M18

Morgan had a reason for feeling some confidence facing the bearlike creature. Even though it was a lot larger than he and had a wicked-looking battleaxe to boot, Morgan looked at the creature’s size and the axe and couldn’t imagine it being able to swing it very effectively in the marble corridor. He turned to say something to Issa, but couldn’t see her. Hopefully, she was hiding in an attempt to catch the beast by surprise. Morgan strode forward toward the challenge, and as he took his second step into the corridor, the creature roared again and charged.

Morgan fell, instinctively, into a stance that he knew was best for receiving an enemy charge. He turned his hips sideways, with wide footing, and couched the spear lengthwise in front of him, with two hands, lowering his center of gravity. The enraged bear-man charged right into the spear, and to Morgan’s dismay, it didn’t bite very deeply. Instead, the barrel-chested charging creature drove it back, almost causing Morgan to lose his grip, and then the beast swung his axe sideways with such force that Morgan swore he could see the air parting before the blade. He tried to dodge, but it was too fast. He pulled his body back, bending at the waist, and felt the axe tangle slightly in his loose black robes, but the edge of the blade connected with his chest, ripping an inch-deep channel through his pectorals, and furrowing into his sternum. At the same time, he felt a sharp stinging sensation in his right hand and realized the stone ring of shielding had snapped, apparently taking more damage than it was capable of withstanding. Morgan cried out in pain, flung backward, tumbling into the small room that housed the stairwell.

Morgan’s chest was agony incarnate, but adrenaline allowed him to push the pain aside. He scrambled to his feet, rushing forward to grab up his spear, which he’d dropped in his tumble. Luckily the beast had stopped to roar again, clearly proud of its devastating attack. As he picked up his spear, he heard Issa’s voice coming from his left-hand side, “Step closer, and I’ll Haste you!” Morgan quickly sidestepped, keeping his spear pointed toward the bear-man. He glanced to the side and could just make out Issa’s face from within the folds of her camouflage cloak. He stepped just in front of where she was to shield her from the creature’s view, and he felt her hand grab his arm above the elbow, and then his heart raced, his vision focused, and he was sprinting forward, toward the beast.

He was a blur of movement, rushing side to side toward the bear-man, and as he came within range, he feinted with the spear toward its face. It instinctively brought its axe up high to block, but Morgan had already pulled the spear back and jammed it into the bear’s waist, just above the greave on its right leg. Once again, the bear-man’s thick fur and hide slowed the spear, so only a couple of inches bit in, but it was enough for Morgan to activate Energy Drain, and he did so as he rushed past the bear, trying to outflank it. He kept the spear planted while he ran past, pulling the handle sideways, opening the rip further, while pulling Energy through the spear and into himself. He felt a surge of primal Energy enter his body, forcing his ripped chest to close and his muscles to respond with greater speed and power.

As the bear roared in anger and pain, he yanked the spear out and punched it forward again, into the bear’s side as it tried to turn to face him. The bear whipped its axe around, sideways, in a bid to remove Morgan’s head, but Morgan, still hasted, was able to duck the blow, and using his low angle, drove the spear up inside the bear’s guard and into its throat. The bear jerked backward, pulling free of the spear, and tried to roar in rage, but it came out more like a thunderous cough, spraying blood all over the marble hallway and Morgan. As the bear coughed and sputtered, its murderous eyes refocused on Morgan, and it lifted its axe. Just then, a shiny, thin blade sprouted from the bear-man’s stomach. It looked startled for a second but then took a step and started to swing its axe. Morgan’s first thought was that the swing was a bad one; it was going to miss him completely, but then he saw the bear’s left leg pivot, and he knew it was going to spin with the axe and cut Issa in half. Morgan cried out and quickly focused on activating his Guard Ally ability.

He instantly felt a connection to Issa, it was hard to explain, but it was almost like he had another phantom arm and that it was wrapped around her. The bear-man spun with his axe, leaking blood from several terrible wounds, and the blade ripped into Issa’s side. Or it would have, but a bright blue flash erupted from the point of impact and, instead of Issa being hit, Morgan felt a terrible pressure on his own side, and he was knocked into the corridor wall. The phantom blade had hit him right where his girdle covered his waist. The blade had bitten into the leather and cut him slightly, but most of the impact had been mitigated by his Guard Ally ability and the sturdy leather. In fact, it hurt more hitting the marble wall than the axe had.

Issa had a shocked look on her face like she didn’t know why she was still breathing, but she recovered quickly and danced backward away from the bear-man. Morgan took the opportunity to jump forward, jamming his spear into the creature’s back. Instinctively he activated Backstab, and he felt the tip bite much more deeply than any of his other attacks, and the bear creature moaned its last, foamy breath and collapsed in a heap.

Issa walked around the big corpse, over to Morgan, and hugged him as the motes of golden Energy coalesced and surged into them both. Issa pushed back from him and smiled, saying, “I leveled!”

“I didn’t, but you have some catching up to do anyway. What level is that for you?”

“Nine! One more to select my class!” Issa walked over to the bear and extricated her rapier from its back. “What a tough beast! I’ve never seen its like. How did you save me from that blow? I was sure I was dead!”

“It’s one of my class abilities. I can guard an ally and take the damage intended for them. It seems pretty great.”

“That’s a fantastic skill, and it suits you! I’m glad you chose the class you did, Morgan.”

“Yeah, but you never know, that other class might have had a similarly great skill.”

“Yes, but better to count the feyris in your larder than the ones in the branches.” Issa grinned.

“Feyris?”

“You don’t have feyris on your world? Small game animals? Tasty in a stew?” Issa licked her lips.

“Huh, I guess not. We have a similar idiom, though: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” Morgan said while he walked over to the corpse.

“Oh we have one just like that; most of my people are hunters.” She stepped to the side while Morgan struggled to pull the greaves and vambraces off the big bear-man. “I don’t think those will fit you, Morgan.”

“Well, maybe not, but they're the first decent looking armor I’ve found in this place. I’m going to take them.”

“Actually, Morgan, look, they have Artificer marks on them. Try bonding with one of the bracers.” Morgan dropped the greave he was currently trying to pull off the corpse and picked up one of the vambraces. Sure enough, some strange marks were lining the outer edge of the bronze-colored metal. He pulled it on, over his left arm. The vambraces were solid metal cones with soft fur lining meant to cover the entire forearm. On him, it covered his whole arm, and there was far too much space inside. It was like a little kid trying to wear his dad’s shoes. Still, Morgan held it in place while he trickled some of his Energy into the metal. The bronze metal flashed briefly then quickly constricted to fit his arm perfectly.

“Oh, hell yes!” Morgan enthusiastically repeated the process with the other vambrace, then went back to work on the greaves with Issa lending a hand. After a few minutes, Morgan was walking around with his arms and legs armored in very sturdy, apparently magical armor. The greaves covered the tops of his feet, his shins and had hinged pieces that extended over his knees. Whatever Artificer magic allowed them to adjust to his size made them fit better than Morgan could imagine any mundane armor would. Though the metal was thick, it wasn’t much of a hindrance to his movement. He figured his much-improved strength was part of that equation. “Not bad, eh?” He grinned at Issa.

“It looks very sturdy and better for you to have it than that beast-man!” Issa shuddered.

“Well, you take that axe. It looks good, but I like my spear. Maybe you can trade it when you get home.” Issa walked over to the axe and lifted its handle. It was nearly as tall as she was with the head resting on the ground. She shrugged and gestured toward her dimensional pouch with the handle, and it disappeared.

“Got it!”

“Well, shall we see what’s down this hallway? I definitely underestimated that bear guy’s ability to swing that axe in here, so if you think I’m doing something stupid, please speak up!”

“I will, but I didn’t think he’d be that fast, either.” Issa and Morgan began to walk down the marble hallway, and after just a minute of walking, an end came into view. The hallway continued smoothly, with no interruptions, up to a smooth wall. In front of the wall was a statue of a person, but not a human. From where they stood, Morgan couldn’t make out its features, but it had a head that was too large for its body and very short arms and legs. Morgan was pretty sure it was a statue because it looked like it was made from the same marble as the hallway, and it was affixed to a pedestal about three feet high.

“That’s a statue, right?” Morgan arched an eyebrow as he asked, shrugging at the need to confirm something seemingly obvious.

“It looks like one,” Issa shrugged. The two of them continued cautiously, and as they got within ten feet or so, they stopped. The marble statue was very finely carved, with many little details. The creature depicted was about another three feet tall, so the whole thing, including the pedestal, was nearly as tall as Morgan. The little marble man had very short legs and arms, a short, rotund body, and had a head almost as large as his body, with fat, cherubic cheeks and curly marble hair, modeled in exquisitely fine detail. The little man was clad only in a skirt of finely carved marble leaves. “Such detail!” Issa exclaimed quietly, walking forward another step.

“Thank you!” The little cherubic man tilted his head toward Morgan and Issa and spoke with a high, slightly unnatural voice, almost like how a person sounded on an intercom back on the Arkship. Other than his head tilting and his lips moving, nothing about the man moved.

“Oh, hello,” Issa said, glancing at Morgan and raising her bright yellow eyebrow.

“Hello, indeed!” The man said cheerily.

Morgan stepped forward, “Ahem, I’m Morgan, and this is Issa. We’re trying to get through the Crucible. Can you offer any aid?”

“Oh my! We’ve only just met, and you are asking for help? My name is Takamennion, and I have a job to do. As it so happens, my job involves helping you, to some degree.” The statue came to life, briefly, to bow as it spoke, but then it straightened up and was completely still.

“Thank you, uh, sir?” Morgan said, moving up in front of the statue with Issa.

“You are quite welcome; however, the appropriate honorific for me is Magus,” the little marble man said, affecting a bit of a long-suffering smile while widening its marble eyes. The rest of the statue was utterly motionless.

“My apologies, Magus. Might I inquire as to how you are meant to aid us?” Having been attacked by nearly every other being he’d met in the Crucible, Morgan decided to play it safe and be polite.

“Of course, of course. As part of my debt to the System, I am bound to help administer the challenges on this floor. It seems you passed the combat Challenge, or you’d not be standing here.”

“Can you answer any questions? What do you mean by a debt to the System? Is this floor the same for everyone? Does everyone who comes to the Crucible have the same challenge? Where, exactly, are we?” Morgan had about ten other questions lined up, but he was interrupted by the statue.

“Ahem! Before you rattle off more questions, let me answer your first one: I can answer questions, but I will not.” Takamennion’s eyes narrowed sternly, then froze in that position.

“Oh, but, sir Magus,” Morgan began, trying not to sound too obsequious, “I just got thrust into this place, and I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Well, I must admit, I’ve not seen your kind before. Your friend there, though, I’ve seen her people plenty of times! Surely she’s told you a thing or two. Not to mention, you’ve made it this far! Why should I give you free education?” For the first time, the statue’s arms moved and settled in a pose with the little fists resting on Takamennion’s plump hips.

“Sir! Aren’t you bored sitting here waiting for people to arrive? Surely a little civilized conversation isn’t so much to ask for?” Issa spoke, a scolding tone in her voice.

“How dare you question my civility? I’ll have you know; I was quite well known for entertaining the greatest minds on my planet!”

“So you aren’t from this planet?” Morgan asked.

“Well, no, of course not. My planet, Toralax, long ago reached Advanced status and is a regular crossroads and trading hub for even Epic ranked cultivators.” The statue, remarkably, managed a haughty sniff, though its expression became frozen in the sniffing pose, which almost made Morgan start to laugh.

“That sounds impressive, sir. Issa, here, has only ever met Improved cultivators. I didn’t even know cultivators or Energy existed a little more than a week ago.” Issa nodded along with Morgan’s words.

“Truly? How is it you are climbing the Crucible on a world that the System has curated for over a century if you’ve never known of Energy?” Morgan smiled and began to answer, explaining how humans were from far away and had traveled here via a spacecraft. Takamennion listened raptly, then said, “Fascinating. I knew that some races had the ability to traverse the stars before Energy reached their worlds, but I’ve not met anyone from a society like that. Perhaps I could answer a few questions in exchange for a bit more about your people and your world. I must warn you, though, my time here is limited. The System moves me from Crucible to Crucible in order to serve out my sentence.”

“Well, then, you’ve already answered one of my questions: the Crucible is different for different people?”

“That’s correct. The System curates countless worlds where Energy reaches, and on each of those worlds creates opportunities for cultivators to refine their abilities and selves.”

“What do you mean by where Energy reaches? Why wasn’t there Energy on my world?”

“Now you’re asking questions beyond even my great understanding. I know that the System is working on expanding the reach of Energy, but I don’t know how or why. If one were to believe the System, its motivations are altruistic - it simply wants to bring the benefit of Energy to everyone.” Takamennion rolled his eyes and held a finger to his lips with a smirk. Morgan got the impression that he didn’t accept that the System was altruistic, but he couldn’t openly say so. “Now, I’ve answered some of your questions. Tell me more about your world!”

“Well, what do you want to know?” Morgan asked. Surprisingly it was Issa who spoke up.

“Tell us about how you travel among the stars.” Takamennion nodded, so Morgan spent the next few minutes talking about the shipyards on the moon, about Bussard drives and nuclear fusion, about cryo-sleep, and even started talking about the Noah AI units, but then Takamennion interrupted him.

“Oh no, I’ve lost track of time. I’m going to be moved soon. We have to commence your trial! Quickly, which one of you will take the Energy manipulation Challenge?”