'The third floor. These foreign memories are helpful, but they will only be relevant until I reach a point the others haven't, I shouldn't rely on them too much.'
Saryn thought to himself.
"A crude beginning… but a beginning nonetheless." Marduk's voice resounded through the floor.
Saryn gawked at the ethereal sight in front of him.
Unlike the previous two dull rooms, this expanse around him resembled a rural landscape of lush lime grass, blanketing a hill covered terrain, short cliffs were placed unevenly in some areas, towering over the trees like guardians protecting their relics.
The smell of damp greenery floated in the air, blessing Saryn's nose, as his instincts sharpened themselves in response to the density of echoes in the air.
Saryn prepared himself, before looking around the landscape to recall the memories of his predecessors.
The flashing of a shadow.
A faint scream.
A leg being torn off by…
'What in the world is that.'
Saryn was horrified by the image he was recalling. It presented a shadowy figure, the spitting image of some sort of raptor, running on two hind legs, with a pair of glowing claws and a massive murky maw biting down on the subject's leg.
Marduk spoke again, despite the lack of mirrors, not like he needed them anyway.
"As you must've noticed, Saryn, on this floor there lays a predator I like to refer to as the 'stalker', your aim is to gather echoes from each well in the corners of the vast room, before charging the central blade with the echoes, upon emptying all four wells, the central blade will be fully charged and will thus, open the gateway leading to the next room."
"Your goal is not to kill the stalker, the central blade is located at the center of the room, surrounded by a deep lake."
"Remember, Saryn, the lake is your sanctuary, the blood of the deep runs through your veins. Make full use of your advantage, logic and strategy is far more impressive than brute force."
"Apart from the lake, everywhere else… is fair game."
Saryn gritted his teeth, his muscles tensed as he focused, with each step he took forward, even the brushing of warm grass against his ankles startled him. He could almost taste the air with the density of echoes around him.
Saryn steeled his resolve, scanning the horizon.
'This place is magnificent, if not for the beast out to get me, I would enjoy my time freely here.'
Saryn thought for a moment, before dismissing his fantasies, realising he was in the hunting grounds of an apex predator.
'The lake is my sanctuary huh? "The blood of the deep" can eat my ass. This old man speaks nothing but riddles, but I do wonder, why can't the stalker enter the water?'
Saryn pondered, and before he even noticed it, he could see the lake in front of him.
The water in the lake pulled Saryn slightly, as if he belonged in the water, as if it was his home, the magnetic tugs got the better of Saryn, as he dove headfirst into the lake.
As soon as Saryn contacted the water, he could feel his mental state improving, his swimming capabilities were superb, Saryn felt that he could swim faster than he could run.
Before long, he arrived at a small boulder in the middle of the lake, a fine black blade, similar to a longsword, except significantly longer and heavier, pierced into the rock in front of him, dull runes ran down the shaft of the blade, dark and unreactive. Saryn, curious, set the obsidian orb in his hand on the surface of the boulder, making sure it doesn't roll off, before reaching toward the blade.
'Perhaps the runes activate upon depositing echoes.'
Saryn held the handle of the sword, willing ambient echoes into the blade. The runes very slightly glowed, reacting to the deposition, but Saryn could tell this was just like using droplets to fill a bucket, and it could take weeks of him sitting here to fill it. He pulled the sword slightly, attempting to remove it from the ground, just to be met with no desirable results.
He heaved a deep sigh, before studying his surroundings. His mind was clearer than ever before in the current environment, and it helped significantly, the echoes around him moved to his will, rejuvenating his physical state, providing him with fuel to operate.
Saryn sensed no anomalies around him, but he stayed on his toes, it would never hurt to be too careful, after all.
Toward all four corners, no matter which one Saryn decides to go to, he would have to trek uphill, while the distance wasn't anything particularly great, it would be disadvantageous to fend off the stalker in those conditions, while the way back would be easier.
One of the corners was a barren wasteland, dry dirt coated the field, while the trees had withered into shrubs.
Another corner was a snowy mountain, with crystal icicles protruding grandly out of the ground, pointing toward the heavens.
The third corner resembled a verdant grove, densely packed emerald trees hid the contents of the ethereal forest, making it all the more eerie.
In the final corner, there lay an order of jagged rocky peaks, guarding a singular crevice in the mountain, where Saryn assumed the final well would be.
He gathered his thoughts.
'It would be logical to leave the safest options for last, I should get over with the more disadvantageous terrains first while that… thing… hasn't spotted me.'
Saryn decided to make his way to the ethereal grove.
'The darkness and trees would make it difficult for me to see the stalker, and also difficult for the stalker to find me, a fair trade.'
Upon finalizing his decision, Saryn dove back into the water, appearing again at the edge of the lake facing the distant overgrowth.
'No wonder the "lake is my sanctuary", it's not just safety, it's power.'
Saryn thought, as he familiarized himself with the rush of energy he got upon submerging himself in the lake.
He began jogging toward the grove, keeping low, keeping quiet. The grass brushed against his legs again, but this time he didn't flinch. His senses were stretched thin, scanning every ripple of air, every shift of shadow.
Any of them could be the stalker, he could be in its sights right this second and he wouldn't notice.