by Prax Venter
Floor 3 Boss -15 | HP 50/75
Floor 3 Boss -15 | HP 35/75
Jack stood there dumbfounded. He had shaved a total 30 damage off in an instant. The giant red crab in front of him, however, was spurred into action by terrible agony, and it spun in place like a heavily armored spider.
A moment too late, Jack remembered that he was supposed to be running away, and if the enemy hadn’t been enraged, he might have been caught by its massive claw instead of getting bashed in the side and tossed into the air.
Jack -12 | HP 1/25
He landed in a heap into the relatively soft sand and shook off his stun as the haloed crab monster closed in on him.
*bloop*
Floor 3 Boss -6 | HP 29/75
Jack blinked up at the two suns in the sky just as they were blocked out by the monstrously sized crab. He came to his senses and rolled to his side in the sand as its larger claw came crashing down where he had been a moment ago. He scrambled to his feet and took off running around its powerful skittering legs and away from the creature. Panic gripped Jack’s gut as certain death followed behind him, and he considered sprinting for the Boss’s Exit Orb.
He cast a glance behind him and noticed that the massive Floor Boss was only a few steps behind.
They were so close, and if he could keep out-running this thing…
“Alt!” Jack yelled. “Keep shooting it in the ass!” He had no idea where the tiny spaceship was at the moment, but that didn’t really matter.
Jack put his head down and pumped his boots into the sand in an attempt to circle around the angelic crab. The creature skittered sideways to intercept him, but Jack changed direction, leaning hard to his right. He almost lost his footing, sliding around on the loose sand, but was able to avoid the massive claw as the crab slammed it down directly in his previous path.
With a risky dive roll, Jack dodged its smaller claw on the other side and made it past the Boss onto the long stretch of land heading back toward the entrance.
He could hear the stabbing, scrabbling legs of the colossal crustacean behind him, but Jack never looked back. Instead, all his focus was on sprinting away from the creature tearing up the sand at his heels.
*bloop*
Floor 3 Boss -6 | HP 23/75
Despite the insanely close call, Jack let a smile pull at the corner of his mouth. If the monster kept chasing after him, Alt would whittle it down. If his loyal spaceship minion pulled the Divine crab’s ire, then Jack would Double Strike its weak point again, ending the battle. The next five seconds seemed to take forever, but Alt fired into its back again.
*bloop*
Critical! Floor Boss -10 | HP 13/75
That did it. Alt’s critical strike pulled its attention away from Jack, and he heard the skittering noises recede behind him.
Jack skidded his leather boots in the sand, and then he sprinted back toward the massive red crab with glowing runes painted on its shell.
Alt must have detected what Jack was doing and stopped backing away from the massive monster. There was a metallic crunch sound, and then an alert flashed near the side of his vision.
Alt -20 | Defeated
Because the crab creature stopped to destroy his miniature spaceship friend, Jack was able to catch up and Double Strike the pearl affixed to its shell.
Floor 3 Boss -15 | Defeated
The unnecessary follow-up strike from his ability whiffed though empty air, but he needed make sure the thing would die. Jack felt tingling euphoria pass through his body as he was elevated to Hero Level 4, and a shower of glittering motes washed over his head.
“That was way too close to tragedy, Jack,” Alt said, his voice echoing within his head again.
Jack took in a deep breath while soaking in the hot beauty that was this shallow ocean world. He bet Lex would have liked it here.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “But here we are, laughing all the way to the bank.”
“Next time, I advise moving away from the angry beast after you slap its ass.”
Jack let out a short laugh. “Next time,” he agreed.
On the ground in front of him was another shield, except this one was made of metal and looked a lot like Kron’s. Jack bent down to inspect it.
Rusted Door Shield - [Shield | Value: 14]
| Def: 6 |
| Max HP +8 |
| Dodge -2 |
The item had a red outline and was unusable to him. He shrugged and moved it into his inventory. It was the first item he saw with a negative modifier to it, but it did make a kind of sense. One would find it hard to be light on their feet carrying around such a huge slab of metal.
The golden Boss chest appeared over by the Boss’s Exit Orb, and along with it had appeared the door to Floor 4. He gave the wooden door a glance, but there was no chance he was going to touch it.
Jack collected the loot instead.
Floor 3 Rewards - Boss Chest
Backstab Dagger - [Dagger | Value: 15]
| Dmg: 6 |
| Crit Chance + 0.10 |
| +1 Sneak |
Sea Salt Robes – [Chest | Value: 15]
| Def: 2 |
| Max Mana + 10 |
| Water Abilities + 3 Dmg |
Coins: 23
“Sneak! Water abilities? What is all this?”
“Finding good equipment is important, Jack.”
“Yes, I know this… How will this dagger affect you- and me? Will I be able to go invisible now?”
“I don’t believe so. Sneak is one of many Character Attributes. If you were more of a rogue or a thief Class, this would probably augment a trait you already had or an ability on one of your Paths. As it is, I’m not sure how this will translate to your… unique Hero Class.
“Let’s find out,” Jack said, before he moved the dagger to merge with Alt.
ARV Alternis - [Sword | Value: 36/350]
| Dmg: 11 |
| Hit Chance + 0.05 |
| Crit Chance + 0.09 |
| 15% chance to heal 1 HP on kill |
| +1 Sneak |
“It looks like it stuck,” Jack said, smiling at his cheating sword.
“Check your Character panel,” Alt suggested, and Jack willed the information to appear before him.
Jack - Hero Class: Irrelevant | Level 4
[Health: 1/25 | Mana: 14/22]
[Defense: 14 | Dodge: 12]
[Main Hand Damage: 11 | Off-Hand Damage: 0]
[Hit Chance: 0.90] [Critical Chance: 0.10]
[Magic Power: 0] [Sneak: 1]
Jack concentrated on his new attribute and a detailed information panel appeared.
Sneak: This trait determines how successful you are at moving undetected.
“Not really a surprise, but I’ll take it,” Jack said, and reached for the Exit Orb. “Now let’s get out of here.”
A flash of white later he was standing under a cold gray sky instead of a hot blue one.
“Jack!” Lex said, putting her hand on his arm after she looked him over. “You’re near death!”
“Good to see you too,” he joked. Ryea had come to greet them again, and he shot the freckled woman a wink.
The shorter, golden-haired woman began to sing, but her dark eyebrows came down as she did, and he could tell she was having a hard time concentrating. The melody was nowhere near as sharp and as beautiful as before.
Jack’s Hit Points rose up to 7/15 before she stopped abruptly. Her glassy eyes looked up into his, and he saw anger and disappointment there.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “I made it to Floor 4 and got tons of loot for the Town.”
She shook her head and pulled away. Without another word, Lex held her hand out to the Input chest. Jack looked back over at Ryea, who had her arms crossed under her ample bosom and her eyes down at the ground.
Jack was at a loss. He moved to feed his items into the Town chest. Before he did, he glanced up at the new interface that Alt created.
Coins: 62
; Inventory Value: 136
It was his biggest haul yet, and he was disappointed Lex was acting so distant. He wanted to show her all this loot. With a shrug, he emptied his Inventory. Was she upset that he had cut it so close? He did promise to not take risks…
A flash of light from the fountain caught their attention. After the brilliant effect had receded, Jack saw that the weak jet of water was now spouting about a foot into the air.
“What was that?” Jack asked.
Ryea broke her stun first. “It’s… It’s a Town Level increase, Jack.”
Lex blinked away her surprise and turned her eyes back to his. She looked like she was about to say something then decided against it. The Bastion walked away instead, heading for the inn.
“Let’s go eat,” she said over her shoulder, and Jack was starting to get mad at her. Shouldn’t this be a reason to celebrate?
Ryea locked eyes with his and gave him a sad smile before she followed her friend to the inn.
Jack followed them through the door and sat down at the table with Lex and Ryea, but the woman with the uniquely pointed ears just kept her eyes focused onto the table.
“So, how were your days?” Jack asked, trying to move past whatever this was.
Ryea looked over at the sullen Lex and spoke up to fill the uncomfortable silence. The doughy-faced woman recounted her uneventful day guarding the wall, going into a surprising amount of detail. While she spoke, Jack’s eyes kept coming back to Lex. She seemed to be lost in her own world.
Demi came by and took everyone’s order. The Heroes booked their rooms, and the innkeeper’s sharp eyes lingered on Lex and then bore into Jack before she went off to get their food. Jack really felt like he was missing something important here. He risked his life for these people and this Town, and he felt like he was being punished for it.
The three of them ate in relative silence, and Jack’s anger at the woman sitting across from him, pushing her food around on her plate, grew to a breaking point. He wanted to say something horrible but stopped himself. Old Jack might have made things worse, New Jack was going to do things differently. Maybe if he extended an olive branch…
“Lex,” he began softly, “I think we should team up tomorrow. We could-”
“Never.” She cut him off, her squinting eyes snapping up to his. “I will never join someone like you in there.”
Jack’s brows came down as her words stung him sharply. Confused and hurt, he lashed out.
“What the hell is wrong with you!”
Lex stood abruptly, and she looked down on him, barely able to keep tears from spilling from those eyes he had come to adore.
“I’m done. Goodnight.” The Bastion turned and walked up the stairs to her room.
Jack followed her with his eyes, his own anger boiling over. After the short, leather-clad woman was out of sight, he switched his attention on Ryea.
“You have to tell me what is going on. I’m feeding the Town- it’s exactly what she wanted!”
The freckled woman who had always been so cheerful looked back at him with a blank expression.
“It’s more complicated than that, for her. But it’s not my place to talk about it.”
“What do you mean, not your place? You gossip nonstop about everything and everyone! You never shut up!”
Things were spiraling out of control quickly. Ryea’s neutral face dropped, and he knew he had hurt her too. He wanted to feel bad, but at least he knew how he had hurt the heavyset woman with the long braid sitting across from him.
It was then he noticed that the inn around him had grown quiet, and the silence broke through his anger. Everyone was looking at him.
“Ryea… I’m so sorry,” he said and then stood up. Without looking back, Jack exited the Eye o’ the Storm to get some fresh air. It was dark outside and cold, but it was exactly what he needed to cool off.
Without really thinking, his feet took him to the fountain in front of the Tower. Jack could still see the spurt of water rising higher than it had ever been, and fresh anger welled up inside him. He was really starting to like Lex, but finding out she was possibly crazy right when he was excited to show her what he had accomplished… right when he had hoped to fight by her side in the Tower… the disappointment was maddening.
Jack pulled out his sword and began wildly attacking enemies that weren’t there. He told himself it was practice, but he was just blowing off steam.
He hacked and flailed his weapon around, and right when the desire to be out of this ridiculous simulation grew to its highest point since he landed outside the accursed Tower, he heard someone say, “Stop.”
At first, he thought it was Alt, but it didn’t sound like him- and it was coming from behind. Jack spun and saw the soft orange glow of a pipe illuminating a thickly bearded face.
“Harrak?” Jack said, lowering his weapon. The old man appeared to be sitting on the edge of the fountain, watching him.
“You look like a damn fool with that thing.”
Jack sheathed his blade. “Apparently, I am a fool.”
It was difficult to see in the darkness, but he could tell that Lex’s father turned to face the fountain.
“I see you are already Level 4 and leveled up the Town.”
Jack shook his head and laughed up into the dark sky.
“Go ahead. Yell at me for helping you people, I dare you.”
Harrak turned back to face him and took a long pull off his pipe. The orange glow lit up his face, and the wild look in his intense eyes had been replaced with scrutiny.
“Come to The Yard at Four to Close tomorrow morning. Maybe I’ll train you to use your bizarre weapon.” With that, the burly old man stood and walked into the night.
Jack was dumbfounded again. He stood there with the salty sea wind pushing against his backside for a while before he headed back to the inn.
“Alt,” he began as he walked through the darkness, “how does a Hero become a Bygone Hero?”
“They age. The time is different for each NPC, but it’s when they feel too old to venture into the Tower, becoming a liability to their Group. Someday, you’ll receive an interface menu asking if you would like to retire as well.”
“Thanks, Alt.”
“I’m here for you, Jack.”
Jack pushed open the door to the inn and saw that it was mostly empty. There were a few Townsfolk that he didn’t recognize huddled around the blazing fireplace and one tall, silver-haired woman standing at the bar.
He walked up to his usual barstool and sat down. “I’ll have a rum and coke, heavy on the rum.”
“I assume that’s some type of alcoholic concoction,” Demi said. “Haven’t had anything like that for a long time.”
Jack nodded and looked her in her piercing blue eyes. “What did I do to piss her off?”
Demi took in a deep breath and leaned against the back counter.
“You disappointed her.”
“I’m feeding the Town, growing stronger... She seemed happy when I came out the first time near death!” Jack struggled to keep his voice down. He shot a half-glance over his shoulder, but no one was looking at him.
“You broke a promise, Jack. Bravery and recklessness are two very close states of being. You proved you are no coward, but you seem to be out to prove it constantly.” The silver-haired woman leaned forward and looked him right in the eye. “She was beginning to like you, and by climbing the Tower too fast, you reminded her of someone dangerous- someone she hates.”
“Who?” he asked.
Demi leaned back again, tossing a slender hand up. “It doesn’t matter. They aren’t around anymore. But you are. You want my advice, Jack?”
He nodded. “Very much so.”
“Don’t risk everything on reaching the next Floor.”
Jack shook his head. “I get that, but did you know the Town gained a Level today?”
Demi’s eyes narrowed. “I did not. Jack, you are free to take my advice or leave it. Especially
when it involves Lex. Let me ask you one question, were you one attack away from death on Exit?”
“Yes.”
“Then you wagered every other Floor’s worth of items you could bring us- a whole lifetime of your contribution… and your company, all of it, on just one more Level. I don’t know much about where you say you’re from, but those types of Heroes don’t last very long in our world.”
The way she phrased that last bit caught his attention. Suddenly, everything came into sharp focus for Jack. This wasn’t his world, but he was the same in every world. He had been clapping himself on the back for turning over a new leaf and tempering his… his way of doing things. In his old life, he did the same thing, every time. His mind latched onto an old memory from when he was a teenager.
He and his girlfriend were standing on the edge of a steep drop in the New Mexico desert looking out over the Rio Grande. The hot, dry wind had picked up, and she went to put her hair into a ponytail, but the black, stretchy band of elastic sprang out of her fingers and came to rest in the dirt right on the edge.
Without a moment’s hesitation, young Jack darted out and scooped up the hair tie. A few loose rocks and a shower of dirt fell into the depths below as his foot slipped, but he came back up to her all smiles, holding her lost item.
She screamed at him, called him an idiot and began to cry. And just like what happened today, Jack got mad at her for being upset- because he didn’t fall. His girlfriend got mad at him because he risked his life for a ten-cent loop of elastic, and he reacted badly.
But here he was in a new world where life-or-death situations were going to be part of his daily routine.
“Thanks for the talk, Demi. I’ll see you for breakfast.”
The older woman just nodded sagely as he pushed away from the bar and headed up the stairs to his room.
“I like that innkeeper,” Alt whispered in his ear.
Jack eyed Lex’s closed door as he passed and waited to respond until his own door was completely closed.
“Alt, can you work as an alarm clock?”
- 21 -
“Up and shine, Jack.”
Alt’s voice reached deep down into his dreamless sleep, and Jack jolted awake.