Two doors

Chapter 73: Two doors

/Howdy, it's farmer Billy again. Billy Hill, yup, that's me name. Today I've unlocked a couple new gobbin Skills, and I only felt it right proper to at least write me achievements down fer those future folk ye all oughta be. I'm tellin ya, I'll become famous enuff for these ol' entries to be read by anyone of importance in this wide world of ours!

Where was I? Ah rite, me new Skills! Today, me pa taught me how to repot berry bushes, as we moved our little garden. Me sis was watching with sparkles in her eyes, but ma had to quickly call her over, needed help with cookin'. It took long 'un was a truckload of work, but by the time we had it dun, I saw that lil blue window pop up again. Tell ya, it's a wonderful sight on these mine eyes!

Said I had finally evolved <Novice Planting> to <Adept Planting>! Me pa called for a feast when he heard it, apparently my Skill was close to his now, and we decided to take sum of the meat from the storage for lunch. Ma cooked it up right n hot, even using some of them pricey spices. Not wasted those were, and the food was delicious.

But then even more good news that day, apparently I did sumthin real special. Was just going about my day normally, taking another tour around the farm in the evening, filling up the water throughs for the night n waterin' all the plants once over, when I heard a buzzin' noise right next to my ear. 'Course, I thought it as a bug or sumthin, but nay, nothing! Smacked the air!

Strange ringing continued throughout the entire night, wouldn't leave me the heck alone, and at midnight, I decided enuff was enuff. Followed it out all the way to the barn and past it, into the bit of the forest. Even left the part we owned and went deeper, like something came over me, I tell ya! Eventually me came to a clearing, whole floor covered with bright green moss, shining even in moonlight, n a nice stream next to it.

Felt it calling out to me, whispering sumthin about ambitions, so I decided to give it a listen. Weird stuff happens all the time, n I had a good feeling about this. Next thing I know, I learnt <Vitality Infusion>! Can't believe it's happened, but I can now make plants grow with just a thought and some of my Stamina. All the starvin' days are over, the babe might be able to grow big n' strong just 'cause of me.

I told y'all I'd be the best!/

Entry 13 from "A Farmer's Diary".

- - - - - -

Days passed slowly as Mercury and Lucia waited in the inn. There wasn't much to do, so the cat himself took to <Meditation>, still slowly raising its level as he used it to explore the entirety of his mana veins. He had almost grown them fully, only needing a couple more days to finish off his teeth.

Lucia, on the other hand, seemed a little more bored than him, staving it off by heading downstairs and listening in to the other patrons, while securing herself a seat at the fire. Sometimes she'd also watch Mercury during his practice session, and try to mimic him, though it seemed more irritating than anything else when she did it. Maybe she was messing something up? Whatever.

They took strolls through the city once or twice as well, hoping that any of the arrogant idiots they'd taught a lesson would come to retaliate, but it seems they'd tucked their tails in between their legs. The lord, Rilfur, even sent a letter of apology for his son's behaviour, having seemingly decided to grow a spine.

Honestly, Polos itself was quite a nice city, with a lot of open spaces and friendly faces. The vegetables were fresh, and although it was more chilly than in Stormbraver, it was by no means cold. Maybe it would have been worse during the winter, but these months it was more than bearable, even more so when considering the clarity it brought to the air.

Just like that, the peaceful hours passed, until...

"WHO THE FUCK!!!!" a familiar voice screamed, entering into Mercury and Lucia's inn by kicking down the door. "WHICH ONE OF YOU BASTARD'S SMASHED THE BABY LORD BITCH'S HEAD WITH A PLATE?! I'LL RIP YOURS OFF, THAT DOCKED HALF MY PAY!"

"Long time no see, Yvette," Mercury replied with a calm and gentle smile, and he could see the red drain from Yvette's face in real time.

"Damn, here's your 5 pales," Lucia said, handing Mercury a couple of coins.

"Thank you."

"What...? You guys? Here?? Why, what?" Yvette looked back and forth between the two of them, with eyes so confused they begged for an answer.

"Oh, we made a bet. I said you'd rush here without waiting for our description. Lucia said you'd at least hear about a mopaaw. I won."

"I- That's not what I asked, you bastard! Why are you here?!"

"Oh, you know, we needed this and that..."

"Now is not the time to fool around. Yvette, we have come here seeking your aide-"

"Oh, you think you can come here, cause me a FUCKTON of problems, and then casually ask a favour, huh?" Yvette asked back, leaning far over the table and getting all up in Lucia's face. "Well, you fucking can't! Piss off!"

"It's Iris."

"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me! Really?? You're gonna guilt trip me like that???"

"..." Lucia apparently did have a reply for it, lowering her gaze to the table.

"Didn't think so," Yvette then said, quickly turning around and stomping towards the door.

"She's been abducted," Mercury said, and Yvette stopped dead. "Look, I don't know what happened between you guys. I'm not one to pry either," he continued, "but it's got nothing to do with me. My friend got abducted. I was told you can help me find her. Now, will you get your head out of your ass and fucking help?!"

"You've got your fire back, mopaaw," Yvette said, still facing the door. "How long?"

"I've been doing better for a couple of months," he replied. "Had some support, found out some things about myself. I decided I couldn't stand still forever. I... I didn't move on. I know that some of them are still out there somewhere. I'll find them, and bring them back, and if they're dead, then I'll resurrect them. But I'm not strong enough, not even close, so I decided to take life as it comes."

"Now, I consider Iris a friend. She's been gone for a little over a week now. Lucia told me that it was somewhat urgent, she's been restless ever since. Will you help or not?"

"You're more trouble than you're worth, both of you," Yvette said with a sigh, turning around, and grabbing a chair. It cracked as she did so, but at the very least, she wasn't purposely smashing the building. "So, what happened?"

"Stormbraver was attacked by Evlenor. A small team. We took them prisoner, but they detonated mana bombs and slaughtered civilians," Lucia explained, her voice cool, but shaking a little.

"That's... cruel."

"It goes against wartime etiquette, yes. Me and Iris were split up, both fighting against the barbarians to the best of our ability, or at least I'd expect no less of her. But by the time the chaos had subsided, she was gone. I was waiting for her return, until Mercury decided to knock on my window at 3 in the morning."

"It wasn't that late," the mopaaw protested. "Besides, I was just worried."

"Then we have to hurry," Lucia said, immediately getting up. "Pack what you need, we're heading out right now."

- - -

An unlikely duo had become an unlikely trio it seems. Our heroes went on their journey once more. Yvette said that they were right in seeking her out as soon as possible. Iris and her had some shared history, one she did not like shedding much light on, even more so to avoid anyone finding out about the blood eclipses.

Yet, for someone who shared an equally tragic tale, perhaps it was her duty to finally face the demons she had banished to the far reaches of her mind, and perhaps it was with these people that Yvette would break free from the shackles tying her down to tragedy. The place they had to visit was not very far from Polos. It was in the middle of the forest, where the elevation started to climb, and a big boulder had lodged itself into the ground. At the side of it, a small gap, one which would perhaps be found by playing children, entered once and not left the same.

Yvette took the plunge with some hesitation in her step, yet Mercury and Lucia followed with none. Beneath the ground, the cavern expanded high enough for one to stand comfortably, and wide enough to pass by each other without much trouble. The tunnel was lit up by the radiance coming from Yvette's unfurled wings, as well as a flame in Lucia hand, but even though light was shed, the air was tense and heavy.

"Are we really-"

"Shhh, the walls have ears here," Yvette whispered, shutting Mercury's question down immediately.

The cat took it without protest, deciding to quietly follow along. This place gave him the creeps, much more so than the lairs he had been in before. This place reeked of death and blood, something Mercury really had more than enough of these last couple months.

Still, what was there to do but continue? Down the endless halls they went, further into the bowels of the earth, occasionally turning into some of the branching tunnels as they headed deeper and yet deeper down. Eventually, they came upon a door.

Yvette knocked, and for a moment, there was silence. Then, the door spoke.

"Who do beg for, at whose feet do you grovel?"

"No one, open the door before I kick it in," Yvette said, her hand already on her sword.

And the very next moment, Mercury suddenly felt his vision darken as the floor began to rise towards him.

- - - - - -

Avery was panting heavily. His skin was full of bruises, and his face was cut. There was a small crack in the glass of his goggles, and his feet felt heavy as lead, yet he remained light on his toes, keeping his distance from his opponent. He took in a couple deep breaths, stepping back and controlling the pace of the fight, as the minotaur in front of him swung its club. The oversized cow puffed out the air with every time the puny thing in front of it stepped back again, and Avery faced it with a smile.

"Go on, you ugly bastard, get angry..." he muttered, keeping his eyes only on his opponent, his hands up and ready to guard himself. Then, he saw his chance. The bull raised the club high for a mighty swing, but Avery was too quick to be hit with something so pathetic. Any strike with that much wind-up would easily be avoided, and with but a single leap forward, his boots pierced the monster's stomach, spilling guts to the ground.

"Haaaaah..." Avery gave a long exhale, breathing heavily and feeling his lungs burn from exertion. He had stepped back a lot over the course of this fight, enough to take him out from the mar's core. It was still dangerous to dive in deep, but he very visibly felt the improvements the last couple days had brought him. Sleeping while constantly wary, in his combat gear, and hunting his own food were only parts of that training.

Certainly, he could eat some monster meats, but not all. Minotaur was tough as leather, Goblin was disgusting enough to make you retch, and troll decayed faster than you could digest it, turning to dirt in your stomach. Instead, he took to catching fish in a nearby river, the mar rarely spat out such monsters, and although population was low due to the monsters, it was enough to feed another man. Occasionally he would supplement it with nuts, berries, and roots, which helped keep his nutrition high.

Once more, Avery sighed deeply, taking a couple more steps outside, before collapsing up against a tree. His campsite had been smashed a couple days ago, and he had been sleeping in the trees. When he washed, he did it with his armor on, because risking a minotaur attacking while he was naked would be suicidal, and quite frankly, the blood on it smelled really bad.

Maybe going to a mar had been a bad choice. Well, he knew it hadn't been a good choice at any rate, but he desperately wanted to get stronger. He had occasionally gotten near the core, if he snuck past a couple of monster patrols, but never had he actually gotten near it. That thing was guarded by a wild horde of monsters, and he got bruised badly facing even just one of them. Just thinking about what was inside of that thing sent shiver down his spine.

No, he wasn't even close to that yet. Rifts could be cleared by a team of adventurer's on that level, but mars were a different story. They couldn't be solved by a quick party of people, diving in and back out. They grew over time, and could build up actual monster forces, so you'd have to whittle them down, before diving in, and breaking its heart, but if you went there, the core would begin to spew out even more monsters. In most cases, mars had to be cleared multiple times to return to being doors or rifts, and even then, they'd have gained power permanently.

Avery shook his head, not letting himself sink further into those thoughts. He quickly took a sip of water from his inventory. No chance he was carrying that on his person, if his filtered waterskin broke, he'd have to boil and sieve it every time he wanted a sip. That would simply take too long, so he sacrificed one of his precious slots for it.

After a couple more minutes of rest, just enough time for his muscles to start aching, Avery forced himself back up from the floor, and once more began his march towards the mar. It was above his pay grade, and he couldn't even carry all the materials he harvested here anymore, but that didn't matter as much. Much more important was just improving himself.

By now, he was able to take a couple punches from an ogre, maybe a single swing from a minotaur club, while before, something like that would have put him out of commission. His muscles were tighter than before, and underneath his combat glasses, his eyes had a certain fire to them, gleaming as he pushed himself to the brink every day.

With the continued recreation of his muscle fibers, he was tempering his strength, but of course, since he was constantly healing, his natural regeneration was challenged as well, and by now, his wounds closed up quite a bit faster than before. Not nearly as fast as a troll's, but certainly faster than they used to.

If he was really honest with himself, Avery was happy. He was in pain constantly, sure, but it felt rewarding. He felt his body get lighter, even when there were blocks of lead on his feet, and he felt his heart beating more strongly, hearing the blood rush through his ears. The more time he spent near the mar, the more monstrous he became, apparently, and he wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. He had a city to protect, after all, and as long as those walls stood, he wouldn't fall.