《Adaptive Learner》Chapter 8 The Dungeon Master
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The room was flooded with growing plants. Trees were growing everywhere around the room few having purple flowers growing near them. The lone path lay in front of the group, only a chest at the end in sight. Vines hung from the ceiling of the dungeon some reaching to the floor. A huge tree lay behind the now more visible chest. A blue pod that looked similar to the one that Toshiro had taken with him from the first room crept along the tree looking as if it would bloom in front of the chest.
"It might be a trap," spoke Toshiro as he pulled out his ax.
"Stay back, until I disable it," he continued as he swung the ax at the vine, it giving the sound of metal clashing as the ax hit the vine.
"No use," Toshiro muttered before attempting flame magic.
Looking at the vine, that Toshiro attempted to destroy had not even a scratch upon it.
"I can't break it, we might as well ignore it," he shouted as the others came running up the path.
The group began searching for the door as Toshiro went back to the chest.
"What might you be?" he asked himself opening the chest. Seconds later the blue flower began to bloom as it started spraying a blue-colored gas.
"We need to go!" shouted Toshiro as the gas was just starting to spread.
"I found the next door nya!" shouted Alicia as Leo and Ilya met up with her.
"On my way!" shouted Sena as she ran to the other three.
"I'll be there in a minute!" called Toshiro as he grabbed the glowing stone.
The gas now beginning to spread had already covered the ground near the tree. The rune-like stone ceased its green glow, as Toshiro hit the ground the blood of his veins beginning to turn green.
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"What is... this..." he muttered, the gas now nearing his body.
The boy trying to get up put as much strength into it as he could, but failed. He felt sapped of energy as his veins glowed for a minute before beginning to gain normal coloring once again.
"Toshiro are you okay?" shouted Leo from the end of the forest.
"Come... on..." he spoke struggling to get to the tree near him, a purple flower residing beside it, the gas now at his feet was covering the ground at a more steady pace. The elusive purple flower had three large petals wrapping around each other. Reaching for the flower Toshiro stretched his arm towards the purple flower using any energy he could find within him to grab it.
"The Yinda Flower!" he said finally succeeding in grabbing it. A disgusted face had begun to show on Toshiro as he ate the yinda flower. The temporary energy now beginning to come to him, gave him the strength to run.
"I didn't want to attempt this idea..." he mumbled as he continued to run towards the door.
"Toshiro, hurry!" shouted Ilya as she and the others could now see the struggling boy, the gas having almost caught up to him now.
"Run in the next room and shut the door as soon as I get in!" he shouted as he got closer. The others had now entered the next room, as Toshiro turned around in front of the door. Casting a fireball he launched it as far away as he could, the fireball beginning to ignite the gas.
A loud boom was heard from the back of the room, as Toshiro dived for the door. Seconds after, Toshiro dived through the door, it was slam shut by Leo and Alicia. An extremely loud explosion was heard from the previous room the door barely holding it intact.
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This room was much different from the previous ones as instead of a type of forest or swamp there was. It was a small hill with a door crafted in it, windows being on both sides. Due to the round door being so low, the entire party had to duck before entering.
Inside lay tables with scrolls and glassware upon them, plants near all the windows, and chests in the room next to it. A very short person came rushing out as he heard Sena shut the door.
"It seems I have visitors, what are your names?" asked the short older man, his gray hair showing his old age.
"Who are you?" asked Leo looking down at the old man.
"It's quite impolite to ask questions before even introducing yourself young man," the old man said.
"Toshiro," spoke Toshiro as he walked in front of the others, before continuing, "And yours?"
"I'm Nefarious, at least some of you have some common sense," complained the old man as he sat down on a stool.
"Might I ask who you are?" Toshiro continued as he began to heal a scrape from diving earlier.
"I am what you call a dungeon master," the old man began, "When you decided to enter my dungeon your task was to get to me."
"Now that you've gotten to me, it seems you can either kill me or let me live," he continued, "But either way you can escape this dungeon from the back door."
"What happens if we do either?" asked Toshiro before asking one more question, "And why haven't you tried to kill us?"
"Well, I am more considered a pacifist than any else, but I made this dungeon so I wouldn't be killed so easily and could enjoy a new life in this dungeon. " Nefarious said as he began to ramble.
"And for your other question you can do whatever you want, you succeeded in clearing all the other probable rooms," he said continuing to ramble, "I am very weak and fragile so do as you will as I can't stop you like other dungeon masters may."
"This is stupid talk nya!" Alicia exclaimed, "I'm hungry! Where's the food?"
"The food is in the back, the chest to your left," Nefarious attempted to say before Alicia ran to the back to eat something. Ilya sighed before running after Alicia.
"Not fighting has a rather nice ring to it," contemplated Toshiro before asking, "May I copy your mind?"
"Will I die, lose my memories, knowledge, or personality," asked Nefarious, his interest piqued by the question asked.
"No, nor will it hurt," spoke Toshiro as he put the palm of his hand upon Nefarious.
***
"What was that?!" shouted a cloaked person, carrying a wood-like hammer.
"It seems things are starting to get interesting 'round these parts!" he said beginning to laugh.
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War raged on in the lands of Thyderalis, a continent within the world of Dunia. For a thousand years, two factions desperately fought for control: the Kingdom of Damore and the Draconic Empire. If left unchecked, an unseen chaos will be unleashed, bringing an end to all life. This was all disclosed to Aren Damoder - a once revered hero centuries ago - through a vision. He handled this burden alone and failed all attempts to thwart the future. As all hope seemed lost, another vision revealed itself: only a single person could bring an end to this conflict, forcing the lurking evil to slumber once again. The individual destined to change the world was a knight named Layette Hawkwood. She strives to be as great as the legends before her, only to struggle to uphold their “ideal” values. Along with many companions and battles to come, Layette explores the idea of heroism and what it means to be a hero. Continuing on his quest, Aren will ultimately have to decide: sacrificing others for the sake of one or uphold his heroic beliefs.
8 82After the End: Serenity
We all want to believe we are heroes of our own story - unless we want to be the villain, of course. At the end of everything, the Final Reaper decided he hadn’t been a hero. Driven by a desire to right the wrongs he was subjected to, he killed everyone who wronged him or his people - which turned out to be everyone that wasn’t killed by someone else first. He'd won - but it was a hollow victory. Eventually, Order’s Voice found a way out. If the only existing being would agree to give up most of his power, the Voice could reset the multiverse to an earlier time with a few minor changes. Of course, the Voice couldn't ask it that way. It could only ask if the Final Reaper was willing to start over from when Earth was first brought into Order. It was an easy decision, and yet it wasn’t. Was he willing to go through eons of pain again to not be alone? Yes. In a heartbeat. Not that his heart beat anymore. Now it would. Perhaps he could even be a hero, this time. When he landed in his old body - more or less - on Earth, the Final Reaper once again became Thomas. He was both and neither. He needed a new name for a new life. Serenity. ------------------------------------------ While this is technically a System Apocalypse story, it's a System Apocalypse that is designed to have a large percentage of the population survive and prosper. There are a lot of problems that come with the appearance of the Voice, and it's entirely possible to lose. Earth has some special opportunities, but also special challenges. The first time around, Earth won the first round and lost the second. Serenity has ten years from when the Voice arrives to prevent that from happening. It will be a group effort; Serenity can't win alone - which is difficult for someone who's been alone for as long as he has. Of course, that's only his second priority. ------------------------------------------- Updates Daily A note on the nonhuman lead tag: He isn't human, and hasn't been human for a very, very long time (or maybe not long at all, depending on how you count it). He still thinks of himself as human, either way. The content warnings are mostly to give me room to write; this fiction is not intended to be edgy, but once in a while a character will swear or someone will get seriously injured. The cover image is a Chandra/Hubble composite image of VV 340 / Arp 302 / UGC 9618. While we're not going to space itself any time soon in the story, people from elsewhere are coming to Earth and Serenity will visit other planets. Plus, I like space imagery. [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
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