Zero.Hero2 - Chapter 2

Blue spores flared and danced around my face as the cloud of toxic particles drifted up from the mushroom I’d disturbed. My lungs burned as I held my breath against the poison which would force me to vomit and fall unconscious. I knew this because I’d already wasted ten minutes puking and passing out. 

I leaned in close and carefully extracted the last mushroom from the rich black soil. I stood upright and dashed away from the glittering patch of instant influenza symptoms and blew the expended air from my aching lungs. I gasped in a fresh breath and rested my elbows against my knees, half squatting with a woozy head. 

My gut squealed with hunger as I looked at the little white fungi. Acid was all that remained in my stomach despite Yrsah sending me off with a good breakfast this morning. I knew it was not safe to eat the small mushroom, at least not uncooked, and I needed it for my quest, and couldn’t afford to collect another one. I put the final mushroom into my bag and a quest update appeared. 

I began the hike back toward Yrsah’s cabin and opened my updated map. I wished there was more time to explore this fantastic world, but the timer counting down in the corner of my vision reminded me of how little time remained. 

The map showed the distance between my position and Yrsah cabin, and it’d be another sixty Din to get back to Yrsah’s cabin, and almost six minutes off my IRL timer. Seeing the quest timer at only fifty-two minutes was nerve wracking, and I tried not to think about it. 

I couldn’t believe I’d wasted a day trying to summon my gear. Yrsah was worried I wouldn’t be able to overcome my Familiar without my weapons, but agreed to train me with her spear. She gave me more fitting gear when I’d failed to summon my own for what had felt like the thousandth time. The final failure yesterday had sealed the deal. She told me it was time to choose: go home empty handed, or take on my Familiar with her old spear. Granted, the thing was a powerhouse of Agility with nifty Bleed abilities, but it wasn’t what I was specialized to use. 

Yrsah's cabin was a sight for sore eyes, or rather a hungry stomach, when I noticed her chimney smoking merrily. I knocked on the door as I kicked off my muddy boots. I heard her laugh and then shout, “Come in.” I pulled open the door at her invite and found her bustling about the kitchen with some dried herbs and a large pot. 

"I’m making tea," Yrsah said as she hobbled towards the fire. “So, did you bring me everything?" 

I pulled the satchel from my side and held it out to her. She took the boar-skin sack and untied the string that held it close. She sifted through the ingredients nodding at each one, then grunted approval. She took the bag to the kitchen where she lined up a new mortar and pestle and a beaker beside it. She laid open the boar-skin bag and grabbed a knife, then began making careful slices in the mushroom as if she were performing surgery on it. 

The tea kettle whistled gently in the corner and I turned to pull it out. I grabbed the fire poker and pulled the crane toward me, then grabbed the towel on the chair next to the fireplace. I tilted the teakettle and poured the boiling water into the two cups she’d left on the table. The tea leaves swirled around and around, giving off a bright blue color. I thought it was the most beautiful tea I'd ever seen, but to my dismay, the looks didn’t match the flavor. 

It was called Shaman's Chew, and it tasted about as good as it sounded, but the stat buffs it gave were insane. Plus thirty to Stamina, plus twenty-four to Wisdom, and increased experience gained by fifteen percent. I wanted to bring it back with me to Earth, but wasn’t sure how. 

I set the kettle back on the hook, but did not put it into the fire, then took my seat and put my cold, bare feet close to the hearth. "Yrsah, do you think I'm going to have enough time to finish the quest?" 

Yrsah hum thoughtfully. "Likely.” 

That didn't give me much comfort. 

"It's almost ready now," Yrsah said as I heard the tinkling of a wooden spoon in the beaker. 

I stood and walked to the kitchen, listening to the old floorboards as they creaked with my weight. Yrsah stirred the purple concoction with a smile that looked prideful. 

"I've still got it," Yrsah said as she passed me the beaker. 

I held the glass in my hands fearfully. This was it, the last step of the quest, and if I messed up, it could be gone for good. 

“Drink up,” Yrsah ordered and a new popup appeared. 

A far-off voice whispered overhead as I read the text. “Hey folks, we’re just about forty-five minutes out from touching down and it might get a little bumpy, so buckle up.” 

That was it. It was now, or maybe never. I hit Accept and held the beaker to my lips. I tilted it back, swallowing my doubt and fear along with the essence tether illuminator potion. 

The earthiness of the mushrooms hit my tongue first, which I was slightly worried were still poisonous in some way. There was a floral taste that came from the berries I’d picked, and a cinnamon bite from the bark of the Silverleaf Oak. I cringed as the taste of Ba’pey leaves emerged and held strong. 

I gulped the liquid down trying not to think about what it might do to my insides, and just pretended that my insides didn't really exist, that I wasn't really here. I was on the plane, and once I found my familiar, I would wake up on the plane, maybe never to return to this place. 

My chest tightened as a feeling of icy cold spread through my limbs. When I'd finished the contents of the beaker, I set the glass down on the table and exhaled hard. Green ethereal smoke billowed from my lips and I covered my mouth with shock. 

Yrsah smiled and motioned for me to continue breathing. I took in another tentative breath and exhaled again, harder this time. A darker cloud of green swirled from my lips. As I breathed in and out, essence gathered around me like the spore cloud that had hung around the mushrooms in the forest. 

“And there it is,” Yrsah said with a grin as she pointed to my chest. 

When I looked down there was an umbilical cord coming from my guts, but it was clear, yet it was colorful; green, like my essence, fighting against a bright blue. I was looking through it and seeing it at the same time. What even was it? My fingers reached for the little string coming out of my belly but went straight through it as I thought I was about to touch. I felt nothing as my hand passed over the spot. Weird. 

Yrsah nodded. "Now you are ready, with little time left." 

"Yrsah—" 

"What is it now, Si’che?" She’d grown tired of my constant questions, but had managed to ignore most of them, or answer some throughout the week with cryptic adages I couldn’t understand. 

I smiled and leaned down to give her a hug. Despite rushing to this conclusion, and all the gear summoning failures in between, I was grateful for my time with her, and in this place. "Thank you for everything. I hope when I return I can see you again.” 

Yrsah grinned from ear to ear as she pulled back. “I look forward to your unending questions.” 

She grabbed the spear from the wood frame of the door and passed it to me. I held the weapon in my hands with reverence. Whatever I was going to be up against I would have Yrsah’s spear. 

I faced the open air of the meadow and sucked down a huge gulp of air. With the force of all my muscles, I expelled the breath across the invisible string coming for my stomach. The tether illuminated brightly with a lime green glow that warred against brilliant teal. The string twisted and turned to the southeast leading directly into the forest, and toward the mountains. 

Here I come, whatever you are.