Downstairs, the scenery changed a bit.
Instead of beautiful marble, the stone was much more rough and dark. Made of bricks of a sturdy material, likely built to make it stronger to cave-ins instead of being a beautiful sign of status.
But as luck had it, it was not enough. Whatever shook the building and sent it there was strong enough to destroy corridors and rooms.
The first room I found was simir to a security checkpoint. There was a now broken chain fence gate with a desk behind, with files cabinets on the side. A rge pedestal was in front of the gate.
They were protecting something down there, so I had to be on the right path.
I moved forward, through the broken gate.
The broken fence made me feel uneasy. Bent towards the inside, something moved in, and it was the size of a dog.
[I am still tying to enter the building’s databank, if I can salvage anything, but no use so far]
“Maybe it eroded? This pce appears to have been abandoned for a while.”
[Hmmm… no. Is odd, because normally I should be able to find pieces of scattered data. But everything is corrupted, impossible to read…]
Next corridor, I could only move left. The other side and another door on the other side were blocked by debris from a cave-in.
Blue crystals, emitting an ethereal light, were the only light inside of the corridors, kept on thanks to the magic that still resided in there.
There was more moss than ivy, with puddles of what I decided was water. I had no intention to touch it so Erika would analyze it, even when I had no skin to feel grossed out.
That is when I saw myself in the reflection in one of those puddles.
I could see myself with [Soul Sense] just fine, no need to be using mirrors. Yet, seeing myself like that was like a complete confirmation. I never got any need to approach any of the kes inside the caverns, so I never saw myself like that, from my perspective.
Somehow, it made me feel alien.
I thought I had accepted my new form, a spirit inside of a sword. But I still had the experience of that monster that looked like me lingering in my mind.
Was that a human? It didn’t feel like it. It was like it was on automatic, programmed to act in a specific way and react under specific conditions. Why was it guarding the exit? No idea.
But it looked like me except for those minor details.
I was impressed I was not freaking out, but I felt a foreboding sensation in my soul. Like something was waiting to befall on me.
Not wasting any more time, I resumed my search.
The next couple of rooms gave me nothing. Just ruins of furniture and books with no letters.
Then, around what would be the middle point, we found something big.
In the literal sense, a big door, one with the symbol of an eye and a bde, closed off.
[Touch it]
Erika’s request felt different. Much more dry than she usually was. She had been silent since we arrived down there.
I touched it, but…
[[Access Denied. Only Grandmaster and Controller Created Intelligence can open this door]]
The errors from that building were, most definitely, integrated into Erika’s System.
[And I cannot access it… I believe that is where the Database is, but I cannot contact the CCI or request special permission]
“Then let’s return to the search, how is Aspen doing?”
[Her vitals are slowly getting worse. The medicine is working to keep her, but she won’t st much longer. We need to find something fast]
No more losing time then.
The next room, following the corridor, had what I assumed were beds made of metal. The mattresses, which seemed to be made of memory foam, were destroyed beyond use.
Some boxes and chests were around. I found a couple of useful items, though.
[Found Iron Bleeding Dagger!]
[Found Silver Neckce!]
[Found Meteorite Piercing Sword!]
[Found Restoring Allokai Worm Silk Armband!]
[Found Empty Seeker Symbol!]
“T-that one is restoring?! Could that work?”
[Analysing… Most likely, if we run back, we might be able to stabilize Aspen with it, then it could be a steady but slow recovery]
Hope filled my heart when Erika confirmed the news! We didn’t need to find a potion, this treasure was going to be enough to save Aspen. I stored everything in my inventory and decided to go back.
But then, that was the first time I saw something like that.
It came through the door, from the void meant to keep the secrets of those halls inside.
Two rge eyes, a body the size of a dog, with small hands. Cws and mandibles that were simir to a mantis. A sickly greenish pstic looking skin. Moving through the ceiling, staring at me directly with both disgusting orbs.
Then came another.
And another.
And a couple more.
All eyes staring into me.
Deep green orbs with a small dot.
Wobbling unnaturally, like an eldritch dance.
“What the hell are those things?!” I excimed.
[Analysing! No data found! No fenotype recognized! Ether description Null! Unknown Rank!]
Nothing that I wanted to hear!
The first one jumped me but I managed to cut it after a parry. I did not kill, but it did hurt based on its horrendous high pitch screech and the dark thick blood that came from it.
[HP: 97%]
“What?! But it did not hurt me!”
[Warning! Blood seems acidic or simir!]
Another one attacked and I dodged. With a precise counter, I managed to cut one of its eyes, sending it to the wall and screeching in pain. The blood coated me, sizzling.
[HP: 80%]
“Dammit!”
The next two attacked in unison. I managed to dodge one, but the other, as if they worked in synchronization, managed to push me and drop me to the ground with it on top.
“Ah! Let go, you nasty- !!!”
It then used the cws on its jaw to stab my bde. Although it did not penetrate, I felt something move in every wrong way inside of me.
[Error! Err-roro-or! Intr-usis-sion detected-kzzzT!]
“G-gah!” I screamed in pain, “L-let me go! [Fire Burst]!”
The fire spell fired and pushed all of those monsters away from me.
They burned, magic seemed to make them fear and screech at me, now keeping the distance with more care.
“What did that thing just do to me?”
[Analysing… Ether absorption. That being was sucking information out of us! All systems seem to be working as normal, but don’t let it do that again!]
“Even you were being attacked?!.”
The one cking an eye jumped at me. Instead of cutting it to prevent more damage, I made a full swing and hit it with my handle, sending it against a piece of fallen wall.
Its head, small as it was, hit the stone with force, and died.
I was gd they could be killed,but the next set of bad news came in.
“Good! That is… ugh…!”
[Absorbing Ether… error! Corrupted Ether detected! Canceling absorption! Cancelling all future Ether absorption from simir creatures!]
I felt dizzy for a few good seconds when I absorbed the Ether from that thing. As if I had just consumed expired mil?.
They could be killed, they gave me xp, but they were made of something far worse and terrible.
It hurt when I cut them, it hurt when they absorbed, it hurt to consume their Ether.
[Analysing… recommendation! Escape! Not worth the risk!]
I couldn’t agree more!
I pulled my metallic frame out of there, pushing through the air out. They tried to attack me and grab me, but I dodged each attack, moving up and down, and to the sides.
One attacked, I moved up, then another two, I leaned down,almost hitting the ground, and dodged the st two by moving from one side to the other.
I reached the door and left the room, now to escape…
[Warning! Massive corrupting entity detected!]
Right in the path to the entrance, was a monster.
Simir to them, but bigger.
More gruesome and disgusting to look at.
And, on its back, glued by some form of unmentionable substance, transparent and green eggs. It was taller than half the room, and big enough to block my path.
Where the hell did I just go into?
What kind of creatures are those?
It is like they came from another dimension or pne of existence, one very different to mine.
I pulled back, deeper into the building.
It roared when I floated away, and began its chase.
It was faster and more aggressive. Most likely the mother that made those things spawn on that wretched structure.
A giant gate blocked our path. No symbol, but when I tried to push it, it reacted to me.
[[Warehouse access approved]]
“Ah! There was a warehouse!” I said.
The door opened, slowly.
I went in when there was enough space.
[Asking for closing protocol]
The door stopped and began to close.
The creature tried to enter, pushing against the closing doors and trying to grab me with its cw.
With unstoppable force, the door closed, trapping the cw of the creature… until it closed entirely.
A loud scream came from outside, grotesque and disgusting, as the door severed the arm of the creature, leaving it inside with me.
“Okay…what are those things?!” I asked.
[Nothing found. Not even when you killed one. I had to stop Ether absorption as it was going to damage you and probably corrupt your soul.]
“Corrupt my soul? No thank you! I want it as clean as I can!”
[Is it clean?]
“I don’t answer questions.”
I stared at the arm that was left discarded inside the warehouse with me. 4 long fingers, simir toma frog’s, jumping around and leaving bits up of blood, until it stopped. What kind of disgusting creatures, so corrupted, did I find?
And being able to damage Erika was unexpected.
“And you? Are you okay?”
[All systems working as intended. They did not do any direct damage to me, you removed the assaint in time.]
“Good. But now we are trapped here and that monster who knows what it can and will do when we go out.”
[It doesn’t seem too promising. For the moment, I recommend exploring this pce, and think of a way to escape. Aspen still has some time left, but her vitals do not seem to improve.]
“I-I know! I need to get out of here fast…”
I turned towards the warehouse. Broken boxes, containers, thrown around metallic shelves, and broken gss everywhere.
I had to leave soon for Aspen. Maybe there was a potion in there we could use, or something else to help her recover.
I just knew I was running out of time.
