"... And you're sure... this thing isn't poisonous?"
Shadow nodded his head, the plate that covered where his nose and mouth would be opened. The mushrooms he ate disappeared into the darkness underneath. Kei eyed him for a moment, then the mushroom he held. His stomach groaned.
"... One hundred percent? I mean... you could have like, a different stomach than mine..."
The mushroom disappeared out of his hand, and was quickly shoved into his mouth. Kei fell over backwards and squirmed around as Shadow leaned back and chuckled. Kei yanked the mushroom out of his mouth and scraped at his tongue with his gloved hands.
"You idiot! I could be poisoned no-..."
He smacked his lips. Not bad. He bit the head off of the orange-speckled red mushroom and chewed. Not bad at all, actually. He had seen these mushrooms around some of the trees earlier, but never really thought they were edible. Food and drinkable water out here was scarse. Since he had left the second tower, the winds had been dying down, and all that they had travelled made him hungry. They weren't very far from the third tower, as it was clearly on the horizon.
"See?" Shadow said smugly, folding his arms over his chest.
Kei rolled his eyes, snatched another, and ate it. Then another. Then a few more. He took out the D-Power and stared down at it.
"... Anywhere in there we could store some of these for later?"
Shadow peered up at him.
"I could make a room."
They stared at each other for a moment. They both disappeared into the device.
************
A hallway now connected the main room to the storage room. They even spent some time to create a room where they could cultivate the mushrooms. Lot of work, however, the moment they left the device seemed to be the same instant they had entered it.
It wasn't too long of a walk to the third tower. It took them only a few moments of staring at the massive iron block before they realized something.
"... Tell me the chain's not broken."
"It is."
"That sucks."
Kei shrugged and glanced around.
"Is there any other way in?"
He turned and glanced back at Shadow.
Shadow pointed up at an open window.
"We can try to climb?"
Kei stood for a moment, and shrugged again.
"Let's give it a try."
The most difficult part was climbing off to the side of the drawbridge. The stones were cold and slippery. Signs that they were ancient. Much of the stones they gripped crumbled a bit under their hands. After much work and effort, they reached the balcony, and the opening. They sat for a moment and stared at one-another.
"Well, let's get moving," said Kei.
"Right-o."
Kei took out the D-Power, pressed the button, and held it out to Shadow.
"DigiMental, Up!"
He stood up just as the armor formed over him, and the sword formed in his hand.
"Ahh... y'know... you're not so heavy anymore."
The two golden globes on the crossguard seemed to stare up at him.
"Just wait. Heehee."
Kei instantly felt a deep worry in him.
What's that supposed to mean? he thought.
The tower was pretty much the same as the first. Different layout, however, and different puzzles. The creatures that lurked were much the same, and Kei had an easy time dispatching them. With no new tricks, he had an easy go through the first room, but had a bit of trouble finding an exit. There were no doors. It took the help of a freed soul to open his eyes.
"... The colors of the gems in the statues."
That's all it said before it departed, but between Kei and Shadow, it took mere moments for them to solve.
The room was large, had much worn red carpeting, however, there were six statues. Each were paired on the balcony against the back wall. On the left side, the left had a green gem mounted in it's forehead, while the right had a red gem. Against the far back wall in the center, both had red. On the right, the left statue had a red gem while the right had a green.
"Gee... isn't this obvious?"
Kei placed Shadow down on the ground next to the statue. He stood between the two, and leaned forward, pressing all his weight against the statue. He nearly fell over as it easily slid forward, reaching the edge of the corner that lead towards the center. The wall swung open outward, slamming against the red statue and nearly took off Kei's feet. It also swung inches away from sending Shadow out the window.
"CAREFUL!"
"EEK!"
Kei rolled forward, ending up upside-down against the statue.
"What the heck?! Jeeze! Sensitive, isn't it?!"
"You're telling me?" asked Shadow, rather exasperated.
He picked up Shadow and proceeded up the stairs.
The next floor was much like the previous. Only real change was that now there was a visible door... and two switches. One on either side of the room on a balcony overlooking the rest of the room. Kei walked over, killed the unsuspecting creature standing near it, and pressed the switch.
"Kinda obvious we need to press the second one, Kei."
Stones grinded. A staircase rose from the floor below the balcony, connecting the balcony to the ground floor.
"No problem."
After he pushed the statue (and made VERY sure he was CLEAR out of the way for it to swing), he made his way upstairs and pushed the second switch. Kei leaned over the balcony. The iron gates to the next floor creaked open.
"We're in!"
He bolted down the staircase that had formed for them after they pressed that switch, and up the stairs.
The next floor was rather open, with many large support columns fixated in a formation in the center of the room. Different creatures lurked here. They wore large robes, and pointed magician hats. Gloves hung, filled with air, where one would expect their hands to be. Inbetween? Air. Only two eyes gave signs of life in the mass of clothes that they were. They gave him a bit of trouble, but they had very little endurance, as they were easily dispatched with a mere slash. The trouble was they would throw cresents at him. Made of, of all things, light. And one of them gave him a rude awakening. A small gash on his cheek.
"... Jeeze."
He fingered the wound.
"Who would have thought light could be so sharp?" Kei muttered to himself.
"Well, it's using it as a weapon for a reason," replied Shadow.
"... Point well noted."
The room was rather bland, and the exit easy to spot. Kei quickly made his way to the top floor.
It was obvious that it was the top floor. The "Doorway to Nowhere" was there in the middle as usual. Only one problem posed Kei and Shadow this time. The doors and the Guardian were on an island surrounded by a pit, the entire floor built around it. A thin stone platform poked it's way out of a hole in the floor on the south side of Kei's part of the floor. In the back of the floor was a switch... also surrounded by a pit. Both were equally much too far for Kei and Shadow to jump.
"... If I throw you... will you come back?"
"Uh, no... hold on, I can handle this one."
The armor and sword became bright and became a light. The light ripped off of him and formed into that short, familiar figure. Shadow stepped out of the light as it faded.
"What're you going to do?"
"Watch!"
Shadow held out both hands.
"Black Lightning!"
A black, crackling energy shot from Shadow's hands and smacked the switch, knocking the plate down into the altar. The sound of grinding stones filled the room. Kei and Shadow shifted a bit as the room shook, and the platform noisily stretched across the pit to the island.
Kei looked over at the Guardian, then down at Shadow.
"... I thought you said you couldn't fight on your own?"
"I never said that."
Kei stared for a minute. He hadn't said that.
"But then..."
"You'll see."
Kei groaned.
"Let's go!"
Still a little peeved, Kei walked across the bridge, reaching the Guardian. Shadow walked next to him as they crossed. The Guardian spoke as Kei and Shadow came close.
"You're doing well. Better than I had expected. But note, it only gets harder from here."
"Oh, well. I've got something I need to do, and you know it. So there's no turning back."
"Very well, then. The doors are yours."
With that said, the Guardian faded out of sight.
"... Sheesh. Creepy guy. How do you suppose he does that?"
Shadow shrugged.
"Don't ask stupid questions. Let's go."
Kei nodded and stepped through the doors, once again entering that chamber.
More souls returned, "Europe" reborn.
********************
Tower four. It hadn't been that long of a walk. Not nearly as far as from his town to the first tower. They seemed to form a circular formation, and were easily noticable. Luckily, the gates were in working order, and the two entered.
The Guardian's voice rang in as soon as they entered. The stone gate slammed shut behind them.
"Welcome to my gauntlet... where you will fight to proceed!"
Both looked at each other.
"Greeeeaaaattt..." they both said.
The first floor was rather easy. Just a few of the ugly molemen. Didn't take Kei much effort to kill them. Once they were all defeated, the iron gates in the back opened. Kei spent a moment to catch his breath, stretch out, and continue to the next floor.
The second floor wasn't that hard, either. More of the eyeball creatures with the fire surrounding them. A few stabs and several scorch marks later, the door to the third floor opened.
More fighting greeted him as he entered. The red mole creatures. These gave him a little trouble. His usual tactics of 'swing until they stop moving' didn't work. These red ones smacked his swings to the side, and he narrowly escaped a few swings that would have otherwise been fatal. They also seemed to work in a group; one distracting while the other tried to sneak up on him. With a bit of effort, Kei could lure the sneaking one and, when it made it's move, lured it to hit the distracter. Pretty simple. Kei noted that, while tactical, they were still pretty brain dead. He had a few new scratches from this fight, but nonetheless, the fourth floor was next.
Still more fighting. This was getting tiresome, even for Shadow. The floating robes this time. Predictable. Kei wondered what would be on the next floor, but his thoughts were cut short. They kept a formation around him, and launched their attacks one-by-one. After about the fifth lean to dodge, Shadow gave Kei a small pointer.
"I'm reflective. Mirrors reflect light."
Kei nodded, and held up the blade. With a quick duck, the crescent slammed against the blade... and flew directly back it it's caster. The crescent easily split the robes in half, and a puff of dust was spat out of the collar. The rest were dispatched in much the same way.
Fifth floor. The door was here, however, there was a new creature here. Kei wouldn't really call it tall... but it was about 9" tall. And a solid piece of armor carrying a lance. There was no room for a face; the helmet was one solid plate. Kei approached cautiously, and quickly jumped out of the way as the armor thrusted the lance.
"Slow... but powerful."
Kei jumped up and took a swing on it as it retracted it's lance. A loud TWANG and a vibration that made his teeth chatter were his reward.
"And heavily armored," noted Shadow.
Kei quickly jumped back, dodging another swing of it's lance.
"... Can't hurt it..."
"Well... there is one way..."
Kei glanced down at the blade.
"Brace yourself."
The blade began to glow.
"I finally got enough energy to do this..."
The blade lengthened about an inch. Two thin metal guards slid up out of the hilt, covering over two inches of the blade. The armor began to glow as well, and the blade let off a light over Kei's hand. The light spread down over his wrist, and leap to his other hand, covering that hand and wrist. Two thin rays spread from the armor and spread from his shoulders approximately three inches. The light then faded, becoming more black armor. Black gauntlets connected to black wristguards adorned his hands now. The blade looked much sharper... but was however, much heavier. Kei grunted and lifted the blade.
"Now get him!"
Kei nodded and took an aggresive stance. He ran forward, letting out a cry as he spun to the side, dodging it's lance, and stabbed the blade forward, bringing it into the suit of armor, the blade plunged deep into it's thick body. He then gripped it with his other hand and leaned with all his weight, the blade slowly dragging to the side and shredding open the suit to the side.
The suit of armor's arms fell limp at it's sides. It leaned over onto the wound, and promptly exploded into the many pieces of empty armor, clanking loudly into a pile on the floor. Particles of black light gently seeped from the open secions, and was quickly sucked into the blade.
"Ahh... much better."
"... So that junk that came out of the body..."
"Is energy that I use to get stronger."
"... Seems simple enough."
"It really is!"
Kei ahemed, and quietly turned, walking to the doors, stepping over the armor. It opened, as if it had known that the armor had been defeated. The Guardian's voice came from within.
"Excellent work... you have proven yourself worthy. Enter."
Kei glanced down at Shadow as they walked in.
"Is he always this... authoritative?"
"Probably."
With that, they disappeared into the chamber once again, and another continent was revived.
"Australia"
