Godspawn Ascendant [LitRPG, Epic Progression Fantasy]

I slunk along the edge of a sand dune, feeling annoyed at the grains of sand spilling into the crevices of my armor, but only mildly. I mainly focused on the task at hand: finding a cavern–any of the several caverns Cinthara had claimed existed.

A spark of a feeling had ignited in my mind once I'd reached the surface–an inkling that almost controlled my steps in the direction I chose to go. I was close to a cavern. I couldn't explain how I knew, but I did.

I froze at the sight of a long leg entirely encased in a blood-red shell sliding over the top of the sand dune above me. A second, then a third leg, and then a menacingly gigantic landwalker pincer crested over the hills made of golden grains.

I held my breath and resisted the urge to curse aloud as my sandsoles hummed as they continued to hover above the sand. The humming sounded so stark against the silence around me, and I had no hope that the soft crinkling of the landwalker's legs sinking into the sand would drown them out.

A curious clicking began. I dared another glance upward and took in a sharp breath. A singular, orb-shaped eye atop an antenna-like rod peered down in my direction.

As soon as I get the chance, I'm using my Skill to steal some sort of invisibility spell. I hadn't seen anyone use something with invisibility, or at least I hadn't seen them to notice.

I slowly pushed my back against the sand wall underneath the landwalker, wincing at the onslaught of sand rolling from the monster's steps and hitting my face. I continued to hold my breath, even as stars began to dance in my vision from the lack of oxygen. A spindly leg dangled mere feet above my eyes. I bit down on my lip–hard–and prayed to whatever gods would listen, which came more from habit than any faith I might have.

I finally exhaled once the monster's eerie eye slid back behind the top of the dune, and the sound of the monster's footsteps faded away. With a sigh of relief, I fell back into my sandy pillow even further. But my respite was short-lived as an opening behind the sand revealed itself behind my back, and I fell through.

I only fell about two feet, but I landed straight onto my back against a hard, stone floor. All the air whooshed out of my lungs, and I coughed, choked, and sputtered for a good half a minute before I could catch another breath. Groaning, I rolled to my knees and pushed myself onto my feet.

"Ow," I grumbled aloud, rubbing my aching neck.

I glanced around myself, too shocked to believe my luck until I confirmed that I had, in fact, literally fallen into one of the caverns I'd desperately searched for. But for once, it seemed I really was lucky. Or, perhaps, that strange feeling I had when emerging on the surface–the feeling that urged me to travel where I had–is what brought me here.

The lighting was dim, coming only from the stars and the moon glowing outside. Still, I could make out enough to determine that this cavern entrance looked identical to the one Cinthara had taken me to.

The narrow entrance widened at the end, revealing a long wall with the runes from the same mysterious language I'd seen in the other cavern. Just as they had before, the scrawlings jumbled around in my head and translated for me:

"Only one will I accept, the one with my face, the one with a Codex."

If I had any doubts before, I didn't any longer. This was a cavern built by Lord Solomon, and only one of his clones could open the door.

The same words had been carved in every available space on the wall, save for one circular spot in the center, golden and decorated with twisting leaves and vines, all adorning a depiction of a key.

I knew exactly what to do this time.

Without a moment's hesitation, I stepped up so close to the painted key that my nose almost touched it. I placed both palms on the magically warm wall, careful not to press too hard into the stone. Last time, the wall had disappeared shortly after my touch, which had caught me off guard and had made me perform a rather embarrassing faceplant.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

A familiar buzz vibrated through my fingertips and traveled down every inch of my arms. The sensation was unsettling, but not painful. Just as it had in the first cavern before, this wall vanished, leaving only a cloud of inexplicable smoke in its wake.

A straight path, maybe half a mile long, revealed itself in front of me. At its end blinked a dim, white light that would help guide me to the challenge set apart for this cavern by Lord Solomon. Though I stepped onto the beginnings of the path, I had no intention of reaching that strangely inviting light. The "welcoming nature" of the path's end would not manifest any sort of pleasantries once I arrived–I knew that for a fact.

"Dex?" I called in my mind, daring two steps further on the path. "Codex! I'm here! We need to talk."

Less than 10 seconds went by, but even that amount of time with no answer from my AI companion made my chest grow tight in panic.

"DEX!"

"Rayden?"

My entire torso bent forward as I exhaled in relief. "Dex! What took you so long to answer?"

"I am not the one who will not answer, Rayden. I try to establish contact with you every second of every day."

I rolled my eyes. Even after a prolonged period of not having him in my head, Dex still managed to annoy me.

"You know why I can't answer you. We discussed it last time I entered one of these caverns."

"Yes, Rayden. I do know. But that did not stop me from trying to reach you. You did find me, however. I called you here. I guided you to this cavern."

So, that's where that automatic guidance had come from. Even when deactivated, Codex was still looking out for me. It didn't surprise me that that sort of direction had worked. I could still cultivate, foreign languages still translated in my head… Many of Codex's systems remained functioning–even when we couldn't talk with one another.

I released a short chuckle and allowed myself a small smile. "I missed you, Dex."

"Though I cannot quite comprehend how it would feel to 'miss' someone, as that is a human emotion, I am able to compute your meaning. I am satisfied that we are able to converse once again."

"Satisfied?" I raised an eyebrow. "That's a strange way to describe it. You are not relieved? Happy?"

"I am not human, Rayden. My system makes it difficult to allow me to say I am happy or relieved. I believe 'satisfied' is the closest I can give you."

I shook my head, the soft chuckles turning into full laughter. "Welcome back, Dex."

"I believe the correct response would be to say 'thank you.' So, thank you, Rayden. I welcome you back, as well."

"I'll take it," I thought back to the highly complex, yet somehow simple-minded AI.

"Rayden, we have some important matters to discuss," Dex said. "I am under the impression that you are in a dire situation. I have detected some minor damage to your brain and have determined it comes from your neural implant."

It felt like my stomach had just tied itself into knots. "Damage?! To my brain?!" I said that part aloud and barely remembered to switch my words back to my thoughts. "How much damage?"

Out of all parts of my body that I didn't want to sustain injury, my brain was at the top of that list.

"My calculations have determined there is 0.05% damage to your brain as a whole."

I pursed my lips. That didn't sound terrible, but…

"Is it getting worse?"

"Yes, Rayden. I have been watching the damage increase for some time now. It started out so insignificant that I could not find it initially, but now it is detectable through my systems. Though the percentage is small, any damage to your mind can cause significant detriment to your capabilities. You may have noticed increased headaches and confusion."

I nodded along to Dex's mentioning of my symptoms. The knots in my stomach tightened as my anxiety increased. I felt like I was going to hurl.

"And the part of your brain that the neural implant is attacking is where I reside in your head, Rayden. That would explain our inability to communicate. Not necessarily soon, but eventually, your other capabilities will disappear."

"Like… what capabilities specifically?" I hadn't noticed that I'd begun nervously pacing from wall to wall of the narrow width of the path.

"For instance, your ability to cultivate and even gather as much essence as you typically do could disappear completely."

I muttered an impressive string of obscenities–even Drayek would be shocked by the words that came out of my mouth.

"What do I do? How do I get this cursed thing out of my head?!" I yelled to the cavern.

"Based on my data of human emotion and aversion to pain," Dex said, still able to hear me even as I spoke aloud, "I do not believe you will like the solution, Rayden."

I rubbed a hand over my face. That did not sound great, but I'd almost expected it.

"Tell me what I need to do."