by Aaron Oster
There was a loud crack as the tree fractured, a few pieces of bark splintering away. Roy swung again, driving his other first into the tree and trying to ignore his ribs. Several strikes later, and the tree finally toppled, falling to the ground with a loud, splintering crack.
“What are you doing?” Geon asked as Roy immediately sat down and began cycling.
“Killing two birds with one stone,” he replied as he began pulling in Essence at a prodigious rate.
“What birds? I don’t see any birds. And where do stones come into this? I don’t see any of those, either.”
“It’s a metaphor,” Roy replied. “I’m knocking down the trees to fashion a raft and cycling the Power Essence generated by the fall.”
An interesting byproduct of breaking things was the outpouring of both Power and Weakness Essence. The type of item didn’t matter all that much, but the larger it was, the more Essence was generated. Since Roy had to build a raft to avoid a lot of painful and exhausting swimming, and also needed to refill his Core, the old metaphor of killing two birds with one stone fit quite well.
“Metaphors are stupid,” Geon huffed. “Why say something about killing birds, when you’re just chopping trees?”
Roy chose not to dignify that with a response. When Geon knew he was in the wrong, he would act one of two ways. He would either pretend he didn’t know what Roy was talking about or viciously attack whatever had shown him up – in this case, metaphors.
The burst of Essence from something as large and old as a falling tree was quite substantial, and by the time Roy had pulled in everything the tree had to offer, he’d nearly filled his Core halfway. Of course, after refining, it would have been less than a tenth of what he’d accumulated, but that would have to wait.
Rising back to his feet, Roy moved on to the next tree, taking the time to fill his Core once again, but this time until it was completely full. Only once his Core was full to bursting did Roy begin the process of refining. Pulling the Essence out of his Core and into the flower-like pattern surrounding it, Roy began the process of cycling it through and shedding the impurities. With each loop, the Essence glowed a bit brighter and seemed just a bit more substantial.
By the time he was completely done with refining his Essence, nearly an hour had passed. His channels were sore, but not nearly as bad as they’d been yesterday. Roy then moved on to the next trees, felling two more and pulling their Essence in. The refining process was a bit faster this time now that he was fully into it, and seeing as there was less room in his Core now than there had been before, there was less to refine.
Roy repeated this twice more, knocking down four more trees and pulling in their Essence, having to break more often to pull more in. The trees weren’t all that thick around, so if he were to find Aika, a raft using only four wouldn’t support both of them. Likewise, they were only around ten feet tall. If he were being truthful, Roy probably could have avoided knocking down the last two, but he’d needed that little extra bit of Essence to feel secure.
“That took forever!” Geon complained as Roy finally finished his cycling and rose back to his feet.
The sun was already well up by now, the temperature increasing slowly along with its rise. If he were to guess, Geon had woken him between five and half-past five. The cycling and refining had taken just over three hours, so it would be around half past eight in the morning, at the latest.
“Don’t you have any patience?” Roy asked, moving towards the downed trees. “You are a Dungeon Core, after all.”
“So? Just because I’m a Dungeon Core doesn’t mean I can’t become impatient. What if the directions are gone, and the key doesn’t work anymore?”
Roy flipped the box open, removing the key and holding it up to the sun. As soon as he did, the same beam of light projected to the west in a straight line.
“I think this key will point us in the right direction, so long as we have sunlight,” Roy said, placing it back in the box. “Now, relax. It’ll take me about an hour to construct the raft, and then we’ll head out.”
Now that they had a direction, he couldn’t simply waste his time here. If he’d gotten a key, he had to assume Aika had as well, which meant they would both be heading in the same direction. And, if he were really lucky, they’d bump into one another eventually.
“Another hour?” Geon complained, sounding oddly whiney. “Can’t you just swim?”
“No,” Roy replied simply. “It was bad enough being wet last night. I could have fallen ill. Also, we have no idea how far the next patch of land will be. So, I refuse to leave this island without a raft.”
The finality in his tone must have gotten through to the Dungeon Core, as he didn’t argue any further. Letting out a silent sigh of relief, Roy began the arduous task of dragging the individual trees down to the waterline on the western side of the island. It was painful work due to the pain in his ribs, and his arms twinged as well, the scabs being strained as he pulled.
He was able to reinforce his body with Essence to make the transition easier. His Core was only about halfway full, maybe a bit more, but that was all the Essence he could gather here right now. Hopefully, the next island would have a better source of Power Essence than this one, and he could fully restore himself.
Though Roy had been around Water Artists for most of his life and had seen his fair share of boats, pontoons, and rafts, he’d never actually built one himself. The Shah prized their vessels and would never have allowed a cripple and freak to so much as touch them. That didn’t mean he was ignorant of how they were built, though.
He’d seen how they were constructed and had read many books on the subject. It was one of the only things he’d been allowed to read, oddly enough, and Roy had read all he could in his spare time. He’d read other things, of course, though those had had to be read at night, after he’d bolted his flimsy door and removed the books from their hiding place.
Roy finished dragging the trees to the shoreline and took a few moments to recover. Bending down by the edge of the water, he scooped some into his hand, taking a few drinks before going about preparing the raft. Several things were needed to build a proper raft. He only had two of them, but he could make do. Moving to the tops of the trees, Roy stripped them of their long, wide leaves, taking extra care to leave them as intact as possible. Only once he’d done that, did he even out the six he’d dragged over, striking the tops until he had six trees roughly six feet long.
Roy then moved to drag four into a frame, placing the last two underneath to finish it out. He then moved around the frame, using the long leaves to lash the trees together. He used all the leaves he had, twisting several in his palms to strengthen them before making the knots. Once this was completed, he decided to test its strength.
Several pulls showed that while there was a bit of wobble, the craft should hold up well enough in the relatively calm waters in which he was going to set out. Taking another water break, Roy headed back up the beach towards the last two trees. He stripped them of their leaves as well, then broke off a short length from the bottom of one and split it in half.
Heading back down to the raft, Roy then set about twining the leaves between the gaps on one side of the frame to keep his body out of the water. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it should keep him mostly dry. He then crafted the last piece of equipment needed, a paddle, by lashing the split length of the wider end of one of the trees, to one of the long poles he had left over from evening out the trees for his raft.
Roy made two of these, one to use, and a spare, before he finally stood back to admire his work. It wasn’t very pretty, but the frame was solid, with a seat of woven leaves upon which he could sit. His legs would be propped on the front of the raft, hovering above the water. It would be a bit unwieldy and his ribs wouldn’t like the paddling, but they’d enjoy the act of swimming even less.
“Alright,” Roy said, leaning down to shove his raft into the water. “Let’s see where this key is pointing.”
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25
Ferry wove through the crowded streets, taking in all the amazing sights and scents. She’d never been in a city this large before, and any she’d visited in the past had made her fur itch and prickle. Here, she felt quite comfortable walking around, smelling all the strangers and wondering where they’d been to pick up such strange scents.
Several times, she’d passed a food cart, and the scent had become overwhelming. Never before had she really craved meat, cooked or otherwise. But now, strangely enough, she found that her mouth would begin to water, and her stomach would grumble when the smell would waft over. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any money, and when she’d tried to just take one, the person in charge had slapped her hand away.
She wished she could have bitten him, but he was too strong for her, which was very strange. Why would a meat stall owner need to be a Blue-Belt? It just made no sense. She’d tried to locate the area where people bought and sold Cores, but the city was so large that she was having a hard time finding it. Normally, Roy would just ask for her, but seeing as she couldn’t talk to anyone else, there was really nothing she could do.
There was also too much interference from all the people and items for her to get a scent or lock on with her senses. Her ears drooped slightly as she began to head back to the compound. She hadn’t managed to find anything exciting for Roy, so he probably wouldn’t want to come out with her. It was also only around midday, so she was sure that he’d be training for hours more.
A long sigh escaped her new lips as she began pushing through the crowded streets. She was just leaving the main market district when a familiar scent caught her nose. She turned, a bit confused, her eyes sweeping over the crowd. There were too many people about for her to see, and for a moment, she debated just going back to the compound to lounge about as she’d been planning.
Curiosity won ultimately won out, her nose twitching again as she smelled Aika’s familiar scent. Or…was it her? Ferry’s head cocked to one side as she tried to puzzle it out. The scent was familiar, yet somehow different. It was growing fainter by the moment, and she knew she had to make a choice. Finally, her wish to know what was happening won out, and she turned to head in the direction of the strange smell.
After all, if Aika was around here and on her own, it meant that Roy was probably by himself. And if Roy were alone, it meant she could go and keep him company, without any of his other friends to take up any of his attention. With that happy thought in mind, Ferry headed swiftly in the direction of the scent, still completely unaware of the figure tailing her.
***
The water splashed pleasantly against the bow of the small craft, showering Roy’s bare feet in droplets of lukewarm water. He’d been out here for about two hours already, and the constant motion of his moving paddle had reduced the throbbing in his ribs to a dull ache. Every so often, he’d remove the key to check his course, before placing it back into the box to maintain its shape.
The paddling was boring and monotonous, but the seat was comfortable enough, and his pants were only a little wet. The island was completely out of sight now, and Roy had his senses spread as wide her he could manage. All the way out here, in the middle of this massive expanse of water, there was little to do to occupy his time other than cycling and breathing, so that was what he’d been doing.
The motion of the paddling threw up tiny specs of Power Essence with each stroke, and though it wasn’t much, he still snatched them up before they dissipated, pulling them into his Core. He’d accumulated just a bit over the last two hours, but the longer he continued on, the more he’d collect.
“Where do you think the key leads?” Roy wondered, not for the first time.
“I don’t know why you keep bringing that up. If I didn’t know the first time, why would I know now?”
“It’s called speculating,” Roy said with a sigh.
“Why would you…?
“Never mind,” Roy said, cutting Geon off before he could start up with his annoying line of questioning again.
He let out a long sigh as the Dungeon Core went silent and just continued paddling. He really hoped this place wasn’t as large as he feared, because if it were, it could be months before he could get out of here — and all while things continued moving forward in the outside world. He was worried about Ferry and wondered how she was handling his absence. She would have no idea where he’d gone, nor would she be able to communicate to anyone about their disappearance.
What if they’d decided to throw her out, or lock her away somewhere until Hermit returned? Whatever the case was, Roy knew one thing for sure— he’d never trust anyone from the Itachi clan again. And if Hermit insisted that they remain in Light City after he got out of this place, he’d leave the man and set out on his own.
He’d been so confident in Hermit’s ability to keep them safe, that he hadn’t even considered the fact that his sister, who appeared to be even stronger than him, would just simply throw them in here to die. The fact that they’d been separated only added to his anger at the Itachi clan Sovereign, and no matter what it took, he’d find a way to make her pay. The Itachi clan had crossed him for the last time.
Several hours of paddling saw Roy drifting out in the open water. He was starting to feel the repetitive motion by now, and his ribs were aching, even despite the tightening of the makeshift bandages. His arms were also burning and itching with each rotation of the paddle, leaving him to grit his teeth and fight the urge to scratch.
Pulling the key from the seat beside him, Roy checked the direction once again, confirming that he’d drifted a little too far north and needed to correct his course. Placing the key back into the box, he continued paddling, trying to blank out the pain it caused and focusing instead of gathering Essence. His Core was nearly full by now, which meant he’d need to start refining what he’d collected.
The fact that he’d been able to fill his Core with something as mundane as paddling spoke bounds about the sheer distance that he’d covered. He estimated he’d moved some ten miles already and dearly hoped that he’d find land soon, as he didn’t want to spend the night out on the open water.
He had no way of knowing if more creatures would attack in the night, and he didn’t want to take that risk. It was on his fourth scan of the horizon that he finally felt something. It was so minor at first that it barely registered. However, after the second sweep, Roy sat up, now alert as he concentrated on the area ahead.
“I think I can sense land!” he said excitedly, picking up the speed of his rowing.
“Well, it’s about time,” Geon complained. “We’ve been out here for hours!”
“I really don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Roy said. “I did all the work.”
“And I had to sit here and listen to you prattle on and on, asking the same questions over and over,” Geon said. “I think we both suffered plenty.”
Roy resisted the urge to snap at the Core, instead basking in the feeling of joy as a small spec became visible on the horizon. It was late afternoon, perhaps four, or maybe even a little later. If creatures were going to attack, he’d barely have any time to rest. He really hoped that this mass of land would be larger than the last island that he’d found.
Roy’s shoulder slumped as he drew closer, and his Spirit Sense felt the mass of Earth Essence turn into Water Essence once again. It seemed that this was just another island. That was still fine. So long as he had the key, he’d continue with the knowledge that he knew where to go. Another thirty minutes of paddling and the island was in sight, and twenty minutes later, Roy was hauling the raft out of the water and high onto the shoreline.
He straightened, stretching to one side, then the other, wincing as his sore body protested the movements. He then began examining his surroundings, taking note of anything out of the ordinary. This island looked much the same as the last, with the exception of the trees, which were much more familiar to him.
The shining red fruit hangi
ng from their branches told him that these were indeed apple trees, and Roy moved swiftly up the beach to pick a few. This was one of the signs that he was in a truly strange place, because apple trees didn’t grow in climates like this, surrounded by sand and a few sparse patches of grass.
The apples were the perfect mix of sweet and tart, the fruit crunching in a very satisfying way, releasing a burst of flavor, followed by a rush of liquid. He took the time to scan the horizon as he ate, looking for any signs of other islands. Of course, he saw nothing, but he figured he’d just keep following the key until he found more land.
Reaching for the box once again, Roy opened it, retrieving the key and holding it up to the sun. The key glowed for an instant but then suddenly dimmed, and nothing else happened. Roy’s brow furrowed as he lifted the key higher, thinking that the shade of the tree might be preventing him from seeing the path, but no matter which way he held it, the key didn’t show him a thing.
“Geon, do you have any idea what’s happening? Why isn’t the key working anymore?”
He expected a snarky response from the Core, perhaps a line about how stupid he was, along with an explanation, but instead, he got the last thing he’d been expecting — an answer.
“The key probably pointed you here. If you want to keep going, you’re likely going to have to beat whatever comes out of the water and follow that one to the next area and so on.”
“How long do you think this will go on for?” he asked, wondering if he’d ever return back home.
“I don’t know,” Geon replied. “All we can do is wait and see.”
Geon went silent then, leaving Roy to recover and await the attack he knew to be coming.
The first creature emerged just as darkness set, this one far different than the creatures from last night. Their skin was red and warty, their faces distinctly fishlike, and their eyes were bulbous and disconcerting. Their bodies were, once again, humanoid, though they were more like fish than the creatures he’d faced the night before.