The statue was almost a carbon copy of the one found at the beginning of the dungeon. It was a stone carving, with the only difference from the last one being that this one pointed down each corridor with one arm. Once again, Brandon noticed that the crafter hadn't been generous with the proportions, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the statue while quietly giggling to himself.
He focused on the statue, and a screen appeared.
"I'm getting way too used to this fucking screen shit," Brandon muttered as he started reading.
"Congratulations, wizard. You have come far and, hopefully, learned a good deal about how to fight. Before you is a choice. You can take the easy way out and leave the dungeon via the corridor on the right, and I will grant you your reward now."
Brandon looked down the corridor and saw faint traces of light illuminating the far reaches of the stone walls. He started to take a step, but then decided he would at least read what the other corridor had in store for him. He focused on the statue again, and the screen reappeared.
"However, should you take the path on the right, there is one more enemy for you to fight. This one is one of my creations, and beating it will reward you with the best item still in store here at the dungeon. The choice is yours. Good luck."
"One more enemy?" Brandon muttered. He glanced down the left corridor, but all he could see was darkness, with the occasional rock or root—he wasn't sure which—sticking out of the walls and floor.
"I really don't want to fight whatever this creation thing is, but what I do want is the reward," he reasoned aloud, unconsciously taking a couple of steps into the left corridor. "Wait, what the fuck am I doing?" he asked himself, realizing he was walking. "Ah, fuck it. I made it this far, right? How hard could this last fight be?"
He conjured his whip and set it alight. "Time to take a fight I'm choosing," he said confidently, then strode forward.
He got about 15 meters down the corridor before he heard a loud slam behind him. He turned in panic. "What the fuck was that?" he shouted, and realized the corridor had locked him into his choice. Now, feeling a little more uncertain, he realized there was no going back. He took a deep breath and continued down the corridor, trying to find the confidence he had a moment ago.
Brandon quickly regained his stride and made his way down the corridor. He noted that he was moving generally in an upwards direction and walked for at least an hour, from what he could tell, without the ability to see the sun.
He reached a corner. The walls were stone and rock, but they had been growing more and more uneven, and Brandon reasoned he was getting near the end. He could finally see light peeking around the corner. Moving around it, he saw that the cave opened to the sky. He could see none of the trees or jungle that he had been in when entering the dungeon. All he could see was stars and the moon.
He exited the dungeon and took a long, deep breath. "That’s the shit," Brandon said, a smile spreading on his face. He looked out and around, noting the moon high in the sky. "I guess it’s roughly midnight," he muttered as he turned on the spot.
He was at the top of the mountain he had been on. It turns out that the ledge he could see from the bottom was actually the top. He guessed it just jutted inwards and continued up, shrouded by the leaves from the trees below.
He looked downwards and noted the jungle he was firmly in the middle of appeared to go on forever. "Where the fuck do I go after this?" he said aloud, noting that in no direction he looked could he see any form of town or settlement. But what he did see scared the shit out of him.
He saw some kind of monster. He had no idea what it was and couldn’t make out the details, but he could clearly see it standing twice the size of the trees it was trampling on. He watched as the silhouette reached down, and Brandon heard a faint cry as the creature stood up again and lifted whatever it had found to its mouth.
"What the actual fuck?" Brandon muttered, his heart racing.
Brandon wasn’t too sure how high up he was, but he was high. The trees below were already taller than any tree he had ever seen on Earth, and whatever he had seen was at least twice their size—maybe even taller. He had no doubt that if it was near this mountain, it would be close to reaching the top of it.
Brandon took an unconscious step backwards as he watched the beast walk through the distant foliage. "If that thing is ever near me, I’m fucking done," he thought, frantically scanning the horizon. "Come on, come on, there has to be some kind of safe zone or city or something..." His voice cracked with desperation as he spoke, but he couldn’t see anything.
He looked around the small plateau he was standing on and noted that it was completely open, broken only by small rocks that peeked up out of the ground. He noticed the part of the mountain that jutted up at the far end of the landing he had walked out of. He figured this had clearly somehow been placed here, as the rocks looked so out of place. The way they made almost a perfect archway for the exit from the dungeon seemed unnatural. But he had no idea how they would have gotten boulders big enough up here.
"Magic, Brandon. They used fucking magic," he muttered, slapping his forehead with his palm. He walked over to the closed rock and took a seat. Then he thought to himself, "Isn’t there supposed to be some kind of enemy up here?"
He looked around, confused, until his eyes drifted up from the archway he had walked out of—and saw it.
He felt his body tremble as he looked up at the hulking creature perched atop the archway. "How the fuck did I not notice that?" he mumbled to himself, cautiously making his way to the opposite end of the plateau. He couldn’t stop looking at the creature above him, though he couldn’t make out much detail. What he could see was a large body made of dark stone, with some kind of light coming from between its joints and various other parts of its body. There were also strange formations that jutted out from the creature’s back, adding to its imposing, otherworldly appearance.
He tried to focus on it, but as he did, he noticed something come from behind the creature—or, as Brandon realized, someone.
Re-conjuring his whip, Brandon shouted, "Please tell me I’m supposed to fight you and not whatever that is!" He tried to calm his heartbeat, which felt like it was pounding so hard it might make him fall over the edge.
Brandon heard a chuckle in response as the figure casually glided down to him, defying gravity with ease. "Believe me, young one, I would kill you in an instant if we were to fight in your current state," came a voice that sounded impossibly old.
"Who are you?" Brandon asked, gripping his whip tighter, prepared to defend himself if he had to.
The figure landed in front of Brandon, and he took stock of the man’s appearance. The man was slightly shorter than average, barely coming up to Brandon’s shoulders, and wore what appeared to be a clean black suit with a white tie. His face was sunken with age, and he had very little hair left on his head, but his eyes gave Brandon pause.
They were pure black, almost leaking energy, as if the man had starved the rest of his body to funnel all his power into his eyes. Brandon was certain that, if necessary, this man could defend himself against anything—or, if Brandon was particularly unlucky, decide to attack instead.
Brandon must have been staring at the figure’s eyes for slightly too long, as the man finally spoke.
"I am what they call a Vision Mage. By specialization, I can see many things that the average person cannot and make things easier or harder to see for others. Though, that is not my passion—at least, not anymore." He gestured back toward the creature above the archway.
"He was my first creation," the man continued, his voice tinged with fondness as he looked up at the hulking figure.
"Oh, but where are my manners?" he added, almost as if he’d been scolded for forgetting. "My name is Khaross, and you are in my dungeon—or one of my dungeons, at least. Congratulations, by the way. Even though it was an easier dungeon, you have performed well."
"Thank you?" Brandon questioned, still trying to calm his heartbeat as he relaxed his grip on the whip. He figured that if the man was going to fight him, he would have done so already.
"I kind of came in here on accident, honestly," Brandon continued, deciding he should probably be honest with the man, considering it was his dungeon after all. And what if those eyes could see lies if one told them?
The figure smiled. "Oh? Is that so?" he replied, tilting his head. "Are you not a wizard?" he asked, eyeing Brandon’s whip.
"Oh, no, that I am. But I have no idea where I am or what I'm doing," Brandon confirmed, hoping to get some kind of answer out of the man.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Just arrived on the planet, then?" the figure asked again, now looking over Brandon, as if trying to analyze him. Did that work on humans? Brandon mentally questioned as he focused on the man standing in front of him.
"Khaross, Vision Mage," the screen displayed in front of him.
Khaross chuckled. "That won’t work on me, not at your level anyway. If you’re in this dungeon, you’re less than level 10 in your specialization, and I’m well into the Eight Hundreds," he said.
Brandon was shocked. "Eight hundreds?" he stammered out, realizing that this man could probably kill him with a stray thought. The idea that he could protect himself with his whip now seemed utterly impossible.
"Don't fret, child. I mean you no harm personally," Khaross said, waving a hand dismissively. "This isn’t even really me," he continued, gesturing to his own body. "One of my abilities lets me send copies of myself to various places. This one has been sitting here, waiting, until someone challenged my creation," he said, his voice calm and almost consoling, as if trying to put Brandon at ease.
Brandon, trying to regain his composure, asked, "Can you tell me what that thing is out there? The giant one?" He pointed off to the side where the massive creature was still trampling through the jungle. He was still trying to wrap his head around the man’s words. "Eight hundreds," he thought. "Holy shit."
His thoughts were interrupted by Khaross's voice.
"Ironically, I cannot see far enough from this copy to actually make it out," Khaross chuckled. "A vision mage who can't see something…." It seemed almost as if this was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. Brandon couldn’t help but think the man had lost some of his mind along with his hair.
"Though, knowing the area, it’s likely some form of colossus," Khaross continued, once the laughter had faded. "Anyway, I asked you a question. Are you new to the planet?"
Brandon felt a wave of discomfort wash over him. He hesitated, wondering whether this was information he should be freely giving away. After a moment of thought, he decided it was worth the risk. Who else could answer his questions better? Well, maybe Veylan, but the chances of finding him right now were slim.
"I was summoned to this hellhole yesterday," Brandon admitted.
"Summoned yesterday?" Khaross said, confusion momentarily scrunching up his face. "So you're new to the entire system, then?" he continued, now examining Brandon much more closely.
Brandon could have sworn he saw a flicker of concern cross Khaross's face, but it was gone in an instant, replaced by a look of benign interest as the man quickly schooled his expression.
"Yeah, I guess so," Brandon replied, letting the conjuration of his whip dissipate as he walked over and sat on one of the stones jutting out from the plateau. "I got some stupid message on my phone, then I was here, and now I have no fucking clue where I am or what I'm fucking doing," Brandon complained to Khaross, frustration bubbling up in his chest.
"Well, first of all, you’ve been teleported to the tutorial planet, Seldeenya, owned and operated by the Duresque Corporation," Khaross said, taking a seat across from Brandon. "This was my tutorial world as well, though that was a long, long time ago now," he continued, a look of fondness crossing his face as he spoke the last few words.
"This world was designed to get new people that the Duresque Corporation either purchases directly or, likely in your case, acquires from their universe. Then they bring over a number of people as an advanced test to see how the people of that universe will react on a general level. I don’t agree that a few people are a good sample for an entire universe, but at the end of the day, they’re a major player in the wider universe, and who’s to tell them what they can and cannot do?"
Khaross began speaking in a more lecturing tone, and Brandon was reminded of his time in school when his teachers would drone on for hours, barely pausing to take a breath.
"So they bought me?" Brandon said, his anger rising. "How can they just buy a fucking person?" he continued, his voice getting louder as he picked up a loose rock and threw it over the edge into the dark forest. He never heard it hit the ground or any of the trees.
"Technically yes, and technically no. Let me try to explain." Khaross began, his voice taking on a more measured tone. "Duresque only bought the planets, not the people. It's rare that they buy people, though don't get me wrong—there are companies out there, major corporations, that buy people and use them as slaves." Khaross spat the last part out, his disgust evident. "But you're free to go wherever you want and do whatever you want. It seems they deemed you most suited for the role of wizard, so they sent you to the wizard tutorial world closest to your planet that they controlled."
Khaross paused, the anger still evident in his voice but quickly fading as he finished speaking.
"Then what exactly do they want with my planet and universe?" Brandon asked, calming slightly at Khaross's words as he resumed his position on the rock closest.
"They will turn it into hunting grounds and plant the seeds for various beasts to inhabit the planets—likely with each ranging in difficulty and level of enemies," Khaross said, eyeing Brandon for his reaction. All he noticed, however, was a look of concern and worry creeping onto Brandon's face.
"What will happen to all the rest of the people there then?" Brandon asked, voicing his growing concerns.
"Planet by planet, they will likely get the same treatment as you," Khaross said, his tone casual, as if it were standard knowledge that entire populations could just be removed to other universes against their will. "Once they have the necessary data and are prepared to start the transformation process of the planets."
"And how long does that take?" Brandon asked, his worry and frustration giving way slightly to curiosity. "Until they're ready, I mean, and what do you mean by 'transforming the planets'?"
"Sometimes it can take millennia; sometimes just a few years to start the process. It really all depends on how prepared they were for the purchase of the new universe, honestly. But usually, the Duresque Corporation is quite quick, and I would likely give it approximately 10 years before the people are at least brought over and the transformation process begins. That includes the system expanding all the planets, with the owning company able to influence the flora and fauna, along with the level placements of the planet.
For example, a corporation could want thousand-plus level monsters on a planet, and the system could determine that the planet needs to grow in size by approximately ten times to support those creatures.
But this is getting way ahead of ourselves," Khaross added with a slight chuckle, "and besides, there’s nothing you can do about it now."
Khaross remained stoic, watching Brandon closely for his reaction. Once again, all he received was a mixture of concern, worry, and a tinge of anger.
"Fine, there’s nothing I can do," Brandon said, a resigned look coming over his face. "Is there a way I can even get home? See my daughter?" he asked almost pleadingly, his thoughts drifting to Sarah.
Khaross, watching, understood. This strange young human’s pain was clear—being ripped away from family was never easy.
"Sadly, no," Khaross answered with a soft voice. "All I can say is that hopefully, when the people of your world are truly integrated, you’ll find each other." He finished with a consoling smile, though Brandon couldn’t see it through the tears clouding his eyes.
He quickly brushed them away, trying to compose himself. Changing the topic, he asked, "Is there a city around here or something?"
He stood up and walked over to the edge of the plateau, looking out over the forest at the large silhouette in the distance.
"Sarah," Brandon thought as memories flooded his mind. He saw himself pushing her on the swings when she was a child, all the little things kids did together. He tried to hold it together, but he couldn’t keep the tears back anymore. They dripped down his face, hot and uncontrollable.
"For what it’s worth, I am sorry," Khaross interrupted, stepping up to stand beside him. "I was in a similar situation when my world was acquired." He spat the last words. "Though we were acquired by a company long since destroyed—one that took us as slaves."
Khaross’s anger began to rise. "My son and I were kept as slaves to a noble. And in a fit of rage, the bastard killed him. I watched that man kill Astrin in front of me, and I couldn’t handle it. Something in me broke, and the limited powers I had at the time somehow gave me the opportunity to kill him. To this day, I believe the system took pity on me and powered up my measly attacks."
Brandon reeled. He couldn’t believe what the man was saying. He couldn’t fathom watching your child be killed in front of you.
For a short while, the two men stood in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, remembering family. Then Khaross spoke.
"There is a city on the outskirts of this forest in that direction." Khaross pointed into the distance.
"Of course it is," Brandon muttered, shaking his head. A breathy chuckle escaped him. "Of course it fucking is."
Khaross had pointed in the direction of the colossus that was roaming the jungle.
"That thing shouldn’t be a problem. There is usually an adventuring team kept on hand for things like that, and they should handle it," Khaross confirmed, resolute in his assumption.
"You know, I never got your name," Khaross mentioned, walking back toward the rock he had been sitting on.
Brandon realized he had never given it. "Oh, my name’s Brandon," he replied quickly, a small grin crossing his face. "Sorry, terrifying beast thing sitting on the rocks, and a guy who could kill me in seconds—kind of had my mind elsewhere, you know?"
Khaross chuckled, clearly amused.
"Well, Brandon," Khaross said, turning more serious, "you have approximately six hours until the sun comes up. As much as I’ve enjoyed our conversation, you have a battle to take place. I will keep the beast inactive until the sun rises and allow you to sleep, if you would like?" He gestured up toward his creation.
"I would appreciate that," Brandon replied.
"And on the subject of your daughter..." Khaross started, and Brandon locked onto the man’s words.
"Though I cannot take you to her, nor bring her to you at the moment, I have in store here a talisman. When she has been integrated into this universe, it will blaze with light and do all it can to direct you to her. If you wish, that can be your reward. It was originally supposed to be a staff, if you would prefer that, though," Khaross offered, looking at Brandon expectantly.
"I used to need a cane to move back on Earth. No fucking way am I walking around with a staff," Brandon replied, earning another chuckle from Khaross.
"Thank you," Brandon added, extending his hand to shake Khaross's.
"Good luck, Brandon. Should you be victorious and survive the battle, I will speak to you after and award you with the talisman, along with instructions on how to use it," Khaross said, also extending his hand and shaking Brandon’s.
With that, Khaross looked to the sky and rose a few feet. "Good luck again, Brandon," he said just before he disappeared.
Brandon, for his part, looked up at the giant bastard sitting on the archway he had come out of, then realized, "Fuck me, I probably should’ve at least asked what it fucking was," he moaned aloud, frustration again evident on his face.
He stood resolute. "So, to find my daughter, I have to kill you. So be it," he reasoned, then looked around for somewhere to lay down.
It was actually relatively warm atop the plateau, which surprised Brandon, and he was glad considering he had no blanket or anything to use as one. He found a suitable spot where a little bit of grass had covered a patch of dirt and lay down, thoughts coursing through his mind about all that had happened. His mind was racing. "I’m a fucking wizard," he said with boyish enthusiasm, and let his mind wander with the possibilities until he fell asleep.
