Chapter Twenty-Nine: Adventurer
“The real question we need to ask is what do we do now?” I said aloud as I sat on the well-cushioned couch next to Faerwyn. We had all met up in the accommodations provided by Threigar and Sons.
The room was exquisite, with rugs, pillows, ad soft furniture, a stark contrast to the barren and filthy abode we had stopped in just this morning.
“You’re looking suddenly very calm about all of this,” Grenthar observed as he took a seat across from me. I shrugged.
“Freaking out now will only cause me to do something stupid, which is what I think they want.”
“Who’s they?” Faerwyn asked, concern tinging her voice.
“You know, they, the people hiding behind the curtains,” I answered.
“Nobody is behind the curtains,” Velixen said. “I checked when we arrived.” That forced me to laugh.
“Alright, sorry. Sometimes my colloquialism doesn’t translate well. I know that. What I mean is that too much has felt…. forced, and rushed. Someone has been pulling strings, from inside the shadows.”
“I thought you said it was the system?” Grenthar questioned as he sat down on one of the soft chairs, and sunk in so swiftly he grunted. I watched in amusement as his face went from startled amusement to pleasure. His fanged teeth formed a boyish grin.
“I thought that at first. Now I am not so sure. Or at least, I don’t think it’s the system exclusively. There have been some things that haven’t made sense,” I said, reaching forward and plucking a fruit from a straw basket in the center of the table.
The fruit looked like an apple, but when I bit into it, the texture was soft and citrusy like a pineapple as the juices flowed down my throat. It was a startling surprise, but not an unpleasant one.
“What hasn’t made sense?” Shialk asked.”Didn’t you say the system likes to stir up chaos? This seems pretty chaotic to me. Damnit! I know I have hangover medicine here somewhere… ah, this will do the trick.”
Shialk pulled a vial of yellow liquid filled with green flecks and with a tap of his finger, it glowed with a bright purple light for a second before he swallowed it and sighed.
“Well, it was Threigar who said the system likes to upset the balance, but that doesn’t seem entirely accurate to me. When I arrived one of the first things thrown at me was a bunch of undertrained church kids who were just zealous enough to want me dead. It turns out that they were sent as a sacrifice according to a prophecy.”
“I do remember you saying there was a prophecy,” Shialk agreed.
“Yep, turns out I was supposed to have to fight for my life and kill them. It was to ensure I would rally a bunch of people together to all get slaughtered at once. Instead, I did the slaughtering. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Then I suspected the system created the prophecy. Now, I am unsure.”
“Oh I think I see,” Shialk said nodding.
“Care to share with the rest of us then,” Faerwyn whined. She had been petting Wuzzy who sat beside the couch nervously. Velixen sat across the room with King Bagel in her lap, her hood lowered and frustration on her face.
“What Leo means is that why would the system go against its own desires? If you look at it from the angle of it just wanting to stir up chaos, then it makes sense. What if you look at it from a different perspective? If it's not chaos the system wants, but progression. The system has a balance to it. It gives everyone an opportunity to grow. Which means -”
“It means the system wouldn’t send someone just to die! Which means the prophecy didn’t come from the system!” Faerwyn interjected, excitedly. Shialk nodded.
“But then who did the prophecy come from and why?” Jeloqa asked, her fingers thrumming the side of her chair as she thought, but I shook my head.
“Wrong question right now. We need to know why an army would be marching on my country, and what are we going to do about it. We can’t just let Milzeyan get the power…. either…”
“Leo, you look like you have a thought,” Jeloqa said.
“It looks like he has figured it out!” What do you have!” Shialk shouted.
“Well, we all know the dungeon expands across the entire continent. Yet, you said that only the entrances in the wound lead down to the final levels. What if that’s not true.”
“Well, I mean, sure. You can get to different sections from other parts and eventually work your way down, but the dungeon is labyrinthian. It would take years and years to map the correct passages and that’s assuming you could survive.”
“We only need to survive underwater. Think you can whip up some potions that allow water breathing?”
“Potentially. I would need a lot of supplies though… Which I can now get because we are a part of Threigar and Sons!”
“Good, you start whipping up the potions. It looks like some of our plans need to speed up. I’ll still get my adventurer’s registration as planned. Jeloqa, Grenthar, do you think you can convince the gangs to hit terraces one through four tonight, and five through seven tomorrow?”
“With the plans that Prince Sherivos gave us, easily. But Leo, you’re getting ahead of yourself. What have you figured out?”
“Not everything yet. Just a highlight. There’s a dungeon entrance in Shangrior. Deep under the sea. If I had to guess that's what this army is after, at least in part. That far down and it’s probably a straight shot past the demon king. And with an army, you can set up an ambush.”
“So what? You plan to beat everyone to the punch? I know we can take out a small unit, but I don’t think even we can stop an army.” Grenthar said.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Oh, we don’t have to stop them. I have a better plan.”
***
“Listen up you shit-eating-maggots! Today is the day you all dreamed of and had nightmares about! Today is the day you either become a winner or a loser! From today forward you will either be an adventurer or a failure!”
The demon pacing before me had pale blue skin, with glowing white eyes and ridges along his body. He almost looked like a walking icicle and the temperature around him dropped significantly the closer you got to him. It didn’t affect me, but it had a negative impact on those around me.
He wore old, but not uncared for, steel armor and bore a massive war-maul over his shoulder. I analyzed him with interest.
Graulem Hylthix Level: 34 Race: Jotunderfin Class: Dispersion Warrior Affinity: Neutral
I didn’t know what a dispersion warrior was, but I was about to find out. He called out a nervous-looking demon that was some sort of dog-man. He yelped in startled surprise as he was called forward to begin the first round of testing. The combat phase. I smirked at the thought of detonating the training ground in epic fashion but knew I had to withhold my power.
Still, The dog demon had some sort of guardian class and unleashed a bunch of attacks on our instructor who simply absorbed each hit before releasing one wild swing. At first, I was confused because his weapon was not even close to making contact with the target, but a deep vibration shook the air, and the dog man went flying back like he was shot from a cannon. He collapsed in a heap fifty feet away and didn’t rise.
Some staff members designated for healing rushed over and carried him away. Everyone was entranced now, including myself, as he called up the next contestant. This time it was someone who looked like Skeletor.
“Remember shit-bags! You don’t have to beat me. You just need to prove you're capable of using your body, skills, and mind effectively!”
Soon the skeleton man began swinging a thin rapier-looking weapon at our instructor and again he just took the blows without flinching before sending the skeleton flying.
There’s a trick. There has to be! I thought as I watched him tear through the other adventuring applicants.
None of it seemed to work on him as he stared down his victims. He was an unblinking, unmoving statue until it was his turn to strike. At that point, his weapon became an earthquake in his hands.
It didn’t matter what people threw at him. Light, ranged, and heavy weapons all glanced off of him. Even magic seemed to have no effect. Graulem just stood there taking it all. Using my Eyes of the Unliving, I finally caught a glimpse of what was happening.
When he was attacked he started to grow bright under my gaze until it was almost like staring at a beacon, and then when he attacked he released the light.
He is storing the power of the attacks being used against him and returning it! So that’s what a dispersion warrior is. It disperses the energy of the attacks, but it needs a place to disperse to.
Then it was my turn.
“Alright, you’re up pipsqueak!” He called out to me and I approached the center of the fighting arena and faced him sizing him up. The demon was easily two feet taller than me and his muscles were the size of my head if not bigger. I knew by now that size wasn't everything though.
He just looked at me with a smug smile as I observed him. Then something in his expression changed. It wasn’t fear as much as it was recognition. His eyes flashed and his smile turned into a slight frown.
“Well, are you ready to give it your all?” He asked as he took up a defensive posture. I chuckled and casually strolled over to him. I flicked him on the forehead before stepping back smiling.
“I’m done,” I said and began walking away.
“Wait, aren’t you going to attack?” The instructor barked and I turned to face him.
“Aren’t you?” My question caught him off guard but he soon broke out into a rolling laugh.
“Alright, new plan recruits! For those of you who haven’t faced me yet, you can now face this punk instead if you wish!” I turned to face the last remaining group whose faces had all turned eager.
Oh shit! That’s not what I wanted!
“I am not the instructor, I don’t want to rob you of our prerogatives,” I replied, trying to give a placating smile. He gave me a fierce grin that told me I wasn’t going to be thrilled with his response.
“Oh no, I want to see what you're capable of. You have proven you are smart, but now I want to see if you're skilled. You have two options. You can either battle me or face all of the other recruits at the same time. You will battle though.”
“Fine. I will fight you.” That seemed to be what Graulem wanted as he motioned to approach him.
“Alright, this will be a real fight? Are you ready? Good” The next moment I felt like I was caught in a thunderstorm. The air rumbled with the demon’s onslaught. For a few moments, it was all I could do to react.
Backflip, handstand, push to the right, land on my feet, leap to the left, twist, TWIST!
It felt like five minutes all I could do was dodge, but it was only five seconds as I kept evading the giant hammer of his. The guy was fast. Finally, I managed to spin and hook my foot under his, pulling him off of his feet.
Only he didn’t fall. As his body began to tilt, he swung his hammer at the ground, causing a shockwave, and launched himself high into the air. I didn’t bother to look as I kicked off and flew ten feet to the side just ahead of a thunderous crash behind me.
If I don’t start using some skills I will never make it through this!
I still didn’t bother looking as I kicked off the ground high into the air into an arching backflip. I narrowly avoided a side swing that would have broken my spine if it had connected.
Reaching out a hand I made a mental connection to the shadows around me, and Graulem’s foot sunk several inches into the darkness throwing off his momentum just enough. I summoned a tendril of darkness and lashed it around his dominant arm and pulled launching myself at him.
He froze as he saw my approach, so instead of striking him, I used my hand to push off of his body as I spun around. He leapt out of the shadows and rocketed toward me his hammer ready to crush me with seemingly nowhere for me to escape. Instead, I summoned another tendril and hooked it around his feet causing his body to flail midair. He fell to the ground with a crash, but I wasn’t nearly done.
With a guttural cry, I launched at him and started pummeling into him. I only got in a few good hits before his dispersion kicked in and his body started storing my kinetic energy.
Still, I did not relent. I threw punch after punch until I could feel his power reaching its climax. He would have to release the storm of force he was holding back. Sure enough, he started to go for an attack, but I leapt away connecting to a nearby shadow mentally.
As his earthquake flew towards me I felt myself melting, and a moment later I was right behind Graulem stepping out of a shadow. I lunged forward and before he could turn I cracked him in the back of his skull with my elbow.
He went sprawling and I just stood over him panting. I was trying to avoid using too much of my dark magic here where witnesses might remember what I could do, but it felt needed.
“Congratulations!” Graulem said as he rose unsteadily to his feet. “You are now an adventurer! Or at least by my standards. You still have to take one more test. Head inside and talk to Jerenta. She will oversee the final exam! The rest of you sorry lot, it's your turn!”
I turned away from the demon as he grinned maniacally and looked at the building before me. Despite the growing tension of an army marching towards my home, and an impending battle with a demon king I couldn't help but smile wildly.
You're now an adventurer. It was like a tension had eased from me. Now, it didn't matter what happened. King, Dark Lord, all of those other titles didn't matter to me as much as that one. Ever since I had dreamed of going to other worlds this was what I wanted. I had one more test, but I wasn't worried.
Screw you system, and screw you whoever else is fucking with my dreams. But you aren't taking this away from me! I vowed, and then walked toward the large building before me.