The hazy sky overhead glowed an eerie red. There was no sun or moon in sight, but clusters of black clouds floated overhead at a brisk pace. The air was heavy, as if a storm had just broken or as if one was just beginning to gather. The crimson light that descended from the heavens was harsh and unearthly, but it illuminated the vast broken land that extended out to the horizon. Towers of twisted grey rock rose toward the sky, like a hundred thousand hands reaching for salvation. Their warped heights formed a jagged canopy that concealed most of the ground. Nothing grew among the tall clusters of rocks. They looked barren and empty.

A dangerous illusion.

Ethan pulled up the visor on his helmet and studied the vista before him. He was standing atop a particularly tall spire of rock that allowed him to see everything for miles. His body was covered in sleek black armor that glowed softly with yellow light where its ceramic plates met. Its futuristic style clashed with the tattered brown cloak that was wrapped around his shoulders and fell over his back.

The labyrinth of dry earth and jagged stone standing before Ethan presented him with no obvious path forward, but he needed to pick a way regardless. The Chaotic Plains were a maze of shifting paths, containing endless challenges and dangers. It was full of undiscovered treasures, but the thrill was what had drawn Ethan. Only the bravest and most experienced explorers dared enter the Chaotic Plains, and going in alone was generally considered suicide. The thought sent an excited shiver down Ethan’s spine.

There was a flash of light in the shadows ahead. A sign. With an anticipatory smile, Ethan dropped to his knees and slammed a mechanical spike into the rock at his feet. He then laughed as he threw himself off the top of the rock. The jagged surface of the stone spire zoomed past as he fell. Ethan’s heartbeat quickened.

He straightened his posture so that he cut through air like a knife, headfirst. A hundred feet below, the ground rushed to meet him, and Ethan smiled in anticipation as he watched it approach. From this height, he would die instantly if he hit it.

His lifeline went taut. The cable had been tied to the spike he’d placed up above, and it tugged sharply on his armored hand, pulling him upward. Instantly, with the ease of long practice, he grabbed the wire with his other hand and flipped through the air as he swung closer to the rocks. His booted feet hit the surface and knocked debris free as he kicked away from the face of the spire again. Still swinging, his momentum carried him around the rock pillar until gravity pulled him into it again.

As he kicked off the rock so he spun back the way he’d come, Ethan made a mental command. As a result, his lifeline went slack and Ethan began to fall again as more wire shot out of the contraption on his wrist. In a series of controlled bounces and quick stops, Ethan made his way down along the jagged rocks sticking out from the column. Soon, the ground drew closer. Rather than slow down though, Ethan mentally commanded his lifeline to separate. It came loose with a snapping noise, leaving him in freefall. Excited, Ethan grinned and flipped around so that he was diving straight down. Headfirst, he zoomed toward the hard earth below. Ethan’s heart kicked into overdrive as a cold rush of adrenaline pulsed through him. The ground grew closer. The awareness of his own mortality was thrilling. Usually quiet parts of his brain screamed. He felt truly awake and aware of every passing millisecond. Every one mattered.

At the last possible second, Ethan twisted around, and his feet hit the ground first. He kicked off the ground using the muscle enhancing power of his armor to catch himself. Momentum still carried him forward, but he rolled with it and jumped back onto his feet a second later. His armor was a bit dustier now, but he hadn’t been hurt at all.

“Not a bad jump,” Ethan remarked in satisfaction as he looked around. His heart rate had already begun to slow down.

The flicker of light had been to his left, so he headed that way. The stone spires he’d been looking down at mere moments before towered around him now. Their tall peaks cast a complex web of flickering shadows. Ethan moved at a quick pace and carefully watched his surroundings. Warily, his right hand rested on the hilt of the long dagger strapped to his waist. He also had a holstered pistol, but if anything managed to jump him, then the blade would give him more options in close combat.

Up ahead and out of sight, there was a thunderous crash as a spire fell. The sound echoed past Ethan and the ground beneath his feet shivered slightly. The Chaotic Plains were dangerous and unpredictable. No two journeys into their depths were ever the same. It was impossible to map them because the environment was constantly changing as spires fell and new ones erupted from the ground. However, the real dangers weren’t from falling rocks. The Chaotic Plains were home to a seemingly endless variety of deadly monsters.

A small formation of pink crystals grew from the rocks to Ethan’s right, but he ignored them. They had some value, but getting them free would take time, and he had his eye on much greater prizes. In the darkness, there was a clink as something shifted the rocks at the base of a spire to Ethan’s left. Instantly, he reacted. Light flooded out when the flashlight built into his helmet activated. The rocks were illuminated and so was the source of the noise. A small brown rodent with a fluffy tip on its tail stared in surprise at Ethan before dashing away behind some rocks.

“Hmm, I doubt you’re a threat,” Ethan said as he shut off the light. It wasn’t a good idea to use it too much, lest it draw the attention of something big and hungry.

After taking a deep breath, Ethan continued on his way. He passed through shadows and beneath stone arches as he trudged onward. A ray of light shone down as a large string of black clouds floated by. The angle of the light’s descent allowed it to penetrate the rocks overhead and illuminate the face of a spire to Ethan’s left. Out of the corner of his eye, the explorer noticed something. An out-of-place rock, it had a regular shape that seemed artificial. Curious, he shifted his gaze to get a better look at it and reactivated his flashlight. There was a hexagon jutting out from the rock. In fact, there were three of them. A smile appeared on Ethan’s lips. This looked very promising. He stepped closer to study what he’d found.

The stone shapes were lined up on the face of a spire that didn’t look all that different from the others nearby. Each hexagon had two symbols on them: a line pointing out from the center and a unique shape. The first hexagon had a circle, the second had a V, and the third had a rectangle. A bit of experimentation revealed the hexagons could be rotated. Ethan rolled his eyes. It was obviously some sort of puzzle.

“What are you supposed to represent?” Ethan muttered as he studied the symbols. They were clearly the key.

He turned all the hexagons randomly a few times, but nothing happened, so he stopped to think. The lines were probably meant to show which direction each hexagon was pointing, but the problem was there were no symbols around the hexagons for the lines to point at. Each hexagon was surrounded by featureless stone. Maybe they pointed to something off in the distance? There was nothing but dark rocks around, but the circle reminded Ethan of the sun or moon, so he rotated the first hexagon until its arrow pointed straight up. If the symbols represented obvious parts of the physical world, then the V was probably actually an upside-down mountain or something. Huh, that didn’t help much. He was surrounded by spires made of rock, but none of them were mountains. Maybe it was the earth itself? Ethan turned the hexagon until it pointed down. That left one more symbol, the rectangle.

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“Maybe I’m wrong about this.” Ethan grunted. He couldn’t think of anything in nature that was rectangular.

Since he had no good ideas, Ethan randomly rotated the last hexagon. If he was right about the first two, then he could simply try all the possible combinations of the third. A sudden clicking noise startled Ethan as the hexagon in his hand suddenly locked into place. All three of the plaques then sank into the rock.

Ethan grinned and stepped back. He’d found the right combination! However, a few seconds passed and nothing else happened, so the smile slipped from his face.

“Disappointing,” he muttered as he looked around for any change to his surroundings. He saw nothing.

Ethan sighed and turned back to study the hexagons for some clue as to what he was supposed to do next. There had to be something he was missing. What was the rectangle supposed to represent anyway? He had no idea. The line next to it was pointing off toward the top of a spire to his right. There didn’t seem to be anything special there. Wait… maybe the rectangle represented a door! The line was pointing at where it was hidden. The puzzle wasn’t just a key. It was also the guide to the door it unlocked!

“Huh, clever,” the adventurer remarked as he turned to study the spire of rock that the last line pointed at.

He didn’t see anything out of place, so he walked closer and raised a hand. A spike shot out of his wrist device and slammed into the top of the twisted stone spire. There was a line of wire hanging down from the spike, and it immediately began to shorten as the device on Ethan’s wrist reeled it in. With a quick hop, Ethan began to climb the face of the spire. He jumped from outcrop to outcrop as his lifeline pulled him upward. He only stopped when he saw a small hexagon carved into the rock in front of him. It was tiny and impossible to see from afar.

As he hung in front of the new hexagon, Ethan studied the shape. It wasn’t decorated by any symbols, so he tapped it with a finger experimentally. Instantly, the shape and all the rock around it cracked. A moment later, the entire area crumbled and fell away to reveal a dark shaft that led downward. How inviting!

With energy born of excitement, Ethan activated his flashlight and crawled inside. It looked like it was quite a way to the bottom of the shaft, so he shot a line into the wall and used it to rappel down into the dark. The stone shaft was tight around him as he descended. The weak yellow glow of his armor illuminated its confines, and there wasn’t much to see, so he kept his flashlight pointed straight down. After descending for half a minute, he dropped out of the shaft and into a much larger chamber. As his feet hit the ground, light flashed into existence around him, illuminating his new surroundings.

Shielding his eyes from the unexpected brilliance, Ethan looked around. He was standing in a circular room with walls made from stone blocks. The floor was smooth uncut stone, although it had some cracks in it. In the center of the ceiling hung a huge transparent crystal, which was the source of the light.

As the treasure seeker’s eyes adjusted to the light, he was able to make out more details. There was a single large door leading out of the room on the far side of the chamber. This passageway was much larger than a normal human door. It was easily ten feet high and six feet wide.

“Well, this room is very suspicious,” Ethan said as he looked around. “I wonder what kind of horrible trap it contains.”

Before he had decided on his next move, a loud thump echoed from the shadows beyond the dark doorway across the room. Ethan sighed. “Yep, I was right.”

There was a series of new thumps and another noise that sounded suspiciously like something heavy being dragged across the stone floor. Ethan quickly drew his pistol and took a firing stance. He aimed his weapon right at the door and waited. It didn’t take long for the source of the noise to appear. A reptilian snout emerged from the darkness, and it was swiftly followed by the rest of a huge lizard-like monster. The beast was covered in grey and black scales so large and thick that they looked like armor. Its long tail swept the ground behind it as it focused its yellow eyes on Ethan. Two menacing horns jutted from either side of a thick crest on its skull, and a row of long spikes ran down its back.

Hesitation was for fools. Ethan immediately shot three rounds at the creature’s face, but the beast looked down to shield its eyes, and the bullets ricocheted off its thick skull.

“Crap,” Ethan swore as he weighed his options. It didn’t look like the bullets had done any damage at all. This thing was freakishly tough.

Dashing forward, the beast hissed like a steam engine as it charged. Bereft of other ideas, Ethan emptied the rest of his pistol’s clip into the beast’s legs, but none of his shots did any damage, either because they missed or because they couldn’t penetrate the scales. In this time, the lizard closed most of the distance between them. It was deceptively fast for something so bulky.

“Stupid overpowered monsters!” Ethan swore as he shot a line into the wall to his right. He then activated the reel and jumped. He was instantly pulled out of the way of the charging lizard and toward the wall.

Ethan landed on his feet, let his line fall free, and reloaded his gun in one smooth, practiced motion. The monster skidded to a halt and tried to turn about to face him again.

“You don’t turn too quickly, do you?” Ethan asked as he aimed his gun.

As the beast spun, Ethan shot it in the flank several times. The scales along its belly looked smaller and thinner, and they were apparently weaker because this time his bullets sank into flesh. The lizard hissed with violent fury and swung its head around to block any further attacks. It then righted its body and prepared to charge again. The lizard had been hurt a little, but Ethan could tell the bullets hadn’t done much in the way of real damage. Still, Ethan was confident. He could dodge the creature’s attacks easily enough.

Instead of charging again, the lizard roared and stomped the ground. The monster’s voice echoed throughout the chamber and bounced off the walls. Ethan lost his balance as the entire chamber vibrated, and then he realized the stomp had actually shaken the floor. Ethan’s weapon dropped as he stumbled, and the lizard took advantage of the opportunity. It opened its toothy maw and shot out a gob of purple slime. The blob sailed toward Ethan, who saw it coming. He dropped his pistol and rolled out of the way. Behind him, the spittle hit the floor and stuck to it before collapsing into a puddle. It was some kind of adhesive.

Ethan drew the knife at his side. It slid smoothly out of its sheath to reveal a dark blade, which then clicked and unfolded into a short sword. When it was at its full length, the blade’s edges began glowing a bright yellow to match Ethan’s armor.

The beast charged. As its horns swung toward Ethan’s chest, he dodged to the side and sliced at the creature’s exposed side. His blade cut into the scales, leaving a black line of burnt flesh. However, it was a shallow wound that didn’t appear to slow the lizard at all. It charged past Ethan without stopping. Ethan ran after it and raised his sword, but the lizard’s long tail lashed out and knocked him sideways. He hit the ground hard, despite his armor, and he gasped as the air was knocked out of his lungs. Before he could climb to his feet, the lizard’s head turned and its mouth opened. More purple spittle flew out and hit Ethan’s legs.

“Oh, no.” Ethan cursed as he tried to tug his legs free. This was bad!

Unfortunately, the gunk had already dried. Ethan could do nothing but struggle as the lizard completed its turn and began to charge toward him again. Its jaws opened wide to reveal a row of nasty needlelike teeth. Ethan felt despair. It was like a weight in his stomach. He had lost.

“Blast,” Ethan swore.

As the beast hurtled toward him with open jaws, he couldn’t do anything but close his eyes. He had been so close. Dying like this was pathetic. Helpless, Ethan felt a jarring impact that rattled his bones and then nothing, until a glowing series of words appeared on the back of his eyelids.

Game Over. Would you like to resurrect back at the last respawn point?