by Prax Venter
He shrugged. “There is a chance that the real Boss fight is with those four magic mirror stands, or even the whole damn room itself. All we can do is shift the odds in our favor.”
“True enough,” she said with a nod.
The only thing left to do was to rotate the mirrors and see if this bold abuse of layout decorations would have any effect. Jack moved to the mirror near the stairs and closest to the creature’s mouth while everyone stayed up on the back ledge behind it.
Ready for anything, he switched the lever and the reflective surface pointed downward instead.
A small hiss and a puff of smoke came from the monster covered in blankets, but after a few heavy thuds of Jack’s heart against his ribcage, nothing else happened.
“It appears as if we need all four,” Lex said from the back of the room.
Jack nodded and moved to one of the other reflective devices and switched off the second light. A low growl came from its mouth, but that didn’t stop Jack from walking back around to the third mirror.
The ground began to shake slightly after it was down to one light source left, and Jack sprinted to the back ledge where the others were waiting by the final device. Everyone took cover behind the wall between the pit and the outer ledge as Jack flipped the final lever.
The moment he did, the monster tied to the Exit Orb plinth let out a wailing roar that reverberated around the Chamber, then began thrashing against its restraints.
A heat like nothing Jack had ever felt radiated outward from the creature, and he had to back away from the edge or he was sure he’d start taking damage. The blankets draped over the beast burst into ash almost immediately afterward and white-green flames danced all over its thick hide. There was no way anyone was getting into melee range.
Jack could still feel the heat baking his face even with his back pressed up against the far wall, but it wasn’t intolerable, and he could still see its head flailing around as it tried to free itself.
Jack held out his blade and shouted, “Stay as far away as you can and take it down!”
Haylee and Alt moved out of cover and joined him as his Mining Laser struck the first blow.
Floor 48 Boss -205 | HP 3,145/3,350
It was less damage than it should be, but Alt quickly sent the concept of fire resistant before both he and Haylee added their ranged attacks into the strange creature’s back.
Floor 48 Boss -380 | HP 2,765/3,350
Floor 48 Boss -646 | HP 2,119/3,350
The monster opened its tentacle-filled maw and sent out a torrent of green swirling magic as a wide beam of crackling power into the walls and ceiling, but since Jack had tangled its legs with chains, its attack missed everyone behind it.
Haylee’s eyes flashed and the thrashing slowed to half speed and then she used her other ability to yell out the Boss’s weakness.
“Inside the mouth!”
The information wasn’t going to do them any good with the one-eyed monster blasting out a thick beam of energy, but Jack and Alt got another free round of damage off into its back.
Floor 48 Boss -205 | HP 1,914/3,350
Floor 48 Boss -380 | HP 1,534/3,350
As Haylee drew back her new bow for another attack, Jack noticed the chains touching the monster’s searing skin had begun to glow red and bend. Their advantage wasn’t going last forever.
Floor 48 Boss -323 | HP 1,211/3,350
It was a normal Light Ray, but they were gradually bringing it down. Jack felt a smile begin to spread on his face until the first white-hot chain stretched like taffy then snapped.
It gave the beast enough room to turn and blast up into the ledge where they were all standing, but since the Dark Prism had slowed its movements, everyone was able to split apart and take cover behind the walls again.
“Hit it from the other two ledges!” Jack yelled to be heard over the roaring monster and the constant beam of angry swirling energy blasting from the beast’s bizarre face.
Jack and Alt ran behind the protective wall to the right, while Haylee was forced to go the other way. His movement speed augmentation meant that Jack was the first into position and began blasting it immediately from as far back as he could stand.
Floor 48 Boss -205 | HP 1,006/3,350
Alt was right behind him, but the monster in the pit could easily target that ledge and began blasting again- forcing both of them to take cover behind the wall.
A moment later, Haylee shot it from her new position.
Floor 48 Boss -323 | HP 683/3,350
“Hey, beast dude!” Lex shouted, but Jack could tell that it was just her voice and not an ability. The creature turned to look at her, giving both Jack and Alt the opening to attack in tandem, and with a bit of quick mental math honed from days of fighting in the Tower, Jack pulled out his Double Omni Strike synergy to land the final blow.
Floor 48 Boss -380 | HP 303/3,350
Floor 48 Boss -170 | HP 133/3,350
Floor 48 Boss -170 | Defeated
- 19 -
The beast exploded into a shower of multihued sparks and everyone ascended to Hero Level 49. Jack risked peeking down into the boss chamber and saw a glowing pile of melted chains and black scorch marks. Nearby was the golden Boss Chest and the door to Floor 49. Lex stepped to the edge with Farah beside her, and Haylee stood across from him on another ledge.
“It worked!” Lex cheered.
“It was close there at the end,” Jack said with a growing grin, “but we really cheesed that beast!”
Farah crossed her arms. “We defeated the Floor 48 Boss without taking any damage or spending very much mana, and neither I nor Lex did much at all. Before I met you, King Jack, I would never have thought of using layout decorations to… cheese anything.”
Jack held up a finger. “Cheesing someone in a game is considered one step above cheating but still within the rules, and we’re doing it as often as we can.”
Haylee hopped down into the pit, her flowing cloth gear flipping as she moved through the air.
“I say we go one more Floor today,” she said, her gray eyes locked on the door.
Lex and Farah jumped down to join her.
“I’m at 166/568 Mana,” the Bastion said. “I only spent 46 on this Floor, and I’ll regain that and more if we go up from the Rest Bonus, but are we ready for this? Floor 49 should be a considerable challenge.”
She was trying to be the voice of reason, but Jack could tell by the way Lex was standing on her toes slightly that it would take very little to convince her.
“I’m in,” Farah said.
“I’m looking forward to abusing its layout,” Haylee said. “Although, it could be one of those simple Floors containing a ground, monsters, and a Boss.”
Jack hopped down to join his team and Alt followed. Before committing to anything, Jack checked the Boss chest. There was a rare piece of plate mail armor that gave a boost to healing, and a two-handed blade for Alt, but no actual upgrades for anyone. He fed the Tempered Longsword to his upgradeable weapon and saw its Main-Hand damage go from 155 to 157.
“Every little bit counts,” he mumbled and then turned to face the group. “Nothing super-good in here. And, if we’re all in agreement, I’d love to unlock our Tier 3 abilities.”
Lex bit her lip and turned to the Angry Sun floating near Jack.
“What do you say, Alt? Do you favor our chances?”
He dipped his exaggerated black eyes in a nod. “If the layout is not ideal or the challenge is too great, you can always abandon the climb. Haylee would lose her rare bow and the over 40,000 worth of items we’ve collected, but I believe everyone’s current stats should give us a decent shot at clearing Floor 49.”
Farah shook her head. “Forty thousand… the most I’ve ever held in my inventory is two and a half thousand.”
Alt turned to face her. “I’ll remind you that he holds far more than that. The number I gave you was only what was picked up today.”
Jack stepped close to his wife
and rested his hand on her shoulder.
“What do you think?”
Lex nodded slowly. “We aren’t risking everything, and our MP reserves are higher than they have any right to be. I say we go for it.”
Jack kissed the golden strands on the top of her head before moving to the wooden door with the number 49 burned into it.
“Here’s hoping the layout’s cheeseable!” he said as he grabbed the metal ring affixed to the door and after the transition whitewash, they found themselves standing under blue skies on a warm beach. Gentle waves rolled in behind them where the Exit Orb poked out of the wet sand, and ahead was an active volcano dotted with palm trees.
“It appears we’re on an island,” Haylee said, panning her gray eyes over the scene before them.
Jack took in a deep breath of clean, sweet air and immediately noticed the lack of sea salt. He bent down and scooped some of the warm freshwater into his hands and rubbed it over his face to wash away the non-existent grime that should be covering him after fighting through almost fifty Floors. There was nothing but clear blue liquid in every direction except on the sandbar where they stood.
“I’d love to spend a day here,” he said after a deep sigh.
The observant Dark Prism turned from searching the way ahead.
“To what end?”
“To relax… As the Queen of Blackmoor once said, we have to take the time to live the lives we’re fighting for.”
The young Hero turned to Lex and then lifted the journal resting against her leg to take another note.
“It’s true, but that time is certainly not now,” the queen countered as she took a step toward the sandy beach. “Now we fight.”
“And we fight dirty,” Jack added. To demonstrate, he grabbed a fistful of sand and tossed it out over the water. “If we run into something with eyes, maybe try and use this trick to blind it. Homemade status effect.”
“I love it,” Farah said as they all began to follow Lex along the coast of the island.
Jack let his imagination run wild as he considered everything this tropical layout had to offer. The few palm trees could be cut down and made into walls, or maybe a boat to sail around to the back of the volcano. None of it really mattered until they knew what they were dealing with.
The group had followed the stretch of sand with porous volcanic rock on one side and infinite water on the other until they came to a large open beach. To the left, Jack could see a passage deeper into the island and nearby was a small campfire with piles of bones scattered around it.
He was wondering where the monsters were when one of the piles of bones stood up. Jack and his party stopped in their tracks and prepared for anything, but the animated skeleton was still over a hundred yards across the sand and didn’t seem to notice them. The monster held a metal spear in its bony hand, and it was hard to tell, but it appeared to be a minotaur’s skeleton. It stretched its long, bleached-white arm bones into the air in a move that could only be a satisfying stretch before it turned to look out over the freshwater ocean.
“Want to try and take it out from here?” Jack asked the Dark Prism.
She answered by taking a step away from the group and drawing her new Beast Warden bow. Before Haylee fired, her gray eyes flashed, giving her insight into the monster’s weakness.
She simply said, “Spine,” before sniping the target with a standard Light Ray.
Bone Minotaur Critical! -640 | HP 560/1,200
The creature turned its cow-skull head to face the group as a second skeletal monster hopped to its hooves near the fire. Everyone readied themselves for combat as the two creatures tossed up sand behind them with their stampeding hooves.
The Dark Prism had time to fire off another shot before either Jack or Alt were in range, so she shattered the other target with a Blue Shifted laser.
Bone Minotaur Critical! -1280 | Defeated
The first Minotaur had made it to within 20 yards and hurled its iron spear toward Haylee, but Lex was keeping an eye out for such a move and dashed sideways to catch the projectile with a solid impact on her shield.
Alt and Jack then blasted it with both of their ranged attacks, and the monster’s bones instantly lost whatever magic held them together. The pieces skittered across the beach from its momentum and rolled to a stop a few yards away.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Jack said, sheathing his sword.
Lex shook her head. “Something’s wrong. The monsters are still-”
Before she could finish, the campfire in the middle of the beach sent out two white orbs of pure light into the air as if fired from a small cannon. The smoky spheres reminded Jack of the tube-like fireworks he’d aim down the street as a kid, but instead of obeying physics, the projectiles arced toward the minotaur skulls and impacted each with an ethereal thunderclap that echoed across the water.
That’s when Jack understood what Lex was trying to say. Every monster, Boss, or Demon he’d seen dispatched in this world always faded out in a swirl of buzzing static- and these enemies were still lying in pieces.
“They’re not dead!” he shouted as both Eternal Bone Minotaurs reassembled themselves. Even their spears zipped back to their knobby fists. After they had reformed, both monsters lowered their horns and renewed their charge.
Lex was ready and intercepted the closest one with her shield. The metal thud focused Jack’s attention, and he drew his sword across the air as he activated a double Omni Strike.
Bone Minotaur -192 | HP 1,008/1,200
Bone Minotaur -192 | HP 816/1,200
…
It was as he feared, they were back to full health. Before he could worry about it too much, Farah sliced both of her daggers against the spine of the one engaged with Lex using her basic dual-wield attack.
Bone Minotaur Critical! -269 | HP 547/1,200
Bone Minotaur Critical! -283 | HP 264/1,200
Haylee dashed back from the close physical combat as Lex and Farah kept theirs busy and then fired a Light Ray on the spear-wielding skeleton she’d already destroyed. Jack thought she’d missed her target, but when he noticed her thin beam of light connect with the campfire down the beach, he had to acknowledge the smart move. Then he saw the damage notification.
Eternal Flame -0 | HP 1/1
“What now?” Jack yelled as he rushed to intercept the second charging foe. With his high dodge, he was now the next-best melee defender. It tried ramming Jack with its horns, but he spun out of the way and slashed the creature in its exposed spine while activating a Double Strike.
Bone Minotaur Critical! -370 | HP 830/1,200
Bone Minotaur Critical! -370 | HP 460/1,200
“Try physical attacks!” Alt shouted from his side as he sent a blast of eye-beam energy at the one focused on Jack.
Bone Minotaur -384 | HP 76/1,200
The 8-foot animated pile of bones plowed two ruts in the sand with its hooves as it stopped and twisted around to try and face the enemy who’d dealt the most damage.
Instead of standing his ground, Jack took the opportunity to sprint directly for the resurrecting campfire further out on the beach. He felt the ground shake as the Bone Minotaur chased after him and yet was glad the almost-dead creature wasn’t down yet. He wanted to try and get to the fire before all its health came back with another resurrection.
That’s when he saw the Defeat notification from the one Lex was fighting. Jack swore under his breath but took the opportunity to keep his eye on the campfire as he sprinted toward it. If they knew exactly how long it took-
Jack -230 | HP 655/885
Agonizing pain shattered his sanity as the iron spear from the Bone Minotaur behind impaled his right kidney and continued through to stick into the sand. Jack stumbled, clenching his teeth through the pain. But as it always did in System Sana, the mortal wound vanished along with the agony, and he pumped his legs away from the rampaging pile of bones gaining ground on him.
Two seconds before Jack reached the magical campfire, he
felt the concussive blast reverberate in his chest as it launched another smoky orb over his head. There was nothing he could do about it, so he focused on his goal.
As if he were a baseball player sliding into home plate, Jack thrust his boots forward into the sand and used a backhand slice to hack at the campfire.
Eternal Flame -172 | Defeated
The smoldering driftwood scattered then faded into the familiar electronic static. Jack rolled over on his stomach to annihilate his pursuer with a Mining Laser, but Angry Sun Alt blasted the monster from behind before he had the chance.
Back down the beach, Jack saw the others waiting in formation away from the reassembling bones of the other foe.
With a breath of relief, he got up and trotted back to help, but the women could handle it without him. They swiftly defeated the towering pile of bones for the third time- and this time it vanished as all dead monsters should.
“That was new,” Jack said as he rejoined the three women.
“The Tower can cheat too,” Haylee said, the corners of her mouth turned down into a small frown.
Lex put her hands on her hips. “Now we know how these respawning fires work, we won’t be surprised again. Come over here and let me heal you.”
They took a short rest to let their abilities cool down and then continued to explore the beach. Near where the campfire had once existed was a sandy crevasse that curved through the black rock that dominated most of this island. The party moved slowly as the pass angled upward and curved around the smoldering volcano, and Jack just knew they were going to have to deal with an eruption at some point.
The fissure in the rock eventually opened up on a sandy plateau where three more Bone Minotaurs stood guard over the way forward. This time, there were two seven-foot platforms made from wood that flanked the magical campfire. One undead enemy patiently stood on each watchtower with an over-sized crossbow in their bony hands, and the third skeletal minotaur was armed with an axe at the end of a pole, pacing on the ground in front of their resurrecting flame.
As before on the beach, Jack and his party had the opportunity to take their time and work out a plan before initiating combat. And this time they knew the rules.
