Snowy sprinted over the top of the stairs first, drawing the enemy’s attention and their initial attacks. Jace had read that higher-level guards usually had automatic initiative and attacked with prepared spells. The orc shaman had a pretty good idea what type of magic frost giants would use and wasn’t disappointed when the two guards released spells at the winter wolf designed to freeze her in place. Snowy shrugged off these cold-based spells and howled in mockery of the attempt.

Psycho and Draya popped up next. The elf took a round to aim a flame arrow at one giant while the human leveled her staff at the other. They attacked as one. Psycho’s arrow sunk deep into his target’s skull with more than enough criticals to drop him dead. Draya’s fireball didn’t have enough natural damage to kill the other frost giant, but the creature took double damage from fire attacks, and he fell as well.

Jace climbed the stairs right before the kills as the two hill giants raised their mammoth shields and moved to block the entrance. After their more powerful companions died, the smaller giants exchanged glances and fled in panic through the doorway. Snowy wouldn’t reach them in time, so Jace reached out his hand, tightly closing his fist.

The monastery entrance was a long tunnel deep into the mountain. The stone shaman connected with that passageway and collapsed it. It took over a thousand mana, Dazing him for a moment and nearly knocking him from his feet, but the result was worth it. From his perspective, it looked like the stone opening winked at Jace as it shut completely and then opened again. The only evidence the giants had been there was a large red stain and scraps of metal.

“Oh, my,” Draya called out. “That was horrifying.”

“But effective,” Psycho said, lowering his bow with the immediate threat handled.

Esther emerged from the shadows a dozen feet from the entrance, examined the hill giants’ remains, and then turned to Jace. “I almost shadow-stepped after them,” she said. “That could have been me.”

“At least that would have spoiled the demon’s sacrifice,” Psycho said, jogging across the broad plateau.

“But I would have been dead,” the rogue argued.

The archer shrugged. “Looked painless enough. And didn’t you die about a week ago?”

“Yes,” Esther said. “And I hated it.”

Jace ignored them, shook the Dazed effect from his head, and ran across the open expanse. That was a powerful spell, but he would have to be careful using it in combat. He couldn’t afford any combat banes with enemies around.

As he crossed the clearing, he examined the outer fortress. A waist-high wall bordered the open area on the left and right, with periodic statues of men in a variety of meditative and combat stances. The barrier guarded against anyone falling off the high plateau while still offering a majestic view of the mountains. The cliff wall before them rose nearly 50 feet, with columns and high-relief images etched into the stone. To Jace, it looked like dwarves or gnomes had taken part in the monastery’s construction. He didn’t see any windows, so he hoped their arrival remained unknown to most of the inhabitants.

Jace stopped at the entrance as most of his crew collected behind him. Snowy was already several feet into the tunnel, lapping up the bloodstain. Draya tried not to vomit. After what they had seen from Jace, they hesitated before entering, so the orc went first. The tunnel stretched for several dozen feet before opening into a grand reception hall.

Without any stealth ability to speak of, Jace paused at the opening and surveyed the scene. Close to thirty characters filled the room. He saw humans dressed as monks, more giants, orcs, ogres, demon-kin, and a hoard of undead. It looked like a module designer had just dumped everything they could think of in the room, which wasn’t too far from the truth. Jace dropped his Damage Sink and Armor Totem into alcoves on opposite sides of the room.

Before he could formulate an attack strategy, Gromphy released a high-pitched battle cry right into his ear and launched both his bombs toward the middle of the room. “Lunatic!” Psycho cried as he tried to hide himself in the shadows, still several feet deep within the tunnel. He prepared to fire at anyone who charged toward them, but everyone’s eyes stayed glued to the bombs.

They bounced several times without exploding and rolled to the cavern’s center. They looked like large children’s toys with bright colors and hypnotizing patterns. Instead of tracking down who threw them, most of the enemies focused on the bombs themselves, gathering around the two inert objects, curious about what they were. When almost half the room’s population moved within 50 feet, they stopped being inert and exploded with tremendous force, drenching the observers with acid and jolting them with lightning. Draya didn’t need to be told what to do and lofted a massive fireball into ground zero, compounding the damage.

“Genius!” Psycho changed his tune, picking off wounded enemies at the edge of the blast radius. Most of the demons and a few of the giants hadn’t been drawn into the bombs’ hypnotizing spell and had avoided the blast. Jace and Esther rushed out of the tunnel with their blades out and met these uninjured creatures with a vengeance.

The shaman had enough time to cast his Stone Skin and Stone Flesh spells before the first attack arrived. He had wanted to test out his Granite Strength and Mountainous Size too, but they each took a round if he used the stone around him to bolster them. It was overkill either way. Enemies that approached him had to Dodge Gromphy’s bombs. If they did get close, few could get through his parrying weapon, and when they did, they only shed one of his nine protective stone layers. Even when those expired, his Stone flesh prevented any of the swords or axes from exceeding his Damage Resistance.

Some enemies did not use bladed weapons, and as a hill giant approached carrying a club, Jace released Diamond Etcher with one hand and performed an air-punch uppercut. A pillar of stone rose from the floor just in front of the giant, hitting him under the chin and flipping him backward. He lay Stunned on the ground.

Jace had to regrip his sword to deal with a few smaller opponents before returning to the giant and performing the same move again, this time with his fingers spayed out and stabbing upward. Five sharp stalagmites shot up from the ground, piercing the giant and dropping his health almost to zero. Gromphy tossed an acid bomb on him for good measure and then healed Jace of any damage he might have gotten.

Esther dispatched her foes with equal efficiency, also avoiding blunt weapons as much as possible. Psycho and Draya recognized their companions’ defensive weaknesses and focused on taking out anyone wielding a hammer, fist, or club. They stayed at the tunnel’s exit, avoiding melee combat, while Snowy ran through the crowd, ripping out the throats of anyone who fell.

In a break in the action, Jace saw several human monks making for an exit on the room’s far side and called Psycho to deal with them. The ranger picked off a few but didn’t have the right angle to shoot over the mass of carnage before him, and half a dozen monks escaped. Those who stayed behind didn’t last very long. Blades, teeth, bombs, fire, and arrows decimated the wounded crowd, and Jace’s crew didn’t take much damage. The battle lasted less than 20 rounds.

“Well, that was fun,” Esther said as she chopped the head off the last vampire and watched it crumble to dust beside her.

“And a bit too easy,” Psycho added. He walked into the room, collecting as many arrows as he could.

“We caught them off guard,” Jace said, dismissing his totems and rummaging through the dead enemies. He wasn’t one to loot–Gromphy and Esther did that for him–but he was curious if the discarded equipment would give him any clues as to what lay ahead. It didn’t. “A few monks escaped our fight,” he said, motioning to the tunnel on the right. “I expect the next group will be ready for us.”

“Well,” Esther said as she drank a health potion to top herself off. “Let’s not keep them waiting.” She marched toward the hallway, and everyone else followed behind.

“Anything you can tell me about the Shimbato and his followers that might help us?” Jace asked internally.

{They are monks that like to use deception and trickery in their fighting,} Gracie said. {The Strawman ability, as Esther described it, though no record of it appears online, fits well with their modus operandi. They also hold sacred some being called The Last Defender. “When all hope is lost, The Last Defender will rise up and vanquish the foes.”} Jace could tell she had read that last part. {This being has the power of Shimbato in him and appears when needed. You know, Deus Ex Machina stuff. If you can find a way to summon him, that would be helpful.}

Jace moved through the hallway as he listened, examining the empty dorms and training rooms on either side. The hall turned to the left up ahead, preventing a clear view of what to expect until they rounded the corner. It wasn’t good.

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The passage emptied into another large chamber. This one looked ceremonial, like a chapel or meditation room. Long tapestries hung from carved stone pillars. Statues lined the walls, with tables cut from the rock, holding flowers and candles. Rugs covered the floor in a mosaic pattern while chandlers hung from 30-foot-high ceilings. A 12-foot-tall statue of a monk in a combative pose dominated the chamber’s center, and around it, at least three dozen enemies stood in formation, ready to greet them.

They had a strategic structure this time. The first rank held half a dozen red-skinned demons the size of orcs with tower shields raised in front of them. Their nature made them immune to fire, and their equipment would repel arrows. Behind them, peering between their legs and around their hips, goblin shamans began casting spells to bolster the rest of the army. Undead sorcerers flanked the group, their hands up, electricity, frost, and dark energy swirling within their palms, ready to strike out.

Giants and ogres stood behind the demons, brandishing huge spears and clubs. Their bodies shimmered in the dim light as the goblins’ protective magic washed over them. Sprinkled in between the giants, monks and vampires moved about, biding their time until the battle was joined and their defensive weaknesses couldn’t be exploited as easily.

Jace saw another hallway leading from this chamber. It appeared to be rough-hewn, as if orcs and giants had carved it in haste, displaying none of the craftsmanship evident in the rest of the monastery. He guessed their dungeon crawl would venture there next and used his new skill to reach down the passage, hollow out an alcove, place his Armor totem inside, and then close it off.

“We need a good plan of attack,” Psycho said, seeing that the enemies appeared to be waiting for them to leave the hallway’s meager protection. “We can’t just . . .”

His voice cut off as a horrific scream echoed through the room. All eyes focused on the sound, and they saw Esther emerging from the shadows fifty feet away, skewering a zombie mage with Char, the dead flesh going up in flames. Jace realized she must have snuck out of the hall and then shadow-stepped right into the heart of the enemy to make the first strike.

“Or we do that,” Psycho shrugged, whipping arrows from his hidden quiver and peppering the crowd before him.

The hoard was smart enough not to just collapse on Esther, which would turn their back on the rest of the invaders, though at least two giants and several vampires raced to her location. Instead, the bulk of the force stayed focused ahead. Fire and arrows flooded them, but the flames rolled off their targets like water around stone, and while the arrows bit into flesh, none of them were one-shot kills and only served to anger the giants, who would need to suffer twenty such strikes to do any real damage.

Jace had to run forward to give Gromphy the range to lob bombs over the shield wall, which opened him to magical attacks. The lighting and cold did minor damage, but the waves of dark energy clouded his mind and slowed his blade. The demons took this opportunity to swarm him. Very few of the monsters held blades, opting for clubs or spiked flails, which did blunt and piercing damage. Jace didn’t bother with his Stone Flesh spell and opted for the Granite Strength instead.

Diamond Etcher ripped through the tower shields, shredding them like cardboard and severing the limbs that held them. Demons fell back in agony, and plenty more took their place. They didn’t have the Swarm ability, but that didn’t make their overwhelming tactics any less effective. Snowy helped her master by flanking the enemy from behind and avoiding their shields. Her icy bite was especially effective against the hellspawn creatures. Gromphy lofted bombs into the mix, Stunning and Paralyzing the enemies to disrupt their attack pattern.

Jace tapped into the stone even more than before, using it to identify incoming attacks and prepare his parries. However, there were too many of them, so he was forced to put his attacks and parries on auto, reducing their effectiveness but giving him time to observe the other fighting.

Psycho and Draya had been drawn into melee combat. The demons that weren’t fighting Jace had raised their shields and marched toward the range attackers. Once close enough, Psycho had been forced to drop his bow and pull his katana. Draya needed to use her staff to level strikes against her enemies and block their incoming attacks. Though both were excellent fighters, their broken mechanics lay in arrows and fire. In tight quarters, they no longer had an advantage. The giants and ogres saw this and began to close in on the two fighters.

Esther held her own on the far side of the cavern, her blades a whirl of motion. She fell in and out of shadow constantly, virtually impossible to corner, and chose adversaries with claws and blades so her armor would protect her. However, Jace saw several mages on the opposite side conversing together and then preparing to cast toward the rogue.

Jace needed to turn the tide of this battle. Though he wasn’t consciously swinging his weapon anymore, he still needed to pause his activity to cast spells. After Gromphy incapacitated a group of four demons, Jace willed his character to stand amongst them, giving him half a round of reprieve. He reached down onto the stone floor and imagined it was a wave in the ocean. He sent a ripple, four feet high, racing away from him. Only Snowy, Psycho, and Esther had the Dexterity necessary to keep their balance as the rest of the crowd stumbled and fell to the ground. A few jumped up quickly, but the giants and mages were the most affected and needed a full round to recover.

As the demons stumbled around Jace, he ran through their disorganized ranks and met a pair of hill giants as they tried to rise. He took the head off one and skewered the other through the chest. Gromphy continued to throw bombs at their pursuers as the demons picked themselves up and gave chase, and now that Jace had stopped, the enemies were able to circle him again. However, they broke rank as a frost giant howled for access to the deadly orc. Jace looked up at the 15-foot foe and enacted his Mountanous Size spell. He shot up in height until he actually looked down at the frost giant. The orc’s clothing grew with him, but Diamond Etcher was reduced to a dagger in his mammoth hands. It retained its sharp edge, and Jace found it more than capable of slicing through the giant’s neck.

The player heard a female scream and turned to see Draya swarmed by demons. He took a step toward her to help but felt restrained. He turned and looked down to see two ogres wrestling his legs and trying to hold him still. Jace slashed down with Etcher and opened the skull of one of the beasts, but two more joined the fight. Jace sent another ripple of stone cascading away from his position and heard Draya cry out again, as she couldn’t keep her footing. Jace turned to see the foes around her not bothering to get up as they took advantage of her prone position and swarmed on top of her.

Psycho tried to help out but got his feet tangled in the mess of the bodies as the goblin shamans joined the fight and cast banes against the elf to reduce his effectiveness. Jace took two steps toward them when a wave of dark energy hit him in the back, dropping him to a knee. He then felt a cold drain on his leg and looked down to see two vampires sucking on his calf. He swatted at the undead, but his unarmed attacks were horrible, and they easily avoided the clumsy strike.

Jace tried to rise but felt more restrictions on his movement. He looked down to see the monks had entered the fray. Typically, it would only take two of them to restrain him, but with his massive size, half a dozen of the human fighters swarmed him like raptors on a T-rex, dragging him toward the ground.

“Shoulds’t I summon Adam?” Gromphy asked. The goblin had stayed on his back through the transformation, though he felt like a mouse on Jace’s shoulder.

Jace shook his head. “I think it’s too late.” He tried to reach out to the stone again, but he was Grappled sufficiently so that he was left with only single action options. “Get in your chest. Stay out of sight. I will need you later.”

The crafter nodded, popped out his dimensional storage device, and disappeared inside. Jace reached up, grabbed the massive chest as if it were a matchbox, and tossed it back the way they had come into the passageway. As soon as it left his hand, he was wrestled down to his hands and knees, the combined strength of his attackers too much for his impressive size. He was only able to look straight forward and found he was ten feet from the cavern’s central statue. He could read the engraving on the broad pedestal: “The Last Defender.”

“Now would be a good time,” Jace croaked toward the stone figure as disabling spells hit him from either side, and his enemies dragged him face-first into the stone. Blackness consumed him.

Jace waited with concern. Was he dead? Would he wake up tied to an altar or in their safe house back in Chicago with Gracie’s disappointed face looking down at him? Neither happened. It felt like a full minute passed. Jace had never been in a sensory deprivation tank before, but he assumed this was what it felt like. None of his five senses returned anything, and he was having a hard time processing the passage of time.

{Gracie?} he tried talking, but the sound only echoed in his mind as if he were his own operator.

{I’m here,} she said.

{Where am I?}

{You are lying unconscious on the cavern floor,} she replied. {They’ve incapacitated Snowy and Draya. Psycho will join you in a few seconds and Esther a minute or two later once they can focus on her.}

{Why do I have to wait?} Jace asked. {Shouldn’t the computer just simulate the rest of the battle and jump ahead?}

{Not if another player is involved,} Gracie replied. {You think Vithium is behind all this. You are probably right. If he is waiting for you, then the game has to play out everything in real time for his benefit.}

Jace mentally nodded, though he couldn’t feel his head or anything else. {Did I make it to level 20?}

{Not quite,} she said. {Your team needs a bunch more kills, or you need one big solo kill. I don’t think Esther is going to pull it off.}

Jace tried to navigate to his settings but couldn’t. He found he could activate his Head Ups Display, something he usually suppressed during combat. He saw his health below half but stable, and his experience points at 9,972,550, just under the ten million needed for level 20. He watched as it jumped up a few thousand. {What’s happening?} he asked.

{Esther is making a valiant last stand,} Gracie said.

Jace watched the number climb just above 9,977,000 and then stop.

{And she’s done,} Gracie said. {With all your party members out, I can’t see anything anymore.}

{So we wait?}

{Yes,} Gracie said. {Do you have any ideas on how to get out of this one? From what I can see, the minions took you guys out. You haven’t even faced any of the big guns yet.}

{Don’t rub it in,} Jace said. He spent a few moments in thought that felt like an hour in his sensory-deprived state. The lack of distractions gave him a clearer mind than he had ever experienced before, and he eventually came up with something.

{I’ve got an idea,} he finally said.

{That was quick,} Gracie said, giving Jace a hint of how little time had passed.

{But I’m going to need your help,} Jace said.

{That’s what I’m here for, boss.}

Jace explained his plan.