Half an hour later the group had made its way through an actual worship area to Mechos with the pews Noah had expected, a computer training room, and four smaller alcoves or hallways, each with dungeon monsters, puzzles, or both.
Noah had made level twelve and change, nearly thirteen. Lika had hit low twelve, Emily eleven, and Kevin ten.
But they hadn’t gotten any more cards, not yet. As he stared at the room ahead of them, though, Noah was pretty convinced that was about to change.
“Are we sure we’re ready?” he asked. They were averaging about level eleven, and based on the floor layout and the encounters so far, they were about to hit an on-level boss—the closest to an actual equal fight they’d had so far.
And RED had helpfully informed them that all their decks were “Meh” for their levels.
The room ahead was a massive garage, about a hundred feet on a side. Broken cars and motorcycles dotted the area, as well as numerous disassembled robots. Wires ran from many of the open parts of robots or cars to external batteries or computers. But most of it was broken, and it was still slanted at ten feet.
But the very center was occupied by a massive, twenty feet tall when standing, partially assembled golem. Wires ran from that to a massive station with power-plant and monitors both, but a wire also ran to the only moving occupant—a cyborg lich, as near as Noah could figure. It was a mostly skeletal man with red eyes, wires from his chest to the bot, and a staff of complex electronics. But one arm was replaced entirely by a cyborg part, and a small antenna dish came out of the lich’s shoulder.
It wore a black lab coat, as if announcing its moral alignment.
Neither the golem, nor the undead, showed stat cards.
“I got two gold coins that says that thing gets up and fights us,” Lika said from where they stood, just outside the garage entrance, looking in.
“No bet,” Noah replied. “Also, how much is two gold coins?”
"Yearly earnings for a goblin for about four years,” she replied.
Not quite the same thing as saying “I got ten bucks,” then, Noah thought. More like “I’d bet a hundred thousand.”
Noah had kept his deck out continuously, and he had cycled his cards to get to what was an optimal pull for him—Derek Tang.
He touched the card, and his named creature joined them. Everyone else summoned a card as well—Lika one of her new Scavenged Battle Bots, Kevin the same winged dog, and Emily her Elven Wolf Ranger commander, which buffed other rangers and wolves both.
Noah took a deep breath, then walked into the room, followed by everyone: a temporary party of ten.
The undead man whirled on them, and as he did, Noah saw his card, finally. Or part of it.
Techno Lich
Undead/Golem Dungeon Boss Monster
Health: 10
Attack: N/A
Defense: 10
Magical Attack: 7[Lightning]
Magical Defense: 10
Special: Barrier [100]: This creature has 100 extra Health. Until this extra Health is depleted, no type advantages or disadvantages will come into play against or for this creature.
Special: ???
Special: ???
“A member of the council of Fallen Technomancers.”
I wonder what those last abilities are? Noah thought. He bet they were crucial to the fight.
The partially constructed golem lurched to its feet, standing twenty feet tall. It resembled the Goliath Scrap Bot, but on steroids. Parts were missing, covering was gone in places exposing the innards, and wires hung loose from the vaguely humanoid bot. But it was still huge, and moved decently fast.
Gargantuan Scrap Bot
Golem Dungeon Boss Monster
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Health: 200
Attack: 15
Defense: 15
Magical Attack: N/A
Magical Defense: 6
Special: Deploy Drone: Deploy two scavenged drones each round after this boss was damaged. They are destroyed if this card leaves the field.
“Bigger. Always make it bigger.”—Crystal, High Priest of Mechos.
“Called it!” Lika said, pulling her Jury-Rigged Modding Station as she said it.
“No one disputed it,” RED replied.
Noah hit the Flechette Gun card on RED’s side deck as the fight started in earnest. Given the defenses, Noah thought multi-hit true damage attacks might be better.
Creatures struck the golem hard—Roidae’s flaming sword, Flechette rounds, a bolt from Derek Tang, Technomancer, an empowered Scavenged Bot. Kevin shot it a couple times.
They did solid damage, but not nearly half. It shook slightly with each hit, raining chunks of metal, lose wires, and bolts. But then it whirred into action, its fist rising to the metal ceiling almost thirty feet above the floor and then coming down like an anvil from heaven, smashing Roidae into a bloody smear before everything disappeared into gold light and flowed back into Kevin’s deck.
The Techno Lich raised its hand, and gray light, glinting as if metal dust filled it, flowed across the golem.
The missing parts healed, every single piece of damage undone.
At the same time, two drones deployed from its side.
“We have to fight down the Lich first!” Kevin yelled. “We’re just going to have to absorb damage the whole time, till the Lich is down. We should have enough creatures to pull it off!”
Noah switched his deck, pulling new cards, and started to laugh.
Lika looked at him, her head tilted to the side, even as she summoned another Scavenged Battle Bot.
Emily dropped an Elven Wolf Ranger Champion, which shot the lich.
Noah, smiling at Lika the whole time, casually reached out and touched his Short Circuit card. He targeted the Golem boss.
Short Circuit
Tier-1 Uncommon Lightning Immediate
1 Lightning Power (Available)
This card makes a single 5-strength Lightning-typed Magical Attack against any target. It requires a Lightning Equipment or Golem [Cyber] on the field, and has +1 strength for every card of those types on the field.
In the alternative, this may destroy, and banish from play for 30 minutes, any Golem creature or any equipment card.
A blast of lightning left RED and hit the Golem. It shook wildly, sparking, like a cartoon or bad movie effect, and then fell over. It dissipated into gray light a second after it hit the floor.
The two drones faded into light as well.
but the remains around the garage started to pick up, whirling to a storm of metal. Noah stared at the Techno Lich again.
Techno Lich
Undead/Golem Dungeon Boss Monster
Health: 10
Attack: N/A
Defense: 10
Magical Attack: 7[Lightning]
Magical Defense: 10
Special: Barrier [100]: This creature has 100 extra Health. Until this extra Health is depleted, no type advantages or disadvantages will come into play against or for this creature.
Special: Repair [U]: May heal any golem to its maximum Health once per round as its action.
Special: Scrap Tornado: This attack is an area of effect hitting everything in a hundred feet. It does damage as an Attack of 1 every round, plus 1 damage for each Golem destroyed on the field and for each round it’s been active.
“A member of the Council of Fallen Technomancers.”
Noah took a two-strength attack, which, rounded, did nothing, merely stinging and turning some of his flesh red.
“Burn it down!” Kevin shouted, and Noah obliged. He hit his Discharge card, modified slightly from his named Technomancer card—which blasted it as well. At the same time, the scrap bots started to beat on the Lich’s shield. Emily didn’t summon anything—he assumed she was out of power with her two strong cards on the field. Kevin brought forth his orb again, however, empowering half their combined creatures.
It only took two additional combat rounds—fifteen seconds each—to break down the shield and finally destroy the lich. But all four of them still took damage—Emily and Noah, who were already wounded, took a bit more.
When the lich finally died, it dissolved, leaving behind three packs, as well as a singular card. Noah made level thirteen.
Noah walked over, across the now-mostly empty center of the garage, and scooped the packs up. No one disputed him grabbing them.
Before he could check the cards, Kevin stretched himself out. “So, shall we continue?”
Noah glanced up. Before Lika could speak, probably to ask them to pick more cards for their deck, Noah shook his head no.
“I’m sorry,” Noah said. “But I have to rescue Hope. I think we’ve hit the point where clearing the dungeon will start harming us—and I can’t afford to get any more injured than I already am. We just took damage, which I think was a warning. You’ve made a ton of levels, right?”
Kevin nodded. “Yeah, I’m level eleven. I made twice as many in this dungeon run as I did defending Emporia—although in that case, I was able to kill far fewer things before we were utterly overrun. This was organized well for our victory, if that makes sense.”
Noah nodded to his words. “It makes complete sense, and I agree. But we are getting to the point where we’re getting hurt. For now, let’s just let that be the reward. I’m going to close the dungeon off again, and we can delve it more when I get back.”
Kevin nodded. “Fair and more than fair. You’ve done right by me, no doubt.”
Noah walked over and clasped the taller man on the shoulder. “Thanks. If you could do right by the goblins while I’m gone, it would help me immensely.”
“I’ll make sure, one way or another, that we take care of your goblins, at least till they can get their shit together again.”
Lika smiled. “Touching. But let’s get out of here—I want to see what new cards came. I’m owed a few more, I’ll remind you.”
“Sounds great,” Noah said. “We are sharing a room, so we can go split cards while I get ready.”
Lika smiled again. “While we get ready, Noah Smith.”
Noah met her eyes. “You sure? I have a feeling this is going to be crazy dangerous. And that wasn’t our agreement, after all. It was to get you a realm and then I’d head out on my own.”
Lika held his gaze. “Do you think so little of me, Noah? I’ll not abandon you, not after you’ve saved my life, saved my people, leveled me, and improved my deck. I’m not that gal. We’ll rescue your woman together. It’s the least I can do, even if I didn’t get the card myself.”
“Barf,” RED said in a bored electronic voice. “If we’re not killing things, then let us, in fact, leave and go improve decks.”
“Sure, buddy, sure.”