They found themselves exiting the forest through the same door they had used to enter it, stepping into the central room as the large marble door slid shut behind them.

Cleared the Mushroom Forest

Room 4 of 5

They settled in by the hearth, anxiously waiting for the Bonesmith’s return. They had no sense of night or day in the rift other than Mirai’s timepiece, which showed there were only eight hours left before the rift collapsed.

They had spent a whole day in the Bone Arena, another day between the Djinn’s Chambers and the Zombie’s Crypt, and then most of their third day in the Mushroom Forest. Edgar was relieved to have an end in sight, but his video game wisdom told him the fifth room was going to be the hardest room of all.

A boss room.

Whatever was waiting for them was going to be stronger than any monster they had faced so far. He shivered. They sat in meditation for a while and as the minutes slipped by, Edgar began to wonder if the Bonesmith would actually arrive in time. He had no idea how long it took for a blacksmith to make weapons and armor, but two days seemed like a pretty aggressive deadline. He could only imagine magic was involved.

He tried to focus on his meditation, grooming all the essence he had collected and then enjoying the feeling of it slurping into his core. The process was time consuming, but also relaxing. As the last bits of essence fell into place, he enjoyed the feeling of harmony radiating outwards from his core.

“What do you think the odds are that we get our total essence up to one-hundred percent before we leave the rift?”

Mirai flourished her sword, channeling her excitement at seeing the undead master smith into practice. “Why, what are you at?”

He flipped open his screen to check. “Seventy-nine, you?”

“Seventy-four! Hah! I managed to close the gap a bit.”

“You were behind?”

“Well, yeah. I didn’t get much for that fight with the Prince of Imps.”

“True, you were out cold pretty quick.”

“Hey!” She spun, pointing her sword at him in mock anger.

“So, what do you think? Will we reach a hundred percent by the time we leave the rift?”

“We might. I think it’ll be close. The last room is gonna be—”

“Hard?” Edgar finished her thought.

She glanced at him for a moment, a hint of fear in her eyes, then launched through a series of maneuvers.

“Yah! Yah! Which means we’ll get a lot of essence! Yah!”

“Fine swordsmanship, young miss.”

They both nearly jumped out of their skin at the sound of the Bonesmith’s voice. The flames surged, revealing the short frame of a skeletal dwarf with jewel stone eyes. They took a seat on the edge of the hearth, letting their feet hang off the edge.

“Bones!” Mirai shouted gleefully, sheathing her sword. “It’s so good to see you.”

Edgar smirked, seeing the change in her bearing from when they first saw the Bonesmith to now. Whatever healthy fear she had for super high level monsters was far outweighed by her excitement for gear.

He was also excited. Images of badass bone armor flashed through his mind.

“We got your mushrooms!”

The dwarf’s eyes shone with excitement. “Excellent!”

Mirai held the mushrooms out and the undead’s magic flared, lifting them into the air and then they blinked away.

“I don’t usually eat things, but those mushrooms are delicious.”

Edgar scratched his chin, discretely pulling up his inventory to see if he had any left.

“Of course, they’d kill a mortal in seconds—-they’re absolutely loaded with the most deadly poison you can imagine—but that just makes them all the more delicious.”

Edgar froze, realizing the Bonesmith was staring at him, and quickly waved his inventory closed.

The Bonesmith raised a hand and armor appeared in the air, floating down towards Edgar.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“You first. Armor made from bone and leather. There are plates of fused bone on your wrists, forearms, and shins to enhance your blocking. Overall, the armor is light enough to keep you mobile, while still improving your defense.”

Edgar’s eyes bulged as the armor floated down to him like a gift from the heavens.

Item: [Bone Leather Armor]

* A custom set of armor, tailor made by the Bonesmith, an artisan so dedicated to their craft, that their very flesh and blood withered away under the heat of their passion.

* Durability: 100%

* Level requirements: 1

Item Actions:

* Examine

* Equip

He threw it into his inventory and equipped it. The armor flashed onto his body and he flexed his hands and arms, testing the armor. He crouched and jumped, enjoying the feel of it. The leather was a bit stiff, but he enjoyed the feeling of it immensely. He felt less naked. He couldn’t wait to try using the bone plates for blocking. They were trippy to look at. He could see the melted shapes of individual bones inside, all fused together with magic into a solid, strong material. Over a hundred [Bone] had been used to make these plates and he could tell.

“And finally, the glaive.”

Mirai’s eyes glistened as the Bonesmith waved its hand again. An elegant weapon drifted down from above, the core of its blade shone with the same ethereal blue light as her sword.

“Moon metal!”

“Yes, I hope this weapon serves you well. Seeing your agility build, I made it light. It has a six foot reach and should serve you well for your first levels.”

Mirai grasped the handle and began whirling it around immediately. Her movements were slow at first, but even as Edgar watched, he could see her beginning to accelerate through her movements.

The Bonesmith stood and stretched. “Well, I had better be off.”

Edgar smiled. “Bye, Bones.”

“Bye, Bones! Thank you!”

Then, they disappeared back into the flames of the hearth. Edgar scratched his head.

“It’s a bit weird, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“I mean, where does the Bonesmith go? Does he just vanish when the rift collapses? Did he exist before the rift appeared?”

Mirai scratched her chin for a moment. “Don’t know!”

Then, she went back to swinging her glaive. The question continued to simmer in his mind, but he began running, jumping, dodging, and working out in his armor in every way he could think of.

Once his leather was feeling a bit more nimble, he stopped his exercises and stood beside the hearth. He enjoyed the feeling of it accelerating his stamina recovery.

“Are you ready?” He gestured at the fifth door.

She walked over to stand by the hearth next to him, glancing at her timepiece. “Seven hours and counting.”

Once her stamina was topped off, they walked over to door number five. It was larger than the other four by a fair margin. Purple magic surged, flowing up along the sides of the door and spreading through the veins in the marble. With a crunch, the door began sliding open. They stepped up to the entrance and Edgar paused on the precipice, looking back at the central chamber that had been their home base for the last two days.

Then, they walked onwards. Torches flared on the walls, glowing with purple fire. They heard a second crunch and then the door began sliding closed behind them. Edgar shared a look with Mirai, and they each took breath to steady themselves.

“Remember, if we’re outmatched, our goal is to survive.”

Edgar flexed his fingers. “It’d be a shame not to clear it, after all the effort we put in to get here, but I’d rather be alive.”

“Yup.”

They approached the end of the tunnel and Edgar paused.

“Hey, Mirai. I just want to say—”

“Whatever it is, don’t say it now! You’ll jinx us, jeez!” She punched his shoulder lightly, her face clouded.

“Psh… I never pegged you as the superstitious type.” He tried to read her face, but couldn’t.

“Whatever… Look, me too. Enough said. Let’s do this.”

She drew her sword and took a deep breath. “Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Just do it.”

Mirai closed eyes and clutched sword tightly. Edgar decided to humor her, closing his eyes and flexing his claws. She spoke the words with a practiced rhythm.

“Thanks to our enemies, the wheel that grinds mettle.”

“Thanks for their power, and ways to turn it.”

“Thanks for their weakness, and ways to use it.”

He opened his eyes. He could tell Mirai was nervous. Hell, he was nervous, but the little ritual did help a bit. He nodded to her and together they stepped forward into a large chamber. It was quiet as they settled into fighting stances.

Clink… Clack. Cla-clack-clack.

A clattering sound filled the air and they looked upwards. The sound accelerated as bones began raining down from the ceiling. As they fell to the floor, the bones began assembling in a hodgepodge on the floor, forming a torso, then arms and legs. Finally, the arms reached into the pile and removed a large skull. It was a mishmash of different creatures, with the skull of something like a dragon, gangly arms with humanoid fingers, and a long tail. With its body fully formed, the creature stabbed its hands into the ground, drawing a pair of wicked looking green daggers. At its full height, it was about twice as tall as Edgar.

Monster: [Amalgamation of Bone]

* Type: [Undead]

* Level: 3

“Here we go.”

~~~~~~~~~~

* Check out the Stats Page for this Chapter here