“How long do you think I’ve been stuck in the pool?” Edan asked Kiba.
Kiba gave a lazy shrug as a smile twisted his face. The man sat cross-legged on top of the grassy hill, the sun overhead turning the strands of red in his hair a glowing orange.
“You’re procrastinating,” he said. “First you wanted to discuss your skills, which we can do later. Next, you wanted to talk about legacies and the problem with your paths. We can cover both of these later as well. Now you’ve turned to random questions that mean nothing. Does it matter how long you’ve been here? You’re about to leave.”
“It matters because Mum has a wicked temper and Dad likes it when I get in trouble. I’m hoping they still think I’m on the dungeon dive.”
“Well, I have no clue, kid. I stopped focusing on time after the fiftieth year down here. You'd be surprised how good for your sanity it is when you stop obsessing about time.” Kiba tapped his temple lightly before closing his eyes and leaning back. “I’ve got to give it to you kid, you have a pretty nice SoulScape.”
Edan opened his mouth, ready to ask more questions, but Kiba started laughing.
“Nope. I can feel you gearing up to waste more time. Need I remind you, that your body is literally being consumed by the pool. You need to leave.”
“Slowly,” Edan muttered, emphasizing the word more than he should. “It’s being consumed slowly….but fine.”
Edan tried not to think of the pain he had felt the last time he regained consciousness. Taking slow even breaths he went over the game plan in his head.
I regain consciousness, swim to the surface, then head towards the side and pull myself out. I don’t know what sort of monsters are around or what to expect…wait…
“Kiba, last question. Can you sense anything around us?”
“Sorry kid, it seems I’m limited to the range of your spirit sense while I’m in your SoulScape.”
“And before that?” Edan asked exasperated.
Kiba shrugged. “There was something out there, but it didn’t interest me much. Would you be interested in one ant more than another?”
“You suck, man.”
Allowing frustration to give him strength, Edan flashed Kiba the middle finger and let his consciousness slip from his SoulSpace. The last thing he saw was Kiba’s laughing form before he was once more rising up through darkness.
Then there was pain. It felt like getting stung by a million bees and Edan fought against panic. He thrashed around, trying desperately to get his bearings as the liquid he hung suspended in continued to eat away at him.
Forcing his eyes to remain open, even as they stung viciously, Edan looked around. It was like trying to stare directly into the sun, from two feet away. Edan could barely make anything out.
It was manageably though. Like he had told Kiba, the damage was slow. He didn’t need to rush. For whatever reason, his body seemed unnaturally inclined towards absorbing the Vitalis.
Taking his time, and controlling his emotions, Edan began to swim up. At least he hoped it was up. Everything was too bright and the liquid too opaque.
Something felt strange and Edan focused on it. Anything to distract him from the itching, and stinging, he felt everywhere.
It was hard to describe what he felt. It was like the transition of your thought process when you woke up. At first, you are slow and sleepy, and it's hard to form thoughts, but then gradually that changes. You don’t know when it happens exactly, but the cobwebs lift and you become a functioning human being again.
It felt like that, but…for a different part of him?
Still paddling, it took Edan a couple of seconds to figure it out. It was his Path. The Path of whatsit embers. It was pulling inspiration from the fire-rich Vitalis around him like his body pulled caffeine from coffee.
Edan was half tempted to just keep floating in the liquid. Paths were infinitely more difficult to improve than stats or levels. But in the end, Edan didn’t actually know how much he was really getting from the pool so it wasn't worth it.
He almost sucked in a mouthful of liquid energy when he slammed headfirst into a wall. Feeling the glass smooth surface beneath his fingers, Edan had to touch it with his nose to see it. Keeping one hand against it, he began to move upward. Once again hoping it was upward.
Edan suddenly had a vision of himself swimming around and around in circles like the live fish caught along the bay and kept in aquariums.
This sucks! Edan thought. But fuck it! Inspire me water. Show me the way of fire. Huh, what a strange sentence.
—----------
Floor twenty-six was much smaller than the previous ones. A lot of the floor space was taken up by workstations and alchemical tools. There were large vats made of metal with solid lids bracketed by scribed metal. Tubes and pipes ran from them to the central building. Though 'building' was a generous term. The word 'Shed' would have worked better.
Its glass walls were so low Tali had to wait outside as Reema and Sanik went in. Seeing the building had made them both excited as if the familiar environment would mean Edan was more likely to be in there.
A few moments later they came out, their faces drawn and pale.
Tali watched them approach. She had busied herself studying a tray of small crystalline plants. They swayed gently as if to a breeze, though there was none. She assumed it was used for alchemy, or maybe crafting, and likely belonged to whichever Academy master used this floor, but for the life of her, she couldn’t identify it.
“He isn’t here,” Sanik said, the words slow and hollow. “There’s only two more floors left so he has to be close.”
The journey down had not been easy and both Reema and Sanik had been forced to fight over and over again. Their resources would be low.
Tali cast identity on both. It was considered rude, but she needed to know.
[Sanik Santry - lvl 153]
[Reema Santry - lvl 136]
“The Vitalis is not affecting you?” Tali asked.
It was Reema who answered, likely being the lowest level, she would be feeling it the strongest.
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“It’s not too bad. We can reach the bottom.”
Tali nodded and motioned towards the stairs. Without another word, they moved on.
—-----
Edan surprised himself. Not with his sense of direction. That was shit and he was still swimming. No, he surprised himself with his adaptability. He was growing used to the pain. The burn was borderline comfortable now and he likened it to the burn after a good workout.
At least that's what he kept telling himself.
Edan didn’t know how long he had been following his original direction, but eventually, he realized it was likely taking him in a circle, so he changed direction. That had been exciting, for around five minutes. After what felt like twenty, Edan decided it wasn’t right either, so he had done a 180 and was going in the opposite direction.
The part of him he associated with his Path had been eating well. It felt full and he couldn’t wait to meditate later.
Look at me! Edan smiled as he swam. Looking forward to meditation. I really have matured. Mum will be so proud.
—-------------
“This will be the last floor,” Sanik said, whipping blood from his rapier. A thin cut still bled from his cheek, the red trail running down to stain the beginning of his beard. Scorch marks covered the left side of his armor.
Reema opened her mouth, her eyes wet with unshed tears and fear. Then she closed it and nodded. The action jerky and unsure. Her face was drawn with exhaustion, though she remained uninjured, Sanik having acted as a shield when needed. Reema would have gotten angry at him for being so protective, but she knew he needed it. Just like she needed him close.
Tali stood behind the pair, her thoughts conflicted. For the first time in a very long time, Tali doubted her Path. She would have turned back floors ago, assuming Edan was dead. She had only continued to descend as Tali doubted Reema and Sanik would have turned back with her and she refused to contribute to their deaths as well.
Tali would see them returned to their home safely. It was the least she could do for the honored parents of her Bwaka.
—---------
Edan’s head broke the surface of the pool with a splash. His eyes, either so used to seeing bright liquid or just damaged, danced with great splotches of darkness.
Taking a deep breath Edan didn’t realize how much he had enjoyed oxygen until he had it. It was cool, even in the humid environment, and brought with it, its own unique form of refreshment.
Now on the surface, Edan wasn’t in a great rush to leave the pool. The pool was safe, aside from trying to break him down like a piece of steak in stomach acid. The surrounding space…not so much.
Edan blinked, wondering if his eyes were still damaged. He could make out large pillars nearby, the soft glow of the pool illuminating them. Close by was a stack of books and a table. A chair tucked neatly into it.
It was so out of place that Edan laughed.
Thick metal tubes ran along the floor, one end disappearing into darkness while the other fed into the pool of Vitalis. Runes covered the metal surface like scribbles.
Swimming over noisily, his arms splashing Vitalis all over the place, Edan reached the edge of the pool and pulled himself free. It was only when he felt cold stone on, well on everything, that he realized he was completely naked.
Gasping he covered up his pride and joy on reflex before realising there was no one around. Stepping over the tubes, Edan walked cautiously over to the desk, leaving wet footprints behind him. Much of the room remained in shadow, the corners too far away to be seen.
Grabbing the first book from the stack, Edan turned it over. It was bound in black leather, with a raw thong tying it closed. Pulling apart the knot was easy and the book fell open. Squinting in the low light, Edan tried to make out the tiny writing on the pages. He moved towards the pool, intent on using it as a torch.
Something shifted in the dark. The sound of rasping flesh on stone reached Edan’s ears. A lot of flesh.
Instinct made him duck behind a pillar.
There was a long drawn-out hiss, like someone had let the air out of a balloon and the smell of rotting flesh filled the room.
That's some bad breath Edan thought, mentally cussing out Kiba. An Ant my ass!
—--------------
Tali looked over the edge of the stairs at the shimmery white pool of liquid below. She could sense the raw Vitalis contained within, the principles were beyond her own path and of little interest to her.
The final level of the dungeon was dark with the shimmering pool casting the only light. With her high perception, Tali could still make out the strange array of equipment clustered around the floor between thick stone pillars. Tubes ran across the floor, leading from the pool to the equipment.
It reminded Tali of the laboratory from level twenty-six, but larger in scale.
Reema and Sanik followed her down, the darkness proving little issue for either.
“Something isn’t right,” Reema whispered, looking around.
“You see something?” Tali asked, lowering her own voice to match the other women.
“No. I…have a skill. It lets me know when there's danger nearby.”
“This is a dungeon. There is always danger nearby.”
Reema wanted to agree but the truth was her skill had been too busy telling her Tali was the largest danger around to do much else. That had changed though, somewhere between the floor above and here.
“Let’s just be careful.” Sanik butted in. He stood close to his wife, the rapier held loosely in his hand as his eyes scanned the room. “That means no shouting for Edan. I’m sure he’s here. Probably scared and hiding.”
—---------
Edan scratched a naked butt cheek as he peered around the pillar he hid behind. His skin still itched from his time in the pool.
Other than that though he felt fantastic. Even crouched as he was, his body didn’t feel any strain, his muscles didn’t burn, and his breath came in a slow, easy, rhythm. Even his hearing seemed to have improved.
Edan could hear something large moving across the floor near him. The scraping rasp of skin on rock made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
He did a bit of quick mental mapping. The stairs to the floor above were halfway around the pool. The pool itself was to his left and whatever was moving around down here was between him and the stairs.
He could try hopping back into the pool and swimming around it, but what if it noticed him in the water and just waited on shore for him. Edan would then have to choose between dissolving slowly or getting eaten quickly.
Edan could try to move further in. Maybe the dark would help hide him? Yeah, Edan doubted that. After a certain level natural darkness stopped being an issue and whatever the slithering thing was, it had to be high level. No other way it survived down here with the level of Vitalis saturation.
Speaking of, Edan wondered why he wasn’t being poisoned to death. Granted, the level of Vitalis in the air was nothing compared to the pool.
Thoughts for later Edan decided, putting the mystery aside.
He peeked around his pillar again and thought he saw something move in the dark. It was just a flash of movement, darker than the surrounding shadows.
Edan slid around the pillar, closer to the pool, and looked across at the next one. It was a dozen feet away. Keeping the cool stone against his back, Edan craned his head, trying to see into the darkness.
He couldn’t see anything, but Edan knew the second he stepped out from behind the pillar he’d be silhouetted against the glow from the pool. He’d need to be quick.
Taking a deep breath, he held it and listened. He couldn’t hear it anymore. Just the sound of his heart beating like a drum.
Fuck it.
Edan pushed off, pumping his arms as he ran as quickly as he could to the next pillar. His own speed surprised him and he almost tripped, only managing to right himself at the last second. Reaching the pillar he slid to a stop. Heart beating loudly, Edan paused to listen.
—-----------
Tali moved deeper into the room, away from the pool of Vitalis. She wanted to look at the equipment. Reema blended into the shadows, her form breaking up around the edges as if consumed by the darkness around them. Sanik kept to Tali’s left, ready to cover her if needed.
There was a metal desk, wider than it was long, and covered in stone boxers. Tali peered in. Each of the boxers had ash layered thick along the bottom. Using a finger, Tali shifted through it, finding bits of wood and fibers that hadn’t been completely consumed. She also felt something hard and smooth beneath her questing finger and with a bit of digging, she pulled it out.
Sanik shifted around her bulky form to get a better look.
“Looks like an eggshell.” He whispered.
“Who cares,” Reema whispered back, appearing between the two as her eyes flickered over the equipment. “Edan didn’t make himself scrambled eggs. We keep looking.”
Tali nodded, slipping the piece of eggshell into the folds of her robe. Next to the table was a cylinder of white porous stone with a dimple in the middle large enough to fit her head. There were scratch marks along the bottom of the cylinder.
She heard something shift behind her and spun in time to see a fang-filled mouth fill her vision.