…
The slabs were all removed. Only the last, 10th one, was a bit of a hitch because of its immense weight.
The beam of light slowly spread to the third floor, this time not stopping at the ceiling.
It pushed through to the top platform, and surrounded the pedestal.
After that.. nothing else. Seems you really do need to insert something into the pyramid indent…
You need to do something, something you've missed.
Well, either that, or you've just not gotten all of the pieces of the puzzle.
…
You wander around awhile, half searching, half exploring just for the sake of it. Who knows, maybe inspiration will strike you after a moment of leisure.
You head back to the beautiful cave hidden in the blazing dimension. The walls looks as stunning as they did the first time you saw them. On a whim, you decide to head deeper.
The walls get more and more mesmerizing.
The white stone gets whiter and whiter, the obsidian lining it clearer and clearer.
Eventually you reach the end of the cave. There's a discarded.. torch, you reckon that's what it is, a rock suitable for smashing against a wall. Clearly whoever was here before you doing just that.
Feeling that they might have possessed knowledge you don't, you opt to follow in their footsteps. Of course, not using the stone for digging, but rather the magic crystal.
…
It takes you awhile to find an attack that's effective against a rounded wall, but you manage to find one that works. The digging isn't too bad, though it does take a good long while to see any progress.
The air surrounding you is filled with dust, powdered obsidian, making it heavier and heavier to breathe. Thankfully, the crystal comes to the rescue here as well. You simply use magical wind attacks, and the air is as good as new.
…
It's been a day, you reckon. The progress you've made substantial to say the least.
Deciding to check whether anything is visible yet, you clean up the wall you've been attacking and peer into it.
There's.. a stick? No wait, that's fingers!
A person, or maybe a monkey of sorts, has somehow gotten trapped deep within.
Whatever the case is, this is the first actual being you've seen. There's been nothing as concrete as this.
Sure, you knew there were people here before. They've must've been, for the towers to be here. Not to mention the doors, and the strangely large footprints near the ice-chunk field, there's been more than enough proof.
However this, this is an actual person.
You hasten, your efforts invigorated by the exciting discovery and the potential of companionship. You don't doubt, even for a second, whether they're alive or not.
Hour by hour tick by, each feeling more grueling than the last. Yet you don't lessen your assault.
The wall crumbles more and more, and eventually you manage to make out the person in full.
They're a.. young boy.
..doesn't matter, a person is a person.
You resume work once again, your shoulders getting stiff by now.
By the time you get to him, your hands have blisters all over from holding the crystal so long. A bit of pain doesn't stop you though.
Carefully prodding his skin, you realize it's still soft. Seems he's somehow alive despite being surrounded by rock.
He doesn't seem to take notice, not showing a sign of awakening. You continue to excavate him fully, he'll awake in due time.
…
By the time the last piece of obsidian crumbles from him, you're barely standing.
Taking a hold of him, you try to lay him onto the floor, yet he suddenly jolts awake.
His eyes open, he's squirms a bit, before yawning. He looks around a bit, a little confused. However he soon gets.. excited?
He starts laughing the way only innocent children can, the type that sends any listener into happy thoughts, before seemingly deciding on something with a grin.
You try to ask him how he's doing, yet he ignores you, seeming to not even notice your touch.
You don't even have the chance to stop him before he darts outside, with speed unlike any a child should be capable of.
You chase after him, yet he manages to lose you before you get even halfway back to the surface.
…
Flabbergasted. There's not other way to describe the emotions you feel right now.
He just.. left? Just like that?
You try to follow him even after getting out of the cave, though his footsteps soon vanish. He must've went over the rocky hill, where there's no sand or soil for his tracks to live on.
..what.. now?
…
Resigning in defeat, you fall into a minor depression. Well.. 'minor' is doing quite the heavy lifting..
For awhile you drift about each world. Sometimes you go explore the different "biomes", sometimes simply opting to stare at the sky.
Sometimes you decide to play with magic, making huts and playing pretend. Others you get into a destructive streak and break everything you've made.
…
You stand in the white space. You're unsure about all three of the worlds, but this one eludes you the most. It's literally just an infinite expense of.. well, white.
For a moment you think it might be best you stay here. After all, you get neither tired nor grown weak here. Perhaps you can.. be a god of your own world here?
Too apathetic to care about the consequences if your little experiment succeeds or not, you blast the doors with full firepower.
..they remain unharmed. Neither a scratch, nor even a minor blemish on them.
Maybe that's for the best.
Not caring too much, you head to the towers, shooting anything in sight.
The light beams don't falter, no matter what you do, the walls hold as though they're not clearly on the brink of collapse.
Not caring, you head up the demonic tower. The pedestal stand there, probably mocking you in your futile attempts. You don't really care.
Blasting it too with all the force you can muster, there's, surprise surprise, little result. Onto the Red Door's one, you muse.
Arriving at the angelic piece of masterful architecture, you attack it without hesitation.
Climbing to the second floor, you see the strange markings, arrays some might call them. There's two, surely no one would be mad if just one of them went missing?
Still not caring, you blast them with an explosion that almost throws you out of the tower.
Coughing, you go back to try again.
Yet, you stop. Looking closely, doesn't it actually seem.. damaged?
This being the first part in either of the towers that attacks have effective on, you don't hesitate to continue on your path of destruction.
Quite quickly, there's a hole entirely replacing where the carving used to be.
You laugh to yourself, more in self mockery than actual joy, is this the most you're able to do in this world? Destroy a simple carving?
Yet, as moments pass of you moping in self-pity, you notice something peculiar.
The floor is.. regrowing?
Enraged that even this achievement would be taken away from you, you blast it again! Once more, for good measure!
Yet as time goes on, it starts to repair itself anew..
How, you're unsure. However, as you observe the phenomenon longer and longer, you do become sure of something.
There's a strange energy(?) flowing from the top array, straight into the floor. They must be connected!
This time, you blast both of them. If one repairs the other, why not just destroy both?!
…
Huffing and puffing, you stare at the destruction you've caused.
There's smoke and dust all around you, this entire floor ruined.
Yet, a smile graces your face. You've been waiting and waiting, and neither the ceiling nor floor have fixed themselves. You've won, beaten them.
Slowly, a reddish hue starts rising from the floor. The pillar of red is extending, growing another floor.
Mad at something, anything, invading your personal floor, you attack it. Anything you throw at it clearly just goes straight through, but you'll be damned if you don't at least hinder it for a moment.
Lighting zaps, fire roars. The air cools, a sudden pressure fills the whole floor. Nothing else working, you fire off the most powerful explosi-
[ Update - requirements met: 2/4 ]
[ ... ]
[ Initiating restart… ]
…
You awake in a strange white space, there being no end in sight in any direction.
You remember neither who you are, nor how you came to this place. Strangely, this doesn't upset you in any way.
The only thing keeping you company are two open doors, a trail of snow leading from the Blue one and into the Red one.
Intrigued, you search around.
You find.. many things, to say the least.
The most interesting one is a couple of pretty stones, crystals, as something in your mind calls them.
One is a gorgeous reddish orb, perfectly spherical in shape. The other a pure-white pyramid.
Somehow you know, you feel their purpose.
The red one is a Tier 1 Attack Crystal, the white one a Memory Crystal. Maybe you can record your memories inside?
You try, and indeed, it does just that. Holding it, you intuitively understand how to "save" and how to "play" memories kept inside. Neat.
No matter, you don't remember anything really. Perhaps you'll be able to find more use for it later.
Satisfied for now, you head out and explore the two doors in front of you.
…
There's.. a lot. A lot of what? Of interesting things of course.
Both doors hold entire dimension, filled with different areas. Everything is so interesting, you can't help but want to keep a memory of it for when you get out of this place.
You record a memory of every place you see, of all the feelings and thoughts that grace you.
Among the most interesting discoveries you make is that the two mysterious doors have a whole other side to them!
One is black in color, the other more akin to a crystal, bordering on looking like a strange mirror.
This strange situation hiding right in front of you this whole time, you quickly save it into the memory crystal. How could you have missed this?
Nevermind, you can explore them now!
You open the Black Door and peer into it.
What greets you is darkness. Well, a meter or two of stone ground, but even that is only illuminated because of the white space you reside in.
Interested, not even slightly afraid, you enter the darkness.
…
[ Update - requirements met: 2/4 ]
[ ... ]
[ Initiating restart… ]
…
-and that is the last memory the pyramid-shaped crystal holds. Interesting.
Curiously, you glance at the green orb in your hands. It's the only thing missing from the memories of your.. predecessor?
Not caring too much, you inspect it closer.
Something in your mind tells you that this is also a crystal of sorts. This one neither used for attack, nor for recording memories. This one is.. well, it's hard to describe. Best way to put it is that it holds the elements of nature.
You try to cut yourself on a sharp piece of rock, then use the crystal on it. As expected, the wound heals.
Nevermind that, you've got things to explore, places to be!
If the one before you saw interesting, they might still be there! If they're not, at least you can compare the differences.
With that thought in mind, you set off.
…
You don't find too much. Different of course, you find many things, they're just not any different than they were in the memories you saw.
Climbing onto the angelic tower in a realm that looks like a copy of hell, you arrive at the pedestal pointing into the sky.
You try whether the larger of the two orbs you hold fits into the indents, yet it's too small to fill the whole space. Perhaps if you obtained a Tier 2 crystal it'd fit snugly in place.
Either way, you'd need six of such crystals to completely fill the pedestal's indents. You don't stress too much over it, surely everything will sort itself out in due time.
…
At the end of the day, there's not actually much to do here.
So, you head towards the only unknowns left that comes to mind. The mirror like door, and the Black Door.
Perhaps stepping into either one will take you to "the next stage"? You're unsure, but since the one before you stopped recording when they decided to enter the Black Door, the theory appears to hold some merit.
Opening the mirror like door, you peer in to see a room.
It lacks any features you could describe, being completely empty. Except for a beanbag square-dab in the middle. Looks comfy, guess you could try it out…
