RED SKY IN THE REALMGATE
The sand was warm beneath their feet as the realmgate deposited them onto the secluded beach.
Tall, muscular Sparrow, ever stoic, scanned the horizon. Tiny, athletic Canary, her usual cheer tempered with anticipation, bounced on her feet. Beside her, Caith, all fiery red hair and boundless energy, took in the scene with wide, excited eyes.
A mechanical voice, cold and impersonal, suddenly echoed in their minds, declaring their mission: 'Collect wealth and treasures in this realm. Reminder, the Realmgate closes in 91 days. Prepare yourselves.'
Sparrow, already familiar with the briefing, remained unfazed.
Canary, though, couldn't help but grin in excitement. "Ninety-one days... that's exactly like our info, Birdbro. The secret mission for gaining fame or notoriety should not be wrong, right?"
"Let's see," Sparrow replied briefly. His right, dark-green eye had already activated its {Eye of Wisdom}. He focused on the realmgate itself, the surrounding environment, even the very air around them. His expression remained unchanged but a mental map was forming in his mind.
"As expected, there's more." he stated, his voice a low rumble.
Caith, who had been twirling a strand of her dark-red hair, paused. "More what, Big Spark?"
"More missions." Sparrow replied, turning towards them. "The info we gained only mentions two: 'Collect Wealth and Treasures' and 'Gain Fame or Notoriety'. But there are four more. 'Discover the Uncharted Island', 'Investigate the Ruin of the Merfolks', 'Explore the Sunken Rune City', and 'Release the Sealed Sea Goddess'."
He paused, his gaze intense. "The last two are unique. Ones that will disappear once completed."
Caith's eyebrows shot up. "Woah! Six quests? How'd you know that, Big Spark? You got some kinda super-spy thing going on?"
Canary giggled, nudging Caith playfully. "Birdbro has the {Eye of Wisdom}, Red Sis. He can see things other people can't understand. He can know…" she paused, trying to find the right words, "...the information locked inside things."
"Locked information? Oh my! Can you see how my heart is burning in passion because of you, Big Spark Darling?" Caith asked in mock flirt, her amber eyes gleaming with curiosity.
Sparrow grinned and looked at Caith. "You are the one asking, Dear Syrup."
Caith, never one to shy away from attention, struck a dramatic pose. "Be my guest, Big Spark Darling! See what secrets this Red Sky is hiding!"
Sparrow looked at Caith, his {Eye of Wisdom} activated. The information flooded his mind, presented in an almost clinical format:
Name: Caith Aurora Rhymer
Codename: Red Sky
Team: Twilight Memory
Age: 17
Class: Mystery Dancer [7 of Diamonds]
Talent: Blessed Luck, (Unawakened) Misfortune Avoidance
Boon: Daughter of Fortune
...
He blinked, processing the information, especially the last two lines, and sighed afterward. "Another cheater..." he murmured, mostly to himself.
"How is it?" Caith asked, her usual confidence now laced with a hint of uncertainty.
"You are infuriatingly lucky," Sparrow replied, a clear note of envy in her voice. "With 'Blessed Luck' and 'Misfortune Avoidance' as your potential talents, plus 'Daughter of Fortune' as your boon... you're practically a walking, talking super lucky protagonist archetype."
"Huh? 'Misfortune Avoidance'?" Caith raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. "I only have 'Blessed Luck' as a mystery talent. And what's a boon, anyway?"
"Your second talent, 'Misfortune Avoidance,' is still dormant," Sparrow clarified. "And a mystery boon is like a unique blessing, granted to only a few. Yours is 'Daughter of Fortune,' which amplifies your already impressive luck, especially for things related to numerical probability."
"Ow! You got all that from your 'Eye of Wisdom'? That sounds ridiculously useful. How about this warm feeling in my heart, Darling? Can you see that?" Caith was back to her usual playful self, teasing Sparrow with a mock-flirtatious tone.
"Mine's even warmer. Perhaps you'd like to experience it, Sweet Syrup?" Unwilling to concede, Sparrow volleyed the teasing right back.
Canary, ever the pragmatist, clapped her hands together, breaking the tension. "Alright, lovebirds, enough! We need to figure out where we are and what we need to do."
She looked around the empty beach, her expression thoughtful. "According to the info, this should be Dawnlight Island. Right, Birdbro?"
"Yeah," Sparrow replied with confidence. Picturing the map in his mind, he further briefed the girls. "East should be a relatively safe grassland that could get us to a big port town. West is craggy hills with extremely dangerous, gigantic Devilgulls. North is a large forest with dangerous beasts, but not as terrifying as the west side. And northwest is a treasure cave guarded by undead pirates!"
Caith gasped, her eyes widening with excitement. "Undead pirates! Treasures! This is gonna be awesome!"
Sparrow, however, was already heading north. "We're going north." he stated, his back to the two girls.
"North?" Canary squeaked, her voice laced with concern. "But Birdbro, didn't we plan to head to the treasure cave first?"
"The plan had changed the moment Syrup joined us, Tweety." Sparrow explained. "She needs to level up. The forest will be dangerous, yes, but with the two of us, it should be manageable. We'll carry her to gain more experience. The treasure cave can wait."
"Level up? You mean like in a video game?" Caith asked, her confusion evident.
"Sunwitch didn't even tell you about this?" Sparrow groaned. "When you defeat a vicious surreal creature, you can use the red stones it drops to improve your mystery class."
"Really?"
"You don't know? Now, I'm starting to worry about your team-mates." Sparrow rubbed his temple.
Caith chuckled, didn't seem to worry at all. "They have Sister Golden Lake. They will be fine."
Canary also chuckled. "You know, Birdbro. At least now we know... not to trust Sunwitch to be a mentor. Ever."
"Yeah. That's one more tick of 'not to' for her," Sparrow grumbled. "In addition to not to let her drive."
As they bantered, the three continued to walk to the north, towards the imposing forest.
...
As they entered the shadowy depths of the forest, the air grew cool and damp. Strange sounds echoed around them: the rustling of unseen creatures, the caw of distant birds, and the unsettling creaks of ancient trees. The very air felt alive, buzzing with an unseen energy.
Sparrow halted, every sense screaming a warning. The air itself thrummed with a tangible sense of danger. "Stay close, Syrup," he ordered, his voice tight. "Tweety! Summon your sprites. Get ready with the soultool guns."
Suddenly, twin beacons of malevolent red light pierced the darkness ahead. A guttural growl, primal and threatening, echoed through the trees, punctuated by the sharp crack of broken twigs and the rustling churn of leaves.
A creature clawed its way out of the shadows. It was canine, undeniably a dog, but twisted into a nightmare. Its fur was a repulsive, sickly green, its eyes blazed with infernal red fire, and its fangs were impossibly long, like those of a sabretooth tiger.
This was no natural animal; it was a Vicious Red, a surreal abomination warped by the magic of the realmgate.
"A weak Vicious Red right away? Lucky us!" Canary exclaimed, her usual upbeat tone amplified by excitement.
Her sprites, Holy and Echo, materialized beside her in shimmering flashes. Her right hand gripped her brother's soultool card, Dual Arcane Handguns, ready to unleash its power.
Caith, however, trembled, his bravado momentarily shattered. "Big Spark, I really don't like the look of that thing…"
Sparrow stepped forward, adopting his practiced fighting stance. A pair of Power Gauntlets solidified around his hands, ready to deliver devastating blows. "Stay behind me, Syrup. Tweety, be ready to finish it!"
The surreal dog lunged, a blur of green fur and snapping teeth. Sparrow moved with blinding speed, intercepting the savage attack head-on. He launched a powerful hook, aiming to shatter the beast's skull.
His fist connected with jarring force, meeting the unexpected resistance of magically enhanced flesh and bone, but still managing to wrench the dog's head sideways with a sickening thud, eliciting a pained hiss from the creature.
The Vicious Red snarled, its eyes burning with furious, animalistic rage, and attempted to retaliate with another snapping bite.
But Sparrow anticipated the move. He evaded the attack with practiced ease and retaliated with a brutal uppercut, launching the dog's head upwards with another bone-jarring impact.
In that same instant, a bolt of arcane energy, fired from Canary's Dual Arcane Handguns, pierced the creature's under-chin, blasting a hole straight through to its brain.
The dog let out a strangled, agonizing whimper – its final breath – before collapsing lifelessly to the forest floor, the fiery light fading from its demonic eyes.
Sparrow turned to face Caith and Canary, his expression unreadable. "That was just the beginning," he stated, his voice low and serious. "This forest is crawling with creatures like that. We need to be prepared for anything."
Canary, already retracting the Dual Arcane Handguns back into their card form, chirped, "Isn't this fantastic? If we run into Vicious Reds this often, Red Sis will be maxed out in no time! Right, Red Sis?"
Caith, still visibly shaken by the brutal encounter, forced a weak smile. "Yeah… I guess I'd better get used to this."
Sparrow nodded and turned to the Vicious Red's corpse and started looting the red surreal stones that appeared once the creature reverted back to its original canine form.
---ooo---ooo---ooo---
Five days bled into one another, a relentless cycle of survival and growth within the verdant, dangerous embrace of Dawnlight Island's forest.
The air remained thick with humidity, the ever-present sounds of the jungle a constant reminder of their precarious position. But within that chaos, a change was brewing.
After consuming the last surreal stone, Caith Rhymer, the pop star who'd surprised them all with her grit, had reached the apex of her current stage. Constant battles, adrenaline-fueled escapes, nights spent in constant vigilance against the unknown... had all culminated in reaching the pinnacle of her Copper class, level 10.
Breaking into Silver class required a specific ritual unavailable within the realmgate, forcing her to wait until they escaped.
But reaching the maximum level of her current stage yielded more than just experience and status…
A soft, golden light enveloped her as the surge of newfound power coursed through her veins. Caith had awakened her dormant talent: {Misfortune Avoidance}.
Caith, always a playful soul, let out a theatrical, villainous laugh. "Now that I've awakened my talent, no one can stop me! Muahaha…!"
"What a cheat!" Sparrow grumbled after he used his [Greater Appraisal] to observe her.
"What do you mean, Birbro?" Canary immediately asked.
"If {Blessed Luck} made her sensitive to good opportunities," he explained to Canary in envious voice, "{Misfortune Avoidance} is the opposite. She'll be able to sense danger-filled, disastrous choices... lessen the bad luck."
Canary clapped her hands together in excitement. "That's so cool, Red Sis! You're like our good luck charm. You're amazing."
Caith, still basking in her playful villain persona, beamed. The last five days had been terrifying, exhilarating, and ultimately, transformative. She had discovered a resilience she never knew she possessed.
However...
While Caith had catapulted to new heights, Sparrow and Canary remained at level seven of their respective Silver classes. Their focus had been on protecting Caith, ensuring her survival long enough to unlock her potential. They hadn't had the luxury of focusing on their own growth.
Their gains weren't solely in experience points, however. They had scavenged and crafted, turning the raw materials of the forest into tools for survival.
Three sets of makeshift leather protective gear, crudely sewn but offering a modicum of defense, now adorned them.
For weapons, Caith carried and wielded a collection of short, sharpened bamboo spears. Canary, ever resourceful, supplemented her brother's soultool card, the Dual Arcane Handguns, with a sling and a stash of smooth, round rocks for ammunition.
Sparrow was pleased with his three sets of soultool cards, the Power Gauntlets. Even without elemental shards, they were very helpful in combat. However, he remained dissatisfied with their other tools, especially the bone knives.
He inwardly cursed his lack of preparation. The makeshift bone knives they'd created were simply inadequate. They were dull, prone to breaking, and about as useful as a butter knife in a dragon fight.
He vowed that the moment they escaped this realmgate, he would craft a perfect utility knife as a soultool card: an object designed for versatility and durability, and most importantly, capable of being taken into realmgates.
"Let's take a break over there, Birdbro!" Canary pointed to a spot near the river, beneath a large banyan tree.
The three realmgate divers moved to the designated spot and settled down on the tree's massive roots. As they rested, Sparrow's mind replayed each encounter, the memories solidifying into strategic lessons for the future.
The first few days had been a trial by fire. After the first Surreal Wild Dog they defeated, they encountered three other Surreal Wild Dogs. They'd been caught off guard, but Sparrow's raw strength and Canary's bulls-eye accuracy with her Dual Arcane Handguns had secured the win.
Caith, despite her initial fear, had bravely distracted them with the bamboo spears, buying Sparrow the time he needed to land the killing blows.
Next came the pack of Surreal Wolves. The wolves were smarter and more coordinated than the dogs. Fortunately, the environment helped them. Sparrow used a bottleneck in a narrow ravine, forcing the wolves into a choke point to attack him only from the front.
Canary, who somehow wanted to train with her sling, softened them up with volleys of stones from a distance. Caith, meanwhile utilizing her newfound courage, grace and agility, stabbed in and out from behind Sparrow, harassing the pack and distracting their attention. Sparrow finished them off one by one, his blows echoing through the ravine.
Then, the pair of Surreal Giant Toads near a small pond. These amphibians were enormous, their skin glistening with toxic slime. Sparrow, recognizing the danger of direct contact, instructed Canary to use her Arcane Handguns.
Canary's super accurate shots proved surprisingly effective, blinding one toad and allowing Sparrow to bash its skull with a huge and heavy rock throw.
Caith, meanwhile, used her contortionist skills and fast reflexes to evade the other toad's clumsy tongue attacks, leading it on a frantic roundabout chase until Canary finally landed a shot that pierced its brain.
One of the most harrowing encounters was with the Surreal Man-Eating Plant. It was a monstrous thing, its vines thick as pythons, its jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth. It ambushed them, its python-thick vines ensnaring them, but Sparrow, with a surge of brute strength, snapped the vines and they fled. The rooted plant was unable to pursue them.
Knowing they needed to defeat it, Sparrow employed his survival techniques to craft fire and makeshift torches. They returned to the plant location, and from a safe distance, Sparrow and Caith hurled the flaming torches at the plant. Canary used her soultool card, Arcane Handgun, synthesized with another card, the Explosive Magazine, to intensify the flame. The intense heat forced it to recoil and wither until it was burnt to ashes.
The twelve Surreal Titan Ants were a different beast. They were of the size of a cat, but they were very strong, quick, and vicious. Worse yet, they led countless numbers of normal soldier ants.
Sparrow realized that they were too numerous to fight head-on. Therefore, they used their knowledge of the forest to their advantage, leading the ants into a swampy area.
As the heavy ants became bogged down in the mud, unable to move as quickly, Canary picked them off with well-aimed shots, while Sparrow threw away those that got too close. Caith provided reconnaissance, warning them of approaching ants and guiding them through the treacherous terrain.
Once all the twelve Surreal Titan Ants died, the other ants scattered straight away.
Their next opponent, the Surreal Zombie Troll was a brute of a monster, its flesh rotting and its eyes vacant. It was slow, but incredibly strong and resistant to pain.
Sparrow had to use every ounce of his strength and skill to wear it down. He relied on hit-and-run tactics, dodging its clumsy swings and hammering at its joints. Canary peppered it with rocks, trying to distract it.
The turning point was when Caith, using a bamboo spear as a makeshift lever, managed to jam the backside of the troll's knee, crippling it long enough for Sparrow to deliver the final, devastating blow that shattered the troll's head.
Lastly, the four Surreal Corrupted Lizardmen presented a tactical challenge. They were vicious, cunning, and armed with crude but effective spears. Sparrow knew this because he observed as the lizardmen defeated a small herd of powerful looking oxen.
Realizing that they couldn't afford a straight-up fight, Sparrow planned a simple ambush. They split up, with Sparrow taking the high ground in a tree. Caith lured the lizardmen into his location.
When the lizardmen passed beneath him, he dropped from the tree, landing on one and crushing it with his weight. Canary sniped another one with a shot that pierced its head. And Caith returned to provide assistance. With two enemies taken out quickly, the next battle was not that hard, ending with all four lizardmen lying dead on the forest floor.
In each encounter, their roles solidified. Sparrow was the brute force, the unrelenting wall of muscle and bone. Canary was the marksman, the silent killer with unwavering accuracy. And Caith, the Red Sky of the Twilight Memory, well... she was the nimble bait and the unexpected support.