16 Chapter 16: Resisting Greed

The room filled to the brim shined like a thousand suns. His sight blinded by the light reflecting from the riches which filled the room.

He seemed unfazed by the riches, but was he?

Or did the bright light make it impossible to see?

Geo closed his eyes as the light struck down upon his vision... Unable to see, he covered his vision with a hand, while reaching out with the other to make sure he wouldn't trip and fall over something random.

Time slowly passed, resisting the urge to open his eyes the light began to feel warm and pleasant.

"The bonus challenge... what could it be? And what do I get in return...

So much is uncertain... Yet! There is one thing I Geo Birchwood do know!

And that is I never back down if there's a reward involved!"

"I have to say... it piqued my interest, might it be something from this room?"

Geo asked himself unsure of what the future would hold.

E.V.E. spoke to Geo in a manner vaguely familiar to him.

"The challenge presents an opportunity to unlock hidden potential... depending on how, you, the player completes the challenge presented will determine the reward."

Geo scratched his head and sat down for a moment.

Trying to make sense of what E.V.E. was rambling on about he suddenly jumped up again.

By the time he landed his eyes had grown accustomed to the brightness allowing him to look at his surrounding.

"Just to clarify; my challenge, you mean there wouldn't be a wrong way to complete said "challenge"?"

E.V.E. turned to Geo and spoke to him inside his head.

"That is correct, depending on the results it could result in either beneficial or adjective.

For example; Depending on what happens you could gain traits or even skills...

So, please... Think carefully about what to do..."

Geo smiled, turned towards the center of the room, and without a second to spare made way toward the middle of the room.

For some reason, an opening was visible, a platform of sorts... which wasn't covered in riches. Although he liked the look and feel of the room, there wasn't an option to take whatever he could see.

So whichever he could take should be valuable and easy to carry. Geo arrived at the center, not sure of what to do he decided to wing it grabbing a shiny amulet as he could wear it around his neck.

But before he could do anything else the room reacted. Changing the shape, slowly giving way for openings. The riches poured down into unending depths.

Geo sat down to witness the inevitable decline of greed, as he tried to fight the urge to grab more than he bargained for.

That was when the middle began to rumble...

*rumble*

It almost felt like an earthquake as the entire room began to shake. The riches hanging at the top began falling. Crashing into the sea of gold. Waves crashed against the sides as the middle slowly opened up as did the ceiling.

The room began to turn as magma began to drip melting away the remaining gold from the ceiling, crashing into the riches the heat melted both together into one.

What was Geo to do! What could he do best in a situation like this? Staying Alive!

Quickly he jumped aside to make sure he was safe, gracefully landing on both feet he couldn't believe what he saw. Within the never-ending abyss of darkness, something lit up the place...

A shriek could be heard.

*screech*

Looking down, there was nothing but darkness... Until a claw three times, his size slammed onto the surface of the platform. Covered in flames, the claw was bright red.

Gripping tight to the surface, Geo knew there was more to it than met the eye. Slowly another reached out of the depths when suddenly cracking noises could be heard.

*crack*

The sheer pressure of the claws could be seen, making the hatch crumble before his eyes.

Followed by something which swiftly launched itself into the air.

Curious what it might be Geo couldn't take his eyes off it. Quickly it twirled towards the ceiling only to reveal its presence.

Slamming onto the platform was a huge lizard bright red like creature covered in molten gold. Its eyes burning like the sun... pierced straight through his.

Fire shot through its veins as it opened its mouth.

A roar could be heard throughout the room.

Making it tremble in its wake. Seeing as how Geo didn't react to the beast's dominant display it jumped down lashing out its claw.

"INTRUDER!"

Wanting to scare off the intruder it screamed in a hellish tone.

Geo couldn't react in time making the lizards strike immensely effective. Getting caught in its slam attack Geo lay there on the ground between the large, sharp nails of the beast's claw.

The ground underneath him crushed like porcelain.

Geo didn't look injured instead... it looked like he was fighting through the pain.

Quickly its tongue shot in and out of its mouth as it quietly observed Geo.

The beast had struck first...

"Phew... Is it my lucky day or what?!"

Geo jelled at the beast with a smile as he spits out a small amount of blood towards the beast. The strike had done its damage.

Enraged it pushed down even harder, hoping to crush the trespasser.

Making Geo cough up, even more, the damage seemed to be more serious than he thought.

"Intruder... What brings you here to my humble abode?"

Geo looked around in confusion.

"Is it me, or is my mind playing tricks on me? For a moment I thought I heard a voice..."

"That is correct puny one..."

Shocked Geo looked at the lizard.

"No... it can't be! Is it you?"

"Wow... smart ain't ya?"

The lizard said mockingly.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my GOD!! A talking lizard?! This must be my lucky day!"

Like a boy opening up his first Christmas present, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"And who is a big boy? Who is? Haha, yes... it's you!! Hahaha"

"Human appears to be happy to see big lizard... Human not scared?"

The lizard approached Geo, who still lay under its left claw, kicking with excitement.

"Scared? Why would I be? I MEAN YOU CAN TALK!! That's so cool."

"Hmm... me no get it... usually I scare them to death or even melt them to the bone with my breath... but not this time... this time different..."

The lizard didn't know what to do, lifting its claw to allow Geo to get up.

"Why you no melt human?"

Confused Geo looked around. "Now that you mention it… I don't understand either…"

"I can answer that question!" E.V.E. said proudly.

"Geo, if you would kindly reach into your pockets."

Geo did as E.V.E. instructed him and found some remains of the gems he had used in the tournament. The remains glowed, brightly. Warmth resonated from the remains in the already magma engulfed room… Burning, roasting within his palm.

The burn cut straight through to the bone, hurting Geo in the process. Quickly wanting to rid himself of this festering burning sensation, Geo dropped the shards… The shards crashing on the ground glowed ever so brightly, even pulsating on the occasional moment.

Almost like a beacon, or a heartbeat… within seconds the pulses began to occur more rapid and vividly. Like a… BOM?!

Geo jumped aside, hoping it was far enough to cover for the blast radius… Yet…

Nothing happened. Against better judgement Geo's vision locked onto the shards…

It wasn't over… before it even had began? Slowly the shards began to tick onto the ground.

Turning around their axes, when slowly but surely they began to float?

"What... what is..."

Confusion struck everyone in the room, but mostly Geo as he had no clue about what was happening. The only thing coming to mind, would be the possibility of magnetic pulses…

Which in turn would refer to the possibility that the crystals cellular structure consisted of metal… but was this even possible?

"The bonus challenge - a chance to redeem what has been lost. Power once forgotten can be founded once again. Oh, great salamander... Help the lost one here to find the latent magic within... guide him to the path... the path of enlightenment..."

*sigh*

"It means the gem fragments have absorbed enough energy, allowing them to resonate and even repair themselves. Kind of how metal melts and becomes one again."

Clueless and lost in the mystery of the crystal shards,

no one noticed that the room began to change.

"Program error... error..."

A glitch cracked the system. Shifting between planes, magma, an ocean, skies... even deep forests... until finally, a garden surrounded by trees appeared. The salamander still laying in the middle spoke to me.

"Enlighted one... I understand now... I understand that this... This is where it begins...

Not with me... but instead... With you. I bid you farewell for the system has shown you the way... now take the path... and find... the one who truly guides your soul... bond together and restore what was once yours."

It took Geo a moment to realize what had happened... A moment to realize...

They were not in the room anymore...

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