132 Expedition (1/2)

I scratched my cheek, “How exactly are we going to hunt for the cipher?”

Yawm leaned back in his chair, “I gave the issue some thought, and I came to a realization - you learned the cipher from rifts.”

I opened my hand, turning it in circles,

“Uh huh.”

Yawm raised a hand,

“This gives a practical idea, especially after discovering Amara’s existence. The eldritch know the cipher on an intrinsic level. Learning it from her and my own musings is frustrating. My motivation is waning. I believe that my own indignation is stifling my progress.”

Yawm pointed outside, “You see, I’ve spent far too much time within the confines of my own castle. I’m losing my passion for my own goals, partly because of the length of my journey, but also because of the tedious nature of it.”

Yawm clasped his pointing hand into a fist, “I was not made to sit inside a room and study a cryptic language everyday. I was made a warrior. When I battle, I am most alive. That is when my mind is most active. That is when I thrive.”

He lowered his fist, “In order to regain that spark of life, I devised a solution. I can go hunting within rifts for fragments of the cipher.”

I tapped my chin with a loose fist, “So uh, you figure you’ll learn about the cipher while fighting eldritch?”

Yawm raised both his hands, spreading them wide, “You followed my line of thinking to perfection.” Yawm glanced around, excitement tracing his words,

“Your fight against the eldritch here made it clear. They’re no challenge for a warrior of any true caliber. In order to remain protected, I’ll need more than just a horde of fodder. While I explore the rifts, I’ll find eldritch that can repopulate my own rift. With them, I’ll generate a more powerful army at my disposal.”

Yawm raised a fist to me, clasping it with vigor, “Since you’ve been keen on killing them, I figured that I would offer for you to join in on the fun.”

I nodded, “Ah, so I’ll still get to relax and fight some, but I won’t decimate the population of your current eldritch.”

Yawm clapped his hands once,

“Isn’t the prospect exciting? You’ve even found portions of the cipher you could learn from. If my hunch is correct, you’ll have an eye for finding the portions of it that we may harvest.”

I raised a finger, “Give me one second to think about this. I gotta troubleshoot it for flaws and what not.”

Yawm leaned back into his chair, “Take your time. Skepticism is a shield against foolishness. Your skepticism shows wisdom.”

I crossed my arms, glancing down. I held back a smile. This was a golden opportunity. I hadn’t refilled my dungeon cores in forever. I needed hundreds of them. I could level up, get those dungeon cores, and stop eldritch at the same time.

I looked back up at Yawm, “I mean, that seems a like a pretty decent idea in my opinion. There wasn’t any glaring flaws in it.”

Yawm stood, the chair behind him falling backwards, “Then we leave at once.”

I stood, but I didn’t send my chair flying. Yawm laughed,

“I’ll create a core right now.”

I raised a hand, “Why not just go find rifts around us?”

Yawm’s grabbed his chin, “Why not use my core generation abilities?”

The main reason was because I wouldn’t get any cores like that. I wasn’t telling his ass that though.

“You said you were cooped up in this place for too long right? Staying in this room and teleporting sort of defeats the purpose of this entire process.”

Yawm face palmed, “Of course, this city is barren. The dungeons here have likely already fallen into dilapidation, turning into rifts. If we walk outside, the rifts will be there, plain to see.”

Yawm walked towards the doorway of the room, “Let’s find one.”

I jogged outside the room, catching up with Yawm. We walked outside his palace, reaching the exit of his palace. After diving through the bubble room, we swam towards the surface. The eldritch writhed in the water, an obvious fear permeating them. Yawm terrified them, even I did.

We paced out of the lake, water pouring off us both. We ramped up our speed, running out of the rift. Past the floating islands surrounding Yawm’s world tree, the gray cloud loomed overhead. It acted as the edge of Yawm’s domain. With the same crisp iciness, we pierced the cloud, getting outside the rift.

As we traveled, I pointed and described various buildings. Yawm paid close attention, a deep interest showing in how our world was. I pointed at a museum, the marble columns holding the entrance up,

“Bigger buildings are almost always home to dungeons. Since you like learning about the world, we’ll explore a rift while walking past an exhibition of humanity’s past. Sound good?”

Yawm leapt over a convenience store, landing beside a utility pole. His feet crushed through the concrete sidewalk, the stone like putty. He reached up, stopping the pole from landing on him. With his arm outstretched, he grabbed halfway up the pole with ease.

With a flick of his wrist, the power pole timbered in the other direction. It fell, crashing onto the convenience store. The rippling, alien sound of cords snapping echoed out as Yawm peered around,

“This world’s constructs are so...flimsy. They’re ancient it seems.”

I laughed, “I guess they are. We weren’t even close to exploring space.”

Yawn chuckled, “I assure you, that was evident.”

He walked by a car, over twice its height. Without bending over, he grabbed under it. His fingers crushed the metal, shattering the glass windows. He lifted it, glancing under the vehicle with a tilt of his head,

“Your species doesn’t even use graphene reinforcements for metal.”

I frowned, “Ok, I get it. We’re not space people. We didn’t really start learning science until a few thousand years ago. Cut us some slack.”

Yawm stared at the intricate series of metal pieces under the sedan.

“Your species developed quickly then. I know of hive oriented species that required tenfold that time for development. You’re society must orient itself around competition then?”

I took in a deep breath, “We used too. Good old capitalism.”

Yawm nodded, “Excellent for growing into a self actualized society. Not quite the best model for staying there.”

I raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

Yawm flicked his wrist, sending the car flying. It landed onto the convenience store, barreling through the building. It collapsed in a wave of dust. At it settled, Yawm turned towards the museum,

“Capitalism promotes competition and incessant growth. As society develops, technology advances. This eliminates lower level employment, creating economic displacement. Until the necessity of work is voided altogether, social pressure rises.”

Yawm walked and talked,

“Often times this creates entire classes of people left behind in the wake of advancement. As you can imagine, those classes of people aren’t the most pleased. This social unrest can create violent uprisings, destroying stable societies.”

We reached the wooden building, the brick entrance leading up to a tall entrance. Yawm shrugged at the foot of the stairs,

“Of course, these are only my own musings on the issue. Like anyone else, I very well could be wrong.”

I walked up the brick steps, “Eh, it’s interesting hearing your opinion anyway. I’ve never even thought about it that deeply in all honesty.”

I glanced around. This history museum once was a plantation home. After being converted into a state building, they retained its classic touch. Tall ceilings, tall doors, all designed for hot summers. As we reached the doors, Yawm stared at the door handle,

“Do you grab it?”