Vortena

by Neven Iliev

  Thinking back, Boxxy also realised that it hadn’t run across any such entities when it had raided its own birthplace. Then again, it also hadn’t been able to repair any damage to its structure, or at least, not at the ridiculous rate that this place could. That, combined with the Spire of the Jade King’s much thicker concentration of mana in the air, made one thing clear: This dungeon was far more advanced than the one from which Boxxy had been born.

  The Mimic was beginning to question whether it was even worth it to enter the Spire itself since, if memory served, the dungeon likely also contained things like traps or puzzles. Was there even any point to dealing with such things? After all, it just needed Job Levels. Surely spending a few days fighting the stone soldiers out here in the courtyard would be enough to get it to Level 50, not to mention that the hedge maze also offered the occasional material reward. Thinking objectively, was there any real need to actually enter the place?

  Boxxy glanced at the opening in question as its pragmatic mind considered its options. Suddenly, it spotted something just inside the tower’s entrance. Momentarily doubting its single eye, it grew two more just to be sure, but there was no mistaking it. Just inside the newly-appeared stone archway was a single treasure chest. Another piece of incentive the dungeon had thrown at it in an effort to entice the creature into overcoming the Spire’s challenges. Or luring it to its death, depending on the point of view.

  However, this was no simple stone box, but an extravagant, lavishly decorated container that could be called a treasure in its own right. The sight stimulated Boxxy’s greed unlike anything else it had encountered since entering the dungeon. The Mimic threw caution to the wind and dashed towards its prize, completely ignoring its minions’ protests.

  The ornate treasure chest’s lid flung itself open as the monster approached, almost as if it had recognised its rightful owner. There was a flash of light and a sinister-looking staff floated up from the container, then hovered lazily above it. The entirety of the staff had been molded from a midnight-black metal, including the highly detailed and undoubtedly demonic skull at its top. It had two pairs of eye sockets, one directly under the other, and each of them was fitted with a blood-red ruby that seemed to shine with an inner light. A pair of thick, ram-like horns jutted out from either side and the open, seemingly laughing jaw was filled with two sets of arrowhead-like teeth.

  Five curved sheets of shining metal that resembled scythe blades held the macabre sculpture in place, giving the impression of a large creature preparing to crush the skull between its claws. The elaborate head was connected to a smooth, plain shaft that had a red spike-shaped gem attached to its other end. The item was almost two metres long top-to-bottom, which begged the question of how it had fit inside its container in the first place.

  Or at least it would have, if Boxxy hadn’t been too awestruck to even consider questioning the matter.

  The spectacle before it was perhaps the shiniest thing it had ever seen in its relatively short life. It stared reverently, reaching warily toward it with a tongue tentacle. It hesitated for a moment, almost as if afraid to sully the precious thing with its touch. However, such thoughts were silly and puerile. This was clearly its reward, the dungeon’s compensation for overcoming the three gargoyles, so the Mimic had the right to do with it as it wished. It slid its tongue over the cool metal surface, revelling in the sensation. Two more tongues shot out and coiled around it, shamelessly licking its prize all over.

  The rest of the group had followed after seeing the Mimic run into the Spire. At first, they had tried to stop Boxxy doing anything rash, but had given up almost immediately. It was plainly obvious that the creature was lost in its own world, a place where none of their words or warnings could reach. At present, they could do nothing but stare, wide-eyed, as the monster slobbered all over the inanimate object.

  “How enviable,” Valeria commented, watching the spectacle with slightly glassy eyes. It was painfully obvious that all sorts of lewd fantasies were coursing through her rotten head.

  “Ugh,” Kora grimaced in disgust. “I didn’t think the boss would actually go and do that…”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say this was entirely unexpected,” Xera pointed out.

  “R-really? Th-then Boxxy has done something like this b-b-before?” Fizzy asked.

  “No, not quite. I was sure that something like this was bound to happen eventually, though. I know my Master better than anyone, after all.”

  Her words were smug, but the lich they were indirectly aimed towards didn’t even register their meaning. Kora’s eyes went wide as she remembered something that had happened each time they had looted things from the dungeon.

  “Wait, we can’t bring that thing out of the dungeon, right? Shouldn’t someone tell the boss?”

  “N-not it!”

  Fizzy immediately spoke up, having no desire to be beaten for being the bearer of bad news.

  “Not it!”

  Kora also didn’t want to get eaten, so she echoed the gnome’s words.

  “I think we should just let Master enjoy itself while it can.”

  Xera, on the other hand, would have gladly participated in both of those activities, but she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt her master’s fun. After all, that wasn’t what good servants did. Besides, it was highly likely that the Mimic would be distraught once it came back to reality and would seek comfort by devouring its favorite Snack.

  For any dungeon chest, once opened, would soon crumble into nothing, even the intricately decorated, solid-gold chest that Boxxy was, for lack of a better word, fondling obscenely. As for the creepy-looking metal staff, that was actually a permanent item, and a powerful one at that.

  Yet it had been brushed off to the side like some sort of unwanted consolation prize.

  Part Six

  Boxxy was understandably less than pleased when its beautiful golden chest disappeared into nothing after only a few minutes. However, much to Xera’s disappointment, it wasn’t sad or depressed enough to want to partake in Snack Time. The Mimic was instead flooded with unyielding rage. This bastard dungeon, how dare it mess with it like that? Did it have any idea who it was dealing with? This was Boxxy T. Morningwood, Rudolph-dammit, and it would not take this sort of abuse sitting down!

  “Master, don’t forget the staff.”

  It had been about to storm off with the intent of giving the dungeon a lesson it would never forget, but stopped in its tracks at the succubus’ words.

  “Staff? What staff?”

  Xera sighed. As expected, her master hadn’t even registered the item’s existence. It had been so focused on the golden treasure chest that it had completely failed to notice the skull-headed metal staff hovering above it. Which was impressive, considering that it had knocked it out of the way in order to fully embrace its container.

  The succubus stepped over to where the expensive-looking weapon had been left neglected on the ground. She bent over to pick it up, but the solid metal weapon was much heavier than it looked. She couldn’t even budge it, no matter how much she strained her feeble arms and back.

  Watching Snack’s ongoing failure to do something as basic as lift an object from the ground steadily made Boxxy’s anger diminish. It headed over to where she was kneeling, panting heavily from the exertion, and roughly pushed her to the side in order to see what all the fuss was about. Its pale imitation of Xera popped out of its mouth and grasped the item firmly.

  Unlike the feeble demon, it was able to lift the object from the ground, though it still struggled somewhat. Whatever this black metal was, it was significantly heavier than steel or mithril.

  “There was a staff?” Valeria blinked. “Huh, I didn’t even notice!”

  “Oh, yeah!” Kora exclaimed. “There was something like that, wasn’t there?”

  “Ah, now that you mention it…” Fizzy cupped her chin in thought.

  Boxxy’s borderline-obscene spectacle had apparently caused the others to momentarily
forget about the actual treasure itself, making the exhausted succubus lower her face into her palms.

  It was official – she was surrounded by idiots. Then again, she was perhaps the biggest idiot of the lot for becoming infatuated with an animate chest. But she couldn’t help herself. Nobody had ever truly understood her wants and needs quite like her current master. That was why she had wanted to present it with the clearly-valuable item in the first place, as satisfying the Mimic’s greed was the only way to appeal to it. Well, that and entertaining its taste buds, but Xera already had that covered.

  “Shadowbolt!”

  Boxxy’s sudden Spell hit Xera directly in her exposed stomach. There was a brief moment of realisation before a volatile mass of darkness ripped a fist-sized chunk from her body, sending bits of flesh flying everywhere.

  [Your Spell has gouged out your target’s insides. Target HP -287.]

  The succubus clutched the hole in her stomach and curled up on the ground, her face twisted in something other than just pain.

  Having confirmed the damage, the Mimic put the staff away and tried again.

  “Shadowbolt!”

  [Your Spell has gouged out your target’s insides. Target HP -207.]

  Quite the difference. It would appear that the fancy staff raised its offensive magical ability by about thirty percent, significantly higher than the seven percent with the plain staff that it had been using thus far. That wasn’t all, however. The shiny skull-on-a-stick also boosted its INT by twenty-five points, and even appeared to slightly reduce the MP cost of its Spells. It was a significant upgrade, to say the least, although Boxxy couldn’t be too happy about it. Not when it had more important things on its mind.

  [Chaotic energies swirl around you. Your body has caught fire for 5 seconds.]

  … Such as dealing with the after-effects of its Chaotic Disposition Skill.

  Bright red flames enveloped Boxxy’s faux-wood shell and ghostly white flesh, turning the Mimic into a walking bonfire.

  “Honey?!” Valeria panicked. “Are you okay?!”

  “I’m fine,” it answered, its tone irritated.

  “But you’re on fire!”

  “I’ll get better.”

  [Your body has been burned by the flames. HP -98.]

  [Your flesh has been mended. HP +160.]

  It wasn’t as bad as it looked since the magical flame was simply too weak to overpower the Mimic’s regenerative powers. In fact, it actually helped a little, since it allowed Boxxy to gain some much-needed proficiency in Mend Flesh and Adaptive Defense without the risk of actual combat. Not enough to warrant the uncomfortable heat and the unpleasant sensation of its flesh searing, but it was something.

  Thankfully, the brief delay between the notification popping up and the actual Skill going into effect had given Boxxy a chance to brace itself. Anticipating just when Chaotic Disposition would trigger itself was another story entirely, as it could pop up any time its MP was spent on Spells or Skills.

  Boxxy knew all this because it had already set the Skill off at least ten times during their push through the hedge maze. The first time it had gone off, it had caused the Mimic’s one eye to go completely blind, although the monster’s magical perception hadn’t been affected. The second had doubled the damage of its next Spell, while the third had caused it to float gently into the air, just like a certain lich.

  The next time, the Skill had attempted to apply the Panic Spell to the golem Boxxy had been spraying with acid, but had failed to register any measurable effect. Other observed effects included a slightly toxic fog, granting double XP from the next monster killed, and shooting a random bolt of bright yellow energy that had punched a hole straight through Snack. Most bizarre by far, in Boxxy’s opinion, was the Skill’s claim that it had given its owner the ability to communicate with fish for five minutes.

  Needless to say, it was far from reliable and the effects it produced were irritatingly unpredictable, but at least they were always temporary. Although there were some occasional tasty ones, the majority were either completely useless or downright harmful. The only consistent part of the Skill was that it appeared to have about a five percent chance of triggering whenever a Spell was cast or certain Skills were used. It seemed like only active abilities such as Acid Spray and Storage could set it off, while passives like Assassinate, Shapeshift and Metal Mimicry could not, despite the last of those also consuming MP.

  The Mimic’s ire over the disappearance of the golden treasure chest had dissipated almost entirely by the time the fire had extinguished itself. Honestly, it really should have known better, considering that the stone boxes it had encountered earlier had done the exact same thing. It just hadn’t cared for those or their disappointing contents, so it had completely put them out of its mind. It wasn’t so easy to forget that one though, as the time spent with it, however short, had been truly special. Its sudden vanishing had left it with a vague sense of betrayal that completely dwarfed the time a certain gnome tried to sell it out.

  That said, the fallacious object had presented it with a reason to venture deeper into the rest of the dungeon – the clear and confirmed possibility of obtaining powerful magic items.

  Although the exact properties of such precious things were impossible to determine in the field, it was possible to ascertain at least some of their attributes through experimentation. Still, the only way to get the full picture of an item’s bonuses and abilities was to go to a town or city and employ the services of a Scribe with the appropriate knowledge and Job Level. The combination of the Identify, Appraise Item and Detect Enchant Spells they had at their disposal was one of the things capable of fully revealing an object’s physical and magical properties.

  Having made up its mind, Boxxy stopped moping about, rallied its minions, and set off to conquer the rest of the dungeon.

  Immediately inside the entrance was an open, flat space completely devoid of any furniture or decoration. Every surface appeared to have been carved from the same smooth black stone as the rest of the tower, even the enormous, spiralling staircase. The walls themselves were lined with a number of pale blue crystals that shone with a dim white light, providing some measure of visibility. The sparse illumination seemed to mess with one’s spatial awareness, making it difficult to gauge the exact dimensions of the place. It wasn’t hard to imagine one’s confused depth perception leading to a nasty tumble down the stairs.

  That said, it wasn’t as though the group had much choice. As the circular staircase was the only route presented to them, they began climbing warily. The steps were uneven, gradually increasing in size as they ascended. After only a dozen steps they had become so large that an adult human would have needed to take two or three paces before reaching the next one. It was going to be a long, gradual climb to the top – not to mention a confusing one. The lack of any doors or windows made it nearly impossible to gauge how far they had actually come.

  Knowing that an attack could come at any second, the group had adopted a loose battle formation. Kora and Boxxy were in the lead, with Fizzy following immediately after, silently thanking Jib for the break they had taken. It didn’t matter how strong or fit one was, stairs were a universally exhausting chore, especially when they seemed to go on without end. Xera and Valeria were trailing several metres behind them, with the Dullahans – all that remained of their undead army – watching their backs.

  Elevation aside, the place was still a relatively narrow corridor with precisely two directions from which potential attackers could appear, meaning that it would be nigh-impossible for anyone to sneak up on them. Unfortunately, it also provided the perfect opportunity to pincer a group of uninvited guests, which was precisely what Boxxy would have done had it been calling the shots around here.

  Sure enough, their quiet climb was suddenly interrupted by the rapid approach of tiny glass feet scraping against the stones. Within seconds, countless crystalline beetles, each the size of a large dog, were pouring in from both ends o
f the stairs, skittering over the ground, walls and ceiling. The two Dullahans at the back turned at Valeria’s command to swing their hammers at the incoming swarm, smashing five of the beetles to smithereens in an instant. It would appear that their translucent shells were just as fragile as they looked. Their sheer numbers, however, allowed them to easily overwhelm the two undead, toppling them with little difficulty.

  “War Stomp!”

  *THUMP*

  Kora’s Martial Art sent tremors through the surrounding stonework, causing the glassy insects around her to lose their grip on the walls and ceiling. She got busy, swinging her arms and legs enthusiastically as she pummelled them into dust. Boxxy and Fizzy rushed to assist her, which left Valeria and Xera to deal with the rear.

  That, however, was hardly a problem.

  “Inferno!”

  *FWOOSH*

  The succubus’s Spell engulfed the corridor behind the group in fire. The sound of breaking glass could be heard within the swirling flames as the intense heat caused the beetles’ crystalline bodies to crack. She probably could have held them off on her own, but Valeria evidently resented being upstaged and took matters into her own hands.

  The lich inhaled deeply and unleashed her Sonic Scream. The earsplitting sound was amplified by the stone walls, echoing sharply throughout the entire Spire. The resulting screech was much stronger than the one she had let loose during the confrontation at the old Arcaneum tower, resulting in all of the crystal golems shattering at the intense vibrations.

  However, the beetles weren’t the only ones suffering. Fizzy clutched her head, nearly blacking out again, but Boxxy grabbed her before she collapsed and tossed her into its Storage. While the gnome normally disliked the dark, cramped space, under the circumstances she welcomed its deafening silence with open arms. As for Boxxy and its two demons, they were left to endure the horrible wail of the ex-banshee the old-fashioned way. Their formidable MNT Attribute scores allowed them to remain conscious, but their bodies still took a certain amount of damage.