GH - 231

“It’s dead…” I came to a halt, warily eyeing the orb if it’d attack me next. It was golden in color with tiny runes revolving around it. The face of a monster I couldn’t recognize was curved on its smooth surface. 

The orb was pretty powerful to easily delete the Glacial Ifrit, though the annoying spirit was probably quite weak without a body. I didn’t run away because that was uncool. gambled that this orb couldn’t kill me. I wasn’t under the protection of Mr. Inuus’ barriers, but I still had a lot of his buffs.

“Huh, it’s not doing anything,” I said. “Oh, it’s returning to the body.” And our island of light in the sea of darkness became smaller with the orb’s disappearance.

(A Greater Guardian Ward.) Mr. Inuus arrived at my side. (It does not view us as a threat, so long as we do not disturb the body it protects.)

“That was a ward too? Then that corpse is a—” I carefully approached the mysterious heap “—a Mardukryon.”

The four trademark Mardukryon horns stuck out from a pile of armor that obscured the nature of the corpse when I first saw it. This wardcrafter, for what else could it be, was decked out in apparently high-level gear, all elaborate and imposing in its design. The runes on the intricately layered plates of armor weren’t glowing. This guy managed to cast this ward before he died, and it protected him since.

I circled the body, keeping a distance of a couple of meters, and realized why it looked odd. It didn’t die to the freezing temperatures like the two other Mardukryons. Part of this guy’s lower body was gone, chomped off by a huge monster we hopefully wouldn’t encounter. The Greater Guardian Ward was probably created after the bite or it would’ve been destroyed by this mysterious enemy, this guy’s last act before death.

As much as I’d love to loot my dead kin, it wasn’t possible with that ward around. It might not be able to kill me, but Mr. Inuus would notice it turning aggressive. Wouldn’t want to make my new teacher angry. I’d just return to this area in the future on my own.

(An unfortunate end their expedition met,) said Mr. Inuus before playing his funeral song.

I nodded. “Yep, most likely all the dead Mardukryons are one group. And they passed through here.”

To my left was a great chasm, which meant it wasn’t great for us.

I couldn’t see the bottom. On the positive side, I might chicken out if I could see how far the fall truly was. What unnerved me was that I couldn’t see the other side. Just darkness. The only proof there was an ‘other side’ we could reach was a bridge of rock stretching from near the dead wardcrafter into who knows what.

“Their party passed this way,” I said after Mr. Inuus finished his ritual.

(Never to return,) he replied. (It is our turn to traverse this bridge.)  

“Mr. Inuus, can you ready your song spell that summons those hands? I’ll go first to check if there are cracks or weak portions of the bridge. Catch me if I fall—hmmm, that sounds like the lyrics of a song. Anyway, if you go first and fall, I can’t do anything.”

(A well-thought of plan, my student.)

“Keep the praises coming. Let’s go while my legs aren’t buckling yet.”

The bridge was barely wider than my shoulders. I wasn’t one to question science in a fantasy game, but how did this bridge come to be? Seems very implausible for the movements of the earth to leave this narrow strip across a fissure. And what was holding this up? It didn’t appear to have any support beneath it, no pillars of rock standing from the depths.

A small twinkle of purple ahead offered a hint. It glowed brighter as I stopped by it. From beneath the bridge, a purple pyramid-shaped gem the size of a Peely fruit emerged. It rotated in the air before returning under the bridge. Glowing ribbons of purple wrapped around the part I stood on and were absorbed into the rock. Small cracks on the bridge mended themselves.

I tapped my hoof on the ground. “It’s a ward… There’s more of them ahead, tiny blinks of purple. The dead wardcrafter back there must’ve made this bridge to cross this chasm.”

(An impressive feat,) said Mr. Inuus. (This requires delicate craftsmanship as well as foresight.)

“Pretty ballsy too. They couldn’t have known how long the way to the other side was. And their creation is still here after… I don’t know how many years. This chasm must be the reason why our village had remained isolated for so long—this chasm and whatever killed those Mardukryons and froze everything. Could be Karnon.”

(This terrible abyss could accommodate its immense body and many heads.)

“Many explanations for the end of the Mardukryon party. But we still don’t know what they were here for. My best guess is the wardcrafter cave given that they were headed there instead of Kurghal Village. There must be something important inside.”

Bridgemaker wards greeted us as we passed over them. I didn’t know how far we had travelled but I could no longer see the end of the bridge we came from. Darkness to the front and back. It looked like we were walking on an island floating in nothingness.

The purple wards were nice to meet, providing sort of goalposts. But they eventually became scarce; it took time to reach the next one. The dreadful thought that this bridge might have a dead end occurred to me. What if it just stopped at nothingness, the rest of the bridge destroyed a long time ago? How the hell was I going to turn around in this tiny space?

I asked Mr. Inuus to fire spears forward so we could see ahead. The spears flew forward until they dissipated, showing more of the bridge but no end. I urged him to continue. Then, like sailors of old exploring unknown seas, I yelled, “Land! There it is!”

Well, we were also standing on land. And we’d reach more land. I could see the outline of the ‘shore’ far off.

But something dashed my happiness.

Layers of heavy breathing reached us. Growls? Grunts? The noises of a giant monster. Movement. Big movements.

“Let’s hurry up, Mr. Inuus!” I cast [Horde Stampede.]

The sound of cracking earth that followed, very familiar by now, wasn’t comforting in the least. The flimsy bridge started shaking and I had to slow down or I’d slip. This shouldn’t shake! Purple lights shone along the length of the bridge like an airplane runway at night. The wards must be hard at work holding the bridge together. It wasn’t comforting though because it meant the bridge was crumbling! How long would it last?

I looked down. Nothing. “Where the hell is it?”

(Above! The threat comes from above!) Mr. Inuus exclaimed as he summoned musical instruments to add barriers.

I gazed up and saw several pairs of blue headlights—the eyes of many creatures.

Or of one?

A set of glowing eyes became larger as its head, still shrouded in darkness, headed for us. As it came lower, the light of Mr. Inuus’ barriers and instruments shone on its scales—it was Karnon! The bastard brought all of its heads to the fight.

(Brace yourself, my student!)

“Hey, I wanted to say ‘brace for impact’, but you—oh shit!”

Karnon opened its jaws and chomped on the barrier. The bridge buckled and glowed purple. Looking down, I saw lines of cracks racing everywhere. A ward flew up to me, rotating agitatedly as if to tell me something. Then it popped. Must be at the end of its energy maintaining this bridge.

Mr. Inuus fired spears at Karnon, driving it away. But that was just one head. Beams of ice rained down on us as we forged on. We were unharmed. The other heads descended to attack us. Two smashed both sides of the barriers to squeeze it. Some of the shields broke, but we continued forward. A head smashed the top of the barrier. Mr. Inuus was immovable in his defenses, but the bridge absorbed the blows. It was falling apart.

Another head slammed down ahead of us, destroying the path forward. I pedaled my legs to break. We had no way forward. And the bridge continued to crumble, chunks of rocks falling off into the abyss. I was going to fall if I didn’t back up.

Walking backward for a four-legged creature was a challenge, especially for one as bulky as a Mardukryon. I gingerly retreated. There was no choice. Before I could tell Mr. Inuus to walk backward—an insane and fruitless idea—something grabbed me. Ethereal arms wrapped around my body and lifted me off the floor.

(I’ll save you!) Mr. Inuus threw me over the widening gap.

I landed on the other side. I equipped my [Heavy Spear] and stabbed the ground to anchor myself and counteract the momentum of the throw. I steadied my footing but found the ground giving way, I trotted forward, looking over my shoulder. “Mr. Inuus!”

(Run!) he shouted as he went the other way. The heads of Karnon were drawn to him as he continued attacking them. (We’ll meet each other again!)

“This is some bullshit scripted event to separate me from you!” I looked around helplessly. There was nothing I could do.

I looked up. Yet another of Karnon’s head was going for me. Without Mr. Inuus, I had no barriers and massive healing. I was going to die if I didn’t run. And so, I did. I reached the other side safely. Karnon’s head pulled back, probably because the rest of its body went the other way, chasing Mr. Inuus.

There was only darkness in front of me. No signs of Mr. Inuus or Karnon.

It was a long way back to where we came from. I doubted Karnon could eat Mr. Inuus. Would he make it or would he fall? Could he survive?

I met Mr. Inuus only a few hours ago and he was just an NPC, but I felt a sense of loss. I was going to find him… later. I needed to see where the heck I was first. I continued the path, for there was nowhere else to go, and saw light. This time, it wasn’t a boulder glowing with runes… it was the outside.