Owin sat, hyper focused on the center of the room. It was eerily quiet while he waited. Artivan fell asleep almost instantly, leaving Owin alone. He flipped through his map, reviewing the odd, winding path they had taken to the labyrinth and then to the raft. The map visuals were static, and didn’t include any scaltari or heroes, but the fires were bright little specks on each mound where they burned.

Owin continued to look through his index, stopping on his mana bar to look at the burned section, still gone from the specter attack. Artivan had mentioned a mender could fix the damage, but he didn’t say how. The only mender Owin had met was Nikoletta, and he had a strong feeling she wouldn’t be interested in helping with any healing.

His journal was empty without any quests on the third floor. He didn’t mind after the mess of quests between the satyrs and the cultists. There wasn’t much else to look at in the index besides his class, which still listed him the same.

Race: Goblin

Class: Deficient Wizard

Note: Stats of a 10 year old wizard. Not suitable for combat as an adult.

A 10 year old wizard. Not even an adult. Even with the buffs he had gained, it still gave him the same title with the same note. It said a child was as strong as Owin, despite his strength now being higher than a level 31 knight.

He flipped back to his attributes page.

Level: 1

Strength: 186

Constitution: 110

Dexterity: 30

Intelligence: 115

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 10

A few of the numbers were still far too low. The dexterity caused him issues again and again, from landing while jumping to swinging his weapons. His throws sometimes hit their marks, but not always the way he intended. Owin didn’t even know what wisdom and charisma did, or how they influenced things. As far as he could tell, it didn’t make too big of a difference to have those attributes low. If he found a buff potion for them, he would take it. He just wasn’t specifically searching for ways to increase them.

The scaltari corpse vanished from the middle of the room. All blood and remnants of the fight disappeared with it, including some broken glass and bits of stone. A hum echoed through the room, which immediately woke Artivan.

The knight grunted and shifted his position. “Respawn has started.” He groaned and stood up with the help of the wall. “Get ready.”

“Did you train yourself to wake up from that noise?”

Artivan drew his winged sword and let the point rest on the ground. “Something like that.” He yawned. “You can do this.”

Owin nodded. He picked up the Thunderstrike Maul and rested it on his shoulder. It was about half charged. In a fight, he expected to be able to charge it quickly.

“Is there anything I need to know about this boss?”

The scaltari appeared, simply popping into existence about ten feet in front of Owin.

Great Forest Mob

Charzosk

Scaltari Temple Guardian

Level 20

“He’s not the nicest scaltari I’ve met,” Artivan said.

“What?” Owin looked back. “We could have been talking to them this whole time?”

“Well, obviously.”

The lizard hissed, drawing Owin’s attention right back around. He held a spear like many of the other scaltari, but he also had a tower shield, which was much taller than Owin. The metal shield was curved, forming a semi circle that the lizard could easily hide behind.

“Who are you?” Owin asked.

The lizard hissed again. “You have scaltari blood on your hands.”

“Why didn’t you tell me we could’ve talked?”

Charzosk slammed his shield on the stone floor and leveled the spear to point right at Owin’s face.

“You needed practice. And they’ll respawn. No harm done.”

“Only a fool challenges Charzosk.” The lizard shifted forward, jabbing the long spear in Owin’s direction. It was still way too far to reach.

“Is talking to the mobs always an option?” Owin asked.

“To a limit, I suppose. The ogres on the fourth floor are particularly hard to agree with, but they have been known to assist heroes before. Nobody gets through the third without fighting Charzosk. Even if you don’t harm a single scaltari all floor, he will attack as soon as you move toward the stairs.”

“What are you protecting, Charzosk?” Owin asked.

The scaltari stopped, but remained hunkered down behind the shield. “The stairs.”

“Where do the stairs lead?”

“To salvation.”

“He doesn’t know,” Artivan said. “Get your mind focused on the fight or the lizard will skewer you.”

“What class is he?” Owin shrugged the hammer off and held it sideways. “It only says he’s a temple guardian.”

“It’s random with each respawn. Weapons and class can change for some bosses. Based on what we see now, I would assume a soldier or knight, but it could be anything.” Artivan remained behind Owin. His sword was ready, if he should need it, but he made no move to get near the fight.

It didn’t matter if Artivan stayed back or not. Owin could handle the fight on his own. He was strong enough already, and his weapon only made him stronger, assuming he could use it correctly.

“Your hammer will simply make my shield a gong,” the lizard said, still shuffling forward. He jabbed with the spear, but was still a foot from Owin.

The weapon and shield were easy. Easy to watch, easy to counter. All Owin needed to do against a spear was get past the pointed end, and he would have the advantage. The shield was too big and heavy to turn quickly, and with his speed, he could get around it to strike Charzosk.

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What kept Owin from charging or leaping was the abilities or spells. Until he knew what class the scaltari was, he couldn’t get too close.

“How do I find out what class he is?” Owin asked, still standing in the same spot. He would need to move soon, as Charzosk would be within range after a few more shuffled steps.

“Bait him into using an ability. Make him worry.”

Owin lifted the hammer above his head and threw it with both hands. It was too heavy for a proper throw, and his low dexterity did nothing to assist. The throw was off and would land before even hitting the shield, but in the moment it left Owin’s hands, a burst of wind smacked against him.

The wind was too weak to change the course of the hammer, which crashed into the stone floor, sending shards of broken stones clattering against the tower shield. The wind attack knocked Owin back a step, but did no damage.

“Unexpected,” Artivan said.

“That was like the staff,” Owin said.

“Similar, but not quite. That’s a Power 3 spell, I believe.”

Owin drew Naxile’s knife until he could reach the hammer again. It was within the spear’s range for the moment. The gust was a Power 3 spell, which meant the scaltari wasn’t a soldier, assassin, or hunter because none of those classes had spells. But what else had a wind spell?

Thick black smoke, far darker than Owin’s Smoke Cloud spell, burst from Charzosk and obscured the entire room. Owin’s vision was gone immediately.

“He’s a wizard?” Owin asked. A wind spell and a higher level smoke screen could only point to a wizard, from what he had learned. Even an umbra didn’t have a way to make such a huge, dark cloud.

“It appears so. Obsidian Smoke Screen is a horror on the battlefield.”

Owin ducked and ran low. The spear stabbed right where he had been, but missed by a wide margin. Charzosk had no way to pierce his own smoke screen, which was actually a bigger advantage to Owin. It made closing the distance much easier.

He ran straight to his hammer and swung it off the ground. The head of the maul glowed brightly, which caused Charzosk to hiss and stab at the light. The spear point cut across Owin’s upper arm, ripping through shirt and skin effortlessly. Despite cutting him, the attack had only done a few points of damage.

Owin spun, keeping his head low, and held onto the hammer with all his strength. The Thunderstrike Maul glowed like the sun until it abruptly stopped and struck the massive tower shield. It rang like a gong and vibrated the hammer all the way through the handle and into Owin’s hands.

75% Charge

Charzosk’s spear whistled overhead, barely missing Owin’s ear. “Leave and I will spare you!” He stabbed again, missing wider this time.

A wizard with a spear hardly felt like a threat. The only real danger was Owin’s inability to see exactly where the attack was coming from. Any movement of the hammer would reveal his position. It would be simple to grab a knife, sneak around the shield, and catch Charzosk completely off guard. A wizard wouldn’t survive an attack like that.

But that wasn’t helpful. Owin had taken down plenty of opponents in an identical way. He already knew he could jump and stab, but what if Charzosk had been a soldier or knight that could wield his weapons better? What if he had been properly armored and protected? Owin’s normal tactics weren’t always going to work, so it was better to practice now while he had the opportunity. Even with buffed strength, the Thunderstrike Maul was too heavy for Owin. If he was going to wield it easily, he would need to continue raising his strength.

Until then, he could use the time to really learn how the hammer worked.

Owin swung the hammer blindly, missing all targets. The head of the hammer glowed. Charzosk blindly stabbed around the glowing hammer, piercing his own smoke veil. Owin was pulled in a full circle, but stepped out to keep his balance. He wobbled, fixed his stance, and lifted the hammer in the air.

It glowed like the sun, hanging bright right above Owin’s head.

100% Charge

The full charge had immediately destroyed half a scaltari when Owin accidentally threw the hammer. So, what would happen if it struck a shield? He had so many questions and wondered so many things, but he could only test them one at a time, and the shield was the obvious first choice.

Charzosk’s spear stabbed right through the center of Owin’s hair, causing strands of purple hair to drift slowly to the ground. “Stop resisting!”

“Resisting what?” Owin asked.

“Stop!”

Spinning more was just asking for another chance to trip or accidentally let the hammer slip from his hands again, so instead of trying to build more speed, Owin took a confident step forward and smashed the hammer straight into Charzosk’s tower shield.

Owin’s ears rang from the gong-like boom as the hammer struck the curved metal shield. He had been expecting it to cleave through like a knife in butter, but instead it struck the same as before.

0 Experience

The shield didn’t move an inch. At first, it appeared nothing had changed. His hands stung from the impact, and the glow was entirely gone. He expected a spear to stab out again, until Owin noticed the smoke screen had been pushed away from the blast, now hovering like a wide ring with the shield in the center. Owin let the hammer drop back to the ground as he leaned to the side.

Charzosk was gone.

“I know a wizard isn’t known for taking much damage,” Artivan said. “But are we sure that hammer is only journeyman?”

“What happened to the boss?”

Artivan walked through the smoke screen and pointed to the ground with his sword. There was a huge splotch of red, almost reaching the staircase in the far back of the room.

“That’s Charzosk?” Owin asked.

“It was.” He sheathed the winged blade and grabbed the tower shield. “This is only journeyman too, and not even magical.”

Owin had yet to move from his spot. The hammer stayed on the ground, resting at his feet. Artivan dropped the shield and stretched while he walked toward the stairs. That was meant to be a boss fight, yet it was easier than anything else he had done on this floor.

“How was it so simple?”

“Odd luck. Good or bad is for you to decide. An easy boss is usually something people will hope for, though in training, it is good to have real competition or danger. It can also lead to odd loot like the shield and spear.”

“A wizard with soldier gear,” Owin said.

“It’s less odd when you consider the fact that you are a wizard too.”

Owin scowled and picked the hammer up, letting the handle rest on his shoulder. “It’s not the same.”

“It’s partially the same, little goblin. According to the laws of Verdantallis, you are a wizard and always will be. Does that mean you fight like one? No. You fight like a berserker. Or a drunk fighter. I haven’t decided.”

“Drunk?”

Artivan had been slowly walking to the steps, but that question had caused him to abruptly stop. “It’s probably better that you don’t know.”

“Okay,” Owin said, quietly.

The temple was empty other than the shield in the center of the room. In about a half hour, another version of Charzosk would appear for whoever came after them. Hopefully, this one would be a more coherent combination of equipment and class.

“How many bosses are random?”

Artivan leaned against the bannister at the bottom of the stone staircase. “About half, if I remember correctly. I have heard the upper bosses are like high level heroes themselves, though I’ve never seen one. Chorsay once told me about the knight at the top of the Tundra Dungeon.” Artivan shook his head, then lifted his visor. “A huge moose.”

“A what?”

Artivan’s brow lowered. “We need to get you out into the world to see more than what the dungeon throws our way. I’m not great at being a teacher. How do you describe a moose?” He lowered his visor and muttered something before setting off up the stairs. “It’s like a horse, but big. Do you know what a horse is?”

“No.”

The exit sign above the black doorway glowed brightly. One step through and Owin would be in the outside world. But then what would he do? He would be somewhere even bigger than the dungeon.

“Two more floors, then we’re out of here,” Artivan said from the top of the stairs. He stood right in front of the other black doorway. The stone arch surrounding it was partially crumbled, like much of the stone inside the scaltari temple.

“Is Nikoletta gone?” Owin asked as he took the first steps up toward the fourth floor.

“I can’t say. I’ll go through first and see what I can find. The room we appear in is a long one. Last time, there were goblins.” Artivan lifted his visor again. His face was serious. “I can handle them.”

Owin quickly hurried up the stairs and looked into the infinite void beyond the doorway. “No. We’re a team.”

Artivan placed his hand on Owin’s head, ruffling his hair. “A knight and a wizard is a classic duo.”

“I’m not a wizard.”

Artivan scoffed. “If I look at your class it says ‘Deficient Wizard.’ So, little goblin, what are you really?”

“A berserker.”

Artivan patted Owin’s head. “If we find those two foolish heroes again, you can show that man who the real berserker is.”

Owin looked up, surprised to find Artivan staring straight down at him. “I thought you didn’t want to kill heroes.”

“If they come for you again, they aren’t heroes to me.” Artivan checked the straps of his armor and gauntlets. He adjusted his helmet and took a deep breath in. “Wait a minute after I enter. I’ll ensure you can arrive safely.”

Owin tightened his grip on the hammer. “Be careful.”

Artivan lowered the visor and nodded. “See you on the other side, partner.”