World Gate: Minecube - Random Unnamed Field

This time, Hex didn't run.

The Hero looked almost as surprised to see them as they were to see her, standing only a few feet in front of them. She held a pickaxe in her left hand and quickly fumbled to switch to her sword.

Hex didn't give her time to strike first. He used his Bounce skill, launching his entire body at the unsuspecting Hero.

She squeaked and turned to avoid the bulk of the impact, but Hex still slammed into her shoulder, knocking her back a few steps.

"What the hell?" she said. Her health dropped 25%.

Hex stood there a moment too long, amazed that he made contact. I actually injured a Hero. Words he never thought he'd say in his life.

The Hero didn't care about his accomplishment. She struck him with two quick swings of her sword.

Anddddd he died.

[Death - You have been killed by a Hero.]

[Hero gains 12 EXP.]

[Reward: 12 Heroic Energy]

That was a lot more than the 1 Heroic Energy he collected from his first death.

[You are being transported to the Minecube Respawn Hub.]

[Please wait.]

The Respawn Hub again faded into view. There were a few other Monsters here chatting with Professor Blackbeard and opening their boxes, but none that he'd ever spoken to. Luna, Sedi, and the others they'd attacked the fort with must have already been through their cooldowns and respawned

Charlie the imp was still reading his book, but he had earplugs in now. Hex couldn't tell if the disgusted faces he was making were a response to the book or the noise in the room, but he suspected the latter.

[Welcome to the Minecube Respawn Hub.]

[You have gained a total of 12 Heroic Energy since your last spawn.]

[Your Health and Stamina have been regenerated.]

[Enjoy your stay.]

The little ring around his Leveling Scroll indicated he was almost to Level 2. At this rate it's gonna take a lot of death to grow Levels and catch up to everyone else. Achievements seem to be a good source of Heroic Energy, but I have no idea what kinds of actions earn an achievement. At least Hero battles are more predictable—if more painful.

There was clearly some sort of scaling of Hero EXP gain and Heroic Energy generation based on performance.

When he ran and was killed the first time, it had been pretty soon after he spawned and he hadn't attacked the Hero at all. That granted him 1 Heroic Energy.

This time, he'd been hit by the arrow at the fort, used a potion to recover, escaped that battle, then used a skill to damage another Hero before finally dying. All that gave him 11 more Heroic Energy than before, which was a pretty significant increase. And if he'd remembered to use the Hero's Complete Guide To Monsters, it would have been double that.

So, the longer I stay alive, the more damage I deal, and maybe even skills used, all go toward generating Heroic Energy. That made sense. The more difficult the experience was for the Hero, the more EXP they'd earn. And Heroic Energy seemed to be a one-to-one ratio with EXP.

There was a whoosh beside him, and Yolo appeared in an aggregation of teal particles that gradually turned yellow and formed his body. Very different from the flash of light associated with the transportation stone Professor Blackbeard had arrived using—and same for the hooded stranger, who was nowhere to be seen now.

The professor seemed to be his typical cheerful self, so maybe Hex had been overreacting and the visitor just looked suspicious.

Yolo was beaming. "That was AMAZING!"

Hex couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. Leave it to Yolo to be excited about death. He was fairly certain his friend could find something interesting about watching a snail crawl across a rock.

"Yolo," Professor Blackbeard called out. "Welcome ta the Respawn Hub! This is yar first time, right?"

"Sure is!" Yolo hopped over to the dwarf pirate and sat down beside him.

Hex made his way to the counter. "Hi again, Charlie."

The imp plucked one of his earplugs out. "You again."

"How's the book? Still unspoiled?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow and gave a hesitant smile, revealing an impressively sharp set of teeth. "So far, though if Rufus had his way, I'd never get to read another book again without knowing the ending by page one."

"We didn't have too many books where I'm from. Is it good?"

"No. It's absolute trash. But I'm addicted. I literally get migraines if I don't get my fix. I know it's a problem but—" He paused and squinted at Hex. "You don't care. What can I get for you?"

"Two coffee's please. But if you do have any recommendations of a book you'd consider not absolute trash, I'd love to hear it."

The imp turned around and held two mugs under a metal keg. "I'll make a list." He came back with two steaming cups of coffee that looked much less sludgy than the first time around.

"Thanks, Charlie."

Hex brought the coffees back to the table and gave one to Yolo, who was in the midst of opening his Welcome Box. He didn't have any boxes to open this time, but he was curious to see how similar Yolo's rewards were to his own.

It contained the same starting set of items as Hex's. Five Lesser Healing Potions, a Transportation Stone: Home, and The Hero's Complete Guide to Monsters. His Common Death Box was a bit different. Instead of the Lesser Time Potion and Wolf Pelts, it contained a Lesser Speed Draught and Iron Ore.

Hex examined them closer and details popped up in his interface.

[Lesser Speed Draught - Uncommon - Single Use - 1 Count. Increase Dexterity stat 1.5X for 60 seconds.]

[Iron Ore - Common Item - Crafting Material - 10 Count. It's a rock! It's a stone! It's Iron Ore!.]

The System was apparently not super keen on divulging information about crafting materials.

Yolo and Professor Blackbeard chatted about the experience so far as other Monsters left. No one else arrived. According to the professor, deaths in Minecube tended to come in shifts, with most happening at night when the waypoints shifted to the Hero bases.

He glanced at Hex, just for the slightest moment. when he mentioned waypoints. It was such a minor eye movement that Hex almost missed it, maybe even subconscious.

Did Florimell tell him?

She'd instructed Hex not to let anyone know he couldn't see waypoints, but she'd given no indication that she'd keep the secret. He trusted her... And Professor Blackbeard. He seemed genuine—a little bit like Ruben in that way. But he wouldn't have been the first person Hex chose to tell.

"My timer's up!" Yolo announced. "Let's go again, Hex!" He bounced toward the Respawn Portal.

Hex followed, less enthusiastically. He hadn't been able to test his waypoint theory with Yolo and now they'd probably end up in completely different locations. He'd just have to hope he found someone else he could explore with.

Unless...

"Wait one second, Yolo."

The yellow slime skidded to a stop inches from the portal.

"Professor... Is there a way we can respawn to the same location?"

The dwarf grinned wide. "Why, Zoopy! I'm so glad ya asked. Ya'r actually the first Monster ta bring this up. Using yar brain. I like that."

Yolo bounced back to join Hex and Professor Blackbeard at the table.

Two stones appeared in the professor's hand. The looked similar to the transportation stones, but had a different symbol that glowed white. It was a depiction of some triangular object with lines and stars coming out of it.

"These," the professor said, "are Party Stones. Of course, normally ya'd have ta buy these yarself, but consider this a first day gift. Any future ones ya need come from yar own pocket though."

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Hex and Yolo each took one.

[Party Stone - Uncommon Item - Single Use. Use to create or join a Party.]

"Tap 'em together."

They did as instructed. The symbols both blinked and then changed colors to pink.

A notification popped up in Hex's interface.

[You've linked a Party Stone with Yolo.]

[Create Party? Yes/No]

He selected yes.

[Identify Party Leader: Hex/Yolo]

"You be the leader," Yolo said.

The updated script appeared before Hex could acknowledge or deny.

[You are now the Party Leader.]

Nothing else followed.

"That's... it?" Hex asked.

Professor Blackbeard poked the air in the left side of Hex's vision. "There should be a new icon somewhere over here for Party."

Sure enough, below the Energy Capsule a new image had appeared—the same as the glowing symbol as on the Party Stones.

"All ya need ta know for now is that it'll take ya ta the same spot. Ya'll figure out the rest as ya go."

Hex respawned in a rocky area with lots of hills, dips, and cliffs. The ground was mostly blocks of grey stone and dirt here. The few trees scattered across the landscape were nothing more the leafless trunks or stumps.

Yolo formed beside him. "Woah. This is so different than the last area we were in."

Before either of them could take a step a new achievement appeared.

[Achievement Unlocked: Party Planning Committee - You joined your first Party.]

[Rewards:

Common Party Box

10 Heroic Energy]

And another.

[Level up. You are now Level 2.]

[Unassigned stat points available.]

Hex opened his Leveling Scroll from the icon, which now pulsed blue, but it appeared he could only assign stat points in a Respawn Hub.

"Did you get the Party Achievement too?" Yolo asked.

"Yeah. I'm interested to see what's in that box. There are so many different kinds already."

"Me too." Yolo looked around the mountainous landscape. "Think we'll battle another Hero?"

"Maybe," Hex said, but he was focused more on his personal mission. "What's your waypoint situation?"

"Looks like I've got a pretty free roam right now. Everything I can see on my minimap is open for travel."

Okay. That's a good start I guess. "Is that how it was before?"

"It was a much smaller area, still plenty to explore, but this is so big I can't even see where it ends. Maybe when we're in a Party it expands our waypoint range?"

Hmm... That's one possibility. Hex suspected it was more likely that Yolo's waypoints were adjusting to match the Party Leader. Me.

"I'm curious to try something, but it would mean ending the party. Is that okay by you?"

Yolo nodded. "I'm up for experimenting."

Hex navigated to the Party icon and a new screen popped up with pictures of him and Yolo. There was an option to disband the party at the bottom. He selected it and confirmed when asked if he was sure.

[You have disbanded the Party.]

"Did your waypoints change at all?" he asked.

Yolo squinted, likely examining his map. Apparently, when there was a specific area to go to, the waypoints appeared both on the map and in the world, but when there was a large area of freedom, it showed up only on the map—at least until you reached the edges.

"It did change. The area is still big, but not as much. And there are a few little pockets that are excluded from my waypoint range."

"Let's go to one of those and see what's there." It's as good a test as any. We just need to get there before dark when the waypoints change. "Where's the closest one?"

Yolo hopped over a few cubes of rock. "Not far. This way!"

They bounced together, going mostly up and down rather than forward with all the nooks and crannies in the terrain here. Hex almost fell more than once, but eventually they both made it to the point in question without incident.

A giant hole marred the land, looking like a godly claw reached down and took a scoop from it. The hole dropped deep, appearing to connect to a cave system below, but Hex couldn't tell for sure in the dark that consumed the tunnels further in.

It reminded him of Gulliver's Cave back home. It shouldn't have. But it's the last cave I was in... There were almost no similarities. Gulliver's Cave was full of intentionally dug tunnels and shafts from a stabilized opening. This was clearly a natural formation and appeared to be more of a wide open area below than the skinny tunnels he'd become familiar with.

He squatted down to see into the entrance as best he could. Some sort of orange glow emanated from deeper in. It reminded him of something, but...

Is that a torch?

He instinctively jumped back.

Whistling. Torchlight. The elf attacking. The World Gate discovery. Dracala's injury. It all flashed back through his mind so fast.

No. Get a hold of yourself, Hex. This is not the same. There are no elves here. No one wants to hurt you. And even if they do, you'll just respawn somewhere else.

"Uh, Hex," Yolo said from behind. He was standing several steps back from the edge.

"There's something down there."

"This is as far as I can go."

Hex turned back to his friend. His eyes widened. There was a small chunk missing from Yolo's health. "What happened?"

Yolo drew a circle in the dirt with a finger, looking sheepish. "There's a kind of barrier here where my waypoint area ends. It's like a yellow light coming out of a crack in the ground, but there's no actual crack."

"And you went over it."

"I tried to follow you, but my health immediately started dropping until I hopped back over."

So, that's how the System keeps Monsters within their waypoints. If they're outside the designated area too long, their health starts depleting. It probably works the same if they take too long to reach a waypoint that isn't a free-roam area like this one, but not as strict.

Not quite the Creator smiting you with dark lightning, but shockingly close.

His own health was still full.

"Let's restart the Party and you can join."

Hex opened his inventory, but the Party Stone was gone.

"It's okay," Yolo said. "The stone was single use. I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to go down there anyway."

Oh, shoot. I didn't even realize it was single use. Always pay attention to the description, Hex! There were so many things he’d have loved to test about being in a Party before disbanding it.

"I don't have to go in," Hex offered.

At least he'd accomplished what he wanted. He now knew the waypoints were passable, but anyone going beyond wouldn't last long. And most likely wouldn't earn any rewards for a death in that manner.

He thought it would be weird for the System to give different waypoints to two low level slimes who arrived as a Party. Which meant it wasn't just that he couldn't see the waypoints, as he feared. If that were the case he would have taken damage when he entered the cave like Yolo had. It seemed, instead, that he actually had expanded access to the world beyond a normal Monster.

If that was true, he could understand Florimell's desire to keep it secret.

But why?

Why me?

It was almost like he was supposed to go explore these areas. Was that his purpose? To go where others could not. To see the unknown. It seemed too grand a task.

It doesn't make any sense. I'm just a slime. But he was different. Whether he wanted it or not. For better or worse.

"I can wait here," Yolo said. "It seems like you really want to go."

Hex took a breath and looked back at the cave entrance—the glow buried within.

It wasn't a want, so much as a need. A draw to do this. To understand what it was all for. To prove that he wasn't just fodder like he felt when they attacked the fort. To prove that he wasn't the same slime who cried as he ran away from Gulliver's Cave dragging his unconscious friend. Running. Always running.

"I'm going in," Hex said.

Yolo nodded. "Good luck."

"Thanks. I won't be long."

Hex bounced down the first ledge onto a set of stone blocks. The way the cubes were positioned on the steep slope created a kind of natural stairway if he jumped over some gaps and hopped down a few two or three stack drops.

It didn't take him long to reach the bottom where the ground was more flat. He could still see here with the light shining down through the opening above. Even the dark areas didn't seem as dark as they had from up there. He could still make out the outlines of cubes and the shape of the floor from the ambient light that penetrated the shadows.

The orange glow was straight ahead.

He bounced toward it, tentative, but determined.

This is what I'm supposed to do.

The mini map in the top right of his interface only showed what he could see or had already seen, so the area ahead remained black until he approached.

A slight bend in the wall ahead was all the stood between him and the source of the orange glow.

"Hex, get out of there!" a voice said in his head.

He nearly jumped out of his goo, not expecting it. A little goo excrement was left on the ground beneath him.

"Florimell?"

"You need to leave that cave now."

He continued forward. So close.

I need to do this.

"You're going to get yourself killed, Hex!"

If he died he'd end up back with Professor Blackbeard at the Respawn Hub. He'd already been killed twice now. No big deal. "Where even are you?"

He rounded the bend. A river of molten lava flowed slowly from a small opening in the wall and escaped into a crevice ahead in a semi-circle.

See. Nothing to be afraid of.

On the other side of the lava stream, a strange black orb swirled. Red sparks of lightning flickered around it. It was beautiful, in an eery, foreboding kind of way.

A blue blur of feathers shot across Hex's vision.

Florimell pulled up and flapped her wings frantically, squawking. She seemed oddly birdlike with the motion.

He laughed. "Florimell, what are you doing here?"

"Hex, RUN!" she screamed.

His eyes widened. She was truly scared.

What the--

"Ah... slime... come to give... to me." A voice behind him said. It sounded high-pitched and scratchy, like it wasn't real somehow. Its words were cut short, some even missing completely.

Hex turned to find a creature, blacker than night, hovering before him. It had a small circular head with barely visible indentations for eyes and mouth. Its torso hung down, floating just above the ground. Unnaturally long arms extended all the way down to the end of its body.

A red aura surrounded the being.

The creature appeared on Hex's map as a black dot.

A name popped up on his interface, but the letters were cut off in weird places making them illegible. They weren't a different language, just... broken.

"Come... closer... won't hurt..."

"This way!" Florimell said, zipping back toward the cave entrance.

Hex hesitated, frozen in terror.

A long, black arm flung out from the creature.

It hit Hex in the chest, knocking him to the ground near the burning orange river. Black and red sparks flashed on the edge of his vision. The impact was like nothing he'd ever felt before... Like a piece of his soul was ripped out. Like he was somehow physically less himself.

His Health had plummeted to 10%.

He grabbed a health potion from his belt, almost dropping it. And chugged it.

Nothing happened.

What? I don't understand.

When his Health decreased previously, the red bar simply disappeared, lowering to the new value. This time was different. Where his health had depleted, the red bar was replaced with a black one.

"Don't worry... slimes... join... Cor—"

Florimell flew back, flashing her wings in front of the creature. It recoiled, but seemed otherwise unimpacted. It reared back, recovering its composure, and charged forward, ignoring Florimell's second attempt to distract it.

"Into the lava, Hex! Now!"

The black monstrosity raised its arms to strike again.

Hex scrambled up, but slipped.

I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.

And it wasn't just going to be a respawn death. He could feel it after that first damage. This was different.

This was real.

The creature screeched.

Hex rolled himself into the lava as black arms slammed the ground behind him, destroying the blocks of stone he'd been on a second before.

Then he died.

[Death - You have been killed by lava.]

[No reward.]

I made it...

[Achievement Unlocked: Corruption Survivor - You have escaped a battle with a Corrupt Being after taking damage.]

[Rewards:

Legendary Survivor Box

220 Heroic Energy

New Title: Deathmarked]