Level 1 Fallen

Diane’s recounting of the dungeon’s history left me deep in thought while I drove through the skies, dodging flying monsters while riding atop the projected platform. Marron had already been to our next destination, so she knew exactly where to send us. Soon, we reached a vast lake at the center of the frozen continent.

Within the borders of this lake, the raging blizzard ceased as if it were a lie. Instead, a tropical wind blew, carrying with it the salty scent of an ocean far beyond what we were seeing. And then, at the center of this secluded lake, was a mountain alight with burning magma, ashen clouds gathered overhead.

Through these clouds, we could clearly see the boundary of the biome, the firm line where the ash refused to pass. Once we saw this, Marron smiled. “The entrance of the ruins is on right easternmost side, where the lava flow parts around a white stone gate.”

“I’m not sure how you made it here the first time,” Bella said in surprise as she looked at the burning land below. “Your trait wouldn’t really stop lava from burning you, after all.”

Marron, however, simply laughed. “I knew what I was heading into, so I had some heat resistance potions prepared. As long as I didn’t trip and fall into the lava itself, I was bound to be fine. I doubt I have to worry so much with you all here, though. Even if something did manage to happen, we’d be back in no time.”

I let out a small sigh at this, wrapping the car with a barrier as I circled around to the far end of the volcano. Thankfully, a white stone gate stood out quite well against the blackened land and rivers of molten stone.

As I approached with the car, I noticed small monsters hiding within the lava flow. With jagged teeth and tiny claws, they looked like little imps preparing to pounce on unsuspecting adventurers. They didn’t seem all that threatening, but I didn’t want a stray attack to risk killing Marron, so I activated my stealth skills before setting down on the scorched land just beyond the gate.

Once everyone was out and the car stowed away, we followed Marron through. Inside, the air seemed to chill, the suffocating heat from the volcano disappearing. It felt almost as if we had crossed into yet another biome, though that shouldn’t have been the case. The barriers for biomes typically rose all the way to the sky, and down far below the soil. This was something that I had experienced firsthand when I was in the process of making the Sunset Isles.

“Is it another spatial transfer?” Diane mused, looking at the dusty walls within the tunnel, lit only by the glow from outside. “Or is it just an atmospheric shift to make the dungeon more comfortable for visitors that managed to brave the harsh environment outside?”

Marron paused, briefly lost in thought. “I hadn’t really figured it out the first time that I was here. However, now that I’ve been to the other dungeons, I’m pretty sure that we’re in a different space now. The interior of this ruin seems a bit too large to be hidden within an actively erupting volcano without the lava interfering.”

Diane nodded her head in understanding, and we continued to follow Marron, spotting several murals along the walls as we passed. Each one had been carefully wiped clean of dust, a stark contrast to the rest of the dungeon. Aside from those murals, the only regions free of dust were the footprints on the floor where she must have walked before.

After walking for a few minutes, we found a half-collapsed hall, where Marron expertly squeezed through a gap that had been formed by moving rocks out of the way. Bella followed behind her, while Diane simply walked through the gap without any problems, considerably smaller than the other two. As for myself, I teleported to the other side, having absolutely no confidence in making it through a gap that even Bella had to squeeze through.

From there, we hit a few intersections, and Marron guided us without hesitation, having memorized the layout of this dungeon during her first venture. “The main room is just up ahead. Once we get there, we should be able to use the secret of the other three dungeons to complete the mission.” There was excitement in Marron’s tone as she guided us, and we soon reached the room in question.

This room seemed untouched by the dust of the hallways, or perhaps Marron had been so thorough in exploring it that she had dusted every available surface. Stone bricks lined the floor, with white walls rising on all four sides towards a crystal roof. Along the walls were various texts and murals.

As Marron had previously told us, these texts seemed to be random lines meant to serve as hints, as well as a brief description of the overall trial. A tale from beyond recorded time, three tests to prove your claim. Assure your path with the Trial of Resolve. Test your knowledge with the Trial of Wisdom. Prove yourself with the Trial of Blood. Each trial will pass on knowledge of Cromora, which can be used to obtain a glimpse into the past.

Along the far wall was a carving the same towering vertical eye that we had seen in each previous dungeon. I looked around for any podium, plaque, lever or switch that could trigger the final test, but found nothing.

Likewise, Marron pursed her lips in confusion. “We made it back here, but the quest isn’t marking itself as completed yet. Did we miss something?”

The four of us split up to search the room, looking for anything that seemed out of place. Even just a slightly askew brick could prove to be a hint, after all.

“Do you see anything with your skills, Drake?” Diane called out as she lightly ran a hand over one of the murals.

“No, nothing out of the ordinary,” I reported. There weren’t any hidden passages, hollow spots in the walls, or any form of mechanism that I could see.

As we searched, Bella approached the eye, her lips pursed. “Maybe… this is the answer?” she suggested, pointing up at the carving. “It’s the only thing that we saw in each and every dungeon, so there should be some connection between it and the answer, at least?”

“How do we use it, then?” Marron asked, before her eyes lit up. Without hesitation, she pulled out a length of rope with a spearhead on the end. Focusing, she threw the rope to embed the spearhead into the wall above the eye, giving it a few quick tugs to ensure that it was secure.

Diane watched curiously, before her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. “Right, that might work,” she muttered, watching Marron ascend the rope towards the large pupil at the center of the eye.

“Did I miss something?” Bella asked in confusion, turning to look at me. I simply shrugged, unable to provide the answer. Thus, it was Diane who explained as Marron produced her red dagger.

“From the three dungeons, especially the last one, we learned about the Cromoran empire having a focus on bloodline purity. They weren’t one race, but they also didn’t interbreed regularly, and those offspring rarely survived before the Convergence.”

“With that in mind, and given the story of the Bloodline War, this inheritance was likely set up to pass on the history of the Traditionalists. It stands to reason that only those that could pass the Trial of Blood would be able to receive that inheritance. In that case, how do we prove that we could pass that trial?” As Diane asked this, Marron cut the palm of her hand with her dagger, smearing her blood onto the carving of the eye.

There was an instant reaction from the dungeon, its walls beginning to tremble. Marron yelped in surprise, falling from the rope. I teleported over to catch her, receiving an awkward thanks as I set her back down.

Back in the center of the room, the stone floor split, a crystal sphere rising up atop a white pedestal. Marron bit her lip as she approached, looking at the crystal curiously. Realizing that this was the next, perhaps final, step of the quest, she placed her still-bleeding hand upon the orb.

Immediately, the orb let out a blinding white flash. When that flash faded, Marron was gone, as was the crystal resting atop the pedestal. Our eyes widened, and Diane quickly tried to send a message to Marron to find out if she was okay. “Special instance,” she muttered under her breath.

I scanned the room again with my True Sight, trying to find any new clues. That pedestal hadn’t existed beneath the floor just moments ago, meaning that it was likely hidden in a separate space until the conditions were met to summon it.

As I was searching, there was another flash, and Marron reappeared. However, the crystal sphere did not return with her, and her expression was slightly pale, her breathing heavy. “Mana Burnout?” I guessed, noticing the symptoms.

Marron looked at me with a somewhat bitter smile, nodding her head. “Sorry about not coming back right away. Like you said, my mana was completely burnt out after the skill activated, so I had to wait until it recovered to activate it again.”

“Forced skill activation?” Bella mused. “Does that mean that you completed the quest?”

“That’s right,” Marron beamed, clearly proud. “I was sent back to a period where it looked like a human was giving some kind of speech in this chamber. But, like I said, I wanted to get back soon and let you know that everything was fine. I should be able to return to the same scene once I activate the skill again.”

I activated Forest Titan to aid her recovery though the effects were minimal, given that we weren’t standing on natural terrain. Still, she was able to recover before too long, and soon disappeared again. This time, though, we knew not to panic and simply waited for her to return.

With nothing to do but sit around until she came back, we waited for over an hour. Then, once another flash shone, Marron stumbled out of the light. “Ugh… I really need to get that skill leveled up enough to not drain me too hard.”

Diane simply chuckled knowingly. “Well, if you join the Fallcry kingdom, you get a discount on all skill costs.”

“You sound like a credit card salesman,” Marron laughed. “I became a citizen already. I wanted to rack up achievements in order to get your attention before I knew that you had already accepted my request, right?”

“So even with a discount, it’s a total mana burnout?” Bella asked in surprise, and Marron confirmed it. “Maybe the skill itself automatically triggers one, then?”

“Maybe. Either way, I was able to learn a few things about it this time. Once I use a skill on an area for the first time, I start the glimpse into the past rolling from that moment. Even after I went back this last time, I wasn’t sent back to the same time that I first arrived. Instead, it was a few minutes later, which lined up with the time that I spent recovering on this side. That’s why it took me so long to come back, since I had to wait for the speech to end.”

“Unfortunately, this made me miss a few details in the speech from when I was on this side, but I was able to get the gist of it. At the end of the Bloodline War, the Traditionalists noticed that the New Blood were preparing for a grand ritual that could turn the tides. They didn’t know what exactly the ritual did, or if they did it was in the part I missed. What they did know was that it was called the Sundering.”

“They didn’t know where exactly the ritual would be held, so they had to start planning for the worst in advance. The key to those plans was to establish these trials, which would ensure that only a descendant of their faction would be able to inherit their legacy.”

“Also, there is a second inheritance for those able to claim it. We should probably make a trip back to the Trial of Resolve to grab that before we call it a day.” Marron smiled broadly upon saying this, which left the rest of us confused.

“There was a treasure in the Trial of Resolve?” I asked, unsure where it could have been hidden.

“That’s right. In order to find it, you have to take a specific combination of paths. Then, once you reach the right location, you have to turn around, and you will be sent directly to the vault. Since turning around typically leads to death and you can pass the trial by simply walking forward, this must have seemed like a really secure way to hide the treasure.”

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