Marked for Death- Black Mark

A mark that appears only upon those who have been rightfully marked for death. Such marks, while rare, remove ALL protections involved with events and similar circumstances.

TREAD WITH CAUTION FOR THE ABYSS STARES BACK

"How? Why?" Rory asked, filled with questions. In all his years, he'd never seen anything like what Zoey was showing him.

"I… I think it's because of my past with my bane."

"Huh?"

"Well, you know how this event is supposed to be 'safe' until tier eight?"

"Yeah?"

"I think it's like this," Zoey said, rising to pace around as her thoughts tumbled around. "Tier six, I lost completely."

"Okay?"

"Tier seven, one win, one loss."

"Right? And?"

"For us, this event goes until tier eight, but what if we consider it as a best of three, the fact that I lost completely in tier six, and now am facing a second loss in tier seven…"

"Oh… Oh." Rory mumbled as he put it all together. "That does make sense."

"Yeah…" Zoey stared off to the side, once more in her thoughts.

The two were silent for nearly a minute before Rory finally coughed into his hand.

"Well, next time around we'll have a complete victory and things will work out."

"Yeah, I'm not letting that bitch ass bane pull one over on me again," Zoey muttered, glaring at Rory. "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with that thing?"

"Again, not my fault."

"No, I think it is. The banes seem to be based a bit on our own personalities. I like to take the simple, straightforward approach; my bane is the same. Your bane is a bitch."

"I don't appreciate that implication," Rory grumbled.

"Not an implication if I say it directly."

"You feel clever for that one?" Rory sighed. "I think it takes after my obsessiveness, if you'd call it that."

"Yeah, I would."

"You didn't have to agree so fast," Rory snapped, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I think that 'obsessiveness' warped into… that."

"So what exactly is it obsessed with?"

"My guess? Screwing me over to the best of its abilities," Rory sighed.

"Right well…. You have fun with that demon in the future." Zoey said. "By the way, aren't we supposed to-oh, never mind."

As if waiting for a lull in their discussion and things to settle, a sudden interface appeared, alerting them to their rewards.

Well, Rory's rewarded. The fact of the matter was that Zoey had failed to do the bare minimum needed to receive anything.

"Ordinarily, I'd think it was strange that I got rewarded for beating your bane, but given we're sort of a team, I guess Eon just sort of rolls with it."

"So, what did you get?" Zoey asked, prompting Rory to continue.

"Two things. The first is a bit of formality."

From the debris of the shattered gargoyle king that the banes had beaten them to, stone and dust began to whip around like a time-lapse in reverse, each granule forming together until a key floated in front of Rory.

"And that is?"

"Key to the next floor of the Deep Chambers," Rory said. "Mind giving the throne a shove?"

Mumbling under her breath, Zoey did as she was asked, leveraging her shoulder against the giant throne before, with a grunt of effort, she inverted her attributes and began to push. The throne at the absolute minimum must have weighed at least twenty tons, if not more, and yet Zoey shoved it to the side.

Pushed aside, beneath the throne was a trapdoor, one that didn't take a genius to figure out where it led.

"Ahh, key, trapdoor, rrrright," Zoey said, nodding to herself.

"Good job, Sherlock."

Ignoring his taunt, Zoey crossed her arms. "So, the actual reward from beating my bane?"

"So, what surprised me is that it appeared directly in my inventory."

"Uh-huh, interesting, get to showing." Zoey flexed her hands like a small child demanding uppies.

"No appreciation for suspense or flair, I swear," Rory grumbled as an item materialized within his hand.

"It's, uh, smaller than I expected."

"That's what she said,"

"Shut up," Zoey rolled her eyes as Rory chuckled to himself. "So, that is what exactly?"

"A Hungry Seed."

"A what now?" Zoey asked, uncertain if she'd heard him correctly.

"A Hungry Seed," Rory repeated.

"And that does what exactly?"

Rory skimmed the description before shrugging. "No idea."

"No idea?"

"No idea."

"Surely you have some idea."

"Not much, and don't call me Shirley."

Zoey once more ignored his attempt at humor, leveling him with a flat stare.

"Fine, fine. All it mentions is that it is a seed that feeds off of growth itself."

"That… makes no sense?"

"Well… maybe, maybe not," Rory mumbled as he turned his thoughts inward, thinking it through.

"I know that look," Zoey said, pointing at his face. "You've got something brewing up there."

"Well…. It feeds off of growth. I think that's a clever way of saying it only grows when fed Ascension energy."

"Not sure where you see any cleverness in that," Zoey grumbled. "Look, I like working with you, but I'm not about to nourish some mystery seed with my hard-earned ascension energy."

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"Ditto," Rory said as the seed vanished. "Call it a plot point for the future."

Zoey raised her eyebrows at Rory's phrasing, who shrugged.

"What? I know how I am. I'll probably forget all about this seed for a good thirty years. Then suddenly it will become relevant again as I've had time to think about other stuff."

"Right, sure, whatever you say. Basically, we got fuck all for our efforts?"

"The friends we made along the way?"

"Fuck off."

While the duo briefly considered traveling down to the next floor, the keystone floor had already taken far longer than they had anticipated. For as much time as they spent traversing the jungle-like Deep Chamber floor, it only took a little over a month to return, passing once more through tunnels that they had felt like they'd passed through only yesterday.

Returning to the tunnels of the extended volcano workshop, they paused as they closed in on Rory's central work area, sharing a look.

"You feel that, right?"

"Yeah."

"That doesn't make sense."

"No, it does not."

Hurrying up, the two jogged to the main workshop. The feeling that they had sensed was the familiar pressure of a monster over tier six. Had it been the feel of a tier seven, they would have assumed it was Eia, ignoring the fact that they were both well accustomed to her aura and could have picked her aura out blindfolded.

No, this aura was weaker than Eia's, but still above base tier six.

Did a monster somehow invade? Eia should have handled something as weak as tier six. Maybe it was recent, and she's been out?

Only a few minutes later, they emerged into the main workshop, taking a moment to take in the sight. Very little had changed, as somehow not even dust had collected. There were some bones in a corner of the room, something Rory would scold Eia for, but otherwise, nothing had really changed.

Well, that wasn't quite true, as the source of the mystery aura became obvious.

"Uh, Rory? How long were we down there?"

"Longer than I realized, clearly," Rory said, staring at the magma whirlpool.

The magma within the whirlpool had changed, filled with what Rory recognized as World Ichor.

And more importantly, was the tier six elemental that had poked its head up from the whirlpool, 'eyes' widening as it saw them.

"Jinn?" Rory asked even if he hadn't needed to bother, as there was no doubt in his mind.

But little Jinn had barely been a tier three or four elemental when they'd left. Not level sixty-eight.

Doing the math in his head, Rory slowly turned to face Zoey.

"Sixteen, give or take."

"Sixteen what?"

"Years," Rory said.

"Damn," Zoey whistled. "It didn't feel that long."

"Right? Tell me about it."

Their conversation dried up as the elemental drew itself from the World Ichor whirlpool. No longer was it the blobby, incorporeal, almost ghostly being it had been before. It had taken on a serpentine appearance, probably due to its proximity to Eia.

But it wasn't just a simple magma serpent either, no. Rather than resembling a pure snake, it was more akin to a fusion between a reptile and a person, a Draconid. But the funniest part?

Jinn was chibi-sized. For as much as it had physically changed, it hadn't grown a damn inch.

"Oh, that's fucking adorable," Zoey laughed. "I'd want to hug you if you weren't, you know, third degree burns incarnate."

"Thanks." A voice said, startling them both.

"Wait… you can talk now?" Rory questioned.

"Yes!" Jinn raised its arms overhead, as if triumphant, about what exactly was anyone's guess.

"I can see you've spent a lot of time talking to Eia, if that's the case."

"Big Sis is weird," Jinn said as if that answered it all.

"Right," Rory said, crossing his arms and smiling. "How have you been?"

"Good!" Jinn waved its arms overhead, reminding Rory even more of an excited child. "I grew!"

"I can see. You didn't mind that we were gone?"

"No," Jinn shook its head. "Mostly napped."

"You and Eia both," Rory chuckled. "So, anything interesting happen?"

"Hmmm," Jinn held his serpentine head in his hand, thinking for a moment. "Oh. The big boss in the Halls was happy!"

"Come again?" Rory raised an eyebrow. What Jinn had just said so casually sounded quite a bit more important than a passing comment.

"Mhmm! Some of my Ichor flowed into the Halls, and the big boss really liked it. I'm allowed to travel anywhere through the volcano now! Except, I avoid the meanies at the top and bottom."

"Meanies at the…. You mean the tier eight living at the top of the volcano?" Rory questioned, surprised at how flippant Jinn was being.

"Mhmm! He wanted to eat me, but Big Boss shook the mountain, so Jinn is allowed to go to the top if Jinn wants! Meanie at the bottom knew better than even to try to eat Jinn after that."

"Who… what is this big boss exactly?" Zoey prompted. The idea that there was something within the volcano able to put a tier eight in its place was alarming.

"Hmmm. Jinn isn't allowed to say. Big Boss is the Heart. Lives in the Halls. That's all Jinn is allowed to say."

Rory glanced at Zoey, the two sharing a look before Rory sighed, shaking his head.

Something for the future.

"Anything else to share?" Rory asked.

"Nope!" Jinn said before turning around and diving back into the whirlpool of World Ichor.

"That was…. Interesting," Zoey murmured. "So, a tier eight at the top, a peak tier seven at the base, and something even more imposing at the very center?"

"I don't think it's literally at the center," Rory said. "I would have caught wind by now. I think it's like a sort of metaphysical heart. Or something. Fuck, I don't know." Rory finally admitted, finding his trusty stool and flopping down.

"So… now what?"

"Prepare for tackling the next floor, I assume? Also, I have a feeling I know who the floor guardian of the next floor is."

"This 'meanie' that Jinn mentioned?"

"Bingo," Rory said. "Either this next floor, or if there is a floor after, that floor."

"What's the plan?"

"We take a month or however long to prepare ourselves for the next floor, then we tackle it. If I had to guess, this Big Boss or whatever, if it lives in the 'Heart' of the mountain, and there are two 'meanies' at the top and bottom of the volcano-"

"We beat those two, we can go to the center?"

"Maybe? That's my guess, at least. We're probably going to need to be tier eight before we think too much about that."

Zoey glanced at her level, thinking as she finally said what Rory was considering.

"If the last floor took around sixteen years, and let's assume the next floor is roughly twice the size… I'm going to be just shy of tier eight."

"Same," Rory agreed.

Silent for several moments, the two founders considered the thought that, while thirty or so years would sound like a long time to most lower-tier people, their most recent time spent in the Deep Chambers revealed just how fast they could lose track of time.

The same silence reigned until suddenly there was a loud boom as an aura washed over them, a smile on Rory's lips.

"You two show up as if not a day has passed." Eia mentally hollered as she rushed inside, the tunnel from the outside barely an inconvenience with her speed.

"Hey, not bad," Rory said with a twinkle in his eyes, getting a feel of her aura from up close. "You've kept pace even while all on your own."

"Of course." Eia preened as the serpent, record-shattering by Earth standards, flew in like a blur of colors, her body coiling around Rory in an instant, who didn't bother to resist. Wrapped up like a burrito, Eia's face hovered several inches above Rory's.

"I'm going to guess that the population of local monsters had been quite dwindled," Zoey said, adding to the conversation.

"I have not bothered with the weaker prey."

"Uh-huh," Rory said. "Spend much time further up the mountain?"

"I tend to stay at the third rung from the top. I may confidently say that I am the supreme existence of that level."

"Not bad, the monsters go up to seventy-six there. A high seventy-four and you're the top dog even amongst seven-sixes?"

"Of course. It would take another of a higher caliber than those who meander the volcano to pose a threat at only level seventy-six."

"But you haven't tried your luck with level seventy-seven monsters?"

"Few. My record is… less prestigious against them."

"But you've still managed to successfully hunt a few level seventy-seven monsters based on your phrasing," Zoey pointed out.

"Two."

"Hey, we can't say the same, not yet at least."

"But the monsters of the Deep Chambers are of generally higher quality."

"Eh, some," Rory said, putting her at ease. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you're doing well. Heard you've been keeping Jinn company?"

"The elemental is an odd one. It has access to parts of the mountain that the rest of us do not."

"Yeah, so Jinn said," Rory mumbled, before finally flexing his body, signalling to Eia to release him from her bear – snake – hug.

"How hath your hunts in the Deep Chambers gone?"

"She got eaten by a bird," Rory said, sticking his thumb back at Zoey and smirking.

"And that was your fault!" Zoey yelled. "You told me to wait for your signal, and then you never gave one."

"Ehh, no idea what you're talking about," Rory said as he began to whistle, glancing away. "That aside, our battle with the floor guardian of the most recent Deep Chamber floor went awry, mostly because our banes showed up."

"And how did you fare?"

"So, I won my fight, but I was also facing her bane."

Zoey, for her part, merely grumbled, looking annoyed.

"Ahh, defeat. How bitter a pill. I wouldn't know of such feelings." Eia said, directly looking Zoey in the eye as she did.

"Are… are you holding a grudge? That was over ten years ago now!"

"A grudge. I do not recall what you speak of."

While Rory's whistle was already painfully obvious, Eia's mental whistling was enough to make Rory crack up, unable to stifle the reaction as Zoey glared at them.

"You're both morons," Zoey finally sighed in defeat. "Like father, like daughter, or whatever the hell your dynamic technically fits as."

"Such relations are not entirely inaccurate."

Rory raised an eyebrow at Eia, only for the snake to stare him down, as if challenging him to say otherwise.

"Too young to be a father," Rory finally grumbled.

"Aren't you like, seventy by now, or something around that? Wait, maybe even eighty?"

"Buph, buph, buph," Rory held out his hand, stopping Zoey from continuing. "I feel even more fresh and chipper than the day I first arrived; therefore, I'm only as old as I feel, and if I feel better than my twenties, I'm ageless."

"Age is just a number?"

"Exactly!"

"Sounds like something one of those thirty-year-olds who loiters around a high school would say."

"Bleh, not like that," Rory said, sticking out his tongue in disgust. "I'd only date women…" Counting on his fingers, Rory held up five fingers. "At least fifty years old."

"So you are saying you're an old man!"

"Shut it."

The banter continued, with Eia even joining in. Rory felt relaxed, enjoying the company, and Jinn occasionally popped in with adorable, naïve questions about some of the cruder jokes.

All in all, it was a good time spent as Rory was able to breathe a deep sigh of contentment.

Now… Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something important?

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