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Post by Warrior on Dec 14, 2019 21:38:54 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/dk4CQm0~png " Ah. Hmm. "
Grunting at himself for not checking this sooner, Warrior activated the elevator and rode it to its destination. All that meandering about... probably not for nothing at least, there was a good chance the two led to different floors, which was fine considering he could just ride this one back from where ever it was programmed to take him if he found nothing there.
(Warrior -> East Elevator)
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Post by Unknown on Dec 14, 2019 21:45:04 GMT -8
The elevator creeks to life and rises, hovering into the darkness above. After a few moments, Warrior emerges in an area above; a small room similar to the one below, except this one is wide open to the larger area. Before Warrior is a room of identical size to the one below, but entirely featureless save for a red, glass-like floor. With a close look, Warrior could see that beneath this floor is the room that he'd just come from, and that the tops of the 4 pillars are not far below. From his vantage point, Warrior can see that on each pillar is a treasure chest, each identical to the next.
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Post by Warrior on Dec 14, 2019 23:36:14 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/dk4CQm0~png He really didn't want to, but he felt for certain that one of the chests had the key to the elevator downstairs. Without much going on in this room, he was left to make the decision of which chest to go for.
The Western door downstairs led to the control panel which had a function for unlocking the elevator among other things. Being that it was the only cardinal direction with an "unlocking" association, he figured it best to start with the West chest.
Walking carefully over the glass floor, but not so slowly that it had the chance to shatter beneath his feet, Warrior navigated himself to stand directly above the intended pillar. If his weight wasn't enough to break the glass with a hard stomp, he'd plunge his sword into it instead, ideally with enough force that only his portion of the floor would shatter rather than the entire floor -- this may end up taking multiple trips, after all.
Cautiously, he'd open the chest to reveal its contents. Definitely not afraid of it standing up and biting him.
(Warrior -> West Chest)
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Post by Unknown on Dec 28, 2019 8:58:24 GMT -8
Warrior quickly discovers just how fragile the floor is, as with each step the individual panel on which he walks cracks like thin ice under his weight. In fact, the panel that he finally takes his stand on shatters a split second after he stops, allowing him to land on the pillar successfully. After the fall, Warrior finds the pillar to be just wide enough to house himself and the chest that he's now facing; a chest that responds to his motion to open it by revealing a program inside; a key. The moment that he touches it, the panel on the main elevator below releases a dim light in response, confirming that this was Warrior's ticket to whatever may be beyond this stark and uninviting room.
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Post by Warrior on Dec 28, 2019 11:29:07 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/dk4CQm0~png Fortune favored him at last. Having no interest in the remaining chests, Warrior slide down the side of the icy pillar to the ground below when he noticed the elevator illuminate, being mindful of the cages in the floor and the enemies that had been crushed into the wall recently.
The cavern shook slightly at some commotion that was happening outside of the mountain, but it didn't seem to impede his progression for now. He was in too deep to really go back, so pressing on was the only way forward, and hits elevator was his ticket to move on ahead.
(Warrior -> Main Elevator)
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Post by Unknown on Dec 28, 2019 12:47:44 GMT -8
Just as the world above shakes in terror at the onslaught on the surface, Warrior's elevator falls into the darkness below. It falls, and falls, and falls for what is definitely an abnormally long time. The elevator drops down its shaft in absolute darkness before at last reaching a stopping point. At this point, Warrior finds himself in a pitch-black room. He can't see his hand in front of his face, much less what's in front of him, and the silence is abnormally deafening, even for this frozen catacomb. The one thing that he can see is the elevator panel; it's obvious that this still isn't the bottom floor, yet the terminal needs another key to make its final descent.
...and this is where Warrior would notice something; far off in the room, the echoes of scurrying... and stomping. Faint, but definitely out there in the darkness. Some sound to be going to the right, others to the left, but all as if they're deliberately moving to specific position. It continues for a few seconds before at last coming to a stop, at which time a dim light begins to shine across the room, giving Warrior a barely visible vantage point to what lies in front of him.
All that Warrior can see from the elevator is a hallway, roughly 100 feet long, with a door at the very end. Treasure chests, similar to the ones that he'd encountered before, line both sides of this halllway, and are stacked up on shelves five high, nearly reaching the ceiling. All-in-all, Warrior's path was lined with literally hundreds of silent, unmoving treasure chests that frame the only way out of his current situation.
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Post by Warrior on Dec 28, 2019 14:06:38 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/dk4CQm0~png " Oh you've gotta be kidding me. "
Fortune didn't favor diddly-squat. Impatience was winning now: like hell if he'd be checking all of these one at a time.
Using the same technique that had totaled the reaverbots from before, Warrior channeled wind-aspected energy into his sword's cavity and swung it at the air, a gust of wind sent forward powerful enough to slam all of the treasure chests on the shelves into the back wall, shattering the boxes themselves but hopefully not damaging their contents too badly at least.
Whatever remained was worth investigating, but it'd at least speed things up for him in one way or another.
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Post by Unknown on Dec 28, 2019 14:40:20 GMT -8
Warrior's raw power is formidable and impressive. The entire hallway is wind-swept from the sheer force of the attack, but when it all dies down nothing has changed. Warrior's attack had been like a gentle breeze against a rock, and nothing; not the chests or the door at the end of the hallway, had any response.
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Post by Warrior on Dec 28, 2019 15:10:59 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/dk4CQm0~png " Tch. "
It was worth a shot at least.
Moving forward, Warrior made straight for the door to see what lied beyond. Just as before, he wouldn't both with the distractions until they were his last option.
(Warrior -> Door)
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Post by Unknown on Dec 28, 2019 15:35:10 GMT -8
The room remains eerily silent in the wake of Warrior's footsteps. The chests remain silent, dead. Nothing moves, nothing makes a sound, and Warrior successfully reaches the door. It opens without any delay, allowing Warrior to enter the next leg of his journey.
....this room....
It was nothing like the rest of the catacombs. It was as though Warrior had stepped into an arctic expanse, a barren tundra spread out across another dimension. Above Warrior is a black, starless sky that seems to go on into infinity. Below, a strange, icy floor expands off into the darkness, cloaked with a thin layer of mist just above. It felt infinite to look at, but the icy blue walls behind Warrior seem to hint at it having very real barriers beyond the dim lights that trail off into nothingness. The scene could be seen as nothing short of otherworldly, but if not absorbed by the magnitude of it all, Warrior would realize something.
He's not alone.
The presence that he'd been feeling since this whole adventure began was in this room, still watching. Warrior wouldn't see where exactly, and if he'd search it out would be matter all its own, but he'd definitely found the source of this game.
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Post by Warrior on Dec 28, 2019 15:59:42 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/dk4CQm0~png Nothing else that he had come across was able to speak, so Warrior expected this entity was no different. It knew he was here, he knew it was here, just not what it was. It was impressive scenery to say the least... nothing he'd expect to find this far underground.
Just as he had let it happen before, he'd allow the presence to lead him onward deeper into the room until it decided to fully reveal itself. If its intents were considerably ill, it would have shown as much by now, he figured. Otherwise, it could continue to observe in silence as he made his way to the opposite side of which he came.
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Post by Unknown on Dec 28, 2019 16:12:46 GMT -8
The presence... seemed to cower. Warrior would hear a strange noise off in the shadows, it lurches away from him as he enters the center of the room, obviously keeping distance... until he continues even farther. Warrior would find another door at the end of this otherworldly room and would hear the lurching, dragging sound of this unknown presence doubling-back towards him. It then hides just out of sight near the doorway that Warrior had approached, doing its best to stay out of the light that surrounds Warrior at all times.
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Post by Warrior on Dec 28, 2019 17:02:08 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/dk4CQm0~png " ... "
Well, it didn't stop him. Or confront him, or anything really. If it did no harm to him, he wouldn't do any harm to it, he figured.
He couldn't determine whether or not it was trying to keep him out, but it probably would have protected the door ahead if that was the case. Given that it didn't seem to be, he'd press on and leave the speechless-creature to itself since it seemed docile enough to him, much like the peons from earlier.
(Warrior -> Door)
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Post by Unknown on Dec 28, 2019 17:08:25 GMT -8
Somehow, Warrior would feel fear from the unseen presence; a panic as the doorway slides open for him. It darts closer, but stops just out of sight again... almost pleading inaudibly with him to not go into the room.
Inside, on a pedestal sits an elevator key identical to the one that he'd used earlier. The room is small and featureless, and the completely solid walls, floor, and ceiling reveal no hint of any traps or security systems. It's nothing but the key sitting alone in the dim lights and frigid cold.
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Post by Warrior on Dec 28, 2019 17:21:35 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/dk4CQm0~png Warrior turned around with an arm raised, his hand gripping the hilt of the blade strapped to his back as he felt the presence rapidly approaching.
It halted before he drew the weapon though, remaining hidden once again as if to shy away from his vision.
" ... "
His pulse was still a bit accelerated from that scare. But his careful breathing began to slow it down again as he slowly removed his hand from his sword. His eyes were still furrowed aggressively as he looked into the darkness, displaying confidence to cover that fear that had just taken him over in that moment.
" I'm not going to stay trapped in here. I'll put it back when I'm done. "
The last key didn't even need to be removed from its spot to activate the elevator, so chances are, this one would probably work the same. It was less of a bait-on-a-hook and more of a necessity going forward (or probably even going backward) that he get the elevator moving again.
If the shy creature couldn't talk, it couldn't warn him of anything. But to be fair, inaudible creatures usually scaled danger differently than more intelligent ones, or at least that's what Warrior would tell himself as he moved onward. And it was a prideful thought for sure to assume its intelligence being lesser than his own, but such was his own flaw in the past and even now.
(Warrior -> Shiny Object)
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