The Realm Between: A LitRPG Saga (Books 7 - 10), page 101
Rerdam was quick to put a stop to that, holding out his hands. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. No one is casting any dangerous spells in this small space unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Azure frowned at the ceiling. “I’m with Rerdam on this one. My Cold Breeze spell likely wouldn’t have any effect besides potentially putting out the candles, which we definitely don’t want. And Volatile Bolt is too unpredictable. If we run completely out of options and things seem desperate, I’ll try it. But not until then.”
Even as he said it, he knew that if the elf commanded him to, he would cast a spell. But Azure really didn’t want to, truly believing it would be a mistake.
Jin sighed. “Fine.” The word came out of his mouth clipped. “Then we will just wait and see what happens.” He made it sound like the very thought was torturous.
They all gathered on the broken sectional, sitting in a circle. Azure had hoped that whenever they were all seated, something would happen. By the way the old knight was looking away, Azure suspected that he had thought the same. But nothing happened, and time ticked by as if nothing ever would.
After about thirty minutes, the elf’s frustration finally came to a head. “This is stupid.” He stood. “Clearly, we’re meant to do something.” Taking long strides, he made his way to one of the corners of the room and knelt.
“What are you doing?” Azure asked, following him with his gaze but not moving from the sofa.
“I’m tearing up the carpet. There has to be a trap door under it or something.” He pulled a dagger from his hip and began cutting away at the carpet.
“And if there’s not?” Rerdam raised an eyebrow at him.
“Then I’ll tear down the wallpaper, too. There has to be a way out of here,” the elf insisted.
The three companions still on the sofa shared a look with one another. Rerdam appeared weary from exhaustion at Jin’s impatience. Azure and Princess Zadori just felt lost, not sure what to do.
“Azure, some help.” Jin twisted to look at him, clearly upset that he was the only one doing anything.
Not really feeling like it but not about to disobey his king, Azure got to work on the opposite corner of the room. Soon, they were all pulling up the carpet together.
Tearing up the carpet took the four of them half an hour. Removing the wallpaper was a whole other chore. Without the proper tools for the job, it came off in small, messy strips. Hours passed, and it wasn’t long before they all believed their efforts fruitless. Still, the elf forced them to work until there was no question that a secret door did not lie beneath, only smooth drywall, cementing their fears that they were in some sort of cage.
“Well,” Jin stood next to where they’d pushed the sofa against one wall to pull up the carpet beneath it. All the debris had been piled up in one corner of the room. It was a complete mess. “It looks like the only way out is up.” He gazed at the outline in the ceiling. “I don’t think we have any other choice.”
“Are you sure about this?” Azure furrowed his brow, still feeling like it was a horrible idea for him to use any of his spells in the small space.
“I’ve been thinking about it.” The elf nodded slowly before glancing at the pile of debris. “If we pile all of that on top of the sofa and you cast Dirty Move a bunch of times, we might be able to create a hill to stand on to be able to reach the ceiling.”
“That would take forever.”
Clearly, Jin knew this already. He’d seen Azure cast the spell enough times to know that it produced a bucket full of dirt at most.
“What other plan do we have?” The elf threw his arms up. “If something was going to happen, it would have happened by now. We’ve been stuck in this room for hours. I’m not convinced anyone is coming to save us. We have to find a way out.”
No one could argue that there’d been no sign of change in the room other than what they’d caused. Surely, something should have happened by now.
“Fine,” Azure replied, exhausted by the idea of more work.
Still, they forced themselves to move, pushing the destroyed sofa into the middle of the room, then piling all the debris they had created on top of it. After that, everyone stood back for Azure to cast his spell.
Not wanting to waste the Durability of his Brawler’s Magic Cloak, he took it off before casting Dirty Move.
Azure immediately received a notification.
Congratulations! The skill: Land Magic has reached Level 10. This skill allows you to harness the power of rocks, dirt, and the native flora and trees to aid you in battle. Continuing to level up this skill will unlock the ability to learn more spells of the same magic type.
The effects were unimpressive. Using as much control as he could, Azure blew the dirt onto the pile of debris, but it simply fell through the cracks and settled, leaving little evidence behind that the spell had been cast at all—proof that it would take forever to accomplish what Jin wanted.
Azure twisted to look at him, but the elf just nodded for him to continue.
With a sigh, he waited for three minutes to pass so that he could cast the spell again.
In a little over an hour, Azure had drained his Mana completely. The effort had barely made a dent. While the sofa and pile of debris were now completely covered, most of the dirt that Azure fired on top of it rolled off its side, canvassing the floor. Only about a foot higher than it had been before, they still had no chance of reaching the ceiling.
“I’m out of Mana,” he informed Jin, hoping he would be allowed to stop.
“Don’t you have Mana potions?” the elf pressed.
“You know it will probably take another full round of Mana to get this done,” Azure told him, not even sure that would be enough.
“We will do what we have to. Unfortunately, you’re the only one capable of completing this task.” Jin kept his gaze on the ceiling.
Sighing, Azure dug into his Worn Leather Backpack. One by one, he drank all his Poor Quality Potions of Minor Mana Restoration, so full of the blue liquid afterward that he felt sick to his stomach. Each potion restored 25 Mana Points, and he had 33 potions, bringing his total up to 835 Mana Points after the 10 Mana Points he still had left.
Then he began casting the spell again.
Everyone else got to sit and relax while Azure added more and more dirt to the pile. Even though he wasn’t really doing much, just standing there casting Dirty Move repeatedly was exhausting, especially with how little progress was being made.
It felt like a lifetime before the size of the pile was doubled. Thinking about how long it had taken just to get this far made Azure’s mind and body want to rebel and give up. He had grossly underestimated. More than likely, it would take every Mana Restoration Potion he had to complete the task.
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. Everyone who was sitting went on alert, standing and gathering together.
“What’s happening?” Princess Zadori called out, clutching onto Jin.
“I don’t know,” Rerdam responded in his stead.
All Azure could do was stare at the pile of dirt he’d so patiently created and watch in soul-crushing agony as it sifted away from the debris back toward the floor. Whenever this earthquake was over, he hoped that everyone would team up to help him restore it to the way it had been so that he wouldn’t have to waste more Mana replacing what had rolled down the side of the small hill.
A cracking sound drew their attention to the ceiling, and the circular outline pushed out, slowly descending toward them. The room continued to rumble until it had clicked into place, leaving behind what appeared to be a four-sided 75” television screen with Luuq’s face on it sitting atop a small cement platform with a pole running through it to keep it suspended from the ceiling.
“Greetings, plebs!” The God of Death spoke to them, suddenly becoming animated. As he looked around the room, he scowled. “Way to wreck my place. I knew if I left you alone for a while, you’d go crazy. But this,” he gestured to everything around them, “this is a little over the top.” A grin took over his face. “Still, you know it gives me great pleasure to fuck with you.” Luuq seemed to be speaking directly to the elf. “Did you enjoy exhausting your friends? Weakening them for what’s to come? You are just full of mistakes, aren’t you?” He tutted at Jin before turning his gaze to Azure. “Don’t worry. You’ll get a little bit of a rest before I feed you to the monsters,” the God of Death said, then his eyes fell away from Azure as he addressed them all. “I could not call this a fun house without it being fun, now, could I? And while you all went out of your way to create a very not fun start, you’ll be happy to know I can fix it.”
Luuq snapped his fingers, and Azure and his friends let out a collective gasp as they all began floating. Dirt, carpet, wallpaper, and sofa pieces whizzed past them as the room started to rearrange itself. Within a few seconds, it was back to the way it had been when they’d first entered it, wholly repaired.
The God of Death made a swirling motion with his index finger, and Azure and the rest of his party were placed delicately on top of the sofa in a circle. Azure and Jin were facing each other, as were Rerdam and Princess Zadori.
“You see, if you had just waited for me like you were supposed to, I would have eventually come,” the God of Death told them.
Rerdam couldn’t help but frown at the elf’s impatience, though he held back his criticism.
“Oh, I’m sure he knows what all of you are thinking.” Luuq smiled, glancing from person to person until his gaze settled on Jin.
“Will you just get on with it?” The elf couldn’t look any of them in the eye. Instead, he gestured irritably at the television screen.
“Annnd, there it is again.” The God of Death smirked. “But anyway, what’s a party without more people?” As soon as he finished speaking, a banging sound drew their attention to the western wall. Wooden doors in frames forced their way from the floor, crunching into place as they settled. There were five in all, equally spaced side by side. They were stained the color of blood, and all had round brass handles.
“I have a special guest for you today. Let’s see who’s behind door number five!” Luuq said in a gameshow host’s voice as he pointed at the last door in the lineup.
Azure’s group twisted to face it, looking on in anticipation. None of them knew what to expect as the door began to open, but all of them were ready to draw their weapons and launch into battle if it was an enemy.
The door creaked open slowly at first. Once it had opened about a foot, it flew the rest of the way.
“Surprise!” Uden said, holding his arms out.
Azure had never known that he could feel happiness and dread simultaneously until that moment.
The half-imp looked different from when Azure had last seen him. His alabaster skin was practically glowing, as were his large green eyes—so full of life and energy. The ornate purple robe he wore over black slacks complemented everything about him, making him look regal. It was fitted perfectly to his chest and arms and belted at the waist. Large gold buttons adorned the front, each with a floral design carved into them. His shoulder-length raven hair was well-groomed, still slicked away from his face but having a slight curl to it. Candlelight shined off it as it did off the shiny new black boots that his slacks were tucked into.
“What are you doing here?” Jin demanded, having quickly recovered from the shock.
Any response was cut off by a song playing out of nowhere. Oddly, the lyrics and tune were familiar to Azure. “Reunited, and it feels so good.” That was the only line played before the song cut out. Azure wondered if it was just a coincidence that he thought he knew it. It was too short for him to be sure.
“Let’s not get into the whys and the hows just yet,” the God of Death responded.
Azure immediately sent Uden a party invitation, but it got rejected. Instead, he received a different notification.
Your party has been disbanded.
Everyone’s Health Bars disappeared from his peripheral vision.
“From this point forward, you will be going it alone,” Luuq explained. “Now, if you will all gather in front of the doors, one person in front of each door, we will really get this party started.” When no one moved, everyone looking at one another, he prodded them again. “Come on, now. We don’t have all day.”
Naturally, being his best friend, Azure wanted to stand beside Uden. He had so many questions, though somehow, he knew there would be no time for answers.
But even as he rushed to get to the door next to the half-imp, Jin beat him to it, forcing Azure to stand on the elf’s left.
“What are you doing here?” Jin demanded of Uden again, his voice much firmer. “I trusted you to stay away.”
“Nuh-uh-uh. No talking.” Luuq waggled his finger.
Suddenly, they were all forced to face the doors they were standing in front of, any words they might have spoken stolen from their mouths.
You are now Mute. You will be unable to talk or cast spells until Luuq releases you from the status effect.
There was no status effect symbol or timer to indicate when that would be, which made Azure want to panic, but he knew better. More than likely, the effect wouldn’t last long. The God of Death was just trying to make them obey.
A scratching noise drew Azure’s attention to his door. On the doorframe, in uneven letters, an invisible knife was carving his name there. When he glanced at Princess Zadori’s door next to him, he noticed that the same thing was happening to the doorframe in front of her, just with her name.
As soon as each door was assigned to them, what appeared to be liquid metal began dripping down from each doorframe. Azure wasn’t sure what was happening at first. The liquid dripped in a semi-solid sheet, smoothing and hardening as it descended, drying into a flat surface. By the time it reached the bottom, Azure could see his reflection staring back at him. No longer did a door stand before him but a mirror. Each of them had their own, looking at their own reflection. The odd thing was that the room behind them had disappeared. It was as if their other version was trapped in a void of darkness.
“I like to call this game Steal or Kill. It will give you each insight into how you really feel about each other.” The God of Death made a circular gesture with his hand.
You have been released from Mute.
Azure glanced at his friends, who were also looking around. No one said anything, and Azure couldn’t help but wonder if he was the only one who’d had the status effect removed.
“This first one won’t be so painful,” Luuq said. “You don’t even have to put any thought into this. Just gaze into the mirror, and you will see the item you most covet from one of your companions. If you could take any one item from any one person, the proof of your soul’s desire will reflect in the mirror.”
Reflexively, everyone looked at their own mirror. Azure wasn’t particularly surprised to see Jin’s bow appear in his mirror. It was made from yew with leaves carved up the limbs that had been lightly dusted with gold paint. He had no doubt that the stats on it were amazing. The elf always seemed to have the best gear among them.
In truth, Azure’s desire for the bow was rather petty. He thought it more aesthetically pleasing than anything else. Stealing Rerdam’s Hu’zur’s Long Sword would have been far more beneficial to him. But the heart wants what the heart wants. If Jin still possessed his original daggers, Azure was pretty sure those would have shown up instead.
Not feeling too embarrassed for wanting the bow, Azure turned his gaze to the elf’s mirror, which stood empty. A subtle frown took over Azure’s face. Was Jin really so pure that he wouldn’t steal from his friends?
Going down the line, Azure looked at Uden’s mirror next. He wasn’t shocked to see the elf’s Dark Cloak of Racial Concealment there. More than once, the half-imp had wished he could hide his heritage. The cloak was a no-brainer.
Turning his head to see Princess Zadori’s mirror, Azure found that he wasn’t the only one who coveted Jin’s bow. She smiled politely at Azure, glancing at his mirror as well before saying, “Twins.”
He smirked, not responding.
Azure checked out Rerdam’s mirror last, disappointed to find it also empty.
“You two are just so virtuous,” Uden commented mockingly.
“There’s just nothing that I want.” The elf shrugged.
“Stealing is wrong.” Rerdam frowned.
“Enough!” The God of Death raised his voice. “That game was boring. Let’s try something a little more fun and hurtful.” A scowl alighted on his face for a fraction of a second before a grin took over. “Next, you will answer this. If you had to kill one person in your party, who would it be. Naturally, it can be assumed that this is the person you like the least—the one you find the most worthless to your cause.”
Azure’s chest tightened, partly because he hated the thought of hurting someone’s feelings and partly because he didn’t want to see himself reflected in any of his friends’ mirrors. Even though he willed his own mirror to reflect himself—self-sacrifice was an option, wasn’t it—a slightly taller cloudy form began to take shape in front of him.
Maybe if I just close my eyes. Azure did just that, not wanting to see the look on the face of the man who was reflected back at him.
“Wow, guys. Nice to see what you really think. And I thought we’d gotten past everything and were friends,” Azure heard Uden say from the end of their lineup, the betrayal in his voice practically forcing Azure to open his eyes.
Staring back at Azure was the stoic visage of the old knight. This didn’t really surprise him. The last to join their party, Azure still didn’t have a particularly strong bond with Rerdam, even though he’d become a somewhat fatherly figure. What he was surprised to see, though, was that everyone else’s mirror reflected back an image of Uden, except for Uden’s, of course, which also showed an image of the old knight.
