—— ? ——

  Simon leaned against the cavern wall, staring at the molten gold. Now that he took the time to watch it, he saw it pulsed with a slow, unnatural rhythm. Like a giant, sluggish heartbeat. With every silent moment, his thoughts swirled. The light swelled and faded across the chamber, giving a disturbing feeling of life.

  Kaelalin knelt near the edge, coughing in the suffocating heat. Her hands moved with mechanical precision as she cycled through tools, taking measurements and muttering to herself. Her face was blank. Simon knew the thoughts she wrestled with. Her emotions had drained when they finished their conversation. Now the Frost-kin woman had gone into full research mode.

  The pool shimmered. Simon’s mind descended.

  What the fuck was wrong with the universe? Earlier, his only thought had been what the molten metal might be worth if they could harvest it. That thought disgusted him now, and the longer he stared, the more the pool dragged him back.

  Back to the integration. Back to another realm–one wreathed in the same metal and acrid scent.

  He remembered standing before that divine asshole, Varrax, listening to the deity’s smug plan to control his fate. Something inside him had snarled back. He would be no one’s plaything.

  Simon had clawed his way through everything life had thrown at him, inch by inch. And during that conversation, he’d felt it: the god’s hand reaching for his future. All he had to do was say yes.

  He couldn’t.

  But his refusal came at a cost. If he’d submitted to that powerful deity, his life would be very different. He would have guidance, aid, and powerful tools at his disposal. Also, no curse. So much would be different if he just said yes. He wouldn’t have to fear for his life. The golden golem would be a pile of scrap by now. Simon was sure of it.

  But that was assuming he’d even ended up in Varnholt. For that, Melodian was to blame. No, Varrax would have put him somewhere to best fit his plans. Simon would’ve been just another pawn on the board. Something to use.

  And when his usefulness ran out? Something to be disposed of.

  How, Simon didn’t know, but he was sure there was no shortage of lucrative, suicidal situations a god could dream up for him.

  Hell, he had found some without the direct help of a god.

  But what really bugged Simon was how the whole meeting with Varrax had been set up.

  This new world – this system– was supposed to be his fresh start. Every moment he’d spent with Glint had filled him with wonder and hope. A new universe where the system itself repeated the mantra: Harmony is offered. Growth is earned. Limits are unknown.

  A promise… broken almost instantly.

  Instead of opportunity, he’d been shoved in front of the smug, ironclad deity who stood in direct opposition to everything the system claimed to stand for. And then it had let him be cursed by the bastard. He had suffered mental whiplash from the complete turnaround.

  So, of course he’d refused, and he’d done it the only way he knew how.

  With a grin and a middle finger.

  Simon refused to let anyone chain him down.

  Well… now that he thought about it. That wasn’t entirely true. He’d been chained before.

  By the economy tanking just before he graduated.

  Back then, he’d sworn he wouldn’t compromise. He’d clawed his way through college and thrived there. It had been hard, but manageable. He’d excelled. His hopes had been sky-high, certain that his overpriced piece of paper would open any door he dreamed of.

  Then, life appeared. Applications to his top choices became applications to his second choices, then to his backup plans. Day after day. All of it had failed. What was he supposed to do?

  So, he’d taken the dead-end hospital job. Sat in a dim basement under flickering lights, babysitting software older than he was, watching the days turn gray. It was temporary, he told himself. Just survival, he reasoned. Months drifted by. The chains wound around him, and he settled into them.

  Looking back, it seemed so pointless. He’d been steps from death countless times in this new world, yet pushed forward anyway. Back then, stuck in a job he hated, he’d had the time. Countless hobbies came and went. Everything that required physicality had been easy. He could have turned one of those into an escape. Instead, he’d taken the safest possible path and tied it around his throat.

  That was the insidious side of compromise. You always think you’ll stop before it swallows you.

  Simon’s gaze drifted to the tunnel leading out of the sub-realm, then back to the molten gold.

  The inhabitants who had once lived here had met a fate he’d never imagined. They hadn’t asked for it, yet their entire world had been snuffed out in an instant. Now, what remained of them was trapped in an eternal furnace. The sound of the constructs’ screams scratched at his mind like nails on a chalkboard. He could hear their metal-bound voices crying in the dark.

  They’d been denied any way out. And yet, he stood here, watching the melted remains of countless beings, with a path to his own salvation a stroll away.

  He could leave. Walk away from the cursed gold light. Stroll the tunnel's length and then take the system's exit.

  He would live. Train. Return with more power, leveled skills. Have a real chance of beating the golden monstrosity.

  But was that what he wanted?

  Could he just walk away and let the monster keep feeding on souls whose futures had been stolen?

  His mind already knew the answer. The choice was obvious. That fucking golem had practically teleported.

  And what could he really do right now? Summon instruments? In all honesty, that skill was basically a party trick, despite how he kept using it. His other abilities required the fight to last longer than a second. With how fast the gold guy was, he doubted ?they would be useful.

  There was just no way.

  Behind him, the tunnel out offered an easy escape. Simon had nothing to gain here, but he had everything to lose.

  But he couldn’t stop thinking about the souls trapped in metal. That made no sense. Simon wasn’t a hero.

  The golden light pulsed again, washing over Kaelalin’s face. She no longer held a tool. Instead, she stared into the pool, her expression blank. Her face slowly cracked as horror and sorrow twisted it. Then, just as quickly, the expression vanished. She stood, turned, and crossed to Simon.

  “I’ve tested everything I can think of,” she said, her voice flat. “Everything points to your theory being the most plausible.”

  Her eyes bored into him. “But if that’s true, I don’t believe we stand a chance against the creature in this sub-realm.”

  Simon didn’t blink. “I agree. Is that based on something you learned or–?”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Kaelalin shuddered. “If this realm truly fell in a way that trapped the souls of its people, and that creature is feeding on them. Then it’s likely growing with every meal.” She reached for her pack beside him and slung it over her shoulders. The way it hung on her frame, someone might assume it weighed hundreds of pounds.

  Her shoulders sagged, her gaze falling to the floor. “And if we can’t beat it now, I think the only choice is to retreat. Then we get a group from Varnholt to conquer this place the moment we return.”

  A question leapt into Simon’s mind. One he knew he shouldn’t ask. The smart thing to do here was agree and say, ‘You’re right, we need to get the hell out. Let’s send Dravlen, Jorik, and some real fighters to crush that golden freak. They’d sweep through this realm.’

  But, like too many times in his life, Simon couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

  “Right when we return? Why?”

  He hadn’t thought Kaelalin could look any lower, but somehow, she did. Her voice came quietly, each word searing.

  “I think with every moment that creature lives, countless souls will be…” She stuttered, struggling to say the next words. “I?… I? looked at the solidified metal from the remains… the souls are different. In the molten metal, they move. They try to escape.”

  Tears slid down her cheeks, sizzling on the hot floor. If not for the silence of the cavern, Simon might have missed her next words.

  “But the souls in the creature’s metal are locked in place. They’re fused to it. Frozen forever in a single moment, unable to escape.” She hurried on, almost tripping over the words. “I could be wrong. Maybe that isn’t what’s happening. I’m not well-versed in this kind of magic. But the readings… they point to that. I just don’t know.”

  Simon’s jaw clenched. Locked in metal.. Unmoving. That was their fate. As if being stuck in molten metal wasn’t enough for the universe.

  Fuck.

  His eyes burned as he watched Kaelalin’s tears shimmer in the sickly gold light before hissing away on the floor. The frost-kin shook her head, then turned toward the tunnel.

  Fuck.

  Mechanically, Simon followed. Their dull footsteps sounded their retreat through the tunnel. One by one, Kaelalin retrieved her mines, each click and scrape far too loud in the silence.

  They stepped into the entrance chamber, its walls still dented from their first fight with the nightmarish constructs. Simon felt hollow, the emptiness in his chest slowly filling with disgust, rage, and a sickened resentment that threatened to spill over.

  This place sucked. This universe sucked. The gods sucked. Everything fucking sucked.

  Kaelalin paused halfway through the cavern, set her pack down, and dug through it. She pulled out a cloth-wrapped bundle. The System’s anchor. The thing meant to resolve this hellish realm.

  Fucking System and its games. It played with the lives of untold numbers of living beings.

  Kaelalin walked to the spot where they had first arrived. Now that they were looking, a faint outline of a portal glistened in the dim light. Had it always been there? Simon had no idea. Maybe the system only revealed it when you turned tail and ran.

  They stood before it, one face filled with sorrow and regret, the other a mask of rage.

  A chime rang out, shredding Simon's mind with its soft, pleasant tone.

  —- SYSTEM NOTICE—-

  > EXIT APPROACHED

  > Sub-realm: Shattered Space of the Forger

  > Status: Partially Stable

  This is the exit from the sub-realm. Your party's current quest is incomplete. If you choose to exit, the quest: Metallurgic Mayhem will fail. By failing this quest you will forfeit all rewards and be barred from entering this realm for one week. The portal will reenergize in one day, allowing others to attempt stabilization.

  Will you leave? Yes - No.

  ——————————

  “What?!” Kaelalin’s voice cracked.

  Simon read the prompt, the words sinking into his mind.

  So this was it. Back to the world outside, to grow and live.

  Kaelalin's haunted eyes met his. “This is the only way.”

  “I know.” He said lifelessly.

  “We stopped some of them. That has to count for something.”

  Simon gave a small nod. That was something. They had overcome the bronze version of those monsters. Despite what the system insisted, everyone had a limit. They had found theirs.

  The words at the bottom burned into his thoughts

  Will you leave?

  He was just one person. Cursed. Chained. Dragged through the gutter by his fate.

  A choice.

  —- PARTY NOTICE—-

  > A party member has accepted leaving the sub-realm.

  > Status: 1 / 2 members. Awaiting other members.

  ——————————

  Huh, that's a new one.

  Yes - No

  The two words grew in his mind. Time slowed to a crawl. This was the right choice. Simon knew it.

  And yet, the image of the pulsing golden pool filled his head.

  Dragged through the gutter by fate. Trapped.

  His numb mind strained to hold back the ocean of rage boiling inside him. Simon reached for the words to confirm, but…

  No.

  No.

  “Goddamnit!” The curse ripped from his mouth. He locked eyes with Kaelalin.

  “God. Damn IT!” he said louder, his rage boiling past his suppression. “I can’t… no… I WONT DO IT.”

  Kaelalin’s face twisted.

  “You think I want to?!” she snapped. “I don’t, you under-leveled asshole. But you said it yourself–We will DIE.”

  Her lips curled into a snarl. “I’m not a fighter. I came to explore ruins. To find remnants of magic, devices of old. Not to fight some abomination from the hells in a realm stuffed with the trapped souls of innocents.”

  Her right hand clenched until her knuckles popped. “But that’s what we got. That’s our reality. Horrifying, disgusting, unfair. That's just the world we live in now.”

  “No,” Simon said, his jaw tight, eyes sharp.

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO!?” Kaelalin shrieked. “You can’t even fight correctly! You can’t say no… You… YOU CAN'T.”

  Despite her anger, her eyes glistened. “Stop Simon! We won’t win. We will just die. Then what? Those creatures feed on our souls? Varnholt won’t even know what happened. And if we die here, they might never send another person into this place. Then what?”

  She shook her fist. “Those things will keep feeding. They won’t stop. We already know there are two types. I’ll bet that golden one isn’t much different from the ones we killed. It's just one that’s been feeding longer. Who KNOWS! But if we leave now, we can come back with stronger people. They can save the souls that are left.”

  Simon’s rage cooled into steely resolve.

  “What if that doesn’t happen?” he asked quietly.

  “What do you mean, doesn’t happen?” Kaelalin scoffed.

  “What if stronger people refuse to come?”

  Kaelalin hesitated, face tight. “…they will...”

  Simon stared at her. She stared back, cold fire in her eyes. Then doubt crept into her gaze.

  “They wouldn’t leave this place like it is,” she said.

  Simon tilted his head. “Wouldn’t they?” She gave no response, so Simon continued. “Isn’t part of the reason I’m in this hellhole is because the council doesn’t want to risk people exploring? Wouldn’t this just confirm their fears?”

  Kaelalin faltered.

  “Well?” Simon pressed.

  “Goddammit.” She swore, then shook her head. “That still doesn’t change the fact we can’t kill that thing. So, what’s your answer to that question, huh?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Wow! How helpful.” Kaelalin slumped to the floor and exhaled, face clouded.

  —- PARTY NOTICE—-

  > A party member has retracted their choice

  > Status: 0 / 2 members have accepted. Awaiting other members.

  ——————————

  Simon dismissed the prompt. The weight in his chest falling away. He took a step and sat beside her.

  “So. We need a plan,” he said.

  “Whoa. Another insightful statement. Keep ’em coming, drum boy.”

  Simon grinned. “No problem. This drum boy aims to please. Next brilliant idea: we kill the gold monster.”

  “Damn. He's unstoppable. Just keep winding up.” She made a mocking thinking face. “Wait, I got another one. Why don’t you go bring our golden friend back and then–” She paused dramatically. “-talk him to death. Brilliant!”

  She let out a loud sigh as she leaned back onto the pack.

  Simon’s mind sparked. “That… might work.”

  Kaelalin’s eyebrow shot up. “Bah, just how dumb are you? Enough, just let me think.” She looked up at the metal ceiling, falling into thought.

  Simon’s mind churned as a plan took shape. This just might work.

  “Kaelalin, you’re a genius.”

  She looked at him, saw the mad glint in his eyes, then immediately glanced at the portal. She looked ready to bolt. “If you are seriously thinking of talking it–”

  “Wait!” Simon cut her off. “Not talking it to death. It’s everything else you said that got me thinking.”

  Kaelalin did not look convinced.

  “Like you said. I’m the drum boy with all the great ideas. I just need to keep winding up. Or…you know…charge up. "

  His smile turned feral. “Then call our friend in for a quick chat. Good thing he let us know how to reach him. Of course, being such a good friend he's always fast to respond. So fast, I bet he doesn’t even watch where he steps. Would be a shame if something made him stumble at the worst possible moment.”

  Kaelalin froze, then her grin matched his.

  “Ohhh.. yess...”

  —— ? ——

  — AUTHOR NOTICE —

  ~TheBusyBard

  ——————————