Chapter 19. Back to the Pit.

“Who’s there!” Silas demanded through the locked door. It seemed a flimsy defense, a few inches of wood between him and whoever, or whatever, was on the other side. He remembered the M79 grenade launcher was still in the gun safe, but firing a grenade at close range was suicide.

“Mr. Ward, it’s me, Misty. I’m here to take you for your shopping trip,” the young woman said.

That was right, it must be Thursday, which was when their neighbor’s daughter, Misty, would take Silas to town so he could do his grocery shopping. When both he and Lisa became unable to drive, Misty, who was just in high school at the time, would give them a ride. Silas was confused, though, he thought Misty was living on campus at the University of Michigan. He had been getting rides from one of the rideshare companies when he needed to go to town.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Silas asked before opening the door. His right hand drifted over to the cane. It was a poor weapon, but better than dealing with a threat using only his bare hands.

“Yeah, I was, but I’m back home now,” Misty said, and Silas could hear the frustration in her voice. Chastising himself for putting off installing a camera System, Silas cracked the door open. He was greeted by a young twenty-year-old in a school sweatshirt and jeans, not a fire breathing monster from the pit.

“Sorry, I just woke up and it takes a while for my brain to kick in these days. Come on in, Buster sure seems glad to see you,” Silas replied, letting Misty in who Buster immediately ran to, putting his paws on her legs and expecting her to have a treat for him. She always did that when she picked up Silas and Lisa, and today was no different.

Pulling a small chewy stick from her pocket, Buster gently took the treat from Misty’s hand before retreating to his bed in case anyone was going to try to take it from him. Silas shook his head at Buster’s antics, and asked Misty for a few minutes to get ready. His wallet and phone were still in the bedroom, they weren’t something was willing to risk in the pit.

“What happened with school? I thought you were living on campus,” Silas asked as he fumbled through his nightstand for the wallet. It was funny, with the light of day, and a neighbor in his house, Silas almost felt like the pit was a figment of his imagination.

“Money. Dad’s hours got cut, and it’s too expensive for me to live on campus anymore. It’s a long drive to school, but I don’t have a choice if I want to finish my degree,” Misty explained.

“Don’t they have like scholarships or something for people that don’t have the money to stay there?” Silas asked, returning to the living room and feeding Buster again to distract him before they left. He liked to take Buster everywhere, but the grocery store had a firm, no dogs allowed policy.

“Nothing I qualify for. Sure, I can add the room and board to my student loans, but those are high enough already without adding thousands more,” Misty complained. Buster gave a whoof of displeasure as Silas left with Misty. The ride into town wasn’t that bad, and they spoke about her classes, she was studying to be a veterinarian.

The ride to the local grocery store wasn’t a long one, and it was a pleasant time away from the worries and pressure that had been placed on Silas. Of course, he couldn’t exactly tell Misty that a portal to a horrible place had opened in his garage, but he did share that Buster needed some grooming. Misty promised to take him to the groomers the next day after Silas called and confirmed that they had an appointment open.

“I really do appreciate your help with all this. Driving an old fart around probably isn’t the highlight of your day,” Silas said, passing some of the cash in his wallet over to Misty to help pay for gas. She wouldn’t normally accept any payment, insisting that neighbors helped each other out, but this time, she took the money, which told Silas that her family’s situation must be worse than she was letting on.

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“It’s no problem. You and Lisa, and of course, Buster, have always been good to us. Besides, you always have crazy stories about your life that I enjoy hearing. I’ve got to get back to my schoolwork, but I’ll see you tomorrow at three to pick up Buster,” Misty said after helping Silas carry in the groceries.

Dodging a naughty dog that kept trying to get his face in the grocery bags, Silas put away his purchases. It wasn’t much, but with just the two of them, the groceries would last at least a week. By then, his next disability check should hit the account, and he could afford to splurge a bit more on his next shopping trip.

He also needed to head to the gun store. Being unarmed at home seemed like a crucial mistake, not to mention that he’d eventually need more ammo. Silas wasn’t exactly optimistic that the goblins could duplicate modern ammunition, so it would be best to at least try and bring it from home.

How long the ammo from home would continue to function was another worry. The System had somehow fixed the ammo that he’d already brough with him, which was most of it. There was no guarantee for anything new, and he didn’t want to deal with a jam, or something more catastrophic when facing down one of those jungle lords. The Ammo Dump ability would help and should keep him from needing any immediate resupply.

It made Silas nervous to have to wait, but he just didn’t have the money for new guns or ammo purchases yet. On second thought, Silas realized that he just may have a way to afford a new firearm, as well as restock his ammo when needed.

The System had rewarded him after the tutorial, and among the rewards was a nice, shiny gold coin. With gold prices through the roof, that heavy coin should be more than enough for a new pistol and a few boxes of ammo for him to keep at home. At least it would as long as gold content was high enough.

“That’s it, Buster, we need to head back into the pit. Not only do we get to stop the apocalypse, but maybe we’ll get enough to buy what we need. Who knows, maybe we’ll find enough gold to pay for fixing up the Mustang,” Silas said. Buster walked beside Silas as he opened the front door and gazed toward the garage.

“No better time than the present, eh?” Silas said, walking toward the side door. Once inside, he could feel that the humming energy of the portal was ready to be awakened. It solidified that even after a fairly normal day of shopping, this part of his life still existed. Silas had a purpose, a job to do other than sitting around waiting to die of old age.

It made sort of sense to Silas as he thought about it. Why risk somebody young to try and stop Bhalkur, when nobody would bat an eye at an old, used up soldier like himself disappearing without a trace. That was one of his regrets in life. He and Lisa had never been able to have children, and they had never followed through with plans to adopt.

Shaking aside thoughts of Lisa before he spiraled into depression again, Silas activated the portal. The swirling blue portal appeared on the floor, and Silas, with Buster at his side, stepped inside.

You have entered your personal space, and your standard loadout will be equipped. Make progress on your current task to earn additional rewards.

Current task: Gain control of the first layer of the pit. To gain control, you must have dealt with any opposing factions and powerful beings in the layer. You can accomplish this task either through alliances or outright destruction.

Once the other factions and powerful beings have been dealt with, you must engage and defeat the guardian that Bhalkur has assigned to the first layer. Should you fail in this task, Bhalkur’s influence will continue to permeate your world and cause it untold strife and sorrow.

There it was, the threat of untold strife and sorrow if Silas decided to take a break from his efforts. He wasn’t going to allow that, and after what he believed to be Bhalkur tormenting his dreams, Silas was ready to take him down. He knew that he had a long way to go, but he would get there eventually and make Bhalkur pay for what he’d done.

With the System prompts ended, Silas stepped out of the portal and into the portal room of his headquarters. All his gear was already on him, and a quick check showed his weapons were loaded and ready to go. Pulling some of the boxed ammo from the armory, Silas spent a few minutes making sure each magazine was fully loaded, and that there was a round in the chamber for both the rifle and pistol. Extra ammo was shoved into his pack, in case this next delve into the pit took longer than he thought it would.

A quick check through his headquarters showed that nothing had changed. Silas only had to pull on the door and the locks automatically retracted. It was a solid design and would stand up to some incredible punishment before breaking down. That was in addition to the weird magical shock it would give any unwelcome visitors that tried to enter.

There was another door just like his across from the headquarters, but he still had no idea who it belonged to. Looking down the passageway, Silas noted a low growl coming from Buster. He readied his rifle and looked toward Gritvart’s stall. There, standing in front of the diminutive goblin, was a huge, humanoid figure.

This intruder looked like a mix between a lion and a human. Gritvart was no match for something like this, but Silas had 5.56mm answer for this potential new threat.