by John Nest
This barren Insel was connected to three others. One was a grassy knoll, the other had a large pond, and the last one to another desert Insel.
“They just stay in the same area, huh?” confirmed Smoke. He switched out his twin hook swords for his sacred clay staff.
“Yeah? But what are you planning?” asked Mitleid, heading for the barren Insel floating in the darkness.
“Well, if physical attacks don’t work, what about something like this?” he said, creating a cannon-sized fireball on top of his right palm. He thought that this was the perfect opportunity for him to test his newly upgraded Red Seal Emblem.
“Hm… I don’t know,” replied Mitleid. “I’ve seen that Magic here only works against souls.”
“But we’ll never know unless we give it a try, right?” said Smoke, walking towards the next green Insel.
“Come on, what do you say?” begged Smoke. “Let’s try it, just once.”
“Fine!” said Mitleid, dragging his hooves after Smoke. “But be ready to run just in case.”
Smiling after hearing Mitleid’s reply, Smoke propelled his hovering fireball and created a myriad of them in the sky.
Then, the eerie voices of small children became clearer as the chaneques came out of hiding from the tall grass.
“Play?”
“Play? Play?”
“Have you come to play?”
“Stay and play.”
Before the chaneques could come at him, He forcefully shoved his hands downward and a rain of fireballs fell onto the red imp-like creatures.
Standing outside their grassy patches, the chaneques looked up and a uniform smirk formed across their demon faces. They opened their arms wide and a red casting circle appeared between their webbed hands. The fireball that rained down was sucked into the casting circle and vanished. After Smoke’s attack disappeared, the chaneque turned to face him and Mitleid. “Our turn! Our turn!” they chanted. With their red casting circle still out in the open, the chaneques fired out the same fireballs they absorbed.
Smoke quickly put up a spherical Manatl barrier which covered both himself and Mitleid.
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
While waiting for the fireballs to stop, Mitleid gave Smoke a knowing look.
“Well, at least we’ve confirmed not to use magic against them,” sheepishly replied Smoke, shrugging.
“Now, that that’s settled, let’s just run for the next bridge,” said Mitleid, shaking his head.
Smoke tried to reason his way out, but found himself lost for words and dejectedly lowered his head. He made the spherical manatl open up below their feet which allowed them to walk to the next vine bridge.
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
As the chaneque continued to attack his Manatl barrier with their claws, his sacred clay staff glowed, gathering more of their energy.
“This is nice,” said Mitleid, admiring Smoke’s Manatl. “The chaneques’ claws barely damage me, but something like this is really useful for your type.”
Smoke smiled. He knew the weakness of being a glass cannon was having a poor defense. Fortunately for him he gained this ability during his earlier travels.
“Oh, that’s right. You haven’t seen this yet,” said Smoke proudly. “Yeah, I learned this when I was in Saruras. You know, the Simiavulg village in Wysteria.”
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
The sounds of claws against Smoke’s Manatl continued on.
“Really? You found their village, huh?” said Mitleid, sounding impressed. “Listen, I know you’ve grown powerful, but don’t be too cocky.”
Smoke nodded and didn’t reply. He knew he was showboating but he just wanted Mitleid to be proud of him.
Mitleid then lightly punched him in the shoulder. “Just take it down a notch and you’ll be just fine,” the Maneator added, grinning at him.
The two of them laughed and continued telling each other stories during their time apart, completely ignoring the chaneques which were relentlessly clawing the barrier without success.
After safely escaping the chaneque infested Insel, Smoke and Mitleid got on a barren floating island, giving them a chance to catch up.
“… So, you created a female Maneator out of my remains?” asked Mitleid, astonished. “Bet she looks beautiful!”
“Rassant sure thinks so,” replied Smoke. “But let’s go back to the different sections in Mictlan.”
“Well, from what Baba told me. There’s Corpos Quentes, the Reialma, and Incerto,” answered Mitleid. He then looked beyond the Insels running towards the darkness. “Another name for Incerto… is the Unknown.”
“And we’re heading for Corpos Quentes?” asked Smoke.
“Yup. It’s a group of Insels free from sycophants, chaneques, or any other Mictlan creatures,” said Mitleid. “There, souls like myself have taken refuge.”
Suddenly, Smoke’s stomach began grumbling. “Oops! My satiety bar had been pretty low for awhile now. Mind if we rest up?”
“Go ahead,” replied Mitleid. “This Insel’s safe.”
Smoke speedily began preparing an extravagant broth for himself and Mitleid. When he finished cooking, he used his Earth Manipulation and two bowls emerged out of the barren floating island. He filled a bowl with his specially made broth. “Here, have a taste,” he said and offered it to Mitleid.
“Thanks, but I don’t need that anymore,” answered Mitleid. “Souls need a different kind of sustenance.”
“What kind of food are we talking here?” asked Smoke, intrigued.
Mitleid chuckled. “Like I said, I’ll show you when we get there.”
“Oh, right! I saw SPs instead of HPs?” asked Smoke, remembering the different value that displayed on the sycophants’ life bars.
“It stands for Soul Points,” answered Mitleid. “Yup, everything’s different when you’re dead. Even if you tried to slice my head off, it’ll just grow back instantly, as long as my Soul Points don’t go down to zero.”
“Beg your pardon?” asked Smoke, thinking he misheard him.
“It’s like having an immortal body,” went on Mitleid.
“But what happens when you lose all your Soul Points?” asked Smoke.
Mitleid shrugged. “Not really sure. Their bodies just disappear and I’ve never seen one come back.”
“Even sycophants?” wondered Smoke.
“Weirdly enough, no,” answered Mitleid. “They just lay dormant until their SPs fully recover.”
“What?” asked Smoke, taken aback. “So, there’s really no way to defeat them?”
“That’s why I said just run,” said Mitleid, nodding his head. “By the way, you’ve been here for some time now, don’t Sonstwelters need to go back to your world or something?”
Smoke finished the rest of his broth in one gulp. “Actually, I was just about to say that. Mind if you wait here for a while?”
“Sure. No problem,” said Mitleid. “But be quick about it. The time difference here is different from Zectas.”
After dispersing the bowls and the rest of his cooking utensils, he turned to Mitleid and said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.”
Smoke’s body vanished out of Mictlan as he logged out to reality.
* * * * * *
Opening the hatch of his game pod, Nash stepped outside, exhausted. He felt like his head was being cracked opened. It had been a long time since he experienced such a severe migraine. The bright morning sun slightly blinded him. Surprised, he quickly closed his curtains. He remembered that he had gone into the game at six in the morning. Thinking that it would be night time, he scanned for the wall clock and saw it displayed eight a.m. ‘No way,’ he thought. He surmised that it been close to twenty-six hours since he logged in.
Then, he felt something run down his nose. He wiped it away and was anxious to see blood. Nash was startled as he had never experienced a nose bleed before. He reached for his box of tissues and stuffed it up his nose. Sitting on his computer chair, he tur
ned on his monitor and searched for a home remedy.
“Sit up straight, tipping your head a little bit forward…”
“Using your thumb and forefinger; firmly pinch the soft part of your nose tight…”
He read out loud and followed each instruction.
“Keep pinching for ten minutes?” he said, surprised. Thinking that it was a lengthy time to wait, he dialed Sherry’s number.
But she did not pick up.
‘Today’s Monday. So, Seth and Donny must be in school,’ he thought as he exited his room, still pinching his nose.
“Hey, what’s up with your nose?” greeted a smiling Seth as Nash walked across his room.
“There’s some blood,” answered Nash with a raised voice. “But what are you doing here? Don’t you have a class to get to?”
“What are you talking about?” said Seth, upset. “It’s still Sunday!” he added, slamming his door.
“Sunday! Are you kidding me? I’d expect something like this from Donny, but not you,” he shouted at Seth’s door.
“What’s your problem?” groggily asked Donny, stepping out of his room.
“School closed or something?” asked Nash, still angry. “Why aren’t you ready?”
“It’s finally happened!” called out Donny. “You’ve lost track of time. I told you Pro-Gamers lose track of what day it is.”
“Stop with the jokes and just get ready,” said Nash, now pissed. He forcibly pushed Donny back into his room.
“Ready for what?” asked Donny, struggling not to enter.
“School, what else!” angrily said Nash.
“Check your phone!” protested Donny, still holding on to his doorway. “It really is Sunday!”
Nash reluctantly released his younger brother and reached inside his pocket. His eyes grew wide, his cheek turned red when he read the date.
“Sorry, I really thought it was Monday,” said Nash. “Sorry, Seth!” He added, shouting at Seth’s now locked door.
“That’s fine,” said Donny. “Told you, you’ll eventually mix up the days,” he said, walking past Nash and headed downstairs towards the kitchen.
A confused Nash walked after Donny. “It’s still Sunday? That means I was only in there for two hours?”
Nash knew that the time difference in Zectas and the real world was only four times. So, he estimated that the difference in Mictlan must have been twelve times. He grinned as he instantly recognized its potential. This meant he could train and explore Mictlan and not worry about their impending battle with Burmistrz. But then he checked his thumb for blood.
“Wonder if my body could handle it?” he asked out loud as he reached the kitchen door.
As he was scrolling his phone with his right hand, three oranges suddenly came flying towards him. Donny playfully threw them at him.
Seeing the oranges almost hit his face, Nash’s pupils dilated. The oranges seemed to move in slow motion. So, he grabbed each one, using only his non-dominant hand.
“Didn’t Mima tell you not to play with food!” scolded Nash, catching all three oranges.
“Whoa!” hollered Donny. “How’d you do that?”
“Do what?” asked Nash, carefully putting down the oranges on the table.
“How’d you catch all three with your left hand?” asked Donny, amazed.
“Come on. You were throwing it slow,” replied Nash.
“No! I wasn’t,” said Donny, shaking his head. “That was my hardest throw. Was hoping the would’ve stung your eyes a bit,” he added sheepishly.
Donny proudly slapped Nash’s back. “This must be what that reporter said on the news? You know, about how Zectas players improve their reflexes?”
Nash smiled at Donny. But deep down he wondered if this was also an effect of his visit in Mictlan.
* * * * * *
Smoke opened his eyes and saw Mitleid kicking sand off the floating barren island. It unceremoniously dropped into the blackness of the void.
“Finally!” exclaimed Mitleid. “Thought you said you’d be quick?”
“How long was I gone?” asked Smoke.
“About six hours!” answered Mitleid. “You know, if you do this again, I’ll just tell you what Insels to take in order for you to reach Rauchburg.”
“Rauchburg? Like Rauch Castle in Verbrannt?” said Smoke. “Is that where you’re staying?”
“Let’s just go. You’re ruining my surprise,” said Mitleid, leading the way to the next floating island.
After traveling through more than a thirty Insels, Smoke finally saw Corpos Quentes. An archipelago of Insels all floating in the same lower level.
On one of the Insels, Smoke saw a large ruby dragon, which he thought he had seen somewhere before.
“That’s Valdurath,” said Mitleid, standing beside him. “He’s one of the twelve dragons of legend.”
Mitleid got on a vine-bridge that descended to the lower floating islands.
“That’s the one Trist—” began Smoke.
“Funny thing,” interjected Mitleid, already chuckling which made the bridge slightly sway. “Apparently, some Sonstwelter boasted of killing him when the truth was that Valdurath was already dying after going against Bakunawa—the monstrous dragon of the sea. Honestly, it was stupid of Valdurath, a fire based dragon, to go against Bakunawa.”
“Really? That’s what happened?” asked Smoke, intrigued. “Didn’t seem like that in his video,” he added under his breath.
“Anyway, most of the Insels here have been formed into towns,” explained Mitleid. “Valdurath named its Insel, Wrathland.”
“And you named your town after Verbrannt’s castle,” said Smoke, getting onto a grassy Insel. “Wait, are there any chaneques here?” he asked, alarmed by the tall grass lands.
“Nope. Only souls can enter Corpos Quentes,” reassured Mitleid. “Relax, this Insel is already under our jurisdic—”
Mitleid’s words were cut short as a group of ten green Krampus appeared out of the grass. Their green fur hid them well in the grass.
“Green Krampus?” asked Smoke.
“One of the abilities they picked up when they got here,” answered Mitleid.
Even with their long goatlike horns, all of the Krampus were slightly shorter than Mitleid. Then, their green fur returned to their natural black. Their cloven hooves lit up with flames. The same as one from their eyes burning with rage.
“Another ability they picked up?” said Smoke, equipping his twin hook swords.
“No need for that,” said Mitleid. “Our brothers have arrived.”
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD
As the Insel took the abuse of the behemoth Maneators’ landings, the floating island shook violently. A dozen Maneators came leaping from the next Insel. All of the oxen-headed giants towered over the Krampus as they surrounded them.
“Brothers, give Smoke a warm welcome!” said Mitleid.
Grunting, only six of the strength based Maneators moved. Each one grabbed a Krampus by the neck and threw them off the Insel. The Krampus bleated and screamed as they fell into the blackness of the abyss.
Then, all of them Maneators went down on one knee and greeted both Smoke and Mitleid.
“Salutations to the Maneator King!”
A bewildered Smoke turned to Mitleid, as the Maneators were bowing down to him.
“Seems you have forgotten my friend. You’re now the Maneator King,” said Mitleid.
Surrounded by so many Maneators, Smoke’s Asterian Aura took a massive boost. A casting circle appeared beneath his feet and let out a red light. His physical attacks were increased by 100%, and then both the casting circle and light dispersed.
“Arise, my brothers, Smoke is not one for such formalities,” said Mitleid. “Saying hi would have sufficed.”
Suddenly, two green Krampus leaped out from the grass. They tried to escape and jump towards the vine bridge but two arrows pierced the back of their necks, sending them plummeting to the darkness.
> Smoke turned towards the source of the arrows. He smiled widely when he saw them. A tall muscular OrkElf and a slender lioness Lioumerean held crude looking bows.
“Laernea, Sharur!” greeted Smoke, running towards them. He came in for a hug, but Laernea hid behind Sharur.
“Smoke, it’s good to see you,” greeted Sharur, extending his hand.
Taken aback, all Smoke could do was shake Sharur’s offered hand. Despite their awkward reunion, he smiled at them. “I’m really glad. Now, I’ve got Mitleid and you two back.”
“We never expected to see anyone again,” said Laernea shyly from behind Sharur. “Is Sierra with you?”
“No,” replied Smoke. “It’s just me.”
“And why are you here exactly?” asked Sharur.
“To bring you guys back of course!” declared Smoke. “That is if we do find a way back.”
“We should ask Baba,” suggested Laernea. “He’d probably know something like that.”
Sharur’s nostrils flared. He turned around and faced Laernea. “What are you doing? I thought that we—”
“No! I was just helping Smoke to get home,” replied Laernea, grabbing Sharur’s arm.
“Fine! If that’s what you want!” shouted Sharur. “Come on, I’ll take you to see Baba.”
“Who’s Baba?” asked Smoke, confused as he followed Sharur.
“Baba’s here?” asked Mitleid, excited. “You’ll love him,” he said to Smoke. “He sings the most interesting tales!”
After traveling through five more Insels, Smoke finally saw the floating town of Rauchburg.
The floating island had a wall of frozen logs put up. There were also two rivers floating off the Insel. The lone vine bridge connected to the island was guarded by twenty Maneators. To which all bowed down when they saw Smoke.
Sharur let out a loud sigh and got on the bridge first.
“Can’t wait to see Baba,” said an excited Mitleid, walking after Sharur.
“Did I do something?” Smoke asked Laernea.
“Don’t mind him,” replied Laernea. “He’s just surprised you’re here,” she added walking fast after Sharur.
– Entered Insel-192432
