Meager Power

We didn't stick around to congratulate ourselves for very long. Though the battle had been quick and efficient, it didn't cost us nothing, so we needed to stay on our toes, especially as we pushed further into the woods. Taking a small break to let the adrenaline flow off and rehydrate, we continued on our path with very little conversation. Now, far more wary, we didn't spare the time to get to know each other better. That could come in time.

The forest became denser and denser, and eventually we lost sight of the spire we'd been seeking, vanishing into the thick foliage. Thankfully, my sense of direction from before my... death... remained strong, and I felt I could reasonably keep our track despite the place becoming more and more dense. Not only more dense - more realistic, too. The leaves began to sway, insects began to crawl around and flutter about, and occasionally small woodland creatures would flit in and out of vision. Originally, we've been able to just keep our eyes out for any motion, but with the simulation becoming more realistic, it was increasingly more difficult to watch out for ambushes.

We were assaulted twice more during the first day, though neither attack did much more than give Rachel a bruise on her sword arm that had mostly faded by the time we decided to call it quits. Finding a thicker copse to sequester ourselves wasn't terribly difficult given the terrain at this point. The more difficult part was getting comfortable after. We both set about finding secure places within the copse to begin laying down our bedding, but after figuring hers out, Rachel sauntered over to the more open part of the trees. She looked around and sat with her equipment by her, and nodded at me.

"We should take turns on watch. We have already been attacked several times, so no reason to court disaster," she said with a serious tone.

"'No reason to court disaster.' Rachel you speak like an anachronistic mess, are we both from the 21st century?"

Her laugh was cut off shortly after it started, a cough covering up more of the sound. "Ah. Poetry."

Huh? "Poetry?"

"Poetry. An ex-boyfriend turned me onto it, and I have found that it appealed to me. The last several years have refined my vocabulary in that direction."

"And the no contractions thing?"

"That is actually its own 'thing.' I have never been fond of them. It frustrated my teachers and friends to no end for several years before they became accustomed to it." Her cheeks were red at the explanation.

"Alright, fair enough." I wasn't going to press to hard, we've all got weird things that matter to us. If the pleasant woman in front of me didn't like contractions, then she didn't like contractions. Not like I didn't have things I avoided, or was affected by. I hadn't thought about it much, but yeah, there was good reason the spear felt way more comfortable to me than the sword. "Well, I guess your positioning means you want to take first watch?" She nodded. "Alright, well, I'll try to get some sleep, then. Should probably keep moving as soon as possible."

I laid down pretty quickly, but honestly, it was tough to fall asleep. A day of vigilant travel had been tiring, but not for the speculating brain. Rachel really was a nice girl - straightforward, honest, and I felt safe with her, at the very least. If she'd wanted to kill me, she could have done so within the Sanctuary. Instead, we'd bared some of our weaknesses, and she hadn't hesitated to go to sleep in my presence. It was simple enough to extend the same courtesy.

Really, this competition was odd. The whole thing was odd! We had next to no information about Avare, we're fighting violent beasts, and told we're competing in some sort of contest. We're working together for now. Would we have to split up? Would we maybe have compatible goals and stick together? Would we want to stick together? Sure, we got along now, but it might not be forever. Did I need to plan for some eventuality where we split up, maybe on bad terms?

Aaand this was my problem. Overthinking things. Spiraling. Instead of worrying about the future, I needed to channel those thoughts toward more curious pursuits. What did all the moons mean? We couldn't really see any past the trees right now, but I wondered which ones were up there. What qualities did the gods want in us? My measured measure apparently was of interest to the goddess of ages, but that might be exactly what a god of trickery or war might not want. Rachel was a good fit for someone like Nollnine, maybe, but it really depended on the domain. Nathan apparently was a good fit for a champion, but fuck, was a sociopath good for anything? Did we have to contend with a god of murder or something? And that was only the three of us. Three of twenty. How many different personalities would clash badly in our contest?

I needed to plan. I needed to find people I could trust. I needed information. I couldn't do much about the knowledge, but I could prepare myself with my physical aspects and my skills, hone my combat abilities, and work with Rachel to create a stronger front against the more violent of our peers. We should discuss the future before we leave the temple, try to keep our alliance as long as possible, and have some sort of contingency or agreement should we be required to part.

What was most important to learn first? Geography, both physical and political, was up there. Culture after, so I could navigate them. Too many shitty stories had protagonists bumbling about making mistakes left and right, and I had no interest in that. Figure out theology right after, though that was probably tied up in culture, if the gods were this present in the world. It was unlikely that a person might be atheistic.

Or, wait, could the gods be less prevalent here than I expected? Do people invoke them regularly, follow one or many of them? In a lot of cultures with big pantheons, they tended to be pretty ubiquitous, but what would the reality be like? Easy to blame Zeus for being a prick when you could ascribe a ton of random shit to him. Shit, there was just so much unknown.

There was also my status as Champion to think about. There were advantages to concealing it, and advantages to revealing it, and I absolutely did not have the whole of either. Obviously concealing it would keep me less of a target, but I wouldn't get access to better resources, at least from anyone who knew what it meant. The ones who knew what it meant would probably be limited to powerful or knowledgeable people, yeah, but that was a two-sided blade. That meant other champs who revealed themselves might have access to the same networks, and it would mean possibly revealing my position and intentions.

Shit, the more I thought about things the less it felt like a political mess and more an intricate web of choices, and no one could see past their own goddamn - godsdamned - nose. We'd make a mess of it ourselves, even though it might be perfectly structured for now. The challenge would be extending that sight.

So. Get the political lay of the land, then learn culture, and...

---

I woke with a start, birds tweeting in my ears. The cloak I was using as a bedsheet was wrapped around me, and a chill was in the air, meeting the morning with a kiss of cold. My nose scrunched up and I sneezed before I could think better of it.

"What? SHIT!" I heard scrambling and irritated growling from the side, and watched as Rachel scrambled to her feet. I blinked my eyes a couple times to clear out the sleep, and a smirk found its way to my mouth.

"Fell asleep, didn't you?"

"Fuck. Yes. I am sorry."

I shook my head and navigated my way out of the maze I'd made around myself before sitting up to get myself a drink of water. "Yeah. Next time if you're falling asleep, just wake me up. I'd rather one of us tired than neither of us awake."

Rachel's eyes closed in shame as she put a hand to her chest, seemingly to calm herself. "Sorry. Again. We were lucky in our location, I suppose."

"Given we're not being attacked by angry beavers in the dark, yeah, lucky. Let's not depend on that again, yeah?" I didn't want to berate her too much, and I wasn't really that mad, but we needed to be better. I didn't want to say it out loud, but what if something worse had come across our sleeping forms? What if it had been Nathan? We'd have been completely fucked. "What's done is done, yeah? Let's push forward and be done with this place."

Rachel nodded, and went to collect her unused bedding. I was faster to get my things together, head still working on the conundrums from the night before. It was nice, honestly, to be able to continue my ponderings from before I fell asleep. I'd never managed to keep that strung overnight, but my brain was already working to continue on the things I was considering. After culture, I needed to work on getting power. If this was a violent and untamed world, there had to be some sort of military force that wasn't attached to a nation. Hell, there might not even really be nations, just city-states or something, or alliances or collectives. Even if there were nations, if things were dangerous enough, it was probably just another name for a tenuous alliance.

Honestly, I could use that. If I could find an 'in' with some unaffiliated force, or create my own, I could gouge out a pocket of power. That also depended on how strong other forces were. Was level 11 a lot? Or maybe it was something people were expected to reach by like age 10? A map, culture, religion, common sense. Those would all really work together. Once I had those moving, I would be in a better position to proceed.

Rachel had finished getting ready, and we both made a breakfast of some jerky. We had a bit more, probably enough for another two days of full travel, but beyond that we'd definitely need to find more. My previous excursions within the labyrinth had either provided vittles for me or not lasted long enough for it to matter, so we were kind of banking on those remaining true. Would the labyrinth still save us if we died of thirst, or hunger? Exposure?

I really didn't want to find out.

We collected ourselves and headed back out. I'd marked a tree with the direction last night so we wouldn't lose it, but just to be sure, I had Rachel wait while I tried to climb a tree. There were lots of handholds sticking out of the wood, so it couldn't be that difficult. I picked out a big beast of a tree and started my climb up, using my knife when I needed to create a handhold. It didn't take long - this body was pleasantly light, and I was in pretty good shape - for me to reach high enough that I could get our bearings.

Honestly, despite the danger, the bowl was gorgeous. Back from where we'd approached I could tell the foliage really became sparse. and ahead toward the big building it just got thicker and taller. We likely wouldn't have the benefit of much daylight beneath those boughs, so our travel would be impeded by the dark much sooner. That meant we couldn't waste any time, but I was definitely glad that my directions had remained good. We were on pace, and even though the forest in front of us seemed to extend unpleasantly, we were clearly making progress. It was curious to spot birds flitting about above the treetops. "The budget for the important episodes is much higher, apparently," I muttered to myself as I made my way back to the surface.

Rachel looked at me in askance once I'd hit the ground and brushed leaves and bark off of myself. I made sure to arm myself before anything else, and looked at her inquisitive gaze. "We're going in the right direction. Stuff is definitely getting thicker, so we'll have to deal with some darkness. If we keep pace, we might get to the base of the building? Keep? Thing? In a few hours, would be my estimate."

"Good. Let us be off, then." Rachel hefted her shield with a smirk.

"Yeah, we should make good time since we're both pretty rested."

She looked so chagrined that I had to give her a wry smile and punch her shoulder as I passed to make sure she knew I was joking. She sputtered a moment, but followed on legs fast enough that she passed me by to take the front again.

We didn't talk as we progressed through the forest, both of us quickly becoming too keyed up to really be anything other than cautious. It only took an hour or so for more of the beavers to assault us, but these we also dispatched easily. I knew better than to be relaxed. Maybe it was because of that big zombie chase, but there was absolutely no way I was going to let my guard down until we were safe. The smallest things could get us, and I reminded myself of it by looking at my gloveless hand. The environment could be our enemy too.

Eventually, the dark became ever-present. Though I knew it was daytime, the wood around us felt claustrophobic. Another hour or three passed, this time without any more assaults from the lively creatures of the forest.

No, we were definitely lucky enough to bypass more encounters with the beaver packs. Instead, as we came upon the edge of the dense treeline, we had to crouch down and take a moment to survey the last patch of land before the rocky wall in front of us. About a hundred meters of open grass sat between us and a grand doorway that led straight into a mesa that provided the base for the big spire-like building. The part that really irked me, though, was that this field was filled to the brim with foes. Not the beavers, not the grays. No, in front of us, were skeletons. Well, that was a partial lie. Now, armed with more experience, I reconciled the appearances. These skeletons that lumbered around with their strange not-bone-bags were obviously undead grays. The proportions matched, the structures matched. I don't know if it was just the labyrinth keeping things consistent, but the grays, and undead, were a weird focus here.

But the appearance of these shambling figures brought a feeling of anticipation within me. If I'm seeing these things again, that means we're getting close. It's almost a certainty we're to face that berserker at the end of all of this. The thought was terrifying, but electrifying. Revenge was certainly a part of it, but I knew defeating that bastard would be proving my growth. I'd fought it with no strength and gotten my ass kicked.

All I had to do was get past this horde, up the manor-spire-keep, and stab my spear straight into the bastard's visor hole while cooking him in his personal overwrought tin can suit.

Woah, hol' up, that's a bit... murderous.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Obviously the circumstances are... trying. The grays were their own situation. But, the Berserker... that was a thinking being capable of communication. Which, according to my personal code of (suddenly concerningly loose) morals, that meant it was a person. They were a person?

The Berserker had killed me. Had intended to kill me. Relished in killing me. But, does going in here with a plan to do a bit of murder, well, make it murder instead of self defense? Vengeance instead of justice?

Yeah, definitely. But is it really a person? Or a creation of the labyrinth that would stop existing when the place is gone?

What about-

"So, do you have any ideas about how to get through this mess?"

Oh, thank you Rachel, thank you so much. The problem in front of me.

"There's about a football field of grass and undead between us and that door. If the previous situation like this was any indication, reaching that door and entering SHOULD grant us a reprieve," I said, thinking about the mine where we'd met, "but we can't guarantee it. There's also no guarantee there won't be danger behind it."

"So what would you have us do instead? Strike at every single stack of bones between us and our goal? That seems unlikely to end in our favor," Rachel replied with a sidelong glance.

"Yeah. So, we should come up with three plans. First, get past the skellies. Two, an escape plan in case the door won't let us in. Three, a plan in case we DO get in and there's more hostiles."

"Not a plan in case the skeletons enter behind us?"

I had to stop from barking out a laugh there. "Nah. If they do that we're super fucked, I think."

She didn't even smile at me, just stared. Damn, that's some intense glare. "Alright, alright. So, we book it as fast as we can to the doors. Biggest thing is to not get separated," I started, and she nodded. "They throw bones, sometimes really fucking hard, so I think it's best if you try to take aggro and warn me if I'm being targeted. Block everything you can while I get to the door and open the way for us."

Her eyes narrowed while she took in that plan. "I do not see a way for us to arrive at our destination without fighting any of them in melee. There are too many."

"Honestly, they're not super hard to take down. I did it a couple times real early on. Their heads are usually the weak point, but..." I looked out, but couldn't see the telltale sign of that animating magic that had inhabited one of the skulls. "No, I don't see any of the advanced ones. Hit them in the head, break the skull, and that's good enough." My eyes scanned over Rachel's equipment. "Honestly, your shield is gonna do the most damage, because your sword is gonna be more useful as a bat."

She got a sour look, but nodded. "Okay. We break past, avoid injury, and make it to the door. In case one, we enter. In case two, we must retreat. Where do we go if we retreat?"

"Back here, I think," I mused. The skeletons milled about aimlessly, making it impossible to chart a simple path ahead of us. "The trees can break a lot of their ranged attacks before they hit us, and they're pretty weak up close."

The idea rolled around in her head, but Rachel ultimately nodded after a few more seconds. "That stands to reason. Retreat afterward until they stop coming?"

"Yeah. Case two, we get inside, which leads us to plan three. Turn around asap and make sure we don't get ambushed on the other side. With me opening the door, you'll be able to position inside first and tell me if I need to greet any hosts first thing. If we do... I guess if they're hostile, attack and work it out from there."

That sour look returned. "Hardly a plan."

"Got a better one?" I asked with a wry smile. She simply looked at me, unimpressed. She was downright pleasant to talk to outside of stressful situations, but right now she's certainly not the most fun. "I'm stressed, alright? Levity works for me."

She sighed. "Understood. Just please do not expect much of it in return."

"Fair 'nuff. Okay. Well, obviously, you don't have a better plan, so that's what it is. If there's something on the other side, you engage and warn me while I close the door behind us. Sound good?"

She nodded, moving to limber up to make sure our short stop didn't keep her from getting her muscles too ready to relax. I did the same, but turned my spear around so the butt of it would be my skull prod of choice. No reason to chip the metal tip on bone, right?

We both prepared to lurch forward at top speed. I wanted to Dash ahead of her, but knew I should wait until we were closer to the door so that I could take advantage of her aggro. It was hard to pull back from that thought. I kept my eyes open, waiting for a moment when we'd have the best chance of bursting through the skeletal defenses, and after a few minutes of tense observation, I pulled the trigger.

"On three. One, two, THREE!"

Both of us shot out at a sprint, wanting to get there as fast as possible, but there was still a significant distance to cover. Having run a distance like this before, I knew it's not the fastest task in the world if you're not a sprinter. Additionally, we were both somewhat armored and encumbered, and there were an unfortunate number of shambling bodies in the way. They picked us up pretty quickly before we'd even made it a fifth of the way there, arms pulling back to send presents of bone at us with just as much velocity as we were trying to use. The first few went wide, due to the suddenness of the motion, but the nearby foes managed to take a moment longer to get a bead on us.

I pulled back a moment, allowing Rachel to put herself between me and the undead grays. Reducing our profile like that meant we could focus on fewer projectiles. She managed to intercept two on her own, blocking one after another with her shield, but one came from a bit afield and I had to bat it out of the air with a Parry. I was absolutely glad for the skill, because otherwise I definitely would not be able to pull off something like that with that kind of ease.

A third of the way there, and our first complication cropped up. Most of the danger was in the projectiles, but ahead of us, a pair of skeletons were forming up to stop our rush. They were big fuckers, and going around them wasn't a great option. Rachel's momentum was impossible for her to adjust much, and losing that forward power would spell disaster. But two of them weren't enough. My breath was coming hard and fast, but between steps, I yelled out, "smash left!" I then moved slightly to the side and began to pelt the one on the right with Mana Bolts, using them silently because my breathing was otherwise somewhat occupied.

The reduced power from the pink bolts was suboptimal, but in the end, it was enough. The first and second shots put it off balance, but the third one, aimed at its lower leg, had it pulled completely out of our way. Just in time, Rachel rammed into the other one with her shield and it collapsed like a toothpick structure before a wayward toddler. Almost halfway.

Ahead, there weren't enough to stop Rachel more than one at a time, so I had to hope to depend on her charge to be enough. I struck another bone out of the air with Parry, but couldn't get them all, especially now that they were hitting us from behind. One slammed into my back alongside another one managing to strike my spear, and I barely managed to hold onto it. Rachel wasn't doing much better, already having taken a couple hits. Thankfully, she was a little more armored, so they weren't affecting her as much, but I I could see her flinch away from the strikes.

The doorway was absolutely way too big and heavy for us to push open. It was built for something much bigger and much stronger (my eyes narrowed at that) but to my delight, it was one of those with a smaller doorway cut into it. Now almost two thirds of the way there, our tactics had to adjust. I didn't know if she had spotted it, so I pointed past Rachel's eyes at the little door and patted her on the shoulder before using my Dash to shoot in front of her. I took the opportunity to clothesline a skeleton with the shaft of my spear, kept running, and Dashed forward again once I felt it safe to not hamstring myself by rushing the skill too much.

A moment later, I was there, but I couldn't rest on that achievement. I looked around and was grateful to spy what looked like a normal doorknob and twisted, hoping beyond hope it wasn't locked. Glee filled my heart when it turned and I could push it open, and turned around.

I was just in time to watch a hefty bone collide with Rachel's sword arm with a devastating crack, making me click my teeth with frustration, but she didn't slow at all. I shot two quick Mana Bolts at skeletons that could have gotten close enough to her to be a problem. Not enough to take them down, but enough to keep them from harrying her. My breath was caught until she finally sprinted past me into the building, and I followed right behind her, forced to Parry a bone that followed us in. I slammed the door shut, and was delighted to find a bar to close it behind us. It made sense, given the defensible nature of the thing, and I was just as grateful to realize that it hadn't already been engaged. A moment later, several slams shook echoed from the door, but it didn't so much as shake from the force of the creatures outside pounding from it.

"Danger!"

I swung around, checking for enemies, and let out a quick "fuck!" when I saw that we weren't done yet.

Two more bony boys, these ones with an ethereal blue glow behind their sockets, were in the process of bearing down at a Rachel who had her right arm hanging limp by her side.