“What do you mean what happened?” She walked up to the window and turned around to face me. “Raffyr and Viola. What are they doing here?”
“Ah,” I said. “I figured it was about this.”
“Of course it was about this!” she yelled.
“Nothing is going to happen,” I said.
“Nothing was supposed to happen the last time. And yet somehow you ended up on the other side of the battlefield against Viola.”
“That was different.”
She sighed. “Just why are those two here? Why did you let them in?”
“There’s a good reason for this,” I said.
“Oh, there better be.”
I sighed and then told her everything Raffyr told me — about how they’d been put on the spot regarding me and the Alliance, about how they’d finally taken a stance, and about how that very act had gotten them nearly killed.
At the end, Freya stood quietly, nodding her head irregularly. “That sounds rough.”
“It didn’t seem like they were trying to trick me in any way. Raffyr seemed very desperate to be honest.”
“I’m…sorry,” she said. “I might have reacted impulsively.”
“It’s fine,” I smiled. “You were just trying to take care of me. I understand.”
“So,” Freya nervously twirled a strand of hair behind her ear. “Do you think they…recognized me?”
“Are you worried they’re going to freak out?”
For a long time, Freya had been hiding her identity, disguising herself as a man and going by the alias ‘Frey’. She’d actually been involved with the Lumina Knights for quite some time, and had been Viola’s partner. She’d known Raffyr and Viola quite well back then, but those two knew nothing about all the secrets Freya had kept away from them.
I realized this was the first time Freya was meeting someone who had only known of her past alias.
“I…I honestly don’t know why I’m so nervous about this,” she said. “It just happened so suddenly. When I left the Lumina Knights faction I assumed I would never see Viola or Raffyr ever again. And yet here I am, standing face to face with them.”
It’s actually the second time you’re meeting Viola without your disguise, I thought but didn’t bring it up. If Freya had forgotten the first time she’d met Viola, I wasn’t going to be the one to remind her. It was not in the most pleasant of circumstances to say in the least.
“Hey, listen.” I grabbed her hand, and held it in my palms. “This is going to be fine, okay? Those two still believe a bit in me — a guy who’s been documented in the olden scrolls to basically be the worst kind of person there is. You’re someone they’ve known and loved for a long time. They’re not going to judge you for hiding your identity from them.”
“Mmm.” She looked at the floor.
“In fact, if anything they’re probably going to be more supportive of you. You deserve as much.”
“I know but—”
A flurry of footsteps shot up the staircase, and Ijyela’s hustling form emerged from the secret door in the floor. Freya jerked her hand away from mine. The elven witch looked at me, with her chest heaving. “Zoran, you need to come here,” she said. “Now.”
I froze, and then my chest thumped as I heard the next words out of her mouth.
“It’s the Eternal.”
***
CHAPTER FOUR
I rushed down the staircase, my heartbeat in rhythm with the sounds of my hasty steps. Ijyela and Freya were ahead of me, and looked just as worried as I was.
Okay, I was probably much worse.
The moment I walked into the healing chambers, I froze up at the sight before me. The Eternal lay sealed within the crystal casing, but her body writhed violently. Her hands and legs trashed about, smacking into the casing over and over.
Her face on the other hand was completely calm, as though she had no idea any of this was going on. It was almost as though her limbs were acting on their own.
“What the hell is she doing?” I asked as we crowded around her body.
“No idea,” Krof said. “Her vitals say she’s completely knocked out. This shouldn’t be happening.”
“It’s eerie.” Ijyela had concern written all over her face.
“Can we even do anything for her right now?” I asked.
Krof shook his head. “We had no leads, which is why we called you. We hoped Nyx or Acnologia would have some insight into this.”
“I’ve never seen something like that,” Nyx said. “And if I have, I’ve certainly forgotten about it.”
“I’m quite certain I’ve never seen such a thing either,” Acnologia said.
The noises of limbs banging crystal filled the chamber and each of us delved into our own set of thoughts. I quickly glanced at Raffyr, who — unlike the rest of us — wasn’t paying attention to the unconscious Eternal banging on her capsule. His eyes looked at Viola the whole time.
I frowned. Why is he avoiding this situation? He couldn’t have something to do with it, could he? I stared at him for a second more, and then brushed the thought away. I’m probably being too paranoid.
The man had already established very clearly that he cared a lot for Viola. Expecting him to shift his concentration away from her when she was still unconscious was probably not practical.
“Maybe I should grab my sedatives,” Ijyela said. “I have a collection of strong potions upstairs that could probably knock her out. That’s the only solution I can think of at the moment.”
“Wait, you keep them here?” I blinked. “At my place?”
The elf said nothing and walked up the stairs, out of my vision.
“There are a lot of things we store here, Diablo,” Krof smiled and headed up right after her.
Wow, okay, I thought, and turned away from their disappearing forms, wondering if I should be concerned that there were unknown things being stored at my house.
I glanced at the Eternal, and quickly noticed that her movements had become more vigorous. I placed my hand on the outside of the crystal casing, and felt the tremors pass through my fingers.
What are you doing? I wondered, as unease built inside me as well.
All of a sudden, the Eternal froze. Her eyes jerked open, but instead of pupils, a bright white light shone from within, sending rays into the chamber roof. She opened her mouth and a scorching scream exploded, sending shockwaves through every structure in the chamber. The lady thrashed about wildly — even more vigorous than before — and the tone of her screams turned more violent in an instant.
She’s in pain. My eyes widened. “We need to get her out!” I slid my sword out.
“Zoran, wait!” Freya yelled.
The crystal case shattered, like a pane of glass struck by a boulder. Transparent pieces of sharp, jagged edges showered all over us. The screams turned more high-pitched, and the walls of the chamber cracked, with fissures weaving their way through the structure.
The Eternal was no longer a dark-skinned lady in white robes, but one humanoid being of pure white light. My eyes widened. “What the hell?”
And that was an instant of time not spent well.
The Eternal’s screaming increased its pitch even more, and turned intense enough to cause the roof to destabilize, sending rocks and debris down to the floor. A bright sphere of light shot out of the lady, and the terrifying intensity struck my pupils, rendering me blind. I heard yells as I dropped to the floor, clutching my eyes in pain. I breathed heavy, keeping my eyelids shut, trying to put out the burning sensation raging within them.
In an instant, the sounds around me shut down, and all sensations in my body disappeared. I slowly opened my eyes, the stinging sensation within them dying down quickly, and what I saw was no longer the scene from before, but an expanse of pure darkness.
I blinked. What the heck?
“I have no clue what happened,” Nyx said. “But it seems like your consciousness was brought back to your Spirit Space.”
“It is odd, Eternal,” Acnologia said. “Such a transfer should not happen of its own accord.”
“Unless there’s something that forced Zoran to come in here,” the spirit said.
“That doesn’t sound good,” I muttered.
“No, it does not.”
“I need to get back out there.” I looked at the darkness around me. It was comforting to be in such a place after being half-blinded by sharp light. But it was time for me to leave. I put my hand into the air, focusing on the energy around me and shaping it to my will.
In seconds the darkness shattered, just like the crystal from before. The black peeled away, making way for…more black.
Huh? I frowned.
DING!
A prompt screen popped up before me.
Congratulations! The Familiar Storage System has been unlocked. You can now carry the physical forms of your familiars using the Ga’em.
DING!
Familiar Storage has been activated. ‘Acnologia, the Shadow Dragon’, has been retained within the familiar storage system. You cannot store any more familiars.
I looked around me and realized the Dragon was not here. “What the heck is going on?”
“I am just as confused,” Acnologia said.
“Where are you right now?”
“It looks like I’m in your Spirit Space but I can tell that is not the case.”
“And your physical form?”
“Can’t sense it anymore.” He sounded tense. “It appears my entire existence is within whatever this space is right now.”
“Wow, he actually did get stored in this weird system,” Nyx said.
“Have you heard about such a system before?” I asked. “I wasn’t aware familiars could be stored like this.”
“I had no idea either. I didn’t even think it was possible.”
We’re going to have to pick this up again some other time. I turned to the situation before me. I was still in darkness but I could feel that this was at an actual location. I was in a physical place this time, and not my Spirit Space. I looked right into the black and activated my Night Vision skill.
I made out the fuzzy image of a wall to my right and to my left, and saw a darker black ahead of me. An underground tunnel? I wondered.
My breathing was the only sound that accompanied me, with the surrounding air empty of any voices — both friend and foe.
What did that Eternal do to me? I muttered as I walked through what seemed to be a long corridor. Small rocks and pebbles scuttled across the surface as I kicked them, making my way further down.
“I can’t sense any other presences coming from around here,” Nyx said. “But then again, my orientation is completely screwed up right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was blatantly wrong.”
That’s very comforting to hear, I sighed, glancing around me, but still saw just walls and darkness. My hand hovered over Dawnbreaker’s sheath, ready to pull the blade out.
Something usually did.
“Where is everyone else?” Nyx asked.
“No clue,” I said. “Maybe they weren’t brought here like we were.”
“Where is here anyway?”
“I’m as confused as you are.”
A wall emerged ahead of me, fading in through the darkness. I blinked at the sight. If this path was blocked off, where was I supposed to go?
“I sense an oddity from that wall,” Acnologia said. “Perhaps it is worth looking into.”
I nodded and walked closer to the surface. I sensed nothing at first glance, but I trusted the Dragon’s intuition. I placed my hand on the wall, and tried to see if I sensed anything odd within it. To my surprise there was absolutely nothing. It was a plain old sheet of stone. No more and no less.
However, I didn’t give up. I focused harder, shifting my concentration not to the wall itself but to what was behind it. Surges of energy pulsated on the other side, however the source of this said energy I did not know.
“That’s very odd,” Nyx said. “I’ve never seen an energy signature like this before.”
“Tell me about it.” I put my sword back in its sheath. I took a step back and exhaled while keeping my eyes trained on the wall.
Nyx, can you give me just the arm cover from my armor? I asked.
“Sure,” the spirit said. A stream of lights emerged into the air and collected around my arm, forming a shadow-black piece of armor that covered my fist and a part of my fore-arm.
I flexed my fingers, and then took another look at the wall. I stepped forward and punched it, smashing my fist into its surface. A thundering boom rattled the tunnel, and the wall before me shook. It stood still for just a moment, and the very next, fissures of all lengths and angles plagued it. It took merely two seconds after my punch for the wall to crumple completely.
Take the armor back, I said, and the arm cover dissolved into a stream of light once again, floating into the air and disappearing into the darkness.
DING!
Congratulations! Your ‘Hand Combat’ special move: Meteor Fist has increased to level 3! There is a greater chance of attack and/or speed increasing for every five kills made with the move.
DING!
Congratulations! Your skill ‘Hand Combat’ has increased to level 9! Strength is now increased by +7% while fighting bare handed. Defense increased by +6% while fighting bare handed. Dexterity increased by +2% while fighting bare handed.
I closed the screens. I was too preoccupied with the current situation to express my usual excitement over such level ups. I looked ahead of me, past the wall that had crumbled.
Darkness stirred on the other side of the stone, but my night vision skill let me catch glimpses of what lay within. Another tunnel, I frowned. This one larger than the one I was currently in. I stepped over the remains of the wall I shattered and walked into this new tunnel.
Am I even getting anywhere? I asked.
“I’d give you an answer if I had one,” Nyx said.
What does the field map say? I asked.
“Nothing. The Ga’em doesn’t give us any info on a place unless we find it first, remember?”
Yeah. I shuffled ahead.
Suddenly, I picked out a form lying on the floor ahead of me. I quickly ran up to it and knelt to the ground, taking a closer look.
I couldn’t see much even with my night vision, but I could clearly make out robes of white and strands of curled hair falling down onto it.
The Eternal. My eyes widened. I wasn’t the only one who came here then.
“So, the others might be here too,” Nyx said.
Exactly, I said.
“What do we do about this lady?” Acnologia asked. “I suggest it is best we take her with us.”
Yeah. I bent down and put my arms under her body, quickly picking her off the floor. Her soft skin pressed into my arms as I steadied my hold on her and moved forwards. In a few seconds, the corridor we were in opened into a circular chamber, and I could see that multiple corridors led away from this place. I looked around, wondering which one I should take.
A spark of light glowed from one of them. A small shape, but not of light that I was afraid of, but light that I was longing for. I quickly made my way into the corridor, my footsteps faster, my heart beating loud.
Light emerged ahead of us, first a dot, and then a multitude of rays as we got closer. This was definitely the way out. I could almost smell the open air.
In a few steps, we’d exited the corridor and were in a large cave. About two hundred yards ahead of me was the cave mouth, with light pouring into it like river water into the ocean. I held the Eternal in my hands and moved to the
entrance, turning off my Night Vision skill as I did.
I shook my head, flicking the sweat off my locks, and looked ahead of me. A plethora of trees and plants stood a few yards from the cave entrance, with the green swaying in the gentle wind. It appeared we were in some kind of forest, only the vegetation here seemed larger than I’d expected.
Then again, I hadn’t seen that many forests.
Or at least, remembered seeing them.
“The Field map hasn’t given me a name for this place yet,” Nyx said. “That’s odd.”
“Something weird must be going down,” I sighed. “That’s usually when the Ga’em decides to mess up.”
A hiss came from behind me, and I turned around, just in time to see a shadow shoot at my face. I dived to the side, shielding the Eternal as I hit the ground.
“Oh dear.” Nyx’s voice shivered.
I lay the lady on the floor and turned around, my hand already hovering above my sword hilt. A snake of deep brown slithered across the cave floor, with patterns of black glistening on its back. I used my Analyze skill on it immediately.
DING!
Race
Enchanted Sand Snake
Health
8790
Level
498
Mana
7500
Alignment
None
Stamina
7670
WHAT THE HECK? My eyes widened. Those were not stat numbers that should be on a creature like this. It didn’t even look that special to begin with.
“Oh gods.” Nyx’s voice was trembling now.
“What?” I asked.
The snake however cut us off, hissing as it lashed into the air, right at me. I quickly pulled my blade out and slashed hard, but the creature retreated back almost immediately. I blinked, a little taken aback at its speed.
I hadn’t dealt with a snake that was at this level before. This was going to be weird. I held Dawnbreaker in front of me, with the sword’s purple jewel glowing brightly in the light. The snake rose, and swayed from side to side, with its eyes trained only on me.
The Eternal: Transcend - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 3) Page 4