Yggdrasil Fallen, LitRPG Series
Book 1, Part 1: Obsidian
Chapter 5: Shattered
“Man, that sounds like the craziest one yet!” Jeff and Andre were sitting on the back edge of Andres’ work van finishing the last the double bacon cheeseburgers Jeff had brought with him from the diner.
“Yeah man, I can’t believe just how realistic these dreams are and that often continue night to night, picking up where it left off the night prior,” Andre spoke hesitating trying to decide if he wanted to go into the experiences from the last several hours.
“Naw, he thinks I’m crazy enough as it is; I shouldn’t add any more fuel to that fire. I’ll test things out a bit more before I make any major decision along that line.” Andre thought to himself.
“Yo, you gonna finish that?” Jeff asked pointing to the remaining chunk of burger and bun in Andres’ hand, breaking his train of thought.
“Of-course man! You really think I’m gonna pass up finishing one of your infamous burgers?!” He vehemently spat out, taking a massive bite of what remained in his hand.
“I dunno man, you were just sitting there, staring off into space, thought you might have been getting full.” Jeff responded, eyeing Andres’ fries hungrily. He had been known to be voraciously hungry after finishing a day behind the line; though like most cooks even on slow days it wasn’t uncommon to go 10-12 hours without eating, with hydration being enough of a challenge. Shoving the box of fries towards Jeff, Andre laughed:
“Eat em man, I don’t wanna become tomorrow’s special.”
“You sure?” Jeff responded already shoveling a handful of the fries into his mouth.
“Yeah, lets finish up, I want to show you this place so I can get started on the demolition, Curt and the owner have me on bondage suit tight timeline as it is.”
“Shit dude, I have nothing else going on for the day. You cook me some mean tacos with brewskies for dinner, and I just might be persuaded to help you out!” Jeff responded, driving his elbow playfully into Andres’ ribs.
“Fuck, I don’t know man. I’m so damn broke right now I doubt I could buy beer for myself, let alone your alcoholic ass!” Andre retorted.
“But I would absolutely love your help… and I think I do have some chicken in the fridge…” He continued.
“No worries buddy. You know I’ve got the brews! I’m just happy we can chill and wreck some shit like the good ole’ days!” Jeff responded with a hearty laugh.
Ten minutes later burgers with fries having thoroughly been demolished Andre and Jeff found themselves standing back in the front entry of the cabin; Andre staring thoughtfully up at the vaulted ceiling and Jeff looking out the large windows opposite from where they stood.
“Fucks sakes Andre, I’m almost jealous of you: working in places like this, as your own boss.”
“Man, it’s not as great as you’d think: between insane timelines, crazy clients and even crazier payouts, I almost envy YOU.”
“Still, you gotta appreciate just how crazy gorgeous this is. It’s gotta be absurdly cool watching a rundown dump like this transform into something modern and luxurious.”
“I suppose man, that is kind of cool. Some of these places do end up at the wild end of the holy shit spectrum.” Andre responded with a half-hearted laugh.
“Either way buddy, where do you want me to start swingin?” Jeff asked, as he picked up Andres’ sledge, slinging it over his shoulder.
Looking at the blueprints he had brought in with them, Andre directed Jeff to several walls that needed to be ripped out of the main bedroom down the hall to their right. While was busy swinging heavy steel into plaster and wooden slat; Andre took his Sawzall to the wall that separated the kitchen from the dining area, the very same wall he’d identified earlier as a “Living Wall”.
“Stupid open floorplans, makes jobs like this such a pain in the…” Andre’s thoughts were interrupted by a small, pale translucent dot that appeared in the corner of his vision. Turning to look the dot stayed fixed in place: the bottom left corner of the shattered window overlooking the valley.
“What the hell is going on now.” Andre thought to himself as he approached the window. In response to his thoughts ALIAS chimed in:
“Your identification ability will often highlight points of key interest, items of unique rarity, or constructs of aspect origin. This is a minor enhancement to your base visual field overlay ability and further use may present additional enhancements.”
“Huh… Well, what the fuck… I guess that’s kinda cool.” Andre thought to himself. Having gotten close enough to the large glass window, Andre reached out to touch the window where translucent dot appeared, a small description box popped up to the center of his vision out of the dot:
*Item: “Blaze Glass”: Forged by an expert craftsman using naturally formed and harvested Shale along with Blaze and Terra energies this glass is extremely strong and flexible, though if exposed to Aqua energies for too long without vast suffusions of Blaze aspect, it can become extremely brittle at exposed points. If broken, it can be reforged with proper abilities using quantities of naturally formed and harvested Shale with focused blasts of Blaze and Terra. Rarity: Epic. Value: Moderate-High. Use: Environmental Protection. Durability: 125/1500.”
“An item forged with aspected energies? Does this mean I’m not the only one on earth who’s met with at least one of the sisters? I thought those individuals who rose up were a rarity across all “Realms”… Phione said as such.” Andre stood his mind racing with questions, shocked by what he had just read.
“I really need to figure out how to see Phione again, if that wasn’t some wicked hallucination that is. I’ve got so many questions that need so many more in-depth answers. I guess she did say that I could return anytime I wanted, especially now that she’s marked me? What the fuck does that even mean?!”
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“Returning to the grove is a very simple matter. I will walk you through the required steps at a later time when the need arises and the conditions are met but now there are more pressing matters.” ALIAS chimed in its usually perky manner.
“YO Andre!” Jeff shouted from down the hall.
“You got a sec, there’s something here I think you need to see!”
“I’ll be right there!” Andre shouted back. Turning from the window he started his short walk to the main bedroom:
“I’ll have to just put these thoughts out of my head for now, focus on the task at hand until I can really push for more concise answers.” Strolling into the room Andre saw Jeff standing, sledge in hand, staring dumbfoundedly at the wall he was attempting to remove. Several large dents impressed into the wall, evidence of several high-impact swings in an attempt to break through.
“The hell is wall made of?! They must have really built things better back then, it’s only a couple inches thick, but this damned thing is denting like a steel plate under full force swings!” Jeff said breathlessly as he leaned heavily on the sledge. Andre knelt down next to the wall, running his hand over it, casually touching the translucent dot he’d noticed upon walking into the room:
*Item: Living Wall: This once vibrant lively wall is comprised of tightly woven vines are that have been bonded with TERRA aspect to eliminate any gaps and provide privacy between rooms. Living walls can easily adapt to their user’s needs. Basic TERRA control is required when adjusting these walls to desired configurations within the space. Living Walls have a self-repairing function, allowing them to recover from any damage inflicted upon them so long as energy reserves are sufficient. This item has long since been purged of TERRA energy and can no longer adapt or self-repair; infusing sufficient energy may reactivate the Living Walls’ former functions. Rarity: Rare Value: Moderate.*
“Well, that explains it. Another one of these weird ass walls, Phione better not try and mince her explanations on this shit.” Andre thought to himself.
“Grab the Sawzall, that should rip right through, ill cut, you haul out?” He said to Jeff, who he noticed had been staring at him with an unreadable expression plastered across his face.
“Uh, Sure… Sounds good man; lets knock it out: its almost beer-thirty!” Jeff replied, eyeing Andre with an edge of suspicion. He left momentarily, returning with the Sawzall. Andre began to cut carefully; close to the floor but not close enough for his tool or its blade to cut into it. Four inches into his cut on section of wall he was working on it collapsed, falling around him, sections of wood unraveling like a mass of roiling cooked spaghetti. Andre jerked, shocked by the walls sudden collapse, let alone its method of doing so. Setting his tool aside; his hands trembling slightly.
“Well, that’s kind of really fucked up but I guess it makes this absurdly easy with the whole “no need to cut off at the ceiling joint” He numbly thought, looking up where the section of wall had collapsed.
“What the actual fuck is this shit?!” Jeff exclaimed, his voice shaking with absolute terror by the tentacle like structures that collapsed around Andre as he’d finished his cut.
“I have absolutely no idea man, I have never in my life seen any kind of construction like this… must be some old school type construction predating anything I’ve ever seen anything like it” Andre lied through his teeth.
“For taking blows from the sledge the way it did, it certainly came down easily with your Sawzall,” Jeff replied with an uneasy laugh, scratching his head while glancing up at the ceiling where the section had collapsed from.
“Looks like it wasn’t even attached up top… I wonder how the hell that works? Ah well… I guess that’s problem for you to figure out... Though, do you want to keep on going, or should we call it a day so you can talk with your “boss” about this weird ass shit?” He continued, his voice still shaking from the shock.
“I can only guess they know how this place was built, so maybe they just expected me to deal with how this all came down?” Andre responded, having stared at the mass of thick brown vines for a while before responding.
“Alright, lets wrap this shit up, I’m getting thirsty.” Jeff replied, a bit of color returning to his face.
Jeff and Andre, working together made quick work of cutting out the remainder of the wall and opening up the room significantly. Hauling out the last of the “walls” structure and tossing it in the dumpster Andre turned to Jeff:
“Man, I can’t thank you enough, really made that go fast! Plus that burger was top notch; really saved my forgetful ass today.”
Jeff burst out laughing:
“No worries bud! Just like the old days; me always pulling your balls outta the fire.” They both turned to admire the view of the valley as the sun was just beginning to dip behind the mountain range behind them; Jeff pulled out his phone to check the time.
“Now, it’s DEFINITELY time to get our drink on! I’ll grab a six pack and meet you back at your place? You best have more supplies for tacos than just chicken!”
Running his hand down his face, Andre responded:
“Absolutely man, I’ll whip up something to make you proud! Though, knowing you it had better be more than just a sixer!”
“You still living in that tiny shithole?”
“It’s not a shithole… though it is tiny. Yeah, I still live there” Andre replied with a resigned sigh.
“I’ve never heard you complain when you crash on my couch after having a few at your favorite bar downstairs! Also, at least I’m not still driving an ugly old ass corolla! How did you even get that thing up here? I thought it barely ran?”
Slapping the hood of his borderline antiquated, rusted old vehicle Jeff laughed:
“C’mon man, you know she’s always been a beast. Just needed a ton of work to get back there! Seriously though, coming up those dirt switchbacks had me more than a little bit nervous. I couldn’t imagine even attempting that in the winter.”
Jeff lit up a smoke, a habit Andre knew he was trying to kick, but thanks to the stress of his job, had been completely unsuccessful in. Though he had cut back significantly it appeared the habit still clung on.
“Hell of a place we live in eh?” He said taking a long drag before looking at the smoke, putting it out and tossing it in the dumpster.
“Bleh fuck those things, I dunno why I keep buying em.” Jeff continued
“Hahaha, addictions a hell of a thing, but yeah man it’s really hard to believe sometimes that we actually live in a place where some people save all year long to spend a week vacationing. Times like this I feel richer than most people alive.”
They stood for a moment admiring the shadows settling into the valley cast by the rapidly setting sun; the early evening chill of the late spring air setting in. Andre felt a stirring in his gut; feeling this was just the calm before the storm. The idyllic beauty around him; a light breeze crisping the fresh unpolluted air; all of it overwhelming his senses. There was always something about this time of year, especially this time of day: all the snow, save for the highest peaks had melted off, filling the rivers bringing the signature smell of sharp pine, aromatic flowers and rich soil to the front of the senses. He absolutely loved it here in the mountains far away from the dirt, grime and pollution of the cities. The people were still a problem, being a tourist area they came in droves; but at least they didn’t stay. Andre drew a deep, contented sigh allowing the spring aromas to wash over him drying and cleansing the sweat from the days labors. Despite the peaceful calm that was settling with dusk into the river split valley Andre felt an anxiety rising in his chest: he could feel that storm coming, and it was coming fast.
“You ready to take off bud?” Jeff asked, breaking the silence.
“Yeah man, lets roll out” Andre replied.
As Jeff climbed into his beaten old Corolla backed out and took off down the mountain side faster than a startled cat out of a chair.
“Crazy bastard, don’t you ever change!” Andre mused to himself. Looking around taking the sunset embraced valley in, one last time before turning back to his own work van, feeling this may be the last time for a long time, maybe forever this opportunity of peaceful repose would be at his fingertips; before the idyllic reality he so relished was so irrevocably shattered. Though he hoped that was only just a feeling; as he started his van, and followed in Jeff’s tire tracks, albeit a bit slower. As he descended a sleek black sedan shot past him heading the opposite direction kicking up a huge cloud of dust.