NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 45: Time For A Quick Dip
Hiral turned from his challenge, his gear popping back into place on his body so perfectly it was like it’d never vanished, to follow the others over and check on Nivian. Seeyela, nearby, seemed to have the same thought, the eight red eyes of her helm staring at her hands as she rolled them over and back again.
“So weird,” she said before looking up to meet Hiral’s gaze. “Do you feel it too?”
“Kind of like the portals and Interspatial Rings?” Hiral asked.
“Yes. Didn’t Odi say there were humans here before studying this Urn? Do you think this is where they learned some of the magic?” Just as she finished her question, they arrived at the edge of the hall to find Nivian climbing up a small ladder out of the water.
“It must be,” Hiral told her quickly, focusing his attention on the blushing tank.
“Not quite as easy as it looked,” Nivian said, and once he was off the ladder and a step closer to the party, his gear materialized on him.
“Good thing that didn’t return while you were swimming,” Wule said.
“You’re telling me,” Nivian said.
“What happened?” Seena asked. “Your movement ability didn’t work?”
“Because it’s swinging side to side like that?” Seena asked.
“Yeah, it’s just fast enough I can’t make it all the way to the other side before there’s nothing under my next step,” Nivian said.
“Can you adjust while you’re… uh… Do you actually run when you use the ability?” Hiral asked. “Or is it like Yanily’s?”
“I actually run,” Nivian said. “Though, my steps are kind of… bigger? It’s hard to explain.”
“Magic,” Yanily said sagely with a nod.
“Either way, I missed my next step and ended up in the water,” Nivian explained. “At least it’s not too cold.”
“You going to try again?” Seena asked.
“Of course,” Nivian responded immediately, puffing out his chest. “A little swim isn’t enough to stop me.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Seena asked, and Nivian wilted a bit.
“Uh… don’t you all… you know, have your own trials to get to?” Nivian asked. “You don’t need to, you know, stand and watch.”
“It’s a good test,” Hiral said, and nobody moved.
Yanily even planted the butt of his spear on the ground and started leaning on it.
“Oh, fine,” Nivian said, throwing up his hands and turning back to the swinging bar. “Don’t laugh.”
“Don’t fall,” his twin said helpfully.
“I can still use Swarm Tactics in the water,” Nivian threatened.
“And I don’t have to accept it,” Wule replied. “Your threats don’t scare me. Stop dawdling.”
“Here, let me help,” Seena said, and Nivian twisted his head to look back at her hopefully.
She gave him the shoulder tap, then stepped back again.
“It’s always me. Why is it always me?” Nivian stepped up to the edge of the hall, his gear vanishing again. “They could send Wule first. He can even heal himself…” When the bar swung in front of him again, however, he blurred and stretched ahead.
Three-quarters of the way across in the blink of an eye, he looked like he was easily going to make it, until the same thing he’d described happened again—he missed his next step. Still blurred and strangely elongated, he hit the water in a hyper-velocity belly-flop, and the whole party winced back.
“Oh… I am… I…” Wule started, stopping and then giggling. “I am so glad I got to see that. Can he do it again?”
Nivian came up sputtering and wiped the water from his eyes. As soon as the sound of Wule’s laughter reached his ears, he scowled at his brother, and there was a pulse of solar energy from the tank.
“Nope, not accepting, told you,” Wule said between laughs.
“Was worth a try…” Nivian grumbled loud enough to be heard over the splashes as he swam back to the ladder.
“Convenient how the bar is just long enough to be too far for Nivian to make in one try, don’t you think?” Hiral asked Seena.
“It is…” she agreed.
“Hey, Seeyela, how easy is it going to be for you to portal to your platform?” Hiral asked.
“I tried a couple portals before Nivian splashed in,” she explained. “Not easy at all. The platform moves too fast. By the time my portal is formed, the platform is already past it. I’m going to have to either predict where it will go, or do something to get there faster.”
“Thought so,” Hiral said, turning back to where Odi sat on the floor. The strange Lizardman had pulled a long sausage from somewhere. Didn’t he say he didn’t have food?
“Odi, are the trials all the same every time?” Hiral asked.
“Oh, did I not explain that?” Odi said, making half the sausage vanish into his long mouth. “They’re different every time, depending on the people taking them.”
“They’re designed to push us?” Hiral asked.
“Correct!” Odi said, pointing at Hiral with the remaining half of the sausage.
“More and more like the PIM system,” Hiral said to just the party. “This Urn has to have been part of the inspiration for how our PIMs work. I bet the whole idea of dungeons and progression stemmed from this place.”
“How does that help Nivian stay dry?” Wule asked, still chuckling.
“It doesn’t help us now,” Hiral said. “But when we actually get the Urn? It may not just be the Lizardmen it saves. Also, don’t get cocky. If all of the halls are designed to push us, you can expect to get wet too. Yours won’t be as easy as you think.”
“Spoilsport,” Wule said, grimacing, but he did turn a more serious look back to his hallway.
“Same goes for all of us,” Hiral said. “Getting to the spheres is going to push us to improve our abilities.”
“Skill evolutions?” Seena asked, her eyes practically sparkling.
“Maybe?” Hiral said before pointing back at the swinging bar Nivian needed to cross. “Or maybe just teaching us something about our existing abilities we didn’t realize. I suspect Nivian is going to need to learn how to change direction to get across, or at least adjust it a bit.
“Seeyela is going to have to improve the speed of her portals, and Yanily needs to figure out how to use his ability without his weapon. You’ve got to get through the ice—without your tome—and I’ve got to figure out an ever-changing obstacle course. How much you want to bet it’ll be my runes that get me through it?
“Then, even after that’s all said and done, we still need to master this cycling thing. Which, I just want to point out, sounds extremely useful, considering the solar energy pinch we found ourselves in back in the city.”
“Killing some monsters would’ve been way easier,” Yanily mumbled. “Gah, are we even going to get experience for this?”
“Who knows?” Seena said. “Hiral’s right, though. This isn’t as easy as it first looked, and we don’t have a lot of extra time to waste. Watching Nivian belly-flop is fun and all…”
“It wasn’t a belly-flop,” Nivian grumbled.
“… but take this seriously,” Seena instructed.
“If I can make a suggestion?” Left offered, and Seena nodded. “Given the level of difficulty of each of your tasks to simply reach the platforms, and the possible gains in succeeding, I suggest the first people who make it across don’t spend all of their solar energy learning to cycle.”
“Why not?” Hiral asked.
“From what Odi described, the cycling process itself will be a challenge. Even then, we don’t know exactly how long you need to cycle for before the door opens. I’d suggest you attempt it while you’re all near full. With that in mind, my suggestion is this: If you make it across, attempt the cycling until you’re at half solar energy. At that point, return to this side, and continue practicing getting across.
“Repeat this process until you can get to the platform every time, or until everybody can make it regularly.”
“So when we’re all ready, we can just go across and do it in one go?” Seeyela asked, nodding. “And, anybody who gets across more regularly will still get plenty of cycling practice, and can help the rest of us with tips and pointers.”
“Exactly,” Left said. “I’ll stay on this side with the Banner of Courage to help you all recover as quickly as possible.”
“Okay, let’s start with that plan for now,” Seena said. “We can readjust if necessary. Any objections? Suggestions?”
“Wear something you can swim comfortably in,” Nivian said, still dripping water from under his crystal armor.