EG Monster Island Chapter 26

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

And now back to your regularly scheduled chapter

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

We kinda stared at each other for a few seconds before Bridget said, “I could try to repair it.”

“I will help,” Vaya chimed in. I nodded.

“Uh, I guess me and the Bonds will clean up the Beast carcasses in the clearing and then explore a bit in the direction we didn’t go,” Jon said sheepishly. “I do not know anything beyond the basics in Inscription.”

“I will make sure you are safe,” Sia announced to everyone. “Come, Zimnodlot, I sense prey. Jon, Lampart, follow. Kami, watch the others please.”

I felt a feeling of agreement from the other Bonds, their ability to communicate improving as they grew stronger. The aerial Bonds flew off, followed by Jon. Jon stopped and lifted one of the Chameleons, shoving it into the ridiculous bag we’d been given for this expedition. Yeah, we don’t know what is valuable or not, so just take it all, I laughed internally. Lampart had already vanished from my sight, following Sia and Zim.

“Let me clear off all the dirt,” Vaya said. She gestured, runes forming in front of her to my Aether Sight, and then the soil that had been disturbed rose off the platform, forming a ball of Earth in front of her. A push sent it rocketing into a tree on the other side.

Bridget dumped out a water bottle, and then lifted it. She rocked back and forth, and the water mimicked her movements. The last little bit of dirt on the stone surface was scrubbed clean.

With some thinking, I made a quick technique that blew warm air over the surface, drying it off and dislodging any tiny piece the other two had missed. The three of us together had the entire nine square meter platform clean in less than a few minutes.

The Formation was just as intimidating on this end as the place we started from. Thousands of runes, most unknown to me, were engraved on the surface. Scorch marks, gouges, and cracks covered nearly a third of the surface. The three of us stood and examined it for a few minutes before Bridget said, “Look, here,” and pointed. “This sequence is repeated every meter, but the last set here is damaged.”

“Good spotting,” I said. “I’ll work on fixing it up, and you keep looking? Since you are better at Inscription than I am.”

“Sure,” Bridget shrugged, turning away from me back to the platform. Vaya was examining the corner with the most damage.

I looked over the sequence Bridget had shown me. “Seven runes, the first of which is fine. So six runes to fix. First one I recognize, gather. Of course, this thing must need a buttload of Aether,” I mumbled to myself. I carefully manipulated my Aether to draw up more stone, filling in the gaps caused by the fight, then carved out the first curving bits of the rune. It connected to the undamaged part, and I spent another few seconds clearing up the detritus that had gotten into some parts of the runes.

I carefully copied each rune, taking almost twenty minutes on the fourth one, the most damaged of the bunch. Over and over again, I went back to the previous set, measuring each individual piece and ensuring that they were correct. Tiny fractions of a centimeter were measured using my trisula, ensuring that the runes were correct. Finally, after nearly an hour, I had my set fixed. I stood up, stretching my back that was cramping from hunching over.

“Aiden, over here,” Bridget called.

I rushed over, “Yes?”

“This set, here, is repeated twice, then missing a spot here,” she showed me the location, “I have no idea what it does, but we should probably fix it.”

“Got it, thanks!” I told her, then got down to work.

I heard Vaya mumbling to herself, “Wow, that is neat. I did not know you could use Lamarov’s Theorem that way. So that means…”

We’re all learning a bunch about Inscription just examining this. I wonder if it had any anti-theft Inscriptions or if the Ashkhas just assumed no one would be able to understand it enough in the limited time they had? I shrugged, then bent to fixing the Inscriptions that I could.

Explosions sounded from my left, and a quick glance showed Kami shuffling over to that side of the clearing. Sia’s form was partly visible through the trees. “Eh, they’re fine,” I said softly, then focused. I was getting better at manipulating Aether and the material it was infusing quickly, and my projection range was increasing minutely with each attempt.

Bridget was studying a broken area with a slate of stone and a piece of chalk in her hands. Every once in a while, she’d draw up something, shake her head, then wipe it. Her face doesn’t look very optimistic about our chances. We’ve still got the Inscription to summon help. It might not work, though, with the Formation broken. It probably was piggy-backing on the Formation to reach (Name of city). We’ll try that in a few hours, depending on how the repair goes.

After another thirty minutes passed before I finished the runes in front of me. Vaya directed me to another set this time, Bridget still lost in thought. Vaya went back to fixing an area that was covered in burn scars, smoothing out the damage and refilling the runes.

I looked over the next set of repeating runes. Hmm, so this one is gathering up Fire Aether. The first one was set up to gather Air and then do something to it. This one is doing the same thing, whatever these three runes are, to the Fire Aether. Are there any others? I stood, then walked from one end to the other, avoiding where Vaya and Bridget were working. Yup, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Gathered, something, then redirected to this rune set towards the center, or one of the four corners.

I moved to the center, tracing the path from one group of input runes. “Combination?” I said aloud, surprised. “It’s mixing all four types, then force, combination, force, uh I think that rune is compression, no idea, no idea, combination again. After that, there are some more runes I don’t recognize but they’re treating the resulting Aether as a single type.”

I stood, stunned for a second, then remembered, The Affinity Powders. The original vision showed types of Aether merged together to create a single one. Like Mud or Ash. We’ve not really done anything like that, but I’ve seen some of the other teams using a combination. Maybe it’s not just using two types of Aether side by side, but actually merging them to make a new thing? Every time I think I’ve got a handle on gathering and channeling Aether, I learn something new. Cool!

“Found something?” Bridget asked.

“Uh, maybe,” I said, then explained my thoughts.

“Hmm, Equal amounts of the primary Aethers. Good catch,” Bridget said, looking down at her slate. “Maybe that would work.” She traced a few more runes, drawing quickly on her slate, and then on the ground. “Help with these.” She pointed to the end of the dozen runes she’d drawn. “You start on that end and I will start here. Meet in the middle.”

“Sure,” I said, then bent over. I traced the first rune with my finger, not actually touching it to avoid wiping off the chalk. The complicated swirl pattern was difficult, and I knew I’d have to make it in the same manner as her drawing. I etched the shape in my mind, then started to carve, using my Aether as a chisel that melted the stone out of the way rather than chipping at it.

It worked somewhat well, but I had to occasionally go back over a section to correct a spot of either too deep or too shallow of cutting. Just as I finished the fifth rune, Bridget bumped my shoulder. “I finished the other seven. You should work on your Aether control,” she chided me, then gave a wink to show she was kidding.

“You’re right. So, now what?” I asked.

“Uh, we try to use the Formation,” she said. “And hopefully we do not explode or something.”

“Explode, I don’t want to explode,” I said.

“You do know, we do not get your random quotes from the moving picture things,” she said deadpan.

“Should we use the rescue Inscription rather than try to use the Formation?” I asked.

“Yeah, probably,” she waved her hands. “But come on, sense of adventure. I am, like, sixty percent certain we would be fine.”

“Sixty?” Vaya asked, walking up. “Really? I do not think we understand enough to make a guess. It might be better to try out with a Beast or some paper or something.”

“Good point,” I said. “Sia, can you bring back a crippled Beast of some kind please?” Agreement flowed through our Bond. “Sia’s going to bring us a test subject. Vaya, want to write a note to whoever is watching this?”

“Yes, I can,” Vaya said, then went over to her bag. She pulled out her Inscription kit, and made a small sheet of wood to write on. She only wrote a couple of words, then nodded. “Ready.”

A deer missing its legs was dropped right in front of her, splattering her with blood. “You should probably stabilize it before it dies,” Sia sent to us.

“Sia, I will get you back for this,” Vaya grumbled, then closed the wounds on the poor Beast. She pulled out some vines to use and tied the note to the Beast.

I walked over and helped her carry the weakly struggling thing to the center of the transport Formation. “Alright, test number one,” I said. “If this works, we can go back. If not, we’ll try the Inscription.” We rushed off the platform.

Bridget and Vaya pushed Aether into the system, and with a flash of light the deer was gone. “Now we wait,” Vaya said. “I asked them to send someone through if it worked.”

“Okay,” I shrugged. I pulled out a Message Inscription. “Jon, head on back please,” I said into it, and felt the message connect. “Jon should be on the way back.”

We sat and waited. After ten minutes, Jon and the other Bonds arrived. Sia landed next to me, pulling his aura in to not alert anything that he was a level six Beast.

After an hour of waiting, nothing happened. “Uh, I guess the deer did not make it to the target location,” Bridget said. “Inscription time?”

“Yup, Inscription time,” I said, pulling it out of my bag. A flare of Aether and the writing dissolved. A massive pulse shot out, but it was focused on the transport Formation. The wave seemed to fizzle, nothing happening after a few seconds. “Uh, Darkness.”

“Well, now what?” Jon asked. “Do we head overland to try to get back to (name)?”

“I guess,” I said. “Head north, since the city is at the north end of the island. If we hit the coast, just keep following it?”

“Or you could just wait,” a voice seemed to echo through us. “I do wish to speak to you as well.”

I jumped to my feet, looking around. “Uh, may I ask your name?” I said nervously.

“Of course,” the voice boomed, then a gryphon landed in front of us. It was massive, standing five meters high to its shoulder. Its feathers were a beautiful white that ended in purple tips, while deep brown fur covered its lion half. I could feel that it was limiting itself, and could almost see the kilometer long wingspan it would have were we to anger it. “I am Ezekiel, lord of this region of Monster Island in your language. Such a silly name, as if I am the monster here.”

I bowed the Primordial, “Welcome Ezekiel, to uh this humble clearing. May I ask what you seek from us?”

“Well, why do you violate the treaty between (name) and myself? You bring a Truth-Seeking Beast to this area, when it should be limited to Foundation Building,” the gryphon looked at Sia.

“Uh, sir, he is my Bond, my partner for life. Originally, he was bound by a limiter, but a Core-level gatherer in league with the Chaos Cult arrived here and he was forced to remove the limiter to battle her,” I said, holding my bow still, my torso ninety degrees to the ground.

“Hmm, okay,” Ezekiel said. A massive pulse of Aether shot out from him. “Just wait, rescue shall be with you shortly. In return, please describe what you have been up to.”

I straightened up, “I would be delighted to.” I gulped, then I told him about the tournament. I described the different events, not going into too much detail about anything. Finally, I got to where we found the Dungeon, which I described lightly, just saying we stayed in a clearing and got attacked by ants, and then the fight here in the clearing.

“Interesting,” he said. “So there is a Dungeon in my forest. Good! I shall allow you to tell the Ashkhas about it, and then will negotiate with them for access.” He glanced down, “Will probably just have them move the Formation. It is probably not fixable. Ah, here comes your ride now.”

“What?” I asked, then felt Librarian Narwan’s aura approaching. In less than a minute, he landed on a metal disk two meters in diameter.

“Ezekiel,” Librarian Narwan said, bowing lightly to him. “It is good to see you again.”

“And you as well, (First name),” Ezekiel said, bowing his head the exact amount that Librarian Narwan did. “This one is yours?”

“Yes. He is adequate,” Librarian Narwan said, looking at me. “I will visit you later. Thank you for alerting me to their need.” He bowed again then gestured at us. “Come, we must hurry back. Many of the other groups were also in need of assistance, and I am going to check on the others from Craesti.”

We hurried onto the disk. A glowing blue shield of Air Aether wrapped around it while chains of Metal tied our feet to the surface. Which was necessary, as the disk accelerated so fast it felt like we were shot out of a gun. I had to reinforce myself with the General Strengthening Technique to be able to continue standing up. We crossed a dozen kilometers in only a few minutes, slamming to the ground on top of an empty Transport Formation.

Librarian Narwan gestured and we were suddenly moved to the other side. Knowing what was coming, I managed to hold in my last meal, dropping to my knees and bending my head to control the nausea. “Once you have recovered, return to the main room. One of the Ashkhas officials will be by to discuss what happened. I will return with the others shortly,” he said, then vanished out the doorway. A few seconds later, I felt the Aether in the room shift as another Formation was used to send him back into the jungle.

Jon wrapped my arm around his shoulder, hefting me up and basically dragging me out of the teleportation room. The door was marked with a fifteen. A soothing flow of Aether entered from Vaya, her hand on my back.

“Some day, I’ll be fine after this,” I groaned. “But it is not this day.”

“I would smack you,” Jon said, “if I did not think you would throw up on me.”

I laughed weakly. We moved through the entryway into the lobby, only to discover that there was a silencing Inscription somewhere. Noise exploded upon us, shouting Ashkhas and others, groans from injured people being treated, and a cacophony of various Beast calls making my nausea and headache so much worse.

A harried looking assistant ran over to us when we entered. “Do you have any critical injuries in need of treatment?” She asked.

“No,” Jon said. “He just does not like the Transport Formations effects.”

“Good, take a seat on the left and an official will be with you shortly. Uh, drink some ale, it will help your stomach,” she bowed, then turned towards another group.

“Move, move!” An Ashkhas called from behind us. We’d been in town long enough to have a small grasp on the local language. One of the benefits of advancing was a large increase in brain plasticity, so learning a new language was a breeze compared to back on Earth.

I stumbled off to the side, standing on my own for a bit, to see two Ashkhas holding up a third that was mangled almost beyond recognition. The assistant who’d spoken to us directed them to a table where two healers were pulling out bandages and powders.

“I am going to assist,” Vaya said, rushing over.

“Bridget, take powders,” I gestured at my bag. She nodded and took the bag, digging into it while walking over. Jon helped me to an empty table. Roughly half the competitors in the tournament were sitting there, with another eight or so being treated for major injuries. Unfortunately, neither Ming’s nor Aleks’s team were back yet, leaving us to worry.

The seat we grabbed was fairly close to a (Dwarf) table with people we recognized. They were Prince Gunther’s team. I looked but didn’t see him, though there were two (dwarf)s on the tables. “What happened to you all?” Jon asked, sidling closer to them.

“We were attacked by twenty Beasts that had been hunting us,” one of them answered. “I do not know where they came from or why.”

“What did they look like?”

“Some kind of lizard, but their form was moldable in a disquieting way. They were Snow Aether Beasts, and when I tried to attack them, some of my hits would just burst through them without any damage,” the (dwarf) shuddered. “Light, it was horrid. Prince Gunther was stabbed and frozen, saving me from an attack. We rushed back and he is being treated now.”

“Will he live?” I asked.

“I do not know,” the bleak expression on the (dwarf)’s face made my heart tremble.

An Askhas server arrived after a minute, providing a small plate of finger foods and a glass of ale for each of us. Another server followed with a hunk of meat for Lampart, two smaller ones for Zim and Sia, and a small bowl of greens for Kami. “Official (name) will be with you shortly,” they said with a small bow then hurried off.

After drinking, my stomach seemed to settle a bit, and I sat straighter. A harried looking Ashkhas wearing a formal robe walked over. “What happened to your team?” He asked.

“We were attacked at the Transport Formation,” I said. “In the process it was destroyed.” I paused, reaching into the large bag Jon had placed at my feet. With a grunt of effort, I pulled out the still smoldering corpse of the cultist. “More importantly for you, your nation has been betrayed.”