Redirection

{Immediately after being sent from Adelia’s mansion}

Jono was briefly hurled through the membrane circuits of that universe before emerging with a bright flash. He landed in darkness.

As he had time to process, he realised he at least had a body again. It felt like he had been spat out onto a cold, smooth slab of rock and was wearing real clothes again. He could smell the damp, musty air around. He could again hear, rather than only feel, eerie drafts whistling in the darkness.

As his eyes adjusted, he guessed he was on a bridge in a large cavern. There were obelisks holding a glowing net around him.

“Why was I sent here?” Jono said, talking to himself.

Jono had at least sat up now, righting himself from the sprawled position he had been dumped in on arrival. He waited another couple of minutes, but nothing happened. Jono got up and stretched. It felt like he was going to have a few decent bruises, but he had a fully working body again.

He wandered up to the bit of the net closest to him. Jono touched it with the back of his hand to test it. It didn’t zap him. It rippled as if it were the surface of a liquid. He wandered over to the bridge edge. Jono sat down and swung his feet; he could only feel empty air.

Jono wondered, Why would I get to anarea on a bridge that has been netted off?

He got up again and checked the net surrounding him. There were no gaps and the net even fanned out from the obelisks on the side of the stone bridge. Even if he had dared to climb around, he couldn’t. He was trapped.

“Aw man,” a low grumble carried through the darkness. “What’s stuck in the net this time?”

“Bet you it’s another one of those giant moth things,” A second male voice said.

In the distance, a light emerged. The two voices chatted. The light they were carrying revealed that the bridge emerged from a cliff and was otherwise surrounded by darkness.

The light stopped and then there were several groans. It sounded like a second male was uncomfortable. A couple of short, sharp farts echoed through the cavern.

“Phwooar Jasper, that’s foul,” The first deeper voice said. “You’d better go back to eating normal food as soon as you can.”

“Shut it Grewd,” Jasper snapped. “Not all of us were born powerhouse thugs. Haven’t you heard of how people have gained dark powers by eating monster meat raw?”

Jono hid behind one of the obelisks as they drew nearer. He tried to keep his breathing calm and stared at the obelisk before him.

‘Yeah, but for whatever reason, it is not working for you,” Grewd answered. “Aren’t you supposed to take recovery items afterwards or something? It just seems to be wrecking your stomach and the air quality around here.”

“At least I don’t need to have expensive power drinks in the morning. Or eat fancy cheese and wine to get through the day,” Jasper shot back. “You’ll have finished the last of your wine soon and then two days after that you’ll be a half-useless moron again.”

“Whatever,” Muttered Grewd. “At least I don’t have a stench that chases off the ladies.

Jason looked at Grewd like he was crazy, “Are you seriously telling me that you think you have enough power that a woman wouldn’t just use you as a stepping stone? Give me a break.”

Jason sounded more sure of himself now, “We need to at least break through one more level to have a shot at a stable existence. At least I’m experimenting to make it happen.”

Grewd chortled, “Mate, the only breakthrough your experiments look like they will produce any time soon, is a case of diarrhoea.”

“Stupid muscle-head,” Jason muttered.

Grewd and Jasper’s footsteps stopped close to the obelisk Jono was hiding behind.

“Huh, I guess it was another of those moths,” Grewd said. “At least it flew off; it’s always a pain having to dispel the net and then recast it.”

“Yeah, glad that was easy,” Jasper chimed in. “But it’s kinda sad we haven’t caught many heroes recently. It’s always fun to be around and get to see their shocked expressions as they are blasted off the bridge. You don’t think she’s given up, do you?”

“Nah, she can’t have,” Grewd said. “She’ll lose following if she gives up and they’ve made sure any less egotistical potential replacements have been eliminated.”

Are they talking about Adelia, Jono wondered.

“Ah well, back to the office,” Jasper said, sounding slightly relieved.

“Yep just think, when we get back there’s wine waiting for me and a toilet waiting for you,” Grewd teased.

“Shut it muscle-head, otherwise you’ll overheat the few brain cells you have for talking,” Jasper snapped back. “You may joke now, but one day I’ll make it and then we’ll see what you’ve got to say.”

Grewd and Jasper’s voices started to sound like they were getting further away again.

[Level 1 Stealth is holding with rare item assistance] Eckvalonge Support Notifications.

Jono was startled by a voice in his head.

“Wait, what is that?” urged Grewd in a gruff voice.

“I didn’t hear anything,” said Jasper as his voice temporarily rose in pitch.

“No, my perception triggered,” Grewd almost growled. “Let’s check the net properly.”

The footsteps quickly got closer to Jono.

“Arhh, there’s someone here,” the Jasper squawked. “Ew, it’s strange.”

An almost skeletal human in a robe peering around one side of the obelisk. He was examining Jono with the cloudy irises of his deeply socketed eyes. He pressed up against the net with the lantern like someone excited about a zoo exhibit.

“Hmm, I wonder how he got in there,” Grewd mused.

“The most obvious answer would be that he came from the same portal network that the heroes descend from,” Jasper started. “But why? I wonder if he is toxic and she sent him down to poison the monsters that ate him?”

“If that’s what they were up to, they could have just pushed you off the bridge to gas wherever you landed,” Grewd replied.

“Shut up,” Jasper said.

Jono now saw the dark outline of a solid man looking at him from the other side of the obelisk.

“The scan isn’t showing much. He doesn’t appear to be a hero; it’s no wonder the ejector didn’t trigger. He doesn’t even have any real combat ability. He’s got a few basic skills, but that’s it.” Grewd summarised.

“Anyway, it still doesn’t explain what a weakling is doing in our net all the way down here,” Jasper said as he lifted the lantern to try and get a better look at Jono.

“I’m not sure, let’s report this,” Grewd said, keeping his distance in the shadows. “He doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.”

“Yep, the little weakling’s stuck, stuck, stuck,” Jasper agreed with strange shadows flickering across his angular face. “Don’t go anywhere, te he he. We’ll be right back.”

Jono guessed that the men had been gone about five minutes. What’s going to happen now? Was this really where Adelia meant to send me? Jono paced around inside the glowing net.

There was the sound of running and light emerged from the opening in the cliff. The lantern bounced its way quickly back to him and the two men stood behind the obelisk.

“Hey you,” Grewd called. “Are you one of Adelia’s servants?”

“Huh…” Jono started. “Um, she offered me the chance to be a hero, but I turned her down; I can’t serve foreign demigods.”

“…What..” the skinny man with the lantern pressed close to the net. “He’s quite the strange freak, but he is telling the truth.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said the larger man. “We can’t risk that she is onto us and using people to try to track our redirection portals. Manually activate the ejector.”

The skinny man hurried to the next obelisk and put his hand on it. He slowly and clearly chanted a couple of odd phrases.

“Um, what’s going on … WAAAH!” Jono’s question turned into a surprised shriek.

The obelisk had produced a green ball of energy that burst, releasing a violent gust of wind. The gust was directed out into the darkness by the net. Jono was blasted straight off the bridge and fell into the darkness.