Vortena

by Neven Iliev

  After confirming that everyone was ready, the party – twenty-three undead, two demons, one Mimic and a gnome – commenced their assault on the Spire of the Jade King.

  Their first hurdle was navigating the hedge maze, which was resolved by having Xera fly overhead and guide the ground-based troops towards the Spire. Valeria tried to do the same, but her body was conjured partially through earth magic, so she couldn’t float more than half a metre above the ground without assistance.

  The invading party also attempted the obvious solution of tearing their way straight through the green walls in the direction of the Spire, but that proved impossible. No matter how often the vibrant hedges were crushed, slashed, or burned away, they always grew back mere moments later. At least there was plenty of room to fight since the corridors were at least five metres wide, sometimes even six or seven. Boxxy’s group was able to form a solid front line with just six Death Knights and one extremely enthusiastic fiend, making it impossible for the stone soldiers to surround or flank them.

  Their formation was put to the test almost immediately, as less than a minute after entering the maze they encountered the first of the resident guardians. It was a mobile statue of an extremely muscular, naked man with a stone helmet framing its handsome visage, just as Boxxy’s preliminary scouting had revealed. The Mimic, however, had neglected to mention that the things were as tall as fiends at more than two-and-a-half metres, and their massive stone shields and spears were even more intimidating than Fizzy had imagined.

  “Arms, kill it,” Boxxy commanded.

  “Alright!” the fiend cheered, smashing her fists together. “This is gonna be fun!”

  Kora strolled up to the golem, and it immediately put its rectangular, door-like shield between them while keeping its stone spear trained on her. Kora assumed a fighting stance and rushed the creature, sidestepping the spear aimed at her midsection to swing her metal-clad fists at the thick shield.

  “Ora! Ora ora ora ora ora!”

  The golem withstood the shower of punches without sustaining much damage, but its shield couldn’t last long under the assault and was soon covered in cracks as the stone began to crumble away. It took a long hop backwards, its bare heels scraping along the smooth stone path of the maze.

  Kora rushed the golem again, but this time was unable to fully avoid its spear. It managed to gouge out part of her shoulder, but the fiend ignored the relatively minor wound and resumed her assault, smashing the shield to pieces before her opponent could back away. With its primary defense compromised, the golem was thrown off balance, forcing it to stagger backwards. Kora seized the opportunity, drawing back one of her right arms to deliver an absolutely massive punch.

  “Uppercut!”

  She let out a shout while swinging her fist in a flawless upward motion to smash directly into the underside of the statue’s jaw. This was no regular punch, however, as it flew with a speed and ferocity that her literally idiocy-powered muscles were incapable of producing on their own and flashed with a dull red light at the moment of impact. The force behind the blow was enough to knock the stone soldier – which must have weighed at least seven hundred kilos – straight off its feet, its back striking the ground with a heavy thud.

  The fiend immediately closed in on her fallen foe, raising her foot high above the golem’s chest.

  “War Stomp!”

  Her armoured boot smashed down onto the prone stone soldier like a miniature comet, leaving behind a trail of more red light.

  *THUUM*

  An earsplitting noise almost like an explosion echoed through the area, the impact sending dust and rocks flying in every direction. The golem had broken into several large chunks as Kora’s foot crashed straight through it, covering the stone floor in a spiderweb of cracks. The fiend lifted her boot from the demolished golem’s remains and smiled fiercely.

  “How’s that?!”

  “Later tonight…” Xera mumbled, her imagination already running wild.

  “P-p-please don’t use that near me! I’ll die for sure!” Fizzy pleaded, her own imagination running in a completely different direction.

  Valeria was too busy staring longingly at Boxxy to give a flying fuck about Kora, a sentiment the fiend readily returned. The two of them had formed a silent pact of mutual indifference, and both sides were adamant about upholding it. They may have worked for the same boss, but that didn’t mean they had to like each other, or even bother to communicate more than the bare minimum.

  “That’s almost shiny!”

  Speaking of said boss, the Mimic was apparently impressed by the demonstration. To think, both of those tasty-looking attacks had come from a single Skill, courtesy of Kora’s Berserker Job.

  [Face Smasher]

  There’s an art to everything and punching things in the face is no exception.

  Requirements: Level 15 Martial Job, Level 4 Brawling Mastery, STR 100

  Type: Passive

  Range: Self

  [Effects]

  Grants knowledge of a new Brawling Martial Art at each Level of this Skill.

  Increases the effectiveness of punches and kicks by 2% per Level of this Skill.

  Although Boxxy was aware of the existence of Martial Arts – or just ‘Arts,’ for short – this was the first time it had been able to witness them firsthand. In essence, if Caster Jobs like Pyromancers or Warlocks had Spells, then Martial Jobs like Berserkers and Warriors had Arts. They both consumed MP to produce magical effects, although their methods of activation were very different. Whereas Spells necessitated the forging of a certain mental image, which was then realised through chanting, invoking a Martial Art required that the body be moved in a very specific manner.

  For example, Uppercut on its own didn’t necessarily do a lot of damage, but it had greatly amplified knock-back force. War Stomp, on the other hand, was a technique that sent tremors through the ground and caused all grounded targets within five metres to stagger and lose their balance. The localised quake wouldn’t actually do any damage unless it was applied directly to the target’s body like Kora had done. The pile of rocks that had once been a golem could attest to just how deadly the shockwaves could be at point blank range.

  Satisfied with the demonstration and making a mental note to find out how to obtain dagger-based Martial Arts at some point in the future, the Mimic ordered the rest of the group to advance. It wasn’t long before they began to run into groups of stone soldiers, rather than individuals. While a single golem was relatively easy to handle, fighting two or three at once was a completely different story, since their cooperation made them much harder to take down without suffering injury. The golems only became more numerous the further into the maze the invaders progressed, with groups of seven at once becoming the norm by the time they were halfway through.

  Thankfully, just as Boxxy had planned, their front line was able to seal the enemy off, allowing Xera, Valeria, and the skeleton mages to pepper the golems with a barrage of fire and ice-based magic. The resident monsters’ large frames were actually somewhat beneficial to their formation, as it allowed these ranged attacks to soar over the undead knights’ heads without any risk of hitting them. Boxxy also joined in on picking off the stone soldiers from a distance, though it mostly stuck to spraying jets of corrosive acid. The assault would have gone faster had the Mimic opted to use its highly destructive Ruin Spells, but it was here to Level its Mimic Job, not its Warlock Job.

  Still, the monster-demon-undead coalition was able to make its way through the hedge maze without any significant difficulty. Even if the golems were good at absorbing physical damage, magical attacks were another story entirely. The barrage of fire, ice and acid brought them down easily, while Boxxy and Valeria’s minions kept them at bay. Kora was able to rack up an impressive body count of her own thanks to Fizzy’s healing and her master’s occasional Dark Infusion, allowing her to fight as recklessly as she pleased.

  The same could not be said of their undead vanguard,
which had thinned considerably. Though the Death Knights only had to hold out for less than a minute before their opposition was reduced to dust, there was still a limit to how much punishment they could take. Boxxy had fully expected this to happen, which was why it had instructed Valeria to bring a good number of spares with her. The instant one undead warrior fell, another stepped up to take its place.

  As a result, their undead host had been reduced to a single Death Knight, a pair of Dullahans, and four Skeletal Mages by the time the group made it through the hedge maze. They must have defeated at least eighty stone soldiers in the process, so the fact that any of the undead had survived at all was rather impressive. The rewards for fighting through so many of the golems were substantial as well, as the Mimic had reached Level 48, and Valeria was at Level 43, well on her way to Level 44. Fizzy had been unable to raise her Paladin Levels since her main role was supporting Kora, but at least her healing-related Skills had gained a decent amount of proficiency.

  There had also been a certain amount of material gain from the expedition, as the group had encountered several stone-hewn treasure chests during their trek through the maze. These contained an assortment of random loot which the dungeon used to draw adventurers further inside, just like the wooden ones that Boxxy had imitated in its home dungeon. The greedy Mimic had naturally wanted to plunder each and every one it had come across. It even had Snack steer the group towards them despite having to take detours and walking into dead ends. Having to dispatch the golems guarding the chests had made the trip slightly more difficult than it needed to be, but the monster in charge was certain that its endeavour would pay off.

  It was therefore quite miffed to find that the rewards were not worth the effort. Though the first two beautifully carved containers had yielded a sizeable pouch of gold coins and a case of healing potions, the next nine were far less encouraging. They held only common items like food, drink, clothing, and various works of art which, while high-quality goods, were of little to no use to Boxxy.

  Fizzy, on the other hand, really wanted some of those things for herself, especially the appetising jars of honeyed apples and sturdy-looking apparel. She felt that the Mimic might have been willing to part with those since it clearly considered them to be un-shiny junk, but had been too afraid to ask. Though it was hard to read what an animate chest was thinking, its increasingly frequent hissing and growling made it obvious that it was growing more and more pissed off as time went on.

  Once the group had reached the courtyard at the base of the Spire, Boxxy confirmed that there were no immediate dangers before assuming its Spell-casting form for the first time that day. The look on the pseudo-Xera’s albino face made it immediately apparent that it was just as ticked off as the gnome had imagined it to be. However, if its seething glare was any indication, its mood hadn’t been caused by some disappointing loot-boxes. At least, not entirely. No, the source of its ire was certainly not something, but someone.

  Seeing this made Fizzy instinctively curl into a whimpering ball on the ground, even though the absolute obedience she had displayed today made her unlikely to be the cause of Boxxy’s foul mood. Valeria could likewise be excluded since, while she had soaked up most of the XP, Boxxy understood that certain compromises were necessary in order to ensure a safe hunt. The undead, as well, were entirely blameless, as it was impossible to force responsibility onto something that was not even self-aware. The only remaining suspects were the two familiars and the Mimic itself.

  And, seeing as the wrathful box was a master at deflecting blame and Xera had done an excellent job of guiding it through the maze, this narrowed the list to one red-skinned moron.

  “Shadowbolt!”

  The mass of darkness flew from the staff in Boxxy’s hands and hit Kora squarely in the back of the head, the impact nearly knocking her to the ground.

  “Heeey!” she whined. “What gives, boss?”

  “Your information was bad.”

  “No, it wasn’t! I told you everything I found out while you were away last night, didn’t I?”

  “Then why did they become Enraged so often!?”

  One reason so few of their undead had made it this far was that the stone soldiers had become Enraged many times, seemingly at random. When that happened, they would throw their spears at the back line and pull short, sharp swords from their own bodies. At that point they would abandon any attempt at defence and attack with much greater ferocity.

  “I told you that would happen, though!” she complained. “It’s not my fault those things got broken what with all the attacks flying around!”

  “But if their spears were broken, then how were they able to throw them?” the Mimic countered.

  The golems’ sword slashes had certainly been dangerous, but nothing the front line couldn’t handle. It was the spears that had been the real problem. The heavy stone projectiles were powerful enough to take out a skeleton mage in one hit, even managing to kill Snack on one occasion. That had brought down the group’s ranged firepower, meaning that it had taken longer to defeat the soldiers. Which, in turn, meant that the front line had taken more damage.

  One could argue that Boxxy’s treasure-hunting detours were just as much to blame, but that wasn’t how the box-in-charge saw things.

  “Spears?” Kora raised an eyebrow. “What do spears have to do with anything?”

  “Everything!”

  Fizzy couldn’t help but scream at the fiend, considering that one of those things had nearly taken her head clean off.

  “You said th-th-that they ‘get super pissed and start attacking like mad’ if you break the shaft of their spears! B-b-but almost all of the ones that came flying at us were in pristine condition!”

  “Very good, Fizzy,” Boxxy commented, satisfied that its tiny protege had been paying attention. “So, Arms? Anything to say for yourself before the punishment starts?”

  Kora closed her eyes, crossed two of her arms and scratched her nose with a third as she pondered the situation.

  “Oh, wow!” she exclaimed after a while. “I guess I really should’ve worded that part better.”

  “Worded what part?”

  “I wasn’t talking about their spears.”

  And indeed, the trigger to the stone soldiers’ Enraged state wasn’t their weapon breaking. No, the golems had one more sizeable shaft on their bodies, one that no male in their right mind would want damaged.

  “I was talking about their dicks.”

  Part Five

  Boxxy was forced to re-summon Kora after it was done educating her on the importance of unambiguous reports. Admittedly, it could have forced her to fight even after it had pulled out all of her hair, stabbed her in the eyes with her own broken horns and torn off most of her limbs, but that would’ve been sub-optimal. Entertaining, but sub-optimal.

  Once the freshly-scolded fiend was back in peak condition, the two of them joined the rest of the group, who had taken the opportunity to rest. Both Fizzy and Valeria had needed a break, as they were mentally exhausted from the constant fighting and needed to be in good condition before tackling the Spire itself. The courtyard appeared to be a sort of safe zone where monsters did not venture, so they had taken the chance to sharpen their focus a bit.

  That said, the stone statues dotting the area were making them rather nervous, as there was no telling whether they might suddenly leap off their marble pedestals. Of course, it was also possible that said pedestals were part of the mechanism through which the dungeon created its golems, but if that was the case then they were quite inert, at least for the moment.

  After making sure that everyone’s HP and MP had fully recovered, Boxxy ushered the others towards the dungeon’s titular spire. After seeing it up close, it really did appear to be sculpted from a single piece of black stone, its surface smooth and slightly reflective. However, the Mimic couldn’t spot anything that looked like an entrance, at least not on the side visible from the group’s current position. It circled the stru
cture with Kora and the surviving high-class undead taking the lead but could find no way in even after doing two full laps around it.

  “Nasty,” it called, “go inside and look around.”

  “Whatever you say, honey!”

  The lich merrily turned immaterial and attempted to fly through the solid surface. However, it would seem that the black stone was warded to prevent that sort of intrusion, as she slammed into it face-first, much to the amusement of the other girls. Fizzy and the two demons were apparently united in their disdain for Valeria, albeit for completely different reasons.

  Xera saw her as an arrogant upstart unworthy of serving her beloved master. She thought the same of the gnome, of course, but at least the tiny woman knew her place, not to mention that she would serve as a good training partner for Boxxy’s socialisation practice. That, and she could really swing that wrench when properly provoked, so she wasn’t completely hopeless.

  Kora disliked the lich because of the roundabout and lazy way she fought her battles. From the fiend’s point of view, it was the undead minions that did all the work while their mistress sat back and tossed out the occasional Spell. In actuality, even though she appeared to be idle, Valeria had her hands full commanding the mindless undead. A blockhead like Kora had no way of knowing such things, though. It also didn’t help that the fiend was fully aware of how outmatched she would be if the two were to fight. While she was certainly capable of snapping Valeria like a twig, that would only matter if the lich allowed Kora to catch her. It was only natural that the demon would dislike something she was incapable of smashing.

  As for Fizzy, she still put the blame for her traumatic experience squarely on Valeria’s shoulders. She found herself constantly thinking about how much better off she’d have been if not for ‘that dead slut.’ Well, relatively speaking, at least. Plus, her newfound nature as a Paladin caused her to instinctively resent the undead, especially ones with such a high Level of Taboo. But no matter how much she wanted to get rid of the lich, she couldn’t. Not only would she lose due to the sheer difference in power, but Boxxy refused to allow even a hint of infighting amongst its minions.