<True,> I agreed. <But everything points to him being an idiot. I mean, he let us take his stuff in here, didn't he?>
Bear frowned at that. <You're right. Why did he do it?>
<No idea,> I replied sincerely. <The most likely answer is that we're at a dead end.>
<Huh?>
<Maybe he doesn't have the magic needed to open this place. He might not even know about the secret entrance. The castle magic...> I meant 'system'. <...can probably place minions directly in the maze without them needing to come through here.>
His frown deepened. <Isn't that bad for us?>
<Yup. But the only way to be sure is to knock on their door and see if they come. If they don't, we can be fairly certain that it's because no one can.>
<Huh.> Bear seemed convinced.
Daggers, however, didn't. <Sir, where is the dust, then?>
I smiled at her. <That's a good question. There was no dust on the equipment and no one said anything about the food being spoiled. So, someone is using this place, even if it's likely that it isn't the people in the castle. What does that tell us?>
<I do not know, sir.>
<There are many possibilities, but the most likely is that there was a division between the people who conquered the castle before, and the losers are now inhabiting this place.>
<And you came up with that theory just because no one is opening the door?> Bear asked incredulously.
<No, I came to this conclusion for many reasons. The most important though, is that this is a quest given by Manhart. Nothing is ever easy with him. Somehow he expects a limited force like ours to conquer the Castle. How? You saw the walls outside and the lich wouldn't be interested in this place if it can't stand against an attack of some fifty low-to-middle-leveled travellers like us. If what the goblin said is true and he really lived here before, how was the castle even conquered before?>
<I don't get it.> Bear said.
I sighed. <Manhart knew this place and he knew there's a secret entrance here and that's why he sent a small force to conquer it. Now, the big question is if he knew about the division among the people inside the castle. If so, we might find a way to open the doors in the maze. If not, this is a pointless endeavor.>
<Do you think he knew about all this, sir?> Daggers asked.
<I think he did, but I also think there's no key, password, or magical way to open that door to be found in this side of the door. And that's why he sent us, because we're unpredictable. Otherwise, he could have come himself. We're his chance at an easy win before he brings the Army here to take the Castle the hard way.>
<What do we do then, Ugly-face?>
Yup, definitely a pattern, I thought as I noticed he was asking again.
<We keep knocking,> I replied.
<Didn't you say the master of the Castle can't open this door?>
<No, I said he might be unable to open this door. I'm teaching you two how to think. And I'm proving to you that when I make a decision, I have already considered many more possibilities than you have. I'm not perfect, but I am good at analyzing things.> My voice was getting more heated as I spoke. <So, stop fucking asking me about every single decision I make!> I was almost mind-yelling at him in the end.
While it did make me upset to have to explain myself all the time, that was a controlled reaction. Some anger when adequately applied could do wonders for a leader.
<Whoa, slow there, tiger,> Bear said. <I was just curious.>
<Sorry, sir,> Daggers said.
I took a deep breath. <Yeah, whatever. We'll keep knocking until they get annoyed enough that they open the door. Tell the zombies to start excavating around the door and the metal walls; maybe we can still find an opening that way. We'll take turns banging on the door.> I began to do just that with my pickaxe. After the fifth knock, I was already upset with the noise.
<What if they don't open the door?> Bear asked.
<Then we leave with extra attribute points and some equipment to sell. Let's go.>
Daggers and Bear surprisingly made a team to excavate together. It seemed that the way she was doing things was increasing her dexterity instead of constitution and she was loving it. Bear agreed to help her without raising any issues.
Like that, the hours went by. Yet again I noticed the non-boredom feature of Valia. No matter how objectively dull and activity was, it didn't feel so bothersome.
One day, two days. We wrecked the place completely and the sound of a pickaxe banging on the doors was giving all of us a headache. And still, we kept going, because we were raising our attributes at an amazing pace.
By the beginning of our third day, I had increased six points in strength — raising it to 38 —, one in agility — 29 —, two in dexterity — 33 —, four in constitution — 34 —, and one in willpower — 29. The Controller and Energizer traits also went up — reaching 23 and 16 respectively —, and I even received the Miner trait when I found a very small lightsteel ore.
Trait received: Miner
» +1 constitution when excavating
With these seventeen points in total, I was now level thirty-tree, halfway through thirty-four. Thanks to mining. If I wasn't running against the clock I would stay in that place until I hit the limit of forty points per attribute that both Daggers and Bear had found — Bear in strength and Daggers in dexterity. However, it was already the seventeenth day since I had come back to Valia; I had to move on.
<That's it,> I said when almost everyone had logged back in. <Time to leave. Just considering the small possibility that I was wrong, let's check the elementals to make sure there isn't a way to get inside the castle that can be found here.>
I hadn't told them, but there was another likely reason Manhart hadn't come himself: even if the method to open the doors could be found in the maze, he simply preferred not to do it.
It could be too dangerous even for him, or maybe he felt it required Jack Thorn's unpredictability. Or a myriad of other possibilities; there was even the risk of him using our lives as some sort of sacrifice or payment for when he came, later.
Thankfully, I had free zombies to sacrifice in my place if necessary.
Convincing the zombies to leave their attribute point mining wasn't easy, but they had to eat at least once per day and some were running low on supplies. When I mentioned the prospect of dying of hunger, most of them sobered up rather quickly and the minority couldn't keep being naysayers.
We got back to the place where the elementals had ambushed me and kept moving slowly as Daggers scouted ahead.
<Unknown magic ahead, sir,> she said before long. <I am not sure I should step over.>
<Wait for me, I'm coming,> I replied.
She was standing at the edge of a big circular room, which had a circle drawn on the rocky floor. Inside the circle was a star with thirteen points and countless rune-like characters.
The room was empty and there was no exit except for into the corridor we were in.
<Well,> I said. <I guess it's time for the boys to practice running.>
<Sir?>
<Tell them to run as fast as they can through the corridors,> I explained. <When they get here, the ones in the front will try to stop, but the ones behind will push them in.>
Bear didn't like the idea. <Not doing that, Ugly-face. They are not sheep to be slaughtered.>
<We don't know they'll die,> I argued.
<Not happening,> he insisted.
I sighed. <Such a killjoy.>
With the easy way taken from me, it was science time.
Throwing a rock inside had no effect and neither did a spell. My sword also didn't activate any evil magic. No matter how much I tried scratching it, it was impossible to affect the drawing on the floor, much less damage the floor itself.
I should have kept the goblin, I thought.
The zombies had caught up to us by then and began to excavate to pass the time. I had crea
ted miner zombies. Shouldn't I unlock an achievement for that?
Without a 'living' being to serve as a subject, thanks to Bear's ethics — horrible word, that, very unpractical —, I tried throwing in the closest thing to a living being that I had: the spider ring.
There was no gentleness on my part about it. I used all the strength I could muster and let it fly as far away from me as possible. It bounced on the floor, rolled sideways, and stopped close to the center of the room.
A few seconds later, a white light covered it and the ring faded away.
<It either teleports living-ish beings, or destroys them,> I concluded. <Who wants to try first?>
<I do,> Bear said unexpectedly and destroyed my theory of him having a brain. <The elementals were headed here before, weren't they? So, it must be teleportation, not destruction.>
His logic was flawed. Even if it was a teleportation spell, it might still destroy all those who weren't elementals. Or there might be a trap on the other side. However, I needed a volunteer and now I had one.
<Alright,> I said. <There's a chance that we won't be able to use mind chat. If it happens, logout and call me from Earth.> Valia allowed anyone to call the players in the game, but not players to call other players while they were logged in.
<Sure.> Without further ado, he stepped on the magic circle, the still offline Ted right behind him.
White light covered them before they disappeared and immediately I got a message.
Members removed from party: Bear, Ted
Reason: distance from party leader exceeds 1km
Teleport confirmed. And it wasn't to a pocket dimension, but to a distant place, since pocket dimensions didn't disband the party.
<What now, sir?> Daggers asked.
The question also coming from her made me cringe. I looked at her with sadness in my eyes. <Et tu, Brutus?>
<Who?> She asked.
<Shakespeare?> I asked. <No? Nevermind. Now we wait for his report.>
Almost five minutes later, I received a call from Bear.
<All clear,> he said. <Nothing to worry about at all. You can come without concern. This is not an ambush. No enemies to fear. Nope. Trust me.>
For a few moments I had to wonder: was Bear enough of a dick to kill everyone just because he died? Probably. I hung up.
<Daggers,> I said, <Bear says it's safe in there. Go with the zombies and check again, please.> I knew I could trust her.
<Roger.> She accepted immediately. "Move!" She yelled suddenly. "Move your asses! Now!"
It was an impressive sight. They clearly didn't want to move, but their bodies still did so, almost of their own accord. It was like she had a way to completely bypass their minds to control their actions.
One by one, light covered them and they faded away. Daggers went last and just before moving, she looked at me.
"See you on the other side, sir," she said firmly.
It wasn't a suggestion, or a "see you later." No, it was both a command and a threat. She would see me on the other side, or else...
I smiled at her. "Of course. An invasion of an unknown place using a magical circle created by an enemy? I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world!"
"I know, sir," she said, and stepped inside.
As she faded away, her hood, filled with its perpetual darkness didn't turn away from me, even for a second.
20. Moving Out
After they teleported, I was left alone in the party and it automatically disbanded. A few minutes later, Daggers called.
<All clear, sir.> She said and hung up.
I stepped onto the circle. A warm light covered my entire body. Soon, it turned freezing cold as I faded away.
The world shifted and without any further special effects, I found myself somewhere else.
Instead of plain stone walls, this place had marble ones. The floor was covered by metallic golden tiles, and the ceiling was something I expected to see in a church: frescoes of elementals fighting different species.
In the center of the painting stood a water elemental. It appeared the most human of them all, with even floating strands of 'hair' made of water. It was lean and clearly female. Well, if a water elemental's physique was anything like a human's, that is. A golden light surrounded her and there were other elementals worshiping her.
I looked around. Everyone who had entered the magic circle was here, scattered around the place. There was even a zombie who was trying to eat one of the marble pillars.
It was probably just because he was an idiot, but there was something to be learned from it. Zombies could eat anything organic, no matter how weird or poisonous. By doing that, he could confirm if this temple was a living—
The moment I thought about the word 'temple' and looked at the painting of the water elemental again, I understood where we were:
The Temple of the Water Goddess.
"There he is!" Bear said and approached me, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Good to see you, Ugly-face. I'd hate to die alone!"
I ignored him, and instead waited patiently for Daggers to log back in, since she had logged out to call me. When she did, I invited her to a new party.
<What took you so long?> I asked as soon as she accepted.
<I checked on elementals while offline, sir. They are immune to their element but take extra damage from the opposite one. You are perfect to deal with water elementals.>
<Good,> I said. <It's a shame there must be other elementals in here. Let's—>
Dizziness suddenly hit me and I felt the world spinning.
"Forced removal of VirBridge detected," a robotic voice said. "V-Soft suggests resting for five to ten minutes and hydrating before moving."
My first reaction was to open my now closed eyes, and it was a mistake. It made me want to puke but I sure as hell wouldn't dirty my living room with my own vomit. The VirBridge said I should drink water? What for? So I could throw it up?
"Sir, we're gonna need you to stand up and raise your hands!" A male voice with a military cadence like Daggers' said.
It didn't take a genius to guess what was going on. The Armed Forces had come to my city and for some stupid reason, were now in my house, searching for whatever.
Now, as much as I didn't appreciate that, I was never a guy to turn down a man who carried a gun and had no reason to be interested in my personal well-being.
Father had taught me that I should always maintain a strong position and put whoever was threatening me in their place, but I don't think he was ever in my situation. Knowing that you could die, and that it was very unlikely that anything would even be done to the person on the other side of the gun, gave you a new perspective on things.
I tried to comply, but the moment I tried to get up, I almost fell on the ground. There was bile on my throat; forcibly removing a VirBridge wasn't a pleasant experience. "Just a sec, please," I said as I sat again and raised my hands. "You heard the robotic voice. Everything is spinning for me right now."
"We can help you, sir," the voice said as two people took me by the arms and hauled me to my feet. Another person patted my whole body, looking for something though I had no idea what.
"We received reports of suspicious activities in this apartment, sir," the voice said.
"If staying home almost all day, everyday is suspicious, then yeah, sure," I replied.
It wasn't the right answer. A punch hit my stomach and it was very hard to keep my food down.
"Call received. Caller ID: Daggers," a robotic voice said from all around us.
"Answer!" I said quickly at the same time the soldier said 'Deny.' "Military abuse!" I yelled. "They are in my house—" Another punch and I couldn't speak anymore.
"Hang up," the man said.
"Command denied," was the reply from robotic voice. "Voice not authorized."
"We have a techie boy here, huh?" The man said about my voice recognition system. There was sadism all over his voice. I had no idea what I had done wrong but it felt more personal t
han professional.
By now, I'd managed to open my eyes. As expected, the man in front of me was in a military uniform. Surprisingly, he was from the Air Force. So were the two goons holding me up and the other who was wrecking my place and stealing everything valuable, including my VirBridge.
"Hang up or it's gonna hurt more," the man said.
"Start holo-call," I said instead.
"Accept!" Daggers said almost instantly. "Link to dad's phone! Emergency!"
I wouldn't have done that if they were common ruffians, or even smart military. However, they had entered my house to steal from me in uniform. That made things completely different.
Dealing with a violent cop who was used to doing shady stuff was nothing like dealing with some stupid thugs who were only taking advantage of a temporary position of power.
An expected punch hit me again, but this time in the face. "Wrong move," the guy said, and took his gun from its holster.
Well, maybe he was slightly bolder than I gave him credit for.
I saw in slow motion as he cocked the gun. Things weren't looking good.
"Stop right there, Airman!" An old male voice ordered forcefully.
Surprisingly, the guy obeyed and they all went rigid. A hologram appeared in the middle of the room showing an Asian man in the NAC Army uniform. There were a few stars in his shoulders, so he was a General of some kind. While he was walking somewhere very fast, the projection stood in place.
"You're not from the Air Force," the man with the gun said, but he hadn't relaxed. "You can't order me around."
"No," the General said, "but I can send this recording to someone who can lock you away for life. Leave the man's belongings and get out of there, now!"
"The Congressional Act allows all Armed Forces' members to act—" The thug, who I now realized was a Lieutenant, said.
"Are you lecturing me?" The General sounded absolutely furious. Even I gulped anxiously. "The Congressional Act doesn't mean shit to someone of my rank, and you know it. Now, the previous offer is off. Get out of there in ten seconds or I'll order my men to kill all four of you."