Yggdrasil Fallen, LitRPG Series

Book 1, Part 2: Obsidian

Chapter 36: Blaze

Jeff hadn’t slept, but rather lay under that shimmering gray dome contemplating everything that had transpired in the last several hours. His body ached, the cold hard stone floor of the cave he found himself in seemed to seep into every crevice of his body, despite the overwhelming heat of the air around him. The intense burning he’d initially experienced when “Cinteras” or whatever her name was had marked him had long since faded; Leaving him feeling like the dried out husk of over grilled corn. He had spent some time poking around the interface screens “ALIAS” had offered him but found little to no interest in what it had to say. His character screen and subset skill menus didn’t have much to offer in ways of information, as he could feel the new skills roiling within him. It felt to him as though the abilities were something he’d had an inkling of, and just had a sudden realization of how to use them. Like when working on a complex math problem and it suddenly just makes sense.

“Dude, what the actual fuck is this shit. One minute I’m chilling with my girl, next I’m stuck in this hellhole with some freaky-deaky lizard fuck, and that red-eyed bitch. And what the hell is an ascended… that is what she called me right?” He muttered to himself as he stared at the large crack in the wall, just ahead of where he lay.

“I wonder… is that the way outta here? …fuck, I’m just another cliché, rambling on about completely obvious shit.” He continued. Jeff rolled onto his back, dismissing the empty inventory window he’d been ruefully staring at, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Through the mildly painful stiffness of his body he sat up and took an unhindered look around the room, where his eyes met something he’d all but forgotten about. Climbing to his feet he hobbled over to where the scimitar lay and bent down to pick it up.

“Well well well, seems if I’m going to have to deal with more of those bastards I’ll at least have the means to defend myself… now, how do I put you into…” He paused, noticing a small translucent dot off the hilt of the weapon, something he hadn’t seen before. Focusing his eyes on it, a prompt popped up:

“Identify? Y/N”. He assented and an “Identifying” box popped up briefly before being replaced by the description of the weapon he held:

*Item: “Salamen’s Reinforced Scimitar: Long, curved bladed sword that has been reinforced with blaze energy to increase its durability and edge sharpness. Rarity: Uncommon, Value: 20 Brass aspect tokens, durability: 1080/2000 affinity: Blaze.”

“Huh. Not sure what to make of that one. Of all the oddities in the last…” Jeff paused to look down at his wrist, only to realize his watch had been shattered.

“Who fucking knows how many hours, that certainly is the… uh… least fucked up thing I’ve seen. At least this thing seems to be at least alright.” He said, taking several practice swings.

“This thing’s surprisingly light, considering its size…” Jeff paused mid swing, rereading the items description before dismissing the box.

“What the fuck are aspect tokens. Much less the brass version. Those things worth anything outside of wherethefuckever I’ve found myself?” He asked himself, eyeing the large crack in the wall.

“I’d attempt to stick this thing into my inventory… but I have a feeling I’m gonna need it very shortly.” He grumbled to himself almost mockingly to fill the almost painfully silent void; as he made his way across the chamber and began sidling through the large crack. It was at this moment, when his chest brushed against the wall, that he discovered something vital. Something that in his heat drunk haze and the subsequent insanity that followed he’d failed to notice: He was bare naked.

“How in the actual fuck did I fail to notice my windsock was freely flapping in the breeze. I really need to find some fucking clothes.” Jeff growled as he continued to squeeze himself through the gap.

“And how the fuck did those oversized lizard freaks fit through this gash.” He continued to grumble. He was surprised to find it was only a couple feet long and upon passing through he found himself in a wide tunnel dimly lit by more of the faintly glowing spheres embedded in the wall. In the distance he could hear a faint almost cooing growl.

“Ok, that sound is really fucking weird… what the fuck is it.” he thought to himself as he cautiously made his way down the corridor, scimitar at the ready. As he crept forwards the dim, rough hewn grey stone of the wall began to smooth and blacken, as though it were frequently exposed to extreme heat, then allowed to cool making it take on an almost obsidian appearance. Jeff ran his hand along the glossy, glassy surface only to recoil sharply as he caught a small ridge. He recoiled, pulling his hand to his chest as blood poured from the wound, dripping to the ground where it hissed and sizzled.

“Holy fuck me, even the walls of this place want to kill me. Gonna have to be extra careful as I move on through here.” he said, casually glancing down at his naked form. Jeff stopped moving, a thought suddenly occurring to him.

“Huh… I wonder..” He pondered aloud as he began conjuring his “Magma Cloak” with a thought. The air around him shifted, buzzing then began crackling as thick red velvet hooded cape manifested itself around his shoulders. Jeff grabbed the wide edges of it to wrap himself, while taking a good look at it. It was a deep, almost blood red. The surface flickered and danced with an orange-white tribal rune pattern, which to Jeff more resembled Gaelic knotwork than Nordic runes. The cloak itself seemed to radiate a dim light, as though the surface itself were on fire. Despite its heavy/thick appearance and texture it felt as though he were still wearing nothing at all.

“Damn, this things kinda wicked! At least now I’m sort of covered up… jeez. What the fuck.” He said, having felt a surge of power course through his limbs, making his fingers tingle. A loud scraping sound, like steel on stone started Jeff from his thoughts. In the dim light he first saw the heavy glowing red line of hot steel as it drug, sparking across the stone floor ahead of him. A hulking form manifested in the gloom as a gorilla formed lizard man haltingly staggered into sight.

“Ssssso, little creature. You essscaped your bondsss. What now? Do you think you can besssst me?!” The heavily muscled monster growled while thumping its chest, finally noticing the beacon light that Jeff now embodied.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Eh, fuck off ya scaly freak. I turned your buddy into a pile of sintering ash, and you look to be an even bigger bitch than him.” Jeff replied, biting back a sinister chuckle. The beast paused, eying him suspiciously while hefting its large sword to its shoulder.

“What means you say, tiny thing. Me guardsmen has no buddy. Me has wise brother Caldros, one of broodfathers and whelp tenders. He no fighter, he wise. He magic make him clan council.” The dimwitted monster muttered in a guttural growl as it ran a claw along its huge head, scratching at a deep-set series of claw scars.

“Where is great brother Caldros…? him not return to whelp grounds after him go to food hole, fetch meat for hatchlings.” It grumbled as it continued to scratch a massive claw across its head, drawing a thin line of blood.

“You really are a dimwitted sack of scales, aint’cha? Quickly lost that annoying hiss to your voice” Jeff laughed. Holding his palm upright, he focused, activating his “Flame Shot” ability; causing a large sphere of fire to appear, hovering several inches off his palm. With a quick flick of his wrist it careened off, crashing into the massive beasts’ face. It stopped scratching, tilting its head to stare curiously at him.

“You has flames, is you tiny beast a squishy Salamen? Wisemen of Salamen only ones with flames magic. Maybe outsider need meet broodmother, maybe new broodfather… need brother Caldros calm broodmother mood, she suddenly big mad… send me find Brother Caldros.” The creature rambled almost incomprehensibly as Jeff stood agape at the creatures’ complete lack of reaction to his “Magma Cloak” boosted “Flame Shot”.

“Hey… uh… big guy. Do you have a name I can call ya? Kinda sick of calling you “big ugly fuck” in my head.” Jeff spoke, attempting to interrupt the beast’s verbal diarrhea.

“It wants know what I is called… what is I called, no know… all like I called “guardsman”, but fellow “guardsman” call I brute… may I is called “Brute”? I no know… tiny squishy wise Salamen call I “Brute”?” The beast growled, sounding completely confused. Jeff scratched his chin thoughtfully, looking the hulking creature up and down, his gaze lingering on the “Jeff” sized sword languishing across its massive shoulder.

“How about I call you “Dreki”?” Jeff asked after several moments passed. The creature tilted its head, dull eyes boring into his.

“It wants call me by new name, I likes new name. But I likes “Brute” the sames… what name should I’s be called by…” It spoke to itself once again scratching its head, causing its own bleeding to worsen.

“Hey, dumbass. I could always just keep calling you “Big Ugly Fuck” if you like.” Jeff shouted, conjuring another ball of fire to his hand where he began casually tossing it up and catching it like a cocky pitcher at the mound. The creature stopped scratching its head, staring menacingly at Jeff. In one quick motion it flung the massive sword at Jeff where it whipped just past the side of his face grazing a scratch before embedding itself in the wall behind him, where molten rock began to slowly drip down. Jeff stared at the creature, trying to hide the sudden shock from the beast’s move.

“What, you think a move like that is going to subjugate me to your dumbass? I mean, come on, if you’re gonna kill me, don’t be a fucking bitch about it and just fucking do it.” Jeff roared at the dull faced beast.

“It have courage of “guardsman”, maybe I take name it give like kinsman.” The Salaman mumbled to itself, having resumed its head scratching, its claw disappearing into the rent flesh. Jeff stared on absolutely aghast at the creatures absurd behavior, when it fell to its knees and started bashing its head against the floor, shaking the small pebbles scattered around.

“ME NO KNOW, ME NO KNOW, ME NO KNOW!” It bellowed between loud, sickening “splortching” sounds from the pooling blood splattering away from its flesh impacting the ground.

“Uh… hey there Dreki… eh… brute… are you… uh, ok?” Jeff hesitantly asked. The beast paused its self-flagellations long enough to once again lock eyes with him.

“Me no know… does it know?” It finally asked.

“Uh, buddy… I have no fucking clue what you’re all about. But I’m pretty damn sure you shouldn’t be doing that… might draw some unwanted attention.” Jeff answered.

“I has decided, I will take it to big broodmother, it will be decided by broodmother.” The beast rose to its tree stump legs, hobbled past Jeff to the wall where its weapon was still embedded in the wall, magma now pooling on the floor as thick rivulets dripped off the blade. Slinging its overlarge weapon over its shoulder it faced Jeff:

“Come little flame flinging wise one, we see broodmother.” The beast grumbled as it thumped past Jeff, who stood staring slack-jawed at the simple-minded creature.

“Uh, sure… I guess…?” He muttered, matching the beasts sedate pace down the unending, twisting corridors. While they passed several forks in the path, the beast never sped up, moving at a slow, almost meandering gait. The quiet of their passage was only accentuated by the heavy, thudding footfalls of the large beast, the quiet burbling of unseen molten rock and the occasional hiss of steam that blasted from cracks in the rock wall.

“So… uh, about this “Broodmother”… what’s she like? What can I expect from her?” Jeff asked, breaking the quiet discourse.

“Broodmother… she, she the best is the mother of all Salaman in this nest. Cares big for all hatchlings and welps, she care big for little wiseman me thinks.” “Brute” grumbled back.

“That’s… uh… great!” Jeff sputtered, a tight feeling wrapping his chest.

“I really have no fuckin choice here, do I?” He thought as they approached a dead end in the tunnel. The creature “Brute” who Jeff had decided to officially dub “Dreki” hesitantly approached the stonewall at the dead end, where it ran one of its long talons from floor to ceiling along the stone, leaving a glowing red-orange line in its wake. The tunnel began to shake and tremble as the wall itself split along the glowing seam “Dreki” had traced. The stones slid slowly open revealing another, much wider tunnel of obsidian glass brightly lit by large, ornate cast iron braziers.

“Come, little wiseman we meet broodmother”. Dreki grumbled as it resumed its sedate meandering down the tunnel. Jeff hesitantly matched pace taking note of casted fixtures shaped in the heads of open-mouthed dragons breathing fires, lighting their passage. Dreki seemed to tremble as they reached another opening in the tunnel, large enough for three or four semis to drive through side by side into a chamber so vast Jeff couldn’t see the walls on any side, much less the back.

“We here.” Dreki mumbled, a quaver to his voice, as he pointed to a hill of glittering rubies.

“What. The. Fuck.” Jeff muttered to himself as a pair of serving tray sized glimmering golden eyes revealed themselves from beneath some “rubies” at the base of the hillock. As he watched they rose, embedded in a thick head, into the air along a sinuous, slender neck; unfurling itself from the body of a creature Jeff had only read of in story books: A real live ruby dragon.

“Holy shit man, if only those fucking nerd ass fantasy/fiction writers and artists could see this now. They might shit themselves with just how accurate their depictions were.” Jeff thought to himself in utter amazement as the creature sat upright, large wings extending themselves, stretching to fill the space as the silvery-gold underbelly of the creature stretched upwards following the monster’s head. It settled down digging its claws into the stone beneath it, poised like a cat ready to pounce as its eyes locked onto Jeffs after a brief glance to Dreki.

“Welcome my son, little guardsman. What is this creature you have brought to me today? It smells like a tasty little snack.” The creature spoke with a shockingly feminine voice, that rumbled the very walls of the room.

“Big broodmother, I bring you a flame tossing wiseman… me think wiseman. He wish to name I, me wants you say me do. Me thinks it could be strong.” Dreki stuttered, his language further failing him.

“I see young one, thank you for bringing him to me. Now. Little awoken one, I do suggest you plead for your life. I sense a strong Blaze Aspect from you, and such power could be quite the boon to me and my clutch.” The dragon rumbled. Jeff stood by watching the exchange and began casually tossing a fireball into the air and catching it, like a cocky tennis mogul getting ready for the serve.

“Listen Lady, I have no fuckin clue what’s going on here. So.. if you’re gonna eat me. Just fuckin get it over with.” Jeff demurely replied, staring into the steely golden eyes of the monstrous drake.