*Bam!Spleoch!*
I had landed on my butt inside a pond. My newly obtained clothes getting wet in the process.
I started trembling. There was a slightly chilly current of air in the cave. Haa... I hope I don't catch a cold until I manage to get outside. That would kill me.
I looked around to see if there was any dry spot where I could change my clothes.
I was in a weird place. No matter where I looked, there were only rocky walls covered by the same shining moss. There were two huge doors engraved with some strange symbols.
It seemed like the air was coming from a small gap from where the doors were joined.
I tried opening them, but they didn't even budge. Were they even doors?
The only exit left would be the hole I fell through. Luckily, the hole seemed to have gotten bigger after I fell trough it. Maybe I could jump and then use my legs as hooks to support my body.
But it was too high up. There was no way for me to jump or climb up there!
Frustrated, I turned towards the only thing that was left in that place. A humongous crystal that was slowly floating in mid-air.
Just what was that? Judging from the place I was in, was that a hidden treasure? But how does that work?
I crooked my head, trying to imagine anything that would help me use that treasure.
"Awaken! By my will!"
I shouted with my open hands pointing towards it. Nothing happened. The crystal continued its rotating movement as if it wasn't bothered by me.
I went around it, looking for anything that would look like a place where I would have to insert a key. Nothing.
This is, without a doubt, a treasure. But how do I use it?
Its surface wasn't entirely straight, as if someone had carved it in the past and had given up halfway.
Hey...If it's floating... maybe I can move it!
I touched it, wanting to drag it to a corner and start working on something while planning my next course of action.
*SHIIING*
The crystal finally reacted, emitting blinding light while making some weird sounds.
I retreated in a hurry, expecting the worse. Who knew what it would do? Maybe summon a horde of monsters to protect itself?
It was soon over. I checked the situation while looking through my fingers. No monsters appeared. Fuu, what a relief.
Puzzled, I started looking in every direction. Did nothing really happen? Then why did it react like that?
I caught a glimpse of a movement above my head, and I dived to the ground. I knew it! How could it be that simple?!
I took out my knife and prepared for combat.
But I was wrong. A weird symbol was silently floating above my head. What is that?
After some time, it disappeared. Like it was never there.
If I remember well, it was a circle pierced by an arrow, right? Does it have something to do with archery? A test, maybe? Should I shoot something with an arrow?
For example... the door?
I went over and started studying the symbols on it.
Um... I really couldn't understand. There were many kinds, but no one was repeated. I especially checked it. That is what you do when trying to translate a lost language.
Many ancient tribes would leave some kind of message behind. Some of them were legacies, some were traps. Some people even said that they were used to seal a great evil.
But those symbols were nothing like I had encountered until now.
Ah!! I found that symbol that appeared above my head. It was... the 49th counting from above, on the left door.
Ptui. I give up. Only the devil would understand it!
*****
A few days passed. I was doing some push-ups since I was really bored.
I had more than enough water. I had started to become tight on food, though. What an irony. Just some time ago I was getting worried about not finding a water source.
Anyway, about the weird crystal. I think that I need to get all of those symbols. Each day I would receive one. Probably.
I say days, but I have no idea how much time had passed. I named the interval between the appearance of a symbol as a day.
Well, at first, it was tricky. I didn't notice that it had reacted to my blood, making me slash at it.
A crystal piece flew, grazing my cheeks. I put my hand on the wound, and blood started flowing.
Enranged, I punched it as hard as I could. And, low and behold, the b*stard started shining again. Like it wasn't its business that I got hurt.
After some experiments, I found out that if I smeared some blood on it, it would start its spectacle on its own.
After some time, I managed to get number 7, a flaming sword.
Nr 18, a horse?? Probably, it looked like one.
Nr 31, a hand. Literally a floating hand. Would you not get goosebumps when you see one floating above your hand like it would be ready to catch you? I was.
And number 40, a black circle. That was the most confusing one. Who would understand what it was?
******
F**k!!F*****K!!! Another duplicate? Just how long would it take to collect all of them?
I don't even know how much time had passed. My food was long since gone.
I had started to eat the moss, although it was gross at first.
It took me a few days of enduring the hunger to swallow it successfully.
After scraping some moss, some kind of murals appeared beneath it.
I got curious and started cleaning the walls. But soon, I had to stop. My precious moss had started to go bad!
Not really bad, but its healthy green color changed to a sick yellowish one. And it hardened. You heard it right. After some time, it was so hard that I couldn't even chew it!
After breaking it into small parts with a stone, I tried swallowing it. My neck hurt so much that I spit it back while coughing violently.
Haa... I shouldn't have tried all the sh*t just because I was bored.
Well, after so many days, I managed to unravel quite a lot of the murals. It showed quite an interesting story, about a king building his kingdom while fighting against mighty dragons.
I was so engrossed in the story that I was about to forget about one important thing. I was about to run out of food!
Fortunately, I managed to discover that by obtaining all the symbols, you could get out of that place.
But there was still a lot that I didn't receive. And by the 10th day, I saw the first duplicate.
Unfortunately, duplicates didn't help me with anything, as I would have long since left if that was the case.
*****
Yes!! I managed to get the last one!
Hick! I am so proud of myself! I persisted for so long! Now, I would finally get out!
I went towards the gate and put my hands on the doors, punching with all my might.
*Crack*
"Wha-at!"
The doors cracked! I was dumbfounded by the sound! Were those the same doors as the ones I had tried to open long ago?
Some kind of light started pouring from my hands, lighting up the various symbols one by one.
This! This is it!
I was so scared that I would fail earlier! It was a relief!
I waited quietly while maintaining contact with the door. After all of them were lit up, they stayed like that for a while.
Confused, I took a few steps back, trying to see what had happened better.
All of a sudden, the orbs started drying up. The motes of light started flowing towards the center of the doors, forming a pair of chains. And in the middle of it, a golden crown was floating.
Ha ha. Hahaha. HAHAHAHA!
F**ker!!! Let me out! I don't want any crown! I am tired of your bullshit trials!
I want to eat meat! Wine! I want a party! I want.. to speak to somebody...
Let me out... please...
*****
Today, I would get another orb. Or talents.
I somehow discovered that I was able to throw a flaming fist. Just like nr. 24 from the right door. Or was it nr. 74?
Anyway. After getting angry once, I threw a fist with all my might in the air, and flames came from it! I thought I was possessed, but I quickly realized what had happened.
All the orbs were talents! 100 talents! Can you imagine that?
Although I didn't understand many of them, I still discovered 3 of them.
The flame fist, the fast horse, a speed bonus, and hard skin.
It took a lot of tries to get them right.
Uff, something got in my eyes.
Like I said, I was ready to get another orb. Not like it would be different from the ones I got until now.
The crown never came out. I still had a bit of hope that I could get it, but eh, who cares?
I decided to train for a bit more and then leave using the hole I fell through.
I would pull the floating crystal towards the ceiling, climb on it and then jump with all my might. With the skills I had, there must be something useful among them.
After so much time had passed, I would somehow sense when the crystal was about to reset.
I cut my arm with a knife and smeared some blood on the crystal. Or that was what I was about to do.
The cave suddenly shook while the doors opened with a mighty roar.