FINAL CORE - Chapter 25 (Patreon)

Pressure.

What you need to always consider as an adventurer is the concept of pressure.

The deeper you move down into the world, down many floors of a dungeon, one might notice a popping of the ears eventually. This is pressure.

When one moves to a lower floor and the monsters are stronger than before, the traps deadlier, this too is pressure.

When resources run low, drained from several encounters and things become harder, this is also pressure.

When you, tired and careless, press your boot down onto a plate that sinks into the floor, this trap mechanism too, is triggered by pressure.

Why am I telling you this?

So that you will understand that the counter to pressure is release.

When you find yourself going too deep, simply stop. Do not be lured further inward by hopes of treasure and experience. Those will still be there tomorrow. Go back. Go out. Leave and take a night’s rest to release that pressure you feel inside of yourself.

When you’re outside, you can get new resources.

You can sleep and heal and tend to your wounds.

You can mitigate the stains of chaos on your thoughts by making new plans.

And if you stepped on a trap down in the dungeon, the solution is simple.

— Find a heavy rock, a brick, or even your own bag if need be and carefully release your foot, while placing your weight down onto the mechanism at the same time.

If it does not release, if the force is held constant, the trap will not spring and you, my friend, will have a chance to leave, to go home and to let off some pressure of your own.

Take it seriously, if you don’t want to die.

~The one word motivated adventurers need to hear in order to master their craft and rank up, chapter one

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A dice rattles, noisily striking the rim of the fountain on floor one, together with a skull.

Floor two - Intruders Remaining: 05

Ah. Tragic.

The humans did fairly well on floor one, being the cautious, experienced creatures that they are, they didn’t fall for either the gargoyle trap or the slime.

In fact, they didn’t even fall for the slimes on the bridge on floor two, clearing them out safely with relative ease.

However, the treasure-chest on floor two at the end of the bridge was opened and inside was a rare, powerful talisman, as luck would have it. They decided to roll a dice to see who would be allowed to keep the single treasure.

— This all seemed well and good, until after rolling, it turns out the dice had been weighted. A scuffle broke out and, well, these things happen on slippery, railingless bridges.

Isaiah isn’t sure, but it almost feels a little sad that this would be the way the ‘first’ human goes.

That’s ignoring the much more grim ways the other first humans had died days prior.

It watches as they move up to the next floor. The man down below, laying at an odd angle, they leave there where he rests.

________________________________________________

[Rorate]

Rorate, feeling the glow of a warm day kissing her face, lifts her head as she walks out of the forest with a pride on her smile that she couldn’t get rid of, even if she wanted to.

The witch had been very surprised to see her again.

She had been even more surprised upon seeing the sudden shift of attitude that she had undergone.

— But she wasn’t too curious.

Honestly, the witch is fairly anti-social. It was really just an in-out haggling job for the anqa.

Rorate looks down at the wrapped up bundle that she’s carrying.

She doesn’t know what a witch wants with the large anqa and honestly, she isn’t really going to ask. But she’s certain that Isaiah will like this. It had told her that she was good, that she was useful and, with a reputation like that, what choice could she have had but to try and live up to it?

Rorate beams, holding the thing against her chest as she heads towards the river and looks around. There’s no way across without the agile anqa. She clears her throat. “Red?” she asks, looking around the area. “Hello?”

— Nothing.

She frowns, her ears drooping. She didn’t come all this way only to be stopped by the river, did she?

Rorate lowers her gaze, sensing another presence.

A creature sits in the water, staring up her way with a curious face, bubbling halfway beneath the surface of the river.

Rorate blinks. “Hi,” she says, kneeling down. “Can you uh… can you please help me get across?” she asks.

However, as soon as she finishes her sentence, finishes making eye-contact, the thing in the water simply dives down below the surface and vanishes, leaving her alone.

Rorate sighs, rubbing her head.

This might be her toughest challenge yet. She can’t swim either and even if she could, is this thing safe to take in water? Best not to test it.

…Maybe it’s not that deep?

Rorate nods in determination, slowly lowering a foot into the water to test it. She’s going to try hard to be good, to be helpful.

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- Isaiah -

The intruders have wandered through floor three, not fighting anything there and have then cleared floor four. They’re currently fighting the challenge room on floor five now. But they’re nowhere near as fast as the inspection team was.

This looks like it’s going to take them a while.

Isaiah returns to its own vision.

_____________________________________________________

- Isaiah - 

It rises from its roost, looking down at the terrified man, sitting on the grass growing atop the tower, shaking as he looks towards Isaiah.

“Beulah,” says Isaiah, flying down from its tree. “Here, you are safe,” it promises, lifting a finger. “But only here. Outside of the tower, I do not hold dominion.”

Beulah stutters, not really forming a coherent sentence.

“What is your crime?” asks Isaiah.

“I… I…” Beulah blinks. “- Are you real?”

Isaiah tilts its head, lowering itself down into a squat before the man. It holds out its hands.

“I am Isaiah,” says the entity. “I am real. What is your crime?”

Beulah nods, composing himself as best as he can. “I stole from some old woman,” he says. “Just some earrings! I thought she had so many, you know?” he asks, rubbing the back of his head. “Turns out she was nobility on a day in the park.”

Isaiah lifts an eyebrow. “A park?” it asks, looking towards the very distant human city. “That must be far from here.”

“…I ran a lot,” says Beulah. He pulls his legs. “I can’t uh, I can’t get up anymore, actually,” he explains, rubbing his thigh. “I sprinted all the way from there to here,” he says, sounding disbelieving of his own claim, as he looks at the distant silhouette of a city with just a vacant expression as when he had watched Isaiah.

[Summoned Worker Returned]

• Teal

“I’m alive!” shouts a shrill voice, gasping for air as soon as it arrives.

Ah. Rorate must be back if Teal has been resummoned.

“Hello, Teal,” says Isaiah, getting up. It gestures towards Beulah. “This is Beulah. Clothe him.”

Teal nods, giving Isaiah a thumbs-up. “You got it!” it says, zipping away.

Isaiah looks at Beulah. “Stay here if you wish. We will speak later.”

“But… what am I…” His voice trails off as he stares around himself, overtaken by exhaustion, now that his adrenaline is crashing to null. “- What am I supposed to do?”

Isaiah places a hand on his shoulder from behind. “Rest. For now.”

With that, it flies into the air.

— It is unwise to leave Rorate unattended around the tower and its many water sources.

_______________________________________________

[Rorate]

Rorate struggles against the current, managing to stay upright somehow as she wades through the river. The thing she has is a little heavy, being made of stone. But she’s strong enough to hold it over her head and away from the water.

— As long as she doesn’t slip and fall.

The dark-elf takes a deep breath, carefully shuffling her foot forward along the river.

It gets deeper here.

However, her foot somehow finds hold on something odd, it’s a little soft, but also a little hard. It’s like stepping on someone’s back. Maybe it’s some kind of weird clay?

She takes another step.

The hardest part is when she lifts a leg to shuffle forward. That’s when the river catches her off balance and underwater current moves against her. She can feel the water trying to take her, trying to wash her away, like an insignificant smear of dirt on a glass window.

— But what it doesn’t know is that she isn’t insignificant anymore.

Rorate takes another step, pressing her lips tightly shut in focused anticipation.

Then another few. She’s halfway across the river. It’s icy cold and her robe is going to get all messed up. But…

Isaiah lands on the side of the river and she freezes, gasping as she looks at it.

Her patron, the entity, kneels down. “Hello, Rorate,” it greets, tilting its head. “I am glad to see you returned to me.”

“I did it!” she says proudly, still half submerged. She isn’t sure if the shaking is from excitement or from the icy water.

Isaiah nods. “You did,” it affirms. “Thank you. Would you like some help?”

She shakes her head, taking another step. “No, I want to.”

“It is dangerous to tread through such a deep river alone,” replies Isaiah, staring down at the water curiously.

Rorate shakes her head, taking another step towards the one who is waiting on her, who has been waiting on her. “I’m not alone,” she affirms. “I have you!” she says, taking another step and then holding out her prize.

She made it.

Isaiah holds out its hands. “Thank you, Rorate,” it says, grabbing the item and her at the same time.

It is surprisingly strong and a crushing gust of wind presses against her wet body, as Isaiah rises into the air, carrying her with it, along with several lights of many colors. They fly towards the top of the tower, towards the light of the sun.

Rorate looks around herself as they ascend in some odd few, time-frozen seconds, watching the light of this new day crest over the tree-tops in its late morning glory. The light, the wind, the smells of the air, the presence holding her as she ascends, all of these things are new to her in this combination. All of these things come together at once to paint a vision in her memory that seals itself in stone.

She doesn’t breathe for as long as they ascend, not even after seeing the small face down below in the water. Not even as she waves to it and it shyly waves back.

— It does make crying awkward though and Isaiah asks her how she can possibly be drowning outside of the water?

Rorate only hopes that the prize that she had brought back with herself is something worthy to trade for this life-shifting moment, which she just experienced.