World Gate: Hysterium - Canyon of Despair

Rowan tightened the straps holding the shield to his left arm.

The monstrous scorpion queen shook off the remaining offspring that crawled along her back. A sea of the smaller creatures crawled across the canyon floor and walls.

"I can’t see health bars or levels," Rowan said without turning back to his slime companion. "You’re gonna have to be our eyes." He looked over his shoulder. The slime was practically trembling. "Can you do that?"

Hex didn’t move. He just stared wide-eyed into the arena-like opening in the canyon where their enemies waited.

"I said, can you—"

"Yes." The slime pulled a small sword and plain wooden shield from his inventory.

Where in Creator’s name did he get those? It was one thing to have torches and Transportation Stones, but he also had the Respawn Flags, and now weapons too. Plus those orange dark bracers on his appendages. If a first-year Monster had any one of those items it would’ve shocked Rowan.

But Hex had all of them.

There’s no way he has all the resources or insight to acquire all those items. Especially so early in the year.

For now, Rowan was glad. He couldn’t deal with this all on his own, but it was still beyond suspicious.

"What levels are we up against?" Rowan asked.

"Most of the small ones are level 1 through 5. The queen is much higher though. She’s level 20."

So, she’s even higher than me. Wouldn’t be a boss if it wasn’t a challenge I guess…

"Can you take some of the small ones?" he asked Hex.

"M-Me?"

A few got close and Rowan sliced through them, using his shield to block the spray of poison from their blood.

"Yes you!"

"I-I’m only level 5 myself."

"Perfect," Rowan said. "Just focus on any that get near my back side and are below your level."

"I’ll try," Hex said, not sounding very resolute.

Wonderful. My life potentially relies on the fighting skills of a level 5 slime. Please, Creator, don’t let this debuff mean I die if I die… If it does, there’s no way I’m surviving today.

He’d been worried the debuff or disconnection from the System could have dire consequences if he was killed, but this was the first time he truly faced a threat that could turn that fear into a reality.

But there was no other choice. From what he could tell there were no paths off from this arena.

He’d have to kill the resident boss to survive.

And he’d have to do it with no knowledge of his health, stamina, or Heroic Energy levels since his interface wasn’t updating. All while keeping the slime alive too.

Yup. I’m totally dead.

"Alright," he said. "Let’s do this."

Rowan charged forward and cut through the low level scorpions with his sword. They came against him and he parted them like a boulder in rapids. Pink toxin coated his blade and armored gauntlet, but none touched his skin.

He had to get closer to the boss.

If had a horse, he probably could’ve cleared the army of weak scorpions easily. Nothing prevented him from brining Truviant into a World Gate, he just didn’t expect to need him while stationed in a single town in Hysterium of all places.

You can never be too prepared. Next time I’ll bring him.

If there is a next time.

They were in the thick of it now, creatures on all sides. Which meant…

"I killed one!" Hex yelled, sounding like he couldn’t believe it himself.

"Good job, just make sure—"

"Uhh… Rowan?"

Rowan peered back briefly. The slime’s sword arm was covered in pink.

I should’ve known that would happen…

"Just keep fighting. I’ll take care of it." Rowan cast his Purify skill and rid Hex of the poison debuff. "You don’t have any long range skills I take it?"

"I only have a bounce attack, but I’m afraid it’ll bring me too close and I’ll get skewered by a stinger."

He was going to have to keep removing Hex’s debuffs, which meant he had to reserve his Heroic Energy for that and not use any of his offensive skills.

Hammer of Justice would’ve been perfect for this battle as a high-powered distance attack against the queen, but it takes far too much Heroic Energy.

They were getting closer to the resident boss. She hadn’t made a move to attack yet, which was perfectly fine by him. The more they could thin the herd of scorpions around them, the easier it’d be to maneuver while battling her.

He would’ve expected her to charge by now though. There had to be a reason she waited.

"I killed another one!" Hex said.

"You don’t need to tell me every time, you know…"

"Uhh, do you mind—"

Rowan cast Purify.

"Thanks…" Hex mumbled.

"See if you can keep them back, but avoid cutting them."

"I’ll try."

Rowan didn’t have a ton of Heroic Energy left even before the Corruption attack. At this rate, it’d be gone before he even took one swing at the queen.

He had several Antidote Draughts, which he’d purchased after that first experience against the scorpions in Hysterium, but they were in his inaccessible inventory with everything else useful, of course.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The stack of Corruption orb debuffs—or whatever they were—still stood at 4. He thought it’d have at least gone down 1 by now. There was no cool down indicator around the icon, so he had no idea how long they’d last. Regardless, he wouldn’t be accessing his inventory any time soon.

They had progressed forward, almost within what Rowan perceived would probably be the striking range of the queen’s tail.

Her giant crab-like front claws snapped at the air, as if goading them to get closer.

"The queen’s limbs have their own health bars," Hex said from behind.

Rowan looked at the eight insectoid legs of the behemoth creature. If he could take out each limb, it would severely reduce the scorpion’s mobility. Then he could go in close for the killing strike.

He was about to move in for a strike, when his eyes locked on something else.

Under the scorpion queen, in a large recess in the ground, hundreds of white-green spheres huddled together. Some were inadvertently squished by the queen’s giant legs, while others cracked and burst on their own. Most remained dormant.

Eggs.

As they burst, new scorpions emerged, covered in a translucent sludge, and charged out into the fray.

So that’s why she hasn’t left her position in the center of the arena. She’s protecting the nest.

That could potentially make this battle more difficult. If she was defending a single position instead of moving around, it would be harder to get past those front claws and behind her. But maybe if—

The queen’s tail struck out with incredible speed.

Rowan rolled to the side as the stinger stabbed into the ground where he’d been, leaving a divot in the stone canyon floor along with a pink splatter of toxin.

Luckily Hex had been far enough behind him that the strike didn’t hit him either. He’d have to leave his companion on his own if he wanted to deal any damage to their true foe.

Hopefully we’ve thinned their ranks enough that he’ll be okay.

Many of the scorpions seemed to be scurrying toward the outskirts or even climbing up the walls now that their mother had officially entered the battle. But not all.

Rowan absently cast Purify on the slime again, then returned to his own problems. In dodging the attack, he’d put himself directly in the center of a cluster of the younger scorpions, several still dripping the egg fluids.

The newer hatchlings seemed to be on the higher end of the level range Hex mentioned. He couldn’t see their levels, but each survived more than a single basic sword strike.

That wouldn’t be good news for Hex.

He needed to end this battle fast.

* * *

Hex caught a stinger against his pathetic shield and struck back with the sword. He’d figured out the best time to attack to avoid getting hurt or poisoned was immediately after the scorpions did. There wasn’t anything he could do to expedite the kill since his attacks were so weak, but he’d at least found a rhythm that kept him alive. For now.

He’d never be like Rowan, darting around the battlefield, taking out chunks of enemies at a time. But at least he wasn’t totally worthless.

The prince finished off a group that had surrounded him, then dashed in closer to the queen, sliding under a giant claw and sliced at one of the legs. Then another.

He hit several eggs on his way, but instead of slicing in half they burst open with new hatchlings.

New hatchlings that came directly toward Hex.

Not good. Not good.

He’d been lucky enough until now to only face one or two at a time.

A group of six now scuttled into a circle around him.

He blocked an attack with the shield, then shoved forward and stabbed. The claw from another scorpion clamped down on his appendage and he released the sword, pulling his hand back in pain. His weapon was left embedded in an eye.

A stringer stuck into his back taking a small chunk of health. The poison debuff returned.

Rowan was too far away to help now, engaged in his own battle with the queen. Even his Purify skill wouldn’t have the range to reach Hex.

Another claw jabbed his side. His shifted his shield in that direction only to be struck in the area he just left undefended.

He was being poked and prodded from every direction. The debuffs were stacking up and each hit brought his health that much closer to zero.

Hex slipped a hand into his Rapid Use pouch and pulled out a Lesser Health Potion. It was slapped from his hand and broke on the stone ground, red liquid seeping into sand and cracks. He took another and downed it successfully this time, then threw the empty bottle at a scorpion.

That didn’t help the poison though.

His body was getting unstable, the world seemed to wobble and swim around him. The five remaining scorpions looked like fifteen in his skewed vision. He had the Antidote Draughts in his Inventory that he’d snatched from the Respawn Hub, but he had to access them.

He tried to focus on the Inventory icon, but accidentally opened his Character Sheet instead.

Everything was blurred.

He spun, trying to block all his enemies at once with his shield, but it was no use. Limbs were so weak and failed him. Eyes wanted to close. His health was already critical again.

I’m going to die.

He hadn’t placed a Respawn Flag. If he had he’d have lost his leverage against Rowan. Now that he was moments from potentially respawning on the other side of the world he regretted it. Even if he tried to place one now, he wasn’t sure he had the time. The Character Sheet was still open in front of him, blocking off most of his view.

It’s over. Rowan will be trapped. I failed my father. He was never going to get this close to the Embershard Mine again.

His eyes slid to slits, accepting defeat. Allowing the toxin to course through his goo. Sleep seemed so welcome now.

Then he noticed something in his Character Sheet.

His eyes widened again and he almost fell down as another claw snapped into his stomach.

It only lasted an instant, some feral instinct pulled from the core of his being as his life teetered on the brink of survival. But in that instant, his eyes locked on his unknown active skill. The one in the unfamiliar language he’d assumed meant he hadn’t acquired it yet.

He could read it.

There was no description, no guaranteed it would help now.

But he knew the name.

Inferno.

The Character Sheet closed automatically as the skill activated.

Glowing orange veins formed on his body like intersecting streams of lava. They grew brighter. And brighter. So bright he could hardly see the scorpions in front of him anymore.

Then raging flames erupted from every crack in his body.

* * *

An explosion pulled Rowan’s attention away from his clash with the queen scorpion.

It came from the direction he thought Hex must be, though his orientation had been shattered during the battle. Did the slime have some sort of explosive item or attack scroll? Anything like that should be far beyond—

He turned in the direction of the blast.

A turbulent sea of fire rushed toward him like a stampede.

He thrust his shield into the ground and ducked behind it just in time. A wave of flame crashed against the barrier and flowed over and around his protected body. Golden tendrils flickered around the edges of his shield, straying dangerously close to his face and limbs.

[Burn negated by Basic Immunity.]

This is no item…

He braced himself against the shield, the force of the blast still pushing back against him, until finally the last of the wave washed over him and dissipated into the air.

A field of charred bodies lay twitching in the canyon arena. A few survivors scurried around on unstable legs, flames seething over their blackened bodies and they tried to escape toward the walls.

The queen stood beside Rowan, writhing, but alive. The remaining legs were shadows engulfed in fire. She took an unstable set toward him, then the legs crumbled into chunks like coal.

The body of the massive scorpion collapsed onto her nest, smashing most of the remaining eggs to goo.

She wailed in agony and possibly sorrow, as she attempted to strike Rowan with her tail. But without her legs she had no maneuverability. He climbed onto her back where the stinger couldn’t reach him and stabbed down where he assumed her brain must be. The exoskeleton cracked as the sword slid through.

The queen squealed as he struck again and again.

Then she was motionless.

Any remaining scorpions had succumbed to the burns or left the arena.

The canyon wall behind the queen’s body slid open revealing the path forward. He ignored it for now.

Instead, he ran to Hex.

The slime lay unconscious on the ground with a circle of blasted ash and disintegrated scorpions around him. Veins all over his body glowing orange, then dimmed to grey and slowly faded away.

Rowan knelt beside Hex and poured a Health Potion into his mouth.

Then he sat back and waited for the slime to wake.

It seemed impossible that such a small Monster had created such a powerful attack. It was impossible. Everything he knew told him Monsters could not wield fire. They had their physical skills—some species-specific skills were borderline magical—but could all be explained by natural attributes of the Monsters.

Slimes had no flame affinity.

So it had to be an item, right? An item with that capability would have to be Legendary rarity.

Whether a skill or an item, this Level 5 slime shouldn’t have been capable of an attack like that. He had some explaining to do when he woke.

Rowan stared down at Hex’s face, peaceful in slumber despite the devastation he’d unleashed.

Who in the Creator’s name are you…?