PreCursive

  Our little group of four rec drunks stumbled down the darkereets of Hollow Hill, lit only by disc-based mps. It must have been nearly midnight by now, and we really should be heading back to the tower, but I couldn’t help myself.

  Earlier, one of the locals that I’d met iavern had been telling me about a local legend involving Hollow Hill, iween rounds of drunken singing. Apparently, there was a reason Hollow Hill was called, well, Hollow Hill.

  It was because the hill the town was built on was hollow.

  Who knew?

  Anyway, apparently turies ago, settlers into the region had nearly passed up this location altogether. However, they had found something at the base of one of the local hills.

  A rge, metallic door set into the base of it.

  The settlers had made numerous attempts at opening it, to no avail. Still curious, the settlers had tried to dig around the door, only to be astonished when they discovered a tinuous wall of metal extending into the dirt. Subsequent digs into the top of the hill had discovered that the walls of metal pletely surrounded some kind of structure underground. That had pretty much made up the mind of those old settlers to build their new unity right there on that hill.

  Thus, Hollow Hill was born. And then a few decades after that, a man named Grey would be born there.

  I’d been intensely curious about this door once I’d heard about it, even through my inebriation. I’d made a scious effort to stop drinking at that point, a my tavern food dinner soak up the alcohol in my bloodstream. That was going…more or less okay. I’d only nearly tripped and fallen face-first into the cobblestoreet three times now.

  Either way, I’d decided I wao see this door before I left Hollow Hill tomorrow and had vihe locals to lead Azarus and I to it. Azarus was the dru of roup of four by far, while the rest of us were starting to sober up a little. The door was situated around the back of the town these days, but the trip to it wasn’t that long.

  In the meanwhile one of the locals, CJ, was telling me more about the door.

  “Ol’ Grey is mad about that door,” He told me, slurring only a little. “He’s tried to get through it fer years. Even with as strong as he is, he couldn’t get in. Every on awhile, he es up with some new idea on how to get through. Last time was when I was a d, and the town made a big old festival out of it. I still remember the fsh of light from whatever it is he did. But I remember the cakes from back then more, eh, Rudy?” CJ said, elbowing the other local in the ribs.

  Rudy ughed and nodded. “Good times, good times.” He said wistfully.

  Azarus ughed too, still blitzed out of his mind. I don’t think he even knew what was going ht now.

  Huh. I uood why Grey had never brought it up with how busy we’d been. I’d ask him about it ter.

  I was knocked out of my thoughts when udged me in the ribs as well. “We’re here,” He said to me, grinning. Looking up, I id my eyes on this mysterious door for the first time.

  It was a bit…underwhelming.

  Set into the wall of the hill was a rge circur door, maybe te i. I assumed it was a door anyway, because whatever it was, it was covered in moss and vines. It was pletely obscured from sight. There was a small cobblestone walkway that led up to it, and some local-looking stonework that seemed like it had been added ter surrounding the entryway.

  Turning to CJ, I raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged back at me. “Eh, we don’t get too many outsiders that are ied. I’ll just clear it out and ya get a better look.” He raised a palm to point at the door, clearing about to use some kind of skill or spell or something. He was stopped by Rudy, though, whe a hand on his outstretched arm.

  “Let the new guy try, eh?” He said grinning. He turo me. “Go on then, give it a try. See if you get through the door where yer master couldn’t.” He ughed.

  I rolled my eyes, but stepped up anyway. CJ stepped back with a grin, waving me forward. Whatever, if Grey couldn’t get through this door, I had no doubt I’d fail too. But I at least thought I could clear away the vines with my new skill. Raising my hand, I pointed a finger gun at the rown ‘door’. “Bang,” I said zily.

  Poisonthorn Shot.

  I shot several thorns at different points on the door so the poison could do its work. The thorns burrowed through the moss and vines, but I heard the audible k wheopped on somethial beh. They did their job though, as the poison began to rapidly spread and rot away the growth. Eventually, a rge se of this mysterious door became visible.

  I stepped up to get a better look, the rest of the group following close behihere were no street mps close by to see, but Rudy raised a hand and called up a ball of light. Giving him a nod of thanks, I leaned in to get a better look.

  I uzzled by what I saw.

  This…didn’t look like it belonged in magical fantasy nd….

  I know it was a little thing, but the mysterious door that the locals had been telling me about? Well, it looked more like a vault door from bae. Huge and thick, it looked like it had been structed of multiple pieces and then fitted together. But the seems from iween the parts were so faint that I had to get my eye right up to them to see. I stepped back, unnerved. I don’t think there was a bcksmith alive that could smith so fine on such a scale. I don’t even know if I could, with Aetherial Melding.

  This door looked like it had been maed in a factory.

  Stepping closer to it, I id my hand on it try a a feel for the metal. I was curious to see if it was mae-smooth as well.

  I don’t think anyone was expeg what happened .

  The door lit up at my touch.

  From the point of tay hand, veins of rainbow-colored Aether began to snake away in a web. Slowly crawling along the surfatil they reached the edges of the door uhree astonished gazes and one drunkehere, they encircled it until the entire huge door was lit up. I stumbled back from the door. “Wh-”

  I didn’t eve a ce to finish my word before I, and my entire group were blown off our feet by a huge explosion of noise and air that emanated from the door. Scrambling to sit back up from my position a few feet away from the door, I watched in amazement as the dan to fold away iions from the ter in a definitely meical way. It was like watg a bloom in advance.

  At the same time, I had to brace myself by clutg uselessly at the grass as air began to rush into now open door. All four of us slid several feet forward, but not quite inside. Whehing was over, all four of us simply sat on the ground uselessly for a moment, stunned.

  Surprisingly, it was the drunken figure of Azarus that stood up first. With a surprising expression of tration on his broad features, he must have activated a skill. Azarus’s skin began to redden slight, and then his skin started to steam. A few moments ter, he shook his head like a dog and turo our two local guides. “You two,” He said in a anding, pletely sober tone of voice. “Go to the tower ahe guards that Azarus Savoy and Nathan Hart he Headmaster down here, immediately. I don’t think I o ya why, do I?”

  Shaking, d Rudy got to their feet. “N-no, milord,” Rudy stuttered. “Right away, milord. Carl.” CJ, apparently named Carl, nodded in a jittery manner. Both of them turned around and raced off ba the dire of town and the tower, eager to put distaween them and yawning dark portal behind them.

  Meanwhile, Azarus turned back around and offered a hand to me on the ground. I took it and stumbled to my feet. “What the hells did ya do this time, Nate?” Azarus said to me, exasperated. “I was enjoyin’ my buzz, and didn’t want to burn it off like that.”

  Shaking my shock off, I shot my dwarven friend a wounded look. “Man, I didn’t do shit. All I did was touch it,” I paused for a moment, furrowing my brow. “All I did was touch it, so it must be something about me that caused it to open…” I exged a gh Azarus.

  “And the only thing that’s really special about ye…,” Azarus said slowly.

  “Is the fact that I’m a Precursor.” I finished for him. We stood in silence for a moment, abs that. I gnced over my shoulder at the pitch-bck opening. “Huh.”

  Azarus shook his head. “No wrey couldn’t open the damn thing then.”

  I turned back around and raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, you were paying attention, were you? Holy thought you were too drunk for that.”

  “Too drunk?” Azarus scoffed. “Ya haven’t even seen me really drunk. That was just a light buzz.”

  I shook my own head at him. “Whatever man. Anyway, what’s the pn? Do you really want to wait around frey to see what this is about?”

  Azarus gave me a startled look at that. “Hells no. This thing opened for you. Let's go. I’ll light the way. That farmboy ain’t the only ohat make a bit of light.” He said, holding up a hand. Over his open palm, a sphere of tightly trolled roiling fme appeared, like a star writ small.

  I smirked at him. “You know, I was hoping you’d say that.” Turning around and stepping back to stand shoulder to slightly lower shoulder, I couldn’t help a sense of anticipation rising up within me.

  Now this was something that I wao be doing in magical fantasy nd.

  Expl strange dungeons.

  Stepping forward with my friend, we ehe pitch bck, mysterious doorway.

  ……………………………………..

  I don’t know what I was expeg inside, but it wasn’t this.

  This didn’t look like some kind of fantasy duo my eyes. No, it looked like the opposite.

  Uhe flickering e light of Azarus’s fire, it looked like I had stepped into the middle of some kind of futuristic ruin.

  Gazing around in fusion, I couldn’t help a chill from running up and down my back. God, this pce almost seemed familiar to me, for some reason. I’d never seen anything like it before in my life, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense nition.

  I think it was because the design sensibilities were snizable to me. This pce reminded me of a hospital from bae. Only…

  A few turies. No, a few millennia more advanced.

  It was clearly ruined from some kind of battle.

  It was mostly what should be a sterile white in the hallway we had entered into, but it was marred by rubble and streaks of bck soot. Not only that, though.

  I saw plenty of streaks and patches of a gruesome red-brown around us.

  Clearly long-dried blood…

  There were no bodies, however. Not even the slightest indication of one.

  Shattered gss and maery that I couldn’t parse y everywhere along the ruined walkway. Every on a while, I could see a yawning open doorway oher side of the long hall we had entered into. Most of the time, they were blocked by rubble and we couldn’t even see inside of them.

  Azarus and I were silent as we slowly navigated the ruins of this pce. I think most of our enthusiasm had been drained as we took in our surroundings. This wasn’t a pyone should be happy to be inside.

  This…was a tomb.