A Wanderer's Lies

Chapter 8: The Tower [1]

"It seems so."

"But how? How did its body just crumble?" Isaac was dumbfounded.

Since a few moments ago, he'd never tried to engage the Cranium.

He must have built an unconscious thought that it was perhaps immortal.

"I told you. The Aroze is a miracle herb that can cure any disease. However, when paired with the right ingredients, it can also be weaponized and used to harm."

"What you just saw there was a combination that gained the ability to corrode any substance it comes into contact with." Isaac looked toward the ground and part of the walls the gas had touched, seeing it had disappeared, as if it weren't even there.

"A captivating yet disquiet power, wouldn't you agree? Imagine if it fell into the wrong hands." Saying the last sentence, Isaac quickly noticed Fetoh staring at him, yet decided to ignore it.

Instead, he stared at the blue glow that had suddenly appeared, slowly turning brighter by the second.

It was one of the few sources of light he'd seen since coming to this world.

The blue glow lit up the area and soon, plant life started to rapidly emerge from where the Brion had fallen.

The plant life quickly started to grow and engulf the surroundings, overlapping the previous plants and coating all the small safe zones Isaac had taken note of.

As Isaac and Fetoh moved back, the vines passed their feet and moved up the walls, clinging and spreading to any surface it could, like an infection symbiote.

Isaac noticed the path started to look more and more like the path with overgrown plant life he purposefully stayed away from.

"We need to leave, the Craniums are going to be here soon…"

Before Isaac could finish his sentence, something caught his eyes.

Countless prisms like plants with three leaves protruding outward started to appear around where the brion had died.

However, that wasn't what caught Isaac's eyes.

Instead, it was the three small vines escaping out from between the three leaves, its end carrying a blue glowing berry Isaac knew all too well.

"The berry…is made from the Cranium?" Isaac blurted out.

"Yes, the sphere head, to be more specific. It contains secrets that even I don't understand."

"How ironic. Something so beautiful born from a monster." Isaac turned around, noticing Fetoh staring at him with judging eyes.

"Monster? That seems a bit far. They are only protecting what's important to them." Isaac stared back.

"I didn't realise you were such an expert. Why don't you share with the class how you know so much about these creatures."

Fetoh blinked, as if she had suddenly just woken up from a deep sleep.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to glare. And don't worry, this'll all make sense when we leave this city."

Saying this, Isaac had no time to retort as vines had suddenly wrapped around his legs.

Unbeknownst to them, the vines had slithered through the plant life while the Brions stood at both exits, blocking their escape.

With a powerful tug, Isaac was slammed to the ground, trying his best to rip the vines off his legs but to go avail.

Quickly, the vines wrapped around his legs, crawling upwards with immense grip strength.

Isaac, witnessing the unbloomed flower draw closer and closer to his face, grabbed one of the flowers Fetoh had sliced previously.

Moving quickly, he stuffed an Aroze inside, using all his power to toss the bloating flower toward the Brion as the vines had completely trapped him.

Rolling onto the ground and barely arriving at its feet, it wasn't long until a release of gas was heard, as if a balloon had popped.

The Brion was concealed in black gas and the vines soon fell lifeless as Isaac broke free, seconds away from the Brion gaining a new friend.

'Never did I, a man, think I'd be this frightening to give birth.'

Looking toward Fetoh and seeing her dancing gracefully with her bone sword, he took it upon himself to collect the loot.

'Thank you, horrible monsters. I salute your sacrifice. I promise, your death will assure my health.'

Isaac practically rubbed his hands and giggled like a goblin as he filled his large jacket with glowing berries.

"Let's go, before we're surrounded." Isaac yelled, picking all he could and yelling out to Fetoh.

She quickly leapt toward him, and soon, they were sprinting at full speed toward their destination.

However, it wasn't long till Isaac stopped to take a break.

With this atmosphere, walking too fast would put him out of breath, let alone running at full speed.

"Are you going to tell me how you were doing that back there?" Fetoh, breathing normally as if she hadn't moved at all, looked toward Isaac, her smile returning.

"Do…what?" Isaac asked in between breaths.

"When you held your breath"

Isaac stared blankly.

"Zetsu, I mean." She clarified, to which Isaac let out an, "Ah" of understanding.

"I'll answer if you tell me how you can fight like that. And how you don't even seem as if you're out of breath." Fetoh stayed silent for a few seconds.

"I was born in this city. Since this nation prided itself on its military power, kids were taught to swing a sword before they could read."

"As for the latter, I have really good stamina." She answered, looking at Isaac as if she were expecting something.

"How were you able to survive all this time? How old are you? How were you…" Before Isaac could finish, he was cut off.

"We had a deal. Answer my question." Her smile may have seemed innocent at first, but when she commanded Isaac with the same smile, it only made her seem ominous.

"I have no idea what Zetsu is."

Fetoh stared at him blankly as he remained ignorant.

"I see. Very well."

'My breathing?'

Now that Isaac thought about it, since his first encounter with the brion in his home, and remembering the fact that he could constantly elude the Brion despite having butter feet, the only thing that all these scenarios had in common was his held breath.

He never thought much about it.

The held breath was just his way of being fully immersed in the 'zone'.

"I hope you're done resting. We're here." Isaac looked up, seeing nothing but the misty skies and tall buildings.

"How can you tell?" Without saying anything, Fetoh pointed to a small opening between the tall buildings.

At first, Isaac saw nothing. However, after a few uncomfortable expressions and heavy squinting, the silhouette of a tall structure came into view.

"It's not too far away. We can make it within an hour if we hurry." Saying this, Fetoh started to hop between the plant life, leading the way as Isaac was barely able to pick himself up.

After passing countless paths and out running a few Brions, Isaac, sweating profusely and heaving like an out of breath mule, stood before a colossal building with Fetoh beside him.

His eyes first noticed the sleek and intricate patterns on the outside of the building, recognizing them as the same patterns on his and Fetoh's clothing.

Despite the city being abandoned for some time, the building showed no sign of deterioration or ruin.

Walking toward the large tower, Fetoh placed both hands on the two large metal doors, pushing them open as dust rose into the air.

Isaac followed Fetoh in, witnessing a large open space.

Despite the outside looking clean and untouched, the same couldn't be said for the interior.

Countless debris of miscellaneous items could be seen scattered in the large room.

Recognizing some of them as chairs and small tables, Isaac was quickly able to spot the only door in the room.

The only thing that looked to be untouched was a long black and purple table that looked as if it were drilled to the ground.

The walls, floor and ceiling were all made from the same grey material as the buildings outside, only difference being the spiral on each surface varying from size, therefore, it wasn't hard to spot the double yellow door behind the purple stand.

Following Fetoh, they opened the door, walking through and entering a long corridor with countless doors along the walls, leading to smaller rooms.

Once again, the ground was filled with rubble and wreckage while some of the doors also seemed to have been ripped off its hinges.

However, while the previous room was filled with chairs and tables, this was filled with torn mattresses, corroded and blunt knives and countless intact glass vials of varying sizes.

"This way." Fetoh pointed straight ahead, grabbing Isaac's attention.

Walking through the corridor, Isaac took small looks inside the room, noticing nothing important but the same garbage as the corridor and cat sized black boxes in each room.

Soon, they came to the end of the corridor where Isaac raised his eyebrow at the sight before him.

Half a cylinder made of a material Isaac thought to be plastic, jutted out from inside the wall, extending vertically from the ground to the ceiling.

As they approached it, a small portion of the cylinder slid open horizontally, letting out a slight mechanical sound that broke the eerie silence, showing the interior to be a small circular space.

Fetoh walked in without a thought while Isaac took a second, slowly following her shortly after.

Despite not being able to see the inside from outside the cylinder, Isaac and Fetoh could clearly see the corridor they had just left.

"What now…?" Before Isaac could finish, the cylinder moved, shocking Isaac as he braced himself.

Darting his eyes to Fetoh, he witnessed her take her hands off a small lever that he somehow had missed.

Looking outside, he could see they were moving further and further from the ground till they passed the ceiling. After a second of darkness, another corridor with scattered junk came into view as they continued to move upward.

"This thing is…an elevator." He blurted out, relaxing and feeling slightly embarrassed after the realisation.

"An Elevator?" Asked Fetoh with both eyebrows raised.

"Ah, yes. That's what we call it in my nation." Replied Isaac. He didn't feel the need to hide he was from another world, however, he'd rather avoid that long and tedious, possibly even awkward conversation.

"Interesting. I take it you've never been on an…Elevator. I assume that was why you didn't recognize it, or why you were to afraid." Says Fetoh, over pronouncing the word.

"Yes, I have. More times than I can count. This Elevator is just a little different to ours. I wasn't able to realise what it was until it started to move." He replied with a chuckle.

"More times than you can count? Amazing, you must have been a high member of society to be able to have such luxurious opportunities. This is the only Elevator in this city and it's only preserved for the elderly, patients or those of high status."

'Me? High status? It's the complete opposite.' Isaac thought as he gave an awkward chuckle, soon pausing as he processed her words.

"Patients?" Looking outside the elevator, they had long started to speed up, but Isaac was still able to catch clear glimpses of the floors they were passing thanks to the faint light the elevator was giving off.

The more floor's they passed, the more the corridors became cleaner and less destroyed until the only signs of abandonment Isaac could see were misplaced items.

The mattresses were now intact, even laying on a metal bed with sheets over it. The knives were still corroded however still retained most of its originality.

It had a long handle, only the tip being sharp. As if the knife was only used for precise punctures.

Additionally, similar equipment could now be seen. Needles, small items with a handle and flat top and white bandages.

"This place is a Hospital."