by Han Yang
I glanced at Duke, though it was difficult to see him through my half-closed eyes. My robotic companion seemed to be at peace as he descended beside me, as though the trip down held no more fear than a simple stroll down the stairs.
It might have been tempting to throw away my own fears, but the old, augmented assassin popped up in my mind whenever I considered it.
Never. Not in a million years.
My brain tried to distract itself from what it saw as an inevitable, messy death.
Falling is painful. Falling far, equals becoming a smear on the ground.
But, as the forest drew closer and closer, the second stage of the slow fall cube activated automatically.
The sides hinged upward, allowing a large, circular sheet of toughened monster leather to spread out below my feet. The wind resistance it created slowed my descent significantly, but we were still traveling far too quickly for the fall to be survivable.
So, as the individual trees showed themselves in the forest and even several bushes became visible, the third stage rolled into action.
FFFSSSHHHH! FFSSSHH! FFFFSSSSHHHH!
Blasts of heated Hydrox shot out of the pipes at the bottom of the cube to counter my speed. Each one jerked the slow fall device upward, or at least that’s what it felt like.
I knew that I was still technically ‘falling’, but between the upward thrust ending and gravity taking over, it felt as though I was floating serenely in the air.
But then, after one final huge burst, we landed with a deafening thud in the dirt and mud.
A moment after I fully registered that we had made it, I quickly disconnected myself from the bracers on the top of the slow fall device and stepped aside.
The wind resistance sheet rolled back into the container before the sides flipped down again, once more turning it into little more than an odd-looking cube.
Around ten seconds later, the second pair landed in the clearing. They didn’t have anywhere near the grace Duke and I had shown, but I ignored that thought as I rushed forward to help them dismount their cubes.
The quicker we worked, the more room there would be for the rest of the team.
All in all, it took two and a half minutes for all twenty members of the crew to land. One or two stumbled as they slammed into the dirt, but luckily no one received any injuries from the fall.
“Is everyone alright?” Leon brushed some mud from his knee as he moved forward to check on the team. Everyone responded to indicate they had survived before he turned to look at the huge lake beside us. Its surface, while relatively smooth, showed some odd ripples which seemed to originate from the far side. “Time to explore the area, I think. What are your thoughts, Baron Lord?”
After we had left the relative safety of the Moonlit Goddess, Leon’s entire personality had shifted. Though he had seemed very casual on the night he took me hunting in Langshire, it was obvious he knew just how much danger we could be in if a single mistake was made.
We had traveled to the deep wilds, after all.
“I agree. Find a place to camp, set up defenses, and search for any signs of an entrance to this so-called temple.”
The team nodded before they split off into their preassigned teams. With three in each group, I knew they would have a high chance of survival if they ran into a lone beast while they investigated the area.
But that left me alone with Duke on the edge of the lake.
“What the hell are these things?” I held up the package that he had requested I carry down with me. “I almost dropped them, you know? Spill it.”
“Humans need air to survive, but you cannot filter what you require if all you have is water.” He gestured to the huge lake, then back at the rolled-up pack in my hand. “Those will bridge the gap.”
I couldn’t figure out what the hell he was saying, so after trying to make sense of his words, I gave up and unrolled the canvas on the floor.
Many little pockets had been stitched on the inner side of the roll, and each one held a long, peculiar device. I pulled one out and inspected it, only to find out that it looked like little more than a short length of pipe.
But then I turned it over.
“What the hell -” I ran a finger over the mouthpiece protruding from one side of the pipe. “Don’t tell me. We put this in our mouth, and it turns water into air?”
“And vice versa. The air you breathe out is harmful in large quantities, so that is ejected back out of the system.”
“Fine.” I set the pip against my mouth for a moment, just to test how easy it would be to grip in my teeth before I lowered it and turned to Duke. “And these have been tested, right?”
“Mostly.”
I gave him a long, pointed look as I waited for further information, but Duke didn’t say anything else past his nonchalant response.
To be fair, if he said mostly, that likely meant the chances of failure were slim to none.
Still, I could see why we had several spares. If some failed while we were deep in the lake, then at least there was a chance we could get a replacement for the one who lost their means of breathing.
I dipped a hand into the lake, only to pull back a moment later as the frosty chill bit at my fingers. We were still in the depths of winter so, even after we had solved the whole ‘drowning’ part of the equation, it was still highly likely for the freezing temperatures to take out our team before we explored the lake’s icy depths.
We needed to spend as little time in the water as possible.
“You’re going to explore first?” I turned to Duke, who had taken the time to stride up to the edge of the lake. “Isn’t that dangerous? I’m sure there are monsters down there who would happily snack on a venturebot like yourself.”
“Possibly.” Duke let out a mechanical chuckle as he raised his upgraded hand. After the briefest of moments, sparks of electrical power zapped between his fingers, sending an arc of energy shooting through the air. “They might get cooked before they can try, though.”
I shivered as I thought about the upgrades my companion had received in my absence. Duke, while previously uncaring toward his own offensive and defensive prowess, had changed his views massively after the assassin almost ended my life despite his best efforts to protect me.
I still didn’t like the plan, but it wasn’t like we had any better options. After Leon returned to report that they had found a place for us to safely set up a camp in the treetops, Duke took his leave before he waded into the lake without hesitation.
“What the hell is that mad robot doing?” Leon stared on in shock as Duke’s head slowly disappeared below the water. “What did you say to him? It’s not like he needed to drown himself just because the temple isn’t here, right?”
“You know what, it doesn’t even matter.” I clapped a hand onto Leon’s shoulder and pushed him forward to lead me to our new camp. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s get something to eat first, yeah?”
Chapter 26
Duke’s exploration of the lake continued as Leon led me through the wild forest to the place he had picked out for our temporary camp to be set up.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about the area Leon led me to, but the truth became clear after we climbed up into the canopy far above. Though the climb did take a lot of effort, the reward at the end was worth what it took to get there.
There were sleeping spots set up for every member of the expeditionary team across a tight grouping of tall trees, while another place had been assigned for cooking and storage. There wasn’t all that much room to move around, but the space we had was used efficiently and logically.
“Well, damn.” I stretched the tension out of my hands as I lowered myself down onto a cushioned branch. We even had several large covers which could be rolled out in case the weather turned harsh and we needed protection against the sleet or snow.
Then again, spring wasn’t too far off. The chill in the air had dissipated a little since my last trip out of Norn, but that d
idn’t mean the waters in the lake would warm up any time soon.
It would take a long time for that amount of water to shift its temperature, and even at the best of times it would be cold as all hell deep down in its depths.
Over the next few days, individual squads headed out into the wilds to hunt down whatever prey they could find. Loud noises and other signs of our existence were forbidden, so they relied on small arms or traps to take down their targets.
Simple, effective, but dangerous at the same time.
Once or twice, we ran into some of the larger monsters who called the wilds their home, but fortunately, we were able to avoid direct engagements with the beasts each time. Some merely didn’t notice our presence. The rest were placated as they feasted on prey we’d hunted to keep them distracted as we left their territories.
A loss in the material sense, but the gain in knowledge made up for it in my eyes.
Leon and his followers slowly mapped out the land around the lake as they methodically searched along the shores. Danger areas and no-go zones were clearly marked out, and any patrols were well aware of the dangers they faced whenever they headed out into the wilds.
Still, we hadn’t been spotted by anything too dangerous by the time Duke finally returned.
“Took you long enough.” I grinned at the dripping wet venturebot as he stomped out of the icy waters of the lake onto the shore. “Did you find anything down there?”
After he banged several collections of ice and cleaned out his innards of the collected gunk from the lakebed, Duke took a parchment and started a sketch of the lakebed itself. Several points were marked with the various monsters and other beasts he had run into, but the main thing that pulled my attention was the image he drew at the center.
It looked like… a gateway.
“Is that it?” I leaned down to look at the map after Duke had finished drawing. “Did you see any way in?”
“Not exactly.” Duke shook off the coating of dewy drops that had formed on his body before he looked back out across the lake. “From what I could gather, it is a peculiar system which uses two doors on either side of a locked room. The outer entrance opened when I arrived, but the controls inside the antechamber wouldn’t respond.”
“Maybe they’ve been damaged? Or maybe this is what the legends say?” I chewed the inside of my cheek as I glanced back and forth between the map and the enormous lake. “Only someone recognized by Gearnix may open the door. But if that doesn’t work-”
“We always have plan B.”
Leon hefted a large, waterproof sack as he spoke. Several objects clattered around inside as the nearby members of the group took several cautious steps away, but I ignored their antics as I considered our options.
First, I could go alone with Duke. Now that we had a specific destination in mind, the trip through the chilly waters of the lake had turned from an impossible journey to merely an uncomfortable hike.
But what would happen if I did manage to enter it? What if there were guards waiting on the other side, would Duke and I be able to handle them alone?
The second option was to take everyone along for the ride. There were dangers in that path, of course, but it gave us the most chance of surviving if anything appeared to obstruct our journey.
With the two options in mind, I remained silent as I tried to figure out the best route to take. The ideas bounced back and forth in my mind until a single thought overwhelmed my spiraling logic.
Everything or nothing. Gearnix wants us to prove ourselves, so we should go all out!
It might not be logical, but since when have the omnipotent figures who watched over the world cared about our petty, mortal rationale? Gearnix rewarded those who took risks at the right times and proved their desire to improve their lives.
And what better way than to go into the temple all guns blazing, as it were.
“We’ll set off in the morning.” I looked up at the slowly dimming sky as the sun dipped low to the horizon. The chill of the night started to set in as I turned to lead the group back to the camp. “A night’s rest will do everyone some good.”
Duke, despite the fact he didn’t need sleep in the slightest, was the first to agree to my suggestion.
And so, after one last night to recover, I set off the next morning to lead my team down into the depths of the lake.
Duke handed out the water filter devices to each person while he kept the spares on his person. After a quick training session in their usage, I stepped forward onto the edge of the lake and turned to face the people gathered behind me.
“Single file, follow in my footsteps.” I waited for them to confirm they understood my order before lifting my boot and used a cube of Hydrox to overcharge my system. “Let’s get this done. Follow me!”
The waters of the lake invaded my boot the moment I set a foot into the edge. Though it wasn’t as cold as ice, the pressure all around my skin made it feel far cooler than even that.
But I knew it would pass. The energy flowing through my body battled the cold chill as more and more of my skin was surrounded by the lake’s embrace. I felt a slight panic for a moment before I dipped my head beneath the surface, but that vanished once I forced my eyes open.
The waters of the lake were clear and smooth, though it was still hard to see too far away. Small water plants waved and danced from the waves my entrance had caused while fish, both steam-powered and otherwise, danced away into the reeds to hide from my sight.
I basked in the beauty of the view and, for a moment, I regretted the fact that Joanna was missing out on such a picturesque image.
But then I remembered why we had traveled out into the wilds, and those thoughts faded into the background as I pushed my way deeper into the lake.
I had thought we would need to swim, but the weight of our augmentations, plus a little bit of padding around our chests, made it relatively easy to walk along the bottom of the lakebed. The buoyancy of our clothing countered the weight, keeping a careful balance that allowed us to slowly leapfrog our way deeper and deeper into the waters.
We avoided the marked zones on the seabed which contained monster nests, but a few little biters still attempted to attack our group as we reached the halfway point.
The vibration of our steam blades churned up the water as we cut and sliced at the swarm of mechanical piranhas. Their little jaws weren’t strong enough to do any significant damage in a single bite, but that wasn’t their plan.
As soon as blood spread out into the water, the larger predators would sweep out to take us down, and the nasty little things could then dart in to steal food from the mouths of their betters.
A simple, vicious plan, but fortunately we already had a secret weapon.
The group moved to surround Duke as tightly as we could. Our defensive formation helped keep the bulk of the fish at bay while our trump card slowly powered up behind our backs.
After he had finished, I clamped my teeth closed and tensed every muscle as I waited for-
ZZZAAAPPPP!
Tendrils of pure electrical energy filled the water as Duke raised his hand up high. Though every member of our group received their own painful impacts from the assault, our bodies were large enough and tough enough to survive the blast.
The piranha swarm wasn’t so lucky.
Their little bodies, unable to take the sheer amount of energy coursing through their systems, popped and sizzled as the current swept outward. More and more died before the last few survivors who had been on the fringe edges of the group turned tail and swam away with all the speed they could muster.
I glanced around at the group to check them over, but it looked like we had gotten through the assault without any injuries. A few nicks and cuts showed on some of their arms and faces, but nothing large enough to attract any large predators to our group.
And so, with that final obstruction cleared, I turned and led the group across the final stretch to the temple entrance.
A large squa
re shadow appeared in my vision as we crept closer and closer to the destination. At first, it merely looked like a rise on the seabed but, as the blurriness faded away, it became clear what we were seeing was not a natural object at all.
I paused for a moment to allow the rest of the team to gather up before me before I squared my shoulders and stepped up onto the edge of the entrance building.
Several awkward seconds drifted by as nothing happened. Moments before I lost my cool and turned to Duke to ask him to move forward, the wall before my eyes grated open, revealing a moderately sized room on the other side that was also filled with water.
The others watched on as I cautiously made my way into the antechamber. Nothing happened automatically, though I could see a series of buttons and levers on one of the side walls.
As I drew closer, a subtle orange light glimmered behind them which grew brighter as I moved my hand closer, then dimmed as I pulled it away.
Jackpot!
I motioned for the others to file into the room and, once they were all packed in and clear of the doors, I reached out and pulled the most likely looking lever as far down as it would go.
Distant clunks and thuds echoed through the water as the entrance doors creaked closed, leaving us encased in pitch black darkness. The only light came from the panel before me as one button glowed brighter than the rest.
Without any other hints to follow, I shrugged my shoulders and pressed the highlighted switch.
Bubbles rose at each corner of the room as little grates opened, allowing the water around us to flow down and out of the space. It took a full minute for it to clear but, once the water had been filtered out and I had cleaned out my ears, my senses finally came back to me.
“God damn it. That was cold.” I spat the filter device into my hand and wiped off several sheets of water from my arms, legs, and chest before I turned to the inner doorway. “This place better be worth the effort, because no way am I leaving without some sort of reward for all this nonsense!”
Chapter 27