by Adam Elliott
“Anything worth having?” Shifty inquired as Celia and Michael picked over the last of the loot crystals dropped by the slain monsters.
"Some money, a lot of vendor trash," Celia said with a shrug. "Oh, and two, Count them! Two minor potions of healing.”
“They're trash mobs, what did you expect, epic loot?” Michael laughed.
Celia stuck her tongue out. “It would have been nice. I've been wearing the same pair of shoes for nearly ten levels. I swear they're starting to wear out.”
“Wait. Didn't we find an upgrade sometime last week.” Shifty asked, suddenly interested in the conversation once again.
"We did, yeah." Cayden grinned. "What was your excuse for not upgrading again, Celia?"
The blonde Chronomagi straightened up and began to swipe at the air in front of her, pretending not to hear him and quite possibly pretending to be using her AR display at all.
“Was it because they were ugly?” Michael asked.
“And the new guy gets it in one.” Cayden laughed.
“I feel her pain is all.” The handsome juggernaut replied, the words muted by the concealing full helm he wore. It was hard to tell if he was serious, even as he edged up next to Celia, lifted a foot and tapped the side of it with a fingertip. “These were a boss loot drop. I carried them around for two days until I got back to town and could have them dyed.”
The admission brought a giggle to Celia's lips and a retch to Cayden and Shifty's. The dark knight looking juggernaut had proven effective in their early engagements, despite the fact that they hadn't had much opportunity to showcase his particular gimmick. He was talented as a fighter, but definitely, more of a ladies' man than Cayden had any taste for.
"It is getting late. Any chance we could get this finished before sunrise, or am I just herding cats?" Silver asked irritably. The sorceress was standing apart from their group; her body leaned back against the stone wall to the right of decayed wooden doors of the keep.
Everyone nodded their assent, but Cayden couldn't help but notice the slight pout that formed on Celia's lips as Michael turned his attention away from her to the task at hand. That is going to be trouble later on.
Or he was just jealous.
No. Not him. Never.
Chapter Six
The door to Warrior's Keep didn't so much open as it collapsed under its own rotten weight as Michael and Cayden wrenched it open. A smattering of termites and other vermin native only to Babel fell away from the disintegrating mess, leaving a wriggling pile that not one of them wanted to be the first to walk through.
Sadly, Cayden was the tank.
“I think I'd have preferred wall chicken to door roaches” Cayden grumbled, kicking the largest bugs out of his path as he advanced.
The room beyond was lit only by the stray rays of moonlight that crept in through the damaged outer walls of the keep and the empowered light spell that Silver had bestowed upon his shield. When asked what the difference was between a light spell and an empowered light spell, she had only replied 'It's very bright.'
Creeping his way into that cavernous darkness with only a twenty-foot bubble of light from his shield to guide him, it didn't feel very bright.
“Marco...” Came a female voice from behind him.
“Oh, shut up!” He snapped back. “Are you coming or what?”
“Not with that attitude, Polo.” Silver remarked, before turning her attention to Michael and beginning the incantation for a similar light enchantment.
Each step on the stone floors echoed off into the darkness, repeated back to him from an obtuse angle that had him twitching involuntarily towards the invading sound. Slowly, pillars came into range of his light source, five-foot thick monoliths that reached from floor to ceiling in the cathedral-like entrance hall. Two rows of such monoliths ran parallel to the door with a thick red carpet leading the way forward between them. Each column was just far enough apart that a new one came into view only as the previous one was vanishing behind him.
"Isn't this place is a little bigger on the inside than it looks like on the outside?" Michael asked as his own heavy footsteps fell into pace alongside Cayden, their overlapping spheres of light expanding their view of the enormous hall.
"Not sure why you'd be surprised by that," Shifty replied. "Sort of Babel's thing isn't it?"
Cayden frowned. "It is, but that sort of thing usually only happens behind an instance-"
A sudden cacophony of stone and metal turned the whole party on their heel as the entrance they'd just recently passed began to crumble. For only an instant, Cayden considered rushing the door, throwing himself beneath it to hold open a way for the others to escape, but he'd never have made it. In mere seconds the entrance to the keep had crumbled to nothing more than a pile of rubble strategically placed to prevent any natural egress.
"-gate."
"Just had to Jinx us, didn't you?" Silver grumbled.
"That is sort of his thing isn't it?" Celia said with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, going back is out of the question for the time being." Cayden did his best to ignore the jabs as he turned his attention back towards the darkness ahead of them. "Scripted dungeon, we might as well keep on script?"
With a murmur of agreement, they began to move, Cayden in the lead and Michael as their rearguard. They walked a few feet, listened, then walked again, each time taking care to listen for any scuttling monsters or pattering footsteps in the darkness that would otherwise have been concealed by conversation or the clatter of boots.
Every so often the path diverged. Gaps opened between one column and the next, and upon investigation, they found doorways leading to smaller rooms, staircases, or hallways. It felt wrong to leave such possibilities open at their back, but with nowhere to retreat, forward was as safe as backward.
Besides, if they'd learned anything from videogames, it was that ominous red carpets led to the boss.
Their pace in that bubble of light amidst inescapable darkness was slower than any of them would have liked, but it did eventually produce results as the edge of their light crept over the first of a half-dozen steps leading up to a closed double door.
"So, do we knock? Or?" Michael asked with a tone so insufferable that Cayden could hear his smug grin, even if he couldn't see it.
"When everyone is ready, I'll open it." He looked among the group his eyes lingering the longest over Silver.
The mage took the hint, and Celia joined her as the two began to layer protective spells and damage boosts upon themselves and their party members. The whole process took a little more than a minute, complete with gaps of silence while they listened for some unseen beast waiting to spring from the shadows.
"Ugh. You forget how much of a pain it is to pre-buff when you don't have Rary's Accelerated Preparedness." Silver sighed as she completed her last spell.
"Our hearts bleed for you," Cayden replied.
"I do lead a pained existence." She continued, enjoying how her banter seemed to irk him. "Are we going or-"
This time the young man replied with actions rather than words. He'd tested the door during their preparation and found it locked, so this time he hit it running, an armored shoulder splintering wood and causing the frame to buckle dangerously inward. It took two more blows, and the reluctant acceptance of help from Michael before the brace on the other side of the double doors finally shattered.
The sound of fire greeted them, a sharp scrape and crack, like that of a match being struck. It accompanied the first flames as they burst into life, candles sticks, torches and braziers nearest them all catching fire spontaneously, as though the opening of the door had provided the spark of oxygen they needed. Then a second row caught flame, then a third, and a fourth. Each row brought more life and color to the room.
It had been a throne room at one point, perhaps. There was a dais at its far end, and another series of majestic columns on the outskirts of the room to give any entrant the feeling that they were small, insignif
icant. It lacked a proper regal seat, but with the amount of broken stone, wood and refuse strewn throughout the room, it was entirely possible the components were still here.
As the last row of combustibles took spark, a new sound grew to dominate the room. It was a grinding noise, something heavy being dragged along something equally unyielding.
Stone against stone.
It was Celia who finally spotted the source, concealed as it was by the echoes of the open room. With her usual measure of understatement. "What are those?"
All eyes followed hers to the ceiling. There were five circular holes cut into the stonework, each covered with metallic plate that was slowly, but surely, retreating into the framework next to it.
"Nothing good." Silver frowned, beginning an incantation.
Her spell struck the ceiling right as the final few inches of plate were disappearing into the wall. It struck hard, an explosion that rocked the room and left Cayden blinking away spots from the brightness of its flame.
There was a massive crunch, something hitting the floor not far ahead of him, but as he blinked away the vestiges of Silver's spell, it was not the chunk of masonry that he had expected, hoped, to see. Instead, it was a humanoid shape, devoid of gender or any defining features. It held a long blade in its right hand, and a kite shield strapped to its left, its posture low and ready for combat.
It was only when the thing swiveled its faceless head in his direction, and rolled its sword arm the same way he always did before a fight, that he recognized it for what it was.
"Doppelganger!" Silver shouted before Cayden could even form the word.
They were in trouble.
Copycat monsters were a dime a dozen in the RPG, action, and even fighting games he played as a child, but to his knowledge one had never been seen in Babel. If this were a full-strength clone of him, he'd have his work cut out killing it before it killed him, but that was the least of their problems. Five holes, five party members. That meant there was one for Silver.
If it didn't come with her debuff, they were all dead.
A second crack accompanied the fall of Michael's duplicate, followed by a third as Celia's double joined him. If they were coming down staggered then Cayden wasn't going to give them the time to regret that choice. "Personal Skill Use: Leap Attack!"
The bounding lunge carried him into the middle of the enemy formation, the weight of his falling blade striking down across Celia's marionette as the thing put its arms up in a futile attempt to block. "Personal Skill Use: Taunt!" He roared, following it with a wild cry as he met himself sword to sword. It was an unsettling feeling, recognizing his own mannerisms, his own swordsmanship at work. "Celia, heal me. Everyone, burn her down ASAP, and keep away from-"
An unnatural sound bellowed from his duplicate, and a sensation of unbridled anger washed over Cayden as the noise struck him. How dare that thing? He'd kill it! He'd tear it limb from limb without the slightest care. It didn't matter that Michael's duplicate was trying to skirt around him, to go after his party, or that the Celia copy was in the midst of some sort of spell, her distorted speech causing his ears to ache. Nothing mattered. He needed to kill this damned...
Shifty Copy's Trick Shot hits You for 472 Physical [Bleed, Movement Impaired]
The goddamned thing just taunted me! Cayden realized only as the damage from the simulacrum's attack drew enough threat to break him out of the red fogged fury inspired by his enemy's skill. On the one hand, he ought to thank it, on the other... it had dealt an eight of his total HP, even with his overall HP increased with a Greater Durability rune spell.
That had become a problem, as of late. He'd dumped level after level into Rune Magi, which granted him a whole host of mostly unmatched magical talent, yet it also weakened his primary role. He was good enough to tank so long as they were punching at or below their weight, but ten levels in a magic user class had left his overall HP sorely wanting, which forced him to keep up with armor and skill alone. Celia and Shifty carried the difference, but if he was honest, he was probably the weakest link in their team, especially when he couldn't use his magic directly.
Another hard thump sent Cayden whirling, his sword already upraised as he called out "Skill Use: Southern Cross!"
He'd known what he would find there before he'd even begun to turn. The other four were already fighting, which left the Silver copy, a smooth, doll-like creature already raising a hand in his direction.
Please work!
Your Southern Cross hit Silver Copy for 351Physical
Your Southern Cross hit Cayden Copy for 28 (Blocked)
His first blow struck clean, giving him all the information, and relief he could have wished for. So much so that he was only mildly perturbed when his doppelganger managed to interpose himself between blows with a judicious use of his Cover skill. The real silver wouldn't have taken anywhere near that much damage from such a low-level attack, nor would her HP bar have dropped so deeply as a result.
The copy was subject to the same death penalties the real one. They weren't instantly dead.
Still, they were fighting their exact duplicates. Not the best time to be letting his guard down.
"Celia! CC!" He shouted, calling for her crowd control spell to remove her opposite number from the field. The words fell on deaf ears, however, or rather, absent ears. A quick look at the battlefield showed that his Celia was missing, even though the enemy’s was alive and kicking. Short-lived confusion set in before Cayden realized the obvious. They had beaten her to it. Wonderful.
"Huh. Okay, new plan." Cayden muttered in frustration, his mind racing for that new plan as he parried aside another blow from his faceless self, attempting to enter a blind spot in his shield to get another swing at the 'woman' behind him. "Micheal. Do your thing!"
The other man laughed. "Like I need you to tell me."
The copies knew how to use the skills they were given, that much was obvious. But would they know how to combo them? And more importantly, would they know enough to avoid what was coming next?
Michael lowered his rapier and began slamming his free fist against the thick metal chest plate. It was a taunt, similar but not identical to Cayden's. Cayden's drew aggro by cranking his threat through the roof, defaulting enemy targeting to him until someone else did enough damage to draw it away. Michael's, by contrast, was a mind-affecting ability. No matter the threat, every enemy in range would attack him if able for the duration of the ability. Once it was over, his aggro would return to its original state, allowing him to choose when and how he wanted to be struck.
As expected, the clones swarmed him. The enemy Silver shot a bolt of lightning that cascaded off a crimson gauntlet, while two knives from their Shifty dug perilously deep into an exposed joint area. Entropy spells and rapier strikes peppered the cardinal knight, forcing him back as his HP bar began to deplete. Michael's allies used the moment to their advantage, giving nearly as good as their temporary savior was taking, but the taunt didn't make their enemies stupid. They still defended themselves, even if the focus of their attacks was Michael.
Cayden took the moment to pressure his foe and felt a swell of pride as he forced the creature out of the boundary of its Grasp the World ability. That pride was fleeting. However, as he saw the stumbling creature level it's sword parallel to the ground, it's palm stretched in Michael's direction. "Aya..."
"Michael! Mitigate!" he shouted.
"...Natha!"
A ripple of distorted violet flame erupted from the faux-Cayden's hand, the runic energy racing towards Michael who just barely turned to face it in time. Unlike Cayden's Guardian class, Michael's juggernaut was focused almost entirely on passive damage resistance. Where Cayden blocked, Michael soaked, allowing his armor to take the brunt of the damage dealt to him. With higher HP, the effect was usually around the same, but even a juggernaut couldn't face tank everything.
Fortunately for them both, Cayden's warning had arrived in time, the flame washing around Michael as hi
s Force of Will ability allowed him to dissipate the majority of what would have otherwise been crippling, perhaps even fatal damage.
"What the hell was that?!" Michael demanded.
"Later!" Cayden shouted, pressing the attack against his duplicate to prevent a second spell from finishing the job. "Get Shifty!"
"Like I need you to-" Michael laughed again, too distracted in the moment to finish the thought. He flourished his blade as he advanced on the retreating rogue, his longer steps closing the distance despite two more daggers clattering off the edges of his plate. The advance was relentless, but if the copies understood the danger, they did nothing to react to it appropriately.
The proper response was to get the hell away from him.
At level ten, the Juggernaut class gained a new resource, called Momentum, a pool that built with every point of damage they took. Once a Juggernaut had taken enough damage to fill the pool, they gained temporary access to two different abilities: Unstoppable and Immovable. Immovable negated all damage taken by the next hit, making it an outstanding ability for tanking, if a tad situational. The opposite, Unstoppable, was an attack ability that would quadruple damage dealt by the next successful hit. It sounded good on paper, but the inability to pair it with an active skill made it decidedly underwhelming for such a situational ability.
Unless you had a way to guarantee a critical hit, such as, say, a duellist's Blade Flourish skill.
The tip of Michael's rapier jabbed into the fake Shifty's torso just below the left side of the ribs. Hardly a crippling blow under normal circumstances, the combination of the two abilities caused the copy's body to detonate like a bomb, a cloud of ash erupting from the gaping wound where it's torso used to be as the two halves of its body skittered to a stop a half-dozen feet away.
It was an incredible combination, one Cayden was vaguely sad he hadn't thought of himself, and one he was hard pressed to beat. He'd been wracking his brain ever since Michael had divulged the gimmick, on how best to confront it, hypothetically speaking. Thus far his best solutions were to burn Michael down before he could activate the ability, successfully block or dodge it, or run for the thirty seconds it took for his charge to dissipate.