Chapter 13

...

"When I find… whatever deity…"

"Is responsible… for this…"

"I’m going… to kick them… so hard…"

"Then… I’ll take… their pancreas…"

"So they… can know… just how bad…"

"This sucks…"

More hot air. There was no real point to it, but apart from walking, or staring at screens floating in my vision, there wasn't much else to do. Just an endless monotony where I had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I had to continue my momentum and not stop to rest.

Because I knew if I stopped, I was going to stay stopped.

The road was made from thick cut stones. Under my newly-provided sandals, it carried on and on. The surface seemed to be mostly flat, but not perfectly so. Every so often, there was a slightly lifted block. Enough for an edge to stand out, and catch. Enough so that I might stumble if my attention was lost.

Thick blocks in the center, with a few elevated ones along the edges. The whole pattern of it reminded me of what I could remember of roman-style materials. The old-style of roads, before asphalt pavement was a thing. Specifically ordered layers of different sized stone, topped off with large, even, bricks, so it could survive through the ages.

Some sort of civilization had clearly invested a lot of time and effort in what was beneath my feet.

But I was far too tired and sick to care.

[Status]

Name: John

Attributes

Class: None – Skills: 2/6

Titles:

Perks:

Strength:

15

-

Lesser Analysis

Dexterity:

12

Archery 5

Constitution:

18

Resist Poison 8

Intelligence:

10

-

Wisdom:

10 [+2]

-

Wise man of the Mountains

Charisma:

10 [+5]

-

Ambitious [ACTIVE]

Another tally had been added into my "Resist Poison" Skill.

Funny how the message indicator seemed to work.

In that, it really didn’t.

My skills would increase, and I hardly even noticed unless I checked.

It was a weird concept, visually being able to watch those numbers. That mysteriously floating points of data, which summarized and quantified something about my existence. Little tallies being added to my total sum.

Did they mean I was becoming something more than human?

The [Trial] was definitely changing me. Each little head-rush of Strength had made that clear, but it was doing other, less obvious, things too. Morphing me under the pressure, little by little. Acclimating me to this new environment...

Harsh and unforgiving as it felt, maybe that was the whole point?

I was much stronger. Far more than I could ever remember being. In fact, it was probably the only real reason I was still moving, because apart from that. Because, holy crap did I feel horrible.

My throat was dry as a desert, and I was starting to get thirsty beyond all belief. Which wasn't very good sign, but I hadn't seen a stream or water source, and I wasn't sure I could safely drink water from one of those even if I did.

Wilderness survival lessons seemed a distant concept, compared to the headspace I was in, but from what I could remember from the period of my life when I used to go camping and hiking, I would need to find some way to boil water like that before I could drink it.

There were so many things between me and boiled water I wasn't even sure where to start.

Originally, this hadn't even been something I'd considered as a potential issue. If I had my little cooking pot, that had been in my bag, and my lighter. Hell, I might still be able to make a fire without any tools, given enough trial and error, but it would take a lot of time to prepare, and then what? Boil water without a pot? That didn't make any sense at all.

My mind was all fuzzed up, and holding thoughts was getting to be more and more difficult. Yet, somehow, I kept on walking. I continued to put one foot in front of the other. The road continued, and so did I.

The sun was starting to set.

Just one more difference compared to the first floor. It seemed that time passed normally here. The sun was free to roam, the sky was filled with clouds, and there were signs of life everywhere. Other living things skittered about in the forests beside the road, or flew overhead. Birds called out, or fluttered across the tree lines beside the road. Small furry creatures ducked in and out of grass and ferns and underbrush. With darkness starting to fall, night settling in as the sun crested over the horizon of mountains, casting long shade over the landscape and road beneath them...

This would all probably be very beautiful, if I wasn't feeling so terrible.

I hadn’t seen any evidence of other people, yet. All this time, and there were no signs along the road. There were no homes, and certainly no evidence of a city- much less multiple cities. The farther I went, the more I felt certain that I'd lost the coin flip.

In choosing the mountains, it seemed that I’d chosen the wrong direction.

Still, it wasn’t as though I could turn around.

No, that wasn't an option.

Hungry, tired, poisoned… I probably couldn’t even cover the distance back to where I started. My body was one thing, but mentally, I was certain that would break me. I had committed to this direction, and turning around after all this time would really just make it all feel worthless.

As I kept going though, moving slower and slower, I finally found something different.

It reminded me of a chapel.

Small, constructed of stone, a single building waited beside the road. Marked with strange pillars and a dirt path off along the roadside, it seemed to have a holy feel to it, as if it were a special place.

The forest was trimmed back around the structure. A small clearing seemed to be maintained, and there was what looked to be a garden, with a small stone path leading off behind the building itself. Which indicated there was someone living there. Or, by my best guess, that there had been someone recently.

I was too tired to ponder it much.

Turning off the road for the first time, I stumbled down the path, before collapsing at the door. Made of thick boards, set with iron bands, my efforts to push it open were in vain.

It wouldn't budge. In fact, it appeared to be locked.

But, I'd finally lost my momentum.

Slipping down from leaning against the door, to simply lying in front of it, I had finally come to a stop. My body was spent, my muscles were screaming, and every breath felt like torture.

Rolling onto my side, I vomited.

Maybe I could find it within myself to pull out a second wind, and get back up... maybe...

No.

I couldn’t convince myself to get back up. To head back out to the road. To go even a single step further seemed impossible, and it wasn't as though I was really going to find anything better than what I already had. Night was almost here, and at least in the door way I would be partly sheltered from the elements. If I was lucky enough to wake up in the morning, maybe I could push on then.

Breathing heavy, I felt my eyes closing, as exhaustion pulled me down.

Deeper and deeper, towards unconsciousness.