Warband

Chapter 5. Into the Pit.

“It looks like the gnomes messed up your shop as bad as they did my Mustang. What’s the deal with these gnomes? Where did they come from?” Silas asked.

There wasn’t much to this place, the room he had arrived in, the hallway, then Gritvart’s ruined stall in front of another, larger, but also empty room. The whole place was dimly lit with faintly glowing crystals on the walls every twenty yards or so. Gritvart answered while combing through the debris looking for something to salvage.

“The gnomes must have been corrupted by Bhalkur, just like everything else in this gods-forsaken place. These seemed pretty much mindless and wanted to kill and eat anything they can get their hands on. From what you said about the ones in your world, a few are probably still smart enough to use weapons. I’m not sure what a Mustang is, but if they thought live victims might be hiding inside, they’d do to it what they did to my stall.

“That room over there is another portal chamber, but it heads directly into the first layer of the pit. That first layer is where these gnome nut jobs came from,” Gritvart said, pointing toward the nearby room and then the gnome corpses.

Unlike the ones inside Silas’ garage, these bodies weren’t turning into vapor, and he wondered how nasty they would become if the portal home didn’t open soon. He supposed there was also the chance the other portal would open again and spew out more of the crazed gnomes. Goblins, gnomes, the System, and an evil pit was a bit of a stretch for Silas to believe, but here it was, right in front of him.

“So, this hall we’re in now isn’t the actual Pit of Bhalkur, and there’s a portal in there that leads to it?” Silas asked, peeking into the room that supposedly led to the pit. It was about five times the size of the portal room he’d arrived in, with odd runes carved into the floor. A few of the runes were dimly glowing, which was one more bizarre mystery in this place.

“This is the marketplace and guard post for the pit. It was a place for groups to prepare and resupply before they entered the different layers, and it was supposed to provide additional safeguards to keep Bhalkur inside. As I might have mentioned before, it was a great market location for us, but almost as soon as I arrived, I was dumped in stasis.

“Oh, there they go, I was getting worried the disposal System was down like everything else here. Nice, if this keeps up, we might just be okay,” Gritvart said as the gnomes disappeared. To Silas’ surprise, the runes in the portal room to the pit glowed brighter for a few seconds before dimming again. New words from the mysterious System appeared in front of Silas.

You have slain escaped minions in the control point market linked to your home world. Their deaths have infused mana into the area and powered the portal, allowing you to enter the pit.

A new task has been issued.

Enter the Pit. Use the newly restored portal to enter the Pit of Bhalkur. Explore the first layer of the pit, complete all stages of the tutorial, and gather enough experience to reach Rank 1. Once these tasks are complete, you will be granted a class.

“Gritvart, the System just gave me a task. Is that normal?” Silas asked.

In front of him a glowing blue light began to flicker on the floor, just like it had done in his garage. Here, the light looked sickly and weak, giving off a strange humming sound that, oddly enough, reminded Silas of a car engine that had trouble starting. He raised his weapon, but none of the gnome creatures poured out to attack them.

“Tasks from the system are great, you want to complete them to get rewards. I take it the System wants you to jump into the portal. Get in there and do your thing, human. By the time you come back, I should have my shop in order, and you just might have some coin to spend,” Gritvart advised.

“Do you think completing the quest will get me home?” Silas asked.

“I have no idea, but I’d have to say yes. Doing the quest in there should spike the mana levels in here, which will probably activate your portal again,” Gritvart said.

“Well Buster, I think we’ve got to go in. At least this portal is not sucking us into it,” Silas said. Buster looked at him, then at the portal. His tail was tucked between his legs, telling Silas that the dog wanted nothing to do with the portal. Taking and deep breath and holding it, Silas stepped into the swirling portal.

Silas stepped out of the portal and into a wall of hot, humid air. Gone was the dark, cool, underground room he had just been talking to the gnome in. Now he had been dumped into a steaming jungle. Unconsciously, Silas began to shake, old memories of war in the jungle came flooding back, ones he had thought properly locked away for the rest of his life.

Beside him, Buster stepped from the glowing blue portal, which flickered out of existence once the dog was through. Buster still looked scared but having his dog at his side made Silas feel a bit calmer and in control of his racing mind. Taking a deep breath of the humid air, Silas took stock of where they were.

He was standing atop a raised stone platform with runes carved into it. There was no power to the portal, none of the glowing mana stuff that the goblin had talked about. For now, the portal was inactive, but hopefully, once Silas had completed this task, it would activate again. The portal platform was atop a small tower about twenty feet up. A stone staircase led to the jungle floor.

He was reminded of the old temple in Vietnam where Doc had found that infernal statue that caused all of this. Just like that place, the jungle refused to encroach anywhere near the tower, and he had a good fifty feet of open space before the foliage began. The jungle itself was composed of plants and trees that were alien to him.

Most were green and brown, but the colors were a bit off, and several plants sported bright blue leaves or bark that was closer to pink than brown. Buster seemed to get over his initial trepidation and was busy sniffing around the edges of the platform. If there was the one thing that Cocker Spaniels loved even more than barking, it was sniffing anything new. The pooch also took a moment to pee on one of the runes, causing Silas to chuckle.

“My sentiments exactly, Buster. Now, let’s go explore like the System wants. It said we needed to reach rank one, whatever that means. Remind me to ask Gritvart about that if we see him again,” Silas said.

He was a bit surprised about how he was accepting the goblin creature as real. It looked almost like a monster, but its goofy personality and shady salesman vibe made it seem like any other person. For now, he’d take things as they came and try to keep an open mind about this strange situation that he found himself in.

Even at the top of the small tower, their view in any direction was blocked by jungle. He was supposed to explore this place, but the alien jungle seemed to stretch on forever. Another of those strange System messages appeared.

You have entered the first layer of the Pit of Bhalkur. Tutorial mode is now active. While in this mode, additional information about your new life will appear. A respawn mechanic is in effect while in tutorial mode. Should you or your companion perish, you will be revived here, at the top of the temple.

Explore the pit, defeat any enemies you find, and gain Rank 1 to unlock class options.

“Information eh, how about something for us now? Can we get home after completing this task?” Silas asked. Annoyingly, it seemed the System wasn’t willing to answer any direct questions, so he had no choice but to continue on.

They slowly and carefully descended the stone stairs. Silas was starting to suffer in the heat, and with his coat in dire need of grooming, Buster had to be feeling even worse. About halfway down, Silas had to sit and catch his breath. He wasn’t built for this kind of thing anymore and he wondered what would do him in first, the heat, or whatever critters were lurking in the jungle.

They had no water, food, or anything other than their weapons. For some reason, Silas didn’t feel thirsty or hungry, and Buster hadn’t started begging for a drink yet either. After resting for a minute, Silas used his rifle as a cane to help get back to his feet and descend the rest of the stairs. When he stood a new message appeared.

While inside the Pit of Bhalkur, the rich mana of this place will sustain you, fulfilling all your body’s physical needs.

That was fine with Silas, finding water would be a chore, and who knew what kind of turbo alien parasites were infesting it or any food that he might be tempted to eat. Hopefully, the System would keep the information flowing. He wasn’t sure what this mana stuff was, but it seemed to be helpful. Despite his exhaustion and the aches and pains, Silas still felt a bit better than he normally did.

As they reached the bottom of the tower, Silas popped out the magazine from his rifle, counting and confirming that he had 14 rounds remaining. The pistol was still tucked into his waistband, and the jacket pocket held two extra mags for it. In the other jacket pocket was the bayonet, which Silas decided to put to use, snapping it into place over the barrel of his rifle. Even though it made the weight balance of the weapon feel off, he didn’t want to have to go fishing in his pocket for it if he needed the weapon.

He also took off his jacket, tying it around his waist and transferring the pistol mags to the front pocket of the old jeans he was wearing. Silas wished for combat boots, but he had only a pair of slip-on sneakers to protect his feet. Bending over and lacing up boots each time he wanted to go out wasn’t on the agenda anymore with all the aches and pains he had accumulated over the years.

“Not exactly geared up for war, but we’ll hold our own I reckon,” Silas said as much to himself as to Buster. His sight, hearing, and even sense of smell had dulled over the years, but Silas still knew how to move through a jungle. Without a compass, he picked a direction and started walking, planning to do a loop around the tower to get a feel for the area, but keeping the landmark nearby as a point of reference.

He didn’t make it far before he heard rustling in jungle ahead. Buster began a low growl before he hushed the dog and prepared to light up anything that might be coming at them.