[Chapter 45 part 1] Soul – Heaven Splitter

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Inside was an ordinary cavern ending in a stone doorway flanked by torches. We got here safely. While the others studied petrified remains, Soul had been watching the Blue Abyss creep nearer. A hundred and fifty feet is too close.

“Alright, everyone stop.” Shine declared. “Have any of you been in a dungeon?”

“Nope.” Soul answered. “We’ll be counting on you.”

Shine took a breath, “That’s what I suspected… There’s a mountain of things you should be familiar with, but it’s ok. We’ll manage.” Is she trying to convince us or herself?

“To begin, our pacing needs to change.” Shine focused. “Rushing is how you die.”

“Lost World is divided into five floors ——that’s slang for areas of difficulty. The layout of each is roughly the same: two caves systems leading to a gigantic game reserve. Somewhere in the reserve is a sunken arena with a ‘boss’ and the passage to the next floor. Lost World doesn’t have Warp points, so we’re traversing everything on foot.”

“Where’s our goal?” Soul asked.

“The fourth game reserve.” Shine answered quietly. Soul did the math. Eight cave systems, four game reserves, and three bosses.

Shine motioned the doorway, “This floor’s cave systems are a quarter mile long and poorly lit. Part one is filled with armored bats, the second with Hyaenadons. Questions?”

“What’s our strategy?” Rose asked.

“We proceed carefully clearing each section.” Shine stated. “Assuming everyone is A rank, nothing here should prove a threat.”

“Tell us about the bats.” Light asked.

“Their front and underbelly are well defended.” Shine explained. “Their backs are their weak spot.”

“Alright, leave them to me.” Light drew a white-handled silver ninjato and raced into the darkness.

“Wait! I haven’t finished——” Shine objected, horrified.

“It’s fine.” Wise placed a hand on her shoulder. “He knows what he’s doing. This is a chance to test his weapons.”

“Are we really letting him go this alone?” Shine asked at the sound of screeching. “Without lighting?”

“This brings up an important point from our side.” Rose said seriously. “Always listen to Wise. Directions from him take precedent over everything else. He’s Nero Ebonwood’s clone.”

Calming, Shine examined Wise, “So his foresight must be better than Jeane’s…”

“Much stronger,” Free agree. “He inherited his original’s gift to an abnormal extent.”

Their surroundings fell silent, and Light reappeared, “The room is clear. I’m moving on.”

“When you reach another door with torches, don’t go further!” Shine yelled quickly. Light nodded and vanished.

“I’m glad I’m being listened to so attentively.” Shine grumbled sarcastically. “Let’s follow.”

Fairy light revealed a carnage. Winged corpses lay everywhere, each stabbed from behind. Far off, they heard the massacre continuing. He must be having fun. Free knelt by one and observed fascinated as it disintegrated, “Do they all disappear?”

“Mostly yes.” Shine answered. “Creatures in dungeons are basically summons. However, if you’re lucky, sometimes ‘spoils’ remain. It can be a weapon or piece of armor. Other times it’s gold or jewelry. In Lost World, they’re leftover body parts: horns, claws, teeth… It varies. For armored bats, there’s a chance for scaled leather.”

“Lost World’s rewards are useful for enchanting, refining, and magecraft.” Shine continued. “Since they’re from extinct species, they’re unobtainable anywhere else. Back where we docked, the guild outpost tabulates requests from around Enera. Normally adventurers stop there to check what’s in demand.” We aren’t here for profit.

“Did your team come for spoils?” Rose asked.

“No, we wanted the XP.” Shine lamented. “Our aim was to defeat the fourth floor’s boss, the Red Mantis. Unfortunately, we got horribly sidetracked.”

Soul nodded. Two metrics which reliably built renown were the highest rank achieved in coliseums and the depths traveled in dungeons. Emerit’s card had dozens of these. While ranking up necessitated weeks, a dungeon run took days. Time efficient, but riskier. It made sense for Minstrel to brave Lost World while visiting.

“So you were planning on retreating afterwards?” Free asked.

“Yes,” Shine acknowledged. “The fifth floor is saint level. It’s suicide for a four person team. You need five times that number to even consider venturing. This only occurs when there’s strong enough demand for the materials there.”

“We’re halfway.” Shine stated, stepping over another shuriken impaled cadaver. “To save time, I’ll list some basics as they pop into my head. This place follows a vertical difficulty curve: Up is easier and down is harder. If you’re separated, head to higher ground.”

“Next is composition. Lost World is limited to real world species. There are no artificially creations like chimeras. This also eliminated the mythical and the undead. One takeaway is there’s nothing with human level intelligence. Believe me, that’s nice.”

“Another pleasant feature is that there are no traps outside of temples. The dreaded Calin had little involvement in this place.”

“Temples?” Hope asked.

“They’re optional mini-dungeons scattered throughout the game reserves. Successfully navigating one gets noted on your card. They offer improved rewards, but you must deal with ever-changing layouts of pitfalls and puzzles.” Shine explained. “We’ll be skipping them.” So they’re side objectives.

Shine’s stride faltered, “I just realize you don’t know about agro, which is so important…” She sighed. “It’s short for aggression and refers to the behavior of dungeon residents: When they’ll attack, how far they’ll track you, etc…”

“Don’t animals here follow their instincts?” Soul asked.

“They do, which makes Lost World beginner friendly.” Shine confirmed. “However, there’s a big exception.” She pointed to where Light was waiting besides a pair of torches. “Those stone doorways are hard barriers. Nothing will chase you through.”

“Nice job.” Soul said to Light. “Hyaenodons are next?”

“Yes,” Shine confirmed. “But, before that, you guys should examine your ‘status’. This is a fun trick which only works in dungeons. Try saying ‘Appraise Self’ out loud. Warning, don’t take anything too serious.”

Confused, they did as instructed. A screen similar to the quest stone’s appeared.

STATUS

Name: Soul Skyfell

Species: Human

Age: 15

Specialization: Ninja (temp), knight in shining armor

Level: 31~62 (numbers fluctuating)

Mana: 7290~8349 (numbers fluctuating)

Str: 239~358 (numbers fluctuating)

Luck: 57

Affinity: Ice, Wind

Titles: Ethan’s Doppelganger, Genesis of a Hero, Goody Two-Shoes, Dawn’s Punching Bag

Notable Skills: Ice Armor, Ice Wings

Status ailments: none

“What’s this?” Rose demanded angrily. “Why does it say ‘Phoenix Poacher’? And how do I make it go away?”

“Calm down.” Shine said smoothly. “Just say ‘dismiss’. It’ll also fade on its own.”

“Does this serve any purpose? Besides disrespecting you?” Rose asked.

“Yes, it has one key use.” Shine explained. “The last line is always ‘Status Ailments’. If you’ve been poisoned, cursed, or infected, it’ll mention it there. Knowing what you’re suffering from can be life saving.”

“Feel free to ignore everything else.” Shine continued. “Checking your status is sort of a ritual. It’s fun because it’s different every time.”

“Anyway, Hyaenodons are just large dogs with over-sized jaws. It’s best to power through.”

Light walked over and put a hand on Shine’s shoulder solemnly. “Thank you for sharing this awesome phenomenon. I only hope that you don’t come to regret it.” He then dashed ahead, leaving a confused idol behind.

“What’s that about?” She asked.

“I’m not sure, but let’s follow.” Soul replied. In truth, he did have an inkling. Free still has her status open, and she has that look.

A minute later, in the midst of battle, Free approached Shine, “So, how did this Status thing come about?”

“I believe it’s originally from a popular tabletop game.” Shine said.

“I see… And why does it constantly change?”

“Because there’s no way something as complex as a person could be reduced to a few paragraphs.” Shine then made a mistake. “Is that all you want to know?”

Free shook her head, “No, not even close. Why does my ‘mana’ keep fluctuating? What’s ‘mana’? Also I’ve a bunch of titles which I want to talk about. How are these chosen? Are there standard categories or rules? Two of mine seem problematic. I mean, ‘Living Bioweapon’ and ‘Creator of Small Horrors’? Are these supposed to be funny? Also, on my skill section, something just popped up that doesn’t appear to be skill. What’s ‘Excessive Curiosity’? I can understand joke titles, but ‘joke skills’? … My skill just got upgrade to ‘Rabid Curiosity’. Intriguing. Anyway, back to my original…”

Soul clarified the situation for the bewildered Shine, “The only way out is to keep answering until she loses interest. There are no shortcuts.”

Unfortunately, Shine didn’t take the advice, darting ahead with Free in close pursuit. Emerit would say it’d be more interesting if Free catches up, so that’s likely to happen.

At the exit, they found an unhappy Shine wrapped up in roots. This has to end. “Our purpose is saving lives. Can you control yourself from here on out? Otherwise Shine will hesitate to share details.”

“Alright.” Free reluctantly released her captive. “I got enough for now.”

They entered a bright, sprawling space similar to the Obsidian Caverns, only here the support pillars disappeared into a cloudy haze. Tree-dotted green plains stretched before them. Further out, Soul saw a swamp, two forests, a mountainous region, and a sandy dessert.

“Welcome to the first game reserve.” Shine announced grandly. “The centers are always filled with apex predators. Normally it’s safer to maneuver the outskirts, but, after seeing you fight, I realized there’s no point.”

She raised her hand and sent out a red beam to a misty crater miles away, “We’ll head straight for the boss.”

“Can you first give a rundown of what to expect?” Rose asked.

“Sure.” She moved her beam. “Those are Diomedes, flesh eating horses. The giant flightless birds are Kelenkens. And in those trees are Smilodons, really big cats. None will be a problem.”

Shine was right. The animals here didn’t wield magic, only possessing enhanced bodies. It was easy enough to knock them away and outrun them. If they were more ferocious, maybe they wouldn’t be extinct. Soon they gathered at the crater.

“Below is a celestial tiger.” Shine stated.

“That sounds tough…” Hope said hesitantly.

Shine waved away the concern, “It’s only called ‘celestial’ because it’s blue and channels electricity. It won’t be a challege.”

“How do we get down?” Light asked.

“It’s three hundred feet. I’m sure everyone can manage.” The white-clothed idol leaped into the fog. They each followed in their own ways. Gliding on frozen wings, Soul watched Light travel the wall and Rose slow herself with fire. Good.

The mist above became the new ‘sunlit cloudy sky’, illuminating a grassy field. In the center, a nine foot tiger stood serenely. Must weight five thousand pounds. Its pelt was navy blue with glowing neon stripes. It roared thunderously.

The beast’s prowess was far less impressive. Not thirty second had passed before a final revolver shot brought it down. If only the rest is this easy.

The ground rumbled as a wheel-shaped boulder rolled aside, revealing a doorway with torches.

“Cool.” Light said. “How long does it stay open?”

“Floor bosses respawn every few hours, but don’t worry. There’s an alternate way back which bypasses the caves. Only the game reserves are unskippable.” If not, Shine wouldn’t have escaped.

Past the entrance, thousands of glowing shards glistened in the walls. “So what’re we up against?” Hope asked.

“Crystal Golems and Horned Gorillas.” Shine replied. “The former is ridiculously easy, and the latter frustratingly hard.”

“Golems?” Free objected “Aren’t those artificial?”

“Crystal Golems evolved naturally.” Shine explained. “On Enera, human-shaped constructs receive a power boost. It’s the reason giant machines are shaped like knights. By mimicking a humanoid form, these crystal-based lifeforms took advantage of the phenomenon.”

Shine looked ahead, “They’re strong and resilient, but also slow. It’s simple to outrun them. I’m sure they were included for their uniqueness. ”

“So we’re running through?” Soul asked.

“Exactly.” Shine nodded. “Which is why I must inform you of what follows. Horned Gorillas are strong, resilient, and fast. A much less amusing combination. Prepare for a slog.”

Shine lead them at a breakneck pace. Her knowledge of the route trivializes this. The scattered Crystal Golems shimmered amber and purple and ranged from seven to ten feet tall. I’m guessing Lost World only features mature specimens. Soul wished they could to slow for a better look, but soon they were through.

Horned Gorillas were a foot shorter and infinitely less spectator friendly. The crystal protruding from their limbs, back, and head acted as defensive armor and offensive weapons. The curving spikes glowed brightly against their dark fur, producing an otherworldly appearance. They’re aggressive, intelligent, and skillful.

They’d encountered a dozen upon entering, and the battle was proving arduous. The horns made decisive blows challenging, while also deflecting bullets and shurikens. Even Diamonds Edge struggled to slice through the thicker ones. That’s probably me. The only one landing lethal strikes was Wise. His brother danced around, ending lives with his staff.

(continued in part 2)