Chương 70: The Portal

Aaron brushed off his hands as he finished pushing a pile of dried leaves and dirt next to the cart. They were in the middle of nowhere and it was highly unlikely that anyone would wander out and come across it. But still Giddeon insisted on hiding it. And even if someone did find it, he was a wealthy man and could easily afford another one. It was senseless.

"Stand back," Giddeon said, gesturing for them to move. But he didn't wait. He threw his hands forwards and closed his eyes. He went red in the face, and a vein bulged up on his forehead. Plumes of pale blue mana flowed out of his fingertips, like a blooming flower. The ground rumbled and a crack formed between Aaron's feet. He jumped back and almost lost his balance to the earth shaking beneath him. The trees swayed and rustled, and leaves snowed down upon them.

With a loud crack, large earthy fingers erupted from the ground. The enormous treetrunk-sized digits creaked as the dirt parted around them. They rose above the cart and then clamped down over it. Rock and dirt pinged out the sides of the fingers as they bent. Aaron covered his face to avoid being hit by a stray stone. The rumbling intensified, and Aaron grabbed a tree for balance. The cart sank into the ground until only the fingers were visible, locked over the top of it.

Dirt spewed out as it was displaced by the earth spirit. The grass around its edges was no longer visible due to the pile of brown soil heavily dusted over the top. The fingers clasped around the cart and settled into place. The rumbling stopped, and the trees stood still. The grooves between fingers smoothed over, and grass sprouted over it. A smooth mound of grass covered where the cart once was. It was completely indistinguishable from the surrounding woods.

"I'm glad I took my lute out first," Alex jested. They had taken everything they could carry out of the hold, including backpacks, rations, and some basic clothing. Essentially, anything that was necessary for survival was brought with them. If they ran into any corrupted creatures, the last thing they needed was dead weight on their backs. With nothing more than a grunt, Giddeon slung his backpack over his shoulder and stomped off towards the corrupted area.

The distinction between the healthy and corrupted land was striking. It was as if a crisp line was drawn in the dirt, with green on one side and black on the other. The woods on the other side were withered and grey. The trees were reduced to stalks impaled in the ground with barren, brittle branches. Broken shrivelled sticks and leaves lay rotting on the floor. The decomposing material was layered so thick that it was impossible to see the dirt underneath in places.

In the few spots the dirt peeked through, it was plain and grey, devoid of all life. Giddeon marched out without as much as a stutter in his step.

"Wait, we're just going to walk across it? How far are we going?" Alex stammered as he stood behind the line. Giddeon didn't so much as grunt in response. He kept walking, and the distance from the party widened. Aaron walked past Alex, with Paige and Tim closely following behind.

"Would you rather be with the man who can turn corrupted creatures into bonfires, or out here on your own?" Alex's eyes widened, and his eyebrows raised, freezing at the top of his forehead for a moment.

"Okay, wait." He shuffled after them, pushing past Aaron so he wasn't at the front or the back. The woodland became more dense as they walked through. The blackened branches above obscured the sunlight. And any light making it through was dull and half as bright as it should have been. Aaron looked up at the pale sun. To his surprise, it didn't hurt his eyes. It was a faint grey ball in the sky with an orange hue around the edges.

Each footstep made a cross between a squelch and a crunch as the dead leaves and rotting plant matter squished beneath their feet.

"So what's the plan?" Aaron whispered to Paige.

"The entrance is hidden in the corrupted land." Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Wait, the whole camp is in here?"

"No, just the portal. They put it somewhere no one would find it."

"Shhhhh." Giddeon turned with his finger on his lips. Aaron sighed, but it was fair enough really. They didn't want to attract any creatures. And by the looks of the rot and corruption around them, there were definitely some that lived here. They didn't like daylight, but the sun felt like it was permanently behind a dark cloud. He wouldn't be surprised if some more powerful creatures could tolerate it. They walked for maybe half an hour before they reached a house-sized rocky outcrop.

It was dark gray and looked wet. A dark grey moss crept up its surface. There was a shorter stone in front around shoulder height. Above that, there were enough footholes and flatter sections to climb to the top. Giddeon went first, pulling himself up with unusual strength for a man of his age. Paige climbed up effortlessly after. Aaron stayed behind to give a foot up to Alex and Tim, although Tim didn't need it with his new strength. Old habits were hard to kick after years of helping him with anything physical.

It wasn't as steep after the first rock. The biggest threat was slipping on the moss, although despite its appearance, it was dry and crumbled under their feet. They made it to the top without much difficulty. A harsh wind blew rotting air into Aaron's face as he stood tall. The rocky outcrop formed a large flat plateau. All around, the ground beneath was more corrupted forest. He could see the healthy land to the south, but not to the north. The corruption spread as far as he could see.

There were mountains in the distant north, but he couldn't tell the state of the land from here. In the middle of the plateau was an oval boulder. It was taller than Aaron and almost that much as wide. The way it was balanced made him look twice. Only a small portion of it contacted the rock below, and it made him question whether it was balanced naturally or some kind of magic was holding it in place. Giddeon placed a wrinkled hand on the edge of the stone and closed his eyes.

A rush of wind punched past Aaron's face, blowing the dust and dirt from the surface of the plateau into the air. Aaron held his breath to avoid breathing it in. The centre of the rock shimmered, briefly flashing an image into the centre. It was too fast and faded to make out, but the colours were strong and bright, rather than muted and dull.

"This one's old, but I can make it work. It'll take a while, so watch my back." Alex opened his mouth to ask a question, but another blast of wind shot out and bashed into them before he could speak. Aaron squinted and used the crook of his arm to cover his face. He leaned in against the wind and tried to see what was happening, but it stung his eyes too much to see. He ignored the old man's request and resigned himself to lying flat on his back, head toward the stone.

The wind passed over him, but he didn't need to use any strength to push against it. It was uncomfortable and stinky, but at least he didn't have to head it face on. Tim and Alex joined him shortly, but Paige stayed up on her feet. She was crouched down low to the ground, walking slow circles around the rock, watching the distance. Tim rolled onto his side to face Aaron.

"You're going to need to hide that staff of yours. We're going to meet some Necromancer hunters, and it's got an actual skull on the top." Aaron's heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed deep into his stomach.

"I completely forgot to figure that one out. Do you have any ideas?" Tim spoke up over the roaring winds passing over their heads.

"A bag maybe? Like a coin pouch over the top?"

"It's not exactly inconspicuous. A big metal stick with a tiny bag on top is just going to make people curious about what's underneath it."

"True, but we don't exactly have any better options at the moment." Aaron put both hands around his staff and brought it down to look at the skull closer. It was remarkably untarnished considering how old it must have been. Metal usually rusted after a few years, especially in a dank cave.

"Paige and Giddeon said they could do something about it. But I don't think Giddeon's in the mood for requests."

"Paige!" Tim shouted. She turned and glared as if inconvenienced by her name being called. Although she was doing what Giddeon asked—watching his back. She walked over, keeping low to the ground, avoiding the worst of the wind. The shimmer in the rock Giddeon was touching had now progressed to a sheen of blue glow which illuminated the dark rocky floor.

"What is it?" Paige yelled over the wind.

"How do we hide Aaron's staff? We're going to need a plan when we go through the portal." Paige shrugged.

"Giddeon said he'd take care of it." A shriek pierced through the howling wind, and Aaron clambered to his feet. It took a lot of effort to push against the force coming from Gidden's spell without falling over. On the other side of the plateau, past the oval rock in the centre, a black beast crept close to the ground. It had a large feline body, which was slim and muscular. Except its head was anything but cat-like. Two giant black pearls for eyes shimmered from the blue glow of the portal-in-progress.

Its mouth was a beak made of three large teeth which came together in a point. As it crept forwards, the strands of muscle on its shoulders twitched and bulged. Its claws dug into the rock as it pulled itself forwards, and bits of rock chipped off in the wind with each step. It opened up its mouth to reveal a second triad of smaller teeth on the inside. Whilst it didn't have as many teeth as the mana hounds, the sheer size of them looked like it was capable of crunching through bone.

It shrieked over the wind again, but in short pulses. To Aaron's dread, something repeated the noise behind him. He looked around as several of the same creatures climbed up onto the plateau surrounding them.

"To the centre! Defend Giddeon. Take a side each," Paige yelled. Aaron grinned. Training with Paige was useful, but nothing levelled his skills like a fight with corrupted creatures. He was a Journeyman now and had some new tricks up his sleeve.