"This is tradition! Bar fight!" Durthu shouted over the chanting.
"So you all just get drunk and fight each other?" Cyrus asked his orc companion.
"Yes! Very exciting, right?!" Durthu grinned.
"I guess?" Cyrus shrugged.
He decided to read his Hunter's Journal. This larger humanoid was interesting, because while the orcs had human characteristics, they also had things like tusks, horns, tails, or pointed ears. This thing though was much larger, maybe twenty to thirty feet tall, and actually looked human. What he was actually staring at was called a Giant. There are many species, and many have a common ancestor. Orcs, Giants, and Titans all share one ancestor, but branched off and gained their own special characteristics.
Cyrus scratched his chin and read through the new entries inside the Hunter's Journal. He thought they were interesting entries.
Species: Jotun.
Subspecies: Orc.
Place of Origin: Jotunheim.
Culture: Orcs, like their larger counterparts, the Giants and Titans, are a warrior race. They do not care for size, race, gender, or anything else superficial. They strictly care for battle and the strength of their opponents and allies alike. To put a new Elder in charge of their societies, they have a free for all until only one is left standing. Orcs have no concept of family, while they have a father and a mother, they go off on their own the moment they can wield a weapon. They are truly a warrior race.
Diet and Biology: Orcs will eat anything they can get their hands on. Their stomach acids allow them to digest anything regardless of material or density. They have strong jaws used for crushing trees, metals, rocks, and bones. Despite being able to eat anything, Orcs believe in a nutritional diet and ensure to eat proteins, grains, fruits, vegetables, and starches.
Religion: Like the Giants and Titans, the Orcs follow the teachings of a being they call the Ancient One, which is where they gained their language, dietary habits, and even their idea of a kinship and family. Information on the Ancient One is scarce, and what exists is a tightly guarded secret of the Jotuns.
Cyrus found this information intriguing. The Jotuns were like humans, but different. Something about this large Orc he was riding made him feel at ease, even if only a little. As the fight stretched on, the Giant triumphed and defeated the Orc in this bar fight, and the two ended up… laughing about it? He couldn't wrap his head around this concept of kinship through violence. Cyrus hoped he wouldn't have to fight Durthu to earn that level of respect.
As if reading his mind, Durthu spoke, "Do not worry little Cyrus, we will not have to fight. I can feel a true warrior's strength from you."
"Oh thank god." He sighed in relief, "Why do you keep calling me little?"
"Well, because you are little." Durthu responded as if it was obvious.
"How old are you, Durthu?" The little human boy asked.
"I am…" The orc paused and looked to be counting in his head, "Fourteen winters old."
"You're only fourteen?" Cyrus was surprised.
Durthu grinned and walked into the bar with his human companion, approaching the bar keep who looked to be a female Giant. She had long auburn hair and bright green eyes that seemed to contrast against her brown-greenish skin. The large woman rested against the bar and looked at Durthu as he approached her.
It took Cyrus's language skill a second to actually translate her words. She had some kind of accent he couldn't hope to recognize. She spoke fast, with a sense of urgency, but he could understand her when his translation skill finally decided to work.
"Why's a little one like you walking into my bar?" The Giant woman asked.
"Me and my tiny companion wish for food and a room!" Durthu exclaimed.
"The tiny one? Why?" The woman suspiciously looked the two up and down.
"Because we are tired and hungry!" Durthu said.
"Entertain me, and I will give you food and a room free of charge, little one." The giant woman said to Durthu.
"Entertain! Entertain! Entertain!" Everyone in the bar began to chant.
"What's happening?" Cyrus whispered to Durthu.
"We must give entertainment!" The orc looked excited.
Cyrus knew what entertainment implied. They'd have to fight, either each other or someone else. A crowd formed around the center of the bar, where Cyrus was put up against an Orc. Durthu was in the crowd cheering, and Cyrus could just feel his heart rate increasing. He was hoping, praying, that his regeneration would stop him from getting his head instantly bashed in. When the barkeep, the giant woman, yelled start, he was instantly caught.
The orc, despite his large size, dove at Cyrus. He blinked as everything around him began to move slowly, but he couldn't move. The orc grabbed his head with a guttural laugh and slammed him into the ground. Cyrus choked and had to gasp just to get air into his lungs. His ribs were aching, his spine felt like it was shattered, his head was throbbing, and the chanting of the bar was only worsening the ringing in his ears.
The orc slapped him to try and wake him up. He could barely stand back up due to his entire upper body screaming at him. But his regeneration. It instantly turned on and began to work, lessening his pain. He put up his hands and rushed at his orc opponent, ducking under the fist that came barreling towards his head. If he got hit even once, he'd probably instantly d–
Thunk.
Oh that looks like it hurt. He'd ignored the orcs' other hand and ended up getting caught with a fist to his head. He was completely out cold, but just before he'd faded into the darkness, he could hear cheering. He felt his body hit the ground, and then it all just went black.
Cyrus woke up with a gasp. He was in a bed six times the size of his body. The boy looked around to see the sun rise through a window and food resting on the massive table beside him. He wondered where Durthu had gone, as there was a second bed that looked recently slept in.
He groaned and stepped out of bed. He still smelled like shit and needed some sort of shower or bath. After exploring the room a little, he found a bathroom tucked off to the side with a tub the size of a small, in-ground, pool. He sighed as the water was still warm, and quickly took his clothes off to bathe the filth from his body.
Durthu was traveling the city when he heard of a structure. It was designated a "mini dungeon" by the humans, whatever that meant. What got his attention was hearing there were strong enemies inside it, and supposedly something extremely strong was at the end. The orc, being the battle hungry man he was, rushed to the location the humans spoke of. Humans were weak and frail. What was strong to a human was the average meal to an orc after all, so it couldn't possibly be that bad.
Cyrus was coming out of the bath in a pair of clothes he'd just… found in the bathroom. He was adjusting the shirt when he heard the door to the room fling open and see Durthu stumble inside. His orc companion was injured, covered in scratches, cuts and gashes all over. His face was contorted in fear, a strong fear, that shined from his eyes.
"Durthu?" Cyrus called out to him.
"Danger. It's dangerous!" The orc panted.
"Woah man, what the hell happened?" The boy asked.
"The humans called it… a mini dungeon! I went inside and it's dangerous! Very dangerous!" Durthu was genuinely shaken to his core.
"A mini dungeon?" Cyrus thought for a moment, "Take me there."
"Why, Little Cyrus?!"
"Just take me there."
He didn't believe he could finish it by himself, but he may gain something useful from a mini dungeon. Before this all started, before his world went to hell, he was a big video game fan. The boy knew that mini dungeons usually had some sort of reward or hidden items scattered about. It was a gamble, a big gamble at that, but on the unlikely chance he got something of worth from this dungeon, it would be worth the risk.
Although reluctant, the orc led Cyrus to the mini dungeon. It looked like a sort of door sitting in the middle of a large field. He examined it carefully, walking around it before grabbing the handle and opening it. Him and Durthu were sucked inside and dropped into an office. This didn't… look like the tower.
Cyrus stood up first and quickly ran to the window. He knew where this was, he'd seen it on TV a thousand times when he was young. This was New York City. The city looked perfectly intact, but upon closer inspection of the world around him, Cyrus could tell something was off. The first red flag was the absence of a sun. There was nothing in the sky, yet the city was bright and the sky was lit. He looked around the streets and didn't see a single person in sight. As Cyrus and his orc companion wandered the empty streets, the city began to violently shake.
"Durthu… why is the ground shaking?" Cyrus asked.
"It's here." Durthu whispered and ran Cyrus into a building.
"What's here?" Cyrus dropped his tone to a hushed whisper, "What's so big it could make an entire city shake?"
"A Titan." The orc pointed up.
Cyrus followed his finger and shut his trap. There was a hand on the side of one of the buildings, and coming around the corner was a head with one massive eye in the center of its head. It had coal black skin, but was humanoid. Behind it was a massive axe that it seemed to be dragging along. When the Titan stood straight, it reached the almost half size of the Empire state building. How did Cyrus know? Well, the Titan leaned on the building and looked around before a deep voice bellowed. How was it talking with no mouth?
"I know you're here." The Titan said, "Come out before I come to you."
"Shit. Durthu, what do we do?" Cyrus whispered.
"We must listen. Titans are powerful and do not like being disobeyed." Durthu whispered before stepping out of the building.
"Oh. The tiny one and an even tinier one." The Titan looked down at them, "What have you come here for?"
Mission: Solve the Titan, Darngir's, riddles or Kill him.
Difficulty: ???
Reward: Darngir's eye, New Skill, Egg of The Void
Recommended: Not at current level.
FLEE.
"To uh… solve your riddles! Yeah… solve your riddles." Cyrus didn't want to fight something as big as this. He would never be able to kill it.
"What is a riddle, Little Cyrus?" Durthu asked.
"You'll see." He whispered back.
"You wish to solve my riddles?" Darngir asked, reaching down one of his hands, "Climb atop my hand. I will tell you the riddles."
"I will give you three riddles. If you answer two or more incorrectly, I will crush you." Darngir said.
"... Okay." Cyrus nodded and prepared himself.
The titan gave his first riddle and by me it was hilarious.
"If all Wibbles are Criggles, all Borkins are Kwumblins, no Hoggles are Borkins, and all Criggles are Borkins, is it true that all Borkins are Criggles?" The Titan asked.
"I– What?" Cyrus paused. He was floored.
"No!" Durthu answered quickly, "I know that one! It is very popular!"
"Correct, tiny one." Darngir blinked.
"What was that riddle?" Cyrus whispered.
"Very popular where I am from." Durthu looked proud.
"... Ah." Cyrus nodded.
The human was confused by the riddle. Nothing about it was logical and if he hadn't had Durthu with him he probably would have gotten it wrong. Would all of the riddles be that way? If that was the case, he was probably going to fail. They only had two chances to get these wrong.
"It stalks the countryside with ears that cannot hear. What is it?" Darngir asked.
"Corn! It's corn!" Cyrus knew this one, he'd seen it in a book when he was camping out in a library.
"Correct, tinier one." The titan sat them down and stood, "For the final riddle. I can be anything and everything, I can look like you but I am not one of you. What am I?"
Cyrus was stopped in his tracks. This was an original. Even Durthu seemed stumped at the question. The riddle was confusing and had no basis, unless this was only meant for titans to solve there was no way for them to have the answer ready. He was getting ready to call it quits when he heard the titans voice bellow.
"You have seen this creature once before, tinier one." The titan spoke.
"I… what?" Cyrus instantly pulled up his Hunters Journal and searched through it, finding a different entry now.
Mimic
Species: Mimic
Origin: Gods Forge
Habits, Behaviors: Mimics are passive creatures and very curious. They have the innate ability to copy the appearances and skills of anything they see, touch, or absorb. They do not require food and lack basic intelligence, even when copying an intelligent creature they seem to lack the basic cognitive functions of the species such as vocalization.
Tameable.
"A… A mimic?" Cyrus looked up at the titan.
"Correct, tinier one." Darngir sat his axe on the ground, "Now I shall bestow upon you the knowledge of the titans. You are the first to solve all of my riddles."
"The first?" Cyrus wondered aloud as the Titan reached up to his own face.
Cyrus and Durthu watched in confusion. This confusion soon turned into horror and disgust as the Titan tore out the massive eye in the center of its face. Cyrus covered his mouth to stop himself from throwing up as a torrent of blood poured from the hole.
The Titan, Darngir, crouched down and held the eye out to Cyrus. It rapidly shrank and rolled towards Cyrus… or it looked like it did. It took him a second to realize but the eye wasn't rolling, it had small legs attached to it that seemed to move it towards Cyrus, as if it had a mind of its own.
"Wh… What the hell!" Cyrus shouted, his eyes wide.
"Take this gift, use it well, tinier one. You show great promise and they are interested in you." Darngir hummed as his body seemed to crumble in on itself.
"How do I use an eyeball?!" Cyrus shouted. He got his answer pretty fast.
The shrunken down eyeball of the titan jumped towards him. Neither him nor Durthu had time to react before the eye reached its mark, the spider-like legs pushed underneath Cyrus's eyelids as the boy's regular eye quickly disappeared to make space for the new one.
As the eye settled into place Cyrus dropped to his knees, holding his head and screaming. Information was flooding his brain, destroying it at a rapid pace and causing his nervous system to go into overdrive, registering it as pain. His Regeneration was doing its best to repair him and keep him alive but it was hard. The more it healed his brain, the more information poured in.
"Little Cyrus?! Little Cyrus, are you okay?!" Durthu crouched down. He was panicking, he'd never seen this before.
"Durthu…" Cyrus croaked out, "Knock me out…"
The sentence was fragmented and broken due to the overloading of the boy's brain, but the Orc got the point. He grabbed a nearby piece of wood and slammed it on the back of Cyrus's head, causing him to hit the concrete and fall unconscious.
The Orc picked him up and carried him over his shoulder. He was about to start making his way out of the dungeon when suddenly everything began to cave inwards. As if the entire world was beginning to crumble in on itself. He panicked, holding Cyrus in his arms he ran towards the building they initially arrived in, trying to find what door would let them out.
At that last moment he kicked it open and dove through, feeling grass on his skin and the sun shining upon his skin. He looked at Cyrus who was still unconscious, his body totally limp but his eyes wide open and moving around… weirdly enough, his once brown eyes had turned into a mix of gold and red. The same color Darngir's eye was.
In his mind, Cyrus was curled into a ball as images and videos flashed in front of his eyes. He could see everything, from the creation of the universe itself to its end. But there were images that stuck out to him as his brain was finally able to digest some of this information. It was a man with beautiful wings. They were pitch black and seemed to glitter with stars in them, but something about him was so… sad. The next image was this same man with a blade shrouded in a bright purple material, it was thick and looked kind of like a semi-solid liquid but at the same time a gas.
This image had the man flying up towards something. Even though everything else was clear, there seemed to be something not allowing him to see what this man was flying towards and as he tried to focus in on it, the image shifted to a face.
It was reptilian in nature but there was something weird. It was shrouded in darkness and looked to be in the ocean. Before he could get a good look the information finished processing and he woke up with a violent gasp.
Once again, he awoke in the inn room. There was warm food on the table beside him and the sounds of a fight downstairs in the bar and dining area. He rubbed his eyes and instantly held his head. It was throbbing, his skull felt like it was splitting as information clouded any of his usual thoughts.
He pulled up his window and navigated to the page that was titled skills. There were only three of them listed and one of them was new.
Eye of The Void Titan.
Allows the wielder to see through lies and deceptions, but also the ability to foresee the future.
Passive Skill.
Can be leveled up.
Assimilation Rate: 0%
That was all that was listed under the skill. He stared at it for a second and felt annoyed. At least give him some more information on it! Who made this stupid system anyway? Oh. Right. I did. Whoopsies.
He swiped through to his inventory to find his sword and also an… egg. He tilted his head and clicked on it. The egg appeared in his lap, it was pitch black with little stars glittering it and it was perfectly round. He grabbed it and immediately recoiled. Eggs weren't supposed to be squishy. He gagged and threw the egg back into his inventory not knowing else to do with it… but that didn't work.
The squishy black ball took itself out of the inventory, completely defying the specific rules I set for this system. It rested in his lap, seeming to suck any light and warmth from Cyrus's body. He nearly collapsed as he suddenly felt cold and everything became dark.
"Do you… feed off of light?" Cyrus lifted the egg.
As if responding to his question, it shook and a system window appeared.
Egg of The Void
The egg of the Voidborn, ancient in origin. The makeup of it is unknown.
While the egg is stretchy and malleable, it's extremely durable to any and all outside phenomenon.
Feeds off of light and warmth but also does well in dark and cold places.
This egg comes from an ancient species of dragon, seemingly lost to time.
Or the void they originate from.
This egg can also be fused with something else of similar origin…
Hatch Rate: 12%
Cyrus stared at the description of the egg and hummed. He took it over to the crackling fire which was just in view of the window and dropped it inside. The egg shook and rolled around in the hot coals and flames before settling in the back corner.
It seemed to enjoy the heat and warmth, accompanied by the sunlight. Cyrus genuinely wanted to know what would pop out of the egg, it said something about it being a dragon egg but that seemed outlandish to him. He looked away for a few seconds and when he turned around both the fire and the coals had gone out, as if the egg had already absorbed it all. He stared at the little ball and frowned, seeing the percentage was only at 27.4% now.
"... What even are you?" He shook the egg.
It just vibrated as if to tell him to stop shaking it. He did not take the hint until the egg got sucked into his inventory and disappeared, refusing to come out again.
"Little Cyrus? Who are you talking to?" Durthu peeked his head into the room.
"Nobody D, nobody. What do you need?" He asked.
"I came to check if you were okay. You were asleep for two weeks." Durthu said.
"What." Cyrus stared at him, "Two weeks?! Why didn't you wake me?!"
"I tried! You didn't wake up!" Durthu protested.
"Dude! What happened while I was asleep?!" Cyrus asked.
"There's a team being formed to kill the boss for this floor." Durthu scratched his chin, "They're meeting in the town center."
"We're joining." Cyrus quickly got ready, "At least I am."
"I will go wherever you go, Little Cyrus." Durthu grinned.
The two grabbed all their things and left the inn, rushing to the city center to join the attack force. In the back of Cyrus's mind there was a word being repeated, Divination. He didn't know what it meant nor why it was being repeated in his head but he pushed it to the back of his mind and checked his status.
They were still relatively low, but his Focus stat had gone up by three percent. He didn't know what that meant nor did he know what it would be useful for, but he could figure that out later. Why didn't he ask Durthu? He assumed he didn't know either. The two collectively shared a single brain cell when it came to anything but fighting and survival.
"Is this everyone participating?" A man stood at the front of the group.
His armor was silver with green and blue and golden highlights. The man's skin was ghostly pale and his ears were tall and pointed, his face didn't seem particularly handsome but rather uncanny looking, in the eyes of Cyrus at least. Despite the unnerving look this man had to him, Cyrus stood beside Durthu as they listened to this man give a basic rundown.
After about fifteen seconds, the two ended up whispering to each other as the man ranted about formations and what-not. Cyrus totally forgot about his Hunters Journal to check what species this man was, guessing he might have been an elf or something or other.
Eventually the group all left, heading to where the boss was. In retrospect, I shouldn't have made it a giant pillar into the sky because of how easy that was to spot, but you lowly little humans benefited from it, which just meant my favorite species managed. Sorry, tangent. Whatever the case, the attack team headed inside the pitch black obelisk.
Almost instantly they were besieged by a harsh wind that blew several small men back and nearly knocked Cyrus off his feet but Durthu managed to grab him and hold him up as the wind blew on for a few more seconds and stopped entirely, making the dark corridor suffocatingly silent. The man in the silver armor raised his hand and a small ball of bright light appeared, which sparked a window to appear for Cyrus.
Egg of The Void is vibrating.
"Wait, I'll feed you later." Cyrus whispered to himself.
"Keep forward! This light will let us see!" The man in silver armor shouted.
"Let's go, Little Cyrus." Durthu began to walk.
"Right behind ya, big guy." Cyrus followed.
The group pressed on through the dark corridor. When everyone got tired, the man in silver armor permitted a break which garnered audible sighs of relief as the attack force all separated and sat down in their groups. Cyrus and Durthu sat down against a wall, deciding to have a chat when something caught Cyrus's eye.
In the crowds of different species, sitting amongst a small hair man, a tall, dark skinned woman with pointy ears, and a reptilian humanoid stood a girl. She had brown skin and eyes that looked to be a bright and vibrant red. This girl had wings that almost glowed and looked as soft as a cloud.
But it seems Cyrus was staring too long, the dark skinned woman with pointy ears pointed at him and the girl with the white wings turned to him and smiled, waving her hand at him. He felt his face get warm and he stared at the ground like an idiot, not knowing what else to do. He didn't expect her to be there!
"Everyone up! Let's get moving!" The man in silver armor shouted.
"Let's go, big guy." Cyrus pat Durthu on the shoulder and stood.
"Will there be a battle soon?" Durthu asked. He sounded bored.
"I hope so buddy. This is getting shady." Cyrus eyed the different groups of people present.
Nearly half of them seemed incapable of fighting, fidgeting nervously or holding their weapons wrong. The few that did look capable had a shady look to them, as if they didn't particularly trust anyone other than the people they were with. Of course, Cyrus agreed with this mindset. He didn't trust anyone but Durthu and even then, the Orc had yet to gain his full trust… though, he was beginning to believe the Orc was a tad bit too stupid to plan out a betrayal and his statements of following Cyrus seemed genuine enough.
The Orc and Human followed the group further into the corridor. After a while of silence there was a very muffled click that echoed off the walls. A man in all black had stepped on something. About a second later blood splattered across everyone in a five foot radius of him. Out of the ceiling, a tall black pillar had fallen on top of his head and turned him to a red mist.
Cyrus got defensive and Durthu followed his lead. There were audible sounds of vomiting and silent crying instantly… What were my requirements when I chose some of these people? The man in silver armor visibly shivered but raised his hand to get everyone attention and flashed the light brighter.
"Don't panic! As long as we watch our step we'll be able to avoid traps!" The man shouted.
"Durthu, what is he?" Cyrus asked, pointing at the man.
"A pointy ear. They were one of the firsts that the Ancient One chose to bring in here, alongside my kind." Durthu whispered.
"Okay but what is a pointy ear?"
"They call themself… Elves, I think." Durthu scratched his chin.
"... Are they trustworthy?" Cyrus asked.
"No. Pointy ears betray those they call friends. The ones with dark skin can be trusted, though." The Orc explained, "Why?"
"I got a bad feeling about that guy." Cyrus whispered.
The two began walking. After a second, Cyrus's vision became bright and he had to blink a few times. He had to look around and saw there was a slightly glowing section of the ground that the man in silver armor was going to step on.
"Watch out!" Cyrus shouted, "Don't step there!"
"Why?" The elf asked, stepping away.
"That's a trap." Cyrus said.
"How do you know that?" The girl with white wings asked.
"I got a skill a while back that lets me detect traps." He answered, "That spot is dangerous."
"... You lead and make sure we don't run into any traps." The elf in silver armor stepped out of the way.
Cyrus and Durthu took the front of the group. The Orc held the human on his shoulders as he pointed out where to go and where not to go. The crowd continued to murmur about wanting to turn back but no one actually did. The fear of returning on their own was enough to restrain them… but they'd wish they listened to that feeling.
It was deeper in the corridor. Its chains were weakened and it was able to break them as it heard voices coming closer and the smell of living creatures. What was it? I called it Sphinx. These were originally meant for you humans, I'd sent them to what you all call ancient Egypt and Greece at one point. They were specifically designed by me to hunt your kind.
They adored the taste of meat and had no qualms about where it came from. As the attack squad continued to press on, that dark elf stopped and her ears twitched along with a few of those humans with animal features. They could hear the Sphinx but had no idea where it was coming from, that was up until the elf in silver armor looked around.
"What is it?" He asked.
"We hear something." Another elf looked around cautiously.
"Well, what does it sound like?" The elf asked.
"I don't… know." A dark elf muttered, "Try and make that light brighter."
"And why would I do that?" He asked.