by Adam Drake
Known Skills:
Axes: 3%
Basic Alchemy: 1%
Basic Combat Attunement: 11%
Basic Defense: 13%
Basic Sharding: 1%
Basic Shield: 15%
Basic Swordsmanship: 18%
Basic Tracking: 1%
Block: 16%
Dodge: 4%
Magical Affinity: 1%
Shield Bash: 18% (8% base)
Stealth: 3%
Unspent Skill Points: 5
Rob suddenly realized that throughout his fight with the crocodiles, none of his skills advanced. He double checked to see if there were any unread notification, but there weren't. How could that be? He'd used his axe and shield. Shouldn't those skills have gone up?
As he thought on it more, he wondered if it might have to do with the fact they were lesser opponents than him. Maybe that gave a slower progression rate for skills. He would ask Saif about it later.
Knowing he was fed up with being hit all the time, he put a point into Dodge, but the percentage didn't increase. Damn. He tried another one, and it moved up to 5%.
He loved his Shield Bash, so he stuck a point in that. Again, the percentage didn't increase until he put another one in, raising it to 19% which included his buckler's bonus.
For his final point he placed it into Stealth, taking it up to 4%. Hiding was a skill he needed to get good at, especially if he needed to avoid a fight. Or hide from a monstrous tarantula.
Finished, Rob swiped the message away and spent the next ten minutes enjoying the effects of his Light spell. When he grew bored, he decided it was time to put it to the ultimate test.
He climbed around the stump, and down into the gap between the roots. The darkened area illuminated like it was hit with a spot light.
Chuckling, Rob stood at the entrance to the cave.
The light revealed a tunnel ahead, the wet surface of its walls reflecting like diamonds. He judged the light distance to be a good dozen paces before it weakened. But he could see perfectly now.
Beyond the light's edge, in the darkness, he could here nervous chittering and squeaks.
“Okay,” he said, stretching out his arms and legs. He'd waited all day for a chance to climb into this sorry little place.
“The Baby-King has arrived!” He shouted.
Then he went inside.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
He followed the tunnel, peering ahead into the darkness.
The space between the walls was narrow, and he worried it would effect his ability to swing his axe. The ground was covered in slippery muck to the point of being treacherous to walk on.
Not a single rat appeared since he entered. He knew he hadn't killed them all because he could hear more somewhere up ahead. Maybe the light scared them enough to keep away. Fine by him.
Cautiously, he moved forward, placing each foot firmly down before the other. The light revealed small bones in the muck from all sorts of animals and they crunched under his boots.
After several minutes of quiet progress, Rob cast a look behind him. The tunnel curved and he could no longer see the entrance. He was then hit with a strange sense of being trapped, like the walls were suddenly going to close in on him. His balance wavered, and he leaned against the wall until it passed.
What the hell was that? he thought. Maybe it was claustrophobia. He always had an aversion to cramped spaces but no more than most people. Elevators didn't scare him, nor being on crowded buses. Still, maybe this new setting made the sensation worse for him. He was in a cave after all.
After several dozen more paces, Rob could see another side tunnel at the edge of his light. He carefully approached to find the new tunnel angled off perpendicular to the main one.
Not sure whether to continue or change he took a few moments to listen. There was only the dripping of water, the creaking of his armor and the rasp of his breathing. No more squeaks or chittering from either direction.
On impulse he switched to the new tunnel and followed it along. Within a few dozen paces the rocky ground angled downward little by little. Undaunted, Rob continued careful not to slip during his descent.
A few minutes later a carved step appeared in the ground ahead, leading down. Rob edged closer to find it was a long set of stairs, slick with mud, vanishing into the darkness.
It reminded him of the stairs he and Jace descended at Perrin's crypt.
Again, he was uncertain what to do. The change from a tunnel to stairs obviously indicated he was heading toward something of interest. Maybe treasure.
He went down testing each step first with one foot before committing his entire weight. It made the progress even slower, but he didn't want to slip or break his ankle in a hole.
As he descended, he kept checking behind him and occasionally stopping to listen.
The long descending stairs ended suddenly, and the tunnel continued on at a level angle.
This must be bottom, Rob thought as he reached the last step. The carved stone of the stairs ended at the rock of the tunnel floor. Ahead was more tunnel.
Suddenly, he was hit with the strange sensation again, of being trapped. He thought of all the millions of tons of rock surrounding him which could collapse at any moment.
Gasping in surprise, he pitched to one side and had to catch himself from falling. He leaned against the wall to steady himself.
Doubt niggled at the back of his mind. What the hell was he doing in here? Looking for giant rats to kill? How was that even a sane thing to do?
He fought against this train of thought, and tried to calm his nerves by breathing steadily. A panic attack in this place wouldn't be a good thing.
Calmed down, Rob shook his head. “Get a hold of yourself, Robbie-boy. This is all part of the game.”
He pushed on.
Within a few paces he could see the tunnel suddenly widen, with more darkness beyond. A chamber.
Practically inching along, Rob got closer, his eyes watching for any details to emerge from the blackness. When he stood at the edge of the tunnel, he could plainly see the entirety of the small chamber, no bigger than the stone room he and Dorrish had hid in.
The walls were the same as the tunnel. Strangely, there was no mud here, only flat rock. There was nothing of interest inside. No rat queen. No treasure. A dead end. Maybe it had been used for something ages ago, but no longer.
He felt frustrated at having come down all this way, only to have to go all the way back up those stairs empty handed.
As he turned away, grumbling, he noticed something on the far wall. A narrow portion of the rock jutted outward and up. A stalagmite?
Carefully, he entered the chamber and approached it. As he got closer, he could see that it wasn't a stalagmite but a lever, its handle formed from the rock. The base of the lever was fused to the wall.
Well, he thought. This is tempting, isn't it? Should he pull it, or not? He glanced to the chamber entrance. What if he pulled and a rock slid over the entrance? He'd be trapped. Or what if the floor dropped out from beneath him?
His mind whirled with a myriad of terrible outcomes.
Cursing, Rob closed his eyes. Isn't this part of a quest? Maybe not the rat queen one, but another he has yet to start? That could be a possibility, too.
“Fine!” Rob said, frustrated with himself. “I'll pull the damn lever!” His voice echoed in the room and reverberated down the tunnel.
Slipping his axe through a loop on his belt, he gripped the end of the stone handle finding it cool to the touch. Then he counted to three and pulled.
The lever snapped outward several degrees and somewhere he heard a faint click. Suddenly, the rock wall to his left cracked.
But he was already moving. He ran through the entrance and was down the tunnel a dozen steps before he stopped. Breathing heavily, he looked back.
Nothing appeared at the chamber entrance. A door didn't slide to block it and the floor didn't drop out.
But the wall had cracked. Ad
mittedly, he didn't really see any more than that.
He decided to wait, but after a few minutes he felt foolish. Something had happened, and he needed to see what it was. He carefully went back until he stood just outside the chamber again.
Across from him the wall had a large straight crack up its middle. As he peered at it, he noticed that the edges were smooth, as if carved. The crack formed a gap about a foot in width, the smooth stone within extending beyond his vision.
He looked at the lever. He'd only managed to move it a few degrees. What if it were meant to be pulled more?
Curiosity got the better of him and he went to stand at the lever again. While he watched the crack in the wall, he pulled at it.
The crack widened more, and Rob realized that the wall was splitting in two. Both sections slid further and further apart as he pulled the lever more.
In moments, the two sections completely receded into the walls, revealing another section of the chamber.
Rob saw what was on the other side and gasped, his hand fumbling for his axe.
The other section of the chamber was identical to this one, only without an entrance. Rob's light extended over to illuminated it enough for him to see that he was no longer alone.
There, standing in the new side of the chamber, was the figure of a man.
Rob ran to the entrance, his eyes never leaving the figure. Only when he was standing inside the tunnel did he stop, ready to keep going if he had to.
After a few seconds of confusion, he noticed that it wasn't a man but a statue. Its features were smooth to the point he couldn't tell if it was of a man or woman. It stood straight, like a soldier on parade, arms at its sides. There were no carved details on its body, as if a child had started to mold a person from clay but gave up halfway.
Its neck was narrow and its head was shaped like an egg, with the narrow point as its chin.
A single vertical slit formed its mouth, and above that were two empty hollows where its eyes should be.
To Rob it looked like an unfinished wax statue.
He glared at it in suspicion. How could this not be a trap of some kind? Why else was this thing here? The new side of the chamber didn't show anything else of note, just the androgynous figure. What was its purpose here, and why was it hidden behind the wall?
“This is not what I expected from a rat lair,” he said to himself, his voice filling the chamber.
“You are not what I expected of a King,” a voice answered.
Caught by surprise, Rob almost fled back to the stairs. Ready to run at the first sign of trouble, he said, “You were expecting me?”
The voice came from statue, deep and gravelly. “You are the Chosen One, after all, aren't you Robert Barron?”
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. This whole situation was creepy as hell, talking to a statue at the bottom of a tunnel. But he was up for this.
He said, “I certainly wasn't invited, that's for sure.”
“Oh, Robert, but you were. You've been working on getting this invitation all your life.”
“What?”
“You were one of a countless throng of potential candidates. Each one as special as you, but you were picked, and the rest were left to vanish into obscurity.”
“I was taken, asshole. And you know it. Taken from my life and my family. No one asked me if this was what I wanted. You all kidnapped me!”
“I had no hand in your selection,” said the voice. “The Gods chose you.”
“I've heard this tune before, pal. It doesn't play with me. There are no Gods. It's all just a game.”
“I know nothing of what you speak, but I do know you are the Chosen One. The Adventurer-King who will lead this kingdom to greatness, above all others.”
From Rob's vantage point he could see the statue's mouth slit moving, its chin bobbing up and down as it spoke. The rest of its body remained frozen.
Rob said, “Who the hell are you, then?”
“I am the one who waits and watches. As the mountains crumble and the oceans dry away, I will be here observing it all. Such is my task.”
“You got a name? You know mine.”
“I don't have a name. I simply wait and watch, Robert.”
“Sounds exciting,” Rob said. “Look, is there a reason I'm talking to you here? Because I have a rat queen to slay.”
“And slay her you shall. But the reason you are here is of your own doing.”
“How did I do that?”
“You pulled the lever.”
“Ha ha, very funny. Anyone could have done that and you could be taking up their time now, instead of mine.”
“You are here because you willed it, Robert. You are king because you wanted it to be.”
“Nope. Not buying it. I never even knew this place existed before, so how could I have wanted to be its king?”
“One can not know their destiny until it is thrust upon them.”
“More mumbo-jumbo. Why can't you talk normally? Make some sense, please. You're trying my patience.”
“Robert, you are here because it is your destiny, and you have always been drawn to this place. You may not have known of its existence, but it knew of yours.”
“Jesus, you're starting to sound like Saif.”
“Who is Saif?”
“Ah ha! I thought you saw all and knew all! How can you not know of Saif, Mister Omnipotent?”
There was a noticeable pause before the statue spoke. “I do not know this Saif. He is not the Chosen One. You are. I know you.”
Feeling his frustration mount, Rob said, “Saif is my Sage. The First Sage of my kingdom. How can you not know that if you say you're watching?”
“I cannot see each individual pebble on the shore, but I see the great waves which crash upon them.”
“Oh, for the love of...” Rob rolled his eyes. “You know what, buddy. It's been nice talking to you, but I'm on a clock. I want to finish this one quest and head back. So, if you'll excuse me.”
He turned around and walked down the tunnel to the stairs, his anger speeding him along.
After several steps the voice boomed from behind. “Do you want to go home, Robert?”
“I am going home! Got some hot rat stew waiting for me, too!” he said as he kept walking
“Your real home, Robert. 1845 Turlane Avenue, apartment number 425.”
Rob stopped, the hairs on his neck rising again. He turned and looked back at the chamber entrance just beyond his light. What nonsense was this?
Knowing it had his attention the voice continued. “Do you want to go back home, Robert?”
“Yeah,” Rob shouted, trying to think. Why would the mention of his home address feel like such a big deal? Because it made that thing break character, talking about something in the real world?
“Then I am glad you have found me, Robert. I know what must be done.”
Rob walked back to the chamber. “This is a cheap ploy, asshole, you know that?”
“My method is irrelevant. What matters is you follow the path ahead of you.”
“What path is that?” Rob entered the chamber and stood before the statue, but on the edge of where the wall had been. “Are you going to say the path of a king?”
“No, Robert,” the statue said, its ridged chin bobbing up and down. “The path to becoming a God.”
Robert blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that. “What? A god? Me?”
“The Pantheon has chosen you from many. It is their will for you to join them.”
Rob's laughter echoed harshly off the walls. “Are you kidding me? Which is it supposed to be? King or god because I'm getting a little confused here.”
“The path ahead is long and difficult. But I shall guide your way,” the statue said.
“To being a god?”
“Correct, Robert Barron.”
A cold chill ran up Rob's back as he realized something. “How long is it going to take, this path to Godhood?”
“Once t
he world is firmly in your grasp, and its many kingdoms unified behind your banner. Only then will the trials for the ascension begin.”
Rob groaned. “You are kidding me. Jesus, first you want me to be a king, then you want me to rule the world, and then I'm suppose to take a bunch of bullshit trials?”
“Correct, Robert.”
“And only then I can go home?” Rob shouted.
“It is as the Gods deem it.”