THEOS

“Really?” Luke frowned. “You’re going to back out now?”

“Can you blame me? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?” Lukeus pointed to the dark and gaping hole in the sandy dune. It contrasted sharply with the glimmering golden sand that stretched to the horizon.

An uncountable number of fluorescent eyes shined in the cloudy blackness and traced the path of their chariot in the sky. Alert, ready, and hungry.

I don’t exactly want to go in there either, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. And I have to go in there.

“It’ll be fine…” Luke hedged, ignoring the skeptical looks the two brothers were giving him. “What are they anyway?”

“I think they're bats.” Said Rex.

“No bats sleep during the day. Those things are definitely awake.” Luke shook his head. “The way their eyes glow, it’s kind of catlike actually. Do you know any uh cat monsters that live in deserts?”

“Sphinxes?”

“They’re like harpies?”

Rex cocked his head to the side. “I think so…”

“They aren’t, you idiot.” Lukeus scoffed. “It doesn’t matter what they are. We’d be insane to go in there. Even if they’re weak, there’s too many of them. Why don’t we check on Heracles and see if he’s okay first. We might not even need his storage ring. Why do we need his ring, anyways?”

That… Heracles isn’t far, but the Quest was pretty clear. Get the ring, give it to him, and he calls his fleet. It didn’t say we can’t go there and talk to him first, but–

This fucking sucks.

“The… Message, was pretty obvious. We get the ring first.”

“Na uh.” Lukeus tugged on the reins, and Nutbutter flapped his wings. Flying them higher in the air, but contrary to his claim, he didn’t immediately start flying towards where Heracles was either. Merely circling high above the cavern.

“I have a plan. Sort of.” Luke said eventually.

“I can tell you right now, if your plan is me going inside that thing, you can forget it.”

“I think I agree with Lukeus. Going down there seems like suicide.”

“Not if we find a way to get the… things out. We have explosive talismans right?”

“I have a bunch.” Rex said.

“Warrior or Mortal?”

“Both.” Lukeus grinned.

“And protective talismans?”

“My grandfather rules this entire island. My father, mother, sister, and half my servants are warriors. What do you think?” Lukeus said, pulling a thick stack of them out of his pocket. “We’re rich.”

“I thought you guys didn’t get any special treatment?”

“Not from Gramps, but our mother runs an entire sect. Besides, spoiling us with power is one thing, and keeping us safe is another matter entirely. Having enough talismans falls firmly in the latter category.”

“It makes things rather simple then. Whatever’s in there isn’t likely to be a Hero, so with the talismans none of us should die instantly. There's a lot of things in there, but I bet a few explosive talismans will have them scurrying like rats.”

“What if they fly? Nutbutter is quick but I’m not going to risk him on something like this. Let’s just go to Heracles, he’s an hour that way. We still have plenty of time until your deadline runs out. More than enough to come back for the ring if we need to.”

Luke frowned. Lukeus’s words made sense, but he couldn’t help but feel that doing the Quest out of order was a mistake. The Seed itself was quiet, but then again, it had never actually told him how to do a Quest. There was no step by step guide. The only information it gave him, was what he needed to do.

More than that, this was the first time the Seed had offered him a mission that required him to make an active decision and convince other people to go along with it, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Joining the Society for his sword, and entering the Tomb had required little to no maneuvering on his part. Nefkah had come to him, while signing up for the expedition was simple.

The journey to Cyzicus had taken some twists and turns, but ultimately Cyzicus himself had shown up and taken him there. The Seed seemed content to usher him along with only a passive role in events. It made his entire adventure kind of easy.

Now though, well, not only did he have to make a decision, he had to convince people that it was a good idea.

It’s stupid. Checking on Heracles does make more sense, it really does. But, I can’t shake the feeling that not following the quest to the letter is going to be bad.

The Seed, it predicts and knows things that I can’t even fathom. It might as well be omnipotent as far as I’m concerned. But how smart is it really? Can things go wrong if I fuck something up, or would it take that into account before issuing the Quest, and plan for it in advance.

So far, it seems to plan for success rather than failure to get me out of situations. I would have been well and truly stuck if I didn’t learn the Techniques in the tomb afterall, and other than the Charges I don’t see how I would have gotten out of that. Then again, the mere existence of charges kind of seems like an admission that shit can and does go wrong. More than that, there's a reason the Seed is still around. Because the people who’ve had it keep dying.

Now the question is, did they die because they can’t do the quests it offers them, or did they die in spite of succeeding.

For Aeolus, it was obviously the latter, but the Seed’s mentioned past users. If Arke wasn’t lying when she gloated way back when she killed him, then gods dying is rare, but it still happens. What are the odds that everyone who has the Seed becomes the god and dies?

No, it's more likely that they fail early on, and use the charges to carry them through tough situations, and when they run out, and get cornered again, its game over.

“What are you thinking?” Lukeus asked.

“I’m thinking that there must be a reason we have to get the ring before we go to Heracles. The.. message… said he was trapped. What if whatever’s in the ring is the only thing that would stop us from being trapped too.”

“That’s possible, I guess. Heracles isn’t they type of guy to get trapped though. Not easily at least. I can’t imagine anything under the Hero-tier managing that though. Even then… The stuff he carries around makes what we have look like trash. Last time we talked he was bragging about having God-tier talismans.”

“Right. Well, he would have needed to sneak past Arke to get here wouldn’t he?”

“Oh.” Lukeus paled.

Rex leaned in, a frantic expression on his face. “Arke, as in that crazy angel that's been wandering around the island? We’re freeing Heracles from Arke?” He whispered.

Luke ignored him. “Anyways, this is my plan. We climb high into the air, and I’ll jump off the chariot and into the hole with a bunch of talismans. It's probably for the best if all of us don’t go in there just in case. I can walk on air, so I should be able to make my escape if it comes down to it. Unless either of you can fly too, I think I’ll just go alone.” He said, looking pointedly at Lukeus.

He shifted slightly, but chose not to say anything.

Whatever. Leaving them here, means that I can pop all the talismans into my inventory, pre-activated. An instant forcefield, combined with my Skill, combined with a fuck ton of mana… It should be enough to get in and out at the very least.

“What do you want us to do?”

“Just stick around. You’ll be far enough away not to be in any danger, but if you see me in trouble, I'd appreciate it if you could bail me out. Just uh… if you see me making a break for it, swoop in with this fancy chariot, and scoop me from the sky, and we can ride into the sunset.”

“You’re taking a pretty big risk here.” Lukeus patted him on the back.

“I think I have good odds, to be honest.”

“Well. If you're confident you can do it, I won’t stop you.”

Luke looked at him blankly. Somehow, I’m not surprised that you won’t. “Alright, hand over your talismans.”

“Here.” Lukeues handed him his stack. Easily two inches thick, all warrior tier, and already sorted.

“Thanks.” Luke stuffed them into his pocket, before looking at Rex expectantly.

“You want mine too?”

“Yes. Have you seen what I’mm diving into? I’ll even give what I don’t use back.” Not.

Who knows when I’ll get the chance to get my hands on so many again.

Rex looked at Luke with pain in his eyes, as he reached into his robes. Instead of handing them over though, he split them in in two, and then gave Luke the smaller half.

“Why are you being so stingy with them?” Lukeus frowned.

“What if we need some later?”

“... That’s a good point. Can I have some of mine back too?”

“Umm.” Luke climbed to his feet, and subtly began channeling mana into his feet. “Why don’t you share the one’s Rex kept. They seem like enough to get you out of a pinch. And you're pretty strong right? Stronger than me, so it shouldn’t be a massive issue, right?”

“He only kept twenty of ea–”

Luke jumped. Straight into the air, and landed in the sky. Waving slowly as the chariot vanished from beneath his feet.

Okay, that was kind of cool. He grinned, stuffing his hand in his pocket, he slowly walked above the gaping hole in the ground.

Now for the protective talismans. I should keep a dozen or so as they are, in case I need to share them with someone later, or use them with people around. The rest though–

He concentrated on his inventory, and ripped the tabs off the bottom. Activating them, and then sending them straight to his storage.

Explosives are a bit more tricky. I can’t imagine a shorter fuse being useful all the time, but it can’t hurt. Definitely helped in the tomb.

He ran his fingers through them, and stashed some of them in his pocket, and then placed the rest in his inventory. Staggering some of their fuses at different times before putting them in, but leaving the majority of them untorn.

Unlike the protective ones, the explosives were more useful when attached to projectiles, and he didn’t want to preemptively activate too many. With the amount of them he had though, he still managed to get a decent number in both categories.

How should I do this now? Drop straight in, or lob some explosives in from the side. Or I can stand right above, and hope they just fly past me.

Actually, I don’t even know if the things can fly.

Standing off to the side, but still in the air it is then. High enough that if they run out, I’m out of their reach, but low enough that if they do fly out, they go past me, and not at me.

He nodded to himself, before cutting the flow of mana to his shoes, and letting himself freefall through the sky.

Mostly using his arms and the air rushing past him to guide his path through the sky. Something that he discovered, came a lot easier than he imagined it would be.

I can’t believe a month ago, I was scared about climbing too high, and falling when I ran out of mana. Now I probably have enough, that I never need to walk on the ground again.

Alright. Be proud later. Right now, I need to focus.

As the dunes grew larger and larger in his vision, Luke righted himself in the air. Then running thrity feet above the ground, he stopped a hundred yards away from the gaping hole in the ground.

Summoning a hefty, fist sized rock he’d picked up in the wilderness, into his hands, he affixed an explosive talisman onto it, before sending it back into his inventory. Repeating the process a dozen more times, he tossed his makeshift weapon in his hand. Getting used to its weight as he prepared to unleash hell onto the unsuspecting cave dwellers.

I kind of feel sorry for those chumps.

Waving to the chariot, now a small speck in the sky, cheerfully, he ripped the tab of the talisman and tossed the rock into the hole.

The second it left his hand, another projectile appeared in its place and trailed after its brother in the sky. Again and again until he had thrown half his arsenal.

The ensuing explosions sent sand blasting into the air, and the whole world seemed to rumble. Waves of cold air rushed out of the hole, and flattened his hat.

A roar echoed from within the cavern.

I’m fucked. Luke thought to himself. His eyes widening in fear as they beheld the horror that he had awoken.