by John Nest
'That went well enough.' Smoke thought. He regretted not explaining the real reason for not calling her earlier. He knew that if he did, he would lose focus on the game.
He forcefully pushed back thoughts about Sierra as Ledur walked over towards him. "There are no more severely-injured Tikbalangs. All of my brethren should fully recover ten minutes earlier than expected."
"Alright." Smoke answered in a plain voice.
Ledur stared at the DarkElf, whose eyes seemed distant. "Uhm...Smoke? You said you had something to ask me about earlier."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ledur. I've been a little absent-minded lately. Yes, I'd like you to take a look at this. I found this parchment on one of the goblins, but I can't read it. I thought they were some kind of runes at first, but it seems to be written in a different language."
"Yes, this is written in Gobberish, an ancient Goblin language." said Ledur while looking at him with a worried expression.
"I see. Have the other Tikbalangs found anything else in the Gobble Goblin's encampment?"
"Nothing, just that same parchment. You know, if you have the Translate ability, we could easily read what it says."
Smoke grinned as soon as he heard the word ability. "Where do you suppose I could get that ability?"
"Only those with the Job of Linguist have it. In the old days, all villages used to have at least one Linguist." explained Ledur while staring blankly at the parchment.
"But when the Reptilians took over the world thousands of years ago, they forced their language upon all of their conquered subjects. I suppose it was one of the few good things those bastards did during their reign."
"What? So, the language that all books are written in now is Reptilian?"
"Yeah, you didn't know that? I mean, you're reading and speaking it just fine, but now I'm guessing you don't even know the name of the language you're using?"
Smoke shook his head. Ledur proceeded to educate Smoke.
"It's called Lacerta. Everyone in the explored region of Zectas uses it. At first, everyone hated losing their native tongues, but when Lioumereans did business with Humans, they were surprised that they easily understood each other when they both spoke Lacerta."
Smoke nodded as he could imagine how convenient it must have been for different races to interact with each other.
"Since then, all of us have been using Lacerta. Due to this, the Linguist Job has become almost extinct." Ledur tried to stroke his chin, but stopped as a black hoof appeared instead of his hand.
He appeared to be agitated by his cursed form once more. Smoke didn't have a clue where he could find a Linguist, so he put away the parchment and quickly changed the subject.
"The Gobble Goblins are really strange monsters. When you're fighting them, they seem to be really barbaric and wild, but they're different towards each other."
"Huh? What do you mean? They eat corpses of their dead. How is that not barbaric?" asked Ledur as he crossed his arms.
"Yes, they did do that, but they were organized when they tried to escape. None of them harmed the other goblins in order to save their own skin."
"Sorry, I don't follow." said Ledur while raising an eyebrow.
"Normally, if someone was running for their life, they would disregard everything else. Animals, and even Humans, trample one another in such situations." explained Smoke.
"Another strange thing is that, if they get stronger by eating their kin, why don't they cannibalize each other from the get-go?" Smoke wondered out loud.
"If what you say about how they escaped is true, then maybe they don't ever want to harm each other?" proposed Ledur.
"Yet they rushed over to eat their dead kin with no hesitation whatsoever." Smoke countered.
Ledur shrugged his shoulders. Smoke's curiosity over Gobble Goblins grew more. Yet, he had more pressing issues at hand. The entrance to the cave on the side of a steep mountain was now clear of monsters. Smoke wanted to go explore it right away.
As most of the Tikbalangs had recovered up to 80% of their life bars, Smoke decided to venture into the cave by himself. The winged Tikbalang tried to stop him.
"Smoke, it is not wise to go into that cave alone." said Ledur while blocking Smoke's path to the cave.
"Don't worry, Igniz is coming with me. Besides, I want you to create a defensive wall around the cave in case the Gobble Goblins come back." said Smoke as he thought on his feet.
"Very well, but don't hesitate to call us if you need help."
"Of course." Smoke patted Ledur's shoulders and went inside the cave.
Igniz illuminated the dark cave. Smoke could see rough rocks sticking out of the walls of the cave. The cave's natural jagged passageway that was ten meters high and four meters wide felt spacious to him.
A hundred meters in, Smoke noticed the walls of the cave becoming smoother. Fifty meters more and red marble had replaced the smooth cave walls.
However, he reached a dead end. Smoke checked his map and saw that he was still a few meters away from the temple's exact location. He touched the red marble's surface and felt deep gashes in the wall.
'What is this?' Smoke wondered to himself.
He went back a few meters and gathered as much dirt as he could. Shortly afterwards, he returned to the wall and applied the dirt into the gashes.
Smoke thought he could barely make out what the gashes on the red marble wall represented. They looked like letters for a moment, but the dirt didn't stick and only slided down the wall.
He thought that he could try using water to make the dirt muddy enough for it to stick. Sadly, there was no water source nearby and the little water he had for drinking wasn't enough to test his theory.
He stood close to the red marble wall, in a conundrum as to what to do next. Igniz acted as usual and orbited around him. By chance, the dark ember sprite's flaming body grazed the wall and a small flame remained in one of the gashes in the smooth red marble.
Smoke made a wide grin as he looked at his symbiote. "Igniz, attack the wall with your fireballs."
Without delay, Igniz showered the red marble wall with fireballs. Smoke raised his right hand after a couple of seconds and made a fist. The dark purple symbiote immediately stopped.
Flaming words appeared on the wall and Smoke immediately read the message.
TRIAL OF VIGILANTEZ
Speak the truth and you shall be answered.
As soon as Smoke finished reading the flaming text on the wall, the gashes shifted towards the center of the wall and the fire within them merged into one big orange flame.
The orange flame on the wall spoke. "BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Someone has finally dared to take the trial of Vigilantez. No one has been here for years."
Smoke pushed his dark ember sprite backwards and took two steps back himself. He wasn't sure whether the orange flame would suddenly attack.
"Hmm. And who might you be, DarkElf?"
Still on alert, Smoke answered, "My name is Smoke and this is my symbiote Igniz."
"A DarkElf with a symbiote, huh? I thought DarkElves hated to share their Mana." the orange flame flickered as it spoke. "I suppose you want to get in now?" it asked.
"If it isn't too much trouble, I'd love to go in." said Smoke in a pleasant tone.
"No, no trouble at all. Although, there's this one rule we have to follow before I let you in." The orange flame reciprocated Smoke's pleasantries.
"A rule? Sure, what is it?" Smoke asked with a smile.
The flickering orange flame replied, "I have to ask you a certain question and you just have to answer it." The flame's intensity increased and it proceeded to speak in a more serious tone.
"What is your heart's greatest desire? Is it perhaps wealth? Overwhelming power?"
"Hmm. Before I answer, is it alright if I ask you some questions?" Smoke inquired.
"Sure, ask as many questions as you like, but know that I'll only allow you to answer once. If you don't get it right, then it's over." The flame sounded playful once again.
"Just once, huh? First off, I'd like to know your name, please." Smoke tried to raise his Intimacy with the flickering orange flame.
"My name is Verite, but over the years, people have shortened it to V." answered the flame.
Smoke scratched his head as he thought about other questions he could ask that would help him answer the question. "So, I just tell you what my heart really wants, right? My answer doesn't have to be a choice between saying 'wealth' or 'power'?"
"Hahahaha. You're a tricky one, aren't you? You're already trying to check whether your answer is correct. But that's right, I just want to hear what your heart truly desires."
'V must be using the same principle as the casting circle of truth.' theorized Smoke.
"V, what happens if I don't get the answer right?"
"I will simply revert to being a plain wall and you will never get to activate me again. Basically, you kiss your chance at one of the pieces of Vigilantez goodbye."
"I see. Then I think I'm ready to answer." Smoke said with conviction.
"Fire away, DarkElf."
"I want a good life for my entire family..." Smoke said solemnly.
V changed colors from white, green, blue and then back to orange. "Hmm. There is some truth to that answer, but not enough to allow you to enter the temple."
The gashes on the wall started to separate, along with the flames that formed V.
Smoke couldn't understand why V would not allow him to enter. That was what his heart had always wanted...a good life for his family.
'What else is there?' he thought to himself as he racked his brain for answers.
As he did, an image of a smiling cook with curly red hair came rushing to his mind. 'Ahh.'
Only a small portion of the orange flame remained in the center of the red marble wall.
"Wait, V! I wasn't finished."
The scattered orange flames merged once more.
"But you are. You gave me an answer and it wasn't truthful enough to grant you access to the temple."
"I was giving you my answer, but you didn't let me finish." Smoke said with desperation.
"Fine. I'll indulge you. Go on then, finish your sentence." said V.
Smoke steeled himself and answered once more. "I want a good life for my entire family and to have Sierra be a part of it."
V's flame changed color several times and then intensified before it spoke. "Seems like that was truthful enough to open the door. Well done, DarkElf." Immediately afterwards, the red marble wall started to shake.
V's flame scattered to the corners of the walls and the marble began to part right in the middle. Smoke moved backwards as dust and small rocks started to fall due to the wall's movement.
Smoke stepped inside the parted wall and saw a five-meter-tall statue of an imposing figure with two bent horns and four wings. He then noticed flames appear on the ground and spreading towards the statue.
The statue caught fire. Orange flames appeared on the statue's head and became its wavy flaming hair. The flames then shifted towards the four wings and gave the statue a dreadful appearance.
With Vigilantez's wings illuminating the room, Smoke could clearly see the sharp claws, similar to a lion's, on the djinn's hands and feet. He thought that Vigilantez truly looked like a lord of hell.
After Vigilantez's statue was engulfed in flames, an amber crystal appeared at the base of the statue. V's voice was heard from the flaming statue. "DarkElf, take this Essence piece. You have earned the right to carry it."
Smoke instantly ran to it. He grabbed the amber crystal with much enthusiasm and happily read the notification window that popped up afterwards.
Djinn of the West: Ifrit Vigilantez
Beware of this hellish Djinn, for he was once a wandering avenger of Wysteria!
+Obtained a piece of Vigilantez's essence (1/4)
Smoke excitedly raised his first Vigilantez piece in the air and suddenly realized that he followed exactly what Amahan did when he got his first Comataz piece.
Ashamed that he followed Amahan's posture, he lowered his head and blinked. As soon as he did, he was brought in front of the red marble wall. However, there were no gashes in the smooth surface of the wall this time.
He happily walked out of the cave, smiling from ear to ear. He was about to tell Ledur the good news when he noticed a troubled expression on the winged Tikbalang's face.
"What's wrong?"
"You need to call Espion, right now." said a worried Ledur.
Smoke didn't want to press Ledur into telling him more about the situation, so he immediately called the young Spy.
"Espion, what's up?"
"Finally! I've been trying to reach you for a few minutes now." Espion answered with a hard time breathing. "Crucibelle has gathered an army of Gobble Goblins and it looks like she plans to destroy another village with this newly-formed army."
Smoke knew that Crucibelle's last location was on mount Vor Eindrigen, which was very close to Mount Yunggo. "No! Don't tell me she's going after Saruras village?" he asked his Spy.
"Saruras? No, I don't think she's headed there. Based on the general direction she's going in right now, I think she's headed for the place where I'm at...Banal village." replied Espion.
"Banal village? Where's that? And just how big is this army?" asked Smoke.
"Crucibelle's gathered about a thousand Gobble Goblins. I'll send you the coordinates of Banal village. I think she'll arrive here in about three days, maybe even two." Espion reported.
A few seconds later, a notification window popped up on Smoke's left side.
MAP LOCATION: Banal village
Coordinates: Latitude: 16°16' S, Longitude: 86°48' E
Note: Forty kilometers away from current location.
SNAP!
Smoke snapped his fingers when he saw Banal village's location. 'This is good.'
He looked at his Tikbalang corps and pondered how they could stand a chance against that many Gobble Goblins. "Have you tried speaking with the village chief?"
"I have. He said that they're willing to leave the village but are just too scared of being unprotected. They're afraid that they would be sitting ducks for other hostile monsters as soon as they leave."
Smoke started to pace as he filled his head with different battle scenarios. Espion then spoke again.
"I think the village chief is right. These guys don't know how to fight. They really need our help, Smoke."
"Two days, huh? I can do something with two days." Smoke thought out loud. "Just sit tight for now, Espion. Remember that your safety is always your top priority. I'll be there soon, I just have to make a quick call."
* * * * * *
Smoke asked Igniz to return to his hidden compartment and glided as fast as he could towards Banal village. He reached a top speed of 140 kph and got to the village in less than twenty minutes.
He asked Ledur to accompany the other Tikbalangs, as they traveled on foot. Due to the impending threat, Smoke had many things to do, which was why he needed to get there as soon as possible.
Moments before Smoke reached Banal village, he received a call from Espion saying that he was waiting outside the village. He could see that Banal village was extremely small.
It was easily the smallest village in Zectas that he had seen, even smaller than Verbrannt, which they had re-constructed only recently.
With the aid of his Telefax Vision ability, Smoke saw a young man with black hair leaning on the village's iron gate. He circled around the village as he started to make his descent from an altitude of a hundred meters.
He appreciated Espion waiting for him. With his gliding cloak closed, Smoke dove in at an alarming speed. The young Spy followed him with his eyes and waited for him to land.
WOOSHH!
Expertly, Smoke opened up his cape just before he hit the ground and landed without making a loud noise.
Espion walked over to him and offered his hand. "Welcome to Banal village. The village isn
't much, but I think we can fortify it in the next two days."
"Thanks, Espion. We'll talk about that later. For now, I'd like to meet the village chief."
Smoke released Igniz from his personal compartment. The dark ember sprite orbited around Espion as a greeting.
"Nice to see you too, Igniz." Espion smiled as he led the way to the village.