《Devour》 ch. 1 Monoliths grasp Chapter 1 Wake up, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, kiss wife, say ¡°goodbye¡±, go to work¡­¡­¡­ Wake up, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, kiss wife, say ¡°goodbye¡±, go to work¡­¡­¡­ Wake up, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, kiss wife, say ¡°goodbye¡±, go to work¡­¡­¡­ Every day I repeated the same boring routine. I always fantasied and daydream, about magically transporting to some far world. I will be stronger, faster and have cool mystical powers. I thought to myself ¡°if only I could be some hero out of a fairy tale. Life won¡¯t be so boring. I could hunt to treasures, fight monsters, and save the princess. And fuck, just imagine getting some tight magic elf princess pussy.¡± If only I had known¡­¡­¡­ **** ¡°Good morning my beautiful woman¡±, I said, as my wife walks into the kitchen half asleep. ¡°Want some coffee love?¡± already I had started pouring coffee into a mug for her. ¡°Thank you, babe. I¡¯m still so tired. Didn¡¯t sleep much last night, super anxious about this interview.¡± She said, with an edge of exhaustion in her voice. My wife wasn¡¯t the kind of women who could just sit at home and play the part of a homemaker. She was the kind of women to thrived in competitive situations. She had been laid off almost two months ago. At first, she was content to take a couple of weeks to relax, but that sense of contentment only lasted about three days. She has been looking for a new job since then with no luck. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do fine. And if you don¡¯t land the job it¡¯s not a big deal. It¡¯s not like we''re short on money.¡± ¡°Ya, I know. I¡¯m just sitting of sitting around the house all day doing nothing.¡± She sighed. She grabbed the remote to turn on the morning news. Her eyes went wide as read the news headline. I was facing away from the news, but I instantly noticed the shocked expression on her face.¡± Another mass shooting?¡± I asked.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°No, look,¡± she said pointing at the TV. She unmuted the tv and turn up the volume. ¡°The death toll is currently estimated to over 300,000. We still haven¡¯t received any more details on this mysterious structure, that suddenly appeared. ¡°The television showed a live video feed from a news helicopter. A massive black tower had erupted from the destroying a large portion of downtown London. Emergency vehicle lights could be seen everywhere, as firemen, police, and paramedics work to rescue survivors. ¡°This just in Strange glowing text has appeared on near the base of what people are now dubbing ¡°The Monolith¡±; Our as scene reporter is us a picture of the text right now. It reads as follows. Humans of Gaia, your entire race is nearing an extinction level event. In exactly 4 years from today, they¡¯ll be able to pass through the gate to this realm. They wish for the complete destruction of humanity. As it is now, you stand no chance of survival. That is why I¡¯ll releasing 1,000,000 of you from Gaia¡¯s prison. Then maybe against all odds, a few heroes will arise, with the abilities and power needed to stand against them. Remember this, we are the child of the goddess Gaia. The goddess of change and evolution. We are the devourers. The fate of humanity is in your hands.¡± My wife glanced at with a look of fear on her face. ¡°Do you think is real¡±, she asked. ¡°I doubt it, it''s probably just a video game or movie ad.¡± I reached across the table and grab my car keys. ¡°Anyways babe, I got to get going to work.¡± Stood up from the table, ready to make my way out the door, but I started to hear the weirdest sound. It¡¯s was like listening to a thousand different materials being ripped apart all at once. I looked to forwards my wife ¡°What was that, the TV?¡± She looked at me, ready to say something. But instead, she screamed ¡°AHHH! Behind you¡± I turned around, only to see darkest. It was like someone ripped space itself apart, and I left staring through the dark void. ¡®If you stare into the void, it will eventually stare back at you¡¯. Well, that wasn¡¯t the case for me, because the fucking void literally grabbed my face. Within a split second, a hand, made completely out of darkness, shoot out and attached to my face. ¡°What the fuck! Get it off¡± I scream. Before I could even finish what, I was screaming, it had already pulled me through the rent in space. As I was pulled further, in the sound of my wife¡¯s cries ended abruptly. The hand suddenly disappeared, leaving me floating in the abyss. Be turned my head backing looking for a way back, but I was completely surrounded by the dark nothingness of the void. I tried screaming, but no sound left my lips. I started to feel pressure in my head, and my consciousness began slipping away. ¡®No! I need to get back to my wife¡¯ the thought scream in my head. Rage and anger flowed through keeping me self aware. After a few moments, the pressure vanished, leaving me to my thoughts. ¡®Where am I....? This can¡¯t be real.¡¯ My heart pumped in my chest, and cold sweat covered my body. ¡®I¡¯m scared.¡¯ The longer I was there, the more terror and panic lead my thoughts. ¡®I¡¯m going to die¡­¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll never see my wife again¡­¡¯ *** I had been drifting for days now. The terror and panic had receded into the back of mind. I had all but excepted the dead that awaited me. I am thirsty and hungry. It was only a matter of time before I dead dehydration. ¡®I really won¡¯t get to see her again.¡¯ I began to cry, tears rolling welling up it the corner of my eyes. I close my eye and began to wipe the tears away with my hand. Without gravity, the tears would just continue to pool up in front of my eyes. But this time when I opened them, there was someone floating in front of me. Just like the hand that pulled me in here, this being appeared to be made of darkness. ch. 2 The monoliths push Chapter 2 Chapter 2 ¡°Hello¡­ You can call me Night¡­You know, You¡¯re quite the amazing fellow. Out of the one million, only you and one other managed to stay conscious. The other one tried killing myself after a week of floating in here.¡± Again, I tried to speak, but no sound left my mouth. ¡®How the fuck is speaking to me and what the hell is he?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m speaking to you telepathically, and yes I can read your mind.¡¯ He giggled softly. ¡°What so funny!¡± I thought angerly to him. ¡°Well, your reaction among meeting is very different than most. Almost all the other panic at the least. Some even defecated themselves. I had to use a calming spell on most of them, just to be able to talk to them. And then once I tell them I¡¯m communicating to them telepathically; they freak out again.¡± ¡°why didn¡¯t I become unconscious?¡± ¡°Hmmm, honestly I¡¯m entirely sure. If I had to guess you have incredibly strong will power. Or at least strong enough too resist my spell. And also, strong enough to keep you relatively sane, despite floating around in this place.¡± ¡°What is this place?¡± I asked suspiciously. ¡°That¡¯s a hard question to answer without breaking the rules¡­ I guess you could say it¡¯s a place I created in-between Gaia¡¯s prison, or as know Earth and the true world.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the¡± He cut me off abruptly, ¡°Sorry we don¡¯t have much time left. And there are lots I need to tell you. Hopefully, some of your answers will be answered.¡± I could feel my face get flushed with anger. But I managed to stay silent.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you know of the black tower. The news seems to travel fast on earth now, at least compared to when I lived on Earth. That tower is a portal, between Earth and the true world. The reason I¡¯ve abducted you is to send you there, to the true world. There isn¡¯t much I¡¯m allowed to tell you about the true world. But if you ever wonder where all humanities legends and folklore came from, there¡¯s a good chance it¡¯s from people who have traveled there or would beings that have become trapped in our world. Occasionally rifts open between our two worlds.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care sent me back to earth.¡± ¡°I¡¯m no longer capable of doing that.¡± Night voiced sound sad. ¡°But, even if I could I wouldn¡¯t. I can¡¯t spare a single one of you. Even if there only the slightest chance you¡¯ll succeed.¡± Night paused, it almost sounded like he was crying. ¡°Succeed! What do you mean?¡± ¡°To succeed in growing strong and surviving¡­ even if only a few of you survive there might be some hope for humanity¡­ and that brings me to the next point, Why.¡± ¡°it¡¯s because, in three years, a permanent gate will open between the worlds. And the resident beings of the true world will do everything in their power to wipe out humanity. That all I can tell you for now. But, before you go, I have a gift for you. Each and every one of the million, have sent will receive a blessing from me. The blessing will vary from person to person. It hopefully it is enough to help you survive what coming. It¡¯s almost time to go.¡± ¡®I spent days in floating in here doing nothing but coming up with different theories as to my current predicament. But this ¡­ god ¡­ I never could have dreamed this up. There are still so many questions.¡¯ The god suddenly changed to a tone of seriousness. ¡°I have two things left to tell you. First, never use your name from the earth. You¡¯ll need to choose a new name for yourself.¡± He paused waiting for my reply. A new name. I thought about for a moment, my thought drifting towards memories of my wife. ¡°My wife always joked about how much I daydream¡­ Always telling me to get my head out of the clouds.¡± ¡°Cloude¡­ My new name is Cloude.¡± ¡°Cloude¡± the god tested the name. ¡°I like it.¡± ¡°Now secondly, you need to get stronger as fast as you can. This new world your about to experience can be truly terrifying. We are the children of Gaia, the goddess of change and evolution. Her blessing carries much weight in this new world. We have the unique ability to stronger by eating what we kill.¡± ¡°Eating what we kill? You expect as to kill?¡± ¡°Goodbye, Cloude. And good luck¡­. You¡¯ll need it.¡± ¡°WAIT, I still have Questions.¡± Before I finished, he had already vanished. An hour passed by in a blink ¡®Oh goddamnit, am I just supposed to float here waiting for this asshat to come back.¡± As if to mock me, at that exact moment portal opened behind. And I was suddenly dragged through. All the while screaming like a 10-year-old schoolgirl. Interlude 1 Interlude 1 ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since all the Religious leaders from all the different races have gathered like this.¡±, said Nexus, the high vicar of the elven clergy.¡± Now I hope we maintain some semblance of peace; well we discuss the problem at hand.¡± A massive fist struck the table, startling everyone present. The orc war priest stood, his massive form towering over the others. ¡°This problem is easily solved, find them and purge them in the names of our gods.¡± Tarth snorted. ¡°The child of Gaia won¡¯t be so easy to find. The Night Crow did a good job of scattering them. From what the diviner¡¯s have seen, most have appeared in the wildlands, so far.¡±, said Lilith, the priestess of the moon elves. ¡°And just, how accurate are your so-called diviners? How can we trust the word of you scum? I can¡¯t remember the last time I met a moon elf who wasn¡¯t a whore or a thief.¡± Tarth practically spit the word out. ¡°What do you know of mine kind, you filthy green blooded bastard. Your kind is too busy raping and murdering us, to get to know any of us. When was the last time you actually talk to one of my kind? After you murder them or raped them?¡± Lilith voiced with rage. Tarth hand reach for his sword at his belt, but before his hand touched the pommel, a blade appeared at his throat. Tarth froze as the cold black metal gently touched his skin.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°THAT WILL BE ENOUGH OF THIS NON-SENSE. Put your petty racial dispute aside or leave. But I warn you now, if you leave, you¡¯ll no longer be considered a member of this counsel.¡± Nexus said in a cold and firm voice. His eye¡¯s glowed with power, and body exuded so much power the room began to shake.¡± Now, sit¡± The knife and its wieldier vanished without a trace. Tarth let out a sigh of relief and sat without saying a word. A tall and wild looking man stood and coughed to gather everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Ahem. My spies have already confirmed, several locations, based on information given to us from the moon elves. So, we the druids will vouch for the moon elves accuracy, and HONESTY.¡± Berus stared at the orc as his finished his statement. Nexus turned to the druid, while visibly calming.¡± What details can you give?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve have found nine large groups, approximately a hundred in each group, that have appeared around the west Wildlands. We¡¯ve also found one group on the eastern side. There might be more, but we can¡¯t scout any further to the east, due to the goblin population. We¡¯ve already began hunting down the groups in the western side. Unfortunately, it will be impossible for us to strike at the group on eastern side. Their just too far into the goblin territory.¡± ¡°Should we even worry about them? I doubt they¡¯ll survive long, with goblins hunting them down.¡± Lilith questioned. ¡°Actually, they¡¯ve appeared in the entrance to the Abysmal One¡¯s temple. Even goblins won¡¯t enter that place. Luckily the only thing there are Slimes, which they can¡¯t eat due to slimes acidic nature.¡± ¡°Well, we can forget about that group. Goblins or slimes their odds of surviving are non-exist. Let¡¯s move on to the next topic. I was hoping to form hunting parties made up of at least one member from each race. Let¡¯s take a vote, by show of hands. All in favour?¡± Nexus eyed the room. All fifteen hands, excluding Tarth¡¯s, raised. After a few seconds Tarth raised his too. ch. 3.1 Lost but not alone.( revised) I could feel the immense velocity, as I was being pulled through the void. Suddenly my inaudible screams became real again. ¡°Ahhhh¡­.!!¡± If there had been anything left in his stomach, it wouldn¡¯t have been for long, as unimaginable G-forces racked my body. Again, I could feel my consciousness begin to slip, as the speed continued to increase. But, before I fainted, strange letters and words form in the vision. After focusing for a few seconds, I realized, that even though I didn¡¯t recognize the alien writing, I instantly understood its being.
¡°Blessing granted, Odin¡¯s Eye, the all-knowing eye.¡± ¡°Warning original eye is currently obstructing the assimilation process.¡± ¡°Warning original eye will be replaced in 5,4,3, 2¡­1¡±
¡®What the fuck... Did that message just pause for dramatic effect?¡¯¡¯ As soon the count down finished, I began to feel the weirdest itchy feeling, behind my right eye. After a minute it began to change into a burning and agonizing pain. I began to scream. My eyeball suddenly began pushing its way out of my skull. I pointless tried pushing my eyeball back into the socket. The two opposing forces, me pushing my eyeball back in, and the unknown force pushing out, cause my eyeball to explode. I look down to see the remaining gore from my eye covering my hand. Then, it all went black, fainting from the agonizing pain and shock of an eye my splattered eyeball all over my hand. *** ¡°Hey, mister¡­¡­¡± ¡°HEY, MISTER¡­.¡± A small hand gently shook Cloude¡¯s shoulder, slowly Cloude regained consciousness. ¡°My eye!¡± Cloude screamed Clouse opened his left eye first. Noticing that he must have startled the girl kneeling beside him, as she wore a look of surprise on her face. Cloude reached his hand up to his right eye and slowly began to touch his eyelid. A wave of relief washed over him, as soon as he realized, his eyeball was still there. But still, it felt strange... like cold tendrils were radiating from behind his right eye. Cloude rubbed at his temple and the strange feel subsided. ¡®hmmm¡­ I must have imagined that. That asshole god did say that he was surprised, I hadn¡¯t gone insane.¡¯ ¡°Hey, Bob he¡¯s waking up.¡± Cloude turned my head slightly to get a view of the burly man who just spoke. Other than the fact that he was massive, he couldn¡¯t make out any other details, in the poor lighting. ¡®Wait, is this the void?¡¯ Cloude took a second to examine his surrounding. After glancing around, he began to realize that they were in a cavern. Hard cold stone pressed against his back. He could faintly see stone outcroppings jutting out from the ceiling, walls, and floor of the cavern. In the distance, direction across from where my feet were pointing, light poured in from the entrance of the cavern. He could also feel air flowing past him.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Cloude began to struggle to sit up. ¡°Hey, mister take your easy.¡±, the young girl said, with an expression of concern on her face. ¡°I think I¡¯m ok. Just feel a little stiff.¡± Cloude said, his voice raspy. His throat was cracked and dry. ¡°My name¡¯s Petal and this big bear standing behind me is Chipper. What¡¯s your new name mister?¡± She asked. ¡°Cloude.¡± ¡°Here something to drink.¡± Chipper leaned down beside him and handed him a canteen. Cloude took a slow sip. Shock lit up on his face. ¡°What is this?¡± It tasted amazing, like some kind of sweetened herbal tea. Not only was the taste amazing, but instantly the pain from his cracked and dry throat was gone. His voice no longer sounded hoarse either. ¡°Honestly we¡¯re not sure it is¡­¡± Chipper replied. ¡°Everyone has a couple of canteens of it in their bag.¡± ¡°Bag?¡± ¡°Ya, whenever someone appears here, a bag appears beside them. The bags are kind of weird though.¡± Chipper¡¯s facial expression looked strained, as he¡¯s thought about how to continue. Before chipper had a chance to finish, Petal cut in. ¡°Well, mister Cloude, the bags seem to hold more than they should. When you look in the bag, the items look a lot smaller, than they actually are once pulled out of the bag. Also, no one can take items out of another person¡¯s bag.¡± ¡°Do I have a bag?¡± Cloude asked. ¡°Mister you ¡­ Your hand is resting on it right now. Petal replied while looking at him as if he was an idiot. ¡°Sorry. Didn¡¯t notice it. My visions a little blurry.¡± Despite Cloude¡¯s blurry vision, he could tell she was smiling at him. Only then did he realized his right eye was still closed. He tried opening it, but couldn¡¯t, his eyelashes were stuck together. He rubbed his eye. Dry crusted blood matted his eyelashes. He managed to break eyelashes free simple by rubbing them, but he would still need to wash his face later. He then opened his eye. ¡°Mister your eyes... glowing.¡± Shook tuned her voice. The world around exploded into vibrant detail. Not only could I see everything as if we were in daylight, but I could also make out the smallest details. I focused in on the nearest cave wall, which was about 20 feet away from me, and I could literally see ants scurrying across the surface. After I moment I realized that information about the ants began to form in my mind. I instantly knew various pieces of information about the ants, the name of their sub-species, their size, gender, the fact that they were mildly poisonous. Cloude slowly inspected the cavern, learning details about geological properties of minerals that made up the surface of the cave. It appears to be made up mostly of alkalizing minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron. He then started inspecting the occupants of the cavern. The detail that appeared was their names. After that information about physical stats, strength, endurance, speed, dexterity, and vitality. Next were the mental stats intelligence, wisdom, and memory. Last was a stat call willpower. Quickly looked everyone over, he could tell that most of the human occupying of the cave, all had similar stats. He noted that men typically had higher strength and endurance stats than the women present, but women seem to have higher vitality and willpower. He then looked at his hand to see if his own stats would appear. He wasn¡¯t surprised by his stat results. He had never been physically fit. At least his non-physical stats were pretty decent
Name: Cloude Race: human Subspecies: Child of Gaia Stats: Strength: 6 Dexterity: 11 Speed:8 Endurance: 5 Vitality:8 Intelligence: 17 Wisdom:19 Memory: 17 Willpower: 31 Abilities: All seeing sight. Traits: Eye of Odin. Evolutions: None
But he was surprised by the extra information, he got when inspecting himself. Although, he had no clue what to make of his ability and trait just yet. ch 3.2 ¡°Ahem¡­¡± Chipper grunted in order to get Cloude¡¯s attention. ¡°I guess that eye of yours, is your blessing. Any idea what it does, yet?¡± ¡°Yes, I can see everything clearly and in detail.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s kind of useless considering, glasses do the same thing.¡± Petal said, with a disappointed good on her face. ¡°Well... at least I don¡¯t have the shittiest blessing anymore.¡± She then jabbed Chipper in the side, causing him to stumble. ¡°Sorry¡­ It isn¡¯t just being able to see everything clearly, but I can also see details about things.¡± ¡°Details¡­ Like what colors, and such.¡± She giggled after the reply. ¡°Petal don¡¯t be rude. Your attitude is starting to annoy everyone. Your just lucky Chipper¡¯s as easy going, as he is. Otherwise, he¡¯d have probably slapped you by now.¡± Petal turned and stared daggers at the approaching woman. Cloude glanced over to see the source of the new voice. The voice, serious and toneless, came from a tall beautiful ebony-skinned woman. He guessed her to be in her late twenties. Although upon reading her details, he knew was way off.
Name: Bobby Race: Human Subspecies: Child of Gaia Age:39 Stats: Strength: 9 Dexterity: 19 Speed:10 Endurance: 10 Vitality:10 Intelligence: 21 Wisdom:6 Memory: 20 Willpower: 13 Abilities: Regenerate Lvl 1: 80% faster healing than normal. Allows to lost limbs to regrow. Immunity Lvl ?: Immune to physical poison and diseases. Trait: Night¡¯s blessing of vitality. Evolutions: None
Bobby was standing right over top of Cloude¡¯s body now. Cloude realized he was staring at her and began to blush. ¡°Hey, my name¡¯s Bobby.¡± She said, with a calm and sweet voice. Her voice completely different now that she was addressing Cloude, instead of Petal. She smiled before carrying on.¡± Everybody here calls me Bob though. I kind of overheard, your name¡¯s Cloude, right?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said shyly. ¡°Can you explain, what you mean, by seeing details?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes. When I focus on what I¡¯m looking at, writing appears in the vision. It tells me information about who or what I¡¯m looking at. Umm...¡± Cloude paused for a moment thinking up an example. ¡°For instance, the rocks, that make up the cave. I can tell what kind of minerals they''re made up of. When I focused on you, could see your age, stats, abilities, and traits.¡± Cloude said. ¡°What do you mean by stats, abilities, and traits?¡± ¡°The stats are kind of like character stats from a role-playing game. I guess, it will be easy for you to understand, what the abilities and traits are, if I just tell you, what yours are. It says you have two abilities. First, you have the ability to heal 80% faster than normal. Second, is an ability called immunity, which states, that you''re immune to physical poisons and diseases. And the trait seems to be the name of the blessing. Yours is ¡®Night¡¯s Vitality¡¯. ¡°That amazing, not sure how we can use your ability right now, considering our current situation. It¡¯s nice to finally to know what my blessing actually does. Night told me the name of my blessing. But I wasn¡¯t sure what it actually did. I played a lot of MMO, in college, so I understand character stats. I bet my charisma is super high.¡± She wicked at me.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Cloude quietly laughed. ¡°What¡­ you don¡¯t I¡¯m attractive or is my charisma stat really low?¡± Bobby said smugly. ¡°Neither. There isn¡¯t any charisma stat, that I¡¯ve seen yet. Sorry, I laughed because you reminded me of something my wife said¡­¡± Fear struck Cloude as realize his memories weren¡¯t right. ¡®Why can¡¯t I remember my wife¡¯s name or what she looks like.¡¯ Bobby could tell exactly what was going through Cloude¡¯s head. They all realized it shortly after arriving here. ¡°You can¡¯t remember your wife, can you?¡± She posed the question gently. Cloude looked at her. ¡®How did she know that.¡¯ ¡°I remember having a wife. I remember the things we did together¡­ even the smallest details. But I can¡¯t remember her.¡± Cloude choked back a sob on the last word. ¡°It¡¯s the same for all of us. We can¡¯t remember the people, who were most important to us.¡± There was a long awkward moment of silence. They share sad looks at each other. Before Bobby broke the silence again. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this. We need to figure out how we¡¯re going to get out of this mess, without ending up dead like the others.¡± Bobby¡¯s voice turned back to her serious, toneless voice. ¡°Dead like the others?¡± Cloude asked ¡°Ya¡­ there used to be a lot more of us. I guess fill you in on what¡¯s happened since we got here. You¡¯re the eighty-first person to appear. Now theirs only 4 left including you. You kind of arrived late. It¡¯s been 6 days since the last person before you appeared. And everyone appeared within a 2-day span. Even before the last of us finished appearing, we had set up camp outside the cave¡¯s entrance and had begun to explore the surrounding areas. This cave exits right at the border between a dense forest and rolling plains. The first three days went by without any incidents. We encounter some weird wildlife and plants. The animals here are nothing like earth. Everything is that breathes here is dangerous. That being said, we managed to avoid or kill most of the creature we came across. But then, three nights ago we were attacked. It was chaos, they came out of no-where. They literally butchered us. We didn¡¯t stand a chance. Luckily 8 of us manages to escape back into this cave. We not sure why but they won¡¯t enter the cave. They¡¯ve set up camp outside though. I think they¡¯re trying to starve us out or something.¡± Bobby paused, and then sighed, stress evident on her face. ¡°What are the things that attack you?¡± Cloude asked Before Bobby could continue Chipper picked up the conversation. ¡°We don¡¯t really know, what they are. They¡¯re humanoid. Slightly shorter than the average human. Green skin. They kind of remind me of goblins.¡± Chipper said. Just then, a horrible scream could be heard from the exit of the tunnel. Cloude immediately looks in that direction. The others just lower they¡¯re heads a little. ¡°Those fucker¡¯s have kept a few alive and caged them up just outside the cave. They torture them throughout the day. I don¡¯t know, if it¡¯s to try to lure us out or if it¡¯s to taunt us.¡± Although Chipper¡¯s voice seemed calm, his face spoke otherwise. ¡°Chipper I know that look on your face, you know there¡¯s nothing we can for them,¡± Bobby said. ¡°We¡¯re so fucked.¡± Petal said drying with her thick British accent. ¡°You said that eight of you made it into the cave, what happened to the other five,¡± Cloude asked. Chipper pointed towards the back of the cave.¡± They went down that tunnel. They were supposed to come back right away, but it¡¯s been almost eight hours.¡± Tension building on Chipper¡¯s face. After a moment Chipper stood and starting walking towards the tunnel. ¡°Where fuck you going, Chipper? Petal asked, concern written across her face. ¡°I¡¯m going to find them.¡± ¡°The hell you are,¡± Bobby said, hurrying to cut him off. She cut him off. Starring at him she said.¡± You can¡¯t go down there. We don¡¯t even have any torches left. What are you going to do, wander through the tunnels, blind as a bat?¡± Cloude thought about the situation for a moment.¡¯ I don¡¯t have much choice, do I? if we just wait up here, eventually we¡¯ll die.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯ll go¡­ I can see in the dark.¡± Cloude said. ¡°No. We don¡¯t even have an idea what happened to the others. What of theirs something dangerous down there.¡± Bobby said. ¡°So, what, you just want to wait up here, till we starve to death, or those goblins decide to come to get us.¡± Bobby was silence. She was scared to lose more people. She thought, about all the people, that she had gotten to know, that had just perished, at the hands of the goblins. ¡°Ok, but you should prepare first. There should be a weapon in your bag and some other useful items.¡± ch.4.1 Things that burns Chapter 4 Cloude had been walking through the underground tunnel for almost thirty minutes, he figured. He had yet to find anything of interest. He occasionally looked back look, although he couldn¡¯t see very far, due to the fact, that the decline of the tunnel was constantly changing. He dreaded the walk back. He wasn¡¯t physically fit at all, and he wouldn¡¯t get very far walking uphill before running out of breath. To add to that, he was now carrying a fairly heavy backpack and had a short sword strapped to his waist. Cloude had tried to leave his pack, as he didn¡¯t wish to lug around the extra weight, but the others insisted he did. Not only did the backpack, have just about everything one needs to survive, but due to its interesting properties, it could be very useful. The pack never seemed to run out of space, and no matter how much stuff was added to the pack the weight never changed. He was a science teacher back on earth, so he was amazed by the way the backpack defied physical science. He examined the pack inside and outside trying to figure out how this was possible, but Bobby got tired of watching him waste time with the pack. Bobby had told him, ¡°Quit wasting time, you won¡¯t figure it out, others have tried already. The rules are different here. Should be obvious considering, what our blessings can do.¡± Shortly after I told Bobby the information a had learned about her blessing, she had decided to put it to the test. So, she cut her fingertip open. The cut closed within twenty seconds. Then she cut it again, almost to the bone this time. It healed in thirty-three seconds. She also noted that pain seemed different as well. Back on earth she never would have been able to voluntary cut to the bone. But now she barely felt it. Cloude thought about the strange contents of his space folding backpack. He had received a weapon, food rations, and the eight canteens of healing tea, just like everyone else. But he also three books and a letter from Night. The first of the three books he pulled out was a journey written by Percy Harrison Fawcett. After quickly skimming through the book, Cloude learned that Percy was a fellow Earthling went somehow got stuck in this world.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The second and third books were also written by Percy Fawcett. One was a log detailing all the different creatures he came across. The last book was about the different humanoid people of this world. He had detailed his studying of they¡¯re different cultures. Percy states early in his journey that most of our legends must be based on this world. Cloude didn¡¯t really know what to make of all this information. Even after the events that just transpired, he had troubling believing the books. He had thought himself. I used to daydream about this shit all the time. Now fucking Goblins are outside waiting to fucking eat us. And what the fuck, we all get cool magical Blessings, and I get stuck with a fucking Wikipedia-eye. The letter was short and interesting. It read. ¡®Dear Cloude I hope you enjoyed the eye and books. Consider them a bonus for exceeding my expectations. I know you understand the true value of the eye, but once you unlock its true potential, you¡¯ll thank me. Well, that is if you survive that long. Yours truly Night P.S. Two tips for you. One kill and eat. Two if you meet any humans or demi-humans of that world, don¡¯t let them know you are from earth.¡¯ The tunnel had now leveled out and was much larger. The ceiling of the tunnel was at least 15 feet high. The change in the tunnel caused Cloude to snap out of his deep thoughts. Even though his eye gave him the ability to see in the complete darkness of the tunnel, his visual range without light was only about ten feet.
DANGER!
The blood red word flashed in the top corner of his vision. Startled, Cloude took a step back. It wasn¡¯t far enough though. It fell from the ceiling, just missing his body, it landed on his foot. Cloude screamed immediately screamed in pain, as it quickly burned through his shoe and sock, and contacted his skin. He fell backward and scrabbled on the stone floor to back away from it. Looking to see if he escaped the source of his agony, he got a good look at its cause. Just past his foot sat a blob. It was blueish green in color and looked like a circular ball of liquid jelly. It slowly wrapped its form in order to move towards Cloude. Slowly it crept towards him¡­ Very slowly. Cloude continued to back away from the blob. He was panic and disoriented from the pain, so it took him a minute to realize that it was barely moving at least. ¡°FUCK. You Sneaky fucking cunt. RRRR YAAA.¡± Cloude yelled at the blob. The blob didn¡¯t reply. It just slowly kept moving towards Cloude. Cloude gathered his willpower to overcome the immense pain, and he stood up. Even more, pain shot through his leg as he put weight on it. He almost fell but caught himself on the wall of the cave. ¡°You know what you fucker, you remind of my ex. Both of you left me with a burning sensation.¡± He growled at the blob. He then realized the statement was pointless as the blob couldn¡¯t understand and there was no one else there. Sighing he slowly limped away. ch.4.2 Things that burns Chipper and Bobby positioned themselves, just near enough to the entrance of the cave, to get a glance of what the goblins were doing. They both laid prone, to avoid alerting the goblins of their spying. The number of goblins had increased exponentially. At least 80 roamed around doing various tasks. The captives had been taken off the poles and cages further away. The goblins were erecting a wooden barricade. Bobby slowly shifted her body closer to the other side of the entrance, in order to get a better picture of what was going on. A large cage with several large monsters came into her view. The monsters resembled hyenas, but three times the size and with red scales instead of fur. She looked between the caged monsters and the wooden barricade the goblins were constructing. She began to realize what the goblins were up too. ¡°Shit!¡± Bobby exclaimed. ¡°What wrong?¡± Chipper asked. ¡°See those cages over there? ¡°Bobby pointed in the direction of the cages. ¡°Ya¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re building the barricades, so they can trap us in here with those monsters,¡± Bobby said. Her expression darkened, upon realizing that if they didn¡¯t do anything they would probably die. Chipper¡¯s expression grew hard. ¡°Take Petal and following after Cloude. I¡¯ll try to stall them for as long as I can.¡± Petal was kneeling a little ways back from the two of them, but she could still overhear them. Her emotions were warring between angry and fear. Although she was afraid, she wasn¡¯t afraid of dying. She had lived a hard life. She had been abused by every man in her man. Her father beat her. Her stepfather tried to sexually assault her. And even the one teacher, she began to trust called her a slut and then tried to take advantage of her. Suicidal thoughts had begun to take root in mind. Most of the time she was depressed. But that all changed when she met Chipper.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. On the first day in this world Petal and a couple other got separated from the group, while out exploring. Both the others were men. They had tried to force themselves on her. Chipper showed up just in time. He saved her. And for the first time in her life, she felt safe, and now this man was going to sacrifice himself so she could get away. She was afraid of losing Chipper. She knew she had to do something. Petal began to think back to what Cloude had told her about her blessing. He had said the name of her blessing was ¡°Will of the Flame¡±. His eye informed them, that she now could bend fire to her will. She hadn¡¯t tested her power since they had no way to start a fire. But now she thought she might have the opportunity. A few minutes prior to Bobby¡¯s goblin revelation, Petal had begun to feel a weird sensation. At first, it just felt like a small flash of warm breezed against her skin. But after a few more minutes, the sensation evolved into a constant warm pulse follow over her. This got her mind turning. She thought back over the last couples of days and came to a realization. Every time she had been near to a campfire or torch during the last couple of days, she had felt the same sensation, she just hadn¡¯t known what to make of it. Petal turned her focused toward the spot where she thought the fire was. After focusing, she could almost visualize the fire on the outside of the cave. It appeared to her to be a campfire. She began to will the fire to move. The visualization of the fire moved in the direction she wished. ¡°Holyshit¡± Petal exclaimed. Both Bobby and Chipper turned to look at her. Both wore a look of concern. Both show Petal smiling intensely. ¡°Petal?¡± Chipper questioned. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to die for me.¡± Petal replied to Chipper. ¡°Who said anything about dying?¡± ¡°Chipper, you know if you stay here to hold them back, you¡¯ll die.¡± Chipper expression darkened. ¡°It¡¯s ok, Petal.¡± ¡°No, it''s not. Your first person who ever stood up for me. The first person who¡¯s ever cared about me.¡± Petal voiced was surprisingly calm and stern. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this. We¡¯re all leaving. Hopefully, we can get a head start before they, release those monsters.¡± Bobby said. Petal looked in the direction of the fire and exerted all the willpower she could.