Enigmatic Crusade

“Essence is everywhere,” Helen whispered to him. She had become one of the few people Valen was comfortable talking with. The beautiful woman gave him more information than most anyone combined. Sitting across from them at the back of the Behemoth she ignored the other conversations going on around them. “I can feel it. Like…water all around us.” 

“Really?” Valen asked. She nodded, a wide smile splitting her face. Even though they had been on the road for a week she still smelled heavenly. The back of the Behemoth had started stinking a while ago, but being close to her was like being near a flower. “I can’t feel anything.”

“That’s fine. Level up and you will,” she said. “Along with gaining skills for your class, your body gains skills as well. They help you interact with the world around you better.”

“How?” He asked, taking any opportunity he could to talk to her. 

“Sensing essence for one. I’ve heard some people can see it. There is Identify as well,” she said. 

Everyone knew about Identify. One of many staple skills for any adventurer, the skill allowed you to instinctively know information about someone or something. “What level do you get it?”

“Depends on the person, but shouldn’t be too long,” Helen said with a wink. “You have to learn to be patient.”

Valen bit back a retort. They had been on the road for almost a week by that point. He had been in the guild for nearly a month, but he still hadn’t leveled. Day in and out they sat in the Behemoths. At night he set up camps, did the grunt work, then trained with the other recruited guild members. 

As the healer, he was mostly expected to stand at the back, but the raid leader, Dave, was sadistic enough to make the healers learn to fight as well. Forcing them against fully armored foes, Valen had gained a few stat points since they started with the harder training. One in strength, Vitality, and Defense, he was happy he hadn’t spent his free points in the early days. 

Along with his physical increase he had been expanding his mind as well. Julian, Helen, and Houdini liked to talk so they often spoke of skills, spells, and monsters they had seen. He hadn’t gained any stats for this, but he felt more confident that if he went out into the world he would be better prepared. 

Houdini was also a well known alchemist and had spoken of his profession at length. Pulling herbs out of his own spacial bag he explained the poisonous, healthy, and expensive ones in great detail. Valen was starting to feel like an expert in his own right as Houdini liked to quiz Valen on them. Pointing out the effects of mushrooms, and mixing herbs for increased effects was almost like a game for him as he increased his general knowledge. For once in his life he wasn’t deathly afraid to speak to one of the higher leveled people around him. They were almost taking him under their wing as they spent most of their days traveling toward the dungeon. 

It also helped his mood that he was able to hang out with Peter now and then. They hadn’t seen any more monsters close to camp, or had any more run-ins with the Hoffstetter, but they were able to act like their lives hadn’t changed all that much when they got together. Speaking of old times at the orphanage, they helped push back the bad for one another as their days dragged on. 

“Now the true strength of a person is dictated by your faculties,” Helen said, drawing him back into the conversation.

“Faculties? You can have more than one?” He asked. 

“Yes, usually you have one at the beginning. But as you become attuned to the essence around you, you might awaken more. This helps guide the path for your Class and is something I wish I had focused on more,” she said, leaning back sagely. 

“How do you awaken them?”

“You have to-”

“Please shut up,” Hank barked as he sat up more. His armor loudly clanged as he looked at the two of them. “Explaining this crap to him isn’t going to do anything. The only way to truly gain strength is by fighting. Last I checked…yep, kid is still level 1. So please knock it off and let me sleep.” 

“That’s all you do is sleep,” Helen hissed. “Sleep, and fart, and shit. You’re just pissed because you haven’t killed anything in a full day.”

“So what if I am?” He asked incredulously. “Stuck in this coffin for a week straight with you lot? If we had a little more bloodshed, at least it would be interesting. I don’t know how I got talked into this, again. It’s always slow as shit going to these dungeons in the boonies. I’d rather be around town, spending my time fuck-” He stopped as the vehicle lurched forward. The normally silent engine revved loudly as the Behemoth tipped back. 

“Fucking pit,” someone standing up to see through the tiny window said. “Hope we aren’t stuck.”

Valen tensed up. He knew that their road had disappeared and they were currently traveling through the Swamp. More accurately the Hellecka Swamp. One of many zones in the vicinity of New Rapids, it was right on the edge of their territory. The Swamp was also the supposed location of the new dungeon. 

The vehicle became level once more and the room quieted. Hesitant to piss off Hank, he still wanted to ask Helen’s opinion on something. 

“Was there a swamp here back in the day?” He asked. 

“Back in the…oh, the old world?” She asked with a smile.

“Damn kid, your education sucks,” someone scoffed.

Valen shrugged. They weren’t wrong. Aunt Fiona had explained the terrain changed when they were teleported form the old Earth, but he wanted to know what high leveled people knew. Maybe it was different from what he was taught. 

“No, there was no swamp here, back in the day,” Helen said with a shake of her head. “This area used to be part of a state called Iowa, or was it Nebraska?”

“Iowa,” someone said.

“Either way, the place used to be flat as can be. All farm land. How the System rep explained it to me, our planet was teleported here to the Infinite Sphere a long time ago. It was here for thousands of years, stretched out, injected with Essence. Over time that Essence changed the landscape. Some areas could be tropical, others as cold as the North Pole. Just depended on the Essence in them.”

“The Earth was stretched?” Valen asked slowly. 

“Made bigger for sure. That’s why most cities are thousands of miles away from one another,” she said. 

“But you all were teleported here, right?” Valen asked. Everyone around him was close to twice his age, so they had lived on the old world. “Were you put to sleep for thousands of years? Then woken up when the System decided?”

The passengers were quiet with that question. People most likely remembering where they were when they were ripped away from their planet. Sometimes Valen forgot what it must have been like for them. Taken from their world, plopped down on this new Earth, expected to fight or die. Each one of these people had risked death to get the gear they wore and levels they had. He needed to remember that. 

A part of him had hoped for an answer, but as the silence stretched he knew one wouldn’t come. The quiet was abruptly stopped as the vehicle slowed to a halt. The driver in the hatch at the front announced, “Looks like we can’t drive any further.”

“Finally,” Hank the Tank said as he got up. Pushing a large red button at the back, the door opened downward to act as a ramp for those leaving. Valen stayed out of their way as people got up, gathered their packs and stepped out. 

When he was the last person inside he slowly walked out to find that the swamp was as he had heard. Pale green moss underfoot, there was a distinct wet smell that was new to Valen. Looking around they were atop a wide island. Murky black water all around him there were massive trees about fifty feet away. Each one was covered in moss or black bark. The trees towered over all of them, the leaves drooping down and covered in what looked like moss as well.

With a rasp Valen coughed loudly in his hand. Pulling his hand away from his mouth he noticed it was filled with blood. His eyes wide he turned to Julian who let out an annoyed sigh. 

“Fuck, I forgot about the miasma,” he said. Digging into his pack he pulled out a small bottle filled with a clear liquid. “Everyone, give the newbies some antidote.” People cursed and slowly dug in their own packs. Julian handed the potion to Valen who drank it greedily. As the liquid touched his through he felt his esophagus actually cool to the liquid’s touch. His throat had been burning up without him noticing. “You should be good for a day. Come to me when you need another.”

Valen wanted to ask to have more just in case, but left it. Julian was already off with the other high leveled people. The strongest of the group met up with Dave at the front of the caravan and spoke quietly as they pointed further into the swamp. Given no job to do, Valen gravitated to Peter’s vehicle. 

The big man looked tired as usual, but at least Hoffstetter was off trying to listen in on the debriefing by Dave. “Know anything?”

“Lots of monsters,” Peter admitted. “Had to stop a few times.” Peter was in the second vehicle and though there was a large gap between all the vehicles, sometimes they would have to stop to help with a big group. Though Peter still didn’t have a level, he said he was close to fighting a couple of monsters. Valen guessed that Hoffstetter had swooped in to steal the kills though.

“Any idea where this thing is?” Valen asked, curiously. They had all been tight lipped about the dungeon. None knew exactly where it was, because the more that knew, the more likely the information would get sold to another guild. The dungeon wasn’t in Raging’s control until they were the first ones to raid it. That was the reason for the big rush to get there, at least how Julian told it. 

“Close,” Peter said. “Learn anything?” The passengers with Valen were a lot more talkative than Peter’s. He had shared all the information he could remember with his friend. A gain for one was a gain for both of them, and the last thing Valen wanted was to leave his friend behind. He slowly began explaining what Helen had touched on, but it wasn’t too long until Dave spoke to the whole raid. 

“We are within about two hours of the dungeon entrance. Our backup position will be here for now. But I want to make camp closer to the dungeon entrance. Everyone grab your gear and let’s move out,” he said. The caravan became abuzz with activity then. Recruits knew their jobs as they gathered spacial bags and other items. 

A full team was left to watch the vehicles for the time being. Unlucky for Peter, he was included in that team. Because the Swamp was known for causing plenty of damage, Valen was chosen to go with the main group to help set up camp. A Porter class was assigned to place lights along their path, and they set out. 

The swamp itself was a black water mire with sporadic isles and trees. The closest island to the one they had parked on was about 75 feet away, which was nothing to the higher leveled adventurers. Able to jump, float, or fly to the next one the recruits were forced to swim. After Helen of Destroy threw a magic bomb in the water to make certain there were no strong beasts hiding inside, the recruits were expected to swim across. 

Well not all the recruits were. The Hoffstetter pulled a small floating craft from his large spacial storage and floated off after the adventurers. Valen was left to swim from island to island in the wake of destruction caused by the adventurers. Corpses gathered up and thrown into their own spacial bags the path was marred with torn up moss, craters from explosions, and plenty of black blood. 

Valen guessed he was probably lucky he wouldn’t have to see any monsters. He knew the Swamp was a high level zone that most couldn’t survive in. Despite the miasma, the place was a death trap for anyone inexperienced. The Raging guild members made it look easy though as the sounds from their fights echoed back to the recruits.

Grumbling from everyone, Valen did what he always did. Focused on the job at hand. Pulling himself up to an island he ran across it only to dive back into the water. He wasn’t a person, just a machine that did what needed to be done to keep going. His feelings didn’t matter to these people, and thus they shouldn’t matter to him. 

After over an hour of travel the noise of fighting ceased, and the wet and mossy Swamp gave way to a rocky and mossy terrain. The higher ups of the guild found a semi-flat area to set up camp and the recruits went to work as Dave and the other leaders went further up the rocky terrain. 

Valen didn’t grumble once as he worked. Setting up the tents as he was told he was able to get a meal of bread and meat from the cook of the expedition. Finding a secluded spot he stripped down and let his clothes dry in the evening sun as he thought of his prospects. 

It had been a month since he joined Raging. Just five more months to go and he could start leaving on expeditions that were more his level. He just had to put up with all of this until then. Then life would become easier. He could level like normal people, and stop living under the boot of everyone he talked to. The Hoffstetter, Julian, Hank, even Helen. Valen didn’t like this power dynamic at all. 

For so many years he told himself he just had to put up with it until he was 16. Now that day had come and gone. Yet, he was still under the boot of someone. A part of him wished he had taken Claire up on the offer of leaving town. He didn’t want to admit it, but he missed her above anyone. Her bright smile and attitude was something that he had grown to love in his days with her, but now he was tied to this guild. Forced to wait for his turn. Put in his dues because seniority and levels were king. He looked forward to the day that this was a distant memory. 

“Valen!” A voice rang out causing him to jump. His clothes still wet, Valen put them on anyway and headed back to camp. The recruits were all gathered up with Julian and Dave at their head. Already talking, Valen ran toward them so he didn’t miss anything. 

“As they explore inside, we have decided to let you get close to the dungeon,” Dave said. “We don’t want you or anyone running off in the middle of the night to get a glimpse of it. The dungeon is definitely too high of a level for any of you. So don’t risk going inside, but outside is fine.”

The recruits excitedly agreed. Valen tried to not let his recent thoughts show on his face. Mentally he had been dissing all of these people a moment ago, then they did something that took his and the other’s feelings in mind. Happy to finally lay eyes on the dungeon they followed dutifully behind. 

Valen trailing the large group, he watched his steps on the rocks. Careful to not injure himself before a lifelong dream came to fruition. The path that the large group had made earlier was easy to follow. Large rocks moved out of the way, gravel disturbed, and a lack of moss was a good sign for them as the hill they were on became more steep. 

The Cleric from his group still tripped in front of him and Valen grabbed onto her, helping the girl up. “Thanks,” she mumbled, but he didn’t care. His eyes were focused above as a small cave came into view. 

It was rather indistinct. Almost a part of the landscape to him there was just as much moss and rocks around it. The only thing showing it was a cave was a dark expanse inside. Two adventurers stood outside of the cave, looking out for monsters or perhaps other guilds that might have followed them. 

Dave and Julian took the lead and stepped into the cave. The first recruit up to the mouth of the cave let out a gasp and disappeared inside. Nervous, Valen was the last to get close enough and he too let out a gasp. 

Inside, the floor of the cave went downward, opposite the incline he was on. The place already had some floating orbs inside, illuminating the dungeon entrance. Just as he had heard it was like a portal to another world. Bright multicolored lights swirled in the rift in space, cascading away from the entrance far from where he could see. The dungeon portal itself was about twenty feet tall, irregularly shaped to fill the tunnel of the cave; it exuded power as the colors swirled around it. 

Slowly catching himself he made his way down the short tunnel to the portal. Dave’s voice was echoing loudly as he approached. “This marks the 24th dungeon owned by Raging. Possibly the highest leveled one we have been able to find, the rest of the groups are already inside and-” He stopped and looked at an invisible notification. 

Valen was surprised when he too received a notification. 

“Oh fuck!” Julian and Dave said in unison. 

“Everyone run-” Dave said but the swirling portal exploded outward engulfing him, the other recruits, and Valen before anything could be done. Too much happening around him his vision filled with the torrent of colors as his skin began to burn and he was taken off his feet as he was pulled somewhere far away.