by Rick Scott
I check my HP.
891/1732 HP
I can’t fall back on just using the ring either. With the poison curse, I’d have about thirty seconds before I died. And no way am I running through this gauntlet in thirty seconds.
I buff myself with Shadow Haste and Shadow Copy and wait for the timer to return to zero. I study the slam and bang of the hammers and rock back and forth to get into a rhythm. I blow out a breath.
No more stalling.
It’s go time!
I dash under the first two hammers and then stop on a dime, waiting for the one in front of me to raise high enough for me to duck under. Desperate milliseconds go by and I fear I might have blown it already. It goes up about three feet and I scoot under, just as the one behind me slams the place where I stood.
The world becomes slow-motion as my adrenaline spikes. I bob and weave under two more hammers, making it halfway. I pause for a breath and then a message appears on my HUD.
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
What?!
A hammer slams behind me, covering me in nano-dust. But I wasn’t even close! Panic sends my mind spiraling and my knees go weak. What the heck do I do?! I was out of place by maybe an inch. But I can’t just stay here to get hit again!
I jump forward and cast Shadow Copy but stop short when another hammer come slamming down in front of me. I’m not in control of this at all! I break into a panic and just run. I have one more hit to take and I’m nearly to the end. I just have to make it!
I run straight into another hammer I didn’t see.
BAM!
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
Crap!
I cry out in desperation as the hammer lifts up to hit me again. I see daylight as the last two hammers raise into the air as well. I’ve got to move now! I pop Charge Strike and sail under all three hammers right before they come crashing back down.
KER-BLAM!
I hit the ground on the opposite side of the obstacle with a roll, sliding onto my back.
Holy crap… that did NOT go well!
“Reece!” Val Helena shouts through the party chat. “Reece! Are you okay?”
My heart is jackhammering in my chest. I sit upright, breathing heavy. My head swims with a mixture of relief and disbelief.
How did I make it through that?
“I’m fine,” I lie as I struggle to my feet. “I’m coming to the door.”
* * *
I grab the lever and yank down. The massive door shoots upwards, fast as one of those hammers and Val Helena runs through it to give me a great big hug.
“Oh God, I was so scared, Reece!” she says, and I melt within her big strong arms. “We heard you screaming.”
“Yeah…” I say, feeling a bit stupid about it now. “Got a little hairy in that last part.”
I hug her back and then Aiko steps through the doorway.
“Please don’t scare us like that again,” she says, and gives me a quick embrace as well. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
I’ve got to admit, the hugs and sentiment feel great, but that alone won’t get us through the next leg. And everyone’s counting on me to do so. Aiko releases me from her arms and I turn towards the jump quest below me. From my vantage on the observation path I can see there are two sections of obstacles left. The next one looks to be a series of saw blades spinning vertically on clockwork spindles with thin pillars in between them. The last one is too far away to see clearly, but it looks to be some kind of tunnel leading upwards towards the orb at the end.
“Move on to the next door, guys,” I say. “I’ll be there in a jiff.”
I head back down the ladder to the start of the next obstacle. The adrenaline has waned and my heart rate is fast but steady. I feel much more in control of my senses and my body now. I guess I was freaking myself out too much before.
Overthinking it.
But now I feel strangely calm. Centered. Focused.
I step to the edge of the platform and the rows of spinning blades in front of me. I cast Shadow Copy and study the pattern. This is just like Dodge Tanking. Learn the patterns, anticipate, pre-position—Dodge.
I watch the blades for what must be five minutes straight. I know the clock is ticking, but trying to rush is what nearly got me killed before. Patience. That was the key. I go over the plan several times in my mind, until I have it memorized.
Every spin, every swoop, every jump.
“Reece, you okay?” Val Helena asks.
I look up and see her on the platform above me along with Aiko, staring down and perhaps wondering if I’m about to chicken out or something. I just give her a thumbs up, not wanting to break my focus.
Go time!
I jump to the first pedestal, wait for two seconds and then perform a forward flip onto the next one. As predicted, I narrowly miss both the blade that chops where I was and the one that chops on the pedestal ahead of me.
So far so good.
I repeat the process with each pillar, counting in my head the timing I had worked out from my observations. I jump and flip, using Retreat and Charge Strike in quick succession. The experience becomes surreal, like I’m not even doing it myself. That same feeling I get when I’m in the zone and Dodge Tanking, that knife’s edge between life and death. I move from one pillar to the next and then suddenly Val Helena’s voice explodes in my ear.
“Holy cow, Reece! That was amazing!”
I look up, startled to see both Aiko and Val Helena clapping.
Huh?
Behind me I see that I’ve cleared the obstacle and made it through completely unscathed, already crossing over to the safety of the next platform. Holy cow is right. Even my Shadow Copy is still intact! I blow out a breath, break into a smile and laugh.
“Whoa! I barely remember even doing that!” I say.
“Come and get this door open so I can hug you again!” Aiko shouts with a big grin on her face. “You badass ninja, you!”
My spirits lift and I can almost forget the peril we’re all in. I clamber up the ladder and pull the lever for the door. Val Helena gives me an exuberant double high-five and Aiko gives me her promised hug, but it comes with an added kiss on the cheek that makes me blush a little.
“Hurry up and do that again,” Aiko says, playfully swatting me on the rear. “Zero hits, just like last time.”
“Okay, okay!”
Val Helena and Aiko head towards the last door and I head back down to the last obstacle. I shake away my nerves with a wringing of my hands. One more to go. But it’s bound to be harder. Still, I’ve learned how to do this now. I’ve got to use the same method. This is more about using my brain than my reflexes.
The girls cheer me on from above like I’m some superstar as I approach the entrance to the tunnel. It looks to be about a hundred feet long with absolutely nothing inside. It’s angled on a steep slope upwards and through it I can see the crystal pillars surrounding the orb on the other side. I expect maybe some boulder to come rolling down the tunnel towards me, but when I take a step forward I see something much worse.
A zigzag pattern of red lasers flash into existence, crisscrossing in a pattern so intricate I can barely make sense of it all. It lasts for maybe a second and then a series of blue lasers fire in a different pattern, and then green. The cycle repeats itself, but then begins to change almost randomly. Red, blue, green, red, blue, green, green, blue, red, blue. My mind gets dizzy just looking at it. It’s like the patterns on the tiles outside.
But still, just like those tiles, there has to be an overall pattern to this. I just need to be patient and learn it. The lasers start to give me a headache and I wish that Rembrandt was here to help me. I vaguely wonder how they are making out with getting those keys outside. Time is moving faster for them, so maybe they’ve gotten enough already. Maybe he and my brother will pop inside at any moment to help me solve this. But I can’t rely on that. I need to focus and
learn this thing.
“This one might take a little while,” I say through the party chat.
I check Gilly’s timer.
13:47
My stomach lurches. I spent way more time on that last one than I would have liked. And this one is bound to take even longer. I force down the anxiety creeping into my psyche as I stare at the flashing patterns of lasers.
I need to master the heck out of this one.
And fast.
Chapter 14: Naked Truth
Bruce entered the boardroom to a meeting table full of scowls. He was 20 minutes late, but he honestly couldn’t care. As far as he was concerned this meeting was a farce anyway. He sat down to a hard copy of the report already laid out on the table in front of him. The rest of the board was already flipping through their own copies, perusing while waiting for him to arrive perhaps.
“Nice of you to join us, Bruce,” Dennis said with levity.
Bruce didn’t react to the façade of humor, no doubt designed to just throw him off again.
“Begin your presentation,” he said, no-nonsense. “Before we debate I’d like to ensure we each have the same information.”
Glances of dissent circled around the room.
“It’s quite late,” Martha Kirkwood said, “and I think we’ve already gone through the material several times now, Bruce. If everyone is okay with it, I say we plow on—”
“This is not up for debate,” Bruce shot her down curtly. “We’re about to make a decision that could either doom or preserve our very existence. I will not have us treat it like we’re picking out new furniture for the board room.”
Martha’s face dropped aghast, but she kept her mouth shut. The mood in the room shifted, soured. Bruce was stamping his authority and they didn’t like it. But to heck with them. He needed time to tease out Dennis’ true intentions for doing all of this.
Bruce gave a nod to the software engineer. “The floor is yours, Dennis. For the official record, please enlighten on how this plan of yours will work.”
* * *
I’ve been staring at the laser patterns so long that I fear the images might be burned permanently into my retina now. If I even have retina in this nano-tech body. My head aches and I feel my concentration slipping, but I think I almost have the full sequence memorized. It’s doubly hard to judge distances with the slope of the tunnel and I pray my depth perception isn’t playing tricks on me as I plot my course. Bit by bit I’ve mapped out a route for myself, small pockets of space in between the lasers. It makes me think back to Rembrandt and what he did to get us through the labyrinth. Doing this is hard enough, but being able to do what Rembrandt did on a grand scale gives me a whole new appreciation for what he accomplished now.
I let the pattern repeat twice more, anticipating the sequence a step in advance, before finally accepting that I’ve learned it well enough.
I check the timer.
9:52
Dang. I burned a lot of time. About four or five minutes on the timer. Which for me, under this time compression, was about twenty-five minutes. A long time to be staring at flashing lights, but it’ll be worth it, I hope.
“I think I’m ready, guys,” I say through the party chat. “Here goes.”
“You’ve got this, Reece,” Val Helena says. “We believe in you.”
I line myself up at the tunnel’s edge and release a deep breath.
Focus.
I wait for the pattern to go through one last cycle, preparing myself to jump forward when it begins anew.
A message flashes onto my HUD.
Level Down!
You have lost a level!
You are now Level 84.
What the heck!!
You no longer meet the requirements for a Dark Shinobi Mask!
You un-equip a Dark Shinobi Mask.
You no longer meet the requirements for a Dark Shinobi Gi!
You un-equip a Dark Shinobi Gi.
You no longer meet the requirements for a Warrior’s Tekko!
You un-equip a Warrior’s Tekko.
You no longer meet the requirements for a Ninja Hakama!
You un-equip a Ninja Hakama.
You no longer meet the requirements for a Dark Shinobi Kyahan!
You un-equip a Dark Shinobi Kyahan.
You no longer meet the requirements for an Anju!
You un-equip an Anju.
You no longer meet the requirements for a Zushio!
You un-equip a Zushio.
What!?!
I look down at my naked body and a cold sweat of panic breaks out over my bare skin. I cry out in frustration.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Reece, what happened?” Val Helena yells.
I can barely believe it myself.
“I lost a level. I can’t equip any of my gear!”
I check my stats and freak out for a second time.
Name: Reece
Class: Ninja
Level: 84
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 80
Agility: 80
Intelligence: 4
Mind: 6
Vitality: 26
HP: 1032/1032
Stamina: 297/297
TP: 176/176
No way! This can’t be for real. I look at my paltry stats and feel like crying. All the Veteran Points I’d had as a buffer are gone and now my real XP is draining away. I just lost 160 points of Agility from the prestige gear. I’m now down to a third of what I had! Everything I’d calculated in my mind was based on super quick movements. Things I was confident I could pull off with 240 Agility.
But now?
“I hate this stupid place!” I cry out in frustration. “Argh!”
“Reece, keep it together!” Val Helena shouts through the chat. “You can still do it. These things can be done as a Level 1, right?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. This place isn’t playing by the same rules as the Shards.”
At least it doesn’t feel like it.
I look at the gear in my inventory, Level 85 and useless to me.
“Come back up,” Aiko says. “We can swap gear again. You can still use your old stuff.”
“No, it won’t help…” I shake my head, dejected. “…My old gear only had a +5 bonus to Agility. It’s no better than what I’m wearing now.”
“Damn…” Aiko says flatly, perhaps looking at the stats for herself. “I guess you’re right. Crap…”
Desperate seconds go by. I watch Gilly’s timer deplete along with my XP.
One thing’s for sure. Inaction is not the answer. The more I wait, the worse things will become. I materialize the Witch Spider’s Ring in my palm.
A Witch Spider’s Ring
+30 INT, 50% reduction to spell-casting and recast times
Cursed: Strong Poison Effect
A small ring containing the soul of a Witch Spider. While imbuing the wearer with its powers, it also ails them with its venom.
No level restriction. I can still use it.
“Reece!” Aiko shouts. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve got to compensate somehow,” I say and prepare to place it on my finger. “Those lasers are just way too fast.”
“Wait!” she shouts. “You have a lot less hit points now too.”
I verify it with a glance.
HP: 1032/1032
I shrug. “I was at half health before anyway.”
I actually think I have more hit points now than I did when I last checked. I do the math. I have roughly forty seconds to live from the time I place this ring on my finger. The tunnel is roughly a hundred feet long. I could probably run that in about 5 seconds flat unobstructed. If I still had Perfect Dodge I could probably do just that. But even before I lost the level, it was stuck on Cool-Down.
This is going to take skill and finesse.
I tune out the cries of worry from Val Helena and Aiko.
I’m on my own now.
Only
I can do this.
I buff myself with Shadow Haste.
I think back to the last two obstacles. I managed to get through the first by a combination of reflex and instinct—the second from careful study and memorization. To get through this, I’ll need to do both. I exhale slowly to decrease the rapid beating of my heart. I’m about to face perhaps the greatest challenge I ever have. One mistake will mean failure, for everyone, and it will be all of my own doing. No monster to blame. Just me and my own incompetence.
I won’t let that happen.
I’m not going to fail this.
I push down my fear and clear my head. Gear or no gear, I’m still a Dodge Tank.
And I’m going to dodge the crap out of this!
I cast Shadow Copy and wait for the Cool-Down to wear off. I place the ring on my finger and grimace as the venom burn through my veins.
You take -50 poison damage!
HP: 982/1032
Go!
I run into the tunnel and purposely take a hit from the first array of lasers.
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
You take -50 poison damage!
HP: 932/1032
You take -50 poison damage!
HP: 882/1032
I recast and move forward before the next pattern fires. 5 feet in.
The sequences flash through my mind as I duck under the beams for the red pattern, then shift to the side for the blue and green. I’m doing it! I press forward, looking for the spots where I can safely take a stray hit from the lasers to recast Shadow Copy.
My heart is in my throat. I’m beside myself with fear, but shove it into the back of my mind. My HP ticks down with each second as I dodge and weave between the flashing red, blue and green lights.
You take -50 poison damage!
