by Jack Crosby
Instant death
The Reaper snapped his bony fingers and the minotaur’s head fell off. It was a chilling way to end the battle.
Once the fight was over, we began to collect experience points and gold as the Reaper drifted away, the chilling effects of the Doom attack still lingering. Alex leveled up, to twenty-six, and I ended up on level twenty-three. Alyssa, who obviously improved since the last time I saw here, was gained a jump to level twenty-five.
“That’s a cursed blade,” Alex observed.
“I didn’t expect Doom to be so, what’s the word?”
“Terrifying,” Alyssa filled in for me.
We all stared at the blade I’d found in the chest upstairs. “Where did it come from?” I asked Alyssa.
“Ice Storm has been here for as long as I know. Rumors swirled around it belonged to the first Gibraltar prisoner to be held in this tower.”
Alex appeared startled by that, but quickly returned to his normal smiling self. “What a silly rumor,” he chuckled. It was a forced chuckle though. “Maybe your affinity to Shadow magic allows you to control it,” he said.
“Are you referring to the new skill I learned before, Shadow flare?”
He reached over and turned my arm gently over. “May I?” he asked politely.
“Sure.” It wasn’t clear what he was looking for, but we’d soon find out. He rolled up my sleeve and… nothing.
“Hmmm… very interesting.”
“What’s interesting?” Alyssa asked as she leaned over his shoulder. “I don’t see anything.”
“Neither do I,” the mage agreed. “It may have just been a hunch gone wrong.”
“Care to share?” I asked.
“Another time; we do have to get out of this tower.”
No arguing with that. I’d ask again later, when we weren’t trying to get out of an eternal prison that froze most prisoners to death, if they survived that long. With the minotaur gone, we moved on to our next challenge.
Alex touched the first stone of the next path. “There’s definitely power magic laced around here.” He kept concentrating, as if he could read it. “Yes, these stones are infused with Blizzard. If we trigger the trap, we’ll be frozen solid.”
“How do we know which panels to avoid?”
Alex looked defeated at my question. “Whoever weaved the spell on these tiles is a genius. Luck will have to guide us.”
Luck huh? My luck stat wasn’t the world’s highest. Still, mine was higher than either one of theirs. With that in mind, I stepped on the stone tile to my right and nothing happened. With Alex and Alyssa forming a line behind me, I carefully selected each time as I moved forward.
It was about halfway there that I almost picked a bad tile, I just knew it. Milliseconds before the leather of my boot touched the trigger, the smallest of small clues escaped. The tile smoked just a little bit, giving away its true nature; this was a Blizzard stone. The blue, cold clue left no doubts about that. Choosing another tile as carefully as ever, I now had knowledge that would get us through this challenge.
As we stepped off the final gateway to the Professor, a sense of calmness washed over me. We had survived his traps; there was nothing this mad scientist could do that would surprise me.
“There’s a save point; I think we should take advantage,” Alex observed.
Right beside it was a health recharge station, too. “This can only mean I thing,” I started.
“The Professor,” Alyssa finished.
“Do you know him?”
“Only the rumors, Dante.” She scowled a bit. “He’s in good with Victor. Chances are, even if we are victorious, Victor will know of my betrayal and your impending escape.”
“You’d think betrayal was the kind of thing you’d be used to.”
“Dante,” Alex soothed. “Now is not the time or the place for your feelings to show. We’re about to deal with the Professor and we all need to be focused on him, not each other.”
“You’re right,” I admitted.
Alyssa didn’t say anything, so I took the silence as an opportunity to take advantage of the healing point and save.
Save Point 1; Disc 2
Dante (lvl 23), Alex (lvl 26), Alyssa (lvl 25)
After saving, the last thing to do on this floor was to open the door to the Professor’s laboratory. There was a wheel in the middle which must’ve acted as the door knob. I gripped it on each side and with great effort, got it to spin counter clockwise. It was slow going at first, but as it loosened, it became much easier until it clicked and swung open.
I looked back at Alex and he nodded. The three of us gathered ourselves and entered. The bubbling sounds of liquid met us as test tubes were all over the place. On the far side of the room was a steel table with stains of blood. It didn’t even need an educated guess to figure out what went on here.
A small, round man stepped around from one of the far tables. “Welcome, welcome,” he wheezed.
All that could be said about him was the tufts of hair that framed his head actually made him look even more ridiculous than had he’d been bald. His white lab coat was immaculate and his big, thick glasses just finished off the look.
“As much as I’d like to talk to the three of you, I’ve been ordered to return to Gibraltar. With Victor going south, he’ll need as much support as he can get,” the Professor explained.
Alex lowered his bladed staff at him. “You’re not going anywhere, monster!”
“It’s a shame I didn’t get to work on you a bit more often. However, orders must be followed.”
I didn’t know what that little exchange was all about, but Alex looked furious. However, before we could stop the Professor, he pulled out a remote and pressed the large red button on it. How original…
The ceiling above us opened up. “This one’s not perfect, but I’ll believe he’ll do.”
A large dragon like creature swooped down and as the Professor made his escape, we were forced into a boss battle.
The creature was severely deformed, with just one eye and teeth that were rotting out of its head. “What the hell did he do to this thing?”
“He tried to replicate Bahamut, Dante.”
“Are you sure, Alex?” Alyssa asked.
“I’d know Bahamut anywhere,” he assured us.
I sure as hell wasn’t doubting him and we were thrust into battle. The deformed dragon roared, which turned into its first attack; Putrid breath
::Party inflicted with curse, poison, blind, and disaster::
We were screwed; that was the best way to put it. The small numbers that appeared over our heads were the countdown to death. Each of us started at a different point; I had a seven, Alex had a four, and Alyssa had an eight. As soon as it was my turn, I took a hit to the HP with the poison, the curse countdown dropped to six, and I felt disaster coming. It was one of those ambiguous skills that had a variety of negative side effects.
If a bad situation could get worse, it was this one.
With nothing else to do; Defend
Alyssa did the same thing from what I could gather. Our only hope was to hopefully wait out some of the lesser side effects and hit the Imposter Bahamut hard when we had the chance. I fully expected Alex to defend as well, but something different was taking place. With the blind effect hampering my view, I couldn’t really see. My ears, on the other hand, were picking up the scene for me.
“You’ve given me no choice,” Alex said to the creature.
Bright lights began to shine down, enough to where I could see them through the dark cloud over my face. “Alyssa, can you see what’s going on?”
“I can’t. Alex, are you okay?”
“I am. Behold everyone, you’re about to witness the full might of a summoned creature!”
Did Alex have the power to call a summon into battle? No wait… Alex… Was our traveling companion the Holy Summon Alexander?
Hallowed Cannonade
The status effects were wiped free f
rom us. Beside us was no longer Alex, but the mighty Alexander. The knight was wearing white and yellow armor that shined like it had been blessed by the Maker himself. The bright silver sword was embellished with gold trim and angels on the pommel. Alexander pointed it at the dragon as holy energy overtook the battlefield, pounding the deformed monster in golden strikes blessed by the Heavens.
Hallowed Cannonade was both beauty and horror mixed together. Of the three summons I’ve seen attack, this one was the most awe inspiring. Alyssa also watched in amazement as the assault continued well past the point of death for the creature.
When it was over, Alex shimmered back into his normal form and slumped to one knee. The battle was over just as quickly as it begun. “It’s been some time since I’ve done that,” he said, breathing hard.
The spoils from the battle started to pour in while I checked on Alex. We each took another level up, twenty-four, twenty-seven, and twenty-six respectively. The Imposter Bahamut also dropped a few nice pieces of armor; dragon greaves, diseased gloves, and scan goggles. We could figure that out later, as soon as we were sure Alex was going to be fine.
“I see your worried, I’ll be fine,” he insisted.
“Why didn’t you tell me before you were a summon? That seems like something you’d want a guy to know.”
He got back up to his feet and brushed himself off. “Knowledge can be both power and a curse. Knowing who I am one day might come back to harm you.”
Hmmm, he might’ve had a point but I’d rather have known the truth than to have been protected. Either way, each of us took one of the pieces of equipment. I chose the scan goggles, as having the power to pinpoint enemy weaknesses seemed to be greater than the ability to inflict random status effects twenty-five percent of the time or boost one’s resistant to fire. Once we were ready to go, that’s when the bottom fell out.
Literally.
The floor holding us caved in and sent us crashing all the way to the bottom floor. The tower was beginning to come apart.
“The is The Professor’s doing!” Alex seethed.
“Rumor had it this place had a self-destruct failsafe in place. I thought it was all just a rumor.”
Time wasn’t on our side. Bricks and stone were crashing down all around us. We had one choice – flee for the exit. Dodging debris as it fell our way, we completed the mad dash to the exit and slid out just in time before it became completely closed. It was a chilling minute or two that seemed to take forever. I just wish our journey to freedom didn’t come with a price.
Awaiting us outside the collapsing tower was a solider; a single sentinel in our way. The long and deadly looking spear he carried in his right hand only added to the picture of trouble we were facing. His black armor was in stark contrast to what Alex had when he turned into Alexander and perched on his shoulder was a large crow. The bird cawed once and then took off into the air, circling around us. The warrior lifted his helmet – he had one good eye with another covered with a steel plate.
“Odin,” Alexander addressed the man.
“Alexander,” the warrior rumbled back.
He leveled his spear at us. “They are looking for you, Alexander.”
“Those fools might’ve been corrupted by Victor and his promises, but I’ll never give my power over to that mad man.”
I felt like Alyssa and I were missing a key point. “His inner circle,” she whispered to me.
“Oh.”
It seemed to just be me that was in the dark. “Who is in Victor’s inner circle?”
“He’s recruited summons to his cause, the dark ones. He’s gone mad and the world is in danger of being destroyed if he’s not stopped.”
“The girl speaks the truth,” Odin agreed.
“Are you here to help us?” I asked.
A dark grin crossed his face. “A summon doesn’t just lend power, unless your name is Alexander, or maybe Tiamat,” he mused. “No one is ever sure what the dark dragon is truly thinking.”
It was becoming abundantly clear we were going to have to fight Odin to get out of this. We each made a grab for our weapons when we called out to us again. “I’m challenging the Skylonian Prince to a duel.”
“You can’t do that, Odin!” Alex barked.
“I can and I just did. If he plans on beating Victor and wishes my power to be on his side, he will defeat me in combat.”
That seemed like an insane task to ask just one man. “A summon against a normal human? We both know those odds aren’t in my favor.”
He thrust his spear into the snowy ground. “I will use no weapons and I will not use my true form. This will be a fair fight, if you can handle it.”
Maybe it was the intense cold affecting my brain but I was all in. “Odin, I accept your challenge.”
He took two steps forward. “Let us not waste time, begin!”
The other two faded into the background as the fight began. Odin got the first turn, but he just chuckled. “Impress me,” he demanded.
Knowing this had the chance to be a long, drawn out battle, instead of going for one of my huge attack skills, I went to a defensive one; Quick step
That must’ve impressed Odin a little bit. “A tactical affair,” he mused as it was his turn again. “This will be most enjoyable.”
Nordic gust
Odin unleashed a skill that actually changed the battlefield! The icy gust of wind howled all around us, not going anywhere. The conditions added the slow status to me, but also lowered Odin’s resistance to physical attacks. He was making a trade off in the hopes of overpowering me.
I just beat him to getting the next attack. As I shielded my eyes from the frosty breeze, I wanted to see just how much I could break off his health bar. I activated the scan goggles, which didn’t cost a turn, and got a better profile of Odin’s abilities and his statuses. In addition to a huge health bar, Odin had very high offensive outputs, but his defense, even before Nordic gust had been used, was average at best. He carried a physical attack, Nordic gust, Double fist, Iron head, and Eye blast. Those all sounded like pretty harsh skills to deal with.
Just imagine if he still had his spear.
Double strike
I lunged forward and unleashed back to back blows, hitting Odin hard. The second hit even picked up a crucial critical. As I jumped back to my spot, my scan goggles told me even though I dealt a lot of damage, even the grand scheme of things, I barely dented his HP bar.
Shit.
Even as I growled in frustration, Odin seemed to admire what I could do. “Your skill with a blade is not amateur level. You just need more seasoning.”
I didn’t respond back to him. I wasn’t sure if this was genuine appreciation or if he was trying to get into my head. I needed to remain focused on the task at hand, no matter how overwhelming it seemed. Odin got the next two turns and he used them in a very peculiar way.
Physical attack
Pass
The punch he delivered to my gut hurt like hell. About a quarter of my health bar fell leaving me in a position to really put the pain in place. But he didn’t. He passed.
What was Odin thinking?
Was this just a test?
I had my own decision to make. I could waste a precious turn on a potion or I could really go for it. I had Doom but also the Fury of Skylonus was ready with my spirit gauge. Just as I was about to go for the gusto, there was another command I’d never seen before – Legendary Summon
A weird feeling overcame me as I chose that command. It was an ancient power, the power of Skylonus. It was as if my ancestors channeled everything my home kingdom had right into me. Ethereal armor covered me, the ghostly white of it just obscured enough of the world to make it seem like it was underwater. I could still see Odin in front of me, his one eye focused intently on what was about to happen.
As the armor finished forming, a large sword appeared in the extension of my right arm. The mighty blade towered over me, quite the sight to behold.
“Hmph,
a pure blood – didn’t see that coming did you Alexander?”
I couldn’t tell if Alex could hear what Odin said, but I heard it very clearly. “A pure blood, what do you mean by that?” I asked.
Odin ripped Gungnir from the ground. “We will both find out if I’m right.”
A new attack appeared in his arsenal with his spear back in his massive hand; Ragnarok
Odin leaped high in the air, the tip of his spear pointing towards the moon. The howls of wolves unleashed across the battlefield as a giant white beast appeared. With Odin hovering above the creature, it lunged forward with its jaws wide open. As the wolf snapped into me, its teeth didn’t penetrate the armor. The wolf snapped five, six more times, each time with more intensity. It was a horrifying experience, one I figured was the last image quite a few had who encountered Odin. When the wolf’s final blow came and it disappeared, Odin landed back in front of me.
“Finish the battle.”
All of my skills had been replaced with just one; Destiny’s might
With all the power of my ancestors behind me, the simple sword strike was so much more than that. I’d unleashed some amazing skills in my adventure up to this point, but nothing so extraordinary. The might of the attack triggered an explosion, sending ground, snow, and trees everywhere. The eruption shook the land all around us, leaving Odin in the center of a very large crater.
As I returned to my position, the sky lit up with one thousand stars, all of them twinkling as if they were within reach…
Reach up?
**Star Temple**
“Zara!” I yelled.
“What?” came her voice. She was right beside me, per usual. “A bad time?” she asked, even though she knew everything.
I grumbled a bit. “I was about to beat Odin!”
“Oh, he’s defeated. That attack was something else,” she observed.
It was quite annoying that she was up to date on everything, yet I only was in the know during these little side trips. The moment I went back, I’d forget all about whatever happened. “When will the separation end? I mean, I feel like if I knew what I know now, I’d have a better chance of taking down Gibraltar.”
