With Calbern at the helm we roared over the ridgetops, the morning sun not yet poking its head over the horizon as I took the opportunity to gaze out over the eastern stretch of Cape Aeternia. Inertia had finally figured out how to add enough suspension and padding that it wasn't uncomfortable. Even then, Neta could've probably made it better, but I'd convinced her, barely, to stay behind in the enchanting workshop. Didn't want her getting left out in the open when we entered the trial. Still preferred flying, but Calbern had asked to ride with him so we could stop to make a few fixes along the way. More like a few dozen, as it turned out.
Still, the eastern stretches certainly felt less developed than the western part of my domain. Even before the work with the greenhouses, there had been ruins and scattered roads all over the western section. While there was an occasional ruined structure, mostly the eastern area was scrubland.
It took us almost three hours from the ti we'd set out to reach Conflict's new bunker. The being had been true to its word and hadn't sent a single drone out to collect anything from the surface, not even the busted up rollerbugs. But I hadn't said anything about new construction, and it had clearly noted that omission.
The new bunker was more sophisticated than the old, with several towers on top that looked like a mish-mash of rollerbug parts worked into budget-sized Eiffel towers. Several flickering red eyes atop those towers shifted to follow us on our approach.
As Fang rolled to a stop outside the front, a grinding sound rumbled from within. The door split open, pushing the soil and earth in front of it back.
“It would appear we are being invited inside,” Calbern noted from up front, sending a burst of steam shooting out the back as he disengaged the drive.
“It would seem so,” I agreed. “Would be rude of us to turn him down.”
“That it would, master Perth. Quite rude,” Calbern said, a slight excitent in his tone as he idled Fang closer, waiting for the doors to open.
After nearly two minutes of grinding and rumbling, the pair of doors finally stood open, waiting. “Definitely built them for us. That they’re just large enough to let Fang roll through easily is too convenient otherwise.”
“It was to be expected that Conflict would prepare for our return,” Calbern noted, starting down the ramp. “Though it is disappointing that he has chosen to forgo the pleasantries.”
“Maybe he doesn’t feel like losing a bunch of rollerbugs,” I said with a shrug.
“Rollerbugs?” Calbern asked, shifting to twist and look at .
“His… you know, the things that co out and… they look like bugs, and they roll,” I said, grumbling.
“That they do,” he replied, inclining his head in my direction.
My gaze shifted away from him, and back to the entrance as we rolled through the door. It didn't surprise that it'd been keeping a watch on the surrounding area. Honestly, Conflict seed to have a lot more leeway than Keeper did. He was certainly more proactive.
Taking Fang down the ramp wasn't particularly challenging. The tunnel had been expanded since the last ti we were there. Even if I’d been the one attempting to coax Fang down, I’d have only bumped into one or two walls.
Soon we rolled up outside the giant doors leading into the assembly area. There was a new tunnel there, with a ramp leading even further into the depths. Rollerbugs were moving up and down, moving directly through the open doors, carrying loads of all sorts of rock and minerals.
Yeah. Definitely more proactive.
The rollerbugs didn't ignore us, exactly, since one of them slowed to a stop and allowed Calbern to drive Fang into line, but that was their sole reaction to our presence. After what Conflict had said last ti, I'd almost thought he'd make us fight our way to him every ti we visited.
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"Fire and Forge, I had feared your ttle had been miscast," the booming voice said as Fang drew up just in front of the stairs. Conflict wasn't sitting atop the pillar where his throne had been last ti. Instead, he was standing to the side, over the remains of a machine I didn't recognize. He was holding up an enchanted slab of steel, turning it over in his hand, as if studying it. Then he threw it to the side, turning to face us. “It is always a sha, when a machine that held such promise must be reforged.”
“What… was wrong with it?” I couldn’t help but ask, glancing at the pile of debris. Other than the obvious marks from where the spinning blades had ripped into it, there wasn’t a sign of why he was inspecting it.
“It was an aberrant. It was two percent faster than its model was projected to be,” Conflict said, taking a single thunderous step towards us. “So, it had to be disassembled.” It emphasized the word disassembled with a whir of the gears on the end of its chains.
After the ringing in my ears stopped, I tilted my head back to look up into its glowing orange eyes. “Isn’t that a good thing? Why’d you scrap it?”
“To understand,” Conflict said, leaning forward. “In its destruction lies the path to perfection.” Then Conflict straightened out, its eyes dimming slightly. “So, have you co to face the Fires? Or have you decided to allow end your suffering, to discover what makes you aberrant?" Conflict asked, taking another step towards us as his chains and gears stretched out around him, buzzing and rattling in the air.
"We're here to face the Fires," I replied, doing my best not to think of how quickly those gears could chew through . I'd seen the old man nearly lose a finger to an old transmission he'd been working on once, and it hadn't even been connected to anything. He'd been pulling on the wrench, his other hand wrapped around the gear to hold it in place, and he'd slipped, causing it to cut into him. Had gotten the finger sewn back together, and other than being a bit shorter, he'd barely noticed.
Still, the image of his finger hanging by just a shred of skin had stuck with . I’d always been careful around naked gears after that.
"Excellent," Conflict said, waving an entire set of chain and gear limbs in a co this way motion. "The first Fire is the sa for all who step on this path, though your future shall be shaped by your choices within."
"It's… not just a set of trials?" I asked. I'd read the books Keeper had given , and most of their trials had been similar. Forge or build an item, then use it against an opponent. Sotis they'd get horribly maid, but afterwards, they were healed. From what I'd read, the only way to actually fail the trial was to give up.
Obviously, that hadn't been enough to dissuade either or Calbern, especially since we'd be guaranteed a Favor each. The value of which could vary greatly, depending on what we asked for.
Still, nothing had hinted at there being unique paths, not in any of the stuff Keeper had given . And the one guy would’ve ntioned that for sure. Probably would’ve complained about it too.
"Once, I was limited in what I could offer. Simple challenges that barely tested the unrefined," Conflict said, his footsteps ringing like steel striking steel as he descended the stairs leading us downward. His neck slid to the side, turning to look directly at even as his feet found perfect purchase. "But a forge unkindled, is a forge wasted. Long have I been waiting my next unrefined one. And in that ti, I have refined my offerings. I do look forward to seeing the paths you will forge."
"Glad to help," I said as Conflict reached the bottom, stepping to the side and gesturing to a door directly ahead of us. On the left side of the door, carved in sharp tallic relief, was the image of a woman using a forge, sweat dripping down her face. On the right, the sa woman stood, holding a roughly shaped longsword in her hand as she faced down a machine roughly her size. I'd read about them in the books Keeper had given us, and even seen a couple sketches, but this was the first ti I'd realized how… demon-like, the Fire-children were.
It wasn't too different from Keeper or Conflict, with the long sinuous neck, sharp teeth, and wicked claws on either hand. Instead of their four legs though, this thing only had two. It didn't have horns either.
Still, the shape of its head, and the fire that glowed in its eyes… yeah, definitely made in their image.
I wasn't looking forward to swinging around so heavy chunk of tal, trying to bash that thing over the head. But… if what I'd been reading was correct, these weren't just trials to get better at crafting and combat. Not that I couldn't use them for that. I absolutely could.
After reading the books Keeper had given , I'd gone back to ask it about that detail directly, just because it'd seed so… unlikely. Successfully completing these trials wasn't taphorically improving our ttle. It was literally reforging our minds. Keeper hadn't been able to explain what that had ant. Not exactly. But it had said it was a necessary step on the path of true Ascension.
My eyes shifted to the side, taking in the other doors. Each of them had similar motifs, thought I noted that the person standing in each was different. The being on the opposite door was always different too, though it always looked vaguely like a devil.
"Don't suppose you could tell us what this is going to do to us?" I asked.
Every one of the people in the books Keeper had given had asked a version of the sa question, and every one of them received the sa answer Keeper gave . "It will forge you anew, bringing you one step closer to perfection."
"Right," I said, looking over at Calbern. He inclined his head at . "Let's get it started."
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