by John Nest
His right leg and left arm remained broken. 'I wonder if it will also take six weeks before my broken bones heal?' He remembered his experience in the real world.
When Smoke was fourteen years old, he tried to impress his younger brothers with a slam dunk. Unfortunately, it ended with him breaking his arm instead.
'Well, I could always kill myself and recover completely. But I'm sure there's a better way to heal myself.'
Smoke sighed. Lying down proved to fill his head with idle thoughts. He began to second-guess himself whether his plan on gaining access to the Simiavulgs would work at all.
He shook his head and cleared his mind. 'The glass is half full.' He opened his mouth to try to have a conversation with any of the Simiavulgs but they suddenly stopped moving.
They had reached the summit of Mount Yunggo. From where they stood, Smoke could see a blue-green expansive lake with a small island right in the middle of it.
"What is this place?" asked Smoke with mystified eyes.
The black-haired Simiavulg smiled, touched his shoulders and answered. "Welcome to Saruras village." Taken by surprise due to their previous silent treatment, he responded with a forced smile.
Smoke wanted to slap himself for asking the question out loud. He did just read the notification message, but he couldn't stop himself.
The mysterious island at the center of the lake captivated him in a way he couldn't understand. From his seated position on the gurney, he couldn't see any boats or other means of water transport nearby.
Black sand and dark-colored pebbles covered the shoreline of the lake. He wondered how they would get across to the island. He heard Doctus order the rest of the Simiavulgs to put him down.
Then, he saw Doctus walk over to an unnatural rock formation near the edge of the lake. He watched as Doctus placed his black metallic staff into a receptacle on top of the rock formation. The Simiavulg then made his staff face the island.
Smoke heard a rumbling sound, but didn't feel the earth shake. A brick road covered in green algae rose from within the lake. It had a width of five meters and Smoke thought that even carriages could travel on it.
Doctus took out his staff and joined the other Simiavulgs as they carried Smoke over the risen road. The DarkElf remained seated on his wooden gurney and watched in awe over the green lake. After thirty minutes, they were halfway to the island. There, Smoke thought that he saw something moving inside the lake.
He squinted his eyes and tried to peer into the murky waters. In an instant, a coral spear attached to a tentacle sprang at him. He reflexively tried to dodge and almost got knocked off the gurney.
However, the coral spear was blocked by a transparent barrier that changed its color to red upon impact. Seven more tentacles with coral spearheads attacked the barrier of the brick road, yet, none of the attacks made a dent on it. The lake monster raised its head and looked at them. Smoke looked around and found that the Simiavulgs remained unfazed by the monster's appearance.
Smoke had a concerned expression, which was why Castas assured him. "Don't worry, this barrier was made by four black-staves masters who were way stronger than us."
A pair of giant eyes attached to an even bigger head appeared. A giant squid with two feeders menacingly dancing behind its head emerged from the water.
The giant squid launched its strongest attacks, but the road's barrier still did not budge. The giant squid thrashed around the lake before submerging into the deep once more.
Meras, the gibbon Simiavulg, addressed the rest of her kin. "You'd think that Calamar would have learned by now."
Doctus replied. "Giant squids aren't like war elephants. They never learn their lessons. Calamar will keep on trying to smash through our barrier for as long as it's alive."
Meras then asked Doctus. "How old is Calamar now? I mean, he has to be old for him to reach level 500."
"I don't know. Ever since I was a young Simiavulg, he was already that big."
Smoke listened intently on their conversation and tried to join casually. "Are there any other high-level monsters like Calamar in the lake?"
Doctus looked straight into Smoke's eyes. The DarkElf felt like the Simiavulg was looking deep into his soul for a few seconds before Doctus finally answered.
"There are two other monsters whose levels reach beyond 300, but aside from those there are only monsters with an average level of 100."
"Those three monsters feed on the lower-level monsters as easily as if they were fish bait." Added Tenvis, the gorilla Simiavulg.
Smoke nodded as he listened to the Simiavulgs' explanation of the monsters in the lake. Once the Simiavulgs started talking, there was no stopping them.
They reached the end of the algae-covered brick road in no time. Smoke worried earlier because his intimacy with them had not grown at all ever since he joined them. Yet now when he checked his intimacy bar with them, it had grown to 82%.
He was laid down on the ground once more as Doctus walked over to a similar rock formation with a receptacle for a staff. He saw the Simiavulg turn the staff around and brick road descended back into the lake.
All four Simiavulgs carried him towards the tall iron fence that surrounded the whole island. They stopped when they reached an ornately designed iron gate.
The embossed iron figures of four Simiavulgs equipped with staves, aligned and in their fighting poses, looked extremely similar to the ones accompanying Smoke, which made him ask. "Are those four Simiavulgs on the gate based on you guys?"
"Howk howk howk. I wish!" Tenvis answered. "No, those are the four legendary grandmasters who lived 5,000 years ago." Tenvis then tapped on the iron gate with his black metallic staff and shortly after, the gates opened wide.
When they entered, Smoke saw a small hamlet similar to the one in Nanahuatl. The houses were made out of wood and concrete. Their glass-stained windows decorated in Simiavulg art brightened up the village.
Zectas' virtual reality had imprinted the sense of a belongingness in him and that was in Nanahuatl. He suddenly got homesick. He couldn't believe that he had been away from Nanahuatl for a long time now.
Steadily, a crowd of Simiavulgs from the four different sub-races began to gather in the main street. For most of them, this was their first time seeing another race.
He heard a small gibbon Simiavulg talk to his mother. "Mama, was that guy punished? Why did the four great masters shave off all of his hair? And they even beat him till his skin turned purple!"
Similar comments from other young Simiavulgs ensued. Smoke's only reply was a smile and a wave. Doctus, Tenvis, Meras and Castas walked onward with military precision.
Smoke kept up his pleasant demeanor. He felt like he was being paraded and displayed for the entire village to see. The Simiavulgs took a right turn when they reached a fork in the road.
He noticed that the scenery changed afterwards. All he could see were tall walls, grandiose gates and the roofs of the buildings behind them.
The rooftops of the buildings in this street looked like the ones of oriental martial arts temples from the old chinese movies he liked to watch.
The street had two well-decorated gates on each side and one at the end of the road. There were five of them in total. In front of each temple gate were Simivulgs with blue and brown metallic staves.
All of them had their heads bowed down, with their staves pressed against their chests as both their hands touched. Smoke could feel the deep respect these Simiavulgs gave to the four Simiavulgs who were carrying him.
The biggest of these gates was the one at the end of the street. The entrance had two red pillars with a green dragon on one and a golden tiger on the other.
The Simiavulgs left him in front of the two massive wooden doors with intricate depictions of Simiavulg art. Smoke remained seated on the gurney, completely helpless. He tried to ask the four Simiavulgs what was going on, but they left before he had the chance.
CREAAAK.
Slowly, the wooden doors swun
g outwards. An orangutan Simiavulg stepped outside. He dragged a red metallic staff that made a weird noise as it touched the floor of the temple.
Smoke sat still as the orangutan Simiavulg studied him. "Hmm. Doctus said that he found a gravely injured Cuezaltzinian, but I don't understand why he decided to allow a DarkElf entry to Saruras."
Reflexively, he tried to explain his situation to the Simiavulg. "You see, I was ..."
"Shush! Quiet! I wasn't talking to you."
Smoke stopped mid-sentence and still had his mouth wide open.
"Well, with these injuries I guess it wouldn't take even an hour to patch him up and send him on his way."
He immediately wanted to protest when he heard this. He wanted to earn the Simiavulgs' trust and recruit them to his cause. If he couldn't do that, then he planned to at least gain their rumored gift to increase his power.
Yet, the Simiavulg with the red metallic staff would not hear him out at all. Instead, the Simiavulg lifted his staff and tapped the ground loudly.
A pure white gorilla Simiavulg with red eyes came in a hurry and bowed down before the orangutan Simiavulg.
"Saru, take him to the House of healing and truths."
"As you command, Grandmaster Indignus."
Swiftly, the white gorilla Simiavulg single-handedly carried Smoke's wooden gurney with ease. Smoke couldn't believe that Saru could be that strong. After all, he was only as big as Tenvis.
Smoke was carried into the martial arts temple and led to a small detached house the size of thirty square meters. Once inside, he found an open space with a big casting circle almost the same size as the house.
He liked the wide rectangular windows on all four sides, which gave off an inviting feeling. Saru placed him inside the casting circle with numerous runes inscribed around the it.
Some of the runes looked familiar to him. 'These runes looks similar to what Baldaquin used in his casting circle of truth.'
He heard Saru chant a strange incantation, as the white gorilla Simiavulg placed both his palms in front of the casting circle. It created a white light and Smoke found it to be warm and comforting.
Slowly, he could feel his bones move and shift to their proper place. He could already imagine the bones being reattached and restored.
"So, how exactly did you end up like this?"
Smoke turned around and found the Grandmaster Simiavulg behind him.
He thought for a split second and decided to be as truthful as he could.
"I fell off a tree when I was following the Dikaya guild. That's when Doctus found me and saved me."
"You were following the Dikaya guild? I thought you were their captive? Or was it sacrifice?"
"I was originally traveling alone, headed to your village, but then certain circumstances led me into that predicament."
The Grandmaster raised his eyebrow and gave him a questioning look. "Hmmpf. Of course. The Dikaya members wanted to come and gain our ability. Are you the same as them?"
"I would be lying if I said I didn't want it, but I came to your village with a different reason in mind."
"Really?" The Grandmaster Simiavulg stroked his chin. "That's hard to believe, but I know that you're telling the truth. What is your reason for coming here?"
"I came from Pferde. One of the Witches of Wysteria attacked that village. I fought together with the Centaurs and we managed to defeat Terrabelle, yet it came at a great price. They've lost their military power."
Smoke hoped that by telling the Grandmaster about the events in Pferde, he would raise his intimacy with him.
"I've convinced them to move to a different place in order to avoid the two other witches' revenge. Then I heard that they would come for your village next. I was thinking that I could convince you to leave and join the Centaurs at the place they migrated to."
Since it had given him access to Saruras, he used his Beggary ability once more and hoped for the best.
BEGGARY ABILITY FAILED!
> You have failed miserably. The Grandmaster is insulted by your suggestion.
Note: It will be harder to raise intimacy with the Grandmaster for the next 24 hours
"Centaurs! You dare compare us to those filthy Centaurs! You've been to Pferde, right? Then you should know exactly what I'm talking about."
"I apologize. I didn't mean to insult you in any way." Smoke decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being. He feared that if he spoke out to defend himself again it would only lead to a more disastrous situation.
"Hmmpf! Doctus may have allowed you entry to our village, but don't go blabbing about those Centaurs while you're here in Saruras."
The Grandmaster turned his back on Smoke and began to walk out of the room. Smoke could hear him mumbling to himself. "If it wasn't for political obligations, I would've fed this DarkElf to Calamar."
Smoke's eyes grew wide when he heard this, but then the Grandmaster faced him again, this time with a forced smile.
"My assistant will comply with your healing request." The Grandmaster gave a signal to Saru, the white gorilla Simiavulg, and left the room Smoke was in.
Saru proceeded as ordered and healed Smoke in silence. Smoke wanted to have a conversation with the Simiavulg healing him, but he decided not to.
He learned to keep his mouth shut with the Simiavulgs. He feared that he would make the same mistake and offend him as well, just as he did with the Grandmaster.
The healing process took a while. He sat there in silence, but wanted to learn more about Saru. So instead of talking, Smoke spent the time observing the white gorilla Simiavulg.
He noticed the matching white metallic staff next to Saru, as well as Saru's red eyes. Due to these two facts, he wondered whether Saru was an albino Simiavulg.
Yet the one question that his curiosity obsessed about was the meaning of the colors of the staves. This only grew even more when he saw Saru and Grandmaster Indignus' staves.
'I wonder if Saru is on the same level as Doctus and the others?'
In the silence, his mind wandered even more, thinking about what form of power boost the Simiavulgs would give him. After thirty minutes of healing inside the casting circle, Smoke's life bar displayed a fully recovered state.
Smoke stood up and did some random punches and kicks to see if there were any problems with his previously broken limbs. He found none and felt even stronger than before.
He watched a kneeling Saru waiting patiently for him to finish his self-checkup. After his short stretch, he was taken to another building.
The scattered cherry blossom trees in the courtyard gave the martial arts temple a romantic feeling. He wondered where the other Simiavulgs were.
'I guess this isn't like the shaolin movies I've seen, where the students are constantly training everywhere.'
Saru led Smoke to a palatial building. They took five flights of stairs, which led to a door with a Yin and Yang symbol on it. The white gorilla Simiavulg knocked and they heard a metallic staff being tapped on the floor in response.
Smoke saw Saru place his white metallic staff on the side of the door and then push the door with his two hands. This made Smoke wonder just how heavy those doors were.
He was led inside a circular room with a single black marble chair that had a spotlight on it. In front of the chair was a raised desk shaped like a curved wall.
Apparently, the Grandmaster, Doctus, Tenvis, Meras and Castas were all waiting for him. Saru left the room after Smoke was seated in the chair.
'I guess this means that Saru isn't on the same level as these guys.'
Doctus stood up and reintroduced themselves. "Hello again, Smoke. As you might have already guessed, the four of us you first met are the great masters of the temples that we've passed through to get here."
Smoke couldn't help but notice that Doctus and the Grandmaster looked exactly the same. He remained silent as Doctus pointed to the other Simiavulgs and stated their names again.
When Doctus was about to introduce the G
randmaster Simiavulg, Smoke saw all four great masters stand up and bow before the Simiavulg with a red staff. "And this is our esteemed Grandmaster, Indignus. The four of us report to him."
He thought to himself that it would have been nice if Doctus was the Grandmaster and not Indignus. He could tell right away that Indignus had it in for him.
"I'm sure you're wondering why we've called you here." Doctus said.
"With all due respect, I know why I'm here. This should be a talk whether or not I'll be allowed to stay in Saruras."
Doctus smiled at him. "That's correct. That's very perceptive of you. Personally, I don't have a problem with it."