Ch #11

"Light Bringer"

Weathered stone towered before Kai. Its surface, etched with cryptic symbols and faded hieroglyphs, told of an era lost to the annals of history. The stones, though aged and eroded, still exuded an aura of enduring strength. Their uneven surface hinted at masterful craftsmanship that defied the ages.

Moss and lichen clung to the crevices, fluorescent mushrooms glowed at the base of the slightly ajar gate. The freshly removed dirt was piled at the sides of the tunnel. A majestic thing, Kai thought.

Throwing an inspection at the stone gates yielded nothing but descriptions of rock. The etchings and crevices bumped against the tips of his fingers as Kai examined them under the dim glow.

Nothing. The markings were a mesmerizing tapestry of symbols beyond Kai's understanding. Would an inspection work on these hieroglyphs? He wondered. Focusing on the markings, he activated the ability with a thought.

Pain. Kai reeled, his mouth opened with no sound coming out. His arms, legs, and breath were stuck in that moment. A shock hit his mind, hundreds of needles stabbing into it. Such was the pain.

Drip. Blood seeped from his eyes and nose. The tapestry of symbols unfolded in front of his eyes like paper being stretched but not torn, melding together and turning into something entirely new before it all turned to smoke. A few words were all he could make out.

{ Ȩ̸̪̯̗̘̥̣̲̣̣͍͚͙̥̩́̀̈̆͑t̸̫̫̤͕̳̻̰̣̭́̌̉͝ͅë̸͓̮͉͈͇͍̖͎̩̞͈́́́̋̇̾͋̈́̾͆͑͘͘͜͠͝r̵̡͕͈͚͍͍̼͕̍̀̈́̽̎̍͗̍́̏̚͜͠ǹ̷̨͍̮̥̹̘͙̗̻̬̬̜̥̮̃̒̈́̽͗̿̍̄̂̏͆͠͝ǎ̴̯̀͠l̶̬̞͎̖͉̹̝͕̝͖̣̉͆ P̷̛̛̛̩̺͇̊̅̍͂͗͑͐̎̂̏̐̐r̵̡͕͈͚͍͍̼͕̍̀̈́̽̎̍͗̍́̏̚͜͠i̶̡̹͈͎̳̞͙͖̾̂̀͑̀͆̑̓̽̉͐͘͘ͅͅs̴̹̹̘̼̣̀̎̇͗̍͗̾̋̏̈͐͒̕͠͠ͅŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅǹ̷̨͍̮̥̹̘͙̗̻̬̬̜̥̮̃̒̈́̽͗̿̍̄̂̏͆͠͝ }

The world was hazy. His ears buzzed and buzzed. The pain was palpable. He had a migraine or a concussion; he didn't know. The ability had taken a toll on Kai.

"So they come with a cost..."

Holding his head, Kai groaned. Of course, they do. When do things ever come for free? What else has such costs hidden away? He had too many questions.

Tap, tap. The butt of the spear hit the stone, sending up a little cloud of dust. The sound reverberated through the hall. A small light, maintained by mana on Kai's finger, illuminated the way into the belly of the beast. Cracks marred the stone, a few roots making their way in; the passage through the ruin looked weathered and ancient.

"God knows when someone last visited this place."

He had entered the prison or whatever after the pain had lessened. The cold was increasing, and a fire in the tunnel would no doubt suffocate him to death.

Walking around, he noticed doors ajar around him. Chains, thick and gnarled, dangled from the ceiling and were bolted to the walls. The light caught them at odd angles, creating long, elongated shadows that seemed to writhe and dance upon the cold, stone walls.

What had caught Kai's attention were the tapestries of symbols. They coiled around the room converging towards a central circle. A masterpiece of design, a culmination of the room's purpose. The symbols interwove and spiraled, forming a celestial pattern that drew his gaze in.The light falling on it caused it to light up with a soft, ethereal glow, appearing as if a portal to another realm, an enigma awaiting decipherment. Each symbol within the circle a key to unlocking the chamber's secrets. He did not dare inspect them again, though.

Finding nothing more, he walked out of the room. There were a dozen such rooms on the side of the passage. They were getting increasingly bigger as he walked inwards.Not all rooms had such markings either. Some were completely empty; some macabre chambers, with instruments of unfathomable purpose laying scattered about.

The shadows danced as he moved about. The silence deafening. Gripping his spear tighter, Kai moved slowly, each step echoing. Breath, he thought. Deep breaths. Taking a roundish stone stuck to the wall, he placed it onto the cold surface. It rolled forwards.

"Fuck.."

A rock hit the stone wall, bouncing back, landing near his feet. The room's silence only disturbed by the intricate manifestation of acoustic reverberation and his shallow breaths.

Tired and hungry, he sat in one of the empty rooms, alone with his thoughts. His makeshift spear leaning against his shoulder. The place was like a labyrinth with rooms scattered about, and at one point, the passage too had split. Too large, he thought. The place was too large. There had to be a way to the surface then.

Nothing jumped out from the shadows; nothing made a sound or sigh. This was another thing bothering him inside. A buried tomb, he thought. But who were the ones buried? He'd seen the chains dangling. If there were people, there should've been... he tried not imagining such things. Not good for his mind.

Kai unwrapped the murkeep from his waist. Taking his spear, he measured an arm's length from the tip of the fang. Holding it with his arms, he placed his foot on the branch. A subtle creaking. The fibers of the branch yielded to the persistent pressure, coming undone layer by layer. A symphony of crackling sounds reverberating through the room.

The spear would be too long for him to wield inside such passages. Holding the butt of the now shortened branch, he smoothed its base rubbing against the rough stone floor. Swinging it around, Kai felt comfortable. The thing akin to a strange long knife or something.

With that done, he laid the murkeep and flayed its skin. The thing rotting on him would bring about another disaster. Fashioning the fur, he dried it with heat pressed against his palms, curing it a little, and tied the thing into a pouch. Drying the cut-off layers of meat the same way, he stored it in the pouch. He wondered if it would be alright for a few days.

Alright, he thought. Time to go.

Gates, more open gates. Stone strewn across the place, cracks spreading like a spider web. If the rooms before were macabre, these were straight-out haunting. The markings on these rooms glowed with ethereal blue light. Contrasting with the ever-present darkness, it looked like a wave of fireflies, a pulse traveling through the tapestry of symbols heading for the circle in the center, fizzling out.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Woosh, a rock flew in toward the center. He'd timed it with the glow. Cloud, a cloud of dust or fine stone. Kai swore. He didn't even see how or when. Some sort of safety mechanism, he thought. Safety for whom?

His arm felt heavy, a rattling of chain. The timepiece had appeared again. Kai grumbled. The thing came and went as it pleased. He was so excited when he had first seen the damned description, only to find out he had no control over it at all.

Why had it come out now? he wondered. The timepiece glowed the same eerie glow of the room in front.

***

{Legacy Trial}

Decipher the tapestry of symbols

Completion: 02/ 100

***

It gave him a trial... The hell? What was he supposed to do? Valr was difficult as it was and now this thing wanted him to learn something that made his eyes bleed just from inspecting it? He had no teacher, no books...No, not now... He would check out everything else first.

Kai strained his neck, looking upwards. The dark glassy surface reflected the dim light, the shadows at the edges darker than usual. Snuffing out the light, Kai observed the obsidian gate looming large in front of him.

The surroundings lit by a dim ethereal glow emanating from the intricate tapestry of symbols in front of him. He didn't want to go in there. But where would he go? Time had done this place in badly. The other passage had collapsed. The many rooms and gates he had seen broken and battered. Yet... this door stood still. The inscriptions still glowing.

Kai had been looking for a way to the surface. He didn't know how, but he knew exactly 8 hours had passed since he had found himself in this underground tomb. Probably the timepiece at work, he thought. He'd put the trial at the back of his mind for now.

Running his fingers on top of the inscriptions, he felt warm currents going through them. Mana, a stream of it flowing through the rocks like blood flowing through veins. The mana reacted to his touch. They slowed down around his fingertips.

He wondered if he should try... Pull. The glow dimmed, a stream of mana flowing out. He still couldn't absorb mana himself. Instead, he stored it in his necklace. Epoch drank greedily, starved for mana. He'd been using it continuously for too long.

Rumble. Crack. A cacophony of noise filled the passage. Kai moved away. The obsidian gate that held for who knows how long crumbled like sand in front of him. The mana was holding it in place, he thought.

Chains hung from the stone ceiling, roots entwined along them, growing. Reaching all the way to the floor like pillars. The obsidian walls and floor covered green.

Emerald-yellow leaves swayed, their tips reddish-gold and shimmering. A tree, maybe three times taller than himself, stood in the middle of the room. A shallow pool of water lay in front of it.

Light! He had only thought of it now. There was light in the room! His way out was finally in front of him.

" c̵̛̥͊ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅm̵̢͕̫̓̔͑̊̈ë̸͓̮͉͈͇͍̖͎̩̞͈́́́̋̇̾͋̈́̾͆͑͘͘͜͠͝ i̶̡̹͈͎̳̞͙͖̾̂̀͑̀͆̑̓̽̉͐͘͘ͅǹ̷̨͍̮̥̹̘͙̗̻̬̬̜̥̮̃̒̈́̽͗̿̍̄̂̏͆͠͝ "

The world turned. On his knees, Kai saw blood. Again? He hadn't inspected any inscriptions this time though...

"Ow, my! I'm so sorry. You humans are so fragile; I shouldn't have spoken into your mind."

Kai could not find the source of the sound. Looking around, he only saw the tree in the distance. A sentient tree? He thought.

"What are you?"

"Me? I'm a tree, of course. What else?"

He threw an inspection on it. Better to know what it was before he got sucked dry or something.

***

Great Dryad

Race: Sentient Acacia

Core: Radiant

Attributes: {$#@%#}; {Absorb}; {Nurture}

Abilities: {...}

Guardian spirits of the forest. Nurturing and cradling existence, yet, in the symphony of nature's equilibrium, they claim their due as swiftly as they give.

***

Bleeding from his eyes, he took in the information the ability provided. The mental pain was a lot less this time. He could still think.

"You're bleeding again! Ow, my, oh my. Let me help you."

A small tendril rose from the ground in front of him, emitting an emerald glimmer. The pain, tiredness, and fatigue were gone. So was the hunger he had pushed to the back of his mind. He could hear his breath, the rustling of the leaves, a little wind flowing around him.

"Thank you. I'm alright now," Kai stiffly replied. He wasn't sure what was happening anymore.

"That's good, that's good. Child, what's your name?"

"I'm Kaiser. You can call me Kai. And who are you? How are you talking?"

The leaves rustled, a few falling and floating to the ground.

"How am I talking? I'm just vibrating my leaves. And as for my name, you wouldn't want to know. You'd start bleeding all over if I told you. I've been observing you, you know."

Gripping his makeshift knife, he took a step back, ready to act at any moment. The Acacia was strange. The inspection had termed it a guardian of sorts. A Great dryad... he would be dead if it wanted.

"Come now, Kai, I wouldn't have healed you if I wanted to harm you. I need you to do something for me. That's why I tripped you yesterday after all!"

What? Kai stood, staring wide-eyed at the tree. Fury coursed through his veins, his arms shaking. Yet... he stood still, powerless, a caged tempest brewing.

"What the actual Fck! You dropped me in this Fcking pit?!"

"Oops."

As Kai shouted, the Acacia stirred its roots and branches. A few wrapped around Kai's feet. Whoosh.

"Let me down, you stupid tree! I'll burn you!"

Upside down, Kai swung his knife towards the vine wrapped around his ankle. Clang. His arm hurt, vibrating. He threw a fireball towards the trunk of the Acacia. A small tendril rose, smacking it away with ease. It pulled him mid-air, flinging him towards its trunk, a sea of tendrils rising around him, wrapping him up like a dumpling.

"Now now, no violence. I'll be taking that knife."

It pulled away the knife from his grip. Tying his arms and legs, it dropped him beside its trunk, near its larger roots. The light passing through the canopy danced among the shadows of its leaves on the obsidian floor. Kai stopped struggling.

A girl... Silver locks of hair sprawled on the floor, skin white as snow. She looked barely 6 or 7, he thought. The girl looked like she was sleeping at the trunk of the tree, enjoying its shade. A myriad of small tendrils all over her glowed with that glittering emerald glow.

{Light-bringer, the descendant of Gregori}