by Prax Venter
The party drew close to the next barrier monster in the same protective formation. This one appeared to be one solid crystal. Its eyes were half-lidded and looking off toward the canyon wall, totally disinterested in the approaching Heroes.
Thymus signaled that he was in range, and Jack gave him the nod to start the attack. The old mage gripped his staff, held up his free hand and launched a cluster of stars at the translucent wall.
Living Diamond Wall -41 | HP 809/850
“Diamond,” Jack whispered. The wall’s face didn’t flinch and even let out a sigh of boredom.
Thymus lowered his arm. “This one appears strong against magical attacks.”
Jack nodded, his lips held in a grim line and his eyes narrowed. There was some gimmick to this wall they haven’t figured out yet, but at this rate, it would take too long to burn it down with his Mining Laser alone. Good thing he wasn’t alone.
Thymus fired off two more magic disks before Jack was in range and there was still no reaction from the living wall. Jack pulled his blade and activated his ability, tensing for… anything.
Living Diamond Wall -28 | HP 699/850
The beam did little damage. After the attack, the wall rolled its giant, weary eyes, as a shower of golden sparks washed over its surface.
Living Diamond Wall +100 | HP 799/850
Jack and Thymus looked at each other before launching a coordinated ranged attack.
Living Diamond Wall -41 | HP 758/850
Living Diamond Wall -28 | HP 730/850
Living Diamond Wall -28 | HP 702/850
Living Diamond Wall -41 | HP 661/850
Living Diamond Wall +100 | HP 761/850
When the wall healed itself a second time, Lex shot a glance over her shoulder at the impending train that would eventually smash them into one of these walls.
“We don’t have time for this,” the Bastion said, then rushed forward. “I’m going in to melee.”
She wasn’t exactly wrong, and Jack tried to keep his eye on her as he continued to blast the wall with his magic beam. Between Jack’s constant damage and Thymus’ disks, they were bringing it down, but the 100-point heals were going to drag this out for way too long and cost a big chunk of their remaining mana.
As Lex drew close to the living wall, she pulled her sword arm back for a downward slash when a diamond spear shot out from the surface and immediately impaled the Bastion.
Lex -241 Critical! | 96/337
“Lex!” Jack called out, but Alt was already galloping forward as she fell to the ground. Red Shield Riker took another diamond spear on one of his massive shields with a loud crack as he protected Lex, but some of the damage made it through.
Alt -55 | 360/415
Jack watched in horror as the pointed-eared woman crawled away from the wall which was now sneering at the centaur preventing it from claiming its kill. Piling on the damage and burning this thing to the ground was the only thing Jack could do, so that’s what he did.
It took about a minute, and Jack was down to 62/160 Mana, but they finally destroyed the Living Diamond Wall.
Jack ran over to Lex who had since crawled out of range and healed herself. He almost tackled her back to the ground with a powerful assault-hug.
“That was way too close,” Jack whispered, holding her tightly.
“I’m fine,” she whispered back. “Let’s finish this and go home.”
Jack kissed the top of her head and pushed the Bastion away to arm’s length. With a deep breath, he looked past her and saw the black structure across the tracks ahead. The next wall reached up to the top of the canyon.
The sun had continued to move up over their heads and behind them as they moved down the center of the narrow chasm, bringing the gloom of twilight. If the many glowing red eyes in the enormous demonic wall were any clue, he was looking at the Floor 24 Boss.
They closed the distance quickly, and the terrible barrier ahead only became more imposing. All of its red eyes blinked at random times, and Jack felt a sense of dread radiating outward from the stationary monster. When they drew within Thymus’ range, the sun had fully slipped below the horizon, and the wall’s attacks began.
Each eye on the wall began to launch spiked cannonballs at the group, and Jack was glad he’d picked a big tank for Alt’s form on this Floor. There would have been no way Lex could have protected all four of them from the barrage.
“We need to get closer!” Jack yelled over the din of metal striking metal. “Alt, get us within turret range!”
Between the huge centaur dual-wielding massive slabs of metal and Lex’s quick buckler, they pushed ever closer, but the Bastion took a spiked ball to the foot.
Lex -68 | HP 269/337
“There’s just too many!” she shouted.
“How close?” Jack yelled.
Thymus was hunched over looking at the sand at their feet but looked up to yell, “A few more steps!”
Jack sent a silent message to the being of pure energy connected to him, and Alt sent back that he understood. The half-horse half-man shifted his shields to help better protect the Bastion.
They made it the few steps they needed, and just as Red Shield Riker got nailed in the helmet by a spiked cannonball, Thymus put down his heavy hitter.
Alt -60 | HP 355/415
Floor 24 Boss -178 | HP 822/1000
The flash from the fork of lightning was almost blinding, but Jack made sure to check the damage. It had a lot of HP, the most he’d ever seen. But they were here, and it was time to push past this final barrier.
He was now also within Mining Laser range and was about to activate it when two things happened: Alt took another hit, and so did the Lightning Turret.
Alt -60 | HP 295/415
The summoned centaur lost health, but the turret did not. He watched as another sphere the size of a volleyball struck the top of the turret and uselessly bounced off.
Were his turrets indestructible?
“Thymus!” Jack called out. “You and Alt go that way while Lex and I stay here. Split the targets!”
Jack hunkered down behind the turret and pulled Lex close while the centaur moved toward the side of the canyon. With the turret blocking most of the spiked balls aimed for Jack, Lex was able to worry about herself, and Alt was having no trouble keeping Thymus and himself covered.
“Bring it down!” Jack yelled as he thrust out his sword between the invincible turret and Lex. With a flash of intention, he bombarded the many-eyed wall with his red laser beam while Thymus spent his Arcane Disk charges the moment they were ready. All of this combined with the Lightning Turret going off every ten seconds, and they whittled the final Boss down to zero.
With a spectacular explosion of light and color, the demonic living wall ceased to exist, and both Lex and Jack felt a rush of pleasure course through their entire being as they simultaneously reached Hero Level 25.
- 4 -
The woman of Jack’s dreams turned her large golden eyes up toward his, and he saw the weight of years lifted from her soul. He reached out and pulled Lex against his chest, holding her close, breathing her in. He glimpsed a vision of the rest of their synchronous level-ups through their many inseparable years stretching out before him. It felt wonderful.
“Congratulations, you two,” Thymus said behind them after clearing his throat.
Jack turned to look at the older Mage, but his intense brown eyes were focused on the Exit Orb. He’d kept his wits the whole day, and Jack was ecstatic that the high-damage Hero was helping them climb ever higher.
“Why don’t you head home?” Jack said. Lex’s cheek was pressed into his shoulder but she turned to see what he was talking about. “No need to stick around. We’ll be right behind you, and then it’s dinner at Demi’s!”
He felt the woman in his arms squeeze him tight and let out a sigh of contentment.
Thymus nodded and immediately took long strides toward the softly pulsing orb. He paused with his hand an inch from the surface,
its light casting a warm glow on his wrinkled features.
“I appreciate being a part of something important again,” he said, then turned to the seven-foot centaur in full plate mail. “And it was… astonishing to meet you, Alt. I look forward to speaking again with you on our climb tomorrow.”
The horse-man bowed his head once. “It’s been an honor fighting with you.”
Thymus puffed out his frail chest and pulled in a deep breath. With a final nod, he touched the orb and vanished.
“Come on,” Lex said, breaking the embrace. “Let’s loot and get home ourselves. We’ve got new abilities to discuss, but I don’t want to do all that in here.”
Jack smiled and resisted the urge to open his Path interface right then and there. For her, he could wait. He moved over to the golden chest and held out his hand, signaling his intent to open it. Inside were two cloth leg-slot items that would end up feeding the Town, but there was also a shield he knew was perfect for Lex.
Floor 24 Rewards - Boss Chest
Mountain’s Tear – [Shield | Value 126]
| Def: 56 |
| Max HP + 205 |
| Max MP + 100 |
| Heal Abilities +10 |
| 10% chance for 0-cost healing |
~ Be the reason no one cries.
Jack quietly placed it into his inventory and then walked back to Lex.
“Here, I got you something to celebrate hitting 25,” he said as he opened a trade menu with the rare shield and instantly hit ‘accept’.
The Bastion’s beautiful eyes crossed a little as she inspected his offer and then they went wide, focusing on him.
“This is an extremely rare drop for this Floor! Was this in the chest?” She raised an eyebrow, and he could tell she didn’t know what to believe with him anymore.
“Yup.”
Lex reached out to touch the accept button, and Jack’s interface flashed green before fading away.
“First my chest armor now…” she mumbled as she swapped her equipment. One moment her left arm held a medium-sized black buckler, the next it faded into a longer, upside-down teardrop. The outer rim was polished silver, and the surface was made of a blue, reflective metal. Right in the center was what appeared to be a sapphire gemstone cut into a similar tear shape. It was longer than her old shield by a foot and would help her block more incoming blows.
“It’s beautiful,” he said, looking past the new epic shield and into her eyes.
She gazed up into his, and he felt warmth spread through his body from the intensity he saw there.
“Thank you, Jack… for everything.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Now, let’s go sit down and relax for a while.”
Alt, to his credit, had been trying to look busy by inspecting the rails under his hooves. Maybe he was thinking of ways to make them a reality in the Towns.
“See you tomorrow, buddy. Nice work today.”
“Always a pleasure,” Red Shield Riker responded with Alt’s voice. “And a hearty congratulations to you both on making it a quarter way up the Tower. Things will only get more challenging from here on out.”
“Good thing we have you on our side, then. Until tomorrow,” Lex said, then touched the orb.
Jack gave Alt a final nod before he joined the others back in Town.
The usual white flash filled his being and then the salty, cool breeze of Blackmoor Cove washed over him. The sky was coated in dirty grey clouds, and the swift breeze hinted at a coming midnight storm. His favorite kind. Both Thymus and Lex were standing there as everyone exited the Tower at the exact same time no matter what, but their usual Ryea reception was missing.
Jack shrugged and moved to the Input Chest near the fountain. Maybe she was busy on the Farm. While he waited, he scanned up and down the road and saw not one Townsfolk- which was unusual for this time of day. A stark contrast from the crowd that had gathered the last time they attempted to clear Floor 24.
“Something’s wrong,” he said, pulling his blade. “Where is everyone?” Now that the Town had been leveling, he was told that there would be more and stronger Demon attacks spawning from the surrounding Corruption. Had that potentially disastrous day finally come?
“Let’s check the Inn first,” Lex said, moving quickly to the large stone building.
Jack’s mind raced with what things would be like if everyone got wiped out while they were locked in the Tower for seven hours, but the jog to the Inn was a short one, and he wasn’t allowed to dwell on that line of thinking for long.
Lex was the first to the wooden door and pulled it outward. Relief washed over Jack along with the warm smells of grilled food. Everyone was safe and gathered around something at the bar. Half of them turned to greet the Heroes at the door with waves, but he couldn’t see what was holding their interest. The people not at the bar were the sour-faced Sol and his sullen daughter, Haylee, sitting at one of the tables.
Ryea stepped away from the group and approached Jack, Lex, and Thymus.
“Hello, you guys! Is it Exit already?”
“What’s going on?” Jack asked, sheathing his blade. “Did someone have a kid or something?” He was still a little shaky on how that whole process worked in this virtual world.
“No, silly,” Ryea said, her long reddish-brown braid slapping her broad shoulders as she shook her head. “A new Townsfolk entered through the gate... Not as exciting as your entrance, but Reno seems like a great guy.”
“Reno?” Jack repeated.
“It’s happening,” Lex said beside him. “The Town is growing.”
Ryea beckoned them to follow her. “Come on and meet him.”
The crowd of interested people around the bar parted as Jack approached, and he saw a middle-aged man with jet-black hair sitting sideways on a stool. He was well-dressed, well-groomed and handsome. Behind him, Demi pulled her elbows off the bar and straightened up.
“Better get to cooking,” the Innkeeper said. “I’ll bring you something nice, Reno. First one’s free.” As she said that last part, she caught Jack’s eye and give him a small smile. His mind flashed back to his first day in Blackmoor Cove and remembered it being a lot drearier… and attracting a lot less cheerful attention. But people had more to smile about these days.
As Jack stepped up to greet the newcomer, Reno turned and stood, flashing a winning smile. It was then that Jack noticed the man’s pointed ears.
“Ah! The Heroes. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Reno extended his hand and waited for Jack to take it but seeing the feature on anyone other than Lex stalled his brain.
“Uh sorry,” Jack said, blinking a few times and firmly taking hold of the offered greeting. “It’s been a busy day. I’m Jack, and it’s really interesting to meet someone new. This is Lex and Thymus.”
While the newcomer was distracted greeting the others, Jack took a moment to inspect him.
Reno - Townsfolk: Wall Guard | 42% Proficiency
[Health: 10/10]
Relationship -
[Disposition: Friendly]
“It’s wonderful to meet you,” he said. “Everyone in Blackmoor Cove has made me feel welcome. But it’s you Heroes that keep everything going. Let me know if I can do anything at all to make the daily climbs easier.”
Jack had so many questions... How did he get here with the road still blocked with Corruption? Where did he come from? Why did he leave wherever to come here? Just when he felt like everything was making sense, here came this dude out of thin air.
“Thank you,” Lex said a cheerful smile on her face. “It’s good to see the Town growing again. I’m sure everyone’s told you already, we were a bit bad off for a while but thanks to Jack, Blackmoor Cove is now back to leveling extremely quickly.”
The man with a frosting of grey in his sideburns turned to Jack, and he seemed genuinely excited to learn more, but Ryea’s outburst interrupted whatever Reno was about to ask.
“You’re 25
!” she yelled, and her naturally loud voice echoed around the common room. “Everyone, they hit Level 25 today!”
The crowd of Townsfolk who had dispersed to settle in for dinner all came clamoring back to congratulate the two Heroes.
“Fantastic news!” said one of the sturdier guards as she shook Jack’s hands vigorously.
“Proud of you,” Garl, the new Wharfmaster, said as he clapped him on the back, his thick brows hoisted upward in a rare display of emotion. Thymus got more than a few pats on the back himself.
As still others came to acknowledge their advancement, Jack caught Lex’s eyes over Ryea’s shoulder as the larger doughy woman held the Bastion in a constricting bear-hug. She was the happiest he’d ever seen her.
Demi spun back out from behind the white-eyed curtain and laid out a salad and what appeared to be a small pie down on the table. She then spread her hands out as she explained each dish.
“A crisp romaine salad with fresh green onions and a lemongrass ginger drizzle. And a fresh-baked Orb Pheasant potpie; potatoes, leeks, carrots, celery, peas, bathed in a red-speckled mushroom sauce, and all encased in a flakey outer pastry.”
“Wow,” Jack said. “I’ll have what he’s having.”
“I’ve never heard of Orb Pheasant,” Reno said, looking at the enticing meal. “It was really great meeting you Heroes, but I believe I should devote my entire focus on this masterwork laid before me.”
Jack caught a sideways smile on Demi’s normally stoic lips at the compliment. They all agreed to meet up again to chat later as Thymus split off to have dinner with Garl and Wyben while Jack, Lex, and Ryea went to their usual spot in the corner.
“Okay,” Jack began when they were alone. “Ryea, you’re going to love this display of my ignorance, but I have a few questions about new Townsfolk just popping into existence.”
The freckled woman grinned, and Lex crossed her arms before giving him some information.