Chapter 51 – Tomb Raider

Black. Not quite full black, but a tormented solid dark red that surely did not bode well. If you ever ran across a monster whose name was colored in that deep shade, chances were that you would probably die within the next few minutes.

Every single deinonychus’s name was highlighted in a deep, dark red that was almost black, a clear sign of danger much like a poisonous frog’s vibrant neon colors advertising its fatal nature. These meter and half tall reptilian creatures were so far beyond our level to handle that I shuddered to imagine what they would do to us if they ever caught us off guard.

This situation was… just so fucking difficult. This game just threw one impossible situation after another against us, as if it was trying to tell us to take the hint, to sit down and die quietly, and to let natural selection do its part in culling the weak. In this case, the deinonychuses were the predators, and we were prey animals due for an imminent culling.

And it wasn’t as if I was that weak. In comparison to any other normal player, I was already very strong. At level 84 and having already received my first job advancement, I was well beyond the level of the average Eclipse player, and that wasn’t even taking into account the insane achievements I collected, as well as [Shadow], an escape and repositioning ability that I recently bought from the dimension shop that would make any thief class, actually more like any player in the world, salivate in jealousy.

In my current state since powering up from the dwarf base assault, I could hold my own against even rankers. Rosalia probably could as well in her powerful [Angel of Luxuria] state. In a brawl against [Rick], [Beezlebub], [Bastion], [Cold Hands], or any other famous ranker, depending on who it was I was probably at a disadvantage, but I still had a fighting chance even against the best of the best. But Rosalia and I were so far removed from civilization, deep in a previously undiscovered danger zone full of shit that should have killed us ages ago, that the challenges we were running into could easily overwhelm even a team of a dozen rankers. The difficulty we were facing here was just beyond the capabilities of even the best players.

Surely though, we would be safe up here though on Siege Golem’s shoulders? No matter how strong or cunning they were, it wasn’t like deinonychuses could climb an entire golem.

As if to answer that question, dark clouds were forming overhead, and rain fell from the skies. But something was wrong. This wasn’t the normal kind of rain.

“Ah… SHIT!!!” Bjorn winced in pain. I felt it as well. With every droplet that landed on our bodies, a sizzling stinging sensation on our skin erupted upon contact with the rain.

[-2 health]

[-2 health]

[You have been affected by acid rain. Find shelter.]

“It’s acid rain!” I yelled in panic. “Siege Tank Golem, cover us up!”

The golem raised its arm to shield us from the rain, but, much like the waterfall, any amount of wind pressure changed the trajectory of the rain in a way that we were still coming in contact with too much of the rainwater.

The deinonychuses yelped and darted out of the open into shelter of a small forest nearby. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to run at 60 mph like they were, so our golem was the only cover we had.

Siege Tank Golem lowered us down in his palm, then sat down onto the ground. It formed a small enclosed space around us by lowering his head and wrapping its arms around above its legs to form a wall and ceiling. As sensitive as ever, the golem also left some gaps in the walls for ventilation.

I honestly never felt so protected in my life before until now. The golem really was a gift from heaven, a stalwart guardian.

“Thank you, mister golem,” Rosalia said while gently stroking the stone inner thigh of the golem.

“No… problem,” Siege Tank Golem replied in its typical calm baritone voice.

God, he was so cute. I patted my golem lovingly.

Bjorn also nodded his head appreciatively as the golem shielded us from the rain and monsters outside. We held still as the rain pitter-pattered onto the golem’s body.

[Siege Tank Golem has taken 1 corrosive damage from the acid rain.]

[Siege Tank Golem has taken 1 corrosive damage from the acid rain.]

[Siege Tank Golem has taken 1 corrosive damage from the acid rain.]

Agh, the acid rain had a corrosive effect on my golem’s stone body, but we had no choice but to stay put. And my golem was pretty tanky with a huge health bar, so I wasn’t too worried.

[Siege Tank Golem has taken 2 corrosive damage from the acid rain.]

[Siege Tank Golem has taken 2 corrosive damage from the acid rain.]

[Siege Tank Golem has taken 3 corrosive damage from the acid rain.]

[Siege Tank Golem has taken 3 corrosive damage from the acid rain.]

BANG.

Thunder echoed through the sky as the clouds continued to darken above.

Well… that wasn’t good. I could hear the acid rain hitting my golem increasing in volume until it was a massive thunderstorming downpour outside.

“Will golem be okay?” Rosalia whispered, a concerned look on her face.

I checked Siege Tank Golem’s health bar. At the rate the corrosive damage was increasing, he would only be able to hold out for around twenty minutes tops. We needed to act fast, and act decisively.

I shook my head. “We don’t have very long if the rain continues to get worse. We’re going to have to find somewhere else for shelter.

Siege Golem shifted in place a bit, the walls of our makeshift shelter adjusting to the side. “Go in... tomb…” the golem said.

“How do we get there?” I asked him.

“Entrance… behind monolith…” the Golem replied. “Activated... already.”

The golem lifted its arm, as the torrential acid rain was now in full display in front of us, splashing onto the ground below and seeping into the dirt, while what was left of it on the surface formed puddles of tinted liquid on the ground. “Go,” it urged us, pressing us forward with the back of its other arm. “I cannot… hold… much longer.”

I looked up at my golem, and saw that the areas of his body exposed to rain were melting right in front of my eyes, like candle wax dripping off a candle. It was a sad sight, but I knew that my golem was just doing what he knew was right.

With that, I took off towards the tall pillar monolith at the top of the hill, with Bjorn and Rosalia right behind me. Covering our faces as best as we could with our arms and robes, we made a mad dash towards the monolith entrance.

[You have been severely affected by acid rain. Find shelter soon.]

[Your left arm has been burned by acid rain.]

[Your right arm has been burned by acid rain.]

[Your face has been burned by acid rain.]

“Activate, dimension ripper!” I shouted. My left arm turned pitch black and began to absorb just a bit of the acid rain as I continued to bolt up the wet, grassy hill.

“Aah!” Rosalia yelped.

I looked back, just in time to that Rosalia tripped and was beginning to slide down the hill, her arms and legs brushing against the caustic rainwater on the ground, creating burnt streaks of exposed flesh across her otherwise white skin. I almost activated [Restrain], before I saw that she stifled her perilous slipping by activating [Angelic Hover], which burned her precious divine energy. In the forest behind us, I saw glimpses of the deinonychuses observing our every move with hungry eyes, from the safety of the trees.

My [Crown of the Forgotten King] pulsated with hot energy as I approached the monolith, which was now completely flared up, the runes and glyphs running down the structure glowing in a bluish white light.

Panting, I finally reached the hilltop and swung behind the monolith, looking for the entrance. It wasn’t hard to find at all. A staircase descending into a torch lit black space seemed to have recently revealed itself. For a moment, I hesitated, sensing something rather ominous within the dungeon, but the searing pain of the acid rain running across my face and body sobered me up quickly.

I ran down the steps into the Tomb of the Forgotten King, Rosalia and Bjorn entering right after me.

“We’re in…” I said in relief, looking up at Rosalia and Bjorn while panting with my arms on my knees.

Except… I couldn’t hear my own voice. I opened my mouth and spoke again, trying again louder, but once again, nothing. Not a single sound could be heard.

Bjorn and Rosalia looked at me confused, speaking to each other as if they were totally fine. Behind them, I saw a familiar moving stone shape settle itself into the entrance of the tomb. It was Siege Tank Golem’s butt, which was now snugly positioned on the entrance and sealing the entrance off temporarily from the elements outside.

I frowned while watching Rosalia and Bjorn try to speak to me. The torches lining the sides of the hallway illuminated their faces clearly, and I could somewhat make out the words they were saying by lip reading. Talking… spoon… stop… speed? I wasn’t very good at lip reading.

Suddenly, a rushing sound like a jet plane flying low in the sky passed by me, and the audial world returned to me.

“–are you talking so loud?” Rosalia asked.

“Oh… I can hear again.”

Bjorn had a frown on his face. “What do you mean you can hear again? You’ve been talking this whole time… we thought you might’ve been afflicted by some mind curse or something… Thor damn it.”

“No, I mean… I couldn’t hear shit until just now.” I hit my ears with my hand in disbelief. “Like nothing at all. It was like what we felt in the forest earlier, where Meat Shield said nothing smelled like anything.”

Rosalia crossed her arms in thought. “Hm… at first I thought that something might be removing scent, but from what you’re saying, it seems like the more likely answer is that there’s some anomaly here that interferes with our sense of perception.”

She tapped her cheek and continued. “Because Bjorn and I could hear perfectly fine, so we were confused why you were yelling in the air as if we couldn’t hear you. So it’s not like sound didn’t exist in your case, it was just that your perception of that sound got blocked, or intercepted, by something.”

Bjorn spat on the ground and rubbed his temple. “Blast, I knew there was something strange about this island. It’s happened to me more times than I can count, but when you’re living alone for so long, it’s easier to just believe that you’re imagining things.”

“Agh, this kind of curse and hex magical crap is not meant for dwarves. We enjoy things we understand, things that are rooted in the earth and follow the principles of physics, metallurgy, and oretheurgy. None of this mystic crap.”

I blinked, slightly confused. I knew what metallurgy was, but oretheurgy? Was that the study and understanding of ores? Maybe it was dwarven lingo or something. I decided to ask Bjorn about it later.

Looking up, I could see that Siege Tank Golem was beginning to slowly crumble. “Let’s talk about this later. My golem’s about to break down, so it’s best if we find the exit sooner than later. Let’s get moving.”

Grabbing one of the torches from the side of the descending staircase, I walked forward with Rosalia and Bjorn, our battered and bruised party of three descending into the middle of god-knows-where with the goal of accomplishing god-knows-what, entering the jowls of a lion that was the pitch blackness ahead of us, which was one step closer to swallowing us whole with every step we took.