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“Hey,” the black reptilian said and scanned the ground. “The baubles disappeared.”
Ellie turned her head to the side, towards the pile of crystals and ores that were no longer there. She blinked, confirming the items were as gone as the slagpions that had went to chase after James. The yellow reptilian looked at Sam. “Is Raindu with you?”
The black ferret leapt off of Sam, landing on top of Ellie’s head.
Ellie blinked as she reached up and touched the ferret’s sides, making sure it was real. She beamed at Sam. “Your disguise ability is really strong! I didn’t even notice Raindu was here.”
“Thanks,” Sam said, speaking for himself. The twin-headed snake had crawled off of him and was working on swallowing up all the crystals and ores under an illusion, preventing anyone from seeing what was happening except for Sam. “It’s not solely thanks to myself though.”
“That’s okay,” Ellie said, nodding her head. “Even if you’re relying on an item or something, as long as you can do it, you still deserve credit because not everyone can make such an awesome illusion.”
“Humans can sure make elaborate illusions, huh?” one of the reptilians behind Ellie asked. “It won’t be long before they’re too scary to bully.”
“Who are they?” Sam asked, his voice raspy. It felt strange to speak again. He hadn’t been allowed usage of his mouth for quite some time, and he was getting real sick of having Raindu stuff food directly inside his stomach. Literally, the ferret didn’t wash its hands, and he already had one bout of food poisoning.
Ellie turned to look at the reptilians that had accompanied her. “These are bodyguards,” she said and placed her hands on her hips. “I didn’t want to, but I had to bring them with me.”
“For what it’s worth, we’ve saved your life three times already,” the reptilian behind Ellie said.
“I would’ve been fine!” Ellie said, turning back to glare at the reptilian who had spoken. She turned back towards Sam. “I’m glad I found you! I wanted to see if you’ve been keeping up with your training or not.”
Sam stared at Ellie as the reptilian unpacked her bag, taking out a familiar pair of stilts and sticks with boxing gloves attached to their ends. Was this really an appropriate place to begin sparring? He didn’t think so, but seeing as all the slagpions had left, leaving the region of the pyramid behind, there was a lot of empty space to maneuver. “Are you sure you want to do that right now?” he asked.
“Why?” Ellie asked in return. Her expression fell. “You don’t want to play with me anymore now that you have human friends?”
“That’s not it,” Sam said before sighing. He had nothing else to do while waiting for the twin-headed snake to finish eating its meal. The answer to when James would be back was also up in the air. Also, hadn’t he come to the dungeon to gain some practical experience for his new abilities? “Alright, let’s spar.”
Birdbrained flew off of Sam’s head and landed nearby the twin-headed snake. Raindu scampered off of Ellie and made its way over to the pile of crystals as well, disappearing from the reptilians’ visions as Werchbite’s illusion covered it.
Sam took in a deep breath and activated his All-Seeing Gaze. Through his Sahasrara, he established a connection with Ellie, but the thread of lightning within his psychic vision snapped as Ellie manipulated her own crown chakra. Despite her rebuffing his attempt at establishing a connection, Sam tried again, putting more of his concentration into his psychic vision.
“It won’t work!” Ellie said as she sprang forward, throwing a punch at Sam’s abdomen. The boxing glove made contact with his stomach, but it was as if she had struck a piece of iron. Vibrations surged from Sam’s body into the glove, down the stick, and into Ellie’s arm, causing her hand to feel as if she’d been bitten by hundreds of fire ants. The yellow reptilian’s eyes widened, and she dropped the stick while retreating. “Good!”
Sam took in a deep breath, keeping his focus on Ellie’s feet rather than her words. If she wanted to attack him, her feet would definitely move, and if he wanted to counter her actions, he couldn’t afford to let his attention lapse. Sam stretched his arm out towards the pile of crystals, mentally signaling Raindu to give him Phantom Bo. The smoky quartz staff flew through the air, landing in Sam’s grasp.
“Hey,” Ellie said and frowned as she squatted to pick up her dropped stick. “Using weapons is dangerous. What if someone gets hurt?”
Sam ignored Ellie’s protest. He had practiced with the staff, so why shouldn’t he use it? Sam wielded the staff, pointing the front end at Ellie’s nose like he had been taught. Not only had he hired tutors for mastering his chakras, but he had also hired someone to teach him how to fight with Phantom Bo. While holding the staff, his body relaxed as his negative emotions were absorbed by the smoky quartz, and his distracting thoughts faded away. He took a step forward and thrust the staff forward. Ellie dodged to the side, but an invisible wave of negativity radiated out of the staff’s tip, washing over the yellow reptilian, causing her movements to become sluggish.
While the reptilian’s reactions were slowed, Sam stepped forward and swung his staff at Ellie’s foot, hardening it with Toughen a moment before impact against Ellie’s stilt. The stilt shot out from underneath Ellie’s feet, but she rotated her body, causing the stilt to swing around in an arc. It moved in a perfect circle, coming back down towards Sam’s head like an axe striking a piece of firewood.
“Pause!” Sam said while activating his throat chakra. For a brief moment, Ellie’s strike defied the laws of physics, the stilt freezing in midair an inch above Sam’s head. He backed away, and the stilt whipped past his face, almost taking off his nose. While retreating, Sam swung the staff at Ellie’s other stilt and knocked her off balance, causing her to yelp and fall flat on her face. Right before her nose made contact with the ground, she caught herself with her arm sticks and performed a pushup that launched her backwards, distancing herself from Sam.
“Vishudda?” Ellie asked, narrowing her eyes at Sam as she fixed her posture. “It’s strong.”
Sam coughed, his throat a bit itchy. He hadn’t had a chance to practice his command technique because Vercedei was always covering his mouth, so he was pleased to see it work in an actual combat setting. Sam distanced himself from Ellie, keeping the tip of his staff pointed at her nose. It was easier fighting with a staff than with his bare hands thanks to the increase in his range.
“Are you working from top to bottom?” Ellie asked, looking at Sam’s forward. Her gaze traveled down his face, past his throat, and to his solar plexus. “Well, it looks like you know what you’re doing.”
Sam blinked as Ellie packed away her sticks and stilts. Was the sparring session over already? Maybe it wasn’t so fun to play with her pet if it could actually fight back. Whatever the reason, Sam dropped his guard and nodded at Ellie. “Did you really come all this way to play with me?”
“Of course,” Ellie said, nodding her head. “Why else would I come here? Dungeons aren’t worth exploring unless you already know what’s inside.” She stared at Sam. “You really shouldn’t mess with the natives too much. You’re trying to keep a low profile, aren’t you? Some blue avians monitor dungeons in their free time.”
Sam nodded. “Thanks for the advice,” he said. Luckily, he didn’t need anything from the natives—other than the pile of ores, metals, and crystals the twin-headed snake was devouring. Once they finished, they didn’t need to gather anything else, and he didn’t have to spend his time digging either. He wasn’t sure what the finished product was going to be, but Werchbite did promise he’d like it. Sam activated his All-Seeing Gaze, locating his three familiars. The pile of crystals was gone, and it seemed like Raindu was having a verbal confrontation with the twin-headed snake. Sam decided not to mediate.
Sam scratched his head. “So,” he said to Ellie. “What have you encountered in the dungeon? Is it pretty much the same environment wherever you go?”
“Lots of lava, yes,” Ellie said and nodded her head. “These natives are productive, but they’re way far behind in quality of life. They don’t have any culture, so there aren’t any buildings or places of note other than this pyramid.”
“It’s a big pyramid,” one of the reptilians standing off to the side said. “Bigger than the primitive ones our ancestors made.”
“Well, they’re big creatures,” the other reptilian said. “I wonder if they buried anything in the center of the pyramid. There’s usually something important inside.”
Raindu stopped arguing with the twin-headed snakes and stood on its hindlegs, its head turning in the direction of the pyramid. Before Sam could even formulate a thought to stop the ferret, Raindu sprinted away, heading for the large structure. Meanwhile, Vercedei let out a massive burp, the snake’s body shrinking in size. With every breath the snake exhaled, it shrank until it was back to its regular size. Then, the snake slithered its way back to Sam, crawling up his leg, around his waist, and instead of going up to his face, Werchbite bit Sam’s solar plexus, causing him to yelp as a burning pain shot entered his chest and radiated outwards into his limbs and head.
Birdbrained flew towards Sam and landed on his head before squawking at the twin-headed snake, asking what it was doing. The twin-headed snake replied with bone replacement. Sam wasn’t sure if he understood the snake correctly because every bone in his body was melting, and the pain was making it almost impossible to do anything other than fall over into the fetal position. What in the world made the snake think he would love something like this? It was overwhelmingly painful, and he was pretty sure his skeleton wasn’t capable of supporting his muscles anymore.
The reptilians were standing around, unaware of Sam’s condition thanks to Werchbite’s illusion. Even his gurgling whimpers were muted, unable to reach the reptilians’ ears. Other than the pain, all Sam could sense was Werchbite’s words echoing through his head: there’s no rebirth without destruction, so why was he stressing over a fleeting moment of pain? Once it was over, his life would change for the better; wasn’t that what he wanted?
Sam couldn’t formulate a response. It took all his energy not to think up curses and mean names to call the twin-headed snake. If he was going to undergo immense pain, he wanted to be ready for it! He didn’t want it thrust upon him in the middle of a dungeon with nothing familiar around.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Ellie asked Werchbite’s illusion, oblivious to Sam’s suffering.
“There are a few days before the dungeon closes,” Vercedei said as Werchbite manipulated Sam’s illusion into moving. “I came to experience what a dungeon was like, and since you’ve said there isn’t anything other than this pyramid, then there isn’t much left for me to gain by exploring. If you’re not busy, we can spend the rest of the time in the dungeon sparring with each other.”
Ellie beamed. “Sure!” she said. “That sounds great.” Her head turned towards the black reptilian. “You’re going to spar Sam with me; he needs training fighting against multiple opponents.”
“Will I be paid extra?” the black reptilian asked.
“No,” Ellie said. “Do you think you’re lucky enough to be paid for playing with a pet? You’re lucky you’re not paying me for the entertainment. If you want to sit at the side and watch while being bored, you can do that instead.”
“I’ll do that,” the black reptilian said. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt him.”
“Is that so?” Vercedei asked as the illusion of Sam’s face was split by a cocky grin. “Are you sure you’re not afraid of getting hurt by me?”
Sam wasn’t in a right state of mind thanks to the pain overwhelming his mind, but he’d really appreciate it if the twin-headed snake stopped provoking people while he was basically a boneless lump of meat.
“Yeah, sure,” the black reptilian said and nodded. Despite his willingness to attack James, the reptilian was more hesitant in confronting Sam. Ellie might’ve been a child, but her combat techniques were on par with an adult’s. “I’m scared of getting hurt. The portable jiggler we brought is small and cramped, and I don’t like tight spaces.”
“I’ll play with you guys,” one of the reptilians behind Ellie said, raising its hand to volunteer. “I have a pet human of my own at home, so I know how to handle them properly.”
“Fine,” Ellie said and pointed at the red reptilian that had just spoken. “You and me will fight Sam together.” She looked at the remaining reptilians. “You guys can find something else to entertain yourself until the dungeon closes, but stay close!”
“That sounds great; however, I’m going to need a minute,” Vercedei said as the twin-headed snake slithered back onto Sam’s face without any resistance. “My leg cramped earlier.”
Sam couldn’t even gasp for breath, not with the snake blocking his mouth. If only he were suffering from just a cramp instead of the bone-burning pain flooding his body. What were his bones being replaced with anyway? Crystals? Weren’t blood cells created in the bones? If his bones were being replaced, what about all their biological functions? Then again, his heart and lungs had already been substituted with a crystal, and he was still alive. Did the twin-headed snake have plans on replacing any of his other organs? He had heard of cyborgs, but what would he be if his body was half flesh and half crystal? A freak, that’s what. At least it was only his bones being replaced and not his brain.
Werchbite’s voice entered Sam’s mind, reassuring him he’d still be himself even if his brain were replaced. Brains were simply a meaty interface for the consciousness to interact with; humans weren’t their brains. If Sam’s brain was replaced by a crystal, his thoughts would be clearer, and he’d be free of negativity, but he’d still be himself.
Sam doubted that he’d still be himself if his brain was replaced, but he wasn’t going to express it. The pain from his bones disintegrating due to Werchbite’s venom was gradually fading away, but it was replaced by an itching sensation. It was as if hundreds of worms were burrowing through his flesh, but he couldn’t scratch the itchy parts due to them being inside of him. Sam took in a deep breath through his nose and let his face rest against the hot ground, ignoring everything but his root chakra. However, no chilling pulsation came out of his crotch to wash his pain away; evidently, the vibrations produced by the bone-melting sensation wasn’t something he could assimilate.
Ellie and the red reptilian watched as the illusion of Sam did a series of slow stretches. Once the itchiness in Sam’s body went away, the illusion finished its exercises. “I’m ready now,” Vercedei said.
Sam stood up and moved his body around, not feeling any different despite his bones being replaced. Well, his movements did feel a bit smoother, but he wasn’t sure if that was just in his mind. At least his bones stopped popping whenever he moved about. Before he could examine his body more closely, a cracking sound akin to thunder rang out from the pyramid, and the upper portion of the structure caved in.
Sam activated his All-Seeing Gaze now that he was blinded again by the twin-headed snake. Through his psychic vision, he saw Raindu running out of the collapsing structure; the ferret obviously to blame for what had happened.
“What happened?” Ellie asked, turning around with the other reptilians to look at the pyramid.
“I’m not sure,” the black reptilian said as it squatted down to pick up Ellie. “But we shouldn’t be here when it falls. The ground might fracture, and who knows if there’s a pool of magma waiting underneath to swallow us.”
“Yep,” the red reptilian said. “Let’s get out of here before we’re blamed for this. I can’t imagine the natives will be very happy upon seeing their hours of hard work destroyed when they get back.”
Sam nodded and followed after the reptilians, who were coincidentally heading in the direction of Tom and Kerry. As he walked, he mentally questioned Raindu: why did the pyramid collapse? Was the ferret alright? Did it really have to destroy the whole pyramid?
The ferret caught up to Sam, leapt onto his clothes, and crawled up his shirt. It poked its head out of Sam’s shirt collar, and it looked up at him with its mahogany eyes. Raindu answered Sam’s questions by telling a story. At the center of the giant pyramid, there was a huge and orange mineral deposit, basically one giant carnelian crystal that supported the whole structure. It was the largest crystal Raindu had ever seen, so common sense dictated the ferret had to have it even if some things had to be destroyed. What had the twin-headed snake said? There was no construction without destruction or something along those lines.