Capítulo 5: Trial by fire
It stood at least ten feet tall and the other portal now spun around it. Its body is rigid and full of scars, and it wielded a huge spiked club that looked abominable. There was a huge mouth full of rugged sharp teeth that seemed to salivate as it growled from the thick end of the weapon.
"Really?" I asked.
"Really."
I prepared myself to defend as it charged at me like a bull seeing movement for the first time. It lifts and swings the mace behind its head and strikes a huge blow in my direction, and I barely managed to evade the attack by tumbling sideways. And I'm glad I did. The wooden floor got pulverized. If that was my head, it would be squashed by now. I quickly stood up and reached for Jean's blade, but all I felt was the empty slot of the sheath.
Fuck.
My eyes darted around the hall, looking for the blade I tossed earlier. I see it on the middle-right side of the room and glanced around the giant. Its eyes are locked and lifeless, and it has already recovered, getting ready for another one. I sprinted towards the room and picked Jean's weapon up. Now I'm ready... Where did he go?
...
Ah, shit.
It struck immediately after I looked, and I managed to defend by using the weapon as a shield. However, the force was so strong that it still sent me flying, colliding me back-first against the wall. I whimper and cough as I struggle to keep myself up, and I look back to see the monster stomping towards me. I can feel myself burning up, and I steadily look at my hand. It's trembling. Is this fear?
...
No. I'm just hungry.
I rush towards the savage and tried to lunge a stab in the eye, but it was interrupted by his right hand snatching me in mid-air. What happened next was rather disturbing; I felt a sharp pain on my thighs and heard this rough crunch on my legs. That's when I realize it. The mace is eating me alive. I try flailing around and stabbing its arm, but it still wouldn't budge. Fuck. Okay. Think. How should I get out of this? Wait. Out, out... You just need to hit where it came out! That's it! Okay, fucker. Let's see how you like THIS!
It let out a bloodcurdling scream as I pierced its eye by throwing the blade like a javelin. It staggered around the room and I instantly knew where the weak spot was. It did come at a price, though. As if one wasn't enough, it flung me across another wall, stronger this time. I'm no acrobat, so I crashed once again.
"WOO! YOU GOT IT, CHIEF!" Jean screamed.
"HOW ABOUT HELPING ME OUT HERE !? THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A PUZZLE ! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THE PORTALS TURNED INTO BOSS FIGHTS!" I shouted back. We can talk just fine even if we're far away from each other, but the bastard's bellowing over his broken eye is making it a lot harder for us.
"RELAX! YOU CAN DO IT! THAT'S THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GET IN, AFTER ALL!" Oh. He heard.
YOU'RE LYING! I CAN ALSO GO INSIDE IF I LET YOU DO THE SOLVING!!"
"WELL, YEAH! THERE'S THAT! BUT RUSAR OVER HERE WOULD PROBABLY BE VERY PISSED IF YOU DO THAT... AND HE WILL NOT LET YOU BUY FROM HIM!" So his name's Rusar. That sounds nice.
"WHAT?! THEN I'LL JUST MAKE YOU BUY IT, THEN!"
"I CAN HEAR YOU!"
I look back and watch as one of the gems dancing around it gets grabbed by the brute. It then lifts its weapon and... eats it? What? Isn't that supposed to be its friend? Oh, wait. Something's happening. Smoke is starting to emanate from its body and... it got skinny? What the heck? How do you even get skinny from eating something? What a weird world, this is. A red aura forms in place of the eye I just severed. What is it fo-- OHHHHH! Oh, I get it now. The eye regenerates if it eats one of those gems. That's kind of strange but okay, I guess.
...
The weapon changed as well. The mace that gave me a damn hard time somehow got a lot thinner like a staff, and the spikes were replaced by a crescent. I also notice a red jewel spinning slowly on the stick, just inside the mouth of the curve. Red magic seems to wrap around the new eye, and the gem on the staff is gradually starting to glow. Whatever it's doing, I'm very sure I don't want to find out. I rush ahead and jump at a height exactly just above its head (Thanks for the magic, Jean), swinging at the eye. I was expecting another scream, but nothing came. It just went through. I land directly in front of it and see the unmoving eye still there, and I instantly felt a huge boot right after.
...
And then it started. It was small at first. I thought it was a stab, because it had the exact sensation when Jean did the same. I can't believe how wrong I was. The tingling continued to rise slowly. Little by little, it starts to become too much, and I barely manage to kneel on the ground, using the steel as support. The flames feel warm. Unbearably warm. Like something deep in my core. Whatever that is, I can't figure out. The eye stared me down, and I can't avoid thinking that this is what it needed. Suffering.
...
Too bad for him. I'm not going to give him the luxury . I was burning alive, but that didn't bother me. Okay, it did bother me a bit, but what mattered more was my pride. How history will write this down. How the bards will sing my name. How this story will take me. I'll also need a cool nickname. Yes. I'll keep that in mind. Anyways, back to work. My clothes seem to be unaffected, which is a huge help. Jean won't need to buy another one for a while. The only thing burning is my body; a curse, perhaps? Only one way to find out. Despite feeling like I just got skinned, I still went and managed to act like everything was normal. And that pissed him off. The huge eyeball floating in place of the head actually started to glare, the lifelessness from before turning into contempt. It points its finger in my direction and a spell starts to form around it as I notice the jewel from the staff slowly starting to glow again. It's preparing for another attack.
I ran around the room, covering the brute by spinning in circles, because that's the only way I can think of. You can't attack someone who's constantly moving, plus the burning feeling gets a little relieved when I run. Funny as it was, I think it's working. The eye followed me around like a wild dog who'd just been fed, and it's having a hard time pointing its finger at me. Serves him right. I wonder if it gets dizzy from all of this. I stopped on his right and struck the back of its knee, making a huge gash out of it. Unfortunately, the mouth was nowhere to be found and it can't scream like the little bitch he is. I continued hacking my way through its leg as I hear Jean's shrieking on the background.
"THAT'S MY BOY!!"
"STOP DISTRACTING ME! YOU'RE IN THE WAY!"
Now, there were no physical barriers like before. I'm just annoyed because I can't focus when he's constantly yelling. Not to mention the fact that I also feel like I'm getting deep-fried. You can't blame me. I back away just in time to avoid its right hand punch, and it takes a step forward and swings the staff with his left. I replied by meeting the blow with a slash of my own, splitting the giant's weapon in half. The ornament on the staff glowed as it flied around the room, and I watch as the aura surrounding the eye slowly faded away. So that's the reason why it didn't work. I pounced at the creature just as he was about to reach the orb and attempted to stab again. Dark grey mixed with red as the eye spouted raw magic from the impact, its body disintegrating like firewood burning its last fuel. A surge of energy poured back into me as the curse slowly got undone. Finally.
It's done.
" Good job, Sol! We're going to celebrate with drinks later! "
" Drinks as in alcohol? I'll pass, thank you. I just want to get this over with and go to sleep. "
" Okay! I'll go find us somewhere to stay after we drink! "
" Like I said, I'm not into drin-- "
" Well, well, well. " a rough voice speaks behind my back. It was Rusar standing behind the monolith with a smug grin.
" Well done on defeating my guards. However, that served no purpose on the real objective. You still have to find where the entrance is. You still have a long way t--- what are you doing?"
"You know, this is funny, but all this hacking and slashing is making me start to think to myself: Maybe there's no entrance after all, maybe there is, maybe you're one of the guards as well. Maybe you're the entrance. You never know. I guess I should try it out." I casually say as I draw Jean's blade and lightly grip the handle with both hands.
"W-What? Try what out? I'm no illusion. Fuck. That's not what I...N-No, really. I'm the real owner of this shop. I swear."
"Then duck."
"EEK!"
The blade passed just over the head of Rusar as he crouches and screams while holding his face with both his hands. It's really funny because the sound he produced can be comparable to an old lady finding out that she'll soon be a grandmother. Jean hysterically laughs as he opens his eyes and looks behind him, only to find another portal opening from the now broken pillar.
"How did you know?" he chuckled.
"Hard work. It's a damn good one, I'll give you that. Using the portals to lure me away from the real entrance. I only realized on the second fight."
"You still scream like an old lady, Rusar! It sure gets me every time. I can't even wipe my tears off because of this damn armor." Jean giggled as he made his way towards us.
"Why don't you take it off, then?" I asked.
"It's too much of a pain, to be honest. Now... This game's over, you damn sadist. Stop stalling and let us in!"
"Alright! Alright! You win this time, haggler." Rusar furrowed his eyebrows. Jean looks at me and I toss the sword back to him, but he didn't catch it. Rusar makes his way towards the entrance, laughing as Jean picked it up from the ground. He's pretty calm for someone who got his head almost cut in half. All of Jean's friends sure are strange. With an exhausted body and a hungry stomach, I follow Jean as he went inside.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder