if I suddenly disappear on Billy... There's no way in hell this kid will survive alone.
My lord, if I can convince him... Do you mind?
Affirmative.
I knew he'd say yes, but it still makes me happy to hear that. I hope it doesn't come to that though. I have no idea why Billy is here, so it could go either way. Convincing him to leave for a few weeks might be easy, or it might prove impossible. It's his choice in the end though. I can only help those who accept my help. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to mention the rewind, that's always been a major problem in situations like these... But I do understand why my lord imposed that rule.
"Okay, sorry about that Billy. I have a chronic illness that attacks me sometimes, but for some reason, it has never hit me during combat or any other dicey situation. So you don't need to worry about that."
I'm also sorry for getting you minced into pieces.
"Shit, for real? I'm sorry to hear that Mister... So you're just like my Father then."
"Is something wrong with your Father?"
"Yes sir. He's one of the people affected by the culling." Billy replied.
"... Again, I um..."
Billy sighed. "I figured you didn't know what I was talking about. You really are strange sir... Anyways, this 'dungeon' popped up around the same time people started aging again, and they also started becoming ill. Lots of people were born here in Gaia including me, so we've all been rather freaked out. The outsiders are used to illnesses, but this is all new to us and we don't know what to do about any of it..."
"But that should be impossible in Gaia? Unless... Hang on, when you mentioned the crystal being 'corrupted', was it also around the same time everything else happened?"
Billy nodded. "Yes. That's why the council also thought this dungeon was related, but it's not the only thing that randomly appeared so everyone is scrambling to figure out what the cause is. They actually focused on this place first, but like I said before, they came up with nothing. No trace of the corruption can be found here."
My lord?
Unknown.
So even he doesn't know... But he has very little influence in Gaia, so I'm not surprised that he's also in the dark here.
"Thank you for telling me, Billy. This was actually very helpful."
Billy smiled, patting the back of his hair awkwardly.
The type that struggles with being thanked huh? I've known many like him over the years, it's not exactly rare. Most people have a hard time dealing with honest individuals who come at them openly, since such individuals are extremely rare.
"With that out of the way, I'm ready to get going."
"Hey hey, no rushing it! Remember, we said we'd leave at two on the dot?"
Oh right... I locked my soul to this spot after we made that agreement. It was the perfect time and location for it after all.
Three minutes later Billy stood up from the couch and we both headed out of the room, walking straight to the door leading to the next area.
Hmm... How are we going to get past that Demon in the walkway? I've been in airships before that had windows but those ones didn't have any glass. At no point were any of the passengers sucked out the fucking windows... I don't understand what is happening there, but I know I can't harm the glass or the wooden paneling like that again. We'll just end up dying another horrible death. And as for the Demon, it looked like it was walking towards the stairs, so it was either patrolling or heading down to help the other Demon. Which means we'll have to wait and see if he comes down I guess? I see no other options.
"Ready sir?"
"Of course, let's go," I said again.
Turning the handle, I jump through the white space and once I arrive on the other side I immediately dive behind the generator on the right.
This way we can stay away from the bodies. If the Demon looked to the right last time while cutting the corpse's clothes up, he would have seen us. Just one of a few reasons why we should be over here on the right side.
Billy runs up next to me. "God damn that is loud. You ever heard an engine like that before?" Billy said again.
"Only one other time, and this is hopefully the last time I have to hear it. Now help me keep an eye out, I think I hear something coming this way from further ahead."
Billy quirks an eyebrow but listens to me all the same. As we're both peeking out from behind the generator it doesn't take long before the Demon walks out from behind the other end of the very same generator.
It was over on this side? I assumed it came down the stairs like the other one. I don't remember seeing anything behind this generator... Then again, I only glanced behind it as we made our way up the stairs.
Billy jumps behind the engine the second he sees the Demon.
"O-Oh my god look at the size of that thing..." Billy said, barely audible for the first time yet.
I sneak past him while waving him along. He sees me reach the path and smiles broadly, clearly happy he won't have to fight the Demon. Following behind me, we sneak along the small gap between the wall and the engine until we reach the end, where we come across a giant mattress with random splatters of bone and blood on it.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
... So that's why it was here. The damn thing was taking a nap while snacking.
Staying behind the engine, I keep an eye on the stairs for a bit before Billy taps my shoulder.
"What are we waiting for? Shouldn't we leave before it comes back?"
Annoyingly the other Demon didn't come down here, so it must be patrolling... What a pain in the ass.
"Billy, listen up. When we reach the top of the stairs, keep your head down. I can't explain it, but I have an ability that is telling me there is another Demon up there somewhere. We have to make sure it doesn't see us."
Billy nodded, having accepted my words at face value without question.
... I really don't want to have to abandon this bright-eyed kid here. If we can't get through this in five tries, I pray he joins me as I warp back to town so I can recharge the amulet.
Checking to make sure the Demon down here is still looting the bodies, I lead Billy up the stairs until we reach the top again. This time however, we both lay down and I ever-so-slowly peek above the last step, spotting the Demon halfway down the hall looking in the other direction.
Looking back at Billy I nod to him. We both stand back up into a sneaking pose and enter the long hallway. The Demon is sadly not moving, as he's too busy carving something into the carpet. Creeping closer to the Demon, I stop about fifteen feet away from him to consider my options.
I can try and stab him in the back, but he'll sense me enhancing myself at this range so it's risky. The other option is to open one of these doors and pray it doesn't make too much noise. The engines can be heard up here, but it won't be enough to cover a squeaky door.
Billy taps my shoulder, looking back I see him nodding. He sidles up to the door in front of us and grabs the doorknob, but before he grabbed it I saw a small blue aura appear over his palm. Shortly after, the aura extends to the entire door. Billy opened the door right away and crawled inside. I quickly follow after him while trying my best to not make too much noise with my boots. Billy closes the door once I'm inside and immediately removes the aura. We then walk over to the other side of the room, sitting between the bed and the glass.
"I thought my heart was going to give out..." Billy whispered.
"You and me both kid, but if you can make inanimate objects silent, can you do that for my boots too? I can't believe the damned thing didn't hear me."
Billy shook his head. "Not when they're attached to a soul. I'm sure you know how the soul recognizes anything on you as a part of you. So long as you recognize it that way in your own mind that is."
"Yeah, I do... Well, that's a shame then." I said, resting my back against the bed.
"What are we going to do?" Billy whispered.
"Wait for it to walk towards the engine room and then sneak past it. It's either that or fight it. Might as well try sneaking first."
Billy nodded.
We sat there listening to both the sound of the engines and the creature clawing something into the carpet. This went on for at least four or five minutes before it finally began moving again. However, where it moved, was into this room. We both hit the ground, hiding behind the massive bed as the Demon stomped into the room and promptly fell onto the bed. The Demon began emitting a low growl soon after, but I realized almost immediately that it was just the way the creature snored.
Damn... This is the perfect opportunity to kill it but there's no meaning unless I can purge its soul. It'll be right back here after the reset since I can't destroy it completely. I never had this issue with Demons till I entered Gaia. Their souls used to explode when I killed them in the real world, but when I kill them here they float there harmlessly.
Billy reaches for his dagger but I put my hand up and shake my head. He seems confused but he nods and follows me to the door. After putting his aura over it again, we exit the room. Looking down I see that the Demon was drawing a stick figure Demon eating what I think is a sheep.
... Is that delicious? I've never eaten sheep before.
Pulling my eyes away from the bizarre drawing, we make our way to the end of the hallway, where another set of stairs awaits us. Same as before, we sneak all the way up and only slightly peek over the top once we arrive.
What we find is a massive open room that looks like it was designed to hold balls.
This was obviously the room passengers spent most of their time in as they mingled, but there's nobody around.
Billy points towards a door near the back. "See that sir? That's it."
Hmm, it looks like a regular wooden door, but I do see another weird sign above it. This one looks like a skull? More skulls again...
"What does that sign mean?"
"Boss room! They are rarely puzzles. Most of the time they are battles with a powerful enemy or multiple enemies."
Boss room... This place really is a video game. I regret never playing them when my friends had asked me before. I'd absentmindedly watch them play while we were on leave waiting for Arkaios to give us our next mission. I wasn't fully paying attention since my mind was always elsewhere, but I did pick up little bits here and there.
After giving the room one last sweep to check for threats, we both stand up and walk over to the door.
"Does it open like any other door? No keys or puzzles?"
"Sometimes those are needed, but you would know if a key was required here. They're usually pretty big, and seeing as how this door doesn't even have a keyhole, I'm pretty sure it's going to open without one. And there is literally nothing in this room. So if there is a puzzle here, then it's going to be a very difficult puzzle to solve."
True. I wouldn't even know where to begin.
Billy reaches out and turns the doorknob, and sure enough the door opens right up, revealing yet another white space.
"See? Nothing to it. But uh, here comes the hard part..." Billy said.
The 'boss' huh? Hopefully it's something I can handle alone. Although I'll admit, Billy's little telekinetic maneuver last time was rather impressive. He was scared out of his mind and still managed to stab the Demon in its eye.
As usual, I will my sword into my hands and prepare myself. Once I'm ready I jump through the door, landing inside a room that is the same size as the one we just left. The difference is all the furniture, vials, chests, and the creepy skeleton in a blue robe with gold trimming looking over at the two of us. It obviously has no expression so I'm not sure why, but I feel like the skeleton is very surprised to see us.
"Now this is unexpected. How pray tell, did the two of you manage to get this far alone? And not only that. The boy I feel very little from, but there is something very off about you." The skeleton points at me.
Billy shrugged. "There were a few Demons sure, but it wasn't particularly difficult? There was nothing but puzzles before I met Sir Keith. I didn't see a single monster till then."
Oh? That explains why he was so scared seeing the monster and Demons then. He hadn't even met any up until that point.
The skeleton puts its bony fingers on its chin. "Strange... Very strange. If I may ask. How long have you two been in the spire? How many bosses have you cleared?"
Me and Billy looked at each other, both feeling that something was terribly wrong with this conversation.
Billy shrugged. "Zero. You're the first."
".............................."
The skeleton stared at us in silence for almost twenty seconds. He then began tapping his skull and finally muttering "I'm your first... 'Boss'?"
Immediately after saying that he began laughing. Billy looked at me and shrugged while I remained in a ready stance.
Eventually, the skeleton stopped laughing and put his staff on the bed next to him.
"Okay then, here is what we're going to do. I'm going to test you two. If you pass, I'll reward you and even let you go. How does that sound?"
Billy gritted his teeth. "Fucking skeleton... It's obviously looking down on us Mister Keith."
The medallion hums.
As it should.
... I know my lord. I don't know what I'm feeling from this skeleton, but I don't like it. Not one bit.
The skeleton chuckles. "The name is Garland, my boy. Do try and remember it."
I begin pouring almost everything I have into my blade, leaving only enough to enhance the speed of my arms.
The skeleton looks at me. "Oh? You seem certain I won't move from this spot?"
... Damned abomination, just like I thought. Only something with unbelievably powerful senses would be able to tell that I didn't enhance my legs or body at all.
"That's because you won't."
"Heh... Indeed, I won't. Now do your best."
Once I was done enhancing my blade, I leaped toward the skeleton and swung down as hard as I could, aiming directly for the creature's face. In response the skeleton smacked its hands together, forming a small barrier between them. As he raised it to block my attack, I could tell right away why this skeleton was so certain he'd be able to block anything we threw at him.
My blade reached the skeleton's barrier and cut right through it.
"Eh...?" Was all the skeleton could say before I cut him in two, straight down from his skull to his pelvis. The skeleton broke into two pieces and fell onto the ground lifelessly.
"Hell yeah nicely done Mister Keith! I had a feeling you'd be strong but god damn I'm impressed!" Billy said, already on his way towards the chest next to the skeleton's bed.
The boy is still under the impression that this is a regular boss apparently. Forget 'treasure', I need information. My blade barely broke through that skeleton's condensed barrier. Only two other times in my life have I seen someone or something take their barrier and condense it into a single point like that. My friend Lindon couldn't do that and he lived to be two-hundred and seventeen years old before Lord Arkaios released him from his service. Barriers were literally his specialty too...
Looking around, it doesn't take me long to find what I'm looking for. Walking over to the skeleton's workstation, I sit down and begin reading the tome in front of me.
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"Find anything, Mister Keith?" Billy asked as he sat down on the bed nearby.
"... Yeah, I did. If what is written in here is true, then you're going to see the entire region of Luvara come to this dungeon."
"Why is that?" Billy asked.
"Because they will want to destroy it. This place is the cause of your 'culling'. It openly brags about it."
"WHAT?! Are you certain?!" Billy said, jumping off the bed.
Standing up, I motion for Billy to take the chair. He jumps into the chair and begins skimming the book. I lay down on the bed and think about what to do from here on out while waiting for Billy to finish reading.
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Billy leans back in the chair and looks over at me with a tired expression on his face.
"... Do you believe the things written here?" Billy asked.
"I do, that's why I have something I need to ask you. Can you return to the capital with this tome? I see several pieces of 'treasure' that are leagues above the average equipment, so hopefully the sight of high-quality gear, crystals, and coins, will prevent the council from dismissing the book completely."
"I would happily do that Sir Keith, but there is no exit portal... One is supposed to spawn after we kill the boss. But after reading this book coupled with his weird attitude earlier, even I can tell that this wasn't an actual boss fight."
I see... So basically, all he needs is a warp out of here? I'll lose some charge on the amulet, but this is more than worth it.
"Gather your things and make sure you're touching them, I'm going to warp you back to the capital. More specifically you'll be going back to the abandoned home I designated as my return point."
Billy looked like he wanted to ask something, but decided to grab his treasure and the tome instead.
"Ready sir!"
I nodded. "Good. I'm going to keep advancing for a while, but I'll warp back to town at some point in the next week. My return point will be the same spot you're going, so try and remember your way back."
With my left hand, I grab the amulet while resting my right hand on Billy's shoulder. Digging deep into my own soul, I reach out to the dawn realm, the realm of my lord, muttering a single word after the connection is secure.
"Return."
Billy and his loot vanish all at once. After he's gone I look down at the amulet.
Forty-five percent.
Sighing, I walk to the bed and lay down again. Closing my eyes I think back to everything I know about Gaia.
No one knows if it's always been here or if something created Gaia, but an entire galaxy exists that operates on a completely different level from the known universe. I've heard that people have tried accessing it by spaceship and ended up crashing as a result, but whether that's true or not I really have no idea. I've only been here about ten years now. My Lord is far more interested in Gaia than he is in the rest of the universe, and he's not alone in his desire to spread his influence here. Each 'Region'(like Luvara) is governed by a crystal, and while I'm still not entirely certain of how it all works, I've been told the race that contributes the most to the crystal's energy is the one who owns it, and then the land takes on the form of their races soul.
Now that part I know is true. I've been in a region owned by an Eldritch made of hardened black rock with purple energy crystals jutting out of it everywhere. Amazingly, the entire region was made of black rocks and purple crystals. The crystal also bestows immortality to all in its realm. They live forever with no fear of illnesses, and anyone who dies will revive at the crystal sometime later. The more souls living there, the healthier and stronger the crystal is. So having people die is nothing but a detriment to it. The only way to take over a realm is to heavily influence it with a different type of soul. Which usually involves wiping out the capital that houses the crystal so you can kill anyone who revives as you take ownership of it. There's also other ways but that's the main one.
It's honestly fascinating how it all works... It's a shame I won't be around long enough to enjoy any of it. I only have myself to blame though. Long ago I sacrificed hundreds of Kitsune in a pathetic attempt to satiate my revenge while saving my friends at the same time. The only thing I accomplished was getting both me and my friends branded by My Lord. We were forced to serve as his arbiters until he deemed us forgiven. My friends have already paid the price, while I needed to spend another fifty years to fully atone. I was the leader after all, so my punishment was harsher.
My chest hurts as I remember all of my friends who have already passed on, and everyone else I've lost along the way.
Just wait a little longer for me guys... I'm almost done here. I'll be joining you all shortly...
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~Tome of Garland~
'Unbelievable. He actually did it. None of us thought he could... But he did. Master was able to successfully co-op ownership of the Luvara crystal. And hilariously, none of the fools in charge seem to know this. Apparently, they're looking for whatever 'corrupted' the crystal.
Idiots... As if such a thing could be corrupted. Eramnon, the creator of Demons himself has no control over Gaia, so why would it be possible to corrupt the foundations of a realm? Having said that... Co-opting ownership of a crystal should be equally impossible, so I suppose I can't blame them for jumping to conclusions. Albeit, the wrong conclusion.
What master did, I dare say, was a masterpiece. Telling their precious crystal to cut off life support to the realm, making these Gaia sheep run around like chickens with their heads cut off. They cannot fathom the concept of aging, of growing uglier every day, of diseases, of dying. All master did was remove their precious immortality, and it's been nothing but chaos ever since then.
We've been hiding out in this damned 'dungeon' because it's convenient, but who the hell built this place? Master didn't, that much I'm certain of. Everything in Gaia is connected to the crystals that maintain each realm, so it should be either the 'owner' of the crystal or the co-owner... Master. And yet, it's neither of them... Very strange indeed.
Regardless, it's over for the people of Luvara. Once we've wiped out everyone here and collected their souls, we'll be moving to another realm. We'll show them all one by one that their precious immortality is a myth. God giveth, and God taketh away...'