I returned to our room we rented at the house after somehow shaking off that Mathew character and let myself get some sleep before the next day.
When I woke, Uncle Chris was already up rubbing his head.
“Can’t take alcohol like I used to huh?” He muttered to himself
“Morning Uncle Chris”
“Oh you’re up? Morning sleeping beauty” His wide friendly smile brought some peace of mind as I worried about my first Dive
“Ready to take on the Deep, o’ brave warrior?” He asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be I think.”
“Then no time to waste! Throw on that crazy robe of yours and take up that ridiculous blade!”
“It’s not a robe, it's a cloak, and my sword isn't ridiculous.” I muttered back at him.
We chatted more while we got ready to go out. Taking up my weapons and walking out the door, I pulled the compass out of my pocket. According to Steven, it’d only really react if the corruption was within 1 day of travel on foot, so we could be back by noon.
We headed to the stable and took the buggy out. It looked extremely odd placed next to all the town’s horses, but there wasn't much of a better place to put it.
“I’m going to try to let you take on whatever is there by yourself, if you look to be in danger, I’ll jump in, and if any gargs come for me, I’ll defend myself, otherwise, you’re on your own.” Uncle Chris said to me while stepping into the wagon my buggy dragged behind it.
“I don’t need some Old Man to fight for me anyways” I say, smiling back towards him.
“Fine, when a garg has you pinned to the earth I’ll just let it eat you.”
I stuck my tongue out to him and turned back around. The buggy had a place that was designed for the compass to sit in, and it could even drive without me turning it if it had the compass in place so long as I supplied it with power, of course it couldn’t account for obstacles or anything, so I’ve been keeping control to stop us hitting a tree or running off a cliff.
We drove and before long we had left the road and were weaving between trees. It seemed that if I wanted to be safe and not hit anything, I couldn’t go higher than 4 speed, but even that was a little precarious, so I stuck to 3.
We made quick progress and soon I could see a dark mist clinging to the ground. The trees began to look sickly, with black streaks that matched the color of my bow.
“Out here Laddie, you better walk lest we get ambushed by gargs in the buggy.”
We got out and began searching the area. I quickly found a few corrupted rodents so small I could simply step on them to kill them, they’re still awfully aggressive though. One rat ran at me from a bush and climbed up my leg, causing me to yelp, and Uncle Chris to have a hearty laugh.
Soon the first larger animal showed itself, it was a fox, seemingly a mother, who had been taken by the Deep. The blood on her mouth and fox cub corpses behind her didn’t tell a pretty story.
While trying to hold the contents of my stomach inside, I easily decapitated the mother fox.
“Bleh, are all garg encounters this gross?” I asked Uncle Chris.
“No, not really. This was just an especially unfortunate event.” He told me frankly. I’m not sure how he could be so unphased by the grotesque sight.
I skinned the mother fox for her strengthened hide, and pulled out all the bones. Most everything other than meat was useful on a garg, though I guess you could say the meat would be useful as a poison, as the corruption would quickly kill whatever ate it.
It wasn’t a dirty job either, the corruption caused all the blood to clot heavily in a monster, so even after decapitation, not a drop was spilt.
The corrupted area was surprisingly large. I had Uncle Chris drive the cart at 1 speed and follow me to collect the remains of the gargs. Since it was moving slowly, and he didn't have to travel far, it wasn’t a problem.
We found several foxes, a wolf, and too many rodents to count. Wolves were especially profitable, according to Uncle Chris, they are large so their pelts sell well, the teeth are sharp, even for a Garg, and they often traveled in packs, just like their un-corrupted counterparts. If you’re to find a decent group, you can make quite the pretty penny.
Since the Deep here wasn’t supposed to be that strong, I didn’t expect any issues, but as we traveled further into the corrupted area, the mist on the ground reached almost to my knees, and the trees were all a deep black without any leaves.
“Seems the corruption has gotten much stronger since the last reports, it’s not unusual for the strength to grow or fade in between travel times, but to this extent…” It seemed Uncle Chris was thinking about turning back, but the last thing I wanted was to turn back on my very first Dive.
“Then maybe we’ll find a wolf pack to sell,” I coax, “with the money from a whole pack you should be able to drink as you please, right?”
The Old Man looks at me with his eyebrows raised, “Fine, we’ll keep going, but don’t cry if I have to come save you.”
I was definitely strong, most novice Divers would maybe catch a fox or two a week, but here I was, with 7, plus a wolf on my first Dive! The money would be great, sure the action was underwhelming but I still get to travel the world like this.
I continued with a smile on my face as I thought that, when something rips me out of my trance.
“RAY! YOUR LEFT!”
At the Old Man’s shout I panicked slightly, before whipping out my sword and blocking to my left. A loud clang rang through the quiet corrupted forest, and a snarling wolf had it’s jaws around my blade.
I swung my sword to throw it off, and noticed two more wolves lying in wait behind the initial aggressor.
“You’re zoning out you fool! Had I not been there the wolf would’ve had your neck!”
“But you were, and it didn’t, I’ll be more vigilant next time” I told him as I lowered myself to face the wolves.
By now, the first wolf had risen back and gathered with its pack. They fanned out and came at me from three directions. I dashed and brought my sword down hard on the wolf coming from the front, splitting the beast in half with a single strike.
Oops, I put a little too much power into it, and my sword was stuck in the ground. I kept trying to pull it out as I realised the other two wolves were running at me. I gave up on my sword, and dove to the left. The wolf, not expecting me to abandon my weapon, received my clenched fist in the bottom of its jaw, I heard a satisfying crunch as the wolf fell over. Not likely that it died, but it was out of the fight for now.
Last wolf. All I have with me is my bow, and the small knife I use for skinning my kills. After I took down its last companion, the final wolf, paused for a moment, and while it was still I ran to put some distance between us and pulled out my bow and an arrow.
I was by no means a good shot, but if I could get the wolf to run in a straight line at me, I was sure I could hit it. I pulled the arrow back in my bow and stood in wait for the wolf to make its move, and as I hoped, it charged directly at me. I let the arrow fly, and it seemed that it’ll make contact right in between the beast's eyes, but right as I was sure I'd won, the wolf jumped to the side, and avoided my arrow.
What? No way, how could anything react to an arrow flying at it from that distance? Was it the heightened perception of a garg? Or did the wolf know what my plan was all along?
Regardless, my plan had failed. I turned to run and made more distance between us for a second try, but as fast as I am, I’m not quicker than a wolf, especially not a corrupted one.
I felt a sharp pain in my leg and fell to the ground, yelling out in pain. I quickly try to turn myself over to free myself from the garg’s jaws, when Uncle Chris vanishes from the cart, and reappears on top of the wolf with his blade driven in its neck a few seconds later.
The wolf’s bite loosens and I turn over to thank Uncle Chris, but when I look up at him, his face is filled with disappointment.
“Your overconfidence almost got you killed! Twice no less!”
There was a wrath filled tremble in his voice I had never heard before. He had raised his voice at me in our training before, but never did a sound shake me so deeply to my core like the shout he just aimed at me.
“I-I would’ve been fine!” I countered, “The wolf had only gotten my leg, I could’ve kicked it off and punched it like I did the other one!”
Wait. The other one? Where had it gone? It wasn’t on the ground where I had punched it before.
Noticing my gaze, Uncle Chris points in the direction I had been running before the wolf he just killed took me down.
When I turned to see what’s there, a decapitated corpse lay behind me.
“That wolf you punched got up while you dealt with the last one, and was waiting for you to fall and take your neck, which is why I was forced to save you.”
Right, when Uncle Chris seemingly vanished, it took him a second or so to appear on the wolf that had taken me down, he must’ve been killing the one behind me in that time.
How could it have gone so wrong? I sliced that first wolf in half with a single effortless strike. The difference in power between the wolves and I, immense as it was, made no difference. Had it not been for Uncle Chris’ warning at the start, or the save at the end, I’d be a deadman two times over.
“We’re returning to Halsry, I’m telling your mother of this, and you shall not become a Diver. Not while you think you can waltz around in the Deep like it's some flower field, there is real danger here, Ray.” Uncle Chris let out a commanding voice that rang out over and over again in my empty head.
Taking me back? Who does he think he is? I am strong, I am Ray Remory, son of the legendary Divers Ren and Sarina Remory, trained by Christopher Olbeck of equal legendary status. I couldn’t possibly lose the chance to chase my lifelong dream to some wolves.
Anger overcame me, I didn't know what to do, or how to react. Every ounce of sorrow felt, turned into rage, and every ounce of regret I held, turned that rage into wrath.
I stood up without a word, pulled my greatsword out of the earth with a single mighty tug, and got into the buggy.
“Where do you think you’re going Ray!” the Old Man shouts at me
I didn’t need to respond to him, a fool who couldn’t accept my strength. I turn the buggy around, gripping the Slissite knob with a full, iron fist, and speed off in the woods at top speed.
I was going to leave that Old Man, I was going to leave my mother and father, and I was going to go to the next city, I was going to fight the Deep on my own. I didn’t need their approval to act as a Diver, not yet at least, I’d simply go where I’m out of their influence.
This power gives me the right and responsibility to fight the corruption, and they couldn’t take that away from me.
I appreciated Uncle Chris for the training, and for saving me, I appreciated my mother and father for raising me, and giving me strength, but I couldn’t bow down to their wish for me to step down as a Diver.
They may be stronger than me, and they could force me if they were here, but with this buggy, they can’t catch me, and if they somehow do, by that time, I will have proven myself as the strongest Diver to ever live, so strong that they can’t possibly deny me.
With that, I took my buggy, my sword, my bow, my cloak, and my dreams, to prove myself in a land where those who would otherwise stop me couldn’t reach me, to become a Diver, the strongest one, at that.
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