Rebirth

by Devin Auspland

CHAPTER FIVE

  Quest

  They ushered Zach behind the counter and up the stairs. He received a mixture of jealous and plotting stares from the other adventurers in the room and their eyes stayed on him until he left their sight. A guard accompanied him through the several sets of staircases and hallways until he reached Alcot’s office. “He’s right through there,” the guard said as he pushed open the door. The pair entered, and the guard bowed. Zach noticed the guard’s motion and hastily joined him.

  “Ah. I assume this man is the party leader that accepted my urgent quest?” Alcot asked, and the guard nodded before departing. “Come in, come in. Why don’t you take a seat?” Alcot motioned to the open chairs opposite him. After Zach sat, Alcot continued. “First, let me say thank you for accepting my quest. While it's an important quest, I have to ask for your discretion as we’re keeping the details a secret.” Zach nodded slowly, and Alcot clasped his hands together. “Good! Now please follow me.” He stood from his desk and escorted Zach from the room.

  They didn’t travel far, only slightly down the hallway, until they reached a wooden door with a sign above it. The sign read ‘Solaris Map Room’ and Alcot pushed his way in. Isaak was sitting at a small desk periodically looking at the map and then writing on the empty paper in front of him. “Isaak.” Alcot called out to the map mage, causing him to look up in surprise and scurry over to the pair. “This is the adventurer who accepted the quest. Isaak meet…” He just realized that he never exchanged formal greetings with Zach and his cheeks flushed.

  “My name is Zach, and it's nice to meet you.” He extended his left hand before pulling it back and replacing it with his right.

  Isaak took his hand and shook it firmly. “Left handed?” he inquired with a raised eyebrow, and Zach nodded. “That’s rare. If you learn to master that blade at your hip, it could give you a real advantage.” It was Zach’s turn to look intrigued and Isaak quickly added, “not many people have experience fighting against left-handed opponents. When fighting you, they’re forced to guard, dodge, and counter-attack differently. You, on the other hand, will spend most of your time fighting against right-handed opponents so you’ll know how they should react to your movements. It could grow into a boon if you nurture it.”

  “I’m not sure if I agree with that totally. The only thing my left-handedness has ever done for me is making people think I’m a witch.” Zach chuckled.

  Alcot placed a hand on Zach’s shoulder and laughed along with him. “You should trust him on this one.” He patted his large scabbard, which Zach noticed was sitting on the knight's right side.

  “Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Zach.” Isaak steered the conversation back on track. “I have the data that you requested Master Alcot.” Isaak handed him a few sheets of paper.

  Sifting through the pages, Alcot let out a low grunt. He took several moments to review everything of interest before walking to the map and pointing at the location in question. “Our map mages detected a burst of magical energy from this location a few days ago. Normally we wouldn’t be able to detect changes in the local essence but, according to their analysis, the essence readings were off the charts. It was so powerful that it set off all our wards. Unfortunately, it vanished as quickly as we detected it and the readings all returned to normal. I need you and your party to head out there and see if you can find anything out of the ordinary.”

  Zach reviewed the map and the location in question. “It seems to be a few weeks away if I travel by horseback.” I don’t have a horse though… he thought. “Is there any time limit on the quest?”

  “No. But I want you to make this a priority. If you have any other assigned quests, I will move them to other groups.” Alcot handed Zach a silver ring with an emerald set in it. “This is a location ring. It will lead you to the general area if you push some essence into it.”

  Taking the ring and placing it on one of his fingers, Zach looked up. “Yes, Sir.” He hesitated. “About the payment… If I could get some of it upfront, it would help me better prepare for the trip and possibly acquire the previously mentioned horse.”

  “Does anyone in your group have a horse?” Alcot inquired.

  How do I tell him that I don’t have a party? I hope he still allows me to complete the quest. “About that, Sir. I don’t have a party. I adventure alone at the moment,” Zach answered.

  Alcot raised an eyebrow and sighed. “You know guild policy. Payment is always when the quest is complete.” Zach deflated. “That being said, and since you’re traveling alone, if you speak with my page Willard, he can provide you with some basic provisions for the road. Is there anything else you need before you depart?” Zach shook his head. “Please wait for my page on the lower level. I have to get back to some other administrative tasks, but I expect to hear from you in a few months at most. Do I make myself clear?”

  Zach stood up straight and bowed, hands at his sides, before saying, “yes, Sir” and walking out the door. He entered the hallway that connected the map room to Alcot’s office and headed for the staircase that led downstairs.

  It took several minutes for him to navigate his way back to the large meeting hall, needing to stop for directions several times before reaching his destination. One guard in particular was extremely helpful and personally guided Zach through a few stairways.

  When he finally entered the room, all eyes were back on him as he descended the final staircase. Some looks had softened but most were still fierce as ever. When he reached the bottom, a woman was waiting for him. She was tall, slender, and quite attractive.

  “Hello there. Before you go on your little adventure, why don’t you share a drink with me. I’m buying.” Without warning, she grabbed Zach’s arm and pulled him to a table. She gracefully flowed into her chair and pointed at the open seat opposite her. “Please join me.” She sounded offended that Zach hadn’t sat.

  Ok… I’m confused… He sat in the chair and at a snap of the woman's fingers, a server appeared and placed drinks at their table. He sniffed his drink for poison before realizing he didn’t know what poison smells like. The woman noticed his gesture and grabbed the mug from him. She took a sip before handing it back with a smile. He took a leisurely sip of the cool brew to wet his lips before speaking. “Thank you for the drink.”

  She smiled playfully and ran a finger up and down the side of her cup. “I know strong adventurers like you enjoy a good stiff ale.” She took a large gulp of her drink. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Noelle and I’m in need of a…” she emphasized her next word, “big adventurer like you.”

  Zach gulped and tried to think of a response. The blood in his body betrayed him as it flooded to the wrong head. “Well… Ahem. I wish I could help you Noelle but I really must be going.” He pushed his chair out to stand, but she placed a leg against his under the table.

  Her leg began stroking his and getting uncomfortably close to Zach’s ‘dagger’. “You can’t stay and hear a poor woman out, Zach?”

  His face slumped. Of course he wasn’t this lucky. He stood from his seat and spoke with a stern voice. “I figured you were after the quest.” She looked puzzled and cocked her head. “I never told you my name.”

  Noelle’s smile turned to an eerie grin and her voice changed from playful to malevolent. “You can’t blame a girl for trying now, can you?” Zach walked toward the exit of the room but before he was gone, he heard her add, “see you soon.”

  Spinning around to respond, Zach saw an empty table where Noelle once sat. Oh great. Now I have an attractive woman after me. He paused for a moment. Ok, under any other circumstances I would be celebrating right now. Lost in thought, he didn’t notice Willard approaching from behind him. When the page tapped his shoulder, Zach jumped and grabbed his sword. He failed to get it out of the sheath as he spun but pulled on it furiously. He stopped when he saw who it was, Willard being somewhat famous and easily recognizable.

  “Hello. Your name is Zach, correct?” Zach nodded. Willar
d removed a heavy-looking knapsack from himself and dropped it on the floor. “There you are. There are enough provisions in there for a few weeks, but you will need to find water as you go. There’s also a basic tent and some torches. After this, you’re on your own.”

  Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Zach grabbed the sack, surprised at how heavy it was, and slung it over his shoulder. “Thank you.” Willard nodded and turned to enter the guild building. “Wait!” He turned and raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout. I was just wondering if you have any advice?”

  Willard smiled and said two words slowly before disappearing through the door. “Don’t die.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Creation

  “Errrr… I think I just mentally farted.” Breck was concentrating so intensely that he could have sworn he saw a bead of sweat drip down his core. He stopped focusing and let out an exaggerated sigh. “It’s not working. What am I doing wrong?”

  Jeeves reviewed Breck’s latest failed attempt at creating a blade of grass. There was green and blue slime covering the ground in the faintest resemblance of grass. “I’m not sure, Sir. It appears you had the right amount of water and earth essence, but you didn’t get the desired result. Were you able to pull the pattern up in your mind?”

  “Yeah! I thought of a blade of grass while pushing essence into the area. All I keep getting is that mush of green and blue,” Breck responded heatedly. He had been trying to create something for the past few days without success, and it was annoying him. What did Jeeves tell me again? Think of the image or pattern of what I want to create, apply the right amount and type of essence required, and the object would generate where I specified.

  “Perhaps try to recall the information you gained when absorbing the grass. Maybe that could tell you more,” Jeeves suggested.

  Breck searched his mind. He recalled the moment he first absorbed the grass and the proceeding flood of information. It reminded him of searching things on a computer, with his brain acting like a hard drive. It differed from recalling a memory. It was more precise, exact, and instant. “Jeeves, I think my brain got a bit of an upgrade.” He explained what was going on and Jeeves mentally shrugged, unsure how to respond, so Breck continued to pour through the data he had on grass. Then he found something. It resembled a luminous night’s sky with millions of stars inside himself, but when he thought of his knowledge on grass, a constellation illuminated.

  Working on pure instinct, Breck flowed essence into it. Lines formed and connected the glittering points as he worked, and before he knew it, it was burning hot in his mind. Unsure what to do now, he tried thinking of something else, but the smoldering image wouldn’t vanish from the forefront of his mind, so he cast it out. He focused on the ground near his core and moved the glowing visage out of his head and onto the dirt.

  As soon as the constellation was down, the glowing intensified. Breck was being blinded, and he wanted to move his focus elsewhere, but he didn’t dare turn away. Then it happened. The smallest blade of grass he had ever seen formed out of the center of where he placed the image. He had successfully created something.

  “Marvelous, Sir! And check your new rank!” Jeeves spoke excitedly.

  Searching inward for his rank, Breck knew he was now beginner three. “This is remarkable, Jeeves!” He was beaming with satisfaction.

  “May I make a few suggestions, Sir?” Jeeves chimed in again. Breck mentally nodded so Jeeves continued. “The grass you were able to make is small, but it should have only taken a fraction of the energy you received when initially absorbing it fully grown. I would suggest creating grass all around you and allowing it to grow naturally. When it's fully grown, you can then reabsorb it for a net gain. As a bonus, the shade provided from the grass should also provide a splendid natural defense for us.”

  The prospect of gaining more essence and the sweet, sweet tastes he would enjoy excited Breck, but he paused when he heard the need to defend himself. “Hey, Jeeves? What do you mean provide a defense for us? What exactly would I be defending against?”

  “According to my data, Dungeon Cores are considered both extremely valuable and dangerous. As I informed you earlier, to rank up, you must absorb more essence and gain more knowledge. This is true for all beings in this realm and since you’re a being of pure essence, others will want to absorb you for a quick boost in their ranks. I warned you they could crush you to gain your essence, didn’t I?”

  A frowning face projected back at Jeeves. “I forgot about that.” Breck was about to form some grass around them when another question came to mind. “You said Dungeon Cores were valuable and dangerous. I get why someone, or something, would want to crush me but why are we considered dangerous?” What, are they scared I’m going to roll on top of them or something? Wait… Can I even roll?

  “Dungeon Cores have the ability to create whatever they absorb, as you did with the grass blade. The same is true for any creatures you get the pattern for. You could create swarms of those spiders we saw earlier, for example. According to my data, that kind of power creates fear.”

  He isn’t wrong, Breck thought. If there was something in our world that could magically create spiders or monsters, the government would want it destroyed. “How do I fight against fear?”

  Jeeves mentally smiled. “Ah, that is a question your human philosophers have been asking since the dawn of time.” Breck frowned, causing Jeeves to chuckle. “Fortunately for you, there is some precedence for Dungeon Cores fighting such fear. The folktales in my data depict images of Dungeon Cores handing out loot to people who defeat their monsters and champions. I see scenes of people slaying creatures who then become treasure chests. After the adventurers collect their rewards, they leave the Dungeon Core alone and intact. We will need to discover some way of rewarding people.”

  Breck smiled. His roommate in college used to play a lot of video games which Breck would watch in between his studies. Breck’s favorite type of games to watch were role-playing games. Most of them had a similar concept for dungeons and the purpose of a Dungeon Core was now making a lot more sense. “I understand now, Jeeves. Let me take a wild guess. Do those images also depict Dungeon Cores creating bases with multiple floors or hallways leading to increasingly stronger foes?”

  “Sir?” Jeeves was taken aback. “Have you heard of these folktales?”

  It was Breck’s turn to laugh. He did his best to catch his breath before he answered. “Something like that. I think it’s best we create some grass now.” Jeeves mentally nodded, and Breck got to work.

  First he took stock of his surroundings. He still couldn’t see far from his opal, so expanding his influence was a must. Defence was another major concern but all he had in his creation arsenal was grass, water, and dirt. That’s it! Breck started searching his inner mind for all the knowledge he had on dirt. It took a few minutes, but he found what he was looking for, the pattern. At first glance, he wasn’t sure what the points resembled, but it became abundantly clear after he flowed enough earth essence into it. Lines connected all the dots like before, and the image of a rock quickly appeared in his mind.

  Breck placed the now glowing pattern on the ground beneath him and the surrounding earth rose a few centimeters. Hmm… Maybe I didn’t give it enough essence. The pattern faded until Breck pushed more earth essence into it. This time he continued the flow and imagined a dome encasing him. He willed the image to life and soon the surrounding ground warped and spun to form a protective dome. “There! We’re protected and hidden now.”

  “I applaud your initiative, Sir, but that simply won’t work,” Jeeves stated with a firmness to his voice.

  “What do you me…” Breck then felt it. His connection to the surrounding essence was becoming faint and unresponsive. He tried to pull new essence to himself but could feel it being blocked. While he wasn’t able to absorb anything, he found something interesting. That’s strange. I can still feel the grass I created outside of my dome. Unsure
what to make of that, he asked Jeeves.

  “That’s simple, Sir. Since you created them, they are still a part of you. Consider them extensions of yourself. As long as they are within your area of influence, you will have the ability to sense and interact with them. Even now, inside your dome, you should be able to see your entire area of influence,” Jeeves helpfully replied. Extending his mind around his area of influence, it amazed Breck to find out that he could still see everything. “I would suggest you bring down this dome to replenish your essence.”

  Breck had another idea. Focusing on the dome, he opened small vent holes on it to allow the flow of essence and absorption to resume. A thin trickle was now seeping in but not nearly enough to make his new defensive dome worth keeping. Maybe I’ll use this as a last line of defense or something. The dome cracked and broke apart and he reabsorbed everything. “Hey!” He got excited. “Absorbing that dome was incredibly easy. Unlike when I had to breakdown the water or grass and force it into its essence form, the earth just crumbled apart for me and flowed into my core. What’s the deal?”

  “I believe I already explained that. Everything you create is still a part of you. Unlike absorbing something foreign, you're just returning your own essence to yourself. Of course it would become easier,” Jeeves stated almost mockingly.

  Sending the image of himself face-palming to Jeeves, Breck had to remind himself that Jeeves wasn’t used to this much conversation and thought, he’s only been ‘alive’ for a few weeks. “I guess I should start absorbing more of the stuff around me while expanding our influence?” Jeeves didn’t reply so Breck decided to just go ahead and look for things to absorb. Unfortunately, his area of influence was still only two feet and there wasn’t much other than his grass in the surrounding area.

  As he searched his area of influence, he felt a tickle coming from above. A wasp had flown into view and was buzzing around. I should practice inspecting creatures. Breck examined the floating intruder and discovered it was at beginner one. A wasp is stronger than that spider? I doubt that. Wait a minute… I wonder if that would work… Breck brought up the pattern for earth in his mind and filled it with his essence but instead of releasing it into the world to create some stone, he tried shaping it. He tried moving some points on its constellation in order to form what he had in mind. But moving a single section caused the essence that was required to power the pattern to increase exponentially. When he had the rough resemblance of a foot-long rectangular rock, he released it, this time in the air above the wasp.