Big surprise! The Sycos also has an observation deck! It is slightly larger than the one on the Clak. Which means that the stardome does some slightly different light reflections off the pool.
Ray and I are currently in the pool. We decided to go for a swim to help pass the time. We also just kinda missed the feeling of water. Somehow the desire to be in the water still lingers in our mind. I blame it on those swimshells. They must've implanted some idea into our minds.
“Hey Ko, what do you think the third altar is going to be?”
“Well, based on the fact that the first time was a god of fire and a fiery planet, and the second was a water god on a watery planet. Grasia is full of decaying matter and stuff, which closely aligns with Earth. So I'd guess it might be a god of land or Earth.”
“I guess that would make sense. I don't think we can really predict what the entire altar is. But they appear to be split into three stages.”
“Yeah, some sort of physical challenge, skill challenge and then an intellectual challenge.”
“So, that means we should practice swimming! Get some exercise before we gotta move again.”
Ray then proceeds to grab my hand and drags me underwater. She tries to get me to swim around, but I just retreat and watch her instead. There really isn't any skill she hasn't mastered, huh.
We surface and I start to get out of the pool when she suddenly grabs me and drags me back in. I guess I can't just leave.
We wrestle around for a while, but her brief stint into martial arts gives her an unfair advantage. She drags me down to the bottom of the pool and just sits at the bottom, holding me in a very tight bodylock. Since we have our exosuits, we can effectively stay underwater for many days without needing oxygen. So she doesn't seem to be in a rush.
I just sit, trapped at the bottom of the pool, staring up at the top of the water. The light of the stars reflecting across the top of the water looks very strange from this angle. Almost as if we have sunken into the depths of the darkness, and only at the surface can light be found.
She then releases me, but motions for me to sit down next to her. I don't know how she is anchoring herself, but I end up using a bit of inae to sit down on the bottom of the pool. She gestures for me to anchor her as well, which I do. Mostly out of curiosity for what she is planning to do.
She then proceeds to lay down, with her head in my lap. A classic, though I think this is the first time it occurred at the bottom of a pool. It's very bizarre, though she looks quite funny with gravity making our hair try to float upwards.
We just rest like that for about two hours. It's very peaceful at the bottom. Almost as if it is just the two of us in the entire universe.
Unfortunately, our blissful isolation must come to an end. At first it starts with a strange person that can be seen looking into the pool. Then, without much warning we are suddenly jerked up to the top of the pool.
“Geez, what's the big deal, I was almost asleep.”
Initae:”Well, we are almost at Grasia, you two can continue your totally not flirting at the bottom of the pool later. We arrive in thirty minutes.”
“Finally, you're starting to get it. We aren't flirting at all!” I say, hoping that she has finally realized the truth of the situation.
She walks out of the room without giving a response. I am unsure how to interpret this. Ray seems to be quite sad that our vacation to the bottom of the pool has ended.
“Welp, I guess it's time to go find out what this altar will be. Maybe it'll pose a bit more of a challenge compared to before.”
“Yeah, we just gotta go give it our best. It can't possibly be that bad, right?”
About one hour later
Ray:”This stinks. Literally.”
“Gotta agree with you there. I didn't expect this turn of events.”
“That conniving little Pota. They just dropped us on this awful planet that just smells this bad. And told us we have to cross this entire bog!”
“Right! They didn't even give us a vehicle, and they expect us to walk over thirty kilometers.”
Yep, that's right. The klakcing Pota scientist in charge of this altar is pure evil. They dropped us straight onto Grasia without even a cool mechsuit. Which wouldn't be the worst part, but it reeks. Which I guess you'd expect for a planet with the nickname ‘of decay’, but come on, couldn't they have at least made our exosuits able to filter out the smell.
“Also, why'd they give us these rifles? They are kinda fancy, for everything here being dead.”
She is referencing the fancy rifles we were given, they appear to shoot some sort of high energy projectile, I am unsure of the specifications. They were thrust on us moments before we were dropped. They are quite large, and have to be carried slung over our shoulders. To fire them they seem to require mounting to the ground. Given the size of the rifle, I don't want to find out what they are for.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Well, if they gave us weapons, I think it's safe to assume everything isn't dead.”
“Oh great, maybe we will encounter a wendigo, or a rotworm or something horrific.”
“‘Only thing we can do is continue walking, we've still got twenty kilometers to cover. At our current rate it should take about four hours.”
“But it's sooooo gross. This peat stuff makes such disgusting sounds every step. And it's so hard to walk through in the first place. If it wasn't for this augmentation kit disabling the ability to throw up, I would've vomited so many times by now.”
“I wonder why they added that function. With the anti-poison stuff, if one did actually want to vomit it might be for a good reason. I wonder for what purpose they would decide to fully disable that reflex?”
“Yeah, but hey. It stops us from vomiting at this horrific stench, so I guess it doesn't really matter since it's coming in useful.”
“Fair enough. Let's make some more progress, I think the star is due to set in about three hours, so let's make as much progress as possible before then.”
We push really hard for the next three hours, but we still end up about three kilometers short when the star decides to set. The bog is cast very quickly into darkness, and it feels very eerie with it smelling like death all around.
“Wow, it got dark kinda fast. Back on Earth it definitely didn't happen that quickly.”
“Well, I believe we were thrown down closer to the equator of this planet, which is actually quite similar to Earth. As you get closer to the equator the sunset is technically a bit faster. So perhaps there is something about this planet that makes the starset naturally faster.”
“Eww, a worthless nerdy NEET. The most unpleasant combination possible.”
“Well sorry Ms. Genius Prodigy Superstar, but I cannot always resist randomly blurting out information that is contained within my brain. Be lucky that I don't do it more often.”
“You know I'm joking right? Your random information rants are quite helpful and informative. You should've started a podcast instead of being a NEET.”
Unfortunately, I don't get a chance to respond to this quip.
The world starts to shake. Almost as though there is an earthquake, but it feels like it's emanating from far closer than a subterrain faultline.
“Ko! What the klack is that!” Ray says as she points off in a direction.
There appears to be a mountain rising out of the ground, which must be the cause of the shaking.
After a few moments, the cause of the mountain is revealed.
“No way, it's a wendigo dragon? What, is this some sort of wendigo combined with a dragon? I mean, look at those antlers! They are massive. The whole thing must be twenty meters tall and fifty long.”
“Well, I guess we have finally learned what these rifles are for. Though, they seem quite insufficient for such a large creature.”
“Give me some support, ima test out this rifle.” I move over next to Ray and help stabilize her. She kneels down and grabs the rifle slung over her shoulder. She then sets up its mount and prepares to fire it.
The rifle makes a high pitched noise as it appears to charge up. After about three seconds of charging it erupts.
Ray and I are knocked back onto our backs from the recoil, the rifle goes flying off to our side.
However, it is not for nothing. The rifle emitted a gigantic beam of energy. I can smell the scent of ozone even over the oppressive rot.
Ray:”Woah! That dragon’s head is gone!”
Surely enough, where there was once a massive head is now a hole. The dragon falls to the ground with a massive thump, shaking the land as though a small quake just occurred.
“Well, I guess we found out what the rifles were for.”
“Yep, lets grab the rifle and continue treading on.”
Unfortunately, it isn't quite that easy. It seems that the death of the first dragon alerted many in the area.
“Oh klack. That's ten of them? Guess we better get to work, partner.”
“Glad to have you here, partner. Now let's make some dragon corpses on this fine night.”
We both set up our rifles and start blasting. I use a bit of inae to prevent us from flying backwards every single shot.
The dragons fall one after the other. Each one making a small quake.
Ko:”I sure hope our actions don't create any seismic abnormalities that harm this planet.”
“I mean, most things are already dead, I don't think it's that much of a concern.”
We finish off the last of the dragons and continue on walking. We are within five hundred meters of our destination when yet another dragon appears.
The ground shakes far more violently than before. So much so that we end up losing our footing. It creates a veritable tsunami of rot and sadness. Thankfully we are outside the range of the massive wave. Upon its emergence from the ground it gives a gigantic roar. Which would have certainly killed us if we were normal humans.
“Okay, this is getting fun. That thing is even more massive! It must be fifty meters tall and one fifty long! Where do they keep coming from?”
“Well, I guess we can pretty confidently say that these guys were likely the extinction level event.”
“Ya think? It's a good thing that they don't seem to be very smart, otherwise we might actually have trouble.”
“Hmm, I think we might actually have trouble with this one, I mean, our rifles are definitely not large enough for this behemoth.”
“So, let's run?”
“Sounds good to me.”
We run in the complete opposite direction. Thankfully it seems that the dragons are insanely slow. Which makes sense, that thing must be a few thousand tonnes, it can't be easy to move all that weight.
We take a more roundabout route, which adds four hours to our travel time. Given the range of its tsunami and behavior observed from other dragons, we manage to get out of its aggro range. We then take a route that doesn't bring us anywhere near it.
When we finally reach our destination we are greeted with an interesting sight.
“Is that a klacking floating island? It's massive!”
“That it is, I guess they had to raise the temple into the air in order to avoid the dragons. I wonder how we get up there.”
My question is quickly answered, we notice a platform descending from the floating island. We approach it and are greeted by a strange projection that looks like a dryad, it speaks.
“Welcome mortals, to the temple of the Earthen goddess. We have been anticipating your arrival. Please follow me and I shall take you for a meeting with her eminence.”
With that, we ascend upon the platform. To the island that bears who knows what trial. If the dragons are any indication, this altar may pose a much greater challenge than the previous ones.
Regardless, no matter what it is, Ray and I shall overcome it together. So, bring it on.
End of Chapter 38
A/N:Welcome dear reader. Author once again, this time I bring you dragons! Big scary dragons that dwell on a planet full of rotting biomatter. What a wonderful sight (sarcasm), I hope you enjoyed Ray and Ko facing off against these behemoths!
If you are enjoying it, be sure to follow/favourite/share with a friend. It is always appreciated! See ya at the top, dear reader.
- Cathrix