Rok's Rod

The three made their way towards the castle again, walking around the path with bridges leading past a man-made river. Up in the distance was multiple mansions and towers with spiral roofs of differing colors. Once near the castle that was above them, there a stairway leading down to a large wooden door. They walked down the steps and opened the door. “Why isn’t it locked?” Theo asked curiously.” Leo walked past Theo who opened the door and looked around carefully “Well...there’s an Orc down here who kind of guards this place. Everyone who lives here is aware of that, so no one is usually stupid enough to barge in recklessly.” Theo hesitated, not leaving the doorway while Leo and Cleo walked in. “And...why are we just heading in then?” Leo looked back at him and smiled. “Don’t worry. I know him. He’s nice. Just...be careful.” Theo really didn’t want to leave the doorway now. “You know, that last part doesn’t exactly put my mind at ease.” he sighed, closing the door behind him reluctantly. Inside the room were lamps on the walls attached to wires, softly lighting up the room, and giant gears and cogs all working together inside the room. What looked like a control panel was standing from the stone tiles, with different colored buttons, presumably for controlling the artificial sun and the speaker system. Near it, was a lightning rod, but it didn’t have prongs, unlike most.

Theo went to examine it. “This one seems a little different.” Leo flinched and reached out “Wait! Theo! Back off!” Theo paused before touching it, and a loud roar shook the room and loud stomping got closer. “NOOOOOOOO! NO TOUCH ROK’S ROD!” an angry monstrous voice yelled. What came out of a corner was a ten foot tall, five feet wide, was hulking Orc with green skin, a bald head, and large inverted fangs wearing bright blue overalls with a white shirt and brown boots with utility belt around his waist. He breathed heavily looking down at Theo and roared again “WHY YOU TRY TO TOUCH ROK’S ROD?!” he yelled and picked up Theo, holding him like a squeaky toy. “Leo. Help. Please.” Theo said plainly, but nervousness hidden in his voice. Leo came from behind the Orc and tapped his waist. “HMM?!” The Orc growled turning to Leo. His large brown eyes widened and dropped Theo, who landed on his butt before turning to Leo fully and opening his arms with a smile. “LEO! YOU COME TO VISIT ROK?! WELCOME!” Leo put his finger up to his lips “Shhhh. Inside voices, remember Rok?” Rok look surprised. “Oh...sorry Leo.” his deep voice began to quiet down. Cleo walked next to Leo “Nice to see you again Rok.” Rok looked at Cleo. “Cleo looks happier than last time. Rok glad. Why you visit?”

Theo got up and dusted himself off. “We came to-” “ROK NOT TALKING TO YOU!” The Orc began to charge at Theo, who fell back on his butt again, with Rok’s large face got close to his with a growl. “It’s okay Rok. That’s Theo. He’s our friend.” Leo said. Rok looked at Leo, and then Theo and narrowed his eyes. “Rok want to smash this ‘Theo’ for trying to touch Rok’s rod. But if friend, Rok won’t crush.” Theo breathed a sigh of relief. “He’s actually the new Rain Wizard, Rok. And he needs to examine your rod to see if has any connection to the Rain Wizard’s staff.” Leo explained, pointing to the lightning rod Theo carried. Rok looked at it and stomped his way over to Theo again and looked at the staff. “...Let Rok see Theo’s rod. Then Theo can look at Rok’s rod.” Theo got up and handed the rod over to Rok. “Sure buddy, whatever you say.” Rok snatched the staff and carefully ran his green fingers over it. Despite appearances and demeanor, he was surprisingly very careful with how he handled it. He found the button that released the prongs and poked one of them gently with his finger. “Hmmm. Sharp pointy sticks on rod must be used to prevent excess electrical charges and spread across points for better energy flow. It must have folding system to control output and varied direction.” he said, showing that the prongs could be folded individually, and not just activated all at once.

Theo looked over at Leo and Cleo. “He...seems to know a lot.” They nodded. “He’s the lead technician.” Cleo said. “Of course he is.” Theo sighed. Rok handed the rod back to Theo and stepped back. “Okay. You can check Rok’s rod.” Theo nodded. “Thank you Rok.” Theo touched the copper rod, but nothing happened. Thinking for a moment, Theo tapped the rod with his, and a message screen popped up.

“Congratulations! You found your first Rain Wizard beacon! This rod is connected to a lightning rod outside the dome! Any beacon attached to a lightning rod can teleport the user and their allies between them. It seems this beacon is a receiver for the occasional energy boost from the lightning rod outside, powering Sol City! Wow! Try to find as many rods and beacons as you can!”

“Huh...so I can finally put the teleportation ability to use.” he thought to himself. The room was silent, waiting for Theo. Cleo tilted her head, looking confused, Leo folded his arms waiting, and Rok simply sniffed.

“This thing sure seems to have a weird personality.” Theo said. Rok, Leo, and Cleo were staring at him silently before Cleo spoke up. “What are you doing? Why are you just standing there?” she asked curiously. Theo gave her a confused look. “What do you mean? I’m checking the update from the system. You know, the one that shows us what skills we have?” Rok, Leo, and Cleo looked at each other, seeming just as confused as Leo before looking back to him. “Uhh...Theo. The people of this world can only check their stats as a sort of improvement tracker. We don’t have anything that shows what skills we have or gives us ‘updates’.”

Theo stared blankly. The room fell silent. “...Huh?”