Sidequest part 2: Ruins left behind from a mistake

  

  "People, listen!" The crowd focused on me. "The threat from the north will not disappear."

  The Duke fumed. "Amazing observation genius. How do we stop it?"

  "We can't," I answered. "Trust me. As an otherworlder who fought in the final battle against [Error], there is no stopping that. We need to hide."

  "Hide where?"

  I pointed down. "Underground. The wast tunnel system created by Morpheus should be enough to get us started."

  The king looked about to decline, but then an explosion echoed along the valley. All of them turned to look at the approaching thunderstorm. It had a crimson-red color. The same hint of color that my comrades fell victim to. The Madness. No matter what, I wasn't going to go down easy. Damn if the Hero was going to be the only one to shape this world. I am an entertainer for farts sake. It was supposed to be my thing.

  Veronica looked at me. "This is so unlike you. The Delinquents were the ones who called the inhabitants of this world a waste of space. I am not like Rachel. If we leave them to die, I won't judge you."

  "I am doing this for a reason. We need a few … safe alternatives. Safety takes time and effort to produce." I looked at the crowd, which a moment ago had watched me with contempt, but now only had fear to show. "Begin drilling to the nearest tunnel. This will all work out fine, trust me."

  She shrugged. "If you say so."

  - Lutherion 'Luther' Abalonius, The Beast, former member of the Delinquents

  "Anyways, that is why we have to look out for otherworlders posing as normal humans." He used his shovel to break a nearby rock in two. "That is what we are supposed to do to them. On sight. Am I right?"

  Tom nervously chuckled.

  "You are scaring him," Maylin said, glaring at her companion. "And making a bad impression out of us Merelians. He is the first native we encounter and you start talking about otherworlders? I told you about their history. They hate otherworlders."

  He scratched his head. "Sorry. I thought I had to prove … I am still getting used to this. Let us try again. As a Merelian, and hopefully a future Borealian — if we are accepted — it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

  Tom nodded. He obviously couldn't tell them that he was an otherworlders who had just arrived to this world. Of all the people in the world, he was unlucky enough to be summoned to a world that despises otherworlders. Typical. "So your name is Maylin, right?" He looked at her companion. "And your name is?"

  He scratched his head. "You won't be able to pronounce it, I am afraid. I wouldn't mind if you gave me a nickname though."

  Tom thought about it. "What about Mark? You look like a Mark."

  Mark smirked. "Mark, huh. I think I like it."

  "And traveling through these caves must have been difficult, no?" Tom nervously added, trying to extract some information about this place.

  They both nodded at his question, making tired expressions from even thinking about it.

  "In The Free Underground Cities, or what used to be The Free Port Cities, the tunnels are much deeper below," Mark explained. "We had to travel upwards to get here. So much work. But it was a fun experience."

  Tom scratched his head. "That sounds tiring."

  "I do not mean to pry," Maylin said, playing with her black curls, deeply contrasting with her companion's blue hair. "But what are you doing all the way over here? This part of the tunnel system should be congested with remains of otherworlders. This is a dangerous place to be. We had to prepare for weeks before venturing out here, but you don't look like you got any supplies with you."

  "Actually," Tom began. He was a terrible liar, and who knew if they had some kind of lie detection magic in this world.Telling the truth but leaving out a few details was his safest bet. "To be completely honest with you: I am lost. I was preparing for my … studies, and I guess I drank too much out of stress and walked the wrong way."

  Her eyes widened. "Security is that lax?"

  Tom shrugged. "You said it yourself. This place is dangerous. A person of sane mind wouldn't wander out here, so why waste the extra resources? A drunk man on the other hand…"

  Mark looked at Maylin. "We need to help him. Maybe it would earn us the kingdom's goodwill?"

  "I think so too. Courtesy is highly valued here by the elite." Walking further ahead in the underground tunnel, she put her hand on a boulder that looked out of the ordinary. "We should also bring some crystals with us as a gift."

  Mark walked over and started hitting the boulder with a chisel.

  Tom didn't understand why they were openly talking about their plans in front of him, but it had to mean that they believed him. He still had no clue why he was here though. Couldn't he have gotten a proper introduction? At least access to a system.

  He felt a tingling sensation. Looking down he saw a teddy bear stuck to his leg. Was it just the gloomy cave or did it move? The tunnels were lit up with some kind of shiny rock, although not as bright as he was used to. Trying to get the teddy bear off, he kicked his leg around, but it was stuck. The head turned towards him, and its arm wiggled around.

  "Space, what is this thing!" He yelled.

  The others looked at him, confused.

  Maylin looked at the teddy bear. "What is that?"

  "It's stuck. And I think it's alive."

  She shook her head. "What are you talking about? It's probably just stuck." Walking over to his leg she held its head and tried pulling it off with her entire body. "Why won't it get off?" She put her entire body weight into it and pulled Tom towards her.

  "Ouch, careful." For some reason, he felt like it was stuck, not on his pants, but on his body itself.

  Sighing, she gave up and tried to pull her hands away. Both her hands stayed stuck on the bear's head. "Storms, now my hands are stuck too!"

  That's when they both panicked and tried to run in each their direction but quickly gave up after the pain.

  "Mark, go get help." She pleaded.

  Mark calmly walked over to them. He used one finger to touch the teddy bear, and they all watched as it fell to the ground.

  "Uh, thanks." Tom managed to mutter. "It just … fell down."

  Mark smiled. "You're welcome."

  "Did it deactivate or something?" She crouched down and stared at the teddy bear, now furiously waving its arms around. "And it is alive. Where did you find this?"

  "No idea," Tom responded. Perhaps this was the sidekick for his adventure? He crouched down and picked up the teddy bear. Then he waved his hand around. It was stuck again.

  "I am not touching that thing again. Perhaps this is an invention by some made researcher, or — Mark, don't you think this could be something from the forbidden tunnels? Remains from the otherworlder era?"

  Mark shrugged. "Could be, but it doesn't seem dangerous. It could simply be attracted to something you two have in common."

  "What could that be?" Tom asked.

  He shrugged. "It could be worry or maybe—. Wait, something is coming."

  The ground rumbled behind them. Tom took a step back. "What the—?"

  Dust spread across the room as something dug its way to them. They all coughed and made some distance. Tom heard the sound of a fan and immediately the cloud of dust was pushed to the other side of the tunnel. What stood before them was a vehicle with a giant drill in front of it. Jumping off the seat was a woman. Her hair was chestnut brown, with her roots a strange red, and one of her eyes was hidden by an eyepatch.

  She brushed her hair and looked at Tom. "Found you."

  Maylin looked at Tom. "Do you know her?"

  "Not sure."

  The stranger nodded at Maylin and Mark. "I just need a quick talk with him, in private." Then she walked to Tom and dragged him by the collar.

  "H-Hey! Careful!"

  They walked past one of the tunnel's nearby swings, hidden from the other's view.

  "Let's keep it short: My name is Rachel and you are an otherworlder here to fix the world. You have the class of observer, with the subclass mender."

  His eyes widened. "Are you the one who brought me to this world?"

  She bobbed her head back and forth. "Kind of, and kind of not? That's just details. What matters is that you need to focus on fixing this world. Repeat it in your head: I will fix the world. Preferably so you would never forget it." She pulled out a gun. "Perhaps it would be easier to traumatize you so that you never forget," she mumbled.

  Tom raised his hands. "Calm down. No need to be so extreme. I am well versed with the duties one has after being summoned to another world. Just tell me my mission."

  "Oh, you're not ready for that. I will handle it for now. You should focus on creating the third ring around your aura."

  "My aura?"

  He listened carefully as she explained his class and the process of observing one's own aura. When he closed his eyes, he found two rings already around his aura.

  "I understand that you need more rings to progress, but why are there already two rings here? One ring already being there, I can understand, but not two." He scratched his head. "I feel like I am missing a stage."

  She folded her arms. "Don't worry about the details. Focus on creating the third ring. This will … help you get to a safer place. That's right. We are in the most dangerous parts of the tunnel system, aren't we?"

  He nodded. "The others said we were. Then, fine. How do I unlock this third ring?"

  "The first two rings pertain to understanding why colors are related to lesser spirits and the variable nature of their authorities. The third ring is the first stage of understanding middle-grade spirits, or a purpose as they represent. The goal is to understand spirits and how their attraction can manifest in reality. You need to be able to attract nearby spirits with your aura, enough so that they might manifest in a being of their own. Do that."

  Tom stared at her. "I understood nothing of that. How am I supposed to unlock it again?"

  After blankly staring at his confused face, she massaged her temple. "It was easier the first ten times," she mumbled.

  "Excuse me?"

  "Don't worry about it. If the theoretical way doesn't work, we will have to try the practical one instead." She raised her head and pulled her gun out.

  "W-Wait—!"

  She let go of the gun and it stayed afloat in the air. Using her finger to swipe it, a black light followed, and the gunchanged into the shape of a compass. She took it in her hand and scrutinized the arrows pointing somewhere.

  He gaped. "That was so cool. How did you do that?"

  "Just something you learn when pursuing the path of the Immutable."

  "Will I also be able to do that in the future?" Being able to mend objects to his will sounded like a cool power. As an otherworlder, the possibilities were endless. Perhaps he could even open up a shop where he could sell inventions from his previous world?

  "Nah," she nonchalantly answered. "You should focus on the path of mender. It also has its own cool quirks — probably." She started walking. "Follow me. Seeing those old ruins might help you progress."

  He followed her back to where they came from. Maylin and Mark quickly changed their attention towards them, pretending they hadn't a sliver of interest in the movable drill Rachel had arrived with.

  Maylin gave a courteous nod to them both. "Did you finish your talk, Tom?"

  "Yes. This is Rachel. She is—." He hesitated. "A tunnel explorer."

  Mark's eyes widened. "A tunnel explorer! I heard that's a difficult title to receive. The human king only grants that title to a select few. That's awesome. How is — ouch!"

  Maylin glared at him. "Sorry about him. It is an honor to meet such an esteemed individual such as a tunnel explorer."

  Rachel shrugged. "Don't worry about formalities. I am about to show Tom some old ruins nearby." She stared at the teddy bear stuck to Tom's hand. "You might find it intriguing to tag along."

  Mark gasped. "A request to tag along with a tunnel explorer!"

  Maylin elbowed him again and gave another nod. "Could I discuss this with … Mark in private?"

  "Feel free."

  Pulling Mark by the ear, she walked past another turn, away from sight. Tom didn't know what they were talking about, but when they returned Maylin was smiling with Mark moping in the back. "We would be honored to join this exploration. What tunnel passage are we going through? 22B or 32C?"

  "None of them." Rachel sat in her vehicle. She put her compass on one of the seats and it melted. For a moment the entire vehicle lost its color and turned into some strange black goo. It flattened, and when the colors returned the vehicle had turned from a one-seater to a four-seater. "Jump right in. The ruins lie further below."

  "She is making a new tunnel. By herself!" Mark said, impressed, flinching when Maylin looked at him.

  Tom took the seat behind Rachel, and Maylin and Mark sat behind. After everyone had put on their seatbelts, a thin layer of mass grew over their head and Rachel pulled a lever, pulling them downwards. They all were pushed back into their seat as they were practically falling downwards into the earth, holding on for dear life with nothing but the seatbelt as a guarantee. The sounds of the ground breaking apart drowned out any of his attempts to tell Rachel to slow down. He closed his eyes trying to keep his body as stable as possible.

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  When he finally felt the vehicle digging slower, he opened his eyes again. The vehicle had curved to dig forward until they broke into a giant cavern. He instantly got out and threw up on the ground.

  After he cleaned his mouth, he turned to see that Mark and Maylin hadn't fared as well either. The cavern floor was covered in puke.

  "First-time explorers. Don't worry; I won't take it personally. It happens," Rachel commented. She used her powers to widen the dashboard and then put her legs on it, lounging back in her seat and closing her eyes. "I will take a short nap. You three should explore what's up ahead and come back when you are done. I have already seen everything this place has to offer. Shouldn't be that dangerous."

  The three of them looked at each other. Tom shrugged and started walking. The others followed.

  Deeper inside, the ceiling rose and the entire cavern came into view. It was a giant marble city, with architecture familiar to the Inca from Earth. Long staircases led up to the building up ahead, with a giant almost pyramid-shaped building towering over them all. At the peak was a golden disk radiating light that illuminated the cavern, almost like a real sun.

  Awestruck, he walked to the staircase and started ascending. "It's an entire underground city!" Tom exclaimed.

  "Don't we all live in underground cities?" Maylin added.

  "Of course," Tom fumbled.

  She raised an eyebrow.

  "Maylin, stop it. You know what he means." Mark said. "It's a city lost to time, deep underground. This doesn't look likethe kingdom architecture or any I know of."

  "I guess you're right. But part of an underground city would be a more accurate description."

  Tom stopped and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

  She pointed at the cavern walls. "Look carefully."

  He squinted, and to his amazement, he realized what she meant. Entire buildings were inside the walls. He could see fragments of several other buildings, less grand than the one they were approaching.

  "It's inside of the earth? How is that even possible?"

  Mark avoided eye contact, deep in thought. Maylin answered right away. "Could be a city built much farther in the past, even before the kingdom was established. Then over time, it was buried into the earth."

  Tom thought about it. "Sounds plausible, but why is only one section dug out?"

  Maylin shrugged and they continued up the stairs until they arrived at a building. One of the doors was left ajar so they walked in. They entered a small living space decorated with colorful rugs and a heavy stone bench around a low-lying table. Further back they could see what had to be a dinner table. Ceramic plates and cupware were placed on the table as if dinner was about to be set up. The room was decorated with small figures of foreign animals.

  "Maybe someone lives here?" Mark suggested.

  They continued ahead and saw several more empty rooms, finely decorated the same way as if someone was living there. When they reached the last staircase heading for the tallest building, they came to a conclusion.

  "There is no way Rachel would let us intrude in someone's home, so I think everything is simply well preserved," Tom said. He glanced behind, paranoid that he may be wrong, and an angry inhabitant would come running up to them.

  Maylin nodded. "I think you are correct. All the food was moldy anyway. It has to be magic."

  "Magic, huh." This was Tom's first day in this world. He had no clue what to expect, but Rachel's strange powers and his observer class had to be some form of magic. Perhaps this was the moment he would receive a cool OP power?

  Curios of what lay at the end, he picked up the pace until he arrived at the peak. He squinted his eyes when looking at the golden sun disk, expecting his eyes to hurt, but he felt surprisingly fine. Behind the sun was a pathway that headed inside a cave. The walls and entrance of the cave were covered in a strange translucent crystal.

  Maylin gasped. "So much Systemite!" She started running towards it. "Mark, hurry up!"

  Mark followed her to the cave entrance and together they started tearing off pieces of the crystal and putting it in their backpacks.

  Tom calmly walked towards them. "What is so special about this crystal?"

  "You really have to live a comfortable life you don't know about this," Maylin responded, not bothering to stop working. "This is Systemite. A rare crystal that there is a high demand for in the human kingdom. This isn't our first time traveling into the kingdom's tunnels. We had to mine quite a bit of Systemite to get the funds to try traveling to the kingdom's capital."

  "What does it do? Is it magical?"

  "Kind of. It is what keeps the world rune alive. These crystals are the physical manifestation of the ideal of a System. I don't know much about it, but your people in the kingdom rely on it a lot to survive. It keeps the air clean and the risk of mana poisoning at bay." She broke off another crystal, turning it around to get a good look. "Has to be high quality though. We have such clusters as well back at home, but they aren't as effective. We mostly use Morphing pearls to create gills to breathe more easily."

  Tom's eyes widened. There was a system in this world? Why hadn't he seen a floating screen yet? And did she say she makes her own gills? He didn't understand any of it, but it would be much more incriminating if he continued asking. Raising his eyes he tried looking deeper into the cave. It was covered with crystals, but if there had to be an op weapon somewhere then it had to be there.

  "I will check out where this tunnel goes."

  They nodded and kept focused on their task. He walked further ahead expecting the crystal to be slippery, but it was surprisingly rough. After a short while he entered into a square-shaped room.

  In the middle of the room was a giant emerald statue of a griffon-like creature. Bellow it lay a sea of treasure. Piles of gold, exquisite gemstones, and ornately decorated chests littered around. He had never seen so much gold in one room before. There was a small part of him that wanted to take some of it for himself, but he didn't feel like it was right. Notlike Rachel wouldn't have taken it if she wanted to, so she must have left it behind to show respect.

  His eyes moved towards a sword. It was stabbed into a pile of gold, and its hilt had the shape of a crown that would wrap around your fingers. He felt a strange humming sound, almost like the sword was calling to him.

  Walking towards it, he reached out his hand. When his fingers made contact with the sword, he quickly retracted his hands. Had he seen wrong, or was it actually—?

  Touching the sword again, and keeping contact, he saw small balls of light float around him. He tried focusing on these balls and could see small shapes appear. The shapes didn't have a consistent shape but were small inconsistencies in light that made the shapes shift between different forms. Mostly geometrical shapes, but he could see some more humanoid ones if he tried. The balls had different colors and were all floating around it. From them, he could also feel a humming sensation, almost as if they were trying to say something to him, but he couldn't understand any of it.

  "I wouldn't take that if I was thou. The small ones show interest, but I doubt thou could reach the previous wielder's legacy."

  Tom looked up and saw an emerald griffon stare back at him. He quickly let go of the sword and fell to the ground. "You are alive?"

  The statue crooked his head. "Not sure if I meet the requirement of being alive. Mine ego is what differentiates me."

  "Are you the guardian of this tomb? Sorry for intruding. Rachel said we could look around."

  "No need to be frightened. I keep my sight on this place and noticed when thou all arrived. As long as thou don't destroy anything, I have no qualms."

  He scratched his head. "What about the Systemite?"

  The statue rose and looked at the tunnel, in the same direction Maylin and Mark were. "Those strange crystals aren't of this place. Feel free to take them."

  "Thank you for your generosity." He got back on his feet, and took a few steps backwards, closer to the exit, just in case. "Are you the one who is supposed to help me unlock the third ring?"

  "Third ring?" The statue repeated. "An observer thou must be. I am afraid I have no knowledge of how to unlock the third ring."

  "Really? But why did Rachel bring me here? She expects me to figure it out on my own."

  "As an observer should, no doubt." The statue spread out his wings. "Perhaps learning of mine being would be her intention?"

  He thought about it. "That could be it. Then, are you some kind of god?"

  The statue stopped moving, then flapped its wings pushing pieces of gold across the room. It was cackling. "A god? Far from it. Or, perhaps to the ignorant I would be like a god, but I am merely a spirit. One which has been given a purpose."

  "A purpose?" Didn't Rachel say something about that?

  "Indeed. I am a law given its own form."

  "Like the small balls of light?" He suggested.

  The statue cackled again. "No, no. Those are but tiny fragments of reality. The only ego they would ever receive is from the legacy of that sword. Mine ego is ingrained in my very being; a watcher am I who guards over this forgotten city."

  So he was a stronger spirit? He didn't have a clue what to do with that information. "Are you sure you couldn't give some kind of power to help me get stronger?"

  "So it is power thou seek?" He flapped his wings more aggressively this time. "I can offer power, but at a price."

  "What price?"

  The statue leaned down towards him. "Mine ego is weakening as time flows by. A new source is what I need."

  He looked at the statue, confused. "And how do I help with that?"

  "Using thy aura. It is what makes you different than oneself who is but a combination of authorities with no possibility of change. A vessel for understanding existence is what thou are. All I need is some of the understanding you harbor inside. The most delectable part, of course."

  "Uhm." He had a bad feeling about this. Making a deal without properly understanding what he sacrificing was a stupid decision. "Can I talk to Rachel about it first?"

  The statue stomped its legs. "No!" It leaned closer, close enough that he could touch its beak. "Make thy decision now."

  Taken off guard by the wall of emerald blocking his sight, he instinctively closed his eyes and held his hands in front of himself.

  "That … Why is that moron of a purpose stuck on your hand?"

  Tom opened his eyes. "Are you talking about this teddy bear?"

  "Devoid of an ego, that thing has no place in my domain. But what of the poor souls it always forces with itself as clothing? It looks — it's not familiar anymore. Is mine memory betraying me?" Tom a step back, but the statue moved even closer. "Quickly! The decision. Do thou want power or not?"

  "I am sorry. I don't think I want to anymore."

  The statue made a crunching sound. "Then thou will not make it out of here alive!"

  It started opening its mouth, preparing to swallow him whole. Tom had no plans of dying, so in a quick attempt to survive, he crouched under its beak and used the teddy bear to make contact with it.

  A strange vibration rang and the entire statue jumped away from him and crashed into the wall behind. It grunted. "How dare thou try to taint mine purpose! If a challenge is what thou seek—." The statue started glowing and raised its wings, but it stopped moving in the middle of it.

  Tom could feel a slight tremor.

  In the wall to the left, a small crack appeared. A small snout peeked through. Then another, followed by yet another. In synch, the snouts tore a giant hole through the wall and a weird mass of creature came into sight. It was made out of several mole-like creatures, even sharks and bears, merged together in an uncanny manner. Rows of creatures representing a mouth moved forward, and a small tentacle made out of birds reached out of the mouth and pointed towards Tom. For a moment it had its focus fully fixated on him, and then it turned towards the statue.

  The tentacle retreated inside the body, and the entire mass of creatures jumped towards the statue. The statue growled, accepting the challenge. Pieces of the wall were catapulted around the room, and Tom took the opportunity to flee.

  He ran back to the cavern where the others were waiting for him.

  "Was there something interesting there?" Maylin put on her backpack. "Tunnels made of Systemite usually tend to have dead ends. Although, there could—."

  "Run. Now!"

  They looked at each other. Without asking any further questions they ran down the stairs, ignoring the tremors from behind. When they had reached the entrance to the city, Tom finally stopped to catch his breath.

  "You angered a guardian didn't you?" Mark guessed. "There is one in almost every city. I didn't think there would be one here since this place has no life to guard."

  Tom didn't bother answering and just nodded.

  Maylin put her hands on her hips. "You are already out of breath? Not so athletic I see."

  "Running isn't my thing. I am more of an academic."

  Her eyes widened. "I see. A noble path to pursue."

  The entire cavern shook, and pieces of its wall started falling down.

  Tom shook his head. "Forget it. Let us get out of here before any strange creature tries to kill us."

  They found Rachel in the same place they had left her. When he got closer, Tom realized she was saying something.

  

  And strange moons circle through the skies

  But stranger still is

  Lost Carcosa.

  Songs that the Hyades shall sing,

  Where flap the tatters of the King,

  "Rachel, we are back." Tom said.

  She didn't respond, and continued.

  

  Song of my soul, my voice is dead;

  Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed

  Shall dry and die in

  Lost Carcosa.

  "I think she is in some kind of trance," Maylin suggested. "Is she casting a spell?"

  Tom tried thinking of a way to make her break from the trance. She wasn't responding to them, so she couldn't hear them. Maybe he could try gaining her attention another way? "Sorry, but could I borrow one of those crystals?"

  Mark pulled a crystal out of his basket. "Here."

  Taking the crystal in one hand, he put it on the teddy bear. A strange vibration echoed in his mind. Maylin shivered, and Mark fell to the ground, covering his head.

  "Stop it!" Mark pleaded.

  Tom tore the crystal away from the teddy bear. The vibration stopped and the crystal shattered into pieces, crumbling into dust onto the ground. Rachel's mouth shut and she looked up at them. "Back already? Did you learn something useful?"

  "Teddy bears and system crystals don't mix well," Tom said, brushing his hand from crystal dust. "And to never trust giant emerald statues."

  She looked at the teddy bear. "If it is that teddy bear, then it makes sense. But that has more to do with differing purposes than attracting spirits. That would rather scare them away if anything."

  "Are you alright, Mark?" Maylin said, worried.

  Mark got back on his feet. "I am fine. Just felt a little sick."

  "Sorry. I even destroyed the crystal."

  Mark laughed. "Don't worry about it. Was an interesting experience nonetheless."

  "There is more to experience," Rachel added, putting her feet back down and reducing the size of the vehicle, shifting to a more appropriate shape. "We will have to go even deeper now."

  Maylin's eyes widened. "Even deeper? Aren't we well below Morpheus usual depth already? I do not mean to contest your expertise, but there is magma when you get closer to the planet's core."

  Rachel smirked. "Are you sure about that?"

  Trusting her judgment, they traveled even further below.

  After calming his stomach, Tom saw they had arrived at a small cave. It was lit up by crystals dug into the walls, seats andsofas covered with pieces of cloth, and a ceiling twice their height.

  "Welcome to my small little cave down below." Rachel got out of the vehicle and plopped down on the sofa.

  Now Maylin was the one who gasped. "Amazing. So far below ground." She quickly regained her composure when she noticed Mark smirking, and elbowed him in retaliation.

  "But how does air even travel down here?" Tom asked.

  Rachel sighed. "Pipes and the nature of Fair Play."

  Tom didn't understand that explanation, but he figured it was something complicated. "And why are we down here again?"

  "So you can see the firmament." She stomped her leg on the ground. A rectangular part of the floor lost its color and turned into black mud. When it retained color it had turned into translucent glass.

  Tom walked closer and bent down to look through the glass, but he only saw darkness. "There's just a dark emptiness. I don't see the firmament."

  "And neither do I. It has a non-physical shape. Like a bubble. You could try to fall down below but eventually you will stop and the bubble will push you back up." She sighed. "I need to get past it, somehow. But without an entertainer, it's practically impossible."

  "An entertainer?"

  Maylin crouched down beside him. "Wow. So there actually isn't magma down below, but a giant cave. It's like a—."

  "A Void would be a better way to explain it," Rachel finished for her. "A missing part of existence."

  "That sounds more plausible." Maylin stared at the Void again, and then at Tom. "So, are you going to do something cool now?"

  "I am working on it," Tom fumbled.

  "Maylin, give him time to focus." Mark pulled her away from Tom.

  She rolled her eyes. "Fine," and followed him to a nearby seat.

  Tom stared at the Void with no idea what to do. Couldn't Rachel give him some help here? She just expected him to figure out how to make this third ring by himself, on his first day in another world. "Rachel, I really don't understand what you want me to do."

  Rachel sighed. "I feel so tired. Please, can you just … understand it. I don't know how much longer I can go for. This adventure of mine has gone on for far too long. Hope. I just need some hope." She covered her face with her hands. "Please."

  Maylin gave Rachel a worried look. "Being a tunnel explorer sure is a difficult job." She glared at Tom. "Do something already!"

  "What am I supposed to do. She—." Tom grunted. He couldn't tell her the truth. "Alright, I will give it another go."

  Tom closed his eyes, putting his focus on the Void ahead. He could feel different colors flood his mind, but the range was extremely small. The cave was full of colors, with odder combinations representing what he guessed were the other's auras. When looking at the Void, he didn't see any strong colors. Only a weak shade of purple here and there.

  He sighed, opening his eyes. There was only one thing left to try. The teddy bear tilted its head, looking at him. "Sorry Mark, but I think I will have to try the crystal thing again."

  Mark took out another crystal and handed it to Tom. "Don't worry. It would suffice as payment for this opportunity. We have more than enough Systemite. Would still make us a lot of money when we manage to sell them."

  Tom mouthed thanks. When the others had gotten in a more comfortable sitting, he put the crystal on the teddy bear. Again, a strange vibration filled his mind. This time, he could see something. Out in the Void small balls of light appeared. They lit up his entire line of sight, almost hiding the entire Void. Hundreds of small balls were floating there, merged together into some kind of net. He pulled the crystal away and threw it on the floor as it turned to dust. The light slowly disappeared from his sight and turned back into darkness. "I think I saw the firmament."

  Rachel jumped back on her heat. "You did?" She stared through the glass. "I see nothing."

  "After I had the crystal make contact with this teddy bear, I saw it. A huge number of balls of light merged together into a net."

  She put her hand on her chin. "That does sound like what it is supposed to look like. Could you try doing it again?"

  Marked grunted. "Could you wait for a little before trying again?" Maylin helped him get back up.

  "Alright," Rachel responded.

  They all crouched down looking at the Void.

  Maylin tilted her head. "Are you sure you saw something?"

  "I am. We have to wait for a while."

  "Really? Then I will go back to my seat. I haven't finished cleaning the crystals yet."

  "Wait! I think I see something approaching," Mark noted.

  They all went quiet and focused on the Void, and sure enough, something was approaching them. It looked like a small floating squid. It was using its tentacle to push its way towards them. When it got closer, it suddenly stopped, moving towards them much slower.

  "It's moving into the firmament," Rachel said, awestruck. "How is that possible? Creations of the Ineffable shouldn't be able to do that."

  The creature got close enough that it could touch the glass, but it didn't. It waved a tentacle at them.

  Tom looked at Rachel. "I think it wants us to move the glass away."

  "Understood." She put her hand on the glass and it turned into black mud.

  "Erm." Maylin hesitated. "Are you sure that is a good idea?"

  Before they could argue against it, the mirror had been moved away, and they all stared at the creature.

  It slowly moved one of its tentacles toward them, and they all stared as it went around Tom's left leg.

  Tom nervously chuckled. "Well, that's not good."

  "Hold on. I can't bring you back if—."

  Tom's vision blurred as he was yanked into the Void by the tentacle. The squid started moving back into the Void. Helpless, he tried to move free to no avail. A strange sensation filled his mind. A single sensation, but countless differentinterpretations of what that feeling could be overwhelmed him. His vision blurred.

  He heard shouting and saw Rachel jumping into the Void after him.

  Then he lost consciousness.