Eternal_Winter
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Chapter 7
🕑 Added 2025-05-02 12:46:54 +0000 UTCReworked on the 20/05/2025
When he appeared again it wasn’t in the forest but instead down in the cube shaped room he spent the last hours playing around with magic. His eyes drifted to the small opening that served as his slide before. “Wait…how do I get back up…?” He hoped for some divine guidance but there was only silence. “Fucking great…” he sighed and succumbed to his fate. The egg clutched to his chest he wondered how the fuck he should get back up that slope, it was after all one slide of slime covered stone and wt mud.
Ethan looked down at the egg and with a sigh he put it into his robe, he tried to make it rest on his back, the robe keeping it somewhat in place when he finally jumped up to the ledge and pulled himself back into the tunnel. Being a tall skinny dude finally paid off for the first time, at first he tried to hold his staff but it quickly followed the egg and got pushed into the belt of his robe, while he tried to climb it constantly hit his head but there was no way around it. With a slew of curses he began his climb up the tunnel.
****
Meanwhile in a different part of the same tutorial James and Marie followed the three rough looking men through the forest, they didn’t even know how much distance they gained so far, but one thing was certain.. They couldn’t even feel their legs anymore from walking and running through the night like the devil was after them. There was only one positive thing to it all, what James but also the others noticed was the amount of stamina they suddenly had, their strength in general was a lot more than someone would expect from sixteen year old teenagers. Of course their first thoughts went to the system, at least for James and Marie, if the three prisoners even knew about games wasn’t their problem.
During their escape from the goblin hunting team James thought about Ethan, how they left him lying in the dirt. James felt terrible because of it, he was a teenager! A normal kid that played sports and was just all around rather average. The fact that he was partially responsible for someone's death even if only in neglect to help hit him deeply. Yesterday he was a student struggling in school and now he was here, running for his life. The dream of fame and glory in battle vanished rather quickly.
Marie on the other hand just kept going like nothing happened, she was more concerned with staying clean and that her fire staff could be scratched or break during their escape, her attitude changed since they came here into the tutorial, at first she was normal like always but now she didn’t even look back after they left Ethan. It was a side of her he didn’t know in his former life.
While they managed to escape the goblins James was worried about the prisoners. The three men looked at them a few times before they moved closer together and put their heads together, whispering about something he couldn’t understand. James knew something was about to happen but the fear of being left alone or running away was consuming him. The feeling of despair while he was surrounded by people he couldn’t really trust and trees that seemed to bend towards them, their long gnarly branches reaching out for him, James swallowed hard and a bead of sweat ran down his neck. Living a sheltered life didn’t prepare him for the normal world and now he was in a world filled with swords, magic and monsters, he couldn’t even begin to fully understand the significance of it all.
After their escape day turned into night and while James thought it would be better to keep running the others sat down at the roots of one of the larger trees. No one wanted to talk about their escape from the goblins, them betraying Ethan or which step to take next. They were all still level 1, James didn’t even see an animal during the day that could be hunted for some experience. In the end they all just sat there and waited for the night to end, unsure what should happen the next day.
James was alone with his thoughts and feelings, he watched the moon slowly move over the horizon. Everything looked so real, so familiar, like this world was created from his own memories. He looked at Marie and saw her frown, annoyed when she noticed that one of her nails had broken off. The crush he had on her a while ago vanished when the whole world was turned upside down and got spat out as this strange world. While there was literally nothing to laugh about he still smiled, just for himself. Such thoughts occupied his mind during something that could be called an apocalypse in the right circumstances.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the rough bark of the tree, maybe he could get some sleep in during the night, even closing his eyes and trying was better than to worry about the next day, that was a problem for future James.
****
James had managed to sleep because something woke him up, he didn’t know how long he laid there, cuddling with the rough tree bark. But when he heard it again, the rustling of leaves nearly made him jump into the treetop. Not because of the sound but rather because there was a sound there at all. Since their start in the tutorial there was no animal, no other humans or even wind that could make such a loud noise. It was almost too quiet here.
Slowly he closed his fingers around the hilt of his blade, he scanned his surroundings while he tried to get the sleep out of his eyes. Carefully he looked for movement or any other indicator that something living was around them. But there was only silence, a kind of silence that felt unnatural, created somehow. A cold shiver ran down his spine, the adrenaline started to pump, fight of flight where his option. Then he saw it, a knife thrown from some small group of trees on his right, the blade spinning through the air, even rusty like it was the moonshine still reflected from it, making it shimmer.
He opened his mouth to scream but there was no sound when he tried to warn the others. James saw the knife flying through the air and one of the prisoners that sat slumped against a tree was hit in the forehead. There were no sounds but he could see the blood that dripped from the blade down the man’s face.
Everything happened in total silence. James jumped up and hit Marie on the shoulder to wake her up, she wanted to say something but her voice was also gone. He didn’t wait and jumped from the root to the two prisoners, shaking them awake as quickly as he could, his eyes still scanning for the attackers. Before they could hit him, or worse, James jumped back and tried to gesture with hands and feet what was going on, pointing into the forest and then to the dead prisoners.
That was the moment the goblins jumped from the shadows, running at them with their rusty daggers, cracked clubs and bent spears that looked more like badly carved sticks. Still the goblins outnumbered them, twenty of the dark green horrors against their five poorly equipped humans. Who knew how many of them waited in the shadows, just waiting for the chance to attack them.
James finally pulled his sword from his belt and jumped in front of Marie, determined to protect her, while his crush for her was in the past it was still the right thing to do. One of the green bastards sprinted towards him, his dagger already swinging wildly around, crossing blades with the first goblin he managed to defend himself but without proper technique he would soon be overpowered if more than one decided to attack him. Through sheer luck he managed to hit the one goblin on the hip but that only earned him silent scream from the beast.
The two prisoners had an easier time, their lives already corrupted by violence they started to hack and slash the green monstrosities with their crude weapons, their ferocity was either pure adrenaline but James saw the pure hate in their eyes. They even started to silently laugh at some point when multiple goblins laid dead in front of them, drunk from the lust of battle they continued to fight more recklessly. But James knew they couldn’t keep this up, in the few precious seconds he wasn’t attacked he spotted more goblins and even some wolves lurking behind the trees. The good thing was that there was only one way forward.
At some point, he didn’t know how long he was already fighting; he noticed the lack of magic from their side. Marie wasn’t casting anything since the start of the battle, when James turned around to look at her a delicate boot kicked him in the chest. His eyes opened wide and all the color drained from his face. The smile she had on her lips looked cruel, he landed on his back, and he felt something hit dig into his lower back, the moment he could reorient himself and look around he saw one goblin walk over to him. The last thing he saw was the club wielding goblin hitting his forehead.
After the kick Marie already jumped from the roots and jogged into the forest. She wouldn’t die today even if she needed some sacrifices on her way, the skinny adult bought time but not enough. She was certain that now she could make it away from the others. She was after all a mage and would become powerful in the future, it was her destiny after all. Years of hiding her nature made her appreciate this world even more and for once she would be the protagonist of her own story. Smiling like a little kid she skipped through the sickly looking woods and hummed a little tune, the magic had vanished when she was far enough away.
Even with her plan she couldn’t predict every contingency, so when the wolf rider found her he didn’t hesitate and threw his spear at her, while he tried to hit her back the spear was too unbalanced and instead pierced her thigh, making her fall to the ground screaming in pain, this far out the silencing magic wasn’t active again so her loud scream could be heard by every goblin still hidden in the trees.
The goblin screamed in triumph, the wolf under him howled. Her scream and its triumphed scream pulled the other guards to its location and they approached the injured girl. The goblin jumped from its wolf and approached the human, feeling unkillable because of its impressive feat. It laughed with its raspy voice and searched the human for something valuable. When it finally noticed that she was a woman it screamed in delight, it managed to catch a woman for the tribe.
****
When Ethan finally crawled from the dirt shaft he looked like a zombie rising from his grave, his body covered in mud, the clothes dirty and damaged. Multiple times he barely managed to keep the egg in his robe and a few times he had to crawl on his side like an earthworm because on his way down mud was loosened and narrowed the path upwards. But in the end he managed to crawl his way back up, his breath was heavy and unsteady but his thoughts were with the egg. Carefully he pulled it from his robe and inspected it.
A smile crept onto his face and he stumbled his way to the small creek to wash himself and drink something to alleviate the burning sensation in his throat. His thoughts returned to what Ouroboros told him about the creek and magic. He washed his hands and face before sitting down, exploring the growth he experienced, due to the new level he gained and the small breakthrough he had during their fight. He could now summon five ice spikes before the pain returned and the magic vanished because he lost concentration. Satisfied he looked at the egg and turned it between his fingers, the exterior was like a polished mirror and shone in a brilliant white, pale blue streak visible in the light.
While it was pretty, what fascinated him the most was the fact that it was surprisingly hard, not like a normal reptile egg, which are usually soft. But there was later time to inspect it a bit more, so with that thought he wanted to put it down on the ground but suddenly it began to shake violently , the first crack forming on its exterior.
