Cieth
1/350 HP
James spluttered as he woke up, thrashing in the water as he gasped for breath. He thought he might be drowning, which luckily he wasn’t. He was resting in a large fountain, with an ornately carved fish spewing out water. Grey and Amelia were unconscious floating in the water behind him. The room around him was covered in stained glass, to the point where he was half convinced he was in an incredibly fancy greenhouse. There was a spiral staircase next to one of the windows leading upwards, and it was the only thing that convinced him that he was still in the Tower of Night.
“So, you’re finally awake,” Patrick said. He was sitting on the lip of the fountain. "You were trying to cross the border, right? You...shit, how did the rest of it go?"
James looked around to see the others floating in the water.
“What happened?” James asked, standing up, water draining out of his armour like a watering can.
“I finished off Kiula. There was a key on her...corpse? Corpses? Anyway, it slotted into the throne and opened a staircase upwards. According to the game, this is a Font of Healing that will eventually pull you back up to full health. I think Delarius is being held nearby and we’ve just got story stuff left to wrap up in this dungeon. They’d give us more health if there wasn’t.”
“Nice.” James climbed out of the fountain, the water becoming steam immediately. “Wish I got to see you finish the boss off.”
“Yeah, I may have gone a bit overboard with the theatrics considering no one was looking.”
GlassAngel
1/200 HP
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Skibabylon
1/150 HP
Grey casually stood up, while Amelia thrashed around like she was preparing to draw her sword. As Patrick explained the situation to them, James walked up to one of the windows, running his hand along it. As he did so, he could have sworn he saw a shadow moving outside: with how bright the surrounding lights were, it must have been just outside the glass.
“Y’know, Delarius stopped us breaking the glass in the last dungeon,” he said. “Wonder what would happen if I tried to break it here?”
The others looked at him, confused about why he just said this, but going along with him nonetheless.
“You’d meet an invisible wall,” Grey replied. “That or the glass is indescribable.”
“All games these days have some kind of dumb out of bounds glitch,” Patrick said, “I’m sure this one is no exception.”
“Why do you want to do this, James?” Amelia asked.
“Pure curiosity. Grey’s right, it probably won’t work.”
James pulled back, ran forward and smashed through the window with his shield, stopping himself from falling at the last second. What he saw below him was not the city of Kries, but an inky dark abyss. Replicas of the Tower stretched out as far as the eye could see, but the exteriors were flickering and fading, exposing the solid rooms inside.
“I’ll be honest,” James said, “I get the impression I shouldn’t have done that.”
Amelia poked her head through the open window, seeing the rooms they had been through floating in free space below them “What the hell?”
The others looked out with equal shock and confusion.
“This is an instanced dungeon, right?” Patrick asked, “So we’re the only people it exists for. Is this just how the game handles those?”
“No VRMMO I’ve seen handles them like this,” Grey replied, not looking away from the infinitely stretching towers, “and even if they did, you’d think they’d be invisible walls to stop you breaking through the windows. That or a skybox to cover up all of…this.”
“Hey, wanna experiment?” Amelia asked. The group turned around just in time to see her throw her sword out of the window, into the abyss below.
“The hell was that for?” Patrick asked.
Amelia shrugged. “Wanted to see how deep it was. It’ll be back in my inventory soon enough.”
“I already can’t see it, so I’d like to say it’s quite deep,” Grey said. “You’re remarkably calm about this.”
“It’s probably just weird gaming stuff, right? It’s like Patrick said. Glitches and exploits they just didn’t patch for some reason, right…right?”
“Let’s hope so. Dungeon doesn’t seem to be done yet, so I guess we still have to find Dela-“
Brutal Arachnid
0/200 HP
A spider tumbled down from the skylight above, crushing the fountain. Delarius stood on the monster, dragging a bloody longsword across its body. He walked off the creature, crushing one of its still twitching mandibles as he did so. The creature’s blood stained the water, gaping wounds covering it’s whole body. Water to leak out of the basin and onto the floor.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“I hope you’re happy with this,” he said, his voice a low growl. “You just had to be clever, didn’t you? Always pushing boundaries, always exploring past the point you’re supposed to. I’d probably have been impressed with you once…but not now.”
He pointed his sword at the others, using both hands to handle the weight.
“The dream has been broken but for a second…and that means…I’m going to die again.” A single tear fell from his eye “I die…later in the game I die…and I can feel it every single time…and I’m going to die here again now, aren’t I? He’s on his way.” Delarius smiled bitterly. “At least the death will be different this time.”
“Who?” Grey asked “Who is c-“
YOU REALLY COULDN’T RESIST, COULD YOU?
A tail-like spear ran through Grey’s mouth, shooting straight and piercing Delarius’ eye. Patrick turned around to see where it came from, but before he could do anything a massive claw grabbed him and smashed him into the wall.
Skibabylon
0/150 HP
Respawn Timer: Infinite
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Trident743
0/100 HP
Respawn Timer: Infinite
“No,” James muttered. “Not again.”
Him and Amelia staggered away from the window as the monstrous zombie dragon climbed into the room. Delarius and Grey’s corpses fell to the floor as the tail retracted.
IF YOU WANT US TO STOP MEETING, JAMES MARLOW, THEN STOP FOLLOWING THIS PATH. IT IS SIMPLE ENOUGH.
Draconautis leapt forward towards Amelia, but James leapt in the way. Draconautis’ teeth wrapped around his neck and tore his head clean off, spinal cord dangling from his mouth. The monster spat it out through the window as Amelia was frozen on the ground.
Cieth
0/350 HP
Respawn Timer: Infinite
HE PUTS HIS FRIENDS IN DANGER AND YET STILL TRIES TO SAVE THEM. IRONIC.
It crept up to Amelia, it’s jaws inches away from her face, to the point where she could see James’ blood between his teeth.
NOW CHILD…HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIE THIS FINE DAY?
Draconautis’ jaws reached up, ready to bite Amelia’s head clean off, but it stopped as something stabbed into it’s leg. Both it and Amelia turned to see Delarius back on his feet, longsword in hand.
MY PERMISSIONS ARE ONLY FOR PLAYERS, NOT NPCS. AWAY WITH YOU.
“I refus-“
Before Delarius could say another word, Draconautis backhanded him with their claw. Even though the attack was off hand, it still sent Delarius careening through one of the windows. He stabbed his sword into the ledge as broken glass fell all around him.
Draconautis turned its attention back to Amelia, only to be slashed across the eyes as her sword returned to her.
“I’m not gonna die today,” Amelia shouted, slashing upwards with her sword. “I’m getting my friends back!”
I WISH YOU LUCK.
As Amelia prepared to slash at Draconautis again, the tail wrapped around her leg and yanked her to the ground. Draconautis pulled up one of it’s massive, clawed feet, preparing to crush her outright, but then had a different idea. It placed its foot on Amelia’s back and began to slowly crush her ribcage. All Amelia could do was scream.
A DIGITAL AVATAR THAT CAN NEVER BREAK, YET IT FEELS THE AGONY OF A HUMAN DEATH. WHAT A WONDERFUL INVENTION.
“I have seen many fine inventions in my time,” Delarius said as he pulled himself up, “yet your kind have not made a single one.”
He ran towards Draconautis, longsword raised.
“I will not let your reign of terror continue! I will not let you terrorise the pe-“
Just as he entered Draconautis’ range, the dragon spun around lightning fast and ate Delarius’ torso in one bite. His head kept Delarius’ previous momentum and went through the window on the other side. Draconautis laughed as he swallowed the inventor’s body.
I HAVE SEEN HIM DIE IN MANY WAYS, BUT I MUST ADMIT. THAT WAS PERHAPS MY FAVOURITE.
Amelia could do nothing but watch as the creature turned back to her. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t fight. She was at the monster’s mercy.
NOW, WHERE WERE WE, MY DE-
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draconautis, return
Draconautis growled in frustration when it heard the voice.
FINE. I APOLOGISE THAT YOU HAVE TO DIE A PAINLESS DEATH. I WOULD MAKE IT WORSE IF I HAD THE TIME.
Then the massive foot crushed Amelia’s body and it all went dark.
James Stats: Level: 6 VIT: 0/350 STR: 15 DEF: 25 DEX: 10 SPL: 15 INT: 1
Amelia Stats: Level: 6 VIT: 0/200 STR: 25 DEF: 15 DEX: 15 SPL: 5 INT: 0
Grey stats: Level: 6 VIT: 0/150 STR: 15 DEF: 15 DEX: 10 SPL: 30 INT: 0 Healing Pool: 320/600
Patrick stats: Level: 6 VIT: 0/150 STR: 30 DEF: 10 DEX: 15 SPL: 25 INT: 0 Mana: 5/250
