The Crucible of Immortality: Book One: Synthesis
Page 6
"Alright, Kala, you ready to do this? You have any other abilities I should know about?" I ask her.
"No, my final ability is to choose a bonded form. I will support you with heals and if I must my fire, but I want to save that for a desperate situation. I am able to affect my colors to blend into my surroundings. You should move slowly in Stealth. Let's be careful about this. I do not know what the repercussions are for dying, so let's avoid that." She says.
We move into the cave, as soon as I cross the threshold a pop up appears.
New Quest Alert:
The Gibling Lair
You have found a Gibling lair. Clear the lair of all Giblings.
Quest Type: Normal
Rewards: 150 experience, 1 uncommon item
Do you accept this quest? Y/N
I accept the quest and move forward. It's damp and dark. I stop for a few minutes to let my eyes adjust to the darkness. There is pure black up ahead. How are we going to go forward? I look at Kala, she is swirling with dark colors and it is very hard to see her. I think back to when I used to play RPG games in my youth. Wasn't there always a skill to see in the dark? I think to myself about how light and our eyes work.
"Kala, I want to try something. I know you said to calm it down on learning skills but I don't see how we will be able to move forward without being able to see." I whisper to her.
"Alright, Jax, just do it. But if you pass out or something I won't really be able to protect you." She says.
I wonder if I can change my eyes to become more sensitive to light? I sit down and mediate for a minute. I think to my studies in biology, I understand how the eyes of different animals allow them to see in the dark. Then I will my eyes to a new configuration. A sharp pain flares up in my eyes and I grab them. I squeeze my mouth shut to hold in any sounds of pain.
"Dammit Jax! What did you do? I knew this was a bad idea. Are you okay?" She whispers with concern.
"Shhh, it's okay Kala. Just give me a moment, and keep a look out please." I whisper to her. I remove my hands from my eyes and slowly open them. The world looks different, everything is glowing softly and colors are washed out. The blackness of the cave is lessened enough that it looks like a well moonlit night. I pull a new notification.
Congratulations! You have learned the Secret Personal Skill:
Morph (Novice, Lvl 1)
Dude. What. Did. You. Just. Do? Why didn't just make a torch or something? You have learned how to alter your body on a molecular level. Warning! This is a secret personal skill, you are the only one to possess this unique skill. You should keep knowledge of your abilities to yourself. Only one Morph can be active at a time.
Health Damage Cost: 25% while Morph is active.
Bonus 1: 10% permanent increased health regeneration
Bonus 2: 100 Fame points
Experience awarded: 100
I send the info over to Kala. "Damn Jax, you are starting to scare me. Are you some kind of god? I have no knowledge of that type of skill." She says and then she gasps. "Jax! Your eyes don't look human. Oh man, you look freaky." She is floating in front of me. I look at my User Sheet, wow, I'm halfway to level three already.
I rub my eyes and look around. This is going to take some getting used to. I wonder what else I can Morph? Can I turn into a mouse? Not that I would really want to. Could I give myself boobs? I laugh out loud and then quickly cover my mouth. I look at Kala and give her an apologetic shrug.
I indicate to her that I'm ready to move forward. I enter Stealth and slowly start walking. After about ten minutes I notice the cave walls have smoothed out and are looking man made, or guess alien made. Up ahead I see a metal door with some type of writing on it. The writing is very worn and the door has deep slashes and burn marks on it, like something or many somethings, tried to get in. When I get closer a gem embedded at the top of the doorway starts to glow red. I stop and back off.
"Kala? Is that door going to vaporize me if I get too close?" I ask her very quietly.
"Your guess is as good as mine. However, I might draw your attention to the bones around the door." She says.
I look at the ground and see what she is taking about. Huh, guess I need to work on my Perception skill. There are all number of different types of bones sticking out the ground, no fresh bodies though. I do notice a few glints of shiny objects peeking through the dirt.
"Well, it's either go back or try to go forward. Fuck it, I'm going to see what happens."
I step forward before she has a chance to try to stop me. The gem glows brightly and then emits a wide beam of red light. It scans me up and down. I shut my eyes and tense my body for the death ray. Nothing happens. I open one eye and then the other.
"Hello? Please don't kill me. I am Jax. I come in peace." I say. I look at Kala and shrug.
"Who are you talking to?" Kala asks me. I point to the door. The gem glows brightly and a tight continuous yellow beam shoots at my head. I try to move but my body does not respond. I feel something in my head looking around. Kala is freaking out and yelling at me. The beam suddenly stops and I regain control of my body.
"It's okay Kala, it didn't hurt me. I'm not sure what just happened." I try to calm her down.
The room is slightly brighter, there seems to be some kind of glowing moss on the walls. The space is a fairly large rectangle with vaulted ceilings. Four large metal blocks are located symmetrically around the space. There seems to be a slight blue glow to them. There is an open door on the other side of the room. I see movement. Giblings are here, I can count three of them. I notice that there is a hole in the ground in the left corner. I'm not sure how they broke through the floor, it seems to be some type of metal. It seem like they have constructed mud burrows on the walls as homes.
I wait a few minutes to see if there are anymore. It seems to be just the three of them. I Analyze them, one is level two and the others are level three. Great. Do they make all the level one Giblings hunt at the surface? I hold up three fingers to Kala and point to their direction. I wait until they are facing away from the door then I run to one of the glowing metal blocks. Hopefully I'm not going to get radiation from them. I notice that there is some kind of writing on the blocks.
I peek around the corner and aim my staff at one of the Giblings. Then I reconsider. I decide to deactivate Morph. I'll probably need the extra health back and the glowing moss on the walls will provide some illumination. I wait for my health to regenerate, then I aim my staff. Then I reconsider again. I look at Kala, she must think I'm crazy, or scared. Which I am, scared that is. But an idea had occurred to me. I want to try my Teleportation skill. I have a very nasty idea, I hope it works. I pick up a small rock from the floor about the size of a golf ball. I focus on it and then on one of the closer Giblings. The rock disappears from my hand and the Gibling drops to the floor convulsing and then goes still. I shake my head feeling pain from using so much Mental energy so quickly.You have killed Cave Gibling (Lvl 2). You receive 30 experience points.
Holy crap! It actually worked. I teleported the rock directly into the Giblings brain. Wow, that's a bit overpowered. The fact that the notification popped up means that I was not detected by the other Giblings, my Stealth still active. The Giblings run to the fallen one trying to understand what happened. I quickly aim my staff to do a Sneak Attack before my stamina runs out from being in Stealth.
I fire a dark bolt at one and th
en duck down. I hear it scream in pain, then I hear the sound of them digging. Shit. I really hate when they do that. I quickly climb onto the metal block, at least they can't surprise me as easily. I crouch down and wait. My Mind Energy is halfway depleted, but slowly refilling. It is quiet, my breath sounding like gun shots to my ears. I activate my Dark Shield and stand up. I hear something behind me, before I can turn I'm knocked down face first into the metal block. I feel my nose break and the Gibling is on my back slashing me with its claws. My shield is migrating some of the damage, but a quick glance at my health shows that I'm in serious trouble. I twist and roll off the block, crashing to the floor, causing more damage to myself. The Gibling jumps down a few feet from me. I stand up feeling faint, my Mental energy bar is flashing at ten percent. I quickly deactivate my dark shield so I don't pass out. I start backing away as the Gibling charges me. I begin to panic, oh man, I really don't want to die. Where the hell is Kala?
The Gilbling leaps at me, its claws dripping my blood. I hold my staff like a baseball bat and swing as hard as I can. It lands with a thud against the creatures body, knocking it to the side. It's health down a third. I fire a dark bolt at it as it lands in the ground. Then follow up with a smash to its head, ending it life.
I almost fall over with exhaustion. I look around for the other Gibling and for Kala. I see them both on the other side of the room. She has been distracting it by flying down close to it and taunting it. "Come on you ugly fucker, what are you waiting for? Did your grandma eat your balls for breakfast?" She yells at it. The Gibling jumps up trying to swipe her with its claws, but she is just out of reach. The Gibling pounds it fists on the ground in frustration. I don't have enough stamina to enter Stealth or to run. I walk as quietly as I can to circle behind it. The Gibling jumps and swipes again, then it screams at Kala and uses it Screech ability. For the first time I see Kala take damage, her health bar appears and shows a quarter has been removed by the attack. But what's worse is that she fall to the floor stunned. The Gibling jumps onto Kala and slashes her. I go into a rage, my world turns red.
I gaze at the sleeping figure laying next to me, never have I loved a woman so completely. She wakes up and looks at me, she gives me a smile that melts my heart. "I know that look Jax. Are you having impure thoughts about me?" She asks in an innocent voice. I laugh and pull her naked body on top of me...
I awake with a start. Where am I? I am confused and disoriented. I turn my head and it all comes crashing back. I'm laying next to Kala. I jump up and look at her, fuck. She is at eight percent health and her colors are very dim and barely moving.
"Kala! Wake up. Please wake up." I touch her, something I haven't done before. A pop up appears.
Do you wish to transfer Core Energy to restore your companion to full health?* Y/N
*Warning! May only be used once per day. Use will drain 1/1 ratio of health and reset current experience gains. If user does not have sufficient health equal to the damage being restored user may experience death. The users level will be unaffected.
I do not even think about it twice, I select yes. My body goes rigid and it feels like electricity is pouring through me. It is the most pain I have ever been in. After a few seconds the feeling stops and I collapse to the floor. My health is flashing at thirteen percent and I feel like death. Kala's colors are bright and she begins floating.
"Jax! What happened? Are you okay? You are covered in blood and gore." She asks me with concern.
"Ugh.....can you heal me please?" I rub my face and my hand comes away covered in blood.
"Oh! Yes of course." She says as the healing light surrounds me. My Health jumps back up to seventy percent and I feel much better.
"Thank you, Kala. Wow. All of that really sucked. I thought it had killed you Kala. I think I went into a rage blackout again." I pause for a moment. "Did you know we can use our Core Energy to heal each other?" I look for the Gibling that had been attacking Kala. All that I see is a large puddle of blood and body parts.
"What?! Oh my god, Jax. You didn't? Promise me you will never do that again? You don't mess with your Core Energy. You are lucky you are not dead." I can tell she is feeling very conflicted. "But....thank you. You were close to level three weren't you?" She flashes a warm smile at me.
"It's okay, Kala. If I had to do it again I would. Don't worry about my experience loss, I can always gain more. I don't know what I would do without you. I know we have only known each other for less than a day, but I feel close to you. And you are my only friend I have on this fucking planet." I say to her as I stand up.
"Aww, thank you Jax. But don't get mushy on, we need to finish this quest and find a town or something. You really need a bath." She winks at me. How did she just wink at me? She doesn't have eyes. I laugh and begin looting the corpses. I guess the bodies don't get absorbed into the earth if they are holding loot.
"Oh my god Kala! Look!" I hold up a Rough Cotton Shirt. I grin at her. She makes a sound at me like I'm an idiot. Well, whatever, now I can be mostly dressed. I pull on the shirt. It doesn't provide any armor, but feels great. I look down at myself. I look like a beggar that murdered a family of rats. But at least I don't look like a naked murder beggar.
The other bodies don't have any good loot. I do get a Common Orb for each though and two more pairs of pants. Maybe I'll open a clothing store? I look around the room and see their mud homes. I walk up to one and look inside. I am about to turn and look in another when a glint catches my eye. I get a notification that my Perception skill went up ten percent. I reach down and pick the item up. It's a silver ring.
Ring of Minor Health
Rarity: Common
Quality: Fine
Durability: 81/100
Effects: Boosts users health by 25
Score! I slip it on my finger and feel my body surge with energy. That's awesome, this common ring just boosted my health by almost 25%.
"Hey, check this out." I hold my finger out to Kala.
"Nice, look at you Mr. Fancypants with your ring." I stick my tongue out at her. I check out the other mud homes and find only bones.
"What do you think this place is Kala? And what are these glowing blocks?" I ask her as I examine the strange metal blocks. There doesn't seem to be any seams or openings and the writing will not translate for me.
"Do I look like an archaeologist? I have no idea." She says.
"Oh, hey I forgot to tell you that the door talked to me. It called me a Progenitor and then said I had access and opened the door. Why the hell does this planet think I'm not human?" I place my hand on the glowing metal, it's surprisingly cold.
"The door talked to you? Are you sure you are okay? Do you need to rest?" She asks me.
"I'm not crazy! It had a weird robot voice that spoke directly into my mind." I say.
"Yeah, I don't know Jax. This is all above my pay grade. I'm sorry, I don't have more answers for you." She floats to the door leading to another section. Man, she is impatient.
"Hold on, I have some notifications I need to check." I pull up the flashing icon.
Congratulations! You have leveled up the Skill:
Stealth (Novice, Lvl 2)
You seek to hide in the shadows and ambush your opponents! You are now 6% harder to detect, you fade into your environment. Attacks from Stealth deal critical damage and are considered a Sneak Attack, a sub-skill of Stealth. Agility is increased by 1 every level.
Stamina Cost: 5/sec
Experience awarded: 15
Congratulations! You have leveled up the Skill:
Staffs (Novice, Lvl 2)
Good for you, you didn't inflict damage on yourself with your staff. Staffs now do 2% more damage.
Stamina Cost: 5 per attack
Experience awarded: 15
Congratulations! You have learned the Perk:
Iron Mind
By draining your Mental Energy until exhaustion your mind has been strengthened. But, maybe calm it down a bit? It's my mind too and I'm tired
of the headaches.
Effects 1: Permanent increase to Intelligence and Wisdom of 5 points.
Effects 2: Mental Resistance increased by 5%.
Effects 3: Mental Energy Regeneration increased by 1%.
Experience awarded: 30
"Kala! I got a Perk, it's pretty badass." I send her the info.
"Nice, Jax! Perks are usually much harder to get than skills. Thats a huge boost to your stats. You should feel smarter with the increase to your intelligence." She smiles at me. With my new smarts an idea comes to me. I pull up my combat log, I'm curious what happened when I went into the rage blackout.
"What the fuck?" I say to myself.
"What's wrong, Jax?" She says as she floats over to me.
"I am looking at my combat log and it says I used the skill Blood Storm. What the hell is that? And how did I use a skill that I don't know? Holy shit! It says that Blood Storm did 345 points of physical damage." I look back at the gore covering the wall where the Gibling died.
"Open your Skills Menu, Jax. See if it's listed there." She tells me.
"No, it's not there. Man, that's crazy. The most damage I have done so far is around 20. I need to learn how to do that skill when I'm not all hulked out." I say shaking my head in disbelief.
"Yeah, that is really strange, Jax. I have no idea what that skill is or how you did it. Remind me not to make you angry." She says. I can tell she is a bit shaken up.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot. You should go check around the door that we entered through. Remember all the bones? The only reason that the bones would still be there is if they had loot. We can't pass up a chance for loot!" She says the last part a little too enthusiastically. She sure does like loot for someone that can't use it. I chuckle to myself.