He was clearly mocking me, aware of his superiority.
I sent Jeb a quick message,
Stay hidden. This is my problem.
I didn’t want him to get killed.
It was relatively quiet underground. I could hear the gurgle of the reeking creek and the squeaking of the rats.
“Well, well, well,” the Dark Warrior interpreted my silence in his own way. “You asked for it, so don’t complain later.”
I could see that Jeb hadn’t obeyed my warning and was plotting something. He was silently and stealthily making his way to the center of the hall, between compacted piles of refuse. He had the salamander glove on his hand!
“What do you want with me?” I asked and rapidly rounded a mound of stones, changing my location.
“Ha! There you are!” the Dark Warrior smiled condescendingly but answered nevertheless, “We’re on a mission to capture you. You shouldn’t have revealed yourself as a Guardian. The Shadows are furious. They hate people like you so they’ve given us an assignment.”
“What will happen to me now?” I asked, playing for time. I thought that I had figured out what Jeb was planning.
“That’s not for us to decide. You can ask the Shadows yourself,” the Dark Warrior headed in my direction decisively, having determined it from my voice. The Mage and Archer also came through the break in the wall, grimacing at the smell of sewage and toxic fumes.
Jeb grinned creepily and sent a fireball into the Protorat’s lair.
The garbage was thrown up in all directions. The surviving miniboss flew into a rage at once, his aggro zone covering the whole central hall. The Dark players found themselves cut off from the gap that they had come through but I had to give it to them, they kept their cool. The Warrior covered himself with his shield, the Mage instantly cast some kind of buff on him, while the Archer raised his weapon, pulled back the string and released five burning arrows, one after another, which struck the Protorat’s snout.
The creature screeched terribly.
Stun 5 seconds.
Horror 20 seconds. Effect: -5 to Stamina, -5 to Dexterity.
Aura of Malodor. Your Stamina regeneration rate is reduced.
Aura of Disgust. Your movement speed is reduced when you attempt to approach the Protorat.
Toxic Breath. Damage 2 HP/sec
…
Jeb rolled away, shaking his head. My legs gave out from under me and I could barely move but the Protorat ignored us, focusing on the Dark players instead. They had made a mistake in injuring him and thus attracting his attention.
However, Jeb and I weren’t faring much better. The screech of the miniboss had drawn all the other rats to the fray. I had never had to deal with so many of the smaller creatures at once. They came from everywhere, trickling in like gray streams.
Jeb deftly dodged several attacks and with a wave of his spear, pointed in the direction of the tunnel where we had found the portal.
He was right. It was the only way out now!
I rolled over the piles of garbage, noticing out of the corner of my eye how confident and well-coordinated the Dark players were. The Warrior was bravely taking the damage, blocking attacks with his shield, the Mage was constantly buffing and healing him, while the Archer dealt damage. The Protorat’s HP bar had already decreased by a third!
* * *
We were breathing heavily.
We had escaped the central hall with hardly any Life points remaining — there had been too many rats in our way.
“Hurry! Activate the portal!” Jeber_Arium switched from his spear to a curved handmade staff, and we were enveloped in a pale golden aura that slowly restored our Life points.
The guides weren’t lying! The pain from the bites immediately became bearable and the numerous wounds stopped bleeding.
“Watch the tunnel!” I stretched out my arm. A roar came from some distance away. It seemed like things weren’t going well for the Protorat, so the miniboss had moved to the next fighting phase, showing the Dark players a new set of abilities.
My fingers were shaking. The hand hovering over the runes began to rapidly go numb yet nothing was happening.
“Concentrate!” Jeb screamed. His words were louder than the Protorat’s squeal.
“I’m trying!”
Smaller creatures crept into the tunnel after us as the mobs also tried to avoid the enraged miniboss. The walls were plastered in centipedes and poisonous spiders that had appeared from somewhere. I’d never come across them before in this dungeon,.
The first symbol finally flashed brightly. I was bathed in sweat. My mental energy decreased and the blue bar grew rapidly shorter.
The second rune lit up with brilliant rays.
Jeb was fighting off the spiders and centipedes as he gradually stepped closer to me.
Four... Five...
The portal turned into a humming, almond-shaped eye.
“Quick!” I stepped first into the unknown, desperately hoping that Jeber_Arium would follow me.
Unbearable heat licked my face.
My hair crackled, coiling into stinking balls. The portal shimmered behind me while an endless starry sky spread out overhead. A green moon, half-enveloped by clouds, hung in the zenith, while a fissured and flaming plain stretched out before me, fiery tornadoes swirling among the building ruins.
…
You have unlocked a portal!
+10 to Fame if you place its coordinates on the public maps.
…
You have discovered a new region, the Scorched Lands.
+10 to Fame if you publish the information in the Game Encyclopedia.
…
The mage who had sealed the teleportation stone and left a warning had been farsighted, while we were stupid and arrogant.
The flames were erupting everywhere!
Jeb screeched, his eyes bulging, but it was impossible to predict when the next pillar of fire would appear. They flared up chaotically and lasted bare moments, managing to burn but not to kill...
“Retreat!” I croaked, but my limbs were paralyzed by pain, the skin blistering and bursting, causing suffering and yet making the Life bar drop only little by little. Respawn was still far off but madness hovered close.
An ash cloud with a crimson glow was coming at us, shaggy, smoky emissions shooting out from it, flowing around obstacles and momentarily assuming the shapes of fantastical creatures. Or was I going crazy?
Jeb swung his crooked staff as if in slow motion, and a bubble of cool air formed around us.
I looked around. Curiosity was stronger than the instinct to flee. Clusters of ruby crystals lay underfoot, smoldering like coals. There was no time to identify them since the effect of the buff wouldn’t last long so I simply scooped them up into my inventory. I didn’t want to leave empty-handed!
The ash cloud was getting closer, Jeb was shouting something and trying to pull me away but I was glued to the spot by the sinister beauty of this place. I couldn’t have imagined it or seen it in my dreams, but the sensations were so realistic that it sent shivers down my spine.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Jeber_Arium dragged me back to the portal’s iridescent film before the air bubble dissipated, the only thing saving us from a painful death.
A fire devil split off from the cloud and rushed towards us.
…
Ifrit Level 50, reported the interface.
…
I think I screamed. I could barely remember any details, everything merged into a single shocking impression.
Jeb managed to pull me back into the portal.
The burning plain, ash cloud and velvety green moon all disappeared. We were back in the reeking, dimly lit cavern.
“Dan, turn off the teleport!”
I obeyed automatically and raised my hand, intending to extinguish the runes. In that moment, the Ifrit burst through the rainbow film. A wall of heat washed over us and we were scattered aside as if there had been an explosion.
Jeb and I barely survived. We coughed convulsively. The Protorat’s roar could no longer be heard and the underground was rapidly filling with suffocating smoke. It wasn’t clear what had happened to the Dark ones, but right now, we had other things to worry about.
“Jeb, we need another air bubble!”
“I can’t! My mana’s at zero.”
“What do we do?”
“The other tunnel.” he croaked. “There’s another portal!”
“A sealed one, too?” I asked, horrified.
“Yes! Over here, quick. It’s not far.”
Chapter Ten
JEB AND I made our way in the dark through a crevice of some kind. We moved almost exclusively by touch but Jeb knew the way and led me forward confidently. The Ifrit was rampaging in the central hall, beside the respawn point. Acrid smoke drifted into the fissure.
Jeb stopped.
“What’s the matter?” I asked worriedly.
“I’ve accumulated some mana... Here...”
A pale light source appeared over our heads, looking like a tiny clump of milky white radiance. Now I could see the walls and uneven vault of this narrow tunnel. It looked like it had been made by dwarves.
“This way,” Jeb forced aside a heavy boulder.
I followed him through the opening.
We were in a dark square hall with the entrance blocked off. A stone circle stood in the middle of the floor, segments carved into its surface. A magical symbol shone dully on each one. I was already familiar with some of them.
“Can you activate it? Have you got enough strength?”
“I’ll try.”
The walls were trembling and small stones occasionally clattered down from the ceiling. The fiery monster continued its rampage.
The smoke was reaching us even here. My mind began to drift and my eyes stung.
…
You have received carbon monoxide poisoning.
You are finding it hard to breathe.
You’re suffering from a lack of oxygen.
Your Intellect has been reduced by 1 point.
…
This was bad. My mental energy was running low anyway!
“Dan, focus! Quickly, activate it.”
My only hope was the mysterious artifact. I moved my hand over the symbols. Some of them flared up brighter than the others but I was struggling to keep a grip of reality. My dizziness intensified and it wouldn’t be long before I lost consciousness.
The portal flared purple.
Jeb slumped to the floor. With the last of my strength, I picked him up and pushed him into the sinister glow, then stepped in myself.
* * *
It was cold.
The air was thin but clear. Were we in the highlands?
The mental question finally brought me to my senses. Jeb and I had been very lucky. We had barely made it. A little longer and we would have remained underground as amusement for the Ifrit, who would have sent us into respawn time and time again.
…
You have discovered the Deadly Crag.
…
I stood up with a groan, picked up the broken sword and peered around me. What a strange place.
Where was the portal? And what the hell had happened to Jeber_Arium?
There was no vegetation around me, only bare, cracked and weathered cliffs. A small stone ledge extended over the precipice. The respawn circle flickered unevenly at the edge of the platform, and further out... honestly, the imagination of the game designers! I couldn’t believe my eyes at the start. Everything below the precipice was covered in a thick, greenish fog that swirled and twisted in fleeting knots, forming currents, but this wasn’t the most remarkable thing. In the gloom, I could see a lifeless planetoid covered with craters!
How was this possible?
Man, I kept forgetting that I was in cyberspace. All right. I’d take that as a given. So what if a small moon was hanging right under the cliff? Someone had obviously been in a surreal mood when they had sketched the location, that’s all.
I suspected that the bizarre designs would soon stop surprising me altogether. Right now, I had to think about the most pressing issue. Where had Jeber_Arium gone?
Oh, there he was, cautiously peeking out from behind a sharp fragment of rock.
“Jeb, where’s the portal?”
“I have no idea! Maybe it’s higher up? We seem to have rolled down a scree but it’s very steep so we won’t be able to climb back up. Dan, come over here, I’ve found something!”
“Coming. Did you see what’s happening below the cliff?”
“Fog and some kind of planet.”
“Is that normal, in your mind?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. If someone wanted it like this, it may have been created as a special order.”
“Do you mean the location?”
“Of course.”
I shrugged, involuntarily glancing toward the roiling, ghostly haze, then walked over to Jeb.
“Look!” he pointed to a pile of mixed bones. You couldn’t tell whom they had belonged to but among them lay familiar outfit items.
I picked up a shield with a faint pattern on its scratched surface. It turned out to be surprisingly light and probably very durable. There was not a single dent on it even though its previous owner must have been in hundreds of fierce fights, for what else could have almost completely erased the intricate coat of arms?
“Cool, huh? It fits your arm perfectly!”
Yes, the grip was comfortable.
“And this!” Jeb pulled out a one-handed sword with a sharp but tarnished blade from under the remains.
I examined it, reading the properties.
…
Long sword. A typical weapon for a knight, convenient, reliable, but not possessing any outstanding qualities. Damage 8-10 with scaling depending on Strength. With a high Adaptability score (15 and above), the damage can be increased using various temporary effects (magical or alchemical).
…
I rejoiced like a child. What a find! My Strength was currently 12, so the sword’s base damage was 96-120! What if I buffed the blade with magic, or at least the amber resin that I had found in the cave?
I would have to try it later, but meanwhile, I examined the second item.
…
An ancient shield with a coat of arms. Creator unknown.
Material undefined.
Protection from physical damage: 70%. Affix: Stamina consumption reduced by 10% when blocking attacks.
…
I put the rusty sword fragment away in my inventory. I couldn’t throw it out. It was dear to me as a reminder of my first days spent in cyberspace.
I placed the shield on my left arm. It fit perfectly.
A paradox. A week ago, I had been whiling away my time in front of the spherovision, believing that old age had come for me and now…
“Dan, what are we going to do?” Jeb stared at me questioningly.
“Have you found the portal?”
“Not even a hint of a teleportation stone.”
“Then look for any evidence of the invasion of the Abyss. Any kind of dip or scorched area. I’ll examine the respawn circle. I wasn’t even offered the option to change my anchor point!”
“Strange, neither was I. Nor did I receive the message that I’ve found a new area. There have obviously been players here, long before us. Dan, just be careful, okay? See all the bones? It’s no accident.”
* * *
It was a very odd place. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised when I discovered that the respawn circle (roughly hewn at the edge of the cliff) was cracked and parts of it had crumbled away into the abyss. This was a problem. Some of the magical symbols were missing. HP regeneration was proceeding at a normal pace, even though natural recovery was supposed to be twice as fast at a respawn point.
Edge of the Abyss (Respawn Trials Book #1) LitRPG Series Page 15
