M17

Morgan pulled some animal skins out of his pouch and sat down on them. As he choked down some of the dry bread with generous amounts of water, he looked at Issa. She was sitting cross-legged in front of him, also crunching on the bread. It looked funny how she crunched the bread in the back of her mouth because she had a lot more sharp teeth than a human. He couldn’t help smiling, watching her scrunched-up face. She saw him smiling and stopped chewing, “What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Morgan laughed.

“Seriously, what? Are you laughing at me?” Issa narrowed her eyes, her amber irises becoming yellow slits as she started to growl.

“Hey, take it easy; I was just smiling because you looked cute eating that bread!”

“I looked CUTE?” Issa howled.

“Oh man,” Morgan laughed again, scooting away from her as she kicked a foot out like she was aiming at his knee, “c’mon, I didn’t mean anything bad. I’m sure my face looks funny, choking this bread down, too.”

“Oh! So now I look funny?” Issa huffed, her pale blue cheeks gaining a red hue as she stared.

“Ugh, no! Let’s forget it, okay? Hey, I have a serious question: just how long is this damn Crucible? You’d think I would have asked that before, but I think the System is messing with my mind; I feel way too good considering the hell we’ve been through.”

Issa’s face relaxed, and she took on a thoughtful expression. “You might be feeling what my grandfather calls Energy euphoria. He said people noticed it a lot when Energy and the System first came to our world. As you make gains in Energy, it does make you feel better, physically and mentally. If you don’t make gains and start to stagnate, that feeling will slowly decline.”

“Oh, so it might not be the System messing with my mind?”

“Maybe not. I’m not sure. I’ve never lived without Energy, so I don’t know what that’s like. Anyway, your other question: I don’t know how long the Crucible is. Some people say it depends on your level when you started. Some people who’ve made it out didn’t think they were at the end - they came upon escape talismans or a reward that offered an exit.” Issa shrugged, then took a bite of hard bread, staring at Morgan, daring him to laugh.

“I’m glad I found you, Issa,” Morgan said, a genuine smile on his face. She humphed and chewed her bread, but Morgan could see a smile in her eyes. They decided to rest, and, as before, Morgan took first watch. Issa didn’t sleep as long this time, and soon Morgan closed his eyes for his turn. He was pretty sure he was dreaming about swimming in the ocean when he was woken by a System message appearing in his vision.

***Quest Complete: Don’t let Issa die within 1 week (7/7). Reward: Energy Core Cultivation Manual (Improved), Improved Relations with Ardeni faction.***

Seeing the screen while dreaming had jarred him awake, and he felt a bit grumpy as he wiped it aside, even though it was good news.

“Hey, you finished a quest? That box just formed next to you!” Issa said, excitedly pointing at a blue, rectangular box next to his furs. Morgan sat up and looked at it. The box had the same blue shade and silver writing on it as the others, but it was smaller - only about three inches high and about the shape and size of an old school textbook.

“I sure did. I finished my quest to save you and keep you alive for a week. You’re welcome!” Morgan grinned at Issa, knowing he was about to set her off.

“Oh, sure! Sure you did! Where's MY reward for saving your hide fifteen different times?” Issa growled.

“Hey, I’m not the System! I don’t make the rules,” Morgan laughed. “But seriously, I know it was a team effort so far, and if this reward is shareable, I’ll share it!” Issa, seemingly placated, nodded and sat down by the box to watch. Morgan lifted the box and flipped open the thin lid. Inside, resting on the usual silky lining, were two scrolls. One was more than two inches thick. The other was very thin, almost like an old pencil. “Well, one of these will be my cultivation manual.”

“Ahh, that’s right, you told me about that. Lucky! Hopefully, the scroll will remain after you learn it so that you can share it with your clan.”

“Well, I don’t know what the other scroll might be, so I’ll look at the smaller one first,” Morgan said, reaching into the box. Issa watched intently while he unrolled the thin scroll. The page was only about six inches long, and it had the usual, weird, System symbols all over it. Morgan stared at the symbols, and, as before, they started to move around and then flood into his eyes.

***Congratulations! Title earned: Ardeni Friend***

“What the…” Morgan started to say, then called up his Titles and Feats page, selecting the new title:

***Ardeni Friend: Members of the Ardeni race will initially view you with less hostility, feeling a familiarity with you as they would a member of the Ardeni people.***

“Issa, do I seem any different to you?” Morgan asked, concern in his tone.

“What? Not this again. No, Morgan, you didn’t get taller or more handsome!”

“No! I’m serious! Really look at me. Do I seem different? Do you feel different when you see me?” Issa narrowed her eyes, but she did as he asked, really looking at him for a minute.

“No. You seem the same to me, sorry,” was her eventual response.

“Well, that’s good. I got a new title, and its effect creeps me out. It says I’m an “Ardeni Friend” and that your people will view me with less hostility when we meet. I don’t like the idea of the System messing with people’s thoughts. I hate it,” Morgan growled.

“The System uses Energy. It’s more powerful than any cultivator I’ve ever heard of, by an immeasurable amount. The only thing we can do is accept it and hope that it is just. From my teachers, I’ve heard that philosophers believe the System works on Karmic principles and is fair. I’d like to hope that if you meant harm to the Ardeni, the System would balance things by taking your title or changing it or giving you a different one.” Morgan frowned, but he nodded. “In any case, Morgan, I consider that title earned, and it didn’t affect me because I already see you as a friend.” Issa smiled.

“Alright, well, as you said, it doesn’t seem I can do anything about it.” Morgan reached into the box and picked up the much larger, heavier scroll. He started to unroll it and realized it had a second scroll rod that came out from the larger, central scroll rod. As he pulled it out, the page expanded. It only opened about a foot, then stopped. Morgan could see that there was more scroll material but assumed there was a trick to unrolling it that he might learn when he studied this section, so he did just that; he stared at the page. He stared, and he stared. The minutes began to tick by, and Morgan noticed Issa shift her position, but he didn’t look at her. He didn’t want to break his concentration.

After what must have been five or ten minutes, Morgan saw the first of the symbols start to move. At first, he wasn’t sure; he thought maybe his vision was blurring and that he was going cross-eyed. Soon, all of the symbols were swimming around, though, and a stream of them, trailing silver-gold dust, began to flow toward his eyes. Soon, a flood of them was pouring into his eyes, and he felt immense pressure and heat start to build up in his head, concepts flooded into his mind, and as he tried to think about each one, another would take its place, leaving him confused and grasping. The pressure continued to build, to the point where he thought he might be in danger, and just as he was starting to feel real panic, it began to subside. The flow of characters slowed to a crawl and then came to a stop, and he once again could see his surroundings. He realized he was on his back, staring up into Issa’s grinning face. “That looked like a really big one!”

***Congratulations! You have learned: Vortex Core Cultivation Drill - Basic***

Morgan thought about it and realized he did have a greater understanding of his Vortex Core now. He knew how to improve it through meditation and by focusing on absorbing and building specific pathways for Energy in his body. He realized he was still holding the scroll. The symbols that had flown off the page and into his eyes were back on the page, though they seemed slightly faded. He tried to pull more of the scroll out, but it wouldn’t move. Issa was watching him closely and said, “It looks like this scroll can be used again, but I’m not sure how many more times - the symbols are fading. I bet when you master this first page, it will let you open more of the scroll.”

Morgan grunted, sitting back up. “Uh, yeah, that makes sense. Man, I feel like I just woke up after drinking a bottle of cheap vodka,” he groaned, cradling his head in his hands.

“That will fade; we can take an early break after we climb some steps,” Issa said, reaching over and gently scratching Morgan’s head. Her sharp nails felt nice on his stubble, where his cryo-sleep haircut was finally growing out. After a moment, Morgan and Issa got to their feet, gathered up their furs and lanterns, grabbed their weapons, and began the hike up the spiraling stone steps.

Soon, the warmth of the volcanic cavern was behind them, and they were climbing up dark, cool steps. These steps were of much greater craftsmanship than the previous stairs they’d climbed. They had smooth marble pavers on the treads and were of perfectly regular height and size. The stairway itself was narrow, barely allowing the two of them to traverse it side by side, but the walls were constructed of uniformly sized, smooth greyish white marble bricks. Morgan assumed it was marble, anyway; it was smooth and cool to the touch.

Their climb ended much more quickly and abruptly than when they’d climbed to different levels previously. One minute they were rounding a turn in the stairwell, and the next, Morgan was setting his foot onto a smooth marble landing that opened up into a small, dark room, also walled in the same marble stone. Before he could react, he’d taken a step into the room, and a System message appeared:

***Quest: Survive four challenges in the Marble Halls 0/4. Reward: One Improved Treasure Box, egress from the Crucible.***

“Oh, hell yes! Did you see that, Issa?” Morgan asked, trying to keep his voice down.

“Yes!” Issa replied happily, stepping up beside him.

“Starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel!”

“Where?” Issa asked, looking around the dark room.

“Doh! I guess not all idioms translate. I didn’t mean it literally. Like, imagine being lost in the dark and seeing some light - you feel the end of your problem is coming up.”

“Oh, sure! Like when we say ‘the vine was long, but the branch is near.’” Morgan pondered her words, then nodded, smiling.

“Yeah, just like that.” The room they were in was about 10 feet square. The ceiling was about a foot higher than Morgan’s head, and all of it, walls, ceiling, floor, was made from the same white-grey marble. “I don’t see a door, do you?”

“I was just about to say that,” Issa said, walking toward a wall and running her fingers along it. Morgan did the same, going in the opposite direction. They met halfway along the wall farthest from the stairwell. “I didn’t feel any seams, did you?”

“Nope.” Morgan shook his head. They spent the next several minutes walking around the room again, knocking gently on the marble blocks with their knuckles. They didn’t find any that sounded any different than the others. “Maybe the floor,” Morgan said, dropping to his hands and knees and crawling around, tapping on each marble tile. Issa nodded and followed suit. After a minute, even Morgan could hear it when Issa knocked on a hollow tile.

“Here!” They’d long since given up on any pretense of stealth, and she practically shouted with excitement. Morgan scrambled over to her and tapped on the big marble tile with one of his rusty daggers. It definitely sounded hollow. The tile was about 18 inches square, and Morgan and Issa tried pressing all along the edge. They even tried to jam daggers into the tiny gap around the edge, but they couldn’t budge it. Finally, Morgan told Issa to stand back, and he pulled the mace he’d taken from the Yovashi lair out of his pouch. Lifting the heavy mace high over his head, he brought it down with a crash onto the hollow-sounding tile. It shattered into hundreds of pieces, revealing a hollow space underneath it. In the tile-lined cavity was a brass-colored lever, just big enough that Morgan could wrap one hand around it.

“Nice job, Issa! Should we pull this lever?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t know what else we can do. Like you’ve said before, we can’t go back the way we came.”

“Alright, brace yourself. Morgan grasped the cool brass lever and pulled. It lifted easily, without much resistance, and a rumbling, scraping sound came from the far wall of the little room. They both looked up, just in time to see the entire wall was sinking into the floor. It revealed a long hallway, the same width as the room, lined in the same marble and lit from above by softly glowing white orbs every ten feet or so. The hallway stretched into the distance, hundreds of feet, but standing about 50 feet from the room they were in, was a huge bipedal, bear-like creature, hunching to avoid hitting its head on the ceiling. Sideways in both clawed hands, the bear-man grasped a giant axe and wore bronze-colored greaves and vambraces. Otherwise, it was clad only in its thick, black fur.

Morgan scrambled to his feet, getting his spear ready, and the bear-man’s dark eyes zeroed in on him. It lowered its head, opened its bearlike snout, and roared. The sound of the roar was deafening as it echoed in the marble hallway, and it went on for several seconds, saliva stringing out from the creature’s mouth with the force of the bellow.

Morgan leveled his spear and walked to the hallway entrance. “Here we go again.”