Chapter 33: A Taste of Knowledge
"What now?" Gunner said to her friends-looking over the blonde's shoulder. After defeating the second boss, Swordfighter directed the scuba diver to go further down, swimming for what seemed like a long time. The trio thought that trench was truly endless. Just when doubt began to set in, the swimmer finally managed to reach the bottom.
Brawler was sitting on the bed, throwing a tennis ball at a wall and letting it bounce back to him before throwing it again. "The game said to find a treasure, I also think it mentioned that it was in a chest."
"Oh yeah." The shooter murmured, now remembering the task they had to complete. "So just find this "chest" and we'll win?"
"No, there is one more boss in this game that has to be defeated." The sword wielder explained as he pointed to the door being guarded by holographic tentacles. "If we correspond the bosses I fought with the monsters guarding the door, then logically, the last bad guy should be an octopus of some sort."
"Squid, Sword. Squid." Interrupted Brawler, halting his ball throwing. "Octopuses have eight tentacles, this one has ten." He explained, pointing the slimy appendages guarding the door. "Only squids have ten tentacles."
"I'm surprised you know that Brawler, you don't seem like the kind of guy that wouldn't care to know any of that stuff." Sword playfully taunted.
He scowled. "I'm an asshole, not an idiot. This is common knowledge."
The blonde Mii ignored the comment and went back to the game. The diver was at the very bottom of the ocean: The background had faded into complete blackness; there were no fish or rocks in sight. The only thing that was visible to the player, was the man and the sand he was currently standing on.
The moment he moved the analog stick, a text box popped up. It read:
Congratulations! You reached the bottom!
You can now use your map to find the location of the treasure chest!
Use the Option Button to access it!
Sword sat with his mouth agape "WE HAD A MAP?! Why didn't the game tell us sooner?!"
"Perhaps it wanted to get to a good starting point before we start mapping out the area?" Said Gunner.
"I doubt it." Replied Brawler. "That doesn't matter. We have something to go on. So let's use it."
The blonde pressed the option button, and another text box appeared. It was the map.
According to the map, the path to the supposed treasure was straight. All that the diver had to do was to swim all the way to the right until he reached the treasure.
"All we have to do is to swim in a straight line?" Questioned Gunner.
"Seems to be that way." Answered Swordfighter.
"It won't be that easy. Keep in mind we still have to deal with squid." Brawler reminded the two.
The female Mii sighed. "This is going to suck."
"It might suck, but it'll won't be forever. Once we beat this game, we'll notify the others on what to do with this game." Spoke Sword.
"Well actually it's the thing you touched earlier that caused this problem for us." Corrected Gunner. "So it's the crystal you should notify to the Smash Brothers. Not the game."
"Same thing." Retorted the blonde as he commanded the diver to swim east. The character only got several feet until another monstrous screech was heard. "Here comes the boss! Get ready!" Brawler said to Swordfighter.
"Don't worry, I got this."
To the left of the diver, long grey tentacles the size of trees extended from the darkness, slithering around the environment. One particular tentacle that Swordfighter noticed carried the skeletal remains of a fallen diver.
"Or maybe not." The blonde whispered to himself.
The tentacles was inching closer to the man, which compelled Gunner to speak up. "Sword! Run!"
The scuba diver swam away from the monster. Unfortunately, but not expected, it gave chase. The man moved his arms and flippers as fast as he can, but he was unable to evade the squid. The only thing the diver could do was to keep a safe distance away from the tentacles, and hoped he didn't get caught.
"Try using your gun on it." Suggested the female Mii, feeling nervous about the whole ordeal.
Sword listen to her advice and pressed in the buttons to make the diver stop in his tracks; firing a harpoon at the boss.
One of the tentacles caught the spear with ease, snapping the metal rod in half with its immense strength. The man dried to flee when he saw that his attack didn't work, but he was grabbed off his guard by another tentacle.
The flesh tendril pinned the man's arms to his waist as it beginning to squeeze the life out of the scuba diver. The player's health bar was decreasing—very slowly, but it was going down none the less.
"Damn it!" Yelled Brawler.
"It blocked it?!" Said Gunner.
Sword gritted his teeth with a combination of fear and frustration "We have so much health to spare! We can't afford any more damage!" The Mii frantically pressed buttons and control sticks, hoping to escape the beast of the sea. His actions payed off, thankfully; the diver slipped through the tentacle, escaping its grasp and getting away.
The diver got a second chance, if he failed again. He'll pay for it in the afterlife. The sword wielder kept that in mind as he commanded the character to move towards the end goal, keeping out of reach of the monster.
"Don't be stupid in attacking it. Swim over to the chest pronto!" Spat Brawler.
"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Retorted Sword, being very annoyed with the fist-fighter's constant attitude.
"Wait. Guys, what's that up ahead?" Pointed out the shooter.
Sword looked over to the right of the screen and was mildly upset. Far away from the diver, there were a variety of obstacles in his path: There were sunken ships, big rocks, deadly angler fish, and a variety of debris to try to prevent the man to reach the end of the game.
Knowing that he had no other choice but to suck up and endure, he pressed heavily on the control stick. The diver swam faster than usual, going towards the hurdles head on: He swam into a wrecked ship by using an open porthole, and exited by busting through a door; He avoid the trash that was floating near him, not even giving it a second though; finally he shot a harpoon into the eye of angler fish, killing it instantly. Looks like playing the game non-stop with no breaks in between has it benefits.
But the squid, hidden within the darkness, had a trick up its sleeve. The cephalopod winded up a tentacle, and lashed it out like a whip. Aiming for the diver.
The man managed to dodge the attack—at the cost of heading ramming straight into a boulder. Sword's mistake cost himself almost all of his HP, all that remained was little sliver in the health bar above. If he got hit one more time, no matter how little the damage may be. He'll be dead.
Knowing his fate hangs in the balance, the blade wielder held his breath; cancelling out the sound of his peers panicking of the situation at hand.
After minutes of swimming pass the obstacles and dodging the monster's moves. The trio saw a cave on the very end of the path, built into the foundation of bedrock. Inside the black hole was a bright light that shined the surrounding area. It was comforting to look at.
"Is that where the treasure is?!" Asked Gunner.
"I think so!" Replied Brawler. "Sword! Head for the cave!"
Swordfighter tapped the buttons furiously to go faster, in response, the boss lashed out more, swinging its tentacles to grasp the diver, almost succeeding. However the swimmer was successful in reaching the hole, getting inside with no effort.
The monster tried to enter to cave as well, but its form was too massive; it couldn't get inside. In a ditch effort it's slid it's appendages in the crevice, but the diver was too far in the tunnel for it to reach him.
Seeing that boss had failed, it left. It extracted its tendrils out of the cave a disappeared into the darkness. Like what happen that previously, the tentacles that were guarding the door had vanished, indicating that Swordfight was close to winning their freedom.
"We won!" Gunner cried with happiness, wrapping her arms around Sword and Brawler in a celebratory hug. "Now we can leave."
"It's not over yet." Said Brawler. "We've beat all the freaks this game has to over, but we still have to find that chest. I don't want to think what would happen if we bail now."
"No need to worry guys." Sword pointed to the screen. A golden treasure chest was placed on top of a hoard of coins and trinkets. "Victory is in reach."
The man swam towards the chest, standing right in front of it. The moment he put his hand on the lock. One final text box appeared on the screen:
Open the Chest?
Yes? No?
"What do you think the treasure is?" Said the female Mii.
"We're about to find out." Answered the blade-wielder as he pressed yes. The diver slowly put his hands on the top potion of the chunk and flipped it open. All of a sudden, Swordfighter's eyes turned white, emanating with light.
The blonde Newcomer held his head in pain, his brain trying to comprehend what's going on.
"The katana is one of the sharpest blades out there, able to slice a leaf in half by it just simply failing on it." The samurai told his men. "So it's important that-"
The knight was in a fierce battle, going war against a rival kingdom. With all the training he learned, the warrior was able to slice up his enemies with the help of his double-edged sword, nothing could truly-
It was the grand finals, the two remaining sword fencers were playing against each other in front of a joyful crowd. Only one of them will win-
The pirate Mii was in the process of defending his captain from other devious pirates. Despite him being alone in his endeavor, he was doing pretty well. This was expected of course, his master taught him well.
Countless visions of people using their bladed weapons in different scenarios, times, and places exploded in his mind. When the hallucinations disappeared, Sword collapsed on his knees, panting very heavily on the ground.
"SWORD!" shrieked Gunner. She ran to his side and looped one of his arms of her shoulders; helping him on his feet.
"What the fu…Sword! What the hell was that?!" Brawler said. Feeling concern for his partner.
"Huh?" The blonde raised his head, trying to shake off the motion sickness the Newcomer was feeling right now.
"You didn't notice?! Your eyes glowed white and you didn't respond to us. It was like you were in a trance in some kind."
Sword was confused until he remembered what occurred a moment ago. "How long was I out of it?"
"Around ten seconds." Answered the Mii in orange. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"
Swordfighter carefully released her hand and took a couple steps forwards. He was looking at the room: All the holograms were now gone; including the game. The gem that started it all, had rested on the smooth wooden texture of the floor. The blade user picked up the blue and orange item into his hands; observing the sphere in fine detail before speaking to his friends. "I saw something. The crystal gave me…visions."
"Visions?" The black-haired Newcomer asked with disbelief. "You're not making sense at all. What do you mean by visions?"
"I don't know how to describe it. After I won that game, I…I." Sword stuttered in his words, he held tongue for another moment until he was ready to talk again. "I saw scenes in my head, from the past, I think-our past."
"You mean the history of the world we we're based from?" Questioned Gunner.
"Exactly." Answered the Smasher in blue. "There were people, all from different times, using swords. I saw the techniques and skills they displayed in my head. It felt like…wait, hold on. I need to see if…Hey, could you possibly stand back a couple of feet? I need to…Experiment."
Brawler and Gunner listened, and gave their pal some breathing room. Sword took out his blade from his sheathe, carefully gripping it in his fingers. He instant sliced the air around him; doing a series of stances and moves that amazed the new Newcomers watching him.
Sword finished by doing a backflip, landing on a chair. When he was done preforming, he put the blade back into the sheathe, and went over to his friends.
"Care to explain why you turned into a master ninja all of a sudden?" Said Brawler.
"The visions I saw earlier. I have a theory that this gem, gave me the knowledge of how to use a sword properly."
"It made you into the perfect blade-wielder?" Questioned the shooter.
"I don't think "perfect" is the right word. I know for a fact that I could do a lot more with my sword now than I did before, but I don't feel untouchable. If I had to go on a limb here, I would say the crystal molded me into the model swordsman."
"Let me see that." Spoke Brawler as he reached for the object.
"Wait! Brawler don't-" Interrupted Gunner but it was too late; the fist-fighter was already caressing the artifact in his gloves, he was surprised when he noted that the orange side of the sphere glowed faintly when he made contact with it. Unlike last time however, the stone didn't blind their eyes with light and forced them to play a game afterwards.
"You touched it…but it's not doing anything." Observed Gunner.
"Yes, it's very strange." Commented the fist-fighter as he stared at the round treasure. "Gunner, could you do me a favor and press your finger against the crystal?"
"What if it explodes?!"
"It didn't exploded when I did it. Can you stop talking and listen to my instructions already? I need to see this."
Gunner. Ignoring his attitude obeyed. Making physical contact with the artifact; lighting up the blue side as a result. "Is it broken?"
Swordfighter took the gem from both of their hands and rubbed it gently; the thin white line on the crystal ball failed to produce a sense of illumination. "I don't think so"
"What makes you say that?" Demanded the Newcomer wearing red.
"When I touched the sphere, I felt a source of energy run through my entire body before it blinded us. I didn't say anything about it sooner because we were panicking, not to mention I was busy with making sure the diver survived."
"You sensed energy within that stone?" Said Gunner.
"Yes, when I first touched it." Emphasized Sword. "It only lasted a second, but I definitely felt it."
"What are you getting now?" Asked Brawler.
"The stone I'm holding right now, it still has power." Sword spoke bluntly.
Gunner almost choked on her spit. "Still has power?!"
"And this is the part that is really shocking. I thinks it's charging."