"So we can see in case something is sneaking up on us." The girl with the angel wings sighed.
The elven man rolled his eyes and made the light brighter, "There, are you all happy now?"
Cyrus was dead silent. He felt as though his throat refused to work the longer he stared at it and it stared at him. Durthu even took a step back towards the main group, his words were stifled by the pressure this thing let off. The Orc tapped the elf and pointed at the thing staring them down.
It was on the ceiling, its head peeked around the corner. The eyes were the worst part because that's all they could see of the creature. The eyes, connected to a face that looked almost stretched across a skull it shouldn't have been on, were deep and dark. There was no color to them, they were merely black pits with small glowing red dots that were locked onto the group of humans.
It slowly slinked around the corner, the full face came into view. Despite the creepiness of its gaze, the reserved and almost regal look it had made it much worse. It was clad in Egyptian markings and jewelry that adorned its feline torso. The wings looked to be solid gold and were tucked against the main body, the feminine face in the headwear of a pharaoh lowered as if preparing to pounce at the group.
"Prepare for battle!" The Elven man shouted.
Everyone began to scramble to get into some sort of position, only a few had a formation down pact. Cyrus and Durthu being part of this few of course, took out their weapons and prepared to rush forward, but suddenly felt lighter. Durthu looked around and pointed, the girl with the white wings had her right hand stretched towards them and her other hand was pointing towards the Sphinx.
It tilted its head to unnatural angles as it watched the species scatter about, as if watching its food. Cyrus knew nothing about this beast so he settled for the age-old tactic that, historically, has always worked… He ran in head-first and was going to use trial and error.
Following behind the human was Durthu, his axe in his hand. Others followed their lead, expecting some kind of plan. They didn't seem to grasp the situation, none of them did. The Sphinx reacted to the attack, the regal look switched to a smile and its mouth opened, a cacophony of voices shouted words at the group as if to instigate their attack.
The girl with white wings finished charging whatever she was charging and a beam of light, that only lasted for a second, shot at the creature. Expecting a hit, everyone froze for a second but Durthu's warrior instincts seemed to kick in. He looked up and threw his axe. Near the tall ceiling there was the Sphinx, its massive wings flapping to keep it in the air.
"Brace!" Cyrus shouted as the Sphinx nose dived.
"Move away from the landing zone!" The girl with white wings shouted.
The Sphinx slammed into the ground, catching some poor Dragonid in its jaws and bit down. The sickening crunching of bones and scales nearly made Cyrus vomit in his mouth. It seemed to pick up on this fear and swallowed, diving towards a small hairy man and eating him in one bite. That's when the panic truly began.
Formations broke as everyone and everything present began to scramble away from the Sphinx. Cyrus and Durthu ended up running to a nearby wall and crouching behind a pillar when finally Cyrus noticed it. All along the walls of this place along with the floor, were Ancient Egyptian symbols and markings.
"These are themed?!" Cyrus shouted.
"What is a 'theme,' Little Cyrus?" Durthu asked.
"It means this is based on something from my world! Which means that thing is the boss!" Cyrus ruffled his own hair out of frustration, "Stay with me while I check something. If it starts coming over here, alert me."
"Got it." Durthu nodded.
Cyrus began to search through his window for the Hunter's Journal Entry for this thing. He eventually found its name but everything was blocked out. At the very top of the window it read; MUST BE DEFEATED FIRST.
He couldn't even get any information on it unless he killed it. After stressing himself out and watching the Sphinx wreak havoc, he noticed the girl with wings flying above it. She screamed something in a language that his translator couldn't translate but it got the Sphinx's attention. As the chimera abomination jumped up, a spear was jabbed into its underbelly before being pushed deeper with a shield.
That small hairy man and tall dark elf woman had just attacked the creature and the Dragonid was charging up something in its neck. The thing became fat before spitting out a flame that shot towards the Sphinx. As if sensing danger, it snapped its head towards them, a full one hundred eighty (180) degrees, and screamed. The scream was so high pitched that it knocked everyone off their feet. Cyrus felt liquid leaking from his ears and touched them. When his hand came back down it was covered in blood, had this thing burst his ear drums?
His Regeneration began to work its magic, healing his damaged ears. He watched as the Sphinx grabbed the dark elf first, crashing her beneath its massive paws. It swiped its tail at the small hairy man and the connecting thud visibly caved in his chest. What came next was the Dragonid. The Sphinx kneeled down in front of its face and tilted its head as it opened its mouth and slowly closed its jaw over the reptilian's skull. The girl with the wings was laying on the ground nearby, barely able to stand as she watched this horror with her own eyes.
"Durthu! Durthu, you hear me?!" Cyrus shouted.
"Yes! That was nothing compared to the Jaxatiles from home!" Durthu shouted back, his own ears bleeding.
"Hit the ankles and the hem of the wings! We need to stop it from moving!" Cyrus pointed as he gave instructions.
"Okay!" The Orc shouted.
The two, basically deaf, boys ran forward. Durthu went first, using himself as a body shield. His axe was huge and thick, he swiped forward with the force of fifty human men and slammed into the Sphinx's ankle. There was a screech of pain as it turned its attention to them. As if seeing the creature in pain was motivation, more people began to run in to help, although they could barely move because of the vertigo. Cyrus swiped at the other hind leg ankle. He knew this tactic was working because the Sphinx's hind legs began to wobble.
Next were its wings. Two participating giants not only broke the bones but jumped up and began tearing out the wings from the creatures back. It began to screech and flail violently before a grin spread across its face and its expression changed from pain and fear to… amusement.
That's when he remembered its behavior so far, "It's intelligent… Get away fr–"
Cyrus was interrupted by a scream louder than the last. He felt as if his skull was about to explode on the spot and his bones were going to shatter. Even Durthu and the Giants dropped to their knees as everyone turned to a cacophony of screams of pain.
The world around him became muffled, whether from losing his hearing or spacing out, I couldn't tell you. But in this state, as if this pain triggered something within him, Cyrus felt something surging through his body.
For context, do you all remember how I told you humans started with a Focus of zero and how it could be increased? And do you remember that Divination thing that was eating at the back of his mind? To you humans this would, essentially, be magic. Under the correct circumstances a human's Focus and Divination could suddenly skyrocket, akin to an adrenaline boost. This is what Cyrus was experiencing.
There was a sudden surge of energy from his body as his Regeneration went into overtime. He felt a pressure on his body he'd never felt before and to everyone around him he was wrapped in a purple mist. The boy took a single step forward and the leg of the Sphinx suddenly just… fell off. The creature screamed in real pain this time, flying into the sky and away from the human child. This was a fear so intense it even overrode the feeling of pain coming from its broken wings.
This thing had killed numerous humans before, hell not even just humans. This one Sphinx in particular had killed Orcs, Giants, Titans, Dragons, Elves, and everything else under the sun. Even a few of my Angels! Yet, it was afraid. It was afraid of him, of this human child.
The Sphinx became angry, nose diving him only for Cyrus to lift his blade. The purple mist concentrated on the blade and became a semi-solid of sorts. As the Sphinx got close he moved his hand down in a clean and gentle motion. There was silence before a scream echoed out from the Sphinx once more. One of its wings was cleanly cut from its body and sitting on the ground. It hissed and tried to bite the boy, only to freeze and attempt to back away.
Cyrus stared at it as he approached, his eyes were unblinking and lacking that fear from before. He felt like he could do anything at that moment. He heard the Sphinx prepare a scream and swiped down the center. There was silence once again as all the people suffering from deafness watched in amazement with hints of fear and awe. The Sphinx's eyes moved one last time to focus on Cyrus before its body was split clean down the center, the two halves fell onto the ground and began to fizzle.
"He… did it." Someone murmured.
"Cyrus?" Durthu stumbled towards the boy, "Are you okay?"
"... Mass Heal." Cyrus whispered.
The girl with wings knew this feeling. It was the same kind of feeling she got whenever she used Healing Divination. The injuries of everyone there, in that moment, healed. Disappointingly none of the dead came back, but it was a wonder he could use healing so easily.
Ah but remember how adrenaline boosts work. When his body processed it was no longer in danger, that boost took its toll. Cyrus dropped his sword and screamed at the top of his lungs as he felt like every blood vessel in his body was exploding. His blood felt as though it was molten lava and his muscles felt like they were going to contract and crush his bones into a fine dust. He couldn't stand or speak, he could do nothing but scream. His Regeneration Assimilation Rate was steadily increasing as his body healed itself only to destroy itself once again.
Durthu crouched beside him, worried out of his mind. The girl with the wings rushed over and sat down, next to him. She was hyperventilating as she was finally able to process the deaths of so many people, but she focused what remaining energy she had into trying to repair this random boy's body. The large corridor lit up, showing all of the Egyptian designs. Many of them seemed to be scratched out but some looked to be prophecies of some kind, though nobody was paying attention to that. There was a door on the other side of the corridor and everyone rushed towards it, leaving Durthu and the girl with the wings to tend to Cyrus.
"Who are you?" Durthu asked the winged girl.
"My name is Eloise." She introduced herself.
"I am Durthu, this is Little Cyrus." The Orc said as he watched her heal him, "... Will he be okay?"
"I don't uh… I don't know. I think." Eloise was genuinely unsure, she'd never seen anything like this.
The two sat with the boy as he writhed around. This lasted for several hours before his body finally started to heal itself. Eloise had long since passed out after exhausting all of her remaining energy trying to heal him. Durthu just grabbed his two companions, yes he already considered her a companion, and went to leave this corridor to the next floor.
Cyrus was still shaking as he was essentially paralyzed at the moment. Eloise was still and breathing soft, her wings had shrunk and were tucked close to her back. The Orc could carry them easily enough without any issues as humans and angels were extremely light compared to an Orc. He looked around and instantly got cold. The second floor had a much different environment than the first.
This floor was cold. There was snow up to Durthu's knees and he seemed to walk out in the middle of a snow storm. Thankfully he was resistant to the cold but he didn't know about the other two. He began to run, holding them close to his body and using his long hair as a sort of fur cloak for them to keep warm as he ran and searched for a cave or somewhere they could get away from the cold.
After two hours of running he found a massive hollowed out tree. He ducked inside and sat down his companions, looking outside of the trunk. The snow was howling, rushing past the entrance like a torrent of cold and shards of ice. He sat and waited for the two tiny ones to wake up.
It took an entire week for the two to awaken. Eloise woke up first after three days, she was groggy and cold and had to use her wings to cover herself until Durthu could make fur coats. He'd been hunting animals and what-not while they slept. Cyrus woke up on the seventh day exactly, sitting up and looking around for a second. He quickly pulled out his sword, thinking they were still inside the corridor.
"Woah! Calm down!" Eloise shouted, backing away from the blade.
"Little Cyrus! We are safe!" Durthu also flinched.
"What happened to it? The thing!" He looked around as his surroundings began to register, "And where the hell are we? And who're you exactly?"
"You killed it. The Sphinx." Eloise responded to the first question.
"This is the second floor and this is Eloise. She is our friend." Durthu answered the other two questions.
"... Uh huh." Cyrus slowly nodded, "How long was I out? A few hours or something?"
"A week." Eloise hummed.
"What." Cyrus stared at the two.
There was an argument that occurred, mostly Cyrus asking why they didn't wake him and they responded that he wouldn't wake up. He groaned and searched his window, looking for a single lick of new information or items or anything of the sort. As he searched his window he came across several new things that weren't there before.
Firstly he had a new title, The Climber. It offered some new buffs but he'd check those in a moment. The second thing he unlocked was something called Divination. This was interesting to him as this one word was eating at the back of his mind before he'd nearly died. He clicked on it to read through the description offered.
Divination.
Type: Passive and Active Skill
Description: Divination. To humans it's magic. It's very rare for a human to have it and even rarer for them to be able to awaken and utilize it but you seem to be a special case. Upon meditation and Focus, with the right training, even a human such as you could use the art of Divination.
Set level.
Cyrus looked around at the two in front of him, "Either of you know what Divination is?"
"Of course. It's like… a staple of being an Angel." Eloise said.
"Orcs call it something different." Durthu nodded.
"You wanna teach me how to use it?" Cyrus asked.
"Sure?" Eloise seemed unsure, "What's your type?"
"... Whazzat?" Cyrus stared.
Divination's all have a type. Where there is a type, there is also a sub-type. For example, Eloise has Holy Divination which allows her to use Holy spells along with healing which comes naturally. Orc's didn't call it Divination though, they called it Yurkasil, but it has the same function. Durthu had what's known as WarriorDivination which has its own whole thing that is complicated even for me. Yes I invented it, no I don't understand it.
But Cyrus was different. He didn't have a specific type, he was known as Fluid. I specifically made it for specimens I found interesting, so Cyrus and a rather decent group of other folks from numerous species. It allowed the wielder to use any kind of Divination with relatively no drawbacks. But remember, I said relatively. If he used a Divination that was out of his league, he'd probably destroy his body.
"So you… don't know what your type is?" Eloise asked.
"Not a single clue." Cyrus answered, "We can't just trial and error this?"
"Unless you want your body to be destroyed, I don't recommend it." The girl hummed.
Cyrus "accepted" her current no, going back to his window. He had a few other things to check, notably he'd received a, seemingly, new weapon. It was a sword that had a pitch black blade with hints of a red-golden hue, as if it was forged from blackstone with bits of gold and ruby sprinkled in. Despite this, the blade was light and he could hold it quite easily. There was no description for it, neither was there a name or anything else. It was just in his inventory, ready to pulled out at a moment's notice.
I know what you're asking; why would I give him a weapon that was unregistered in my systems database and is it some super strong or overpowered sword. The simple answer? I gave it to him simply because I was bored, it isn't particularly strong nor is it weak. The only thing this sword has over others is its ability to change size and its nigh indestructibility, and he's not even the only one I gave one of my sacred weapons too.
Ah but no spoilers, you'll all figure out who those people are as the story progresses.
Another new trinket Cyrus had managed to get was some sort of a cloak. It was thick but light and not too hot so it was uncomfortable. He decided to check whatever the description had to offer before actually wearing it. He needed to begin collecting new clothes and armor to survive this hell hole place.
The Sphinx' Hide
Type: Armor and Cloak
Description: The hide of an ancient monster originating from Gods Forge, this hide grants the user the ability to petrify themself to preserve their own life for a predetermined period of time. This cloak also has the ability to dispel hallucinations and keeps the wearer at their preferred temperature.
Cyrus pondered it for a moment before putting the cloak on. It instantly reshaped itself to fit his size and comfortably rested on his shoulders. He breathed a sigh of relief as it warmed his body, Durthu and Eloise seemed to get their own rewards they were checking at the same time.
"Do we all get rewards if we're in a group together?" Eloise asked.
"Seems like it." Cyrus hummed, "It probably varies depending on contribution though."
"Then you have the best ones, right, little Cyrus?" Durthu tilted his massive head.
"I mean maybe? I dunno what you both got." Cyrus responded as he went back to his window.
The final reward he'd received wasn't actually a reward for him. In his inventory there was a glowing item that the Egg of The Void seemed to be fiending for. He turned away from his two party mates and took both of them from his inventory. The glowing item was round and small and radiated some warmth that was instantly getting siphoned to the pitch black ball.
He read the description of his other item only to discover it was the Egg of Light (who came up with these stupid names?) and the two had some sort of compatibility. The boy, not really understanding what that meant, moved the two eggs close to one another. They vibrated violently before smashing into one another and fusing into one egg. This created an entire new item with the Egg of The Voids hatch rate still there.
Aether Egg.
Description: The egg of some sort of creature, possibly a species made by God that was abandoned as a project. What will come out of this egg is unknown as it has not been recorded into the database. Whatever comes out, you will have to deal with yourself, Player. Please enjoy.
Hatch Rate: 38.42%
"This better be something good or I swear to god…" Cyrus whispered to himself.
"Did you say something?" Eloise asked.
"Nah, nothing." Cyrus waved her off.
"Where'd you get this?" Durthu asked, pulling at the black cloak.
"I think it's a boss' clear reward or something." Cyrus hummed.
The boy put the egg back in his inventory, deciding he'd feed it later. He bit his lip and analyzed his new sword up close. The blade was a pure, but oddly reflective, black. The red light that shined inside the blade poked through the small holes. Closer to the hilt and across the edges of the blade was a beautiful golden color, as if it was forged within the edges of the blade. Put simply, it was divine in appearance and in forgery.
There was no surprise though, that this weapon would be recognized. After all, he's traveling with one of my favorite angels. One of my many daughters.
"I know that weapon." Eloise stared at it.
"Do you? I dunno where I got it. I think I've just had this for the past few years." Cyrus held it up, watching as the light from their fire reflected off the gold and was absorbed from the black, "Except it used to be a dagger, I don't know how it became a sword."
"That's one of my fathers weapons." The angel girl ran her fingers across the blade, "He called it one of his Treasures… Maybe he gave it to you?"
"Your father?" Durthu raised a brow.
"Yes, my father." Eloise nodded.
"Like… The Ancient One?" He asked.
"I don't- are we not talking about the same thing?" Eloise was confused.
"This is a dumb conversation. It's a cool sword, that's all I care about." Cyrus rolled his eyes, "What did you two get as a reward?"
The other two told him their clear rewards. The rewards were perfectly tailored to each of them which was totally not my fault by the way, I did not edit anything.
Eloise got a set of armor that spread across her wings, she also gained a sword that could help with her Divination. The sword she gained was clear silver, so clear that a reflection could be seen inside. Rather than a normal sword hilt, there were thorns that tangled around her hand and wrist to form a bond of sorts. Her armor, when she equipped it, was described as light and sturdy. It was white and golden in color, as if to reflect the holiness of her mere being as an angel. The armor spread back and across her wings as if it were a machine, but there were no gears to make it move, perhaps it moved through Divination? It was hard to say… well not for me, of course I know how it moves, I made the damn armor and the sword, obviously I know how my own creations work. Don't ask stupid questions.
Durthu's rewards were more… barbaric in nature. He first gained two axes meant to go in each of his hands, but the appearance of these axes were disturbing to say the least. The axe in his left hand was black, not a pure black like Cyrus's blade but rather a dirty black. As if it was coated in dark ash or black paint. Inside the blade of this axe there looked to be the faces of screaming beasts of some kind. The right axe was made of a dark purple, as if it was created from space itself. There were no faces, there was no design in the axe, it was just purple and radiated a soft glow. The second reward he gained was a skill that had a familiar sound. It was called Scream.
Saints Armor
Type: Armor set
Description: The armor set of a Saint. Of what god is unknown, but the armor itself morphs to fit the wearer. It offers many kinds of protections but most notably it protects the wearer from most Divination based attacks, absorbing and redistributing the Divination elsewhere. Where an armor that can do such a thing was created is unknown along with who it was created by, but it is seen as a treasure in an Ancient Society.
Sword of Thorns
Type: Short Sword, One handed weapon
Description: A weapon made from a holy parasite of some form, the Sword of Thorns bonds with its wielder by digging its thorns into their body, drawing blood and injecting the holder with its own blood. This action forms a symbiotic bond between the wielder and the blade.
Twin Axes - Hypnos and Thanatos
Type: Battle Axes
Description: Axes representing divine twins Hypnos and Thanatos. The Axe of Hypnos puts anyone the wielder wishes to sleep, afterwards the user may make their victim have nightmares or dreams. The Axe of Thanatos allows the wielder to kill even the unkillable, representing Death himself the only rivals to it are the weapons Susanoo and Osiris.
Scream
Type: Active Skill
Description: The user will release a shout of varying volumes. This shout can be high pitched enough it can cause the victim's body to burst or it can be low enough that it can cause blood to slow to such a degree that organs cease function. It also will gather the attention of beasts, causing them to swarm the user as a priority above anything else.
These were all incredible items this little group had gotten their hands on, but it only makes sense after– Jeez okay, interrupt me then. You want to see the information for Cyrus's sword? Oh that's easy to show you.
Barimon the Black Blade
Type: Weapon.
Description: It's unknown where this weapon was forged, only known by its creator best known as ######## or The War God. The weapon is divine in nature, being created from a metal that was handcrafted by The War God, known only as Valorium. It's highly coveted, coming directly from Gods Forge this metal has incredible resilience and is nigh indestructible. It has the interesting characteristic that only few other weapons from Gods Forge possess and that's the ability to change its size.
And its apparent consciousness.
That's all. Oh, the existence of that War God fellow? Well that's me of course… or better yet a portion of me. I scattered parts of myself into the form of different beings and gods and whatnot… though that shard of myself is… well, you'll see.
Unlike the others, Cyrus couldn't read anything on his weapon as it technically wasn't supposed to exist within the tower. He slid it back into his inventory and looked at his companions. They were still in the midst of a raging storm and couldn't leave the massive tree they were in without dying of hypothermia. So what was their plan you may be asking? Well… they were gonna wait out the storm for a while longer. If it didn't die down after a few more days they'd lea–
Oh would ya look at that. The howling, the screeching, of the wind had suddenly stopped. There was no more snow blasting past, there was no more wind, it had gone silent. There was not a single sound safe for the crackling of their fire and even that seemed to be making itself quieter, as if to hide from whatever was out there. Then it happened.
Something flew past.
It was sudden and it lacked all sound, whatever it was shot past the tree like a rocket. It was a blur, a single blur, of pitch black. Eloise froze and Durthu did the same. Not a single one of the creatures within that massive tree even breathed until whatever that thing was, had completely disappeared. Cyrus looked at Eloise, who looked at Durthu, who was also looking at Cyrus.
"What the fuck was that." Eloise asked.
"I don't want to fight that." Durthu muttered.
"Me neither big guy." Cyrus nodded, "But the storm stopped. Let's leave and find a town or some shit, those seem to be on every floor."
The three packed up, put their fire out, and left the massive tree. Durthu stared at it for a while though. It was oddly familiar, the way the trunk was thick and seemed inflammable, the way the branches intertwined and seemed to stretch out across the sky… ah whatever, he brushed it off and caught up with his two tin companions who were now arguing?
"Don't talk about him like that!" Eloise shouted.
"He literally trapped us in here! Fuck your god!" Cyrus shouted back.
"Do not argue, friends." Durthu picked them up and separated them.
"He needs to watch his mouth!" Eloise tried to escape.
"I don't need to watch anything!" Cyrus hissed.
The two continued arguing as Durthu walked through the snow. When he turned back to look at that tree they were just in, despite its massive size it was just… gone. The branches of that tree, the same branches that seemed to stretch and cover the entire sky… were simply gone. The Orc decided to wipe it from his mind, he went back to trying to diffuse the situation.