Unity in the Face of the Unknown (2)

The urban landscape of downtown Portland provided the backdrop to Cody's search for the Breach. As he approached the location, his senses heightened, detecting the vast energy surrounding the portal. However, an unexpected sight greeted him—fences, barricades, and a small contingent of policemen already surrounded the site, transforming it into an impregnable fortress, or at least it might as well have been to Cody.

Surveying the scene from a distance, Cody could see that barbed wire encircled the area, and concrete barriers and privacy fencing obscured the view from the street. It was clear that this Breach was not only significant but also deemed highly hazardous.

A realization dawned on Cody, the blocked location, with its formidable barriers and law enforcement presence, wasn't just another Breach, albeit a big one—it was one of the red dots he had seen on the government map that stayed fixed throughout the presentation. A Breach that had eluded closure for months.

The gravity of the situation settled upon Cody, the significance of the red dot seeming more tangible now. {How bad is that dungeon if no one has been able to clear it?} 

After a few moments of contemplation, Cody reluctantly concluded that attempting to infiltrate the barricades would likely lead to an unnecessary, and potentially deadly confrontation, for them as likely as himself.

Turning to leave, he noticed a figure standing nearby—a fairly conspicuous man in his late thirties, with red curly hair, oversized aviators, and an obviously fake black mustache. The mysterious observer leaned casually against a parking meter, his gaze fixed on the sealed-off portal location.

A peculiar ripple in reality caught Cody's attention as he observed the man. In a moment of strange distortion, the man seemed to blur, and before Cody's eyes, he appeared 15 feet farther away. A cheeky wave in Cody's direction accompanied by a mischievous grin adorned the man's face, as if relishing in the inexplicable display.

Perplexed, Cody blinked in disbelief, his senses grappling with the sudden displacement of the mysterious observer. Before he could react or question the surreal occurrence, the man blurred once more, a transient flash of movement, and then vanished from sight, leaving behind only the echo of his playful wave.

Left standing on a downtown sidewalk, Cody mulled over the bizarre encounter. The enigmatic figure's ability to manipulate space and distance added an additional layer of intrigue to the already mysterious Breach location. The quest for understanding, it seemed, extended beyond the confines of the portals themselves. {More players all the time.}

Back in his car, Cody again faced the challenge of navigating the mental maze of Breaches as they tugged at the edges of his senses. The unsuccessful quest for the most potent portal had left him with the realization that some challenges were best tackled incrementally. Leaning back into the seat, he closed his eyes, shutting out the sites and sounds of the city and honing in on the intangible threads that connected him to the hidden realms.

He pulled at each of the threads one by one, sifting through the various Breaches that tugged at his mind. Each pull represented a different challenge, a unique mystery waiting to be unraveled. With a deep breath, he sought resonance—a connection that would guide him towards a manageable but still formidable dungeon.

The hum of the engine reverberated in Cody's small car as he steered towards the next Breach he had honed in on—that beckoned him from the unseen realms. Dishearteningly, as he reached his hand to the surface of the Breach, it resisted him. The portal was locked, and it became evident that someone else had reached it before him.

Undeterred, Cody redirected his focus to the next potential Breach on his mental map. To his dismay, the portal was not only taped off, but guarded by several vigilant figures armed with machine guns and clad in kevlar. The government or some private entity seemed to have secured this particular gateway. Cody thought it best to avoid an altercation, {There are more Breaches out there.} 

Persistence guided Cody's search, and after a string of disappointments, he finally discovered a Breach that stood alone, tucked away behind a truck stop in Troutdale. The solitary portal, away from the prying eyes and armed guards, seemed to invite exploration. {Finding the Breach was almost a quest unto itself.}

As he stood before the unseen threshold, the ambient sounds of the truck stop and the distant hum of passing vehicles faded into the background. The time had come for Cody to step once more into the enigmatic realms.

Pressing himself through the black surface of the Breach, Cody found himself surrounded by a densely wooded forest. Towering pine trees loomed overhead, their branches interlocking to create a canopy that filtered the sunlight, casting a dappled pattern on the forest floor. A thick layer of pine needles covered the ground, deadening the sound of his footsteps as he carefully navigated through the wilderness.

Just as Cody took in the serene surroundings and adjusted his pack, a subtle warning reached his ears—a soft rustling of leaves, a barely perceptible disturbance in the natural rhythm of the forest. Instinctively, Cody's senses heightened, he dropped to a crouched position and began to circled to the side, a fraction of a second before an arrow whistled through the air, slicing towards him with deadly precision.

The peaceful forest now crackled with tension. Cody took cover behind the sturdy trunk of a pine tree, his eyes scanning the forest for any signs of the unseen assailant. The scent of pine resin hung in the air, blending with the adrenaline coursing through Cody's veins.

Another rustle of leaves, distant but distinct, signaled the potential for further danger. Cody's heightened senses guided him as he searched among the thick trunks, acutely aware that the woodland had become a labyrinth of hidden threats.

The forest, initially serene, had revealed itself to be like other Breaches: a realm of uncertainty and danger. Cody silently waited, prepared to confront the unseen archer, his every instinct straining at the unknown and perilous wilderness.

The forest echoed with the twang of a bowstring as another arrow sliced through the air. This time, it lodged itself into the tree that Cody had taken cover behind, a near miss that heightened the urgency of the situation. Before Cody could make a decision on his next course of action, a figure dressed in brown leathers burst forth from a bush approximately 30 feet away, roughly man-sized, and started sprinting away with determined speed.

Cody reacted, calculating the trajectory of the fleeing figure. Anticipating that the distance might be too far for him to try and force gravity to weigh down on the would-be-assassin, he quickly crouched down and launched himself forward. With a controlled effort, Cody applied his gravity manipulation to himself, lessening the gravitational pull on his body.

As the forest floor seemed to lose its grip on him, Cody hurtled forward. Using trees as springboards and utilizing the altered gravity to propel himself forward, he closed the gap between him and the fleeing figure. The silent dance between gravity and momentum played out in the woodland, with Cody navigating the terrain with a fluid grace. The smoothness of his flight reminded him again of the desert spires, of the amulet. 

Seeing that he was closing in, Cody increased the gravitational force on himself, causing his body to crash down from above onto the fleeing figure. The impact echoed with a hollow thud, pine needles spraying into the air, cratering like a comet hitting the earth. Cody felt the bones of his unknown assailant to snap under the force, and it lay unmoving amidst the aftermath of the collision.

Cody, with a mix of caution and curiosity, rolled the fallen figure over to inspect it. The revelation was startling—it was not human, but an orc. Small tusks protruded from the orc's lower jaw, its skin tinted in a shade of green. The figure, though stocky and about the same size as a human, bore the distinct features of a creature from a fantastical realm.

Standing over the fallen orc, Cody pondered his next steps. His instincts told him that the orc likely had companions in the direction it had been fleeing. Cody surveyed the defeated orc, noting the quality of its clothing—furs and leather that seemed better made than what he had seen on other creatures within the Breaches. The crude yet competent craftsmanship of its bow and arrows hinted at a level of skill that elevated this adversary beyond the usual challenges he had encountered. The realization struck him that he might be facing more formidable foes in his journey.

As he pondered the potential difficulties ahead, Cody's thoughts fell upon the miniature skull with ruby eyes resting in a box within his pack. The ominous artifact held an air of mystery and power, and he considered the possibility of utilizing its abilities. The competence of the orc suggested that relying on additional strengths might become a necessity in the face of increasingly capable adversaries.

Drawing the small box from his pack, Cody carefully opened it to reveal the ominous miniature skull. Its ruby eyes seemed dark and foreboding, granting a macabre vibe on the surrounding forest. As he inspected the artifact, a sense of latent power emanated from it, a subtle energy that resonated with the mysteries of the Breaches.

As Cody cradled the miniature skull in his hands, a subtle vibration coursed through his fingers, creating an almost electric sensation. He couldn't help but feel a strange desire, an instinct compelling him to bring the skull closer to the lifeless body of the defeated orc. As the skull drew near, an ephemeral glow emanated from its ruby eyes, casting an otherworldly light on the scene.

In that moment, Cody sensed an unusual surge of energy within the skull, as if it had absorbed something from the orc's remains. The glow in its eyes dimmed after a brief moment, leaving Cody with an uncanny realization—the skull seemed to hold more power now than it did before.

Perplexed and slightly disappointed, Cody couldn't shake the feeling that the skull acted like some kind of mystical battery, absorbing or channeling energies from the defeated creatures. While he remained uncertain about the specifics of its abilities, the metaphor of a battery bank lingered in his mind. The skull, with its ruby eyes now dimmed, left Cody contemplating the mysterious reservoir of power it held within. 

With a slight frown lingering on his face, Cody carefully packed the skull back into his backpack. The mysterious artifact's display of power left him pondering its nature, but he knew this wasn't the time for study. Slipping the quiver of arrows from around the orc's shoulder and picking up its fallen bow, Cody continued deeper into the forest, following the direction the orc had been fleeing.