Chapter 362: It Gets Everywhere
After some lengthy discussion, the group finally decided on taking a somewhat roundabout route to visit the Sable Enchantress. By following the river northwest towards the city of Wathmit and then west towards Falstad, they could essentially tour the northern Riverlands while on the way. This would give them time and opportunity to both visit some of the dungeons in the area and search for an appropriate gift to give once they'd arrived.
Matters in Gildusi quickly came to a conclusion once the last remnants of the vampire army had retreated. While the demons had succeeded in staving off the worst of the assault, there were still extensive civilian casualties, largely from the ghoul thralls that had been rampaging largely unchecked for most of the night.
Add to that the loss of most of the White Lions and several members of the ruling council, and the city had clearly been crippled by the incident. As a result, the survivors were left leaderless and without direction.
Surprisingly, it was the guildmaster of the local Adventurer's Guild branch that stepped in to fill the void. Under his direction, the formerly ostracized adventurers set about the task of rebuilding, earning for themselves a more positive reputation. It seemed that the guild would soon become a dominant force in the city.
Mike suspected that the wiley guildmaster was making a power play, but he figured that a capable villain would be a better leader than an incompetent saint. Besides, there were probably still other hidden factions biding their time, so who knew how the struggle might turn out. In any case it was not something he wanted to get involved in.
Instead, he concentrated on rebuilding homes with Earth Magic and reinforcing the underlying bedrock to prevent the city from falling into the ocean the next time it was hit with a mild earthquake. It took him the better part of a day and a significant amount of mana, but he was able to more or less restore the damage caused by the battle. The new stone dwellings may not have the same charm of their predecessors, but they were much sturdier.
Once he was satisfied with his work, Mike took his party and returned to the makeshift shelter he'd put together yesterday, although it felt like months had passed since he'd last laid eyes on it. While he didn't think there was any real danger in staying in the city, he thought it was best to avoid tempting fate too much.
After getting settled in, he opened the door to the demi-realm and led the others inside for a much needed rest. He also intended on using this opportunity to introduce the revived vampire god to everyone.
With a quick word about his intentions, he left the group near the cabin, moved to an isolated corner of the demi realm, released Aberth and explained what was going on. Thankfully, the deity had made some clothes for himself, a loose fitting white tunic with similarly white pants, so Mike could speak with him a little more comfortably.
"I take it this is your realm?" The god asked with no hint of emotion after taking a look around.
"A demi realm created by ancient magical items, but yes, I am the current owner." He replied.
"Hmm, no wonder it feels…artificial. Nevertheless, it is sufficient for my purposes. Very well, I will accept this as a temporary refuge until I can regain more of my strength."
"That might be difficult, considering that this place will forcefully banish any sentient life once the duration of the door expires." Mike explained while pointing to the door leading back to Ea.
"Hmm…" Aberth grunted thoughtfully. "May I see that?"
Shrugging, Mike motioned for him to go ahead. The god moved closer and carefully examined the opening, after a few minutes he stepped back. "There. The matter should be taken care of."
"...Eh?"
"I overwrote the original programming of the artifact, eliminating the planar resonance clause which caused the phenomena you spoke of. It should also allow you to utilize the portal as you please, although you would do well to treat it with care. There aren't many who could correct a problem with this kind of item if you damage it through overuse."
"I see…well, thanks, I guess?"
The god shook his head to indicate that no gratitude was necessary before asking. "Did you need something else?"
"Ah, well, I was planning on introducing you to my party. They are also part time inhabitants of this realm, so I thought you should meet them formally."
Aberth glanced in the direction of the group waiting by the cabin, minus William who probably couldn't tolerate a direct interaction with the powerful being. "If that is what you wish, I care not, but I cannot offer the answers to the questions they likely seek."
"If it's a matter of payment, I'm sure-"
"I speak of a more fundamental hindrance. I am still bound by the laws of creation, and cannot easily interfere in the lives of mortal beings. Indeed, speaking with them is about the extent to which I can become involved."
"But you did a lot for me already."
"There are exceptions, of course. You had done me a great service, and rewarding followers, even temporary ones, is well within my rights. However, there is a much simpler reason. You are an Ascendant Aspirant, or in the base language of these times, a Tier 4. You have already taken one step on the path of the divine, so I have more latitude in my actions that involve you directly. Lesser mortals, such as them," He gestured dismissively in the direction of the others, "are much harder to interact with."
"Okay, I will accept that, but you can still treat them decently, can't you?"
"I will offer them all the respect due to the followers of my rescuer. That I can promise you."
So, with a sigh, Mike led the god over to the rest of the group.
"Well, everyone, this is Aberth. Aberth, this is everyone."
There was a few seconds of silence before Sera asked, "That's it?"
The deity offered the group a slight bow. "Though I have lost the majority of my former power, I have the privilege of being one of the Ascended. Please call me Aberth."
Tal gave a stiff curtsey, and Sera offered some polite greetings, although it was clear that both of them were feeling overwhelmed by the god's intense presence. Even reduced as he was, Aberth still radiated the kind of pressure that would have made ordinary men and women collapse on the spot.
Lily, on the other hand, only seemed a little dazed. Her focus seemed to be on the deity's hair which was sparkling in the realm's artificial sunlight.
However, the only one that seemed completely unaffected by the situation was Morris, although that mainly seemed to be a product of his intense excitement rather than any inbuilt mental fortitude. With a deep bow he said, "I am called Morris, Divine One. It is an honor, of course, but I was hoping you might deign to satisfy my curiosity-"
He trailed off when Aberth raised a hand to stop him. "I cannot."
"I see…but surely-"
"I cannot."
"....Just one?"
"I cannot."
Mike stepped forward and offered the dejected bard a gentle pat on the back. "There are rules he can't break. I hope you understand. In any event, Aberth will be staying with us for some time, so I hope you all can get along with him."
He sighed and took a step back to allow the group to mingle a little. That was one thing done and taken care of. Now he just needed to work on the rest of the list.
Mentally reviewing the massive number of things he had to do in the near future was almost enough to make him feel discouraged.
[At least the changes to the doorknob will make travel easier. I can just leave everyone in the demi realm and fly at top speed wherever I need to go. Heck, if I work on that supersonic jet construct a little bit more, I could have us skipping around the entire region in a matter of hours. Maybe we could even visit some of our old friends…Speaking of which, I wonder what Benden's been getting up to? I hope he's staying out of trouble.]
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"We're in trouble!" Lara yelled while doing her best to keep up her pace in the shifting sand.
"I know we're in trouble! Save your breath and keep running!" Brenden roared, sparing a few moments to glance back at their pursuer.
The squat sandy colored lizard would have seemed ridiculous, if it wasn't the size of a house. Its six short legs were pistoning so fast that he couldn't even track the movement, but the resulting speed was only comparable to a brisk run for an adult human. As comical as its appearance was, the degenerate dragon-type monster referred to as a Sand Tyrant by the locals, still managed to be terrifying due to its vicious reputation for extreme aggression against people that entered its territory. That combined with its incredible stamina which lets it run for days on end meant that escaping one on foot was virtually impossible.
"We need to do something! It will catch us eventually!" The white rabbit beastman exclaimed. "That thing won't stop until we are dead!"
"I know! I'm working on it! Just give me some time!"
[Hells, but it is hard to run in sand. Alright, quick thinking time. What are my options? Do I think I can take him in a straight fight? Maybe, but Lara would get in the way. I can't guarantee she wouldn't get hurt in the process. Gotta separate then.]
"We need to force it to change directions quickly, so when I give the signal you go right and I'll go left. Got it?" He yelled, already starting to feel the familiar burn of fatigue creeping into his legs.
"W-wait, my right or your right?!" She asked, eyes swimming with a combination of panic and confusion.
"What in the hells are you talking about?! That's the same direction! Just go right on three!"
"Ah! No, wait!"
"One! Two!-"
"But-"
"Three! Go, go, go!" He leaned to his left, nearly sliding off his feet in the loose sand and started running at a nearly 90 degree angle from his previous course. He turned to look over his shoulder, intending on waving to get the monster's attention, but stopped when he realized that his companion had simply kept on going in the same direction.
To make matters worse, the Sand Tyrant evidently decided to continue chasing the prey in front of it, and barely spared him a second glance as it pursued the rabbit beastman.
[Well, I suppose that works too…]
With a sigh, he started following the both of them while focusing his mana to use in a burst of speed. Blurring forward on enhanced legs, he ran up the monster's waving tail while readying his sword. Yelling a System-assisted battle cry to momentarily increase his strength, he leapt into the air and brought his weapon down at the base of the Tyrant's skull, point-first.
The blade punched through the creature's thick hide, grated against the bones of its spine and buried itself in something soft and vital. The giant lizard gave a strangled cry while continuing to run for a few more meters before its legs gave out and it slid to a halt.
Wincing as the feedback from his exertions took hold, Brenden hopped down to the ground as soon as the Tyrant stopped moving. He found Lara in a similar state of collapse on the sand, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
"Are you alright?" He asked while walking over to her.
"Fine…just…tired."
He pulled out a waterskin and drank a few mouthfuls of tepid water, taking note of how little was left.
[If we don't find the next outpost relatively soon, we might very well end up like the last King of Thieves and his retinue.]
"Let's get moving. There's isn't too much time left in the day and we need to put in a few more kilometers in before the nocturnal monsters start getting active."
The rabbit beastman gave him a long, pleading look. "Too…tired…carry me?"
After consulting the map, which was practically useless in the big expanse of sand they found themselves in, he started walking in the direction that seemed most promising based on the position of the sun and where he thought they might be.
"Wait! Don't leave me behind!" Lara called while scrambling to her feet.
"See, you have plenty of energy."
Once she'd caught up, she sighed dramatically. "You're mean. There's a maiden here asking for your help. What kind of a man would just abandon her in the middle of the desert?"
"The kind who knows bullshit when he sees it. Besides, I don't think you count as a maiden." He shot back without looking. When her retaliatory kick hit him in the back of the leg, probably doing more damage to her foot thanks to his enhanced endurance, he did his best to keep a straight face.
The mild amusement didn't last long, however. "Does it look like we are going in the right direction?" He asked, starting to feel a bit concerned about their situation.
Lara's indignant frown faded completely as she looked around. "Actually, now that you mention it. I don't really know. I lost track of the trail while I was busy running for my life."
He scanned the horizon in every direction and couldn't see a single notable landmark.
[This…could be bad.]
"Wait a minute, I'm getting something." The rabbit beastman interrupted his train of thought. Her ears were twitching energetically and she was wearing a look of intense concentration on her face.
She took a few steps to their right, and then zipped in front of him to stare into the desert on his left. Without changing her expression, she clambered nimbly up his back and sat on his shoulders.
"Hey!" He protested as she kneed him in the side of the head in the process.
"Shh, I'm concentrating…turn that way."
He choked back his acidic comeback and obediently turned to face the direction indicated. If this was some kind of ploy, he could always give her a piece of her mind later.
"Now, walk forward…a little bit more…keep going."
After a few minutes of this, he finally had to ask. "You already know where we are going, right? You just didn't want to walk any further?"
"...Maybe."
Once he'd unceremoniously dumped her in a nearby sand dune, he stared off in the direction she'd been leading them towards. He couldn't see anything of interest, but he'd learned to trust Lara's instincts in situations like this.
"Ugh! I hate sand. It's gritty, it gets everywhere…" She was grumbling as she dusted herself off.
"Where are you taking us, anyway?"
She shrugged. "Not really sure, but I can tell that the wind is acting strangely over there, which could mean some kind of settlement. Or some kind of sentient wind monster."
"...You know, it's hard to dismiss that possibility in this gods-forsaken place." He had to admit, but without any other clear destination in sight, he decided to follow her guidance and hope for the best.
They continued on in that direction for close to thirty minutes before even Brenden was able to notice the change.
He caught a whiff of dampness in the air, coming from somewhere in front of him. This confused him, since there was only sand as far as the eye could see.
"We're close." Lara whispered, sounding slightly subdued.
He patted her shoulder in a reassuring manner, and stepped a little farther ahead, senses focused.
There was…something in front of them. A sort of vast presence that he could almost detect, but couldn't quite make sense of. After a few more steps, he could tell that he was at some kind of invisible boundary. The air felt thicker, and there was a sort of electrical tingle to it that left the hair of his arms standing.
Taking a deep breath to resolve himself, he pushed forward through the disturbance, inadvertently closing his eyes as he did so. As soon as he opened them, he found himself in another place entirely.
A thriving metropolis was laid out in front him. Buildings made of sandy colored stone lined broad thoroughfares teeming with human and animal traffic. Further in, he could even see several trees surrounding what looked like a naturally forming spring in the center of a town square. In the distance, amongst several other spires and towering buildings, was a massive ziggurat which seemed to stretch hundreds of meters into the air. On its very peak were two curved prongs of metal that resembled horns seemingly growing from the structure. Floating between them was a brilliantly shining ball of light, which was painful to look at directly.
He sensed Lara appearing next to him, and could tell by her breathless gasp that she was equally overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of the city. Her presence, however, was a reminder that he couldn't afford to be distracted, and he quickly turned his attention to their immediate surroundings.
They were standing just inside of a wide gate set into large and heavily fortified walls that seemed to stretch for tens of kilometers in each direction. More pressing however was the group of masked Razmarrans armed with spears who were swiftly surrounding them.
He briefly considered fighting his way out, but he remembered some of the stories told about the enigmatic desert people and thought better of it. Maybe if he had access to the kind of raw magical talent Mike threw around without a care in the world, he could've found a way out for them, but he was stuck with his comparatively meager physical abilities.
[Well, at least this way we shouldn't have to worry about running out of water.] He had time to think while two of the guards stepped forward to seize their weapons and bind their hands.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
mobius_factor
mobius_factor Part two of a three part release.
Weekly Power Status
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