Vivian’s eyes snapped open. He stood in an endless corridor of hedges, thick mist swirling around him. Roses glowed in the darkness.

Oh, right. That’s why I didn’t want to sleep.

He looked down at his hands. Both hands gripped the worn wooden handles of a grass scythe. Although the blade had the traditional swooped blade of the kind of scythes reapers usually held, the long shaft curved in almost an S-shape. It sported two handles perpendicular to the shaft, one at the end and one at the midpoint of the S, for easy handling. The shaft stretched nearly as tall as he stood. Lifting it, he swung it again. With the perpendicular handles, it was easy to swipe at the ground, but hard to swing higher.

I’ll call this one ‘Anklebiter,’ Vivian decided.

In the distance, a shrill voice howled. Phosphorescent flames raged all across the Garden.

Aaaand… that’s my cue to hoof it!

With a gesture, Vivian sent the scythe into his inventory and hurtled through the maze. An enraged Lost One charged at him from around the corner, claws bared. Vivian slapped a hand on her head and threw himself over her, forcing the floating girl behind him. Get thee behind me, devil child!

A loud WHOOSH sounded from immediately behind him. Bright phosphorescence burned at the corners of his eyes.

There’s the Lady! Damn, she’s fast tonight! Vivian sped up, sprinting at top speed. He let go of all his resistance toward skills and allowed [Tiptoe Through the Tulips] to completely guide his steps, leading him through the hedge maze.

Claws scraped against stone, clipping his heel. Vivian stumbled, but kept going. Behind him, the Lady hissed.

“I won’t let you escape. You’re my ticket out of here!”

“I’m my ticket out of here!” Vivian shouted back.

The Lady laughed. “Give up. You can’t climb the Tower without becoming a Boss or a Role. This resistance is meaningless.”

“Weird how you’re trying to convince me of it. You’d think you’d just let me try the Ruined Castle and fail,” Vivian called over his shoulder.

The Lady growled. She sprinted forth and gripped Vivian’s shoulder.

Calling out the scythe, he gripped the midpoint handle in one hand and shoved the end handle down, sending the blade flying up behind him. The Lady’s hand went flying, spewing black-and-green blood.

The Lady screamed.

“You really need to invest in some wrist armor. And eye-armor,” Vivian suggested. He closed his eyes, spreading his senses through the Garden for a moment. His eyes snapped open, and he charged ahead, swinging the scythe at the base of the hedges. I’m sorry, my children, but your sacrifice is for a good cause!

The hedges fell away. Vivian leaped their roots and cut a sharp left, dodging as a Lost One whirled around from where they’d been waiting to ambush him around the curve and took a wild swipe at his side. The first light of dawn shone at the end of the path. Vivian’s eyes shone. The exit! He sprinted for it, sending the scythe away again.

Claws cut at his back, and then he hurtled over the exit.

HP: 10/13

The Lady of the Lost slammed into an invisible wall at the exit to the maze. Growling, she slammed her fist against it, but it held, as strong as steel.

Vivian turned back. “Almost had me!”

“You’ll regret this!” the Lady shouted.

“Don’t think I will!” Vivian shouted back. He shook his head at her and turned. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he walked away, casually calling out a health potion and downing it as he walked. Need to be topped up for the boss battle.

“Hey.”

He turned. Kyung came up behind him, tossing him a nod.

“Woke up in the Barbershop?” Vivian asked.

Kyung nodded.

They both turned toward Belltower Heights.

Vivian clicked his tongue. “Well. I guess there’s nothing we can do about that. I mean, I can’t waste the energy to battle a legion of goblins and cut through the Boss’s territory in one day.”

Kyung hesitated, then nodded.

The door to the belltower slammed open. Hobgoblins spawned abruptly. They looked around, confused, and in that moment, a familiar form booked it out of the belltower, hoisting her skirts high.

“Oh no you don’t!” Isa shouted. She sped down the hill, half-running, half-stumbling. “I’m not staying here to be the maiden in distress for eternity!”

The hobgoblins shouted, coming to life. One lifted his arm and pointed, and they all turned and chased after her.

“Hey, don’t worry. I’m sure the Lady of the Lost will let you have her job,” Vivian reassured her, giving her a thumbs up from the bottom of the hill.

She lifted her hand off her skirts to give him the middle finger for a single step before grabbing her skirts again. “You could help!”

“You’re doing great! C’mon, it’s the new trend. The maiden in distress has to save herself!” Vivian said, shrugging helplessly.

Gritting her teeth, Isa grumbled curses to herself and sped up, sprinting for the combat zone’s limit.

Behind her, the hobgoblins notched arrows. At a barked command, they drew, pointing at the sky.

“Faster! They’re gonna shoot you!” Vivian shouted helpfully.

Isa’s grumbling turned into shouting. She hoisted her skirts and full-on sprinted, boots tearing up the path.

She reached the bottom of the hill. As abruptly as they’d spawned, the hobgoblins’ eyes glazed over. They fell back, turning and vanishing into the village.

Jogging over to the boys, Isa took a deep breath, then bent over and propped her hands on her knees. “I—fucking… hate you—”

“Don’t bend over like that. You’ll vomit,” Vivian said.

With effort, Isa stood and wiped her mouth. She scowled at Vivian. “Fuck off.”

“That’s no way to greet your Party Leader,” Vivian tutted.

Kyung nodded. He pointed at Isa and nodded some more.

“I’ll never become number one like this!” Vivian complained, putting his hands on his hips.

“You already are. According to you,” Isa deadpanned.

“Oh yeah. Hey, look at that!” Vivian grinned, then turned serious. He gestured them on. “Shall we? Noah’s going to be lonely if we don’t get back soon.”

Kyung nodded.

“Yep,” Isa said.

They set off. In a few minutes, they returned to the Ruined Castle. Vivian glanced down the row of tents, searching out Noah. The boy laid curled up under their makeshift tent, head propped on his hands, legs drawn tight. He shifted slightly as they arrived and murmured something in his sleep.

“Noah! Wakey wakey! Time to get up and face the Castle!” Vivian called quietly.

Noah startled awake. He scrambled, half jumping to his feet, knocked his head on the canvas, then fell back down. The tent shook, then crumpled in on him as the sticks used as stakes gave out. Trapped underneath, Noah struggled, shouting incoherently.

Vivian knelt and lifted the wrinkled, filthy canvas, revealing a mussed-up and wide-eyed Noah with an unruly case of bedhead. Noah spat, wrinkling his face and rubbing his eyes.

“Good morning,” Vivian said, grinning.

“It’s still dark,” Noah complained. He stretched, closing his eyes and scrunching his face.

“The Ruined Castle waits for no man, and certainly no kid. Let’s get going,” Vivian said, clapping his hands together.

“Can’t we… wait a bit…?” Noah bargained, closing his eyes.

“Do you wanna beat Floor One and start getting actually strong, or stay here capped at level twenty forever?” Vivian asked.

Noah startled. Still half-asleep, he nodded and scrambled to his feet. “Strong, I want to get strong!”

“Then let’s get going,” Vivian declared.

Kyung yanked at the tangled rope. “Wait. I need to—”

“I have a skill for this!” Isa offered. She reached her hand out. White light glowed in her palm, then spread over the rope. The rope moved on its own. With a yank, it freed itself from the wall and the stakes in the ground, then looped around, forming into a neat pile on the ground.

Isa grinned. “Untangle and Spool.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“You wasted two SP for that?” Vivian asked.

Isa frowned. “Out of twenty.”

“Twenty SP?” Vivian asked, taken aback. Even if I sunk all my points into SP, I wouldn’t have thirty!

She nodded. “Yeah, a lot of my stats are ones and twos, but I have a ton of SP, and ten MAG.”

Vivian blinked. He shook his head. “I take it all back. Forget DEF and STR. You’re pumping all your points into MAG and SP.”

“Even I don’t have that much SP,” Noah muttered.

“Did the Tower glitch when it assigned your stats…?” Vivian wondered aloud.

“Oh, hey! I can’t have good stats?” Isa asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“You can. No, no. Please have good stats,” Vivian returned. Ten MAG and twenty SP. Even if she’s level five, she’s on par with a level ten. I’m not complaining about her levels anymore. The rest of her stats can be ones and twos. Who cares? I’ll take a low-level mage-type unit with crazy numbers in the stats that count!

Though that does mean that Kyung and I have to play hardcore frontline. If anyone touches our squishies, they’re going down. Well… Noah has a few MDEF, but I can’t count on him to take a physical hit.

Kyung picked up the rope. He nodded at Vivian.

“Alright, if that’s everything, shall we go?” Vivian suggested.

Noah started for the front gate, only for Vivian to stop him short. “No, no. This way.”

“Around the back? Why?” Noah asked, frowning.

“There’s a back entrance?” Isa guessed.

Nodding at her, Vivian gestured them on. “You’ll see.”

They pushed through the brambles and undergrowth. At the gap in the wall, Vivian jumped up, then offered Noah and Isa a hand up. Kyung hopped up on his own, as usual.

On the far side, the overgrown garden and castle grounds rustled with life and mostly monsters. A few armored slimes clanked between them and the castle’s wall.

Vivian pointed. “See that tower there? We’re going to grappling-hook up to the top of it and shortcut the Ruined Castle. We don’t want to spend too much time here, trust me.”

“Do you have a grappling hook?” Isa asked, hooking an eye.

Vivian called out his rake and passed it to Kyung. Nodding silently, Kyung took the rake and began tying the rope around the T-intersection where the steel and wood met.

“Alright, fine. I guess,” Isa allowed, eyeing the rake with some trepidation.

“But we need time to toss the hook and climb the tower. Which means we need to take out those armored slimes. This is where you come in, Noah,” Vivian said, nodding at the boy.

“Me?” Noah asked.

“Slimes are weak to ice, since they’re essentially liquid, after all. I’m going to go down there and aggro the armored slimes. When they reach out for me, it’s your job to freeze their limbs with ice magic. Then I’ll go in with the clippers and hack their arms off. Once they’re limbless, they won’t have enough slime to pose a serious threat to us. We can kind of ignore them, or hack them to death for the EXP, whatever.”

Kyung looked up sharply. He nodded.

“Sharp attacks don’t do a whole lot to slimes if they aren’t frozen, though,” Vivian warned him.

“Mmm,” Kyung muttered, frowning.

“Look, we should all get a good chunk of EXP from the boss, so we shouldn’t worry too much about the slimes,” Vivian pointed out.

Still dissatisfied, Kyung nodded nonetheless.

“I can keep freezing them…?” Noah offered.

Vivian shook his head. “You should save your SP. We only have so many SP potions, and I haven’t set up my infinite SP exploit… ahem, my rose garden, yet.”

Noah nodded. “I don’t have twenty SP, after all.”

“I have six! I’m so jealous,” Vivian said.

“Are you?” Isa asked, squinting.

Vivian considered. “I mean, a little, yeah.”

“Huh,” she muttered.

Kyung lifted the makeshift grappling hook. “Done.”

“Alright. Noah, you ready?” Vivian asked.

Noah closed his eyes, focusing for a moment. A blast of cold swirled in the already-chill morning air, and frost coated his fingertips. “Ready.”

“And me?” Isa asked.

“Are you ready?” Vivian asked indulgently.

“Yes, I just meant, what’s my role—”

“Alright, here we go!” Vivian called, leaping down into the field.

Immediately, the three armored slimes between him and the castle snapped around, their armor clacking. The closest slime reached out toward him, its arms stretching out, revealing the blood-red slime beneath the armor.

Noah thrust his hand out. Ice spread over the surface of the slime, hardening into an outer shell. With a sharp crack, the slime’s arms froze through.

Confused, the slime lifted its now-hard limbs. Its slime wobbled beneath the stiff part, barely able to support the hardened slime.

Vivian called out his clippers and gave them a stylish whirl, then jumped toward the slime. [Trim!] He sped past, quickly clipping its arms as he passed. The limbs smacked against the ground, the armor hitting with a clack.

The first slime screeched and lunged, this time with its head. The helm of the armor snapped open, threatening to bite.

“Noah!” Vivian called.

“Uh—hold on!” Noah shouted. He took a deep breath, then threw his hand out again.

Ice crawled over the slime’s neck. This time, Vivian didn’t wait, but immediately clipped it. The half-thawed slime immediately attempted to reconnect, but the ice slowed it just long enough. Vivian whirled around and kicked the helm and the slime within away.

The helm crashed over the ground. Red slime twitched, half alive. After a moment, it trembled, then went limp, turning into a soft pile of red.

Arms extended, the other two slimes came at Vivian from the left and the right. Slamming his foot down, he jumped backward, and the two slimes struck one another. The dumb creatures flailed at one another, helms clattering as each slime tried to eat the other.

Vivian drew back. He pulled a face. “Gross. I never wanted to see a slime makeout session.”

Kyung hopped down beside him and sprinted for the tower.

Watching the two slimes flail, Vivian gestured at the squishies. “Come on. I think we’re safe for now. Stick behind me, then sprint for Kyung, understood?”

Noah hopped down. Isa followed after him, scrambling down the wall. The two of them drew up behind Vivian, then edged around him. All at once, Noah made a break for Kyung. Isa glanced at Vivian.

“What?” Vivian asked, still pointing his clippers at the slimes.

“Nothing.” She turned and ran after Noah.

Vivian frowned at her back. He rolled his eyes. Whatever. Giving the slimes a last look, he followed the other two to Kyung’s side.

Metal clattered against stone. The steel rake slid down the tower. Kyung backed away, and it thumped heavily to the ground.

“It isn’t catching?” Vivian guessed.

Kyung shook his head.

Vivian twisted his lips. “Damn.”

“Throw it again,” Isa said.

Across the yard, something growled. Hooves clattered in the near distance.

“Oh, shit, we’ve drawn the centaurs,” Vivian muttered.

Closer to them, the two slimes clattered one last time. Abruptly, they jumped back from each other, both landing in a crouched pile. One stood and slowly turned toward the party. Its helm clacked hungrily.

Vivian gestured at Kyung. And now the slimes, too. “Come on, let’s retreat. We can try again in an hour or so once they forget us.”

“Wait. Throw it again,” Isa demanded.

Vivian glared at her. “Are you serious? The centaurs are going to murder us. Those things are practically minibosses. We can’t—”

Kyung tossed the grappling hook again.

“Alright, I guess we can,” Vivian muttered under his breath.

Isa reached up. Her hand glowed white again. “Thread the Needle!”

The rope turned white. The unwieldy rake suddenly shot upward as if drawn by a hand. Isa gestured, spinning her hand around, and the rope twined around one of the crenalations atop the tower. The rake clattered down, locking it in place.

Isa let her held breath out. Turning, she nodded at the party. “Shall we?”

Impressed, Vivian nodded to himself. Alright. I really need to stop underestimating Isa. He gestured. “Squishies first.”

Isa grabbed the rope and dug her feet into the cracks in the stone. Her first few steps slid, but then she got the hang of it. Propping her weight between her feet and the rope, she slowly climbed the tower.

The hoofbeats grew louder. Noah glanced around nervously.

“Go, go,” Vivian urged him, gesturing at the rope.

Nodding, Noah grabbed on and began to climb.

The rope groaned. At the top of the tower, the rake creaked.

Startled, Isa drew still. She bit her lip. “Uh, the rake—”

“Climb! Keep moving!” Vivian snapped at a half-whisper. The last thing you should do is stop!

Isa jolted back to life and continued to climb, pulling herself up the tower.

Vivian hunkered down in the tall weeds at the foot of the tower. Kyung knelt beside him, still as a statue. Putting a hand on Kyung’s shoulder, Vivian drew on his skills.

[What is Lost Cannot be Found]

Treat the two of us as an object! Give us free stealth! he begged it silently.

Kyung pulled away, but Vivian held on. “I know you don’t like to be touched, but just—give me a second. I’m using a skill that could save our lives!”

Grunting, Kyung held still.

Hooves clopped over hardpacked earth. Instinctively, Vivian cringed. Ugh. It would take so much effort to break that ground and make it viable for gardening. I’d be hoeing all day and—

It’s not important. Focus, Vivian!

The earth shook. With a thundering of hooves, a centaur appeared. Horseflesh rippled with muscle, the short chestnut coat glossy. Rising where the neck of the horse should be, an equally muscular male torso stretched. Arms as wide around as Vivian’s thighs crossed over a burly, hairy chest, and a long beard and wild mane blew on the wind. The centaur’s dark eyes flashed in the early dawn light as he looked over the tower, one hoof pawing restlessly at the ground.

The centaur’s eyes swept over Vivian and Kyung. Vivian held his breath. Under his hand, Kyung grew tense, every tendon sharp against Vivian’s palm. He leaned forward. A straight razor flashed into his hand.

Vivian cut his gaze at Kyung. Hold steady! Don’t move! Now is not the time!

Snorting, the centaur looked away. Vivian breathed out. Thank goodness.

Overhead, Noah scrambled up onto the tower. He reached down to Isa, offering her a hand up.

Isa reached for him. Her weight swayed on the rope. The rake cracked, and the rope groaned.

The centaur snapped his head up. He bent down and grabbed a stone, then drew his arm back.

Kyung burst up, Vivian half a second behind him. The straight-razor flashed, and a bright red line opened up on the centaur’s chest. Vivian went low, calling forth the scythe and sweeping at the centaur’s ankles.

The centaur roared. He leaped back, dodging Vivian’s sweep. In the distance, a stampede of hoofbeats rapidly grew louder.

“Kyung, go! I’ll hold him off!” Vivian shouted. I still have a respawn today. I planned to use it against the boss, but… well, whatever. Gotta do what I gotta do!

“You go. Don’t be stupid!” Kyung snapped.

“I—”

“I can climb the stones. You need the rope!” Kyung growled, annoyed.

Vivian jolted. “You can…”

The image of Kyung hopping up the wall with ease flashed before Vivian’s eyes. He nodded. “Right. Don’t die.”

Kyung snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. I wouldn’t die for you.”

Vivian shook his head at Kyung. He ran forward, swinging the scythe again. This time, when the centaur flinched back, he sent the scythe into his inventory and spun on his toe, sprinting for the rope instead.

At the top of the tower, Noah helped Isa over the edge. He reached down to Vivian. “Come on!”

Grabbing the rope, Vivian pulled himself upward, bracing himself against the tower. One step at a time, he climbed upward, wedging his toes into the cracks between the stones where the mortar had come loose. The rake cracked again. Metal screeched against stone.

“Vivian, you’re too heavy!” Noah called down.

“What the hell am I supposed to do about that?” Vivian grumbled.

Isa grabbed the rope. “Noah, help me hold it. Let’s take some weight off the rake!”

Noah nodded. He pulled at the rope. Between the two of them, they managed to pull the rope away from the stone. The rake stopped groaning and cracking.

Vivian climbed as quickly as he could. Down below, Kyung and the centaur battled, the centaur screaming and Kyung’s razors clacking. Come on, faster! Dammit, I can’t use Tiptoe Through the Tulips here… but I can use my speed! He surged up the wall. His fingers latched onto the edge, and he turned over his shoulder. “Kyung!”

Kyung swooped down, grabbing a handful of dirt and throwing it at the centaur’s face. The centaur reeled back. Jumping up, Kyung caught the rope and hurtled up it, climbing it at lightspeed.

“Damn!” Isa snapped, lurching forward.

Vivian hefted himself onto the tower and grabbed the rope as well, digging his heels in. “Hold on. Don’t drop him!” If they release the rope now, the rake will completely snap!

Isa staggered. Noah fell onto his face. Vivian jolted forward. Leaning over the edge, he had a view of the bottom of the rope.

The centaur snarled up at him. He grabbed onto the rope and pulled.

“Kyung, drop the rope! Isa, let go!” Vivian shouted.

Kyung jumped for the tower’s stone wall and latched on with his fingers and toes.

“Didn’t you just say—” Isa started.

“He’s let go. Drop it!” Vivian said.

“But if he’s let go, then who…” Isa’s eyes widened. She yelped and jumped back, releasing the rope.

Vivian let go a half-second later. The rope snapped taut. At the far end, the rake scratched, screaming as it bit into stone, then snapped. Kyung flattened himself against the wall. Rope spooled down, followed by the twisted, bent head of the rake.

Putting a hand on his heart, Vivian shook his head, looking down at it sorrowfully. Farewell, my rake. I knew thee well.

Isa grabbed his arm. Her hands shook. Staring into his face, she bit her lip. “Kyung, is he—”

Kyung slung an arm over the top of the tower. He shook his head and blew his bangs out of his face, a little ruffled for once.

“I dunno. What do you think, Kyung?” Vivian asked. He offered Kyung a hand.

Scoffing, Kyung hopped up on his own.

Looking around at his party, Noah on the floor, Kyung dusting off his shirt, Isa still on the verge of a panic attack, Vivian beamed. “Alright! Everyone ready to fight the boss?”