"Oi Robert! Just stop for a while already! Aren't we supposed to be resting by now?"
Shouting over the damp smell of the cavern, i once again called out for him. This old man in front of me, he's just too stubborn for his own good! We've been walking for hours and he's showing no sign of stopping.
An adventurer like him should've been fine with just this, sure. But what about me? The farthest i've ever had to walk is from the tenth floor of the guild's tower to the ground floor!
"Shut up and walk! Did you manage to crack your head on a rock!?"
It was another harsh shout similar in content to the hundreds he threw back each time i voiced out my request.
"Yem's dead because a certain someone escort request with not even a bone to bury him by and the culprit is suggesting we stop moving so those things that were busy eating my partner's body could catch up to us? That what you're saying? No? Well because it damn sure sounds like it! So shut your mouth!" He continued on with this tirade as expected.
Ahh my feet hurts and my robe's all drenched, the desire within me to sit and stretch my legs is rising each second...
Hmm what's the best way to bring it up again without being repetitive i wonder. Ah, let's try:
"Look sir, first off all there's hours gap between where we are and where we were ambushed, my condolences for your loss by the way. And second of all, it's a common misconception but those aren't just things those are parasites and the distinction means it won't move far—" A glare that promised violence is directed my way in response. I messed up.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, WOMAN!? I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT THEY ARE CALLED OR WHERE THEIR PISSING GROUNDS ARE! I COULD CALL THEM FUCKING RAINBOW SHITS, PISS ON THEIR ARSE AND NO ONE WOULD CARE, THERE'S NOBODY THAT COULD CARE OR HELP US HERE! WE'RE STUCK!" Robert screams unnecessarily. Seriously how does he scream that loud. My ears aren't made for this...
The reverbing echoes certainly doesn't help easing the already shrill screaming.
"Right, I get your point, sir adventurer. Really, but the point i'm trying to make here is those parasites cannot possibly wander far from their nest, it goes against the recorded Law that states a possession is only a possession for as long a tether is in place." Recalling that tidbit seems to placate him a bit. He sighs and decided to accept my olive branch with a gruff, "So what?"
"Well see the parasites we met back there are should just be mana sappers. Meaning they can't move too far away unless they want to lose their only registered belonging that feeds them mana." Being greeted with silence, i continued.
"Of course i talk about the patch of body from this giant organism that's been imbued with their magic. They stray too far and the tether between their spot and them broke. Months are usually required for the creation of tether to something with this much mass and they know it. So little chance of being chased, we've walked for hours with no sign of pursuer and i am not an adventurer like you, so could we please just rest for a moment?" That and it's a safe bet those beasts are too busy feasting on Mr. Yem's leaking death mana, i thought grimly.
... Huh, why didn't i think of that point during these hours? Is it adrenaline that addled me, i wonder. We could've stopped a long time ago! I guess there's only myself to blame for it.
Well nevermind. Picking up my thoughts, i noticed an empty blank look in Mr. Rob's face. Strange, is his eyes always that black and... wide? I could swear his hair isn't always touching the ground and i noticed he's still walking forward... But then shouldn't i be looking at the back of his head?
Ah i get it the thing in front of me isn't him.
This strange feeling of being submerged in dark water and someone's watching crawls back and forth through my spine.
It stares.
The terror made me freeze on the spot.
I opened my mouth and screa-
The sky never exist, never here, never there, nor anywhere love touch. All is but a grounded vessel of plastic desire stretching to infinity for the sake of the blooming of a single worm eating a worm birthing a worm fornicating. The bin long emptied and the sunset rooftop flash it's sleepy gaze. Who is that figure standing below the shade with an empty gaze and a glass of malice directed towards you? Simply smile and the sapling grows on the fileted skin of the plastic.
How wonderful it is to s e e
M Y S E L F
The adventurer halts his steps. If not for the glow of the glowtorch he's holding i wouldn't be able to tell he stopped with how sudden his movement was.
"Now. In case you didn't get this, i am also at my limit here. You get this?" Robert turns to face me.
"Umm...yes?" I also stopped too, my legs shook with either ecstasy or maybe muscle twitch at the chance to stop after a grueling task.
"Yess, so would be far better if you SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH! I CAN'T HANDLE ANYMORE OF YOUR BITCHING! I AM TIRED AS HORSEDUNG! AND I CERTAINLY DOESN'T NEED A CHATTERFUCK WHO WHINES IN FRONT OF MY FACE EVERY GODDAMNED MINUTE! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT ARE YOU SUGGESTING!? YOU ARE SAYING THAT WE SHOULD SIT OUR ASS DOWN IN THIS DEATH TUNNEL AND-" Although he is still shouting, I couldn't pay any attention to him.
There's something distinct against the illuminated purplish vein covered wall.
Fog, white as snow with the texture of cotton make itself known. Scraping and flowing right at the edge of the glow light...
"...Sir Adventurer?"
"—ERE I AM TRYING TO GET THR—"
"Sir Robert!"
"I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF MY FUCKING SP—
"Tsk! You stupid old man look behind you!"
Suddenly clarity enters Robert's eyes as he come to a sudden realization.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? SH—" His cloak slaps my face while he swirls around. Ouch.
"—IT! I SW—..." Right now I'm pretty sure that Robert's eyes are as wide as mine.
"... The shit is this?" Robert mutters under his breath. Well, how could he not? Clumps of the most deadly thing here are attempting to breakthrough something... and failing. Here in front of us is one of the rarest phenomenon to ever happen inside a wurm's body.
"There's something blocking it." I blurted out.
"Blocked!? What do you mean blocked? Didn't you mention something about how it blow holes right through C ranked metals?"
"Well of course... But this means that we are encountering a wurm's stomach sac."
"And what the hell is a stomach sac?"
"Well, it's basically a set of twelve empty space scattered inside a wurm's body. Usually, these spaces are filled with objects that the wurm couldn't digest normally. And the fact that those gases are trying to enter the space, means something in there is threatening enough to force the wurm's immune system to retaliate. And judging by the fact that the gases couldn't enter means that something in there must be classified as a B ranked or above magicals."
I try to list things that i remembered of this from the guild at the top of my head about this. Come to think of it there's a chance whatever inside would be at least something worth this whole disaster of a trip!
Though the same chance for the thing inside to murder us is just as high. There's still the matter of getting rid of the gas too... Not going in there sounds like a go@))#&
-bad idea. I can't miss an opportunity like this!
As i thought of that, the gas left the radius of the glowlight as if they were pulled and the fleshy gate was presented in all it's squishy and mushy glory.
"...You."
"What's wrong?"
"So essentially this is a safe space, that what you're saying?"
"Well not exactly safe, but compared to the rest of this place then yes."
"...And is there any particular reason why you haven't mentioned anything about a natural safespace we could have rested in, even when you are bitching about how you are tired of walking?"
"Hmm? Ahaha, t-that's because i—"
"You forget about it didn't you?"
"... Yes."
Mr. Robert breathes in deeply. Deeply enough that the plating on his metal armor quivers. For some odd reason i get the feeling that he is not hap—
"YOU AIRBRAINED WHORE! A SAFEZONE IS A THING INSIDE THE GUT OF THIS GODS FORSAKEN ANIMAL!? WAIT NO! TWELVE! THERE ARE TWELVE OF THOSE PLACES AND NOT A SINGLE TIME YOU EVEN THINK TO TELL ME THAT TH—" And then, Mr. Robert goes into another one of his extremely long rant. I could bear with another one i suppose.
As I stood there having myself pretending to listen to a bearded middle-aged old man inside of a gigantic stomach, i observe the doorway that separates me and the soon to be rest area.
Hmm now that i look there's suspicious pale blue light shining through... are those barks? Plantation that glows in ethereal blue, huh come to think of it Mr. Adventurer's voice right now sounds more quiet than usual...
To the bewildered gaze of Mr. Rob over here, i walk closer to the wall of cyan vegetation. It looks kinda pretty up close, all those shades of blue light and the pulsating meat wall- ah nevermind.
Looking back towards Mr. Robert who seems to have stop his rambling and resorts to just watching me, i called out:
"Robert, can you hear me?"
Yup, no sound. He then responded by opening and closing his mouth a few times.
Huh. These stuffs... Aren't they from the tranquil forest? But how did it get here? Last I heard the entire forest was erased from the map. Maybe the one here is one of those botanist's artifact-
Huh. Nevermind false alarm, I had thought I'd seen eyes on the wood right at the corner of my eyes, but clearly that's my imagination. Hallucinating is- woah!
An axe is suddenly shoved into my hand. While deep in thought I had not noticed that Mr. Robert is walking over to me.
He gestures to the branches, *sigh* I think he's telling me to help him cut it. I want to refuse because of some obscure Law i've heard once... and because this is kinda why i hired adventurers so i don't need to do the heavy lifting, but Robert is looking ready to beat me up if I mentioned any of those reasons right now.
Well if it's any consolation. Most of them are branches anyway, thin and looking as if it won't be that hard to cut them down. Mr. Rob is still trying to speak, although right now he only looked like an deranged madman. Meh chances are he's just shouting all kinds of profanity as per usual.
Hmm wasn't there something about these dampeners tree i've read before? Oh right, the one about where these things are the property of a malign god.
Was it the one about The Architect?
"Ack!" I yelped, though of course no sound comes from my mouth.
Mr. Robert apparently decided right now would be a good time to annoy me, slaps me hard on my back. I turned around in askance of why he would-
Oh.
The adventurer is gesturing at the man sized hole on his side. If nothing else he does works fast.
Entering his hole Robert leads the way. Leading the way to the inside of this cavernous safehaven so we can finally rest our feet for longer than ten minutes and maybe grab something of value...
Ah who am i kidding, with my luck the prospective artifact is probably gone anyway.
...
That scene replayed itself again and again and again once and twice and endlessly inside my head. Constant. Repetition. Why that memory? When? Where?
... In the end "Well whatever", is all the available thought nowadays since master said apathy is greater than despair. Anything is in fact better than despair really.
Wait, what was i thinking about? Ooh that sound again.
A note of sound that keeps replacing everything. It does sounds a lot like loud whispering, a chant? What's a chant anyway?
Ah.
I can hear it.
ThERe iS nO esCApE