“Looks like we have to cross that,” Jaggen said, his voice betraying his lack of enthusiasm. “The Forest Powers know it’s impossible. Those beams are monstrously narrow. It will be hard to keep balance.”
“You better keep your balance,” Matias replied. “I don’t rate your chances if you take a dip in that soup.”
“An alchemical solution I shouldn’t wonder,” the older man sniffed. “The gnomes love their potions and chemical compounds. It’ll strip the flesh from your bones if I’m not mistaken. I don’t think I can cross that.”
“You gonna stay here and wait for more Gluttons to wake up?” Matias asked with a cruel sneer on his face. “Not that I care, but something tells me you’ve got enough bad memories to give them a ten course banquet.”
Jaggen narrowed his eyes. “I’d say the same thing about you, if I’m not mistaken.”
“I wouldn’t say it too often or you might be taking a dip right now,” Matias warned, feeling the need to take out his frustration on someone. He had buried away that terrible night long ago, and to have it ripped from his mind and paraded in front of him made him seethe with fury.
“No need to get grouchy,” Jhondey butted in. He walked to the edge of the pool and peered at the web of walkways. “I can cross this with my eyes closed. Just follow my lead. This will be real easy.”
A few feet away, a section of the pool began to churn violently and a huge bubble floated up out of the liquid. It hung suspended a few feet in the air and burst with all the force of a mini explosion. Jhondey was taken clean off his feet and would have fallen into the pool if Shunz hadn’t lurched forward and grabbed him just in time.
When he was safe, he gave Matias and Jaggen a sheepish look. “Well, it’ll be almost easy,” he conceded.
“Thanks for that in-depth assessment of our situation,” Matias drawled. He headed towards the pool, wary of any more bubbles. The pool remained relatively calm and he put his foot on the walkway nearest to him. It was only wide enough for him to put one foot in front of the other, and maintaining his balance he started to move forward.
“Matias!” Jaggen called after him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to get to the other side or get boiled alive,” he called back without looking round. “After spending so much time with you three freakies, and making out with a Memory Glutton, getting boiled is actually quite an attractive prospect. You coming?”
He heard Jaggen mutter something under his breath and glanced around to see Jhondey bounding across the walkway. Jaggen and Shunz followed a lot more slowly.
Matias proceeded along the walkway, trying to work out the best route to get to the other side. The path of the beams were so convoluted and confusing that he soon lost his way, and the stinging vapours coming up from the liquid below made his eyes water. He had to stop several times and rub them clear before setting off again. The door on the other side got further and further away and frustration began to get the better of him. The more he tried to figure out how to get across, the more it became an impossible task. His lungs groaned in pain and a coughing fit loomed. He managed to keep it down though. If he lost his battle against his own body, he would tumble straight into the pool.
A few feet to the left of him, the liquids started to churn, and another bubble floated up to the surface. Matias quickly turned away and went along another walkway as far away from it as possible. It exploded with an ear deafening bang that made the whole walkway he progressed on vibrate. He stopped dead and fought to keep his balance.
The bursting of the bubble caused flecks of the blue liquid to fly out in all directions. A few landed on his arm and an agonising pain bit into his flesh. Where the liquid hit him, little holes appeared in his tunic sleeve, and the skin underneath was bright red and puckered. Fortunately, the pain subsided and the wounds looked pretty superficial.
Slowly, he started moving forward again, glancing around from time to time to check on the others. Though he told himself he didn’t need them, he didn’t relish going on alone, providing that he even got to the other side without falling into the toxic soup below. The steam was a near impenetrable sheet. He could only see a few feet ahead in any direction, and the noise of the bubbling was now incredibly loud. The others could have fallen in and he wouldn’t even be aware of it.
“Jhondey!” he called out, his voice made raw by the steam. “Jhondey! Jaggen! Can you hear me?”
No voices called back to him, so he turned around and started moving again. If they were gone, they were gone. He had to keep on trudging along. Through the thick plumes of steam, he spotted the other side and switched walkways to head in its direction. The walkway was a straight route and went quite a long way across the pool. With a cautious burgeoning of optimism, he noted he was getting closer and closer to the way out. He picked up speed, eager to get off the pool. It looked like he had stumbled onto a direct path to the other side.
Then, without warning, the liquid directly to the right churned up violently and a bubble, much larger than the last two, rose up just inches from him. Terror clutched Matias’ heart and he scanned around for an escape route. The walkway he was on jutted out away from the rest of the network and there were no offshoots he could move down.
If he was still around when that bubble burst, he’d be finished. The blast would knock him straight into the blue poison. There was nothing else he could do though. He realised he could not escape.
Suddenly, the steam parted on his left and he spotted another walkway running directly parallel to the one he was traveling. It was roughly a few metres or so away from him, wide enough to cross without falling in. He reached out with his leg and was able to touch it with his foot. Behind him, he sensed that the bubble was about to burst. Taking the risk, he brought the rest of his body over in one motion and caught his balance just in time.
He spotted three more walkways stretching across the pool like stepping stones and, without thinking, he jumped across to each of them as the bubble exploded behind him. A hot blast hit him in the back and nearly threw him off his feet as he reached the third walkway. He stuck out his arms to steady himself and managed to keep upright.
With the danger passed, he wiped at his face and let out a harsh laugh. “It’s gonna take more than that to take me down, biatch!”
As if to answer his challenge, all around him the liquid started to churn violently and several smaller bubbles emerged from the surface. They burst at the same time, spraying him with burning fluid, and he had to cover his face with his arms. He swore under his breath as more bubbles began to rise up even closer to him. If they burst at once, he was a dead man.
He looked around and, through the steam, saw that the other side of the room was close by. There were a cluster of walkways in front of him and, if he cleared the gaps between them, he could get out of the pool. A bubble burst while he was still working out how to get across, and he used the shockwave to jump the space to the next walkway. More bubbles rose up and exploded in a flurry, flecking his skin with searing pain. He ignored it and ran and jumped over the various walkways, heading straight for the other side of the room. A particularly large bubble burst with such violent force, it sent him flying from the walkway he was on, and he was flung onto to the solid stone floor on the other side of the pool.
It was over. He had got across and hadn’t been melted down into pulp. Lying against the damp stone flagstones, he realised he was still dangerously close to the pool and crawled away as fast as his exhausted body would take him. The coughing fit he’d been keeping contained erupted and his lungs screamed with pain as he purged himself of its intensity.
The fit passed quickly and he could think straight again. The strength returned to his body as his health regenerated, and he climbed to his feet. He shot a glare at the pool, checking if the others had made it, but there was still no sign of them. It looked like he was truly on his own this time.
Trying not to dwell on the implications
of that, he concentrated on his surroundings on this side of the room. Moving along the strip of stone, he came to the doorway leading out of the chamber. The face of what he guessed was a gnome was carved into the stone and its enlarged mouth served as the door. This time, the door was made of metal and it was perfectly smooth. There was no handle and, when Matias pushed at it, it didn’t budge an inch. Matias banged against it with his fist.
“That’s great!” he snarled, “that’s just great!”
He turned round with his back pressed against the metal door and slid down to the floor in utter despair. He had come this far and now he was stopped in his tracks. It was not fair.
“Damn you, Amy!” he cried out. “Damn you to hell! Damn all of you!”
He felt tears gathering in his eyes and it wasn’t from the steam or the pain in his lungs. Angrily, he held his emotions back. He wouldn’t cry. He hadn’t cried since that night in the apartment so many years ago.
Instead, he glowered at the pool. It would be so easy to get up onto his feet again and do a running jump. There might be agonising pain, but it would finally end this nightmare once and for all. He thought he could survive anything, but this was too much. He couldn’t keep going any longer.
He kept staring at the pool, mentally preparing himself, and was just about to get back on his feet again to follow through on his resolve when he glimpsed a slender shape through the plumes of steam.
“Matias!” Jhondey’s voice called out. “Matias, are you there?”
Matias didn’t think he was more relieved to hear the boy’s voice than he was right now. He didn’t show it though. “I’m here,” he called out gruffly, standing up.
A few moments later, Jhondey bounded over to him while the pool seethed and fizzled behind him. Several bubbles exploded but he was out of range.
“Matias!” the boy said, his idiot grin plastered across his face. “You made it!”
“Obviously,” he said. He frowned and looked over the boy’s shoulder. “Your dad and Shunz . . .?”
“Oh they are coming,” Jhondey said. He turned around and pointed. “Here they are.”
Another larger bulkier shape emerged through the steam and, a few moments later, Shunz came blundering onto the other side of the pool. Jaggen was clinging to his back. As they joined the other two, Jhondey helped his father down off the construct.
“That’s cheating,” Matias said, not caring if he sounded snide.
“Shut up,” Jaggen replied. “It’s all about survival. This isn’t a game!”
Matias smiled at the irony of the statement. “No, I guess not.”
“Wow, look at this door,” Jhondey said, running his hand along the smooth metal. “How do we get through it?”
“You tell me,” said Matias. “I can’t figure it out. Looks like all of this was a waste of time.”
“Nothing is a waste of time when it’s fun,” Jhondey replied. “We’ve done really well so far.”
Jaggen and Matias exchanged looks. “You want me to throw him into the pool?” Matias drawled.
“Don’t tempt me,” Jaggen said.
“Okay, genius kid, if we’re doing so well, how do we get this door open?” Matias said to Jhondey.
The boy was examining the door like he knew what he was doing. “The gnomes built this place, remember?” he said, as he moved on from the door and started running his fingers along the stonework.
A section of the wall on the right hand side suddenly slid open and the three of them jumped back. An alcove was revealed behind it, and out of it trundled some kind of machine. The upper part of it resembled a gnome, while its lower body was given over to two large caterpillar tracks. It trundled forward and in its extended arms it held a platter with a jumble of items that Matias recognised straight away.
“Our gear!” Jhondey exclaimed, rushing forward.
“Careful boy!” Jaggen said, trying to stop him getting too close to the strange machine.
He was too slow and Jhondey grabbed his rucksack off the platter. The gnome robot made no move to harm him and Matias came forward to get his own stuff, pleased he had his stiletto sleeve and staff again. He slung his rucksack over his shoulder. The machine stayed where it was and Jhondey handed Jaggen his own stuff.
When the platter was empty, the machine trundled backwards back into the alcove and the secret door closed shut.
The three men exchanged baffled looks. “So, what happens now?” Jhondey asked, vocalising their silent question.
There was a heavy clang from the doorway and the metal sheet slid upwards, allowing them to finally leave the chamber with the pool. Cautiously, they moved forward and stepped out onto a wide plateau beyond. There they stood motionless as they took in the scene.
“By the Forest Powers,” Jhondey said, his jaw hanging open. “It’s fantastic!”
Matias had to agree with him. Beneath them lay a neatly regimented little town of butterscotch stone buildings with baroque facades and domed roofs of pale green metal. Tall stone lampposts carved to resemble austere faced gnomes in long robes held large domes of glowing aquamarine glass in their upraised arms and lined the wide thoroughfares and streets, providing light to the settlement. Canals of murky black water criss-crossed the town and once well-tended parks and gardens of exotic looking plants now lay overgrown and neglected. Some of the buildings lay in rubble and others were in advanced stages of decay. Despite this, there was still a picturesque beauty to the whole scene.
As Matias stared at a particularly large and grand looking building at the centre of the town, a message in gold script appeared in front of his eyes:
Quest Updated: The Secrets of Kragg
You have successfully reached the gnome colony of Kragg, experience points gained: 200
Congratulations, you are now at Level 3.
You now have four points to distribute amongst your stats via the Sacred Shrine.
“Better than nothing,” Matias muttered to himself. This time though, he would spend his points on upgrading his dexterity and willpower. It was clear now that he was going to need more than just strength alone if he was going to survive down here.
There was a flight of steps leading down to the floor of the huge cavern in which Kragg stood and Matias started moving down them. When the others stayed where they were, he turned round and grinned at them.
“Come on then,” he said. “We got weapons to find.”
Jhondey whooped and ran after him. Jaggen let out a heavy sigh and followed them with Shunz at his side.
“I never should have come here,” Matias heard the old man grumble.
Chapter XXI: Up in the Clouds
Amy could smell sandalwood. It drifted through the dark haze and caressed her senses, bringing her back to the here and now. She seemed to be lying in a pool, warm and tranquil. Her eyes opened abruptly and she stared up at the thick beams of a wooden ceiling, barely visible through the layers of fragrant smoke. A turquoise incense burner hung from a chain above her head and she luxuriated in the vapours it gave off, almost drifting back into sleep.
Then, she remembered what had happened with First Thought and she was suddenly wide awake. The quantum computer had trapped her in her own game.
Alarmed, she tried to sit up but found that she just slipped back in the pool in a boneless heap. Something was wrong. She felt wrong.
She tried to raise one arm and a bolt of horror shot through her when she saw the lumpy formless flesh of livid pink where her limb should be come into her field of vision. When she tried to cry out and discovered she had no mouth.
Do not be alarmed, a message in gold plated gothic took shape in the smoky air above her. Welcome to the Alchemy Worlds. You are in a proto-state. To progress in the game, you must first select which species you would like to be. Each has its own special abilities and attributes that will shape your existence here. However, choose carefully, for you cannot change your mind once you have selected your p
referred race. Not straightaway that is, as anything is possible here.
Amy lay back in the pool and tried to make sense of things. This proto-state was a new one on her. Whenever someone entered the game, they stayed human until they accessed the selection system and then made their preferred choice of avatar. Nobody started as a shapeless blob. She didn’t like this one bit.
While she was literally stewing in her own juices, a HUD screen materialised around her, showing her a list of all the creatures she could play as accompanied by a number of racial portraits for each one.
Welcome to the species selection process, a message told her. Simply speak aloud which kind of being you want to look at and, when you are sure of your choice, speak it aloud and you will transform into that being.
“That’s great but I don’t have a mouth,” she said aloud in an irritated voice. She froze when she realised she now did indeed have a mouth. Being in this proto-state was really very disturbing.
“Okay, Amy, you got to keep together on this,” she told herself, speaking aloud in the hope of calming her nerves. She was stuck in her own game whether she liked it or not, and the only way to escape was to find Matias and this Shrine of Elementios wherever it was. How she was going to do that was beyond her but at least, while she was here, she was safe from Ursa and her monstrous servants.
She peered at all the various beings she could become and realised the options were far more expansive than the perimeters they had originally set. She could choose anything from a moss mubb to a tiny night soil grub. Amy figured she wouldn’t have a very pleasant experience as a night soil grub and a colossal sentinel dragon, though not without its advantages, did not appeal to her. She had often wondered what it was like to actually play inside the Alchemy Worlds and now was her chance. The excitement swelled inside her and she suddenly knew exactly what kind of creature she wanted to play.
The Alchemy Worlds: Enter T(he)rap(y): A LitRPG Adventure Page 22
