Chapter 8 – An event, a secret realm.
I wake up in the same bed in the same condition, my head feels clouded yet firm as I recall events leading up to my consciousness passing out, a soft sigh comes out of my mouth as I remember them on the side of the bed.
“Well it happened so I wonder what will happen that the karmic threads are tied.”
I walk to the door and open it to a scene much like previously, Maggie is walking by when I stop her.
“Maggie” I catch up to her as she’s carrying about linen.
“Lord, you were asleep in the guest room for over a day. We were worried, thank dark gods that you awoke.”
“I just needed some rest after an eventful time, where is everyone else?”
“They have gone to the opening of the ancient gods school secret realm, it was scheduled to be accessible today, they should be back in a few hours.”
“What? Where is that?”
“It’s along the Holy School Path, an offshoot tunnel called Ancient Gods.”
“Organise transportation now, I need to go.”
“If I call the car back now then it’ll back late for the others to arrive on time.”
“I’m the Lord so do as I say.”
“Ok.”
Maggie walks away carrying the linen down the stairs and makes the call, I walk inside a wardrobe where an attendant dresses me in the finest of noble clothing, it feels almost cheating like to have a whole attendant for that but that’s what Lord’s can have.
I stand by the kerbside and wait for the vehicle to show up, my formal tuxedo wear being somewhat tight but in fashion at the moment.
The vehicle shows up, a multiple doored all terrain vehicle able to dig through the tunnel walls if needed, of course it couldn’t make tunnels itself, just little offshoot things. I jump into the back-seat to which the car immediately speeds off.
I sit in the seat and watch the sights go by, the business district then the city walls before we enter the mountainous section covered in snow, the vehicle comes to a stop and opens the door.
I exit the vehicle and look around, hundreds of footsteps are on the ground but they all go in one direction so I head there where I’m immediately greeted by a crowd currently mingling in post-celebration of something.
I scan the crowd and spot my target, I part way with many people recognising me including some that wish to stop and chat but I ignore them as I walk towards my target and appear before them.
“Are you ok?”
The young girl before me nods her head but looks away, “We are at a public place so no need to speak of such things.”
“I just wanted to make sure,” I look towards Letty that is standing nearby but a scowl is on her face as she stands near several other old men, “what’s going on?”
“Nothing much, just talking about things and trying the food.”
“I see well, I would like to explore the inside the realm, where’s the entrance?”
“They won’t open the entrance for you, they can’t open the entrance for you so why do you want to know?”
“Do you know?”
“I know where the entrance is, I was in the front row witnessing it. Gary was in the first squad through so Mum had us on the front row.”
“Take us there.”
Gabi nods her head while ignoring the scowling of her mother, we ignore the crowd and walk to the front where several people wearing black robes are standing.
Gabi pauses many steps short of them while continue walking forward, they don’t take kindly to this as I walk by them before slamming into an invisible barrier.
“Idiot, you slamming into the god’s barrier. You cannot go through, not ever” a small fat man runs up to me. His figure is up to my knees yet his voice sounds powerful and commanding.
“It’s of no concern if I can or not.”
“I am High Priest of the Blood Crucibles High Church, all faiths must follow my decree.”
The short fat man flashes a small red coloured item in the air for a moment before hiding it, people in the surroundings are in a daze while I am completely unaffected, I grab Gabi’s hand and snap her out of the daze.
Everyone else is still stuck in it including the caster, Gabi shakes her head and snaps out of it looking around her.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
“The idiot used a stun device without the protection, he probably thinks he has immunity to it because he awakens before others not realising they’re all unconscious for far longer.”
I walk by the short fat man and take the red item engraved with strange symbols and store it away, we’re only a few steps away from some steps that I assume are the entrance.
Gabi is following behind me wondering what is going on so I ignore her for a moment a walk up the stairs, I light up my finger preparing to open it when I hear a yell behind me.
“It’s not that one, it’s over here.”
I look to Gabi and see she’s point to a large circular statue not too far away, I frown but make my way over there.
I concentrate on this portion of space feeling for anything links, thousands of item bags are here yet there's only 3 large realm connections. I need to work out which of the 3 I can enter without burning my chance to enter the others later on.
I feel around for the one with the closest bond to this spatial point and grab it, a symbol appears in my finger.
I place the symbol in the air, it hovers there and sinks in leaving a mark.
I repeat this process four times before a square shape appears, I push it forward causing it to fall down like a piece of glass shattering yet it reveals the other side. Gabi is amaze but I grab her hand and jumps through.
“HAHAHA, the dark lord…”
The entrance collapses as the short fat man comes back to life but before he reacts to his crystal gone.
I look around and spot an ancient looking building, a gigantic temple before me where several large statues are in the distance.
Tabi is agape in awe while I look on the horizon and cannot spot anyone leaving us far behind the rest, I speak up.
“Do you know what sort of place this is? Have you heard anything about this place?”
“I have only heard that it’s where the ancient gods would try out and very few succeeded. No one has ever come back alive.”
“No one? Wow, those people were sure eager to send people to this place.”
“Well for those people it’s either to die via sacrifice or through this trial, they are at the end of their usefulness.”
“I see. Well that’s the reality, that cannot be changed.”
“Now we are here.”
“Do not worry, you and me can escape.”
Tabi smiles while stepping forward holding my hand, “Ok.”
A large expanse is before us but as we begin to walk, it’s crossed in an instant as Tabi wakes up from her stupor, a gigantic temple with each step as large as several stories is before them. A smaller staircase is carved nearby that is well worn.
“Did we just walk to the temple?”
“Surviving the gruelling march was the hardest part… I don’t even feel tired. Maybe we can do this, maybe I can get the ancient god’s treasure.”
“Oh do you know about it?”
“No one knows about it, it’s just rumours. I think it contains the wishing power of this plane. This was the place of the final stand of the evil forces.”
“Even though they’re of light energy requiring a heart of purity?”
“Yes.”
“Ok.”
Tabi steps onto the first step and looks to me with a cheeky smile, “We’ll do more things if you let us skip this walk.”
“That power isn’t something I can control. If it happens it does, if it doesn’t it doesn’t. I will always take one of those.”
“Nope, though if it happens then maybe when we arrive.”
I smile, “Ok.”
The two of us begin walking up the stairs, a few many hours later we arrive at the top it’s unknown if time has passed yet we are both exhausted. My clothing drenched clearly not designed for the exercise while Gabi isn’t much better as her clothing clings to her body.
I look to her and smile, she shakes her head.
“No way, ” she says while whispering under her breath, “i’m still sore from last time.”
I walk away chuckling to myself, “You read too much in to things, I was enjoying your form. I myself am slightly younger than you in true age.”
“Ahh,” Tabi says in relief before a moment says, “hey wait that’s still wrong. You’re in… my father. Don’t perv on me.”
I shake my head as I push open the large double doors, they swing open easily revealing an open expanse with no one inside it.
“You coming?”
“Coming.”
Tabi runs beside me when and looks inside the room, I take the chance to feel up her rear.
She is startled by this gesture and enters the room, the door begins to shut by itself leaving me the only option of entering too. The door immediately shuts behind us, the room lights up revealing an empty room with piles of bones on the side.
An untold amount of people have died here and their bones are on the side, I look at the centre of the where a single button is standing.
I walk toward closely followed by Tabi, it’s a simple button which I press down on.
It lights up with red disappearing into the ground, Tabi walks beside me and holds my hand as we watch the surrounds change into a black field. A giant creature is coming at us from the distance, no two are coming at us.
I look behind and spot another creature further away.
“Skybeasts… they’re extinct though…” Tabi mutters as she looks at me.
I look out at the beasts and frown for a moment, Tabi notices this change and says something.
“Can’t you defeat them?”
“That’s not the problem, I just don’t know if I should. They’re good guardians and I think the previous people just put them to sleep.”
“You can tell that?”
“Yes, well I don’t care honestly so fuck it.”
I look at the creature in the distance, I make a gun symbol with my finger and thumb and take aim at the creature coming straight for me, energy piles into my hand before I shoot it out.
“Bang.”
I turn around and face Tabi with a smile, she shakes her head with a cute smile but I smirk internally as I go to stand behind her wrapping my arm around her and blowing in it.
“Change if you want to do that stuff” Tabi says as she rubs her ear on her shoulder.
“These guys wanna hurt us so they gotta pay, watch in 3… 2…”
A pop comes from the creature closest to them, it’s giant figure rolls along the ground and stops not too far from them while the other creature does much the same but doesn’t get close.
Tabi is shocked while I walk up to the creature and touch it, I shake my head as Tabi catches up to me.
“Why are you shaking your head?” she asks.
“This creature is no good, it’s a new generation modification. It wont reward me for being eliminated. It’s useless, I’m glad to have killed them then.”
“What…. What are they?” Tabi speaks holding her words as she strokes the fluffy pile of flesh before us.
“I think this one is a Green Herculean fluffball rabbit, the other one is a Jaxrabbit.”
“I heard of the first, it was pretty rare but I have never heard of the second.”
“I can’t tell you their history, just I don’t like them” I shrug while returning my gaze to Tabi. I give the dead body a kick causing it to fly hundreds of metres in the distance landing near the other body.
Tabi widens her eyes for a moment before steadying herself and looking at me, “Where are the other people then?”
“Maybe the next room or the one after, it depends on if they cooperate. Shall we skip to where they are?”
“Ok…” Tabi says softly unsure how to process what I said, I take her hand and begin to walk for an unknown amount of time to exit this gigantic room filled with bodies and nothing else.