The exposed skull of the animated skeleton completely imploded under the mighty swing of Corbyn’s warhammer. What was intended to be a final blow ended up being unnecessarily excessive, even by his own outrageous standards. The weapon’s swing carried him too far forward as well, the momentum unexpected. He stumbled instead of continuing his assault.
An errant swipe across his back just below his shield annoyed him more than anything. Being injured never crossed his mind. He scoffed, frustrated at the attack from a lesser enemy and his exposed back.
“Damnit!” The Barbarian yelled, wildly swinging his hammer into the rib cage of the aggressor. The second skeleton was blasted into the air, bones flying and splintering across the stone floor. He used his anger to clear the other enemies around him, refusing to allow another attack to land.
The remaining four skeletons were reduced to piles of bones in seconds.
Corbyn took a deep breath. The second wave of enemies emerged exactly ten seconds after their failed attempt to finish the puzzle, at least according to Vi. The Cleric was likely right, and Corbyn wasn’t about to question him. It wasn’t like he was doing anything else right now, considering these trash monsters were too weak to truly hurt any of their group.
The boss, though, might pose a threat. Might being the key word, however. In their dozens of interactions, it had only hurt Jane once, and that was when she was careless. He tried giving some tips to his sister, but she brushed him off, as usual. Landon was the only voice of reason she acknowledged, which was somewhat understandable. Their leader’s words weren’t exactly sugar coated, but he made sound decisions.
“That was pretty ugly,” Jane said. The Witch leaned against the stone wall casually, twirling her rod in one hand. “I thought these mere ‘sacks of bones’ couldn’t… what did you say? ‘Do a damned thing?’”
Corbyn snickered. “Do you see a mark on me? These things are pathetic. I’m not even wearing armor.”
“You never wear armor, you brute.”
“Knock it off,” Landon said. He didn’t bother turning away from the large stone blocks set in the middle of the room. In total they were nearly thirty feet long and five feet wide, crammed together to remove any space between them. The entire collection resembled a noble’s dining table in a great hall rather than a dungeon. “Quit bickering and help find the right solution.”
“Solving this stupid puzzle is yours and Vi’s job,” Corbyn said. “Jane and me are supposed to deal with enemies. Your instructions, remember?”
“Jane and I,” Jane said. “How many times -”
“Enough,” Landon said, his voice harsh and quick. “Do you see any enemies? The faster we solve this, the faster we clear the floor.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Octavius, your solution was wrong.”
The Cleric stood up on the other side of the stone blocks, shaking his head. “It doesn’t make sense. I thought we lucked out since this was the exact formation we had a week ago, but the solution we used then obviously didn’t work now.”
“Obviously,” Jane said. She walked beside the Cleric and ran a hand over the rune-covered block of stone. “The markings are slightly different than before. See this curved line? It’s new.” She ran a finger along the glowing rune covering the single block in front of her.
Octavius studied the stone for a few moments before realizing his error. Jane was right. How did he miss it? Apparently some fresh eyes were better. Being too focused and stressed wasn’t helpful. He slumped onto the block in defeat. “I’m sorry, I… didn’t notice that before.”
Landon rapped his knuckles on the magical stone. The move made Octavius flinch. “Well, you know, now. Get to it. I’m wanting to be done with this floor before lunch in case we need to run it more this afternoon.”
Corbyn groaned. “Landon, we all agreed we’d take a break after this climb! We can’t keep this pace up every day.”
“This is only our second climb of the morning. We’ve easily done six in a day before! Are you saying you’re too tired to keep going? Swinging that hammer around wearing you out?”
Corbyn walked over to Landon and looked down at him, bending his waist to meet the man’s eyes mere inches away. “I could swing this hammer without end and not break a sweat. What I’m saying is that you agreed we’d take a break, and now you’re going back on your word. I guess being a leader means making shit up to whatever suits you and lying to your teammates.”
Landon folded his arms and squinted his eyes. “I agreed to consider taking a break. If we don’t find that third mask, I’ll run this floor until the stroke of midnight and be back in before sunrise until the last possible day. Whatever it takes.”
“Then you’ll do it alone. I won’t sacrifice my sister’s safety for your little fantasy, no matter how strong these masks are.”
Landon gritted his teeth. “Fantasy? You know these masks are relics! Do you not remember their descriptions, you damn oaf? The power we’ll possess -”
“Got it!” Octavius said. “Just need to rotate two blocks one time and three blocks twice!”
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Jane walked over and patted Corbyn on the shoulder. She felt the tension underneath, and patted him a few more times until he started to relax. “It’s alright, Cor. Let’s just hope we find the third mask and celebrate by taking the rest of the day off.” She smiled at Landon, her lips curt and tight. Her brother may be easily goaded, but she wasn’t. And her methods of retaliation were far more sinister.
The two men separated and began turning the stone blocks at Octavius’ instruction. In minutes a new formation lined the tops of the stone, their runes glowing in a steady increase of light. Just before the group had to turn away their eyes from the brightness, a small flash of light filled the room followed by the stone runes completely dimming.
The four Climbers looked at each other and around the room, waiting for any signs of a result. What felt like an eternity was only seconds. A large skeletal hand wrapped around the decrepit throne at the far end of the room. It was hardly noticeable except for the tapping of bone on stone. Four heads snapped to its direction.
A figure was behind the throne, hidden and large, easily ten feet tall and wider than the stone seat. It pushed itself to the side and pulled its frayed hood back to reveal red glowing eyes in a bare skull.
Landon growled. “Damnit. Not a good sign.”
“It could still show,” Jane said. She raised her rod and pointed it at the looming monster. “We don’t know that it won’t after we kill ole bag of bones, here.”
The skeleton stepped closer towards them and ripped its cloak away, drawing a large axe nearly as tall as itself.
“Both times the room was revealed before this nuisance!” Landon yelled. He pointed at the skeleton with a curved sword as long as his arm. “The tower may change, but the progression doesn’t. We missed the room, yet again, and are back wasting our time with trash.”
The skeletal giant lumbered forward, its axe raised over its head. It wasn’t exactly close to the group, but with its long legs and large axe, only a few more steps were needed to close the gap for an attack.
But the group was familiar with its movements, its attacks, its everything. This wasn’t their first encounter with the monster, and now they realized it likely wouldn’t be their last.
Landon jolted forward in a flash, swiftly unsheathing the other sword strapped to his waist. Practiced movements flowed from him like a raging river. The Duelist rushed low, crouched with one sword forward and the other in a reverse grip beside his arm. The slow but mighty swing of the skeleton’s axe looked unskilled and awkward as Landon sidestepped it by inches and retaliated with a frustrated grunt and practiced slash.
“He’s going to run us into the dirt,” Corbyn said, twirling his hammer in his hand with ease. “This damned search for masks that we don’t even know will help us is foolish.”
“Remember the descriptions?” Jane said. “Their boons are basically purple tier, negatives aside. And that’s just with what we know, not even what’s hidden. I can understand where he’s coming from.”
Sounds of battle echoed through the large throne room. Landon’s swords were a poor match for the skeleton’s bony body, but his augmented strikes and quick movements gave him an obvious advantage. The large monster was slowing and hurting with each passing second as chips of bone began spraying from it like blood.
“I just don’t want us to be killed in the meantime,” Corbyn said. “Vi’s alright, but he isn’t a miracle worker.”
“I heard that,” Octavius said. “I’ve kept you all alive so far, haven’t I?”
Jane chuckled. “Yes, Vi, you have. But do you know of a Climber that can raise the dead?”
Octavius swallowed hard, then shook his head. He jumped from the sound of a loud clang across the room.
“About time,” Corbyn said. “A bit reckless there at the end, though.”
Landon sheathed both of his swords, his breathing labored. The skeleton laid on the ground in a pile of green glowing bones, its axe already beginning to dissolve into the tower. The only thing that remained was a small pile of glowing green treasure. Behind him, a large portal the size of Corbyn shifted in color from red to clear.
He ignored the treasure and portal and walked back to the group, stopping directly in front of Corbyn.
“My patience is wearing thin,” Landon said. “I don’t care how many more times we run this floor. We will find that secret room and those other masks. We have to.”
Corbyn looked Landon in the eyes and studied him for longer than he wanted, but he needed to be sure.
The man didn’t flinch. His eyes didn’t so much as waver, and a vein bulged on his forehead. Hot breath left his mouth. It wasn’t pleasant, similar to the rest of him.
Corbyn knew he was serious. He always was. He cared more for his own goals and desires than the team’s, and made it apparent more than once. The group’s feelings didn’t matter to him. Those eyes carried a singular vision.
His sister wasn’t wrong about the masks they already found. Their descriptions were impressive, especially for blue rarity items. But their curses had obvious drawbacks. Landon saw an opportunity for power, while the rest of them saw an opportunity for coin. Or at least he hoped his sister felt the way. From her most recent comments, Corbyn was afraid she was starting to see from Landon’s power hungry point of view.
His knuckles whitened from his grip on his war hammer. “Landon -”
“One more time today,” Jane said, interrupting her brother. “This was our third run already without a break in a week. I need to rest. Vi needs to rest. You two can duke it out if you want, but I’m heading through that portal back to Alestead.”
Landon shifted his gaze to Jane. He didn’t respond.
Jane stared back at her leader. “What do you say, Octavius?”
Octavius straightened and cleared his throat. “I… agree.”
“With whom?”
“With… you. I…” Octavius rubbed his neck and averted his gaze. “I’m beat. And tired of taking mana potions. I could use some real food, not rations and stale bread.”
“Potions and rations are enough,” Landon said, nearly spitting the words out. “It’s not like you’re doing much for us on this floor, anyway, Vi. We’re barely touched by these shit creatures.”
Octavius slumped, returning to his original posture.
“You know we need him, Landon,” Jane said. “He’s the best healer I know, and anyone can make a mistake. But he’s coming with me, so unless you want to stop us yourself, we’re heading back. Come on, Vi.”
Jane turned her head to see Octavius slowly walking towards her. Corbyn stood unmoving, still locked in a staring contest of pride and ego. She then pushed her brother towards the portal with both hands. One wouldn’t quite cut it due to the size of his physical stature.
Landon growled in frustration. “Fine. Have it your way. But you’re buying my lunch, and I’m ordering the most expensive thing on the menu.”
Jane knelt down at the glowing pile of bones and picked up a small handful of treasures: two gemstones, some coins, and a single potion bottle containing a red swirling liquid the size of her palm. “Easiest deal to date. You aren’t very good at negotiating, Landon.”
With a smile, Jane stepped backwards into the portal, disappearing.
The others followed soon after, leaving Landon alone. He looked around, taking stock of the room one final time. It would be here again, and the layout would be the same for the rest of the day. But then it would change its formation and path and they would have to navigate it fresh just like the other days.
Finding that third mask was paramount. They didn’t just hold power. They held prestige. Respect. Renown. He’d make false deals with the others if he had to. That was a last resort, of course, but if necessary he’d do it.
There was only so much time before the month was gone, and the masks would be lost to the history of the magical tower forever. Landon refused to let that happen. They were shown those masks for a reason. And he intended to find out why.
The pull of the portal yanked him from this thoughts, but it wasn’t near strong enough to dissuade him from his goal. He would find the other masks, and they’d be the most powerful Climbers in all of Alestead.
Whatever it took. Power was going to be his.