by Prax Venter
Floor 40 Boss C Critical! -519 | 283/802
Floor 40 Boss C +400 | HP 683/802
Jack -143 | HP 232/518
Farah -210 | HP 224/434
While he wasn’t looking, the snarling old lady had nailed him with another cookie, and Jack was starting to panic. They’d barely done anything to the traitorous people that lived on Floor 40 but his vision was filling up with disastrous damage indicators from his own team. They were all going to die unless he came up with something.
The bastard Stonecutter was closing in on Lex to possibly finish her off, and all thoughts of ability synergies left his brain. This wasn’t a game, and the situation demanded he stop thinking of fights as only a set of abilities.
Jack sprinted at full speed directly at the Carpenter, ducking under another hurled cookie as he did so. The Floor Boss with the silver chisel in his hand took a few steps back and prepared to melee the enraged Hero from another dimension, but Jack was beyond playing fair- he was beyond playing. This was their lives- everyone’s lives, everywhere. He was not going to let them all die here.
Instead of using his sword, Jack leaped the last few feet and thrust both of his boots into the surprised Stonecutter’s chest. He was knocked off his feet onto his back, and his head landed inside the Sundrop Forest.
Exactly as it had happened before, the towering pines bent outward like rubber and parted away from the man no longer wearing his black beret. A blast of brilliant energy like a falling star struck him square in the face, and he sat up screaming.
Floor 40 Boss D -319 | HP 483/802
As the blinded Boss groped the ground for his dropped tools/weapons, Haylee fired a Light Ray directly into the Stonecutter’s eye socket.
Floor 40 Boss D Critical! -498 | Defeated
“No!” cried the stone woman, and the distraction broke the spell she had over Lex and Farah. Jack pulled himself off the ground, Farah sprinted toward the healer, and the Bastion let out a shout of her own, reversing the situation and forcing the statue to focus all her attention on her.
Then a cookie collided with Lex’s new helmet.
Lex -126 | 310/738
With his new target now locked, Jack sprinted into melee range of the heavyset evil grandmother. He batted away two baked projectiles with his sword before he brought it down in a vicious overhead swing. As soon as he felt the sharpened blade meet the resistance of her wicked skull, he activated Double Strike.
Floor 40 Boss A -112 | HP 490/754
Floor 40 Boss A -112 | HP 378/754
The old woman staggered out of range as she pulled a wooden rolling pin out of a deep pocket in her apron, but Jack held his ground and ignited her twisted face with a point-blank Mining Laser. She moved to strike him, but with Jack withering her health down by 152 every second, she vanished in a swirl of buzzing static before doing any more damage.
With the ranged attacker out of the way and Lex holding the statue, Farah, Jack and Haylee erased the healing Carpenter. Then it was all down to the woman carved from stone, and Jack let himself drop some of his heart-clenching tension.
With a final stab in the back from their Shadow Blade, the final Floor Boss exploded in a shower of sparks, and everyone shot up to Hero Level 41.
“What a horrible Floor,” Lex said, panting, changing her mind yet again.
“And Alt’s not gone forever?” Farah asked, sheathing her blades.
Jack shook his head. “No, he’s fine. I can summon him on Floor 1, tomorrow.”
“Shame,” Haylee said. “I was hoping to speak with him alone before Exit.”
Jack and Lex shared a quick glance, and he felt Alt’s echo of disappointment wash over his skull. He shook it off and moved toward the golden Boss Chest. “It might be possible to get him a physical form out in System Sana,” he said, but felt resistance and Alt responded in his mind.
“From the initial failed experiments with virtual universes, when I acted directly as an agent from within the base system, the Corruption would see this link and focus everything on consuming my physical systems.”
Jack continued out loud. “And even if there are challenges to that, we’ll find a way to overcome them, together.”
Alt sighed in his mind. “I appreciate your optimism, Jack.”
With a flick of his intention, Jack opened the final chest of the day.
Floor 40 Rewards - Boss Chest
Brown River Britches - [Legs | Value: 213]
| Def: 48 |
| Max HP +109 |
| Max MP +200 |
| Magic Power +47 |
| Regain 5 MP per Critical Strike dealt |
~ Relentless as rampaging mud
Steel Plate Helm - [Head | Value: 202]
| Def: 115 |
| Max HP +212 |
Baker’s Club - [2-Hand Mace | Value: 203]
| Dmg: 105 |
| Hit Chance +0.30 |
| Crit Chance -0.02 |
Patent Stone Woman - [Artifact | Value: 4880]
Jack couldn’t equip the britches and they didn’t look to be made of metal, so he assumed they were cloth. If so, they were absolutely perfect for Haylee who had gone many Floors with her current Leg-Slot equipment. The artifact was a pleasant surprise. Its painted icon was an exact copy of the statuesque creation they’d just defeated.
“Everyone, come look what’s in here,” he said after Lex had spent the rest of her Mana healing everyone.
Haylee quickly swapped out her Inked Trousers for the Leg upgrade, and all her stats shot up. She went from 319 Max HP to 369 Max HP with one upgrade and every bit counted as they pushed higher up the Tower.
“These are wonderful.” A small amount of emotion broke through Haylee’s quiet voice as she looked down at her new threads. “This special condition should add more arrows to my quiver.”
“You certainly aren’t stingy with those criticals,” Farah said with a smile.
“You saving the Artifact?” Lex asked with a raised eyebrow. To Jack she might as well have said, “you should save the Artifact”.
Jack nodded. “The Town will Level without it. And I plan on stashing a lot of this high-value stuff for Emberstone, as well. We should have an easier time holding it if I can dump a trove into its input chest.”
“I will never forget this day,” Farah said, her solemn tone pulling his eye. “I am excited about the future for the first time in a long time.”
The chest interface followed along in Jack’s vision, so he moved its contents into his Inventory while he responded. “It’s going to take a lot of work, and I hope I can count on you to run things there after we take it back.”
“You want me to be Mayor of Emberstone?” Farah asked, her angled brows coming down hard.
Jack dismissed the empty interface. “Yeah. After today, I’ve seen you fight as part of a team. You see through the crap and make good calls. There’s not much to it really. Everyone seems to already know what they are supposed to do. Besides, the way I understand it, you could name anyone you wanted as Mayor if you don’t want it. But, I need someone there I can trust to do the right thing- that is if it even works that way.”
“No one knows what happens when a Town is taken back from the Corruption,” Lex said, then corrected herself. “No one that I know knows. But it must be possible.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Farah said, her twisted smile curling up half of her face. “Ask me again after you take back Emberstone.”
“After we take it back,” Jack corrected. “But I really want to hit 50 and have a big bank of Items before we risk leaving Blackmoor for a day.”
Haylee and Lex focused inward as they contemplated trekking out into the Corruption and leaving behind the only home they knew. The little girl Jack had seen playing with dolls in the woods only days ago still remained within the killing machine standing in front of him, and he felt bad that she had to become a soldier instead. Lex too.
The people of System Sana were all conscripted to figh
t this war for people they didn’t even know existed- who in turn knew nothing of these brave digital entities struggling to survive. The anxiety over explaining all this to Lex came back with gut-twisting force.
“Let’s eat,” Jack said, breaking the silence and forcing his feet to move for the Exit Orb.
The sunny pine forest around them vanished and was replaced with the deep-blue skies of late afternoon. It was rare that their dreary cove was calm and sunny.
Ryea, Harrak, and Sol were waiting for them near the Fountain, and Jack noticed the white-robed Andor standing near the crossroads. He’d hoped the young man had calmed down after a day to reflect on his situation.
“Welcome home!” Ryea shouted and Lex walked over to give her a hug. “Aww what’s this about?”
“Rough climb?” Harrak asked, his eyes going to Jack’s.
“We pushed pretty far with our full team, and the last Floor was… unique. People talking to us and sending us on quests. But we got some great new gear.”
“Mmmhmm, I see,” Harrak said, inspecting his daughter’s new helm.
“I’m ready for Demi’s cooking,” the Bastion said pulling away from Ryea. “I think I’m going back to fish and sea broth tonight.”
The Farmer wrinkled her nose at that. “Ech, no thanks. The orb pheasant is good, but I can’t wait for beef. Oh! We and got a whole shipment of rum while you climbed!”
“Great news!” Jack said. With everything going on in his life, he didn’t think he’d be getting drunk anytime soon, but having the option was just another step toward making Blackmoor Cove a place more people would want to call home.
He walked right past the Input Chest, opting to hold the day’s items, and the Town Level until they held their meeting tonight.
“Speaking of which,” Alt said in his mind, “I will need to borrow some of your uh, mental faculties during dinner- so I may calculate the risk of Lex’s proposal.”
Jack unequipped his new floppy leather helmet and intended to probe for more information again when Haylee spoke from near the Fountain.
“I’ll be in soon.”
Sol paused the longest, debating whether to walk back and wait with her or leaving her alone. In the end, they all left the Dark Prism to her thoughts.
Andor quietly joined their party as they passed and Farah put her arm around him, squeezing him tight.
“How you feeling?” she asked.
“Clearer,” he responded with a faint smile.
Jack held the door open for everyone as they all piled into the busy common room of the Eye ‘o the Storm. Before following them in, he saw Haylee holding her rare Star Chaser bow as she sat on the edge of the Foundation and focused on something beyond the world around her.
He let the door close behind him and sat down at his usual table with his friends.
“What’ll it be?” Reno asked, sliding up as soon as they sat down.
Jack rubbed his hands down his face. For the first time in a long time he wasn’t hungry. They spent what felt like well over 24 hours awake and adventuring in the Tower, yet he couldn’t imagine stuffing his anxiety-twisted gut with anything at the moment.
“Surprise me,” he said eventually.
The older man smiled. “I like that, Jack. You got it.” He went around the table taking everyone’s order, making extra sure that Haylee was okay and didn’t have a request before he deftly moved around the room.
“They’re going to need more help here soon,” Sol said. “Especially if we are getting three new buildings after our meeting.”
Jack’s mind began planning an early morning run through Town, checking new arrivals and performing another round of reassignment. He turned in his seat to scope out any new faces at the tables- Ryea did say they had a shipment come in today. But before he got too far, he saw Andor walking up to the wooden stage in the back corner.
A wave of silence spread from that side of the room, and by the time the displaced Hero began with a loud, “Everyone,” he’d had their full attention.
His blue eyes looked wild, fevered, and Jack shot a glance at Farah by the door. Her face held concern and her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She caught Jack looking as Andor started speaking, and she gave him a helpless shrug.
“I saw much of this lovely Town and spoke with several of you lovely Townsfolk.”
Demi came out from behind her curtain as Andor passed a tight grin over the crowd. He pointed directly at Jack before he continued.
“This man says he loves the world? So do I. And I have to wonder if anyone thought to ask where those blue bird-things you’ve all been consuming with chomping gnashing teeth… Did anyone not ask where such monstrosities might have come from?”
He paused and shot a glance at the silver-haired innkeeper. “You Bygone Heroes should know better, and your silence only damns you too.”
Jack’s twisting stomach became one solid knot. Andor wasn’t done. Before anyone could even put together what he was saying, he swung his arm over to quiver toward Meri.
“And there is even a murderer allowed to walk among you! You call this Town safe, but between the false king who promised a suspiciously tardy Town Level today, happily serving Monster meat, and the objectively immoral woman walking freely… this whole place is an infested pit of filth, and you are all abominations, and-”
Lex stood up abruptly. “You shut your demon’s asshole of a mouth!” Jack heard a few gasps, and the enraged Bastion continued quickly.
“This world is ours. We are done playing by the rules. Yes,” she said turning her attention to the people of Blackmoor, “the Orb Pheasants were monsters in the Tower before they came to our pens. Yet they feed us, improve our Rest Bonus…”
Sol stood up and added, “And they facilitate trade with other Towns.” He pointed to the captain of the trade vessel, a frown growing on his bearded face. Sol continued with an air of authoritative confidence lending power to his words. “We take rare and valuable items out of the Tower in order to feed the Town. These Heroes risk their lives to take coins, items, and everything needed to stay alive. This is no different. We will use every advantage we can grasp our fingers onto. This world is ours.”
Demi took a step forward and pressed her hands into the bar.
“This world is ours,” she repeated, her head held high, daring anyone to disagree with her.
Reno and Harrak stood and each repeated the words.
“This world is ours.”
“This world is ours.”
More people stood and then the whole town was chanting. Jack was overwhelmed by the emotions pressing in around him- by what he had started in these people.
The door to the inn opened and everyone stopped to see Haylee, her gray eyes narrowed as she tried to puzzle out what was happening and why everyone was shouting.
Farah took this opportunity to get up and stand by the young Hero.
“You’re wrong, Andor,” she said, her sharp features focused on her grieving friend. “What these people say about viewing the world as theirs is what feels right- what is true. Everything in the Tower is ours to take freely. This world is ours.”
Andor looked like he’d been slapped in the face.
“You’re not only fools, you’re selfishly dooming the rest of us. I’ve already paid a terrible price for your abhorrent ways. The Corruption has become angered by your actions, and I will spread word across the whole of System Sana of your wicked and dangerous perversions.”
Jack finally stood up, and Andor took this as his hint to be done. He gathered his white robes and stalked out of the inn, passing between Farah and Haylee as he left. Two other men Jack didn’t recognize stood up and went with him.
More things to worry about.
The whole Town was looking at him, waiting for some nugget of wisdom, but everything that needed saying had already been said.
Jack nodded and simply said, “Reno, I’ll have the breaded pheasant strips and mashed potatoes- extra mustard, please.”<
br />
There were some chuckles and some positive mutterings throughout the common room. Jack sat down at his table, and most everyone else followed his lead.
Jack kept his eyes locked on Lex across from him and couldn’t imagine loving anyone more than her.
“Demon’s asshole?” Jack repeated, a smile tugging on the corner of his lip.
Harrak remained standing and placed his oversized hand on Jack’s shoulder, pulling his attention. The small amount of flesh on his face that wasn’t covered by hair was a striking color of off-white.
“Although I can see the benefit, I need to take a few deep breaths while I come to terms with us casually consuming creatures from inside the Tower. I’ll be back before the meeting.”
Jack patted his arm, and he noticed Farah following the stocky old man out the door as well.
“The cute little ones are really monsters… from inside?” Ryea asked, her eyes wide.
“I was still figuring out how everything worked back then.” Jack shrugged. “I didn’t do it on purpose, that’s for sure.”
“And you knew this whole time?” the Farmer asked, her long braid flipping behind her as she snapped her attention on Lex.
The pointed-eared Bastion sighed. “Yes.”
“I didn’t know either, but I had my suspicions,” Sol said with a rare smile on his face. “I suppose I couldn’t even imagine that as being possible until recently.”
The owlish man’s dark eyebrows rose as his daughter took her seat across from him.
“I don’t tell you enough how proud I am of you,” he said.
The corner of her lip curled slightly. “If you think you’re proud now, wait until I tell you what I learned today about something called advertisement.”
- 8 -
“So, who wants to go first?” Jack swept his eyes across the people whose wisdom he trusted without question.
Harrak answered quickly. “You know what we are facing. The brave men and women standing at our gate could always be more prepared, no matter how secure we think we are. A Fort is still the best choice.”
“You gotta sell it to us,” Jack said. “What are the benefits of a Fort?”
