by Prax Venter
“Hey, Lex,” Jack said over his shoulder. “Come look at this special item.” He moved the other stuff into his inventory, so the only thing she could see was the King’s Fork and her split of the coins. He felt her lay her small hand on his back as she leaned in and Inspected the Boss Chest.
“Oh, it’s a unique item, and it’s got a nice high value.”
Jack kept his focus on the Off-Hand item as he did some math. With that 15 mana he could channel his Mining Laser for another 7 seconds, and at 14 damage a second now…
“What if I equipped this instead of my shield?” he asked.
Lex crossed her arms. “Even though you take damage from blocking, usually you’ll want that extra damage reduction, especially since it’s just the two of… well, three of us. Some of the damage will probably come your way.”
Jack turned back to look at the unique item. “What if I held onto it- like a Mana battery if we need it for a damage boost?”
Lex’s dark brows came down and then slowly rose back up as she considered what Jack had suggested.
“I don’t know what a battery is, but I think I understand the concept. Extra power when we need it.” She nodded with an approving frown. “I’ve considered it, but for most of my life the Town needed every item I could carry and locking up a slot like that wasn’t practical…”
Jack pulled the item into his inventory and swapped it with his shield. His eyes were drawn to the new weight in his left hand and there he held an oversized, rusty metal fork. Jack waved it around and smiled at Lex.
“I’m keeping this.”
The experienced Hero gave him a half smile. “Let’s Exit here for today,” she said. “Tomorrow we push for Floor 6.”
- 24 -
The next day the three of them started again at Floor 1 and went all the way up to defeat the Floor 6 Boss. The final guardian for the jungle-themed Floor was an obsidian panther. Jack and Alt blasted it from range while Lex took the brunt of the attacks, as had been their technique for most battles. The day after that, they tackled the Floor 7 Boss, a half-rabbit, half-woman that did some serious damage with her powerful legs.
Each day they climbed one more Floor and continuously fed more items into the Town. Each night, Jack and Lex ate and laughed with Ryea, and each morning Jack trained with Harrak by the Wall. Jack and Alt grew stronger with every drop, and they were halfway through their sweep of Floor 8 when a blade dropped from one of the wandering monsters that pushed Alt over into his next tier.
The flash of light happened again, and both Jack and Lex were not prepared to be blinded.
“Mother of demons- what was that?” Lex swore, and Jack’s mouth split into a smile no one could see. He’d never heard her use that expression before. He’d actually learned a lot about the pointy-eared, blonde Bastion over the last few days. She took way more risks than she realized by choosing to rely more on her higher stats and her prowess with her shield than to use careful strategy, and it took Jack by surprise. He taught her how to abuse the floor layouts and monster weakness, and she forced him to take one Floor at a time.
The ground of today’s final Floor was made of fluffy clouds that made their footing a bit unreliable. The wandering monsters here had Divine-type affinity again, but these took the form of a child’s angry drawing of a person. The enemies were vibrating black scribbles with red eyes and vicious claws.
“Sorry, that was me gaining more abilities…” the miniature spaceship said, sounding distant.
Jack blinked away his minor blindness and spoke towards Lex. “He used to flash like that every time I gave him an item. What new tricks do you have, buddy?”
Alt spoke directly into Jack’s mind. “There are many things I remember and wish to tell you but would only confuse Lex. I’ll tell you the extent of it in bed, later.” Jack’s eyebrows came down as he imagined snuggling with his toy spaceship as he fell asleep like Alt was a teddy bear. The electronic voice switched from inside Jack’s head back to emitting from the spaceship.
“You both are really going to like this- Jack, check your third Path.”
Jack eagerly did what he was told and pulled up his Skills interface panel.
PATH: Data Summoning [0/15,000]
► Call Alt – [Activated | Once per Entrance | read.Mainhand(remote deletion pr)]
~ Summon ARV Alternis to help in the Tower.
► Alter Alt – [Activated | Once per Floor]
~ I’ll take the form of a chosen enemy previously damaged by Mining Laser
Jack’s eyes went wide. “You’re shitting me.”
“What is it?” Lex said taking a step closer to him.
“Alt learned a new trick,” he said. “But, how do I choose?” As soon as Jack tried to remember all of the monsters he hit with his ability, a new black-lacquer interface panel appeared in his vision.
Summon Options - Usable once per Floor
(B) Crystal Mother
(B) Giant Bullfrog
Phantom Weapon Master
(B) Animated Armor
Periwinkle Orb Pheasant
Chitinous Blood Man
(B) Impossible Cat Head
(B) Divine Crab
(B) Whirling Tooth Tornado
(B) Giant Ruby Worm
Gluttonous Chef
(B) Bile King
Sandman
Wooden Wheel
Blue Jelly
Pig Wizard
(B) Legion Eye
“I can pick any of these, every time we go to a new Floor?”
“That’s what it says,” Alt said with a hint of sarcasm.
Lex put her hands on her leather-wrapped hips.
“Pick what?” she said, losing patience.
Jack’s eyes focused on one of the options and mentally embraced the selection.
The tiny spaceship was engulfed by a relatively dim flash and then standing in his place was a bear-sized crab with a golden halo.
“Mmm, good choice,” the crab said with Alt’s voice as he gestured with his claw. “This form derives its Hit Points and Defense from your Main Hand Damage value. A multiple of 3 to be exact.”
Jack checked his character screen first.
Jack - Hero Class: Irrelevant | Level 8
[Health: 88/88 | Mana: 29/35]
[Defense: 46 | Dodge: 16]
[Main Hand Damage: 20 | Off-Hand Damage: 0]
[Hit Chance: 0.93] [Critical Chance: 0.10]
[Magic Power: 0] [Sneak: 1]
“Nice that means-”
“60 HPs…” Lex said, checking her augmented peripheral display before he could check his.
JACK HP 88/88 MP 29/35
LEX HP 270/270
ALT HP 60/60
Coins: 195
Inventory Value: 1052
Alt Value: 0/15,000
Jack walked over and patted the new Alt-crab on his rune-coated shell.
“I picked this one in the hopes that he can take some of the damage from you, Lex.”
He looked over to see the Bastion’s golden eyes shimmering with barely contained tears. Jack took a step toward her, and she held up her gloved hand, quickly flashing him a smile. Lex wiped her face and regained some of her composure.
“I can’t believe this display of power is happening before my eyes,” she said. “Just promise me you won’t summon back the Bile King, Jack.”
Jack grinned. “It’s a deal- only if you help me decide which monster we turn Alt into for each Floor.” His face dropped when a sobering thought hit him. “Man, I wish I used my Mining Laser more. I already have quite the collection, but…”
Alt-crab jumped in. “We obviously should make it a priority that you tag each monster we find. I’m not sure what any on the list do until you summon one for me. And, if anyone wants my opinion, the Bile King Boss would probably be a well-rounded addition to the team.”
Lex and Jack both caught each other’s eyes and began to laugh. Jack slapped the haloed crab on his smooth shell again.
“Maybe tomorrow we
’ll try out that stink monster. Let’s finish this cloud Floor and go home with our winnings for the day.”
They all agreed and moved between the fluffy white clouds until they came to the next demonic scribble monster. Alt-crab took the lead this time, and they were all pleased by how little damage he took from its black claws.
Alt -4 | HP 56/60
Lex and Jack each leaped out from behind their heavenly crab companion and obliterated the enemy. Jack shot his Mining Laser first, and then Lex stabbed it directly after.
Jack picked up the heavy chest armor the creature dropped and put it into his Inventory.
Lex took her turn patting Alt’s new shell. “This transformation is truly amazing. Those foes would have defeated you with one shot before.”
“While I miss my more familiar form,” Alt-crab said, “this new flexibility in party dynamics should prove to be very interesting indeed.”
The rest of Floor 8 went smoothly, and then they came to the Boss chamber. Hovering among the pure white clouds was a ball of fire, possibly meant to look like a sun. The thing was about as big as Alt in his crab form, measuring about six feet in diameter. The Floor Boss had black, villainous eyes staring straight ahead, waiting for someone to come and challenge it.
“Send in Alt first?” Lex asked.
“Yeah,” Jack nodded. “Let him take a few hits, maybe land a few claw strikes… I remember that crab Boss really doing some damage. Then, I’ll blast it with my ability, collecting another summon. After that, you run in and finish it off, Lex.”
“Understood,” his haloed crab minion said and then began to scuttle forward toward the sun monster. As Alt moved, Jack noticed that the same weak-point pearl was affixed to the rear end of his new form. Apparently, the summoned monsters retained their drawbacks as well.
The Floor 8 Boss turned its pure black eyes on the advancing crab and sent out two golden beams of crackling energy surrounded by an odd black outline. Alt was struck instantly.
Alt -10 | HP 46/60
The Divine beams hit the Divine crab and shaved off a fair bit of health. Jack triggered his ability early. He didn’t want to waste any time with this ranged, high-damage Boss.
Floor 8 Boss -14 | 166/180
He saw Lex dart out and run wide around Alt to flank the sun from the left, and Jack just kept up his beam. He wasn’t going to be able to do more damage with actual strikes.
Alt -10 | HP 36/60
The angry sun’s eyebeams damaged the Crab once more before its attention was pulled toward Jack. With blinding quickness, the Floor Boss zipped forward to about half the distance to Jack. Alt swung his claw through the empty air where the sun monster had been, while Lex pushed her boots into the fluffy clouds below, changing her direction.
Jack applied his damage to the Boss again, and an instant later, it blasted Jack with its own ranged beam attack.
Floor 8 Boss -14 | 152/180
Jack -17 | HP 71/88
This was a powerful Boss. Jack knew Lex or Alt wouldn’t redirect the sun creature’s painful attention until they had the opportunity to do enough damage, so he continued blasting his Mining Laser attack, trading damage with the burning monster.
Lex was moving so fast that she overshot her target but still managed to land a solid slice through the hovering ball of fire.
Floor 8 Boss -45 | 107/180
It took another second for Lex to shift her momentum back towards the angry sun, and Jack traded damage with the Boss again.
Floor 8 Boss -14 | 93/180
Jack -17 | HP 54/88
The Bastion brought her blade back around in an upward diagonal slice, cutting the thing in half right between the eyes.
Floor 8 Boss -45 | 48/180
Alt-crab also made it over to the fight and grabbed at the sun with one of his claws.
Floor 8 Boss -8 | 40/180
The sun zipped sideways away from the melee attackers and turned its horrible golden eyebeams on Lex.
Jack shifted his own attack to the Floor Boss’s new location while Lex and Alt scrambled across the fluffy ground after it.
Lex -17 HP 253/270
Floor 8 Boss -14 | 26/180
This one hit hard, and moved fast, yet a smile spread across Jack’s face. Lex could take the hits even if she didn’t block. This boss was going down. The angry sun moved again, an instant before Lex was about to erase it from existence, but it would only be two more seconds before Jack’s affinity-handicapped Mining Laser would do the job.
Lex -17 HP 236/270
Floor 8 Boss -14 | 12/180
The experienced Bastion halted her useless pursuit and brought up her shield against the angry sun’s energy onslaught.
Lex -9 HP 227/270
Floor 8 Boss -14 | Defeated
Jack looked forward to this part of their day in the Tower. A tingle of ever-increasing euphoria passed through his body as he advanced to Level 9. The draw to try and push Lex to go to the next Floor right now was maddening. They’d just have to start at Floor 1 again tomorrow, and with the Bastion’s relatively high-end gear and Alt’s new shapeshifting ability, there was a good chance they’d be able to do it.
The shorter Hero stepped up to him as she sheathed her sword behind her back.
“I might have had a problem with this Boss if it kept dashing away from me like that,” Lex said. “Here is a good example of why I stopped at Floor 5. I couldn’t risk going any higher alone. Your ranged attack makes a large difference, Jack.”
Jack suppressed the urge to coerce her into moving forward. He simply nodded and went to loot the Boss chest. He was hoping for new leather chest armor, but there wasn’t anything interesting or anything any of them could use, so he stashed the items into his Inventory.
They’d found replacements for most of his gear but were having a streak of bad luck when it came to that one slot. He pulled up his Character screen and passed his eyes over all his equipment- something he liked to do as they left the Tower for the day.
Off-Hand: Kite Shield - [Shield | Value: 33]
| Def: 14 |
| Max HP +20 |
Chest: Dark Jerkin - [Chest | Value: 9]
| Def: 4 |
| Dodge +2 |
| Max HP +3 |
Legs: Heavy Leather Pants - [Legs | Value: 18]
| Def: 8 |
| Max HP +12 |
| Dodge -1 |
Feet: Black Treads - [Feet | Value: 27]
| Def: 11 |
| Dodge +5 |
Hands: Work Gloves - [Hands | Value: 24]
| Def: 9 |
| Max HP +11 |
Head:
Ring:
Ring:
Amulet:
Decorative Shirt: Common Cloth Shirt - [Chest | Value: 1 | Def: 0]
Decorative Belt:
Decorative Cloak:
Decorative Hat:
There were still a lot of missing pieces he needed to fill up with equipment.
“Hey, Lex, why haven’t we seen any helmets drop? And why don’t you have one?”
“Head items don’t appear until Floor 35,” Lex said, moving over to the Exit Orb. “Did you pick up all the loot?”
“Sure did.”
“Still no chest armor upgrade?”
“Nope, not today. Looks like Alt got some new armor, though.”
The crab skittered over to the group, and Jack was having a hard time seeing him as his trusty spaceship friend.
“I have a feeling some of my forms are going to be more useful than others. That Floor 8 Boss we just defeated might have some powerful movement and ranged damage capabilities.”
“We have many forms to try,” Jack said, thinking of the strange monsters on the list. “Ready to go home?”
“Yes, I am, Jack,” she said, then turned to the giant haloed crab. “Thanks for your help today, Alt. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The crab dipped its body forward. “Tomorrow, Lex.”
She touched the Orb and vanished into th
in air.
“Great work today, Alt,” Jack said as he approached the Orb. “You continue to impress me with your cheating.”
The crab dipped forward again. “And you continue to change the tide of the battle for this universe.”
Jack nodded and slapped the orb, transporting himself out of the Tower. The sky was gray and overcast. It was a sharp contrast to the bright blue skies of the cloud Floor.
Ryea was standing by the fountain, and she clomped up to both Lex and Jack.
“How was your Climb?”
Lex answered first. “Jack advanced to Level 9 today. We are making solid progress each day.” The blonde Hero turned to Jack. “How much loot?”
He checked his HUD. “1152 total Value from today’s climb.”
Most of Jack’s advantages were a secret between himself and Lex. Ryea and the other Townsfolk didn’t really care or understand the details or numbers involved. He could tell by the way Lex gave him a sinister half smile that she was inwardly jumping with glee at the fact that they were able to take so many items out of the Tower.
Normally, they would be limited to 16 slots each. Jack was currently holding 48 all by himself- 50, including his cloth pants and the unique Off-hand fork he’d been holding onto.
He walked over to the Input Chest to feed the Town when Alt spoke up in his mind again.
“I have many things to tell you, Jack, but the most important is what I can now see that we are back in the Town. The Town is still days from the next Level jump, but I can use some of the current power to add or upgrade a building. The options are limited, and this will use up some of the power that is pushing the corruption back, but everything should be fine as long as we aren’t forced to Exit early tomorrow and lose everything. What would you like to do?”
Jack stood there frozen. Lex and Ryea were chatting and already moving toward the inn for dinner.
Jack thought at the electronic voice inside him and asked if he could clearly read his mind.
“Yes, Jack,” Alt said.
He mentally asked what the options were.
“I could resurrect the Farm, or I can upgrade the Lumber Mill or a few of the houses.”
Jack wondered what the benefits would be to any of the options.
“The Farm would have the most noticeable bonuses as Demi would have more ingredients to work with, affecting Town morale and rest bonuses.”