by Prax Venter
Reanimated Performing Dog -117 | 303/420
Reanimated Performing Dog -175 | 128/420
Lex blocked one more attempt to rip out her throat before taking one hop backward. The instant after she did, a string of light appeared through both creatures’ rotting heads.
Reanimated Performing Dog -205 | 159/420
Reanimated Performing Dog -205 | Defeated
With a clear shot, both Jack and Alt finished the last circus dog with another dual blast of energy.
After the monsters were gone, the Dark Prism sprinted back to stand near their group’s shield bearer.
“Nice shot,” Lex said.
“Glad you saw my intention,” Haylee replied.
A grin spread across Jack’s face. They were all truly beginning to work as a well-oiled machine.
The shadowed and faceless audience around them began to boo and hiss, but when the Ringmaster’s voice echoed through the tent once more, a hush fell over the unperceivable crowd.
“The show must go on, folks! You’ll want to stay in your seats for the next spectacular performance as the brothers Mishka and Grishka take center stage! These mysterious masters of martial arts will marvel your mind as they manipulate multiple flaming machetes!”
Jack cast a glance at Lex and Haylee before turning to the metal door nestled in the stands, waiting for their next challenge.
“Attack the moment you can,” Jack said, leveling the tip of his blade at the opening.
The door swung back into the blackness beyond, and he squinted his eyes, trying to overcome the spotlight shining down on them, but he couldn’t make anything out.
Then, two spinning fireballs shot out from the opening. Jack barely sidestepped one that was aimed at his head while he heard Lex take the other on her shield. Two men dressed in red-and-black silk costumes dashed into the ring after the attack. By the look of their peeling skin and milky-white eyes, these two brothers were also undead.
The faceless audience cheered at their appearance, and the din was so loud that Jack almost missed Haylee calling out their weakness.
“Go for the eyes!” After the words were out of her mouth, a beam of light pierced right through the left man’s head.
Grishka Critical! -399 | 53/452
Jack reacted quickly and followed up with his own blast to the severely wounded target.
Grishka Critical! -198 | Defeated
The defeated performer’s brother flew into a rage as he hurled blade after flaming blade at the young Dark Prism. Haylee was not built to dodge or defend, so she was struck by one before Lex could move to block the rest of the onslaught.
Haylee -109 | 102/211
With the young Hero’s life on the line, Alt launched his ranged attack at the rushing man’s face.
Mishka Critical! -296 | 156/452
The charging performer stumbled after taking such a devastating hit to the head yet remained focused on reaching Haylee. When the zombie sword juggler was in melee range, the Bastion took the opportunity to stab him in the face while Jack used his Mining Laser to bore into the monster’s back.
Mishka Critical! -120 | 36/452
Mishka -117 | Defeated
When the fight was over, Lex immediately grabbed hold of the Dark Prism behind her and began to sing.
Haylee +10 | HP 112/211
122, 132, 142…
With Lex’s ability restoring 5% of Haylee’s health every second, it only took her ten seconds to bring the young Hero back to full health.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, next up under the spotlight is a trio of mysterious contortionists from faraway lands! Try not to blink as they dazzle you with their exotic motions and impossible positions!”
Jack turned to face this new threat and immediately winced as stinging pinpoints of light assaulted his eyes. From the sharp inhalations from both Lex and Haylee, they were affected as well. A new icon appeared in the corner of his vision.
Dazzled - [Vision reduced | Hit Chance reduced by 25% | 00:00:59]
~ Not quite blind.
Jack squinted as he tried to track the movements of these new monsters in the ring with them and noticed three women in gem-coated bodysuits. On top of the negative status effect, these undead performers were also moving unnaturally fast.
One of the swift creatures bent backward suddenly just as a Light Ray appeared where their torso was a moment ago. The performer continued past their backbreaking maneuver and ended up standing on their hands.
All three rushed the group and closed the distance to melee range before Jack could even raise his sword. He felt a sharp jab in his ribs, and perfectly clear damage indications popped up over his fuzzy vision.
Jack -60 | HP 345/405
Lex -54 | HP 470/524
Alt -58 | HP 293/351
The situation was quickly spiraling out of control, and a flash of certainty took hold of Jack’s mind. He Altered Alt on instinct alone into a (B) Time Master Clock. The AI was linked directly to Jack’s mind, so he instantly knew the plan and activated his Haste ability. A golden bubble expanded out from the six-foot clock as the three Heroes took damage from another unarmed strike.
Jack -60 | HP 285/405
Lex -54 | HP 416/524
Alt -35 | HP 383/504
Lex Shouted, pulling all three of the performers onto her, and Jack took the opportunity to lash out with his sword at the distracted contortionist. The undead woman in a dazzling unitard sensed his attack and tried to bend sideways to evade his slice, but the new Haste effect from Alt quickened his movements beyond what the creature expected, and Jack felt the satisfying, visceral resistance of blade edge on flesh. With a thought, he activated Double Strike.
Reanimated Dazzling Contortionist -85 | 244/329
Reanimated Dazzling Contortionist -85 | 159/329
The undead woman spun her head back around to hiss at Jack, her attention ripped back from the Bastion. The contortionist’s foot shot out in an attempt to snap his knee, but Jack hopped toward the center of the ring and avoided the low attack.
The moment he moved, a bright beam of light appeared from one end of the area to the other that passed through the other two monsters and the place where Jack had been standing a moment ago.
Reanimated Dazzling Contortionist -205 | 68/329
Reanimated Dazzling Contortionist -205 | 124/329
Jack lunged forward as the undead performer continued her single-minded focus on beating him to death. Despite his extra speed, the lithe woman dodged the stab this time, and her detached jaw opened to hiss at him again as a bare-fisted counterattack caught him in the ribs.
Jack -60 | HP 225/405
With a snarl, Jack faked his attack as he had done with the ribbon snakes on his first trip into the Tower so long ago. The flexible woman bent to the side again, but he was ready this time and took the monster out with a Double Strike stab to the face.
Reanimated Dazzling Contortionist -85 | 74/329
Reanimated Dazzling Contortionist -85 | Defeated
Jack checked on Lex and Haylee to see both remaining foes still focused on the Bastion. Jack raised his sword and obliterated the weaker of the two with a Mining Laser, while Lex focused everything she had on blocking the undead performer’s swift unarmed strikes.
Haylee got the last hit in, and the final attacker vanished, pierced by a Light Ray. The instant the fight was over, Lex sprinted over to Jack and locked her golden eyes on his as she began to sing. Her wordless melody sounded normal in his ears, but the cycling restoration of her healing ability felt sped up.
“It’s the Haste,” Alt said in his head.
Jack was fully healed in moments, then the Bastion turned her ability on herself.
“If you loved that,” the announcer said from everywhere at once, “you’ll be amazed at our very own, death-defying, aerial-acrobat siblings! This brother and sister duo were born on a tightrope and learned to swing before they could walk. It’s my great pleasure to introduce the highfly
ing Vorpal Twins!”
Jack looked up to see two people standing on tiny platforms near the top of the cavernous circus tent, one at each end, and from the shadowed darkness above hung three trapeze bars already swinging back and forth. The two performers waved to the crowd as they both dove off their respective platforms into what at first appeared to be a freefall, but each snatched one of the outside bars and swung inward. As they reached their low apex of the swing, they each launched a dart out of their heels.
Jack’s high Dodge allowed him to duck the projectile, but the stationary Alt could do nothing as the tiny needle struck his clockface.
Alt -79 | HP 304/504
Jack watched a Light Ray appear through the chest of the male, and he followed up with a channeled Mining Laser centered on the female.
Kam Vorpal -205 | HP 265/470
Xora Vorpal -117 | HP 353/470
A discreet flash from Haylee’s eyes alerted Jack that she’d just started channeling her Withering Stare at one of the aerial performers. The Dark Prism from System Sana had apparently never heard of a circus, so he didn’t think Haylee planned it, but when Xora Vorpal reached out to clasp the hands of her twin, she only found empty air because the slowing effect placed him moments behind in their aerial routine.
With flailing arms and legs, the undead trapeze artist fell to the ground followed by a bone-shattering crunch. The shrouded audience let out a unified gasp.
Xora Vorpal -298 | HP 55/470
Lex quickly advanced on the fallen foe and finished her off with her blade, while Haylee sniped the other one out of the air with ease.
“Oooh,” the Ringmaster began as soon as the battle was over, “that’s why most other highflying performers use a net, folks! But we’re not like other shows. Oh no. Of this, I can be absolutely certain. When you leave today, you will never look at entertainment the same way again. Our next act will have you clutching your stomach and wiping your eyes from the perpetual deluge of laughter-induced tears. I give you Ugnott’s Unending Clowns!”
- 24 -
Jack wasn’t afraid of clowns the way some people were, but he certainly did not like the sound of unending clowns. Lex had sprinted back to heal Alt, and because of his perpetual Haste bubble, she was able to get the Time Master Clock back to full health before the door opened again.
This time, a ridiculously small and brightly colored car came rolling out of the darkness. It turned to park sideways and appeared to be about the size of a shopping cart, but Jack was ready for absolutely anything to come out.
He didn’t expect the small, colorful vehicle to begin sinking into the ground.
Horror saturated his veins when Jack saw the dozens of pasty white hands reaching up out of the dirt, pushing the dirt aside as they clawed their way up to the surface. Apparently, the unending clowns were buried beneath their feet.
A Light Ray appeared from Haylee and pierced three of the teeth-filled, painted faces lurching out of their graves.
Reanimated Clown -205 | Defeated
Reanimated Clown -205 | Defeated
Reanimated Clown -205 | Defeated
It was a start, and he was glad these things didn’t have loads of HPs, but there were many more replacement clowns crawling out of the dirt to take their place.
“I’m going to Double Omni Slash,” Jack yelled out to his team, “but I want to wait until more are visible.”
Haylee fired another shot taking out another handful along the far edge, and Jack made sure to tag one with his Mining Laser just in case they had need of a rotting clown at some point in the future. Lex took a step forward as the first few red-nosed monsters flapped their oversized shoes closer to the Heroes clustered around the 6-foot clock. The good news was that these were the slow type of zombies, and it appeared that most were out of the ground by the time the first one shambled across the ring.
With a serene intensity, Jack tried to hold as many of them as he could within the edges of his periphery. Confident he had a lock on most of the swaying bodies advancing on them, he drew his sword with a measured exhalation and slashed through midair. At the exact same moment, he activated both abilities under his Dimensional Blade Path and turned the undead clown mob into a blender.
Reanimated Clown -85 | 74/159
Reanimated Clown -85 | Defeated
… x23
Most of the colorful rotting mass in front of them burst into intense buzzing static, leaving only three obscured by other clowns or not caught within Jack’s sight during the attack. As they vanished, pleasant tones rang in his ears indicating that multiple new items had been deposited in his inventory. Haylee and Jack used their ranged attacks to clean up the rest, and the clown army was defeated without a single scratch.
The audience chuckled as his Mining Laser erased the last undead performer.
“The time has come for our big finale!” the announcer called out through low-quality, unseen speakers. “I must ask any of you in the audience who are faint of heart to leave the big top now. On this very day, in this very ring, I, Baron Von Jaster, will attempt to tame the King of the Jungle and Ruler of Beasts, Konta, The Mighty Lion!”
The shadowed crowd surrounding them went wild with whistling and cheering. Jack kept his eye on the door waiting for it to open, and the moment it did, he activated his lightning-infused Mining Laser at the darkness. A ground-shaking roar preceded the undead lion, its matted gray fur currently ignited by Jack’s signature attack.
Floor 32 Boss B -117 | HP 783/900
The creature was a blur of muscle and teeth as it dashed on all fours straight for the source of its pain. Jack felt the bonus Haste augment his dodge when he performed a leaping dive-roll over the monster’s massive paw. As he bounced back up to his feet, Jack heard the audience cheer his acrobatic evade. The moment didn’t last as a sharp crack behind him resulted in soul-splitting pain tearing through the flesh on his back.
Jack -109 | HP 296/405
Pushing past the stinging agony, Jack turned to see a zombie in a top hat holding a leather whip.
The lion circled around the stationary clock Alt and dashed right for the Bastion. Lex blocked the charge with a shield bash to its rotting snout. The maneuver did no damage, but her counterattack did. With a grunt, she jabbed the beast in its furry shoulder.
Floor 32 Boss B -56 | HP 727/900
Jack made a mental note of which direction the silent Dark Prism was creeping as he spun back to face the undead Ringmaster. The other man’s eyes were glowing neon-red, and a twisted grin tore through his decaying face as he cracked his whip again. Jack saw it coming this time and was able to lean back, narrowly getting the flesh on his cheek flayed off.
He countered with a blast from his sword and then sprinted toward the Boss and out of Alt’s Haste bubble.
Floor 32 Boss A -117 | HP 683/800
Now that Jack was in melee range, the grinning Ringmaster tossed down his whip and pulled out a serpentine dagger. He lunged at Jack’s heart with a savage downward thrust, but the quick dodge didn’t prevent the Boss’s blade from biting deep into his arm.
Jack -71 | HP 225/405
“Their hearts!” Haylee called out from the side of the ring before creating a Blue-Shifted Light Ray between her bow and the stands, piercing both the lion and Ringmaster through their chests.
Floor 32 Boss A Critical! -609 | HP 74/800
Floor 32 Boss B Critical! -587 | HP 140/900
The shot finally came that he’d been waiting for. Jack had purposefully left the bubble of Haste to help maneuver the Boss into the perfect position, and their practiced teamwork was undeniably paying off. After the powerful laser of pure light shredded the lion tamer’s heart, he stumbled backward, and Jack took the opportunity to finish him off with a thrust from his sword.
The Ringmaster was quick, however, and flashed his deadly dagger in a perfectly timed arc, parrying Jack’s strike. Sparks flew when metal met metal. Unfortunately for the Floor 32 Boss, Jack’s follow-up stab from Doubl
e Strike was even quicker.
Floor 32 Boss A Critical! -147 | Defeated
The moment the Ringmaster expired, the undead lion roared up into the air before turning away from the Bastion to maul Haylee standing by the edge of the ring. Lex got one hit on the creature’s flank as it disengaged, but it wasn’t enough to finish it off or pull its attention back to her.
Haylee’s gray eyes went wide as the massive rotting creature launched into the air, its fang-filled maw poised to tear off her entire head, but Jack’s vibrant Mining Laser struck it from behind, and Haylee was showered with multihued sparks instead.
Floor 32 Boss B -117 | Defeated
With the final enemy dead, silence fell over the circus for a few heartbeats before a boisterous cheer went up, filling the small area with noise.
Jack caught the eyes of the other two Heroes before he shrugged and bowed before the audience. They had climbed higher than they ever had, hit Hero Level 33, and accomplished the goal set by Alt this morning. Now that he thought about it, that felt like days ago.
They looted the Boss chest and then decided to get away from the constant whooping, clapping, and whistling assaulting them from all sides. The Dark Prism paused to put her hand on Alt’s clock face and whisper something before they moved for the Exit Orb.
“When you arrive in Town,” Alt said in his mind, “the Wizard’s Athenaeum will already be there. I will walk you through the steps needed to get Thymus started once you reassign him.”
Jack send a mental affirmative and slapped the glowing white sphere that took him home.
An instant later he was standing under the light drizzle of Blackmoor Cove. He pulled in a deep lungful of the salty air and turned to see Harrak, Sol, and Ryea waiting for them. The Bastion immediately walked up to her friend and embraced her. Jack hadn’t seen a lot of the Farmer since yesterday’s attack, but she didn’t seem like her always smiling, talking self.
Lex’s father crossed his huge arms and spoke first.
“The whole Town has been in a state since the strange new building cropped up out in the middle of the green grass… between Town Levels… again.”