Chereads / World of Laws and Magic / Chapter 27 - World of Laws and Magic: Rules

Chapter 27 - World of Laws and Magic: Rules

(Okay...I'm just going to pretend that what that guy said makes sense.)

"Well then Uncertainty, my name is Nick and we should leave before they decide to come back. I am supposed to be getting answers for some very important question that I have, but instead, I ended up in this crap hole and I don't know where to go from here."

Uncertainty looked at Nick and spoke:

"When there is uncertainty, you will find answers in the strangest of places. I myself am looking for something. I came to this forest because I heard that at the northern end of it there is a mountain that has a cave where someone who can help me achieve anything successfully lives. I was making my way there to get him to help me with my search but the difficulties found me while I was singing while walking on my path. I sang my song again while the difficulties had me bound and they left and so I avoided being torn apart by them. It's a good thing that difficulties shun perseverance."

Nick felt that this man's words had a deeper meaning but decided to ignore that for now and pay attention to what Uncertainty said about the mountain.

"If there is such a person that can help me with getting some answers to my current predicament, I will accompany you to him. Do you mind?"

Uncertainty made a low groan and he seemed to grow a few feet taller at Nick's question.

"Yes, you can come along but with two of us there will be more uncertainty on the path. Let's set off now. I now what direction north is in so we will find our way as long as we persevere."

Nick and Uncertainty spent what seemed like hours walking through the forest. There were several times when they encountered the creatures calling themselves difficulties and had to run from them or hide behind a tree or bush, both Nick and Uncertainty stumbling on the path, getting cut and bruised along the way. Eventually Nick and Uncertainty reached the end of the forest where a tall mountain stood stretching beyond Nick's field of vision, he could not even see it's summit. Uncertainty looked up the mountain and said:

"It is hard to see the ending of the tallest mountains but we still have to walk on the path in order to eventually find it. The cave is supposed to be at the summit of the mountain. We shouldn't stop here."

Nick gave a silent nod with his head and proceeded up the mountain with Uncertainty. After a long time climbing the mountain they came upon a group of trees and from them a creature jumped out. This creature was red eyed with a pig's head and a teenage boy's body; It was truly a strange sight to Nick. The creature spoke with a squeaky yet loud voice:

"You cannot climb this mountain, it is too high. Look at Uncertainty, see how big he has gotten. The more you climb the mountain the more uncertain things become and the bigger the risks involved."

Nick looked at Uncertainty and he had indeed grown taller, at least by two feet. Nick was unsure of the situation but at this time Uncertainty spoke:

"This fool is named Doubt. He appears whenever someone attempts difficult things in order to mislead them. See how irritating his voice is, it has loudness but no substance or real effect. If we ignore him and persevere we will not hear him anymore."

Nick and Uncertainty ignored Doubt and continued up the mountain, soon they could no longer hear Doubt's voice. Nick was relieved. After continuing for what seemed like hours Nick's shoes were starting to become uncomfortable. He stopped walking to take them off only to find that his feet were bleeding and Nick became visibly frustrated, making a low groan. Uncertainty noticed Nick's feet and his bad mood and spoke:

"What did you expect? Climbing to the top of a mountain is painful. The bleeding and discomfort is apart of the climb. What is the point of becoming upset? Look, there is a pond over there, go and wash your feet so that we can continue the climb."

Nick listened to Uncertainty and went over to the small pond that was a small distance away from their path. Nick spent some time washing his feet, the water felt cool and refreshing. Nick was feeling that it was better to stay here instead of continuing to climb the mountain. At this time a beautiful blonde woman came out of the pond. She had pale blue skin, pink small lips and a curvy figure; her tongue, however, was long and protruded from her mouth seemingly like that of a snake's. She came close to Nick and spoke:

"Young man, how did your feet become so badly hurt, why do that to yourself? Come, I have a cottage at the foot of the mountain. If you walk back down with me, you will have an easier time and you can rest and be comfortable in my cottage for as long as you want."

Nick felt that what the strange woman was saying sounded good. Uncertainty saw Nick's situation and quickly ran over screaming:

"Begone devil! Nick, this temptress is named Betrayal. She comes along during times of comfort telling you lies about the peace and rest she can give you but you should know, turning away from your goals and mission for a promise of comfort is a betrayal of yourself. You will find no peace doing that."

Nick heard Uncertainty's reasoning and agreed with him. He left the pond with Uncertainty and continued up the mountain, his feet hurting the entire time. Eventually they reached the summit of the mountain and found the cave that Uncertainty had spoken of. Before they could enter the cave, a creature jumped out from a clump of bushes and blocked their path. The creature looked like a bipedal goat but had a human like torso and a head with two horns attached. It spoke in a confident tone:

"Travelers, you have done well to get to the top of the mountain, is there really a need to stress yourselves out by entering that cave? Let me tell you, that cave is dark, there are sharp stones everywhere and you may not be able to find your way out once you enter. It is better to relish in your current accomplishment and take it easy for a while."

Uncertainty sneered at the creature.

"Nick, this creature is named Complacency. It wants you to believe that you have really achieved something while you have not. The top of this mountain is just a milestone on an even longer journey, how could we let ourselves be misled and stop here while we can see our goal right in front of us. We have to continue. Complacency only leads to regret."

Nick and Uncertainty pushed complacency aside and entered the cave. Nick and Uncertainty walked together in tandem so that they would not lose each other as the cave was dark and they could not see where they were going. They stumbled a few times over sharp rocks and were cut in many places. They walked into dead ends and had to feel around for another passage to take, sometimes they even bumped into the cave walls and each other but eventually Nick and Uncertainty finally came across a room carved out in the cave walls with a figure sitting within. It was still dark so Nick could not see the figure clearly but it spoke:

"Hello travelers, why have you come here?"

Uncertainty spoke first:

"I am here to get your help because I know that by being together with you, I can accomplish anything successfully."

Nick spoke after Uncertainty:

"I am here for the same reasons as my friend. I want to find out what my magical affinities are."

The figure in the darkness spoke:

"You are not the first to come here to ask for my help but I can only help you if you can tell me my identity. I'll give you a little riddle to help you guess my name but I will absolutely not help you with anything else unless you can solve it and tell me my name. Listen to this, I am bound to all things and all things operate according to me within their own time and place, some people resent me, some people love me but what is for sure is that very few people truly know how to use me."

Nick heard the riddle and became troubled.

(What the hell does any of that mean? How am I supposed to guess your name from that?)

Nick looked beside him waiting for uncertainty to speak but there was only silence.

(Like usual, I can only rely on myself.)

Nick started calling out names that he thought could be the answer to the riddle. He did this for what seemed like hours but got no reply. All his answers were apparently wrong. Suddenly the figure spoke when Nick became exhausted and started to feel hungry:

"Human, you are really stupid. I thought that you could easily answer my riddle since you know my brother but it seems I was wrong. You should leave this place, you have no food or water and you don't seem all that close to the answer."

At this time Uncertainty finally spoke:

"Remember Nick, perseverance is required in times of uncertainty."

Nick was encouraged by that statement and persevered in calling out words that he wasn't even sure would answer the riddle. He knew that he had to try anything to obtain the answer. Time went on until eventually Nick's mouth became parched and he was starving; he was dying of hunger and thirst but he still persevered in calling out words until he called out a certain word:

"Rule."

When Nick said that word, the figure spoke in a cold voice:

"Sigh, well done human, you have guessed my name."

The room suddenly lit up, revealing the figure to be a bipedal wolf like creature with pitch black eyes and menacing looking teeth.

"My name is rules and I am the thing that you are looking for Nick. My brother led you here but clearly provided you with very little information. He sometimes goes by the name Uncertainty but only with those that don't now his real name."

Nick was confused.

"Your brother?"

Nick looked at Uncertainty for clarification.

Uncertainty looked at Nick and spoke with a different but familiar voice:

"It's not my fault that you took this long to answer the riddle. I told you his name when you first came here."

Nick thought back to the voice that spoke to him before he realized that he was in a field. It said, "What do you know about the rules, fool.".

"That was you? Does that mean that the thing you were looking for was me? If uncertainty isn't your real name then what is it?"

Uncertainty shook his head and spoke:

"You are still too weak to know my real name. If you knew it, I would have to help you and that would be like a baby trying to use a sledgehammer. You'll just have to make use of my little brother for now, he will give you what you want for the moment since you now know his name."

Suddenly Uncertainty disappeared. Nick turned to look at rules and rules spoke:

"Young man, when you know the rules everything becomes clear. I am the very magic that you are seeking and as for the magic language that attracted me to you, I will teach it to you in full, it was borne from your own soul anyway, you just aren't consciously aware of it. Also, you should get it out of your head that I may be some kind of 'new' kind of magical energy, I am as old as the concept of time. I am the rules! I am intertwined with all magic just like how time is required to perform all actions. It's just very rare in your realm for someone to use my powers outright."

Nick was happy that he had gotten this far but he was left with another question.

"What now?"

Rules looked deeply at nick then in an instant he appeared in front of Nick, his wolf like features on full display. He breathed heavily in Nick's face and at that moment Nick passed out, his vision going dark. When he awoke again he was on the floor of dean Gecko's office. Dean Gecko looked at Nick with a calm smile and asked:

"So, did everything go well on your little journey?"