14 Temple Run (2/2)
"Hello There" -- Characters speaking
'General Kenobi' -- Character thoughts
"You are" 'a bold one' -- Invocations, Thoughts/Conversations in flashbacks
The Negotiator -- Titles
"Ah yes, the Negotiator" -- Xeroc speaking
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In a different part of Mondstadt, a temple was hidden away, situated at the edge of a coast. A single gate of stone was left open, revealing a portal. If one were to step through the portal, their eyes would be met with the glorious sight of a floating temple, suspended in the air, hidden away in a different realm.
The realm was shrouded within a foggy "sky", the only thing visible in the distance being the silhouettes of mountains, and green hues, reminiscent of the northern lights.
The temple itself was a marvel of mystical engineering, divided into two sections. Built from refined stone, the quality of the materials, and the caliber of construction was apparent, judging from the slight wear-and-tear being the only type of damage present across the temple.
Somewhere along the entrance of the temple, footsteps rang out through a lone corridor. Two women walked through, one dressed in red robes, the other in a purple and white dress with a witch's hat adorning the top of her head.
The women in red looked around, absentmindedly observing her surroundings, while the other held a slightly irritated expression, giving the illusion that she might have been on her period.
'I wonder... if a quirked-up Yharim busts it down sexual style, is he goated with the sauce?' A contemplative Calamitas thought to herself, admiring the scenery around her.
"Calamitas?" The woman in purple called out.
"Maybe the old man was right, Erden really did have quite the influence on me," muttering to herself quietly, Calamitas turned her attention towards Lisa, the person she had recently been acquainted with. "Hmm, were you saying something?"
"...Yes. Even while outside, the disturbance of the elemental flow was making me uncomfortable. But after entering the temple, it's become quite... unbearable. I want to deal with this temple as soon as possible, so I can stop feeling... so tense." Her eyebrows furrowed, from her expression it was quite visible that she was not feeling well.
"...We just got here five minutes ago, and now you're saying that you wanna leave?" Calamitas squinted her eyes at Lisa, not wanting to just speed-run through the temple and leave soon after. Lisa looked at her, releasing a sigh as her expression turned apologetic.
"If the circumstances were any better, I wouldn't have any problems with taking things slowly." As she said that, she eyed her closely, scrutinizing a lack of tenseness in her expression.
"Besides, do you not feel uncomfortable right now...? Any one capable of feeling and perceiving elemental energy, whether it be with or without a Vision, would feel uneasy being so close to such a strong source of elemental disturbance. And it is much worse for a mage like me, as I am quite sensitive to elemental energy."
Calamitas tilted her head upon hearing the question, not grasping the reason behind the inquiry. Seeing that, Lisa clarified her cause for asking, explaining the effect of elemental disturbances on people sensitive to elemental energy. Gleaning the information, she remembered Lisa mentioning the something similar a few hours ago.
"Simply put, Mondstadt's elemental sphere and ley lines are now akin to a yarn ball in the paws of a kitten. For a mage like me, it couldn't get much worse. My skin is one elemental particle away from a full-blown breakout."
'I suppose this is what she was referring to.'
"Well, I do feel a slight prickling sensation on my skin, but that's about it. I don't really feel uncomfortable that much," she told Lisa, putting a finger on the corner of her lips as she explained the effect of the disturbance on her.
Perhaps it was because she came into contact with the new energy only recently, or it was because she wasn't a native of this world, or maybe because there was a difference in skill and strength, but Calamitas barely felt afflicted by the disturbances in elemental energy.
"...I see, that is quite fortunate. Even so, we must still find and destroy whatever is empowering Stormterror within this temple as soon as possible. After that, you are free to explore the temple at your own leisure."
"...Fine." Not wanting to get into a pointless argument with Lisa, Calamitas reluctantly agreed, picking up pace as she walked on ahead. "Best we get moving then."
Lisa stared at her, not saying anything before she also set about moving, walking right up to Calamitas as she matched her stride. "I'll guide the way forward. I sense a strong elemental energy deep within the temple. That is most likely our target, and I happen to know my through."
The new piece of information elicited a raised eyebrow from Calamitas, prompting her to ask,
"You've been here before?"
"A few times before, yes. Though the last time I came here was about a year ago, and I must say" —looking around, she found a few torches of crude making, lit here and there— "this place definitely was not home to... unpleasant presences."
Hearing that, Calamitas quirked up as she caught on to the slight irritation in Lisa's tone. By her words, one thing was clear as she voiced out her thoughts, "Enemy presence?"
"Yes. I highly doubt we will find any human presence here, as the temple has already been stripped bare of any valuable relics. So, we will most likely encounter hilichurls, and maybe slimes too," replied Lisa, feeling a slight pang of annoyance as the thought of seeing the temple being desecrated by hilichurls passed through her mind.
'So, nothing I can't deal with,' thought Calamitas. She'd already encountered hilichurls in the last week, so she knew that they wouldn't pose any challenge to her.
As she trudged forward with Lisa right beside her, her ears began to pick up faint sounds of something plopping and sizzling right around the end of the corridor they were currently in. Having heard something similar many times before—in this world and hers—she already knew the kind of creature to expect.
Abruptly speeding up, she left Lisa behind as she rounded the corner, seeing a lone Pyro Slime jumping about, minding its own business. Guiding the Elemental Mana within her, she sent an arc of sharp, hot Anemo right at the slime, who realized too late that its life was already forfeit.
Upon contact, the arc of Anemo engendered an elemental reaction, causing the Pyro Slime to burst, as a blazing wind engulfed its gelatinous form, scorching the ground underneath it while leaving behind a few traces of slime condensate.
By the time Lisa turned the corner, Calamitas had already killed the Pyro Slime. She didn't bother picking up what remained of the pitiable creature, finding it to be a waste of time as she had the feeling that her otherworldly companion would be running around, finding and picking up any loot he could get his grubby hands on.
And oh boy... was she right.
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"Do you seriously have to pick up every single sliver of condensate that you find?" asked an irate Kaeya, a bulging vein visible on his temple. "This is the tenth time we've had to stop because you didn't want to leave any remains behind!"
"I'll have you know, any self-respecting gamer will choose to forsake valuable time if it means they end up stocking up on more loot... and I'm a true gamer at heart!"
"What the hell does that even mean?!"
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'Knowing the loot goblin that he is... he's probably cramming his Inventory with every drop that he finds.'
With a skip in her steps, she passed by the spot of ground scorched by the previous explosion, paying it no mind. Following behind, Lisa observed the scorch marks forming a circular pattern on the floor—the aftermath of the small explosion.
The explosion seemed to occur right after Calamitas rounded the corner, as she felt the sudden flow of elemental energy erupt from where Calamitas supposedly was. Lisa didn't fret about remarking on her abrupt actions, instead simply choosing to observe further.
Moving further, they came across the end of the corridor, leading to a presumably large room. As soon as they entered the room, they heard somebody speaking in a completely foreign language.
"Ya? Kundala Ika!" (Human? Kill enemy!)
Turning towards the source of the voice, they were met with a group of hilichurls—humanoid creatures grayish-black skin and large manes covering their head, along with elongated ears sticking out from their mane.
They were bare-chested and bare-footed, only wearing a loin-cloth with bandages covering their arms and legs. However, their most distinguishing feature was the white, faceless mask covering their face, having a winding pattern drawn on it, and two small horns jutting out from the side.
There happened to be four of them in the group. Two hilichurls in the front carrying wooden clubs, running right at them, while the others in the back aimed at the two intruders with crossbows.
Bzzt.
Calamitas prepared to fire her magic at them, but four sparks of lightning shot out from behind her, followed by what sounded like the screechings of a thousand birds. The sparks struck all four hilichurls dead-center, sending them flying into a wall. As they fell on to the ground, grayish smoke began emitting from every pore of their body.
Turning around, she saw Lisa looking at the hilichurls with a satisfied expression, as an open grimoire floated beside her. Its pages flapped wildly, only stopping until Lisa herself halted her use of Vision, as the grimoire then disappeared into thin air.
"They won't be getting up from that," the witch in purple said. Calamitas then looked around the room, not finding any more enemies. Instead, she found an archway connected to a different corridor, along with a few banners hanging against the walls of the room, all of them torn in places with some having completely lost their color.
While she was scanning the room, Lisa began walking away towards the newly-discovered archway, momentarily stilling in place as she looked back at the downed hilichurls, wisps of smoke still emitting from their figures as their bodies started showing signs of decay, starting from their limbs.
After making sure the hilichurls were down for the count, she resumed her stride towards the archway. Facing her back, one of the downed hilichurls began exerting a silent effort, extending its remaining hand as it reached out towards the crossbow laying closest to it, the arrow already having been notched between the groove.
With a grunt, it pulled the weapon into its lap. Looking down, it made sure the bolt was properly notched, positioning the crossbow so that the bolt directly pointed towards Lisa's back. Taking a deep breath under its mask, the hilichurl looked back up... only to see bright crimson orbs staring, just centimeters away from its mask.
"...Boo."
"Mumu-fak—!" (Motherfuc—!)
Gurgle!
A small gust briefly raged around the hilichurl, its voice now barely perceptible, only coming out in gurgles. The source of the interruption was right in front of it, squatting on the ground with her arm lodged in its throat below its mask.
The end of her arm was visible, jutting out from its back as her hand was covered in murky black substance, her fingers gripped around what seemed to be its spine.
Slowly applying pressure, her fingers began to tighten around the spine. Sensing its impending doom, the hilichurl desperately tried to resist, doing its utmost best to escape the grasp of the crimson-eyed woman, her grip tantamount to that of the despairing unguis of death.
It weakly raised its remaining arm, the fingers already having been decayed, reduced to a smoky, black ash-like substance. Not even sparing a single drop of energy, the hilichurl exerted its remaining strength, its decayed arm striking right into Calamitas's neck, hoping to take atleast one of the intruders down with it.
The attempt struck true, but unfortunately... it had no effect on Calamitas. Gazing at the struggling hilichurl with pity in her eyes, she made the decision to end its suffering. Closing her fist, she finally crushed the spine gripped between her fingers, as the bones crumbled to dust.
Only, it wasn't just the bones that crumbled, but its entire body as the decay sped up, consuming the rest of its figure. As its body collapsed, ending with the mask breaking into half, a sudden image passed through the mind of the hilichurl before it died, the image... of a city blanketed in flames, as countless reddish-black cubes dotted the smoke-covered sky.
Opening and closing her fist repeatedly, Calamitas stared at the ashes resting on her palms. With a thought, she whipped up a small gust, dispersing the remains of the dead hilichurls as she stood up and turned around, seeing Lisa standing under the archway, waiting for her.
"What were you doing?" asked a curious Lisa, as soon as Calamitas walked up to her. A few moments prior, the brief voice of one of the hilichurls drew her attention back to where they were laying as she reached the archway.
Looking back, she found Calamitas squatting in front of one of the downed creatures. Due to their positioning, her back was facing towards Lisa. Hence, she wasn't able to see the somewhat brutal death of one of the hilichurls.
"Nothing much, was just checking to make sure they were dead. Turns out one of them was still alive," Calamitas replied, coming face to face with her. Gesturing towards the path leading upwards towards their target, she spoke, her tone mischievious, "You know the way around... so be my guest. After you."
Rolling her eyes, she did a 180, taking the path leading leading out from the archway, away from the room they were just in.
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After leaving the room of hilichurls, an hour passed as the duo of witches followed the enclosed path, leading through a multitude of different rooms, each filled with either slimes or hilichurls, sometimes a combination of both.
Of course, enemies of such low caliber barely posed a threat to the two witches, as they breezed through them with little to no difficulty. This went on until they came across a room, with an opening resembling a balcony.
Entering the balcony, the two saw the other section of the fortress, along with a few floating platforms some distance from them. The platforms were arranged in a zig-zag pattern, allowing those who reach the top of the first part, to cross over to the entrance of the second part of the fortress.
Gazing at the exterior of the fortress, Calamitas felt a sudden pull in her mind, prompting her to look up towards the top of the other section, finding a balcony similar to the one they were currently situated in, while also sensing an erratic flow of elemental energy originating from said opening.
"Do you sense it? The turbulent flux of Anemo energy... it's all coming from inside there." Pointing her finger towards the spot Calamitas was looking at, Lisa confirmed their target. The both of them realized that part of whatever was fueling Stormterror's power, was nestled at the top of the fortress.
"Now, we just need to get over to the other side... or..." Musing to herself, Lisa had a sudden realization as she started suggesting the idea to Calamitas...
"Or, we could just fly all the way to the top.""
"Or, we could directly skip all the running and fighting, and just fly our way to the top...?"
Only for both of them to speak at the same time, suggesting the exact same idea, just in different words. As they finished speaking, the two briefly looked at each other in a state of befuddlement before they both started giggling.
Taking a few seconds to compose themselves, Calamitas recreated the same construct as before, letting it float a few centimeters from the ground as she and Lisa stepped on top of it before they were enclosed in a barrier.
The construct started floating, making its way towards the top of the other section of the fortress. They only had to wait a few moments before they reached the balcony. As the construct settled down, the two walked off of it, causing it to dissipate into thin air.
Stepping into the final room, the two found the room to be completely empty, except for a large, translucent-green crystal, sitting right in the middle of the room. Waves of Anemo energy stemmed from it, being so potent that just a few traces were enough to form a visible wall of wind around it.
"That's our target, alright." Calamitas pondered idly. The prickling from when she entered the temple kept increasing the closer she got to the source of the disturbance, transforming into an itch that she felt all over her body.
"...Yes, best we break it as soon as possible, then head home and relax." Lisa suggested, wanting to rid herself of the burden brought about by the elemental disturbance.
Summoning her grimoire, she raised her hands as her Vision glowed, causing Electro energy to gather in droves right above the crystal of Anemo energy. The cluster of Electro then changed shape, forming a glowing lamp with jagged thorns wrapped around it. Electricity sparked around the floating lamp as a pulse of Electro energy emanated from it.
For a second, silence permeated the surroundings... only to be shattered by a giant bolt of electricity striking the Anemo crystal, utterly shattering it and incurring a volatile reaction—an intense tempest of wind traveling outwards, almost knocking both witches off their feet.
The tempest only lasted a moment before it dispersed, leaving behind a still quietness that pervaded the room. Both Calamitas and Lisa stood resolute on their feet, their guards fully up, bracing themselves on the off-chance another tempest rages on.
They stayed in place for about half a minute, only relaxing after realizing that the storm had passed.
"...Huh. Didn't think it'd be this easy." Looking around the room, Calamitas didn't find any hostile presences, only a few traces in the form of crude, wooden torches.
"Indeed..." Lisa replied in a daze, her mind in a frenzy as she'd come to a conclusion regarding the source of Stormterror's immense power.
'It kept bugging me how Stormterror was able to draw power from a temple that wasn't its own... turns out it was that crystal that was strengthening it. And the placement of the crystal, the appearance of the hilichurls and slimes... it is clear this was all orchestrated by someone.'
"But the question is... who, and why?" she mumbled to herself, which did not go unnoticed by Calamitas, who heard part of the mumble.
"Who? Are you looking for someone?" The crimson-eyed witch asked, curious about what Lisa was thinking of. She didn't receive a proper answer, as Lisa shook her head, choosing to avoid the topic at the current moment, at least until she was able to get to the bottom of the situation.
"It's nothing." she suggested, feeling spent after a day's worth of work. She wanted to return to the city and take a bath as soon as possible, so she could return back to her duties and hobbies.
"Calamitas, we should start—" Looking towards her side, she found that the witch in red was no longer beside her. She almost started looking around the room for her, only for a familiar voice to veer her focus towards an archway connecting the room to the rest of the fortress.
"I'm right here." There, she found Calamitas with a toothy grin on her face, standing in a loosened posture with one hand on her hip. With palpable excitement, she asked Lisa, "I'm gonna explore the rest of the temple, you gonna come with?"
'Oh right, I forgot that she wanted to explore the temple... well, if she is so interested in the history and culture of Mondstadt, then who am I to stop her?'
Taking a few moments to decide, she let out a sigh as she relented, accepting her offer. "I suppose you will need someone to guide you through the temple so you don't lose your way... so yes, I will come with."
Hearing the affirmation, Calamitas gleefully hopped off with a skip in her steps, followed by Lisa who walked at her own pace. The both of them spent another hour just going through the temple as Calamitas did her best to find any old chests or relics she could take with her as souvenirs.
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That's about it for this chap.
Got distracted recently cause I finally built a new PC, and been playing cyberpunk for the past two weeks. Gotta feel bad for Takemura, poor bastard got off-screened just like Go/jo.
Also, Panam is best girl, fight me.
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[Omake #2 - Phil from SWC]
Within the Headquarters of the Knights of Favonius, situated in the Grand-Masters office were three groups of people, two of whom were currently in the midst of concluding their negotiations.
"Well, now that we are working together, I'm gonna need to know what the next course of action—"
Ring, ring.
"Oh, pardon me," apologized Erden for the sudden interruption as music started playing out of nowhere, the genre being rock, mixed with lots of synth and jazz. Taken aback by the interruption, for some reason, the people present felt that they were going to have a bad time.
Fishing through his pockets, he pulled out his cellphone. Looking at the glowing screen, the name "Phil" was written on it in English. Accepting the call, he put the phone on speaker for everyone else to hear, his actions driven by curiosity, and anticipation, wanting to hear about the answer to his request.
"Hey this is Phil from the Small Wiener Club, sorry to get back to you so late, I just finished reviewing your application and information you sent in." A voice chimed out from the device, startling some of the occupants of the room.
"But I am sorry to say that I don't think I can allow you to join our group," he said in a solemn tone. His answer elicited a gasp from Calamitas, who stood directly behind Erden, while the man himself looked shocked by the rejection, stammering out a single word, that all but conveyed the emotions he felt.
"B-bu-b-but... why?"
"From what I'm looking at, your wiener is massive. I mean the sheer girth and juiciness alone is ridiculous." The statement caused all of the present females to blush in varying degrees, some like Lisa only have a light hue on her cheeks, while others like Amber going full atomic, the tone of her skin almost matching parts of her outfit.
"It looks as if somebody glued a forearm to the bottom of your torso. You could probably stand on it like a tripod, and that's not even mentioning how fat your nuts are."
Pfft.
A loud spitting sound drew everyone's attention to Kaeya, who was repeatedly coughing out loud. Banging on his chest with his fist again and again, his other hand held a glass, half filled with water. When he heard Phil say "bottom of the torso," he realized what exactly what he was talking about.
Of course, the moment couldn't come at a worse time. The statement threw him off, while also tickling his funny bone, but he got tickled a bit too much when he felt the water go down the wrong pipe, as he tried to laugh at the absurdity of the statement.
"But it does appear that you are going to have to take that ginormous schmeat somewhere else. But thank you for trying, and best of luck to you."
With that last statement, a clicking sound resounded, signaling the end of the phone call. However, what mostly concerned everyone was the thousand-yard stare present on Erden's face, and the dead look in his eyes, as if someone killed his dog and stole his car.
Sniff, sniff.
A moment later, the scene worsened as thick tears pooled from his eyes, falling onto the carpet below. Both the members of the Knights of Favonius and the blonde traveler along with her flying companion were stunned by the sight.
Almost all of them couldn't bring themselves to believe that someone who fought off Stormterror with such ease could be brought down by something so... inconvenient.
The sight also brought Calamitas out of her stupor, as she realized the need to comfort him. But she knew best not to do it in front of so many people. Wasting not a moment longer, she turned to Jean, apologizing for the interruption and the abrupt spectacle as she helped Erden move out of the room.
While walking out, she noticed Kaeya staring at Erden, his eyes gleaming with a twinkle of pity and respect. With practiced movements, he saluted, banging his fist on his pec, in respect for a fallen comrade.
She nodded at him before walking out of the room. After she'd left with Erden in tow, the people present in the Grand-Master's office stared in silence, completely unsure of what to say. But the silence didn't last, broken by the blonde-haired traveler.
"What... was that?" questioned Lumine, feeling lost after the recent course of events. She looked towards her companion for answers, but the flying Emergency Food could only shrug her shoulders.
"Well, that... was something." Lumine's inquiry was unexpectedly answered by Jean, fiddling with the end of her ponytail as her mind replayed the phone call that took place just moments prior.
'I wonder... just how big is it?'
