World Gate: Minecube - Random Unnamed Field

When Hex respawned, he was still staring at the point in space where the hooded figure appeared behind Professor Blackbeard.

Was that why he rushed me out? He had a secret meeting planned? It sure seemed that way. Unless it was entirely coincidence and the mysterious stranger wasn't there as a friend. They certainly didn't appear friendly in the millisecond he'd seen them.

Nothing he could do about it now though. He'd ask Florimell later. Assuming the professor was still alive after the encounter.

He gulped. Of course he'll be alive. Don't be ridiculous. He's a PIRATE for Creator's sake.

Hex shook his head and took in his new surroundings. He was now in a location vastly different from the forest he'd started at.

Everything was still cube-shaped of course. He inferred from the System notification when he arrived at the Respawn Hub that this World was called Minecube. He was fairly certain he could expect nothing but blocky scenery going forward.

Even the clouds and sky, which had begun to darken into a sunset, were colored with swatches of pixelated squares.

It was nice that the Respawn Hub itself had been normal. A break from feeling stuck in abstract art in between deaths.

He was back in the world, but there was no reason he couldn't continue where he'd left off.

The Inventory opened as easily here as it did in the Respawn Hub. I really should have been able to figure that out on my own. It's so intuitive.

He focused on the Common Death Box.

[Common Death Box - Common Item. Contains a gift to celebrate your demise.]

[Open? Yes/No]

Yes, please.

The box didn’t appear in physical form like it had in the Respawn Hub. Instead, another small inventory appeared, containing two items.

[Lesser Time Potion - Uncommon - Single Use - 1 Count. Instantly completes all cooldowns and timers.]

[Wolf Pelt - Ridiculously Common Item - Crafting Material - 10 Count. Presumably there is a naked wolf missing this somewhere.]

Hex couldn't tell if the second one was supposed to be funny. Was the System making a joke?

The System was invented by the Creator. And the Creator clearly had some semblance of humor. Even if it was at my expense during our one interaction...

Both items appeared in his Inventory and he moved on to the next new feature he wanted to investigate.

The Character Sheet opened on his command. A giant picture of himself appeared beside a list titled 'Equipped Items,' which was empty.

Well that's anti-climactic.

He was about to leave the Character Sheet to look at something else, when he noticed a second section below the barren 'Equipped Items' list.

Rapid Use Slot? What does that mean?

A single grey square was there, indicating the slot was empty. The square did have a blue outline though. So far, blue seemed to mean 'something is happening' in the System interface.

Hex focused on it, and a new grid popped into view containing a subset of the items in his inventory—presumably the ones he could assign to this Rapid Use Slot.

The potions, the Transportation Stone, and the Hero's Complete Guide to Monsters were all options. He chose the Lesser Healing Potions. That was probably the most useful for battle.

His inventory disappeared, revealing the Character Sheet again. The picture of Hex was now wearing a small belt with a little red vial hanging from a loop.

He closed the Character Sheet and looked down. To his surprise, he was indeed now wearing a belt that had appeared out of nowhere. The same little vial from the picture hung on it.

No way! This is so cool.

Professor Blackbeard clearly could have taught him and the other first year Monsters about all these items and menus and features, but it was super satisfying to figure them out on his own. He didn't quite know whether to attribute that to good teaching or absolute laziness on the dwarf's part.

Probably the latter.

Hex plucked the potion vial from his belt to look closer. A little teal box hovered over it in his vision, revealing the item name and description. There was no 'Yes/No' question about using it or not, which he figured meant he could just start using whatever item was in his Rapid Use Slot. In this case, that would mean drinking the potion. He wasn't going to waste a healing potion with full health right now, but it was good to know how the slot theoretically functioned.

With the potion back on his belt, Hex moved on to the Energy Capsule. He noticed the white ring around the little icon had begun to turn blue—the tiniest little speck near the top.

Instead of something appearing in his vision when he focused on the icon, the actual Energy Capsule appeared in his hand. A single stone within now glowed blue, while the rest were still white.

How do I get rid of this now though?

There was no physical bag to put it in.

Uh... Go to Inventory?

The Energy Capsule shrunk in his hand, floated up to the Inventory icon, and vanished.

Easy enough.

That was probably how he'd end up putting anything he picked up into his Inventory. Much more convenient than lugging a giant bag around.

He noticed a blue ring had started to form around his Inventory icon too, which meant there was probably a limited capacity that he'd reach once he acquired more items.

Hey, I'm starting to get the hang of this.

The same thing happened when he opened his Leveling Scroll. The actual scroll appeared in his hands, already unfurled and ready to read. It looked no different from when he'd finally read it last night by the dormitory, except the inventory section had been updated and the thin white line under his name—which he had originally dismissed as a decorative section divider—had started to fill blue. Halfway full.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Hex put away the Scroll, and, sure enough, the ring around the scroll icon had also filled about a quarter, going clockwise.

Night had fully descended while he was playing with his interface.

How is it already so late? He could've sworn it'd only been a short time ago he was watching Skeletor in the Concourse. Even with his death and time in the Respawn Hub there as no way a full day could have passed. Time must work differently here. A day in Minecube, could even be just a few minutes back home.

He hopped forward, careful to watch for any cube-shaped holes in the ground, but it was so dark he could barely see. There was no moon in this world, so even his goo didn't reflect much light.

But he did hear noises.

Footsteps? And whispering?

He wasn't exactly looking forward to dying again, but it was going to happen eventually anyways. Everyone knew that the primary method of collecting Heroic Energy was battling Heroes. And that's the whole reason I'm here, isn't here?

He bounced off in the direction of the noises, determined to actually put up a fight this time like Professor Blackbeard suggested.

The footsteps and whispering were getting louder, and growing in number, approaching from somewhere to the right. Great... Multiple Heroes? I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

He hopped behind a cubular bush and readied himself. I have one skill. Bounce. I've gotta make it count. Catch them by surprise.

It didn't take long before the group of Heroes was right on the other side of the bush. Nothing appeared on his map since he couldn’t see them.

Okay. You can do this.

Hex jumped out, yelling.

The Heroes screamed.

One ran closer. Hex could hardly make out anything in the dark.

"Wait!" someone called out.

Hex froze.

The Hero froze.

Then a wolf trotted up beside him from the group. "It's just a slime," she said. "This is why I told you all to let me lead. You almost took his head off, Sedi."

Now that Hex could see the source of the footsteps and talking, they appeared on his minimap as little green dots.

Someone in the group—who turned out to be one of the skeletons that had arrived in the wagon with Hex—lit a torch.

The 'Hero' who'd charged forward was actually a golem, still with arm pulled back ready to punch. He relaxed and shrugged. "Uhh... Sorry about that."

"Hex! Is that you?" A yellow slime bounced forward.

"Yolo! Good to see you here."

"We're apparently going on an attack, finally. Are you gonna join us?"

That explained why they were all traveling in a group. They must be following the same waypoint somewhere. A waypoint that I can't see.

"Sure," Hex said. Best to blend in.

They continued on, the wolf—who'd introduced herself as Luna—taking the lead now.

"What have you been up to since we entered the Gate?" Hex asked Yolo.

"Mostly wandering. I was lucky enough to get a pretty wide area to explore, but I didn't see any Heroes. Luna was saying she had a square she was forced to continuously travel in. Talk about boring! Thank the Creator we're not wolves, right?"

The whole idea of having restricted movement was so foreign to Hex. I wonder how the waypoints are enforced. What would happen if a Monster tried going outside the designated area. Or took too long to get from one waypoint to the next?

"Have you ever tried going past the bounds of your waypoint?" he asked.

Yolo blinked at him. "Pretty sure the Creator will smite you with death lightning if you do something like that. You didn't try, did you?"

"No. I was just curious." He didn't buy Yolo's theory, but he also couldn't think of anything better.

What he really wanted to know was whether he just couldn't see the waypoints—and therefore didn't know if he was within or outside the bounds—or if the waypoints simply didn't apply to him at all. He had worried this whole time that it was the former, but he was beginning to second guess that based on his brief time here.

What if this ability to ignore waypoints isn't a flaw... What if it's actually a benefit?

He needed to find a way to test it.

"We're almost there," Luna said from the front of the mob. "Everybody get ready."

A series of torches ahead illuminated a large fort-like structure. It looked mostly made of wood from stacked cubes, like everything else in Minecube. Several lights moved up atop the wall as Heroes positioned themselves.

"I see them coming!" one shouted.

"Like we talked about, wait for my signal," another said. "We'e not letting a single one inside this time."

"Charge!" the golem, Sedi, screeched. Then he barreled forward, taking out several trees as he went, the individual cube pieces flinging into the air in every direction.

The other Monsters followed.

"This is so exciting! Let's go, Hex!" Yolo said.

Hex bounced after his friend, but hesitated. Something's not right. The Heroes are just standing up there.

Then the arrows started flying.

Sedi fell first, six arrows sticking from his chest and shoulders. His body disintegrated into little teal particles.

Two skeletons that were with them went down next, each hitting the ground like a rug had been pulled out from under them. A fletched shaft stuck from each one's forehead.

It all happened so fast.

"This way!" Hex yelled, grabbing Yolo's appendage and pulling him along.

An arrow hit him in the side. His health tanked below 50%. Ow ow ow ow ow.

Yolo yelped and fell behind him, an arrow sticking out of his butt. A health bar appeared over him, dropping even lower than Hex's.

Hex slammed a Lesser Health Potion from his belt into the yellow slime's mouth. Yolo's health immediately shot back up to full.

"How did you get items already?" Yolo asked as he struggled to right himself.

"Long story. Not the time."

Luna swerved around them, spiring toward the fort. She dodged several attacks, deftly ducking behind rocks and trees, but she soon became the primary target as she neared the door to the Hero fort. Before long she was a pin cushion of arrows and vanished in death like the others.

Hex led them out of range of the bows, then took a potion for himself. The spot on his belt had refilled with another potion automatically. That's convenient. The Rapid Use Slot is gonna be really helpful.

He had three left. Wow, these get used up fast. I only just got them and already two gone, just like that. He didn't have to use one on Yolo. He could have just saved it for himself, but he liked the other slime.

Of course, he wasn't entire certain he was doing him a favor by keeping him alive. He wouldn't fill his Energy Capsule without dying. And it was helpful to get to chat with Professor Blackbeard at the Respawn Hub.

Other Monsters were killed left and right. He had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The entire scene was carnage. None of the Monsters even stood a chance. There were at least ten Heroes inside that fort and they were simply having their way with the invaders.

Hex now understood why some of the Humanoids referred to Monsters as fodder. That's literally what we are. It's like intentionally running into a burning building, not to save anyone, but because someone told you to do it and you were too afraid to say no. Like sheep to the slaughter.

And all this for a little bit of Heroic Energy. It was sadistic. You'd have to be a masochist to go your entire life like this. There has to be more to it than just running blindly toward death.

"C'mon, let go," Yolo said, trying to tug away. "We have to join the others."

"We're within the waypoint, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Then we don't technically need to do anything. Unless you have some sort of quest that says you should go running up there to get yourself killed?"

"Isn't this what we're supposed to do?"

"I don't know. You can do what you want, but I'm staying here."

In the field ahead, a trio of spiders from their group shot webbing at the door, but it did nothing. A Hero jumped down from the wall, his sword spearing through one of the spiders as he landed. The other two turned to run, but he dispatched them too.

The sun was already beginning to rise again.

"The waypoint just changed!" Yolo announced. "We can still attack the fort if we want, but now I can go pretty much anywhere I can see right now. What about you?"

"Mine's expanded, as well," Hex lied.

"What should we do?"

The Hero outside the fort stared at them as the three spider bodies at his feet broke apart and disappeared.

"I vote run."

The Hero took a step toward them. There were no other Monsters left for him to fight.

"Yeah, I second that."

Two arrows skewered the ground at their feet as if to accentuate the point.

"Let's go."

Hex chose a direction and started bouncing. Yolo bounded along beside. The yellow slime's bounces were much longer strides than Hex's, but they kept about the same pace with Hex leading the way.

After a while, Hex chanced a peak behind them. The Hero was still by the fort, electing not to pursue them. Thank the Creator.

He slowed down to conserve stamina, which appeared to gradually refill over time on its own.

"What now?" Yolo asked.

"Pick a direction and go, I guess."

"This way works well enough for me."

It may have seemed to Yolo that Hex was flying by the seat of his goo, just making things up and picking a random direction. That was often the case... But not today.

We're going to find the edge of your range, little buddy. Then I'm gonna learn about waypoints and what exactly I can do.

Or at least, that would've been the plan... If another Hero didn't step out from behind a tree right in front of them.