Falling with folded wing.., p.28
Falling with Folded Wings: A LitRPG Progression Fantasy, page 28
A thought occurred to him: he wouldn’t have to live with it. The System was going to remove the memory of his choice from him. He could save his people, sacrificing Issa, and he’d never have to remember he did it. “Fuck that,” he said, and reached out to grasp the blue and silver orb. He knew it was impulsive and probably not the “smart” move, but he didn’t care. Yes, he valued the colonists’ lives, but he honestly didn’t feel invested in them at all. He also felt like they weren’t under the imminent threat of death, and maybe they’d be able to mount a good defense against whatever the Urghat were planning. Deep down, Morgan knew he was simply justifying his decision; he cared about Issa and wanted to save her. He hated being manipulated, though.
These thoughts raced through his mind as his hand made contact with the cold, glassy surface of the orb. As he gripped the baseball-size ball of glass, he felt it become pliable, and then it was like it had turned into liquid as it splashed over his fist. A sensation, like ice water entering his veins, rushed up his arm, and then his vision narrowed to a pinprick, and he lost consciousness.
MORGAN
Morgan opened his eyes and was immediately disoriented, and as he looked around at the white marble walls lining the circular room, he was stricken with a strong sense of déjà vu. He’d been here before. Memories rushed back to him, and he began to understand what was happening; he had taken the fourth challenge. It had involved him making a choice, and the statue had told him that he’d forget about what choice he’d made. Angrily, Morgan clambered to his feet and wracked his brain for some kind of memory of the challenge. All he could recall was walking into a circular room just like this one, except it had held a tall statue. He remembered the statue’s deep, gravelly voice and how it told him he’d forget about the choices. That was all. “Goddamn, it sucks having your mind fucked with.”
“Uh,” said a soft voice, grunting with the effort of sitting up, “it sure does.” Morgan whirled around to look behind him and saw Issa sitting on the marble floor behind where he’d woken.
“Issa!” Morgan rushed over to her and knelt, pulling her into a hug.
“Morgan, I’m glad to see you! I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever finish your challenge. Oh, my head is aching!” Issa rubbed at her head, tousling her bright yellow locks.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I had to use my cultivation drill to create channels before I could complete the Energy manipulation trial.” Morgan sat back and looked at Issa. He felt so relieved to see her. The last he recalled, he’d been hoping to meet her during the fourth challenge, but then the statue had spoken to him, and . . . damn it! He couldn’t really remember anything after that. Still, here she was, and he couldn’t complain about that. “What about you? Was the Agility challenge hard?”
“Not really. I had to climb some stalagmites and leap over some acid pits, swinging on chains. I finished the main challenge, but there were further optional challenges that awarded chests. I only felt confident finishing one of those.” She smiled suddenly. “I got a fruit that gave me two permanent agility!”
“Oh, that’s great! I got something similar for intelligence.” Morgan smiled, happy not to try to overshadow her enthusiasm by mentioning the details of his reward. “Did you also have to . . . wait, what the fuck? What was the fourth challenge again?”
Issa scratched her head and frowned, saying, “Um, I can’t recall! I swear, just a minute ago, I had some memory of it!” She scrunched up her face in concentration and looked into space just in front of her. Morgan could tell she was looking at a System screen. “Morgan, do you have a new title?”
“Let me see.” Morgan pulled up his tiles and feats page and saw:
***Human Champion, First Hollow Guard, Ardeni Friend, Mark of Loyalty***
There was a new entry. He concentrated on the Mark of Loyalty, and a description appeared:
***Mark of Loyalty: You have proven yourself an exemplar of the Virtue of Loyalty. This Mark will serve to improve and focus the choices you are offered for Class Refinement opportunities in the future.***
“Yeah, I do. I have something called the Mark of Loyalty.” Morgan stared thoughtfully at a blank spot on the wall, wracking his brain for some memory.
“I have the same one!” Issa excitedly punched Morgan in the arm. “I wish I could remember what I did to earn it!”
“Me, too. I guess the System is serious about keeping it a secret. Wait, that’s right, somebody told me I’d forget it because it was meant to stay a secret.” Morgan stood, rubbing a knuckle between his eyes, and looked around.
“That sounds right,” Issa replied, also standing up. “Do you think it’s an actual mark?” She started examining her limbs. “Is there anything on my face?”
“No, what about mine?” Morgan, too, began to look at his arms, even pulling his vambraces off. He was in the process of putting them back on when Issa made an excited yelping sound. He looked at her and saw she was looking down the front of her blouse.
“I have a tattoo. Or something like a tattoo; it’s silvery and right over my heart. And, no, I’m not showing you!” Morgan grinned at her words and started shrugging his robe off, wondering if he also had a mark on his chest. When he pulled the inner, close-fitting robe aside, he saw that he did. It was a silvery sigil about the size of his palm. He didn’t recognize it, but he felt a sense of calm when he looked at it, and it brought up memories of his childhood home and friends. It also made him think of Issa, and he looked up at her, smiling.
“It looks just like mine,” she whispered, smiling back at him. She reached out a hand and rested it on his chest, over the mark. She closed her eyes and stood that way for a minute, and Morgan stayed quiet, enjoying her touch. After a few long breaths, she pulled her hand away. “It makes me feel safe, like when I’m at home with friends and family,” she said.
“Yeah, I got that impression from just looking at it,” Morgan said. He pulled his robes back tight and shrugged on the outer layer, still feeling relaxed and at peace.
“Let’s see what’s through that archway,” Issa said. Morgan looked where she was pointing and saw that there was an arch-shaped opening in the marble wall to his left. Had that been there before?
“Yeah, alright.” He retrieved his spear from his dimensional bag and walked toward the opening with Issa right behind him, her hand on her rapier hilt. As he stepped through, he found himself in a gently curving and slightly upward sloping tunnel made from the same gray-white marble as he’d grown accustomed to over the last several days. Morgan couldn’t see any of the glowing orbs that had lit much of the Marble Halls, but there was some sort of soft, diffuse white lighting, nonetheless. He couldn’t tell if the light was coming from the marble itself or if it was just some kind of magically lit space. The tunnel continued for several hundred feet, constantly climbing and gradually curving to the right.
After several minutes of walking, an ornate marble archway came into view. It was easy to guess that it was the tunnel’s endpoint, and Morgan could just make out a natural-looking cavern beyond the archway. It seemed to be lit with natural light—he could see a thick beam of sunlight with motes of dust lazily drifting in it just beyond the archway. Subconsciously, the two quickened their pace, and as they passed beneath the filigreed archway, exquisitely carved with marble vines and flower petals, System messages popped up in Morgan’s view:
***Congratulations! You have completed a Quest: Survive four challenges in the Marble Halls 4/4. Reward: One Improved Treasure Box, egress from the Crucible.***
***Congratulations! You have completed a Quest: Survive the Crucible. Reward(s): Commensurate with achievements—84th percentile—One Advanced Treasure Box, continued existence, Token of Travel.***
Morgan wiped the messages away and looked around. He was standing in a small cave with a natural, rocky slope leading up to an opening about the size of a garage door. Sunlight was streaming in through the opening, and he could see, from this angle, a glimpse of deep blue sky. They’d made it.
Morgan looked down to see four System treasure chests forming out of swirling silver and blue Energy, two in front of him and two in front of Issa. Morgan smiled, anticipation brightening his mood even more, and reached an arm around Issa’s shoulders. She smiled back and leaned into him as they watched the chests finish forming. Three of the boxes were of similar size and design, but one of Morgan’s was smaller with more silver than blue in its design. The silver made up most of the box, and the ornate designs were blue, the opposite of the other three. “Did you get two improved rewards?” he asked Issa.
“Yes, the System said I was in the 58th percentile and gave me an improved treasure box.” Issa shrugged, stepping over to her boxes. “I suppose your little silver box is higher rank?”
“Hey, don’t blame me!” Morgan laughed, kneeling to open his Improved box, but then he stopped, deciding to watch Issa open hers first. She noticed him sit back from his chest and watch her, and she performed a small, mocking curtsey. She knelt before her first box and opened it. Inside, nestled in the usual silky cloth, were three small vials, all labeled. Issa picked them up, one by one, and read the labels, her smile growing the whole time.
“One elixir that will advance my race, and two healing potions! The label says they can gradually heal even a grievous injury,” she explained, holding each little vial up as she spoke.
“Those sound great! Are you going to drink the one for your race?”
“Maybe in a bit, let’s see what else we got, first!” Issa leaned forward and opened the second one as the first chest dissipated in wisps of blue smoke. When she flipped the lid open, Morgan noticed the golden glow of an Advancement Orb right away. Next to the orb was a silver, coin-shaped object about two inches in diameter, and next to that was a stoppered wooden flask about the size of a typical plastic soda bottle back on Earth. Issa excitedly clapped when she saw the Advancement Orb. “This will get me to ten, and then I’ll be able to see my class choices!”
“Yeah! That’s great, Issa. What are the other things, though? Issa picked up the silver coin and concentrated. Morgan guessed she was bonding with it. After a moment, she looked up, and understanding lit her eyes.
“It’s the Token of Travel. Morgan, it’s reusable! Once per month, it will transport me back to my home Settlement Stone!” She tucked the token into a pocket and picked up the wooden flask. Once again, she concentrated and then looked up at Morgan. “It’s like a dimensional bag, except for liquids. It’s much higher quality than the bags we found, though—it can hold a lot and is very durable.”
“Pretty awesome rewards, Issa. I hope my Token of Travel is like that,” Morgan said, then gestured to the orb. “Use your orb real quick, and then I’ll open my boxes.” Issa nodded and touched the glowing yellow ball of light. Morgan watched the Energy flash into her hand and advance through to her Core. He even noticed her eyes glowing for a brief moment. “That’s cool to watch!”
Issa laughed and said, “I’m not going to look at my classes yet! Open your boxes!”
“Alright, here goes,” Morgan said, reaching for the blue, larger box. Issa waved away the smokey blue remnants of her treasure box dissipating and sat down to watch him. He opened the lid and saw that he had also been awarded three vials. “I wonder if mine are the same as yours.” He picked up the first one, a glass container just a bit larger than his thumb filled with a sparkling green syrup. He read the label:
***Refined extract of Tundra Bee Royal Jelly—known for pushing the advancement of one’s racial lineage.***
“I think I did get the same reward as you—that one is for racial advancement.” Morgan picked up the other two vials. They were smaller than the first one, and each contained a clear liquid. Suspended in the fluid were tiny, pink bubbles. Morgan looked at the labels:
***Botnor’s Tincture of Superior Mending—imbibe this tincture to heal even grievous injuries over time.***
“Yeah, my box was the same as yours. Still, it’s pretty nice having these for emergencies.” Morgan carefully set the Tundra Bee Royal Jelly aside and put the two healing tinctures into his bag. As the Improved Treasure Box sublimated into wisps of blue smoke, Morgan pulled the silver Advanced Treasure Box over to him. “Well, here goes!” He opened the lid.
The first thing he noticed was the Advancement Orb—it wasn’t like the ones he and Issa had gotten before. This one was smaller, but it had a denser appearance, and the aura of Energy that smoldered off of it was palpable. Next to the orb was a silver token, just like Issa’s. The last object nestled in the folds of silvery cloth was a dark gray metallic polyhedron with twelve sides. It was a little smaller than his fist, and when Morgan lifted it out, he was startled by the weight. It was easily the heaviest object of that size that he’d ever held; he guessed it must weigh fifty pounds.
Lifting the polyhedron with two hands, he looked closely at it. He could see, moving on hidden currents within the metal, bronze-colored symbols and runes that reminded Morgan of the characters he’d seen on scrolls he’d received from the System in other rewards. “What the hell is this thing? It’s damn heavy!”
“I don’t know! Bond with it!” Issa leaned closer, peering at the many-sided ball in Morgan’s hands. “It has runes floating around in the metal!” Morgan nodded and sent a thin stream of Energy into the polyhedron.
***Dwelling Seed: Vormendion’s Iron Tower. One use, permanent dwelling construct.***
“It’s a dwelling seed, whatever that is,” Morgan said.
“Really? I think that’s a scarce reward, Morgan. I’ve heard the System sometimes awards buildings for new colonies and towns, but they aren’t common, and something tells me the one you got is rarer still.”
“Yeah, it feels pretty exceptional—I can get a sense of the Energy potential in it, now that I’m bonded, and it feels almost like I’m holding a bomb.” Morgan tried to put the seed into his bag, but it wouldn’t work. He tried to push it in physically, and it was like trying to put two powerful magnets together on opposing poles.
“Morgan! Imagine the dimensional magic involved if that is a seed that turns into a building! It can’t go into another dimensional container!” Issa grabbed onto his wrists and pulled his hands away from his pouch.
“Oh! I guess that makes sense. I’m glad I didn’t get it in there, ’cause now I’m imagining a black hole or something!”
“I don’t know about a black hole, but you could perhaps tear reality,” Issa said flatly. Morgan stopped grinning and blanched. He took a leather bag from his dimensional satchel and put the seed into it, pulling the leather drawstring tight. He wrapped the neck of the bag around his leather girdle and used the drawstrings to hold it in place.
Next, Morgan picked up his Token of Travel and bonded with it:
***Token of Travel: Activate to travel to your home Settlement Stone. Recharges over one month.***
Popping the Token of Travel into his pouch, Morgan reached for the Advancement Orb. The surge of Energy that rushed into him was unlike anything he’d felt before. It was like he was getting a massage and taking a hot shower simultaneously. When his vision cleared, he noted the System message:
***Congratulations! You have achieved level 12 Hollow Guard and have gained 10 Strength, 10 Will, 8 Vitality, 8 Intelligence, and 6 Agility.***
“Holy shit! I just gained two levels, and my class apparently gives out a lot of stats per level!” Morgan looked at Issa, eyes wide with surprise and excitement. “I just gained forty-two stat points for two levels!”
“Yes, I saw the effect! Your aura is more palpable now. You remind me of some of the older hunters in my village already. You’re going to be a real monster someday!”
“A monster?” Morgan frowned.
“I don’t mean that in a bad way! According to my elders, in our world and in others rich in Energy, some of the strongest Energy users are creatures that have evolved many times. Powerful people like to compare their strength to these ‘monsters,’ so if someone calls you a real monster, it’s a compliment!”
“Oh well, on my world, the only real monsters were people, and we called them that for doing terrible things. I saw the handiwork of some ‘monsters,’ so I feel a bit negative about the term.” Morgan tried to shake it off, standing up to stretch.
“Well, don’t worry, Morgan, I only think good things about you,” Issa said, also standing up. Morgan felt a slight lurch in his stomach when she said that, and he realized he was feeling some dread about being done with the Crucible—didn’t finishing mean they’d soon be parting ways?
MORGAN
Morgan pushed his dread of parting with Issa aside and said, “Hey, what about your class choices?”
“I looked briefly, and I have a lot of options! Most of them are Improved!” Issa was beaming. “I’m not going to choose a class yet, though, since we’re at the end of the Crucible. I’ll get some advice from my elders back home.”
“Sounds smart, but what about our racial upgrades? Let’s drink those before we leave.” Morgan paused for a moment and looked at Issa. “If you had taken the racial upgrade first, would you have had better options with your class choices?”
“Um”—Issa’s face lost some of its color—“oh, Morgan! I don’t know! Did I make a big mistake?”
“Well, nah, I doubt it. I wouldn’t worry, Issa; it’s nothing you can control anyway.” Morgan picked up the vial of refined royal jelly. “Have you ever heard of a Tundra Bee?”
“Hah, no, but the world is huge, and since the reward came from the System, there’s a good chance it’s not even from this world.”
“Ah, yeah, good point. Well, we should sit down for this. The last time, when I ate that fruit, it knocked me on my ass.” Issa nodded, and they sat down, facing each other. They each removed the cork stoppers from their vials and then tipped the contents into their mouths. The thick jelly slid from the vials like water on wax, and the explosion of taste made both of them gasp in pleasure. From the moment Morgan swallowed the jelly, he could feel it doing something. His throat tingled, then his stomach, and then the tingling spread through his body. Before he knew it, his eyes were closed, and he felt like he was flying through swirls of colorful fog. Surprisingly, he felt like Issa was flying with him, and he could hear her laughing as they swooped in circles through the mists. Morgan reached out and held her hand and her purring laugh intensified.
