I grabbed the mirror with both my hands and held it, looking at this reflection. Slowly, my metallic hand crept up to touch my face, but I could not even do so much as feel it, as I could not feel anything with my metallic parts.Nothing mattered anymore.I did not care so much that the desert healer could come and find me holding his mirror. All I could think of was how wonderful it was to see myself again, to see who I was before the night that Mancini scarred me and Debbie broke me.This moment was ruined by the desert healer clearing his throat. Slowly, I turned to look at him, and he stood there, seeming to not know what to tell me.“You know… it's not real, right?” he finally spoke.“What?”“The image in the mirror. It is a dream mirror, and only shows you what you want to see. I use it to pay homage to who I was before I was cursed to be a leper.”“Who were you?”“A prince. Of Odesso.”I felt my heart skip a beat at the thought of the fact that this was the city I had just pass
I rolled away as the axe’s edge sunk into the bed with a quiet thump, and then stood to look at my assailant, the healer.His chest heaved beneath the bandages, and I moved further behind, silently muttering to Maia to bring my sword. The sword was in my hand, and he rushed forward to attack me.I dodged the swing of his axe, and made sure to cut the wood of the axe. It fell to the ground with another thump, and I used my foot to kick the desert healer to the ground, holding the tip of my sword at his neck.“Surrender.” His eyes looked at me, and then he raised his hands in surrender. My heart thumped steadily in my metallic chest, and I took a step back, letting him go.“Did I not tell you that I was like you? Cursed to not be able to die?” I asked him, keeping a watchful eye on his surprisingly still body.“My desire to harm you was stronger than reasoning.”“And why would you want to harm me?”“Because you're sailing through your own Hades game so easily that even he would want to
I came to discover that very often, you plan while the desert surprises.A thick sandstorm the morning after I left the leprous desert healer was ruining visibility, while I had my mind intensely focused on getting through 261.9 kilometres. I wanted to reach Plataea in the fastest time possible, and to get to Level 3.I was riding on my camel, with my hood covering my face as I thought of getting over a tall sand dune when all of a sudden, I was no longer in sight of what my eyes were on, but falling through the darkness and then into a pile of dust with a thud.The first thing I did once I got to my feet was to check my camel. It did not appear to have suffered any injuries, and I felt succour, at least until I turned and saw that we had fallen into some giant, underground temple. Statues lined the sides, with spare bits of light coming in from the roof, and within my chest, an ominous thought made me wonder if this was another trick from Hades. It could just be him.“Where are we, M
While trying to rest, I made a mistake I would pay for.I did not close the door I opened, somehow assuming that what it was on the other side was far too big to come to me.It wasn't. Rather, it must have been waiting for that door to open, because I was barely asleep when the sound of a warning alert woke me up, which I was quick to check.*1. New Notification Alert*Warning Alerts: 1x Duos Python approaching. 0.005 km away.At the same time, I could hear something moving over the stone, and I activated my night vision, to see what it was.What could have been more terrifying, then, than the sight of a python slithering towards me in the dark, its wet slimy body gleaming in the dim moonlight from above. If that was not frightening enough, this one was so big that its girth was twice that of my human frame.Most of all, it had two heads.I jumped to my feet and pulled out my sword, stepping back as it lifted itself high into the air, so that the white underbelly showed clearly. I fel
“What the—”“Well that's what happens when you cut a Duos python halfway.” Maia said. “As long as you leave a part still attached to the other, best believe it's waking up again.That was when I remembered that a patch of skin was the only thing attaching one head, which had joined the neck. The other neck hung uselessly, the only sign of my victory.“Well it can't be that hard.” I assured myself. “I killed it when it had two heads. I can definitely kill it now that it has one.”Just as I said this, my camel ran off in the direction we had just come from, and I could feel my heart break as the thuds of its feet faded away as it went far off, disappearing in the distance.Now, everything just got harder for me. EVERYTHING.The Duos python, itself unconcerned with the escaped beast, started to come closer when Maia gave me one final warning:“It will have its fast reflexes back now that there is only one head, and not two that you can distract like you did the first time. Make sure to c
I would open my eyes about an hour later to the sight of the Sand Demons bending over me, worried looks on their faces.Yes. Worried looks.The red glows that were their eyes had narrowed to upside-down slits, and they loomed over me like gusts of sand in forms that resembled human onnes, filling the air about them with dust as fire fills the air around it with smoke.“Where is the python?” I asked.They looked at me without understanding, a quick reminder that they spoke a different language from myself. I would have called Maia then, had I not looked behind them and seen the body of the mighty creature, cut into many pieces and encrusted in its own semi-dried blood.My System also rang with a new update.*1. New Notification Alert*Kill Count: 2 out of 15 kills made. CONGRATULATIONS.“Thank you,” I told them and tried to sit up as they handed my bloodied sword and katana to me after they had won my victory which I started and almost not finished, with me forgetting again that they s
The benefit of having the Sand Demons lead my beast was that between managing mere seconds of sleep while sitting in my saddle and trying not to fall off of it, I was still going forward, and not wasting time by sleeping in only one place.When I had my eyes open and sleep was far from me, I was quick to thank the Sand Demons for leading me, which they appreciated with eagerness. Some more time passed, though, before it dawned on me to ask them what they knew about Plataea, while Maia translated their words.“Oh, there. Impressive city.”“And what about the Tomb of the Invincible Soldier?”I saw the Sand Demons shake at the very mention of his name. “What do you have to do with that Invincible Soldier?” “He is essential to my journey.”“Even we Sand Demons ran before him, that towering giant. The moment you looked at him, and at the darkness in his helmet, fear went through even us that are not human. We were careful to steer clear of him, and accepted that he was from among the gods
The whole day was spent on me thinking.What would I do when I reached the Tomb?I knew Hades’ tricks. The instruction was for me to loot the tomb, but before I did it, I would have to fight. He could not just let me walk in there and take what I wanted. It was what I would fight, however, that I was terrified of.From the very start, my gut had not gotten rid of the feeling that I would need to fight The Invincible Soldier, and even the Sand Demons had confirmed it themselves. What scared me was how best to defeat him. If only I had a way to find this Persian Sorcerer.My mind had turned over the riddle over and over again, seeking for a way to understand it.‘Look through the darkness, and you will seeSee through the light, and you will know Know through the heart, and you will be The one who makes the bow.’It made no sense, but it had to have a meaning, because this was what had defeated the Invincible Soldier. I had to find it.During this last day, I walked more than I rod