The Lost One screamed. Glowing green blood gushed from his side. His eyes rolled up, and he sagged down, his translucent body collapsing to the ground.
Immune: Poison
Alright, well, saw that one coming. Luckily, this is still Floor One, so there’s no mob enemies that are totally immune to physical damage.
“Noah, now!” Vivian shouted.
“Is he still alive?” Noah shouted back, panicking.
“For now! Hurry!”
Noah gritted his teeth. He threw his tome forward. An ice crystal materialized above the downed Lost One’s head and crashed down. The Lost One kicked, then went still.
Lost One Defeated!
Noah glanced up. “We did it!”
“We did the easiest part,” Vivian countered dryly.
Deep in the Garden of Lost Souls, a woman screamed in pain. A shiver ran down Vivian’s spine, and Noah jumped.
“What was that?” Noah asked.
“The Lady of the Lost,” Vivian said.
A wave of green energy shot out from the center of the Garden. Where it passed over a Lost One, ghostly green flames burned over the height of the hedge maze. The Lost Ones howled, a mournful, vengeful sound.
“Wait… where’s the quest notification?” Noah asked, looking around.
Vivian shook his head. “It’s a Hidden Quest. It won’t pop up until you kill the second one. It wouldn’t be very Hidden if everyone who ganked a Lost One got it, would it?”
“No, I guess not,” Noah said.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Vivian tracked the movements of the closest Lost Ones. His eyes snapped open, and he pointed. “Left up here, there’s a Lost One who’s pretty isolated from the rest. She’ll be our first real fight.”
Noah took off. Vivian followed after him, checking the blade of his clippers as he went. The poison is gone. The blades are clean, except for the Lost One’s blood. As expected, regardless of reality, in the Tower, poison is a one-time-use item.
He cleaned the blades on a corner of his shirt. I’ll save my poison for the Players.
The flames burning over the height of the edges faded. Groaning echoed from here and there in the hedge maze. Closer to them, a soft voice moaned. Vivian waited, tipping his head. I can’t track the Lady of the Lost. We have to listen for her.
A distant scream echoed over the maze. Vivian nodded. She’s still pretty far. We’re good for now. But the more immediate problem… “Look sharp. The Lost One’s about to turn the corner.”
Noah took a short breath and raised his tome, gathering his magic. Cold white light gathered around the tome.
Hair wild and ragged, eyes burning red, her nightrobes torn and her fingertips clawed, the Lost One rounded the corner of the hedge maze. Her eyes locked onto Noah. Hissing, she bared sharp teeth and charged.
Noah squeaked, staggering away.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Vivian stepped in. He blocked the Lost One’s claws with the clippers’ handle, then lifted his foot and kicked her back. She flew back, light as paper. Catching herself, she kicked the air and charged at Vivian again, her red eyes blazing through the fog.
“Noah, you ready?” Vivian asked.
“Y-yes!” Noah replied.
Vivian jumped at the Lost One. Choking his grip to the hinge, he stabbed the Lost One in the chest. She screeched and clawed at his back, flailing at his black shirt. He shoved the clippers in deeper, twisting the blade. Green blood oozed down her robes.
“Noah!”
“Already… there!”
Icy chill swirled down around Vivian. He jumped back, pushing the Lost One away from him. She darted back up and charged in. An ice crystal materialized in the air in front of her and pierced through her as she charged forward.
“Good idea using her own momentum against her, but damn, kid, let’s not do friendly fire!” Vivian said. The Lost One trembled in her death throes and reached for his ankle. He kicked her back.
“S-sorry. I got nervous,” Noah said, grabbing his tome tight.
Mmm. That’s true. Kid’s level four. Can’t have much combat experience. And… there’s more closing in on us. Time to take a little break. He closed his eyes, momentarily checking the situation around them. Little red dots crawled around inside the green walls of the garden in his mind’s eye, marking the enemies all around them. If we go now, the turn-sequence to the clearing should still be open.
“Alright, two down, eight to go. Let’s retreat for now and give them a little time to un-bunch,” Vivian said, gesturing for Noah to follow him.
“I… I still didn’t get the quest notif,” Noah mumbled.
Vivian glanced back. “No? Should pop any moment now…”
Anything For A Rose
Kill 10 Lost Ones. Reward: Phantom Rose
Quest Progress: 2/10
“There we go. You saw that too, right, kid?”
Noah nodded, his eyes gleaming. He clenched his fist. “I’m getting that rose. Wait for me, Mom!”
Still… this quest is pretty weird. The Tower does a lot to disincentivize killing Lost Ones. They only proc after you attack, they don’t give a lot of EXP or drop much… so why is there a quest to kill ten of them, with an overleveled healing item as a reward? I guess it’s a challenge mode? Challenge modes aren’t unheard-of. But still, to turn around from making it pointless to kill Lost Ones to making it a super-high-reward challenge mode… I don’t know. It just feels… un-cohesive.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. It’s just weird.
Vivian closed his eyes. Red dots cut sharp corners around his mental map of the garden, darting toward him and Noah. “Let’s get moving. They’re closing in on us.”
Noah nodded. “Left, then right, then…” He hesitated.
“You don’t have it memorized?” Vivian asked, skeptical.
“I did, it’s just, I—as soon as everything started happening, I—I forgot!” Noah said, shaking his head.
Vivian sighed. “Follow me, alright? And don’t lose sight of my back.”
Noah nodded. He clutched his tome to his chest.
Vivian took off. Around the first turn, a Lost One charged Vivian. He called out the spray bottle and spritzed it in the face. The Lost One drew back, startled.
Spray Bottle
Dmg: 0
Stun: 40%
Although this weapon does no damage, it has a high chance of inflicting Stun!
“Noah, go! Take the left!” Vivian called.
Noah rushed past Vivian and the stunned Lost One. Vivian chased after him. The Lost One jolted back to life as he ran by. Whirling, it scraped at his back with long nails.
Vivian thrust the clippers backward. Nails raked his shoulders as the clippers slammed into the Lost One’s ribs. The Lost One stiffened. Its nails dug deeper as its whole body contracted. Vivian forced the clippers open and slammed them shut again, cutting deeper into the Lost One’s body.
The Lost One screamed in pain.
“Noah, quickly!”
Noah whirled around. He threw his hand out. A crystal struck the Lost One’s back a second before it went still.
Quest Progress: 3/10
Hot green blood coursed down Vivian’s hands and stained his black shirt. He whirled the clippers, letting the weight of the Lost One drag the clippers’ blade down, then stepped on their body. He yanked the clippers free with a squelch. Glowing green blood dripped from the soaked clippers onto the corpse.
Noah squirmed. “Yuck.”
“Come on, let’s keep moving. That one called the Lady of the Lost, for sure,” Vivian said, nudging Noah on. That scream? That’s bad news for us. We have to get out of here.
“Are we still in the get-to-the-clearing sequence? Does it still count?” Noah asked, looking at Vivian.
“It all counts. Otherwise, how would a Player without my intimate inside knowledge ever find their way to the clearing?” Vivian asked rhetorically. The Tower generally doesn’t make its secrets impossible to find. There’s exceptions that prove the rule, but for the most part, it’s lenient with revealing its secrets as long as you make the effort to go looking.
Noah shrugged.
“Come on. Let’s go,” Vivian said, gesturing for him to continue.