by A F Kay
Ruwen shook his head. “A flying mouth the size of a wagon with a javelin for a tail and you call it a Sleeper? Your names are terrible.”
“That’s how I feel when the tail touches me. It’s some sort of napping poison.”
“Napping poison? Okay, but that’s not the first thing that comes to mind when you see it.”
Ruwen opened his log and scanned for the entry where the creature had died. He was curious to know its real name, and how much experience he’d gotten for helping kill it.
You have killed a Blind Nightmare (Level 6)!
You have gained 172 (784*(22% level modifier)) experience!
One hundred seventy-two experience was great, but once again, it had almost cost him his life. Trying to get experience this way was like running along a cliff, and he hoped he didn’t fall off.
“It’s called a Blind Nightmare. Blapy is much better at names than you,” Ruwen said.
“I could go with either name.”
Ruwen shook his head again.
A shirt that looked precisely like Sift’s favorite sat on top of a pile of jewels.
“Ruwen’s going to clean mine, so the joke’s on you!” Sift shouted.
“Weren’t you the one that said be nice to the tier one dungeon?”
Sift raised his eyebrows and then yelled. “But thanks!”
Ruwen laughed and then eased the contents of his leather bag onto the ground. He immediately picked up a set of vials that had been tied together, hoping they were the third ingredient he needed for his quest.
Tring!
The Black Pyramid has rewarded you…
Name: Blind Nightmare Tears
Quantity: 10 vials
Quality: Uncommon
Durability: 10 of 10
Weight: 0.9 lbs.
Description: Ingredient in various potions. Even blind, it sheds tears for the hapless.
Ruwen pumped his fist, excited at completing the quest It’s Your Turn to Cook, and then scowled when he read the Blind Nightmare Tears description. At least he hadn’t dropped his staff this time, and that was progress. The best part was he’d managed to get the three ingredients required to finish the quest. He placed the vials into his Void Band.
The only thing still on the ground was a square piece of paper about the size of his palm. He could see the faint lines of an image on the other side, and he picked it up, unsure if it was part of his loot or just trash.
Tring!
The Black Pyramid has rewarded you…
Name: Fleeting Tattoo of Dexterity
Quantity: 1
Location: Arm
Quality: Uncommon
Durability: 1 of 1
Weight: 0.01 lbs.
Effect: Dexterity +1.
Description: Place on arm to activate effect. Effect valid until tattoo has faded. Scrub to remove earlier.
Ruwen studied the small ink drawing of a red fox jumping across the rocks in a stream. The artwork looked fantastic.
“I’ve never heard of tattoos granting effects,” Ruwen said.
“It’s a Blapy thing. It’s one of the reasons she is so popular. She figured out how to do it, and you can only get them here. It is the closest she has ever gotten to winning with me. Not because of the effects, but just because her tattoos are so beautiful. I want to wear them around and show off.”
“Are all of them temporary?”
“No, they come in different durations. What did you get?”
“Fleeting.”
“That’s her lowest type and will last about a month. The go all the way to Soul Bound. That is a nice tattoo for being a Fleeting. It even has color.”
Ruwen removed his cloak, staff, harness, and shirt. He took a few seconds to find the exact place he wanted it, and then pressed the tattoo against his upper left arm. Warmth seeped into his skin. When he pulled his hand away, the paper had disappeared, and his upper arm now had the fox tattoo.
“That is really awesome. I thought people only did these for looks,” Ruwen said.
“Too late now, but you could have sold that for a small fortune. Merchants have been trying to figure out Blapy’s secret for generations.”
Ruwen frowned. “I could’ve used the money. I plan to travel soon, and I’ll need funds. Maybe I’ll get another.”
“It looks good,” Sift said wistfully.
“Thanks,” Ruwen said as he redressed
They started for the tunnel exit, and in a few minutes, they arrived. As soon as Ruwen stepped into the tunnel, his wrist turned ice cold. He looked down to see the Black Pyramid mark, but now it had a number two under it.
Sift saw it as well. “Excellent. We’ll save a lot of time now.”
“What was that?”
“Once you’ve cleared a level you don’t have to do it again if you don’t want to. It makes getting home easier too.”
Sift pressed his wrist to the wall. “My room.”
A smoky rectangle the size of a door appeared.
“That goes to your room?”
“The hallway outside it, actually.”
“And to get back here?”
“You have cleared level two and been marked. Next time we will say ‘level three,’ and a portal will take us to the beginning of level three.”
“What about level one? I never felt anything when we started down the tunnel.”
“You get that by default.”
“Then why did we take the stairs and all the doors?”
“I usually don’t. But I didn’t want to drop us right into a group of monsters on your first day. Now that level one is cleared, it will stay that way for a couple of weeks. It just fills with monsters because no one is ever down there. It’s part of my chores to keep the first level clear.”
“Sweeping.”
“Exactly.”
“Do the portals always work?”
“I was in my underwear, and I wanted to go to the laundry to pick up my clothes, and Blapy put me in the middle of the recreation room.”
“Ow.”
“Yeah, I think she does that to remind people they are only here because she allows it.”
“That is a little scary.”
“You don’t have things like this on the other side?”
“No. We walk a lot.”
“Well, not here. Let’s go get some lunch.”
Sift walked through the door, and after a moment, Ruwen followed.
Chapter 25
Ruwen stepped into the hallway and bumped into Sift’s back. He stepped to the side, wondering what had caused Sift to freeze right in front of the portal. A middle-aged woman stood in front of Sift. Her black hair was pulled into a bun, and her eyes were a light brown, almost yellow, just like Sift’s. She wore a loose-fitting shirt and pants that did little to hide her lean muscles.
“Hi, Mom,” Sift said.
“Running around in your underwear again?” she asked.
“Spitters on level two.” Sift stepped to the side and pushed Ruwen in front of him like a shield. “I was helping Ruwen. Ruwen, this is my mom.”
Ruwen crossed his arms over his chest and bowed. “It is an honor to meet you.”
Sift’s mom turned her focus on Ruwen, but her expression never changed. She reminded Ruwen of a still pond.
“Well met Child of Uru. Her hand sits heavily on you. You can call me Madda.”
“We were getting a quick bite to eat before heading back down. Ky needs him leveled,” Sift said.
“Yes, Ky spoke to us. How fortuitous to run into you. Let’s go meet your father, and we can break two bones with one blow,” Madda said.
“Can we clean up first?” Sift asked.
“Of course. Meet us in the garden. And walk, no using these lazy portals,” Madda said.
“Yes, Mom.”
Madda turned and strode down the hallway. “Don’t dawdle.”
“What does dawdle even mean?” Sift whispered.
“It means she wants us to hurry. That was a sa
ying, right? Not something that is actually going to happen?”
“Be late? Probably, I—”
Ruwen rubbed his face. “No! Break two bones with one blow. Is that a saying or a prediction?”
“Oh, that’s just a saying. My parents must want to yell at me about two things.”
“Oh, thank Uru.”
Sift narrowed his eyes, and Ruwen raised his hands. “Not you getting yelled at. I’m thankful no bones will get broken. Your mom is kind of intense.”
“That is one word for her.”
They both showered quickly. Sift dumped his dirty clothes in the bin outside the door and then went into his room to dress and put more clothes in his belt. Ruwen changed into new clothes as well. His pants had a massive hole in them where he’d scrubbed the fabric out of existence, and his shirt had a large bloody tear from the Blind Nightmare’s tail. Worst of all, his brand new cloak had a large rip in it. Maybe Workers got a sewing ability, and he could fix it. He hoped it didn’t ruin the daily one hundred Health point shield. The dungeon sure was rough on clothes.
“Leave all your weapons here. Dad doesn’t like them in the garden,” Sift said.
“Okay,” Ruwen said, placing all his weapons on his bed.
“Ky talked to them about our deal,” Sift said. “I’m so nervous I could puke.”
“What are you nervous about?”
“That after all my work and dreaming and hoping, they’ll tell me I can’t leave. That I’ll never see the ocean or the snow,” Sift paused for a few seconds, “or her.”
“Her? Who are you talking about?” Another thought occurred to him. “Wait, don’t your parents work for Ky? Can’t she make them?”
“You can’t make Step Masters do anything. Ky relies on them to train her people. And she respects them too much to go against their wishes, especially when it comes to me. I’m on my own.”
“Well, I’ll help if I can.”
Sift looked down.
“What’s wrong?” Ruwen asked.
“Please don’t take this poorly, you’re the reason I even have this chance. But Ky said you’re in great danger, and she won’t hide that from my parents. They might use you as an excuse to not let me go.”
Ruwen’s stomach turned. “I’m sorry, Sift.”
“It isn’t your fault, and it’s not fair to even bring it up. I just know my parents are going to use any excuse they can to keep me from being happy.”
Ruwen felt bad for Sift. When Ruwen felt bad, Tremine always tried to get him to smile. Even if the librarian had a terrible sense of humor, and told the worst jokes, it did usually raise Ruwen’s spirits.
Ruwen lowered his voice to sound more like Sift. “Shade’s First Rule: when breaking bones, it’s best not to dawdle.”
Sift laughed, and the tension in the air broke.
“That’s pretty good. I might add that to the suggestion box,” Sift said as they walked out the door.
“Ky has a suggestion box?”
“Yes, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that uses it.”
As they walked to meet Sift’s parents, Ruwen opened his notifications.
Ting!
You have completed the Black Pyramid Quest – It’s Your Turn to Cook (Level 2).
You have received 1,000 experience.
You have received 10 Black Pyramid tokens.
Eventually, a thousand experience wouldn’t mean much, but right now, it made a huge difference. The memory of Sift standing in front of Ruwen engulfed in flames gave the quest name an entirely new meaning. Blapy really did have a dark sense of humor. Ruwen had two more notifications, and he opened them as well.
Shing!
You have advanced a skill!
Skill: Staff
Level: 3
Effect: Increase damage by 1.5%.
He actually thought he might level his staff more than once as often as he’d swung it at those chickens. But the extra half percent damage would be welcome. He needed all the help he could get. The last notification was a surprise.
Gong!
You have increased your Knowledge!
Level: 36
The intelligent know true power is held by knowledge. The wise know knowledge can be dangerous. Greatness is found between them.
Ruwen thought about everything he’d learned since he’d died…the first time. He’d learned spells, abilities, skills, and even ciphers. Whole new worlds had been opened up to him, and a goddess had brought him into a war that he hadn’t known was being fought. Not only that, he’d learned some things about himself. Not all of it positive. His biases against Workers especially bothered him. It made him feel bad that it had taken becoming one to open his eyes. But recognizing it was the first step in fixing it. He would be better, and this notification proved it.
He glanced at his Profile. His experience was now two thousand six hundred fifty-eight out of six thousand. Not bad. His tattoo added another point to his Dexterity, which was now eleven. His Knowledge advancing to thirty-six only affected his Persuasion and Cleverness, and his Cleverness was still by far the strongest statistic on his Profile at 38.5%. He didn’t know how valuable that was. Everyone thought they were clever.
He closed everything and focused back on his surroundings. It took another ten minutes of walking to reach the garden. Ruwen had expected it to be full of flowers and maybe some trees. Instead, he found gravel paths and pits full of white sand that had been raked in simple designs. They must have been near the outside of the Black Pyramid because shafts filled the ceiling that allowed sunlight into the room. He could see blue sky and the air felt warmer.
The back of the garden held hundreds of rocks in more shapes and colors then Ruwen had ever seen. Most had been stacked or balanced in some fashion. None of it made any sense to Ruwen.
Sift’s parents sat cross-legged in the middle of a round circle of white sand. Sift’s dad had closely cropped brown hair. His eyes were a light blue, and he had the same clothes and lean physique as his wife. Sift stepped into the sand and sat across from his mother. He turned, grabbed a small rake from the side of the pit, and smoothed the sand where he’d stepped.
Sift looked at Ruwen and then at the spot in the sand across from his dad. Ruwen carefully stepped into the sand but didn’t sink very far. It took him a moment to remember his Feather Boots of Grasping reduced the force of his steps by 20%. He sat and mimicked the raking Sift had done.
“Well met, child of Uru. You can call me Padda.”
Ruwen crossed his arms over his chest and bowed as best he could while sitting. “Blessings to you and your family, Padda.”
“Do you sense it?” Madda asked.
“Yes,” Padda said.
Ruwen looked at Sift, but Sift kept his face forward, looking between his parents. Sift looked miserable.
“They have been together less than a day,” Madda said.
“Interesting,” Padda said.
“Uru’s Champion, Ky’s promise, the stirring of –”
Padda reached over and put a hand on Madda’s leg, interrupting her. “Let’s not speak their names here.”
Madda patted his hand. “Yes, caution.”
Ruwen didn’t know what proper etiquette was here, and asking a question might be doing something wrong. But his curiosity was so intense he could feel it in his chest. They were talking about him and Sift, and even if they ignored him, he had to try.
“What do you sense?” Ruwen asked.
To his shock, Madda answered.
“Your energies have intertwined,” Madda said.
Sift looked so unhappy Ruwen couldn’t help himself. Out of the corner of his mouth, Ruwen whispered. “Get your energy off me.”
Sift let out a strangled laugh and looked down for a few seconds to try and stay serious. That made Ruwen laugh, which pushed Sift over the edge. They both laughed and then couldn’t stop.
Tears streamed down both their faces, and Ruwen waved his hand, trying to get the word “sorry” out,
but his throat had tightened, and the word came out unintelligible. This made Sift laugh even harder. It took them a minute to stop triggering each other into laughter. Ruwen turned his head away from Sift so he couldn’t see him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect,” Sift said.
“I apologize as well. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s my fault,” Ruwen said.
Ruwen bit his tongue hard to stop from laughing.
“It is good to hear you laugh again,” Padda said.
“That sound is like sunshine on my soul,” Madda said.
Sift’s parents stared at each other for a few seconds and then Madda nodded. They both faced Sift.
Padda spoke in a soft voice. “You and Kysandra entered into an agreement, which you have won, that earned you the ability to travel through the Blood Gate. Kysandra has explained, as much as she is able, the circumstance she and Ruwen find themselves in. Specifically, she explained it will be highly dangerous. Before we tell you our decision, we want you to know our reasoning.”
Sift’s shoulders slumped. He knew what was coming.
Madda spoke. “You are very capable, more so compared to those past the Blood Gate, but you are also young. We understand you feel trapped here. With experience, you will recognize it as the refuge it is.”
Sift’s head dropped until his chin touched his chest. Ruwen’s stomach clenched at seeing his friend so despondent. Madda paused, but Sift remained silent. After a few heartbeats, she continued.
“There is also the issue of your meridians. We have not yet tried everything, and we still have hope. Leaving would delay that process.” Madda paused before continuing. “Then there is the danger. We know all too well the carnage and destruction that surrounds the gods. Crossing with Kysandra now means being near Ruwen, and Ruwen has chosen a path where death is a constant companion. You would never be safe.”
Sift’s parents looked at each other again, and then Padda spoke. “We have thought of nothing else since yesterday. We love you and want to protect you.”
Sift stared into the sand.
Madda sighed. “Which is why we’ve decided to let you go.”
