The Human From a Dungeon 31 (Patreon)

Chapter 31

Nick Smith

Adventurer Level: 7

Human - American

Darkness. True darkness. I'm surrounded by total and complete darkness, not the kind you see when you're in a dark room or when you close your eyes. No, this is like someone painted my eyes with the blackest of paints and buried me deep underground. It's stifling, pressing in around me.

It's unnerving, but there's something even worse. The darkness is matched by silence. I've never heard nothingness before. I can't even hear my heartbeat. I can't FEEL my heartbeat! What is this? What's happening?

'Silly boy, you used up all your magic. Whatever ARE we going to do with you?'

Ten? No, no I know that voice that isn't a voice. Clawing at the back of my mind, begging me to remember. It's feminine, a woman? Mom? No, younger. Much younger. Where am I?

The darkness suddenly fled and I found myself standing within a void of white. The silence remained. I check to make sure I'm intact by patting my body as I glance around for whoever's here with me. I've got all my parts, but they're not covered by anything.

I look down and confirmed my nudity, but something's off. I should have wounds, but I'm not hurt anymore. I was bleeding... What happened? The hole in my hand is healed and didn't even leave a scar. Wait, all of my scars are gone. What the hell? Did I die?

"Of course not. You don't die from using up all your magic, you silly little mud man," Cass laughed. "You're also not healed. You look how you SHOULD look, without the random graffiti that life tends to add."

I quickly spun around. Standing in glorious nudity before me was Cassandra, the love of my life. Except it isn't. It's something else entirely. I knew this instinctively, but it took my brain a moment to catch up.

Cass wouldn't know about magic, and I don't recall her ever using 'silly little mud man' as a term of endearment. The closer I looked, the more obvious it was that the thing standing in front of me wasn't Cass. Her hair's the wrong shade of blonde, her eyes are the wrong shade of blue, and she's shorter than she should be.

"You're not Cass," I managed to say, my breath fighting to stay in my lungs as if it didn't want to leave me.

"You see me as your girlfriend?"

"What do..." I ran out of breath.

I panicked for a moment, but then realized I was fine. I couldn't breathe, but I also couldn't suffocate. Maybe I can just think.

'What do you mean?' I mentally asked.

'Well, I'm not exactly appearing to you in a physical form. You're not exactly in a physical form either, for that matter. Your mind is struggling to interpret these things with visual,' it smiled with Cass' mouth, "and audio stimuli."

'Are we in my mind?'

"No, but your mind and soul are intrinsically linked. One cannot maintain its form without the other."

'Then where are we?'

"That," the thing moved closer and fluttered Cass' eyelashes at me, "isn't relevant."

'I don't understand,' I took a step back.

"That's obvious, and I'm afraid that your comprehension of our location isn't at all important. I was going to approach you as you slept tonight, but since the opportunity presented itself sooner..."

'Approach me?' I interrupted. 'Why?'

"Because you're amusing. Not just to me, but to many others as well. Unfortunately for said amusement, you're unlikely to know what to do when you get to your next destination. You'll get there, seek out a scholar, get your little words translated, and end up right back to square one," it rolled her eyes at me. "It would take you years to figure out the next step, and you don't have that long."

'Why not?'

"Because some very stupid mer are getting ready to do some very stupid things, and that will result in your leads drying up."

I stare at the thing in front of me, trying to work out what it's talking about. It's starting to look less and less like Cass. Her eyes are now purple and her hair was now gray, nearly white, but everything else remained the same.

'How do you know all this?'

"I know almost everything that happens in the mortal realm, sweetie," it said with a smile. "I know that you're a human, I know that Nash pulled you out of a dungeon, I know how you felt when you woke up, and above all that I know what you hope to accomplish. It will be an absolute delight to see if you can do it or not."

'What are you, some sort of god?'

"Well..." it sighed almost comically. "I suppose I have been called that. But unlike the gods you're familiar with, I had absolutely nothing to do with creating anything. Neither did any of the other beings known as gods, for that matter."

'Then why are you known as gods?'

"Mortals love to name and classify things. They do their best to make everything fit into tiny little boxes, especially when they don't know enough about something to even begin to hope to properly classify it. Those with immense power that exist beyond their reckoning are stuffed neatly into the box labelled god."

So this thing isn't a god, but is close enough to be called one. It's wearing Cassandra's face, but it claims it's not doing so intentionally. It can read my thoughts, too, even when I'm not trying to verbalize them, but we're not in my mind.

"Doesn't really make much sense, does it?" it laughed. "If it helps you get over it, you can call this place limbo or purgatory. You're more familiar with such concepts, and the only real difference is that this isn't a waiting area for the dead."

'I see. Well, what do YOU call this place?'

"I don't. Things like me don't have any reason to name things. Among ourselves, we're simply able to broadcast a thought with complete context. If I want a specific person to meet me in a specific place, all I have to do is think about the details. However, none of this is relevant, Nick."

'Okay... So we're in Limbo, but not really. And you're a god, but not really. So what do you want with me?'

"There we go," it raised an index finger and tapped my nose. "Finally, we can get to business. You're going to Bolisir. When you get there, Yulk will want to visit some scholars to get the text you found in the dungeon translated. His childish thirst for knowledge will cause him to decline an invitation to see the dragon. Do not let him decline that invitation."

'It's hard to imagine Yulk turning down the chance to see a dragon.'

"To him, it's just a sleeping dragon. It will be there once your task is complete. Whether he sees it now or five years from now doesn't really matter to him. The puzzle of what you are and where you came from is a much more pressing matter to the cutest little orc scholar."

I found myself taken aback by that description of Yulk, but managed to press on, 'What do we do after seeing the dragon?'

"The choices afterwards will be clear, and you'll know which one to make to continue your trek back to Cass. If you need another nudge at some point, I'll pop by."

'Why are you helping me? Just because I'm amusing?'

"Don't underestimate the value of amusement to a being like me. But the actual reason is that I'm rooting for you," it smiled, but its mouth had changed. It wasn't Cassandra's anymore. The lips were fuller and the teeth were far more pointed. "It would break my heart, metaphorically speaking, to see you fail your great quest. If it weren't for my pact, I'd tell you exactly how to get to where you need to get to."

It gestured with one of its arms and the sound of chains clinked from somewhere. I blinked in surprise and suddenly saw the source of the noise. She was covered in chains, and the links were made of solid crimson light. They sent sparks flying at even the slightest movement. I looked for what they were attached to, but the chains began and ended inside the being before me. I could only imagine that they were attached directly to its bones. How didn't I see these before?

"Your perception is limited, Nick. There's a lot that you can't see, hear, smell, or feel. Perception is a funny thing, though. Once someone points something out to you, suddenly you see it all over the place," it grinned.

Its appearance had changed. It no longer looked like Cass at all. Its hair was radiant blue, its eyes were deep purple, and its skin had a mirrorlike quality to it. It was still nude, but its proportions had changed. It was now taller than me, and was shaped more like Nima than Cass. Including the odd alligator teeth that all orcs have. Somehow, this set me at ease a bit.

'Should I tell the others about you?'

"Yulk and Nash will believe you, so you can tell them if you think it will make things easier. If you tell others, they will understandably believe that you're not well in the head. This will add obstacles to your path that will require bloodshed to clear," it shrugged. "Up to you, though."

'Bloodshed?'

"Oh yes," it grinned again. "Instead of gently pushing past the obstacles standing in your way, they'll force you gut them and unleash rivers of blood that will flood along your path. Since violence begets more violence, more blood will inevitably flow. On the bright side, letting the violence guide you will get you to your goals much faster."

The thing's smile erased any sort of ease I had felt up to that point. The smile spoke volumes, hinting at a macabre enjoyment of all things hateful and violent. I involuntarily took a step backward.

'I'd...'

"Rather not," it interrupted with a sigh. "I know, Nick, I know. And that's fine. It's only one way to get you where you're going. It's the most fun way, in my opinion, but I'm fully capable of understanding that you would find it a lot less fun than I would."

It shrank a little bit, as if deflating. Like someone had just told it that the next installment of its favorite slasher movie would be PG-13. Then it laughed a bit and came back up to full size.

"You have more questions, and we've got time. I'll answer what I can, though the answers will likely be disappointing," it said.

'What happened to me? How did I end up in this world?'

"I don't actually know. You were outside of our perception until Nash lifted you from that altar."

'Is Cass okay?'

"I don't know. She's outside of my perception."

'Damn,' I crossed my arms to think for a moment. 'Why are you the one who is approaching me?'

"I like to play with mortals, and so I'm far more familiar with doing so than others of my kind. Plus, I really wanted to," it smiled. "I threatened to throw a temper tantrum if I wasn't picked."

This threw me off. A being that people called god, throwing a temper tantrum? Like a toddler? Then I remembered some of the Greek gods and felt kind of foolish. The thing smiled at me knowingly. I sighed and thought about what my next question should be.

'Will I make it back to Cass?'

"I don't know, but we can't wait to find out."

'You don't know?'

"Of course not. I have a general idea of how things might go if all the mortals involved make certain choices at certain times, but I don't actually know the end result until it happens."

'Well, alright then. Do I have a chance to make it back to Cass?'

The thing laughed and held up the chains, indicating that it couldn't answer. I felt a surge of anger rush through me, but quickly quelled it. The anger isn't exactly justified. The fact that we're even having this conversation means that it's at least somewhat willing to help. If anything, I should be grateful.

'What can I do to increase my chances of seeing Cass again?'

"Train every chance you get. Learn new spells, put your body through hell. The stronger you get, the better your odds are," it smiled again. "You have a lot of potential. If you start focusing on your endurance, you'll find that you can increase your strength faster than most can. Even if you fail to get back home, you'll be able to live comfortably amongst the mortals of this world."

I was about to express my distaste at this possibility, but the thing held up a hand.

"It's time for you to wake up. Go see the dragon."

Everything went dark again.