Poisoned or crushed.

The shock of his impending death made him blank.

Would the poison kill them quickly? Or just weaken them so that the guardians could finish the job? Would the boss wait for it, or would it just crush them to paste by itself.

And above it all, would it hurt?

Nar wanted to close his eyes, so as to not see that green monstrosity. Somewhere deep inside his mind, something screamed that this had to be a nightmare, and that he had to wake up.

However, this was all real.

This was the end of the line for him.

All that praying and begging, and believing and praising. What had it all been for, if in the end, the Crystal had already decided that they weren’t worthy of their forgiveness. That their feet would never touch the outside, or their eyes bathe in the light of the O-Nex.

His path, his future, his dad. None of it had been found worthy of mercy.

A cold seeped through him, pushing aside the horror of his approaching death.

I trusted You. Despite everything, I trusted You. I gave You a second chance! To show me that my faith was not misplaced! That the past could be forgotten in exchange for forgiveness. And this is Your answer.

Nar gripped his sword tightly in his hand, and clenched his jaw so hard his teeth hurt.

You have no right. You have no right to stop me here!

He raised his sword. It would not end there. He couldn’t allow it to end there!

But the sword looked puny, and tiny, before the bulk of the boss, and its brilliant cloud of green poison.

Damn it… Damn it all. I’m sorry dad, I tried.

Something whistled through the air.

There was a flash of light, and an explosion rocked the boss, knocking it sideways, away from them.

The brief flames consumed most of the poison headed their way, as well as a ton of the baby guardians still dangling above the party.

The sound of the boss’s thunderous steps reached them, as it sought to right itself, groaning.

“What was that?” Tuk whispered.

“Cen?” Mul asked, the shock clear in his voice. “Was that you?”

Nar turned around, slowly.

Cen stood in their midst, breathing hard and shaking, with her eyes open very wide.

Her staff was held upright, aiming at where the boss had been.

Nar’s breath froze, as he stared at the shining light at the tip of her staff.

“What is that?” Tuk whispered.

Nar swallowed hard. It could only be one thing.

Magic.

It was magic.

“Quick, cover her!” Kur shouted, pulling everyone back into the fight. “Cover her! Now!”

Nar pried his eyes off the light with difficulty, and found what had alarmed Kur so much.

The guardians were charging in from all sides, heading straight for Cen.

One of them bumped past him, as though he wasn’t even there.

Nar smashed down on it before it could go any further.

She can do it, he thought. She can kill the boss! That’s why they’re trying to stop her!

His feet were on the move before the thought was even finished. He had to protect her.

“Cen, what was that?” Tuk asked again.

“Later!” Kur shouted. “Cen, can you keep doing it?”

Cen regarded her glowing staff for a split-second, then nodded. “I don’t know how much stamina I have left, but I think I can do it a few more times.”

“It will have to do,” Kur said, holding back a guardian from penetrating the hasty circle they had formed around the caster.

The boss roared again and the floor shook as it moved, repositioning itself on top of them.

Once again, two of its limbs cast them in darkness.

“It’s coming again!” Gad shouted.

“New plan! Cen, you…”

The heat was suddenly gone, and the caged sense of danger transmitted by his [Instinct] vanished with it. In its place, he heard the rushing sounds of many, many things.

“The walls are down!” Jul said. “They’re coming!”

“Okay, same plan, but faster!” Kur shouted. “Cen, you are going to bring the boss down. The rest of us are going to protect you.”

“But-I, I don’t know if I’m strong enough. Or even if I have enough stamina!” Cen cried.

“I don’t see any other way out of this!” Kur said. “Our only hope is that this fight ends when the boss dies!”

Hope, Nar repeated. Yes. That was all they had left now. All they ever had.

“They’re coming!” Jul shouted again.

If they were to survive, they needed a decision. And fast.

“Do it!” Mul said, holding Cen’s hand. “I know you can do it.”

Tears shone in her eyes.

“Mul, I… I have something to tell you.”

“After,” Mul said, offering her a smile. “Right now, we need to survive this. And only you can do it! So do it!”

With that said, Mul faced back out of the circle, ready for the enemy.

Around them, the guardians had been whipped into a frenzy, and they smashed into the Climbers in a fury of blades and limbs.

Nar’s sword was a blur in his hands, but no matter how much he destroyed, there was never any clear space in front of him. And from beyond, he could hear the incoming tide yet to join the fray.

At his side, Jul screamed, covering her face, and fell backwards into the middle of the circle.

Nar widened his stance, quickly blocking the gap she had left behind.

“Nar!” she shouted.

“Stay there!” he replied.

There was nothing else she could do in the fight now, and he didn’t want her to hurt herself.

Now at his side, doing much better than him, Tuk’s rings carved out vast swaths of destruction, opening clear lines amongst the enemy.

“Hold on!” he shouted, sweating profusely. “I’ll help you in a sec!”

“I’m fine!” Nar said. “Help the others!”

Between his [Speed], [Agility] and [Reflex], he found that he could hold his ground. Barely, but he could. Surprisingly, those three attributes were proving much more important to him than his [Strength]. Or even his [Constitution]. It was somewhat of a startling realization, though now was not the time to ponder it.

“Don’t worry, man!” Tuk shouted back, grinning. “I’ve got enough for everyone!”

Nar didn’t doubt it. The rings drew wide, deadly arcs through the enemy. He felt like he should apologize to Tuk, for ever doubting their usefulness.

“Cen?” he heard Kur shout.

“I’m charging up my skill!” she said. “It’s stronger the more I put into it!”

Nar risked a quick glance behind him.

Cen held her staff, its tip aimed at the boss, which had already re-aligned its bulk above them.

A hazy, blinding gray light was gathering at the tip of the staff, forming a shifting ball of light, and casting her face in swirling grays.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Crystal… It really is magic! It’s real! It’s all real!

“Almost there!” she shouted.

Nar focused back on the fight.

His vision was filled with glistening blades and limbs, the guardians piled in a tangled mess, trying to get past him. However, that was not what he saw in his mind. It was the bright light of Cen’s staff.

Aether.

Magic.

He had begun to doubt if it was even real, or if the Crystal would actually grant it to them. But now, there it was. Perhaps he had been too hasty in his judgment of the Crystal.

Crystal… I…

It was not time to be begging for forgiveness. He would do it later, if they survived. Things still looked bleak for them, and there was no guarantee that Cen had enough stamina to finish the boss.

“Here it comes!” she shouted.

Then, he was lifted off his feet, and thrown against the guardians.

A bright light shone behind Nar’s eyelids, and his ears went momentarily deaf with a high-pitched tinnitus.

Gasping, Nar scampered to his feet.

The boss had been thrown to the right of the party., and its limbs were collapsing around it, shaking the floor under Nar.

Behind him, and all around, guardians spasmed and trashed on the floor, beating and stabbing each other in their madness.

Nar stared at the boss again.

In its fall, it had crushed a hundred guardians.

Its legs were half sprawled around it, half still hanging on to whatever was above them. However, his eyes were drawn to the large gaping hole that had been blown on its side.

Within, its insides were exposed, and from where he stood, Nar could see sporadic orange sparks, as well as rising smoke coming from the wound. The closest limb to the hole, trashed furiously, smashing out of control onto immobilized guardians.

As for the party, Cen was using her staff to prop herself up. Next to her, Jul was down, but moving. To his side, Mul was up, and pulled a stunned Viy back to her feet. And beyond Cen, Gad and Kur were on their knees with their backs to him, staring at the devastation wrought by Cen’s magic.

“My rings… I lost my rings.”

The words reached Nar from far away, muffled, but Nar heard them.

On his hands and knees, Tuk looked out over the expanse of broken and spasming guardians.

“Tuk!” Nar shouted, placing a hand on his back.

“I lost my rings!”

“We’ll find them,” Nar said, pulling him back up. “But not now! They’re still alive!”

The floor shook under them again, and Nar watched in horror as the boss lifted itself back up.

“Crystal… How’s it still alive after that?” Tuk breathed, eyes wide as the smoking, sparking enemy monstrosity pushed itself up on unsteady limbs.

If the boss was still in the fight, that meant the guardians would soon recover as well.

“Cen!”

The lengos looked at Kur.

“Finish it! Quickly! Before it stands back up! Aim at that hole!”

Cen squared her feet on the floor and aimed the staff at the boss once more.

Nar held his breath.

Did they have enough time for her to charge up her skill again?

The distance between him and the boss was blocked by recovering guardians. Even with his [Quickening], he knew he would never make it. There were just too many of them blocking his path.

And scanning their surroundings, he considered the temporarily disabled mass of hundreds of guardians about to come back to their senses.

He couldn’t reach the boss, and he couldn’t protect her from those numbers either.

He had to do something, though. He needed to buy her time. But what? And how?

The darkness lit up.

Yelling, Cen unleashed a barrage of bright projectiles at the boss.

Nar stared in awe, his face lit up by her magic.

“Holy Crystal,” Tuk whispered. “Holy Crystal…”

The explosions were smaller than the charged skill, but they blanketed the boss by their sheer number.

Some bounced off its shell, and exploded amongst the guardians. However, enough of them found their mark, destroying the boss from its exposed insides.

As for the rest of the party, they could only stare, as Cen single handedly destroyed the boss that had caused them all so much trouble.

So this is magic… Nar thought.

The boss gurgled in metallic agony, and lost all control of its limbs. The ones still holding onto the invisible ceiling above, came crashing down with thunderous roars.

Orange flames roared from inside the machine, and suddenly, an explosion of green and orange blasted away the darkness. The shockwave flattened them and all the guardians around.

From the floor, surrounded by now dead guardians, Nar stared at the towering flames roaring high above the battleground. The heat coming off of them burned his face, even from that distance.

A window appeared before his shocked eyes.

The Sentry?? (Boss) is down.

Congratulations!

You have survived.

Survived? If we had been anywhere near that thing we would have died!

Was that why the boss had insisted on being on top of them? To take them down with it, in one final surprise, just on the off chance that they managed to destroy it?

He couldn’t believe that was the case. It had to be for the poison, right? Not for this!

Cr… This is messed up. This is… I…

He had no words for it.

Even snatching victory by their fingernails, there had been one more contingency plan to take them all down.

It was beyond ridiculous. It went beyond unfair. This wasn’t just atonement. This was something else. Something that both terrified and angered Nar in equal measure.

DING!

You have defeated The Sentry ?? (Boss).

Enough experience points have been awarded to level up.

You have leveled up!

You have gained:

Stamina 14 -> 15

Aura 38 -> 42

??? 6 -> 8

??? 13 -> 14

Instinct 10 -> 12

Reflex 10 -> 11

Hearing 6 -> 7

Sight 5 -> 7

Gains threshold exceeded!

Attribute points will be applied during sleep!

Congratulations!

You have gained your first attribute modifier.

[Aura] has become [Aura*]. From now on, each point gained in [Aura*] will yield an additional bonus point.

Nar’s head spun as he dismissed the prompt.

[Aura*].

It had happened.

It had actually happened.

A tiny sigh escaped his lips. It was more of an exhalation, his chest barely moving.

But it carried with it a Nexus of emotion, confusion, anger, betrayal and despair.

Had there ever been a test of faith, or had he just told himself that in consolation? In hope, trying to find meaning to the revolting thing happening to him, and which he could neither explain nor do anything about.

42 points.

He clenched his fists.

The Crystal had made no such promise after all. It had all been him. His weak, feeble, pathetic self, trying to make himself feel better. Trying to hope that at last, the Crystal would show him some damned love!

What had he done to deserve being born a worker? What had he done to deserve being labeled an Unclean? What had he done to…

“Nar? Are you okay?”

Nar composed his features and sat up.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he said, his tone devoid of emotion.

Tuk considered him for a few heartbeats, then nodded.

“I’m sorry to bother you when you’re tired, but…”

“It’s fine. What do you need?” Nar asked.

His voice was unrecognizable, even to himself.

Tuk licked his cracked, bloodied lips and looked out at the devastation around them. After the Sentry’s destruction, all the guardians had stopped moving.

“It’s my rings. I lost them, and I can’t find them in this dark.”

Even with the light from the roaring orange flames, it was probably impossible for him, without [Sight], to find anything amongst the debris. Least of all, not tiny discs of metal.

“I’ll help you,” Nar said, looking around him.

He doubted that even him, with his enhanced [Sight], would be able to find anything in that mess.

“Thank you,” Tuk said, offering him a ghost of a smile. “I’ve unlocked [Sight] just there, but I think I need to sleep first, before I can use it.”

“Congratulations,” Nar said, standing up. “Not sure how much help mine will be in this, but we'll find them.”

Yes, they would. And Nar didn’t care how long it would take. He needed to focus his energy, as little as it was, into something. Or else, he might just explode.

Anger.

Rage.

Despair.

Fear.

Sadness.

And something else, something darker and deeper within, reared its ugly head. Something that had been growing within him, ever since that fateful day, when he had been but a child of five, watching it all unfold before him…

At his sides, his hands balled into fists, and trembled. They shook so hard, he was sure his whole body was shaking.

He needed to distract himself with something. Anything.

Tuk stood up, and considered the expanse of broken-down guardians before them. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice anything off with Nar.

“I hate looking at it,” Tuk said. “Into it.”

“The darkness?” Nar asked, forcing his fingers to open, and to stop the shaking.

“Yeah… I always feel like there’s something in it, staring back at me. That’s why I always keep my eyes on what I can see. And probably why I only got 3 points in [Sight].”

Three? That was less than Nar’s initial five. However, he wasn’t quite in the mood to be supportive. Tuk would soon gain more points anyways. He was a ranged fighter, [Sight] had to play a crucial component in his path.

“So, any idea where they might be?” Nar asked.

Tuk grinned at him. “I can do you one better. Follow me!”

With his mind raging in all directions, from magic, to the Crystal, to his lost attribute modifier, to the fight they had just had, Nar followed Tuk into the broken mess of guardians.

They walked in silence for a few steps, leaving the party behind.

“Here!” Tuk announced, drawing a small circle at his feet with a finger. “Look somewhere here.”

Nar frowned at his confidence, but he had no brain power to spare to ask him about it.

He bent down, and carefully searched through the sharp, broken debris, focusing his [Sight]. To his surprise, he caught the glint of something round and differently colored amidst the mess, and lifted it to his eyes, staring at the small ring in disbelief.

“It worked!” Tuk celebrated. “You know, I’ve never actually tried it before.”

“How?” Nar asked, passing him the ring.

Tuk beckoned for Nar to follow him to the next one.

He opened his hands and showed him four rings.

“The rings come with an ability. It lets me know where I’ve dropped the rings that I’m not holding. It’s only a vague impression, but it’s accurate enough. Here. There should be another one around here somewhere.”

He drew a circle at his feet again, and Nar bent down to search.

“If it had been brighter, I could’ve done it myself. But like this? I can barely see where I’m walking. Thanks again, man.”

“It’s alright,” Nar said. “Don’t worry about it.”

The search helped him take his mind off things. To cool off, to let things settle, before he said, or decided anything that he could come to regret. Besides, Tuk’s presence helped him stay in the outside world, away from his turbulent, raging thoughts.

“Found it!” Nar said, giving him the ring.

“Ooooh, man! You’re the best!”

Nar shook his head. “Come on, let’s go get the next one.”

Following Tuk, listening to him prattle on about how awesome their fight had been, and just how amazing everyone had been, Nar himself receiving no small share of compliments for his own part, helped him detach himself from his thoughts. It put some distance between him, and what was threatening to spill over within his mind.

He never told the ring tosser, but he was happy for his company, and that he had lost his rings in the violence of Cen’s magic. It gave him some time apart from the others, and something to do with himself. It helped him get back under control.

Nar felt something under his fingers and grabbed it.

“Think this is the last one,” he said, showing it to Tuk.

The trugger squinted at his hand.

“It’s so hard to… Oh! That’s it! Thank you!”

He reached it and took the ring.

“You’re the best, man! Thank you! Seriously, thank you so much,” Tuk said, looking adoringly at the rings in his hands.

Nar smiled as Tuk counted his full set of rings. “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s get back to the others. I don’t want anything to surprise us out here.”

Tuk frowned and considered the darkness that surrounded them.

“We just fought that thing.”

Nar shrugged. “Who knows. Anything can happen.”

But the trugger shook his head. “I doubt it. It would be too cruel.”

Would it? Nar thought, looking at the furious flames in the distance, consuming the Sentry’s body.

If their atonement had warranted all that, anything was possible.