WOLF PACK REWARD (random)
AMBIDEXTROUS: use both hands as your main hand.
“You lucking fucker.” Jace shook his head. “How come I get the crap and you get the useful stuff?”
“It’s temporary,” Will said beneath his breath.
The conversation with Daniel remained in his mind. Every instinct he had screamed not to trust the former rogue; the boy had lied so much that it would take an eternity just to figure out the full extent of the web of deceit he had cast. And still, he felt that it was most beneficial to go on with the request.
Daniel had promised them a special reward, should they trigger the two hidden mirrors on the third floor simultaneously. If that turned out to be a lie, it would be clear that there could be no trusting him. What if he turned out right, though?
“You ok, bro?” Alex asked. “Been acting very sus.”
“Just tired,” Will lied. “After this, I might spend a few loops sleeping.”
“For real! Those are the best loops.”
Everyone looked at Alex, who quickly toned down his enthusiasm.
“Or Danny told me so,” he added.
So far, the group had cleared all three floors, only leaving three mirrors behind. One was the mirror in the vice principal’s office—which Danny claimed to have somehow locked—and the remaining two were the hidden ones on the third floor.
It had been Will’s suggestion to leave them for later. Since they had taken the same approach before, no one suspected anything. That was supposed to give the boy enough time to come up with an explanation for activating them at once. With the last wolf room cleared, that later had arrived.
Half a dozen mirror copies of Alex went on forward, just in case something happened, with the rest of the group behind.
“I’ll wait here,” Jace said, stopping at the stairway. “Call me when you’re done.” He took out a set of tools and a half-gauntlet from his backpack.
“Don’t worry, bro.” A new mirror copy emerged and went up to him. “I’ll keep you company.”
“Very funny, muffin boy,” the jock shouted without even looking up.
Two enemies… Dozens of fighting images went through Will’s mind every step he made. He’d proven he could take on a snake on his own. With enough levels, he might be able to take on a mirror knight as well. Could he take on both at once, though? Could any of them?
“Where do I put the traps, sis?” Alex asked.
The question had merit. Of the two mirrors, one was cloudy, and the other wasn’t. Going by the group’s experiences so far, that meant that one was a creature and the other a class. Since they had already defeated Helen and Alex’s class, the next had to be the rogue or the crafter. The rogue was by far the worst option, not to mention that Helen had raised her level even further.
“Trap both,” Will said before the girl could respond.
“Okay.” Alex tilted his head. “Why, though?”
“We’ll take both of them at once,” Will said, keeping a calm façade. “If we’re lucky, they might attack each other.”
“Are you serious?” Helen all but laughed.
“The mirrors are facing one another,” Will pointed out. “I think they’re territorial.”
“What made you think that?”
“I…” Internally, the boy took a deep breath. “I don’t know. But of all the rooms, to have two hidden mirrors be one across each other and in a way that they can reflect each other. That’s not a coincidence. It has to mean something, like the classes, the hints, and everything else. And If I’m wrong, we’d have seen both, so we’ll know which one to kill next loop.”
What started as a random string of words managed to gain enough sense to make Helen consider it. She could see the benefits of knowing who to face, plus at her current level, she felt more than a match for most enemies, as long as they weren’t like the one remaining on the second floor.
“For real, for real.” Alex butted in, as usual. “Cool strategy, bro. Maybe the two mirrors will create an infinite loop. An infinity within eternity!”
Will froze at the thought. It sounded outright terrifying. Despite that, part of him was curious about it too. Knowing what he did about Danny, there was no way the ex-rogue had casually offered anything to Will’s benefit.
Mirror copies scattered traps in front of each mirror. One was located in the boys’ bathroom, while the other—in the opposing classroom.
“Jace,” Will shouted. “Can you come up here for a minute? We’ll need you to—”
KNIGHT’s BASH
Damage increased by 500%
Door shattered
KNIGHT’s BASH
Damage increased by 500%
Door shattered
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Helen swung her massive blade, reducing both doors to splinters.
“What?” she asked, while Alex and Will stared at her. “It was faster.”
“You’ve been the knight too long,” Will whispered, then stood between the two mirrors.
When he was young, he’d often do the same in fully mirrored elevators, doing his best to look as deeply as possible within the “infinity tunnel.” Sometimes he’d even ponder how he could do it in such a way so as not to block his sight.
There was no infinity tunnel this time. The foggy mirror refused to reflect anything at all, even another mirror.
“I’ll go in with you,” he told the girl. “When you touch it, I’ll get us into the corridor. Alex, I’ll need your copies to give us some time till we know what we’re dealing with. After that, focus on one and we’ll take on the other.”
“You got it, bro!”
The plan wasn’t the worst, but it required that Will have his back turned to the mirror upon activation. If he wasn’t fast enough, this was going to end up being one quick fight.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Helen asked. “You’ve been out of it all loop. Really out of it.”
“Still getting used to it,” he lied. “It's been a while since I had my class back.”
“We don’t have to fight both of them at once. Let’s just—”
“No!” Will said with surprising firmness. “We do our best and see what happens. We’ll never improve if we remain complacent.”
Quietly, they walked into the room. The hidden mirror was the usual size—three-by-three feet. Common logic suggested that barely anything more than a large animal could pass through. Eternity didn’t follow common rules. Anything from goblin to a thirty-foot wolf could emerge from the small glass surface.
“You’re still thinking about him, aren’t you?” Helen asked as the boy got into position.
Will’s back was almost up to the mirror as the two looked at one another. The thought made Will’s blood rush to his head. It would have been even worse, if it wasn’t for the girl’s question.
“What do you mean?” He tried to appear calm.
“We’ll find a way to kill him. We’ll level up all the way to the top if we have to.”
“Right.” Internally, Will let out a sigh of relief. She was talking about the elite on the second floor. For a moment, he was terrified she might have learned about his dealings with Danny. “We’ll deal with him. Just as we’ll deal with these.”
Helen smiled.
“Ready?” She tightened her grip round the sword’s hilt.
“Ready.” Will nodded.
The girl reached out above his shoulder and tapped the mirror. Without waiting, the boy leaped forward, taking them both as far away as possible from it. Copies of Alex rushed into both rooms by the dozens, intent on blocking anything that would come out. Then it happened.
The sound of glass being crushed came from both rooms almost simultaneously. Will was able to see Alex’s copies burst in twos or threes as knives flew through their heads. At the same time, he could only guess what monster had appeared behind.
“Use all of them!” he shouted, as he leaped again, pulling himself and Helen down the corridor.
His arms and legs hurt as if he had torn a ligament. At any other time, he’d be screaming and yelling like crazy. Yet, this was the price of eternity—the barrier that one had to pass in order to survive the game.
“For real!” Alex shouted back, as he poured the contents of both backpacks he was carrying onto the floor. Two flows of mirror copies emerged, filling the school corridor like two rivers. Even such an amount proved unable to stop the elites.
“Careful.” Will let go of Helen, drawing his poison dagger. “It’s my copy.”
“A rogue.” The hatred in the girl’s voice was palpable. “And the other?”
Will glanced in the direction of the classroom. The crunching got louder and louder, until a creature leaped out, shattering the mirror thieves like a gorilla blocking the water of a hose. It wasn’t a gorilla, though, but a massive black wolf.
“I thought those didn’t leave normal mirrors,” Will whispered.
The creature was a lot larger than the ones he’d fought so far. It was also a lot more calculating. Effortlessly, it had avoided the mirror traps and destroyed its waves of enemies without getting stabbed.
“Shit!”
They were in a tricky situation. This was the worst combination of enemies one could think of. The wolf was fast and strong, specializing in close combat. Only Helen would be able to take him on, yet if she did, he made herself vulnerable to the dark rogue’s attacks. Similarly, if the group tried to take out the rogue, they’d first have to pass through the wolf, which also acted as a shield.
“Can you kill the wolf?” Will asked.
“Piece of cake,” the girl said.
“I’ll get you some time.” The boy rushed forward, rushing by the large black monster.
The wolf spotted him in the corner of its eye, twisting its body in an attempt to shred him with its claws. The paw alone was enough to crush his ribs, so Will slid down, safely evading it. For a split second, a weak spot flashed before his eyes—the area between the pads. It was a small and otherwise useless target, but the only thing available.
Holding his breath, the boy aimed, then threw the dagger.
The blade hit the bottom of the paw, piercing it with its attack.
POISON RESISTED
A message became visible as Will continued to slide by. The only glimmer of hope was that it wasn’t stated that the poison was outright negated. With luck, this would provide Helen with the advantage she needed to win her fight.
Meanwhile, three knives hit the floor inches from where Will was. Turning his head to the side, he managed to catch a glimpse of the attacker.
Similar to the other mirror images, the rogue was just another nondescript person dressed in black clothing. Interestingly enough, instead of metal or leather armor, he was wearing what appeared to be rollerblade protectors on his knees and elbows. Fingerless black gloves covered his hands for no apparent reason.
Seeing Will, the rogue paused. For a moment, it almost seemed like the monster was giving him some slack; as if Danny had instructed it to lose the fight.
“Look out, bro!” Two mirror copies leaped in front of Will, catching a knife that was meant for the boy.
That definitely wasn’t a skill that he was familiar with so far.
Will grabbed a few of his throwing knives and sent them flying at the rogue. Barely had they entered the bathroom, when they were countered and struck mid-flight by other knives coming from the elite.
Damn you, Danny! He thought.
It was too early for them to have such a fight. Defeating each of the elites individually was a difficult task. Facing them together made it all but impossible.
Time seemed to freeze. Will could see the dark rogue reaching for another knife. There was only a small window of opportunity left for it to hit the boy before he slid by. Sadly, by the looks of it, he’d easily make the attack. None of Alex’s copies were close enough to shield him from another dagger, and Will couldn’t rely on his evasion against such an opponent.
His mind desperately tried to find a solution to the predicament he had put himself in. No matter how one looked at it, a rogue of level four couldn’t compare against a seven. Maybe if Alex was there right now, the two of them might stand a chance.
“Fuck it!” Will shouted, making the one available move left. “I challenge you!” He looked straight at the mirror behind the rogue.
Time resumed. The rogue’s right hand grabbed a throwing knife from his belt, aiming to throw it. Suddenly, half a dozen blades shot out from the mirror, striking the elite in the back.
POISONED
PARALYZED
BLEEDING
For a fraction of a second, Will thought he saw Danny’s face smiling at him from the mirror, before more effect messages covered it up.
The dark rogue shook violently, then collapsed on the bathroom floor, still gripping onto his throwing knife. Now, there was only one that remained.