There was elegance present; if you looked at the parts that hadn't been desecrated. From the outside, the place looked pretty close to Cici's memory. Some of the exceptions being the scattered bits of rock that used to be a part of the life-like stone mosaic.

There was an animal or two missing a random limb but otherwise flawless. An assortment of furniture pieces, mostly intact, were spread out over the space. More could be seen back into the not-so-well-lit area; they'd have to step inside to see the rest. The floor looked like it had fancy tapestries across the floor ranging in style and complexity. Where no elegant rug appeared, the ground was carved cobblestone.

"What are you doing?" Kopius protested, stopping Cici from going from their current dirt path to the cobblestone.

"I'm going to make camp," Cici answered, a bit confused. "Cook this meat." He patted his crotch.

"What about the rock golem, or angry mountain god?" Kopius pointed out.

"It's a spirit," Cici corrected.

Kopius shook his head and gave Cici some mean girl stare.

"It's not mad at us, lad," the big man said with a shrug as if that cleared up any confusion.

"So," Kopius began, his arm still extended like a mom's while she's slamming the brakes. "When we step on the stone floor, that's not going to notify the spirit we've arrived or something?"

"Not by my knowledge," Cici responded by shooing away Kopius's arm and entering the cave. "I just figure as long as you don't break anything you won't catch it's ire."

With a sigh Kopius followed Cici. That was a thin piece of figuring, especially given the wrath that would ensue if the big man were wrong. Granted Cici had been this way twice before, Kopius still felt like throwing large stones across the floor to activate any hidden traps or dangers. Traps would have made him feel better rather than some vague understanding of a mountain spirit's triggers.

Cici retrieved an unlit torch he had kept from their walk through Kickshaw, blew it a fiery kiss and held it high. Though the place still had enough ambient light that Kopius Night Vision remained off, when the fire light hit the space the area danced with its flames.

The inner sanctum of the original cave was tall, grand, and captivating. Had Michelangelo carved the Sistine Chapel instead of painting it, one could understand the expressiveness of it all.

The ceiling, more than twenty feet above, was sky at dawn. Birds and clouds and moons dotted all about. The walls were forest and waterfalls, all situated around an elaborate hut that had a teapot at the ready. A stone fire warms the stone pot, with a tea set placed to the side.

Looking across the space Kopius saw the making of an elegant bedroom. There were wardrobes, a beautician station and washing bin. He saw a daybed next to a half open window, countless clothes thrown about the floor and a bookshelf stuffed full. All of it carved out of the mountain.

As he took in all these things and many more the flames of the torch cast shadows every which way; an annoying and distracting detail. Cici dipped behind a corner and a moment later the torch light went out. Now that they were deeper in the cave his Night Vision activated only for him to shut it off. A smooth beam of stone that arced across the ceiling had lit up. It had an inner glow like one of those novelty sandstone lamps your more questionable Aunt gifted you once.

Faint at first, the light grew to the intensity of a 100w light bulb and held. Cici returned from around the corner with a wide grin on his face and minus a torch. Now that someone had turned the lights on, no longer having to see the flames twerk all over the place, Kopius saw the place for what it was: an homage to a loved one; a shrine to honor the heart and placate a spirit.

In the middle of the grandeur was the half standing, half crumpled remains of the statue of her. The whole reason any of this existed lay in desecrated pieces strewn across the ground in chunks and bits. Kopius approached the statute, careful not to disturb anything on the ground. He was apprehensive as to what the mountain spirit might consider disrespect, so he watched his step.

Cut from roughly the crook of her neck diagonally down to the opposite hip, what remained of the sculpture was the bottom half of an elegant dress and an outstretched hand. In the hand was a skillfully carved dragonfly type insect, at least Metems' version of one. The attention to detail, especially on the central piece, was beyond remarkable.

On the floor, not too far away, was a chunk of broken stone that Kopius assumed was the other half of the statue. The torso was cracked in half with much of its detail ruined. The arm had shattered off and the head was missing.

Probably rolled off somewhere, Kopius guessed.

He continued to wander within the cave, checking its nooks and crannies, until he finally came to the Hall of Dashwrath. Like peering down an abandoned subway tunnel, the Hall was only visible for a short distance. The light inside the cave did not extend down the Hall, at least, they had not illuminated the Hall yet.

According to Cici, the distance through the mountain–the length of the Hall–was almost a half a day's walk. The curved ceiling reached about thirty feet in height and twenty feet side-to-side. Lined on both sides were ten-foot statues of animals and other oddities; duplicates facing each other. Between them was a level stone floor racing straight off into the darkness.

From their point of view, they could only make out three sets of statues before the rest was lost in the black. The first statue resembled a bear standing on its hind legs with a large beaver-like tail aiding its erectness. The second set looked like horses rearing back, while the third Kopius had issues depicting. It reminded him of that really fucked kids movie from the 80's where the child has to yell out his dead mothers name to save a dying world–you know the one… so does my therapist.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Anyhow, Kopius was pretty sure he did not have the proper moral standards to pass through this Hall of Sphinx-like Gates. To set the record straight, he stepped up and waved a quick hand in front of the nearest bear. Nothing happened. He juked the statue and was not smote. For good measure, he ran to the horse's and then back.

"You alright, lad?"

"Just checking for traps." Kopius stated.

"I've told you I have been through here, yeah?"

"You have," he admitted. "I have trust issues; I know I've told you that."

Cici shook his head with a laugh and made his way back to the original cave. Kopius followed shortly after, they both kept their distance from the central statue in order to return outside. To the left after exiting the wide mouthed cave they found the long dormant remains of a fire pit. It settled underneath a shelf of rock, probably carved out, to stay dry on rainy days. There were a few meager pieces of wood left behind that Cici placed in the pit now and added some of his own. The two set up camp per usual but opted to light a fire closer to nightfall.

With a few hours of daylight to kill the meandering began. Kopius reinspected the inner cave and Hall before his musings brought him outside. There he walked the perimeter of the small, secluded valley. It was a short walk, like strolling the mile in middle school except nobody was yelling at him here; or lightning fireworks behind the track and field shed: Jake.

Once he had filled all of his procrastination buckets, even throwing rocks in random directions, he settled in on a task. His Drills needed to be completed by the next day and Kopius had been dragging his feet on the issue. He pulled up the Drill on his interface, saw he still had to perform the move twenty-nine more times correctly, and sighed. Arming himself with his long sword, he began.

Cici eventually joined out of boredom, which helped to give Kopius a visual; thus, completing the Drill sooner. His sword moved around in a stiff, jerking fashion at first but by the time he reached twenty he was moving with the fluidity of a salsa dancer. Once the number of correct forms hit thirty, a little familiar bell went off and Kopius closed his interface. He located his water skin and took a chug.

"Nice bit of exercise," Cici remarked, taking a sip of his own refreshment.

"It's been a while," Kopius huffed, beads of sweat racing down his face.

He had never experienced exercise like this and his body was letting him know. It could also be that his body hadn't experienced exercise in quite some time so it was debatable; though probably synergistic. Regardless of the why Kopius was happy that it was behind him now. Having one less thing to do was always rewarding. One less item dangling over his head.

"You were looking steady at the end there, lad," Cici complimented. "Steady but loose; they make a great pair."

"Thanks, man," Kopius raised his waterskin in a mock toast. "I'll take that off my 'to do' list."

"You completed it from both sides, eh?"

"No," Kopius answered, with the tiniest of 'did I leave the oven on' cringes. "I got a ding though like every other time I completed one."

"Did you get any notifications for it?" Cici asked.

"No," Kopius mumbled.

Cici nodded in understanding.

Kopius shook his head subtly.

Cici nodded faster with a more 'you should check' look on his handsome mug.

"Fine," Kopius stomped.

He pulled up his profile page and navigated to the Drills tab. Sitting at the top of the page was the completed Drill, along with a '30/30' in the upper corner indicating that it had been completed. All the other Drills, when they had reached 30/30 had either disappeared or reset. The reset only happened when both sides needed to be completed. He had only gotten a notification when he had completed all three Drills. This time it had done neither.

Kopius tried to mentally click the Drill but nothing happened. After a few different unsuccessful approaches he stopped trying. When Cici looked away, Kopius tried to jog his own brain by hitting himself on the side of the head like some antenna bearing, rear projection television; it didn't work. It wasn't until he placed his sword back in its sheath did the notification come into view.

{NX: Drill Complete +1 DEX}

"Oh shit," Kopius half whispered.

Where he was just going to bitch and moan about how lame it was that he had to sheath his sword, he now nodded his head in appreciation. He wasn't expecting a plus one in anything but was now looking at a boost to his entire DEX branch. Not that he could see the numbers beyond the first tier of Attributes. What he didn't know-but felt-was that half the Attributes that make up DEX had turned to solid, whole numbers.

"There it goes," Kopius announced. "Had to put my weapon away."

"So it's done then?" Cici asked.

"Yes sir," Kopius replied, smirking. "Gave me a plus one in Dexterity."

"That's excellent, my friend," the big man said, giving Kopius a few mighty pats on the back.

"Hey, do you know when I can see the rest of my Attributes? The second and third tiers?"

"You can't see them now?"

"Not the numbers."

"Ah, yes. I see. Had me knotted up for a moment." Cici said, spinning a circle by his head. "Those will come into view with your Form."

"So, level 20?"

"That's right."

"Why hide it though? You know? Seems pointless."

"DIS is the way," Cici said, while standing at attention; back straight, heels together and then laughed.

"Ok Mando," Kopius chuckled, "Besides being dangerously close to another trademark infringement–what?"

"DIS. D, I, S," Cici spelled out with a smile. "Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength: DIS." The big man recited the whole thing with a cadence reminiscent of marching troops. A short glimpse into the window of Cici's past. Though the Bard was reciting in jest, there was a hint of fear within the eyes of the boy who originally learned those words.

"Where I was raised," Cici said, returning to Cici cadence, pointing east. "All able bodies were to endure the Nonpurrel, a fight school of sorts. They pressed that noise in our heads day after day; I'll spare you the details. According to them pucker pots, levels 10 through 20 are for building your core Attributes. It's easier for a young mind to focus on three tasks rather than twenty-one. That's why you can't see them. That's why the Universe keeps them hidden."

"That sounds," Kopius paused. "I mean, it makes sense; I guess."

"No guesswork here, my boy," Cici insisted. "They may have been heavy handed but they spoke truth, at least in regard to focus."

"But I can still put points into Willpower even though I can't see it, right?"

"That is correct," Cici replied as he began setting up for dinner. "Most folks are unwilling to invest in something they cannot see, or touch."

"Quite the opposite of where I'm from," Kopius joked.

"No doubt," Cici chided back with a smirk, "How do you like your meat?"

He pulled the chunk of redwhip from his pack and slapped it down his wooden cutting board. Before Kopius could answer, Cici was whipping a knife around and shaking different flavored spices all over the meat. He was a one man Ginsu; slicing, dicing and seasoning. It was always impressive to see the man prepare a meal.

Kopius kick started the fire and begrudgingly pulled out Manabolism: Flow and Function. He needed to learn the basics before he could dive into Shock Treatment.

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