Chapter 34

  Bravado

  Hyato stepped into the dungeon at the back of the group. The others ahead of him were looking around in confusion. “This isn’t the same dungeon.” Jess said.

  “Not true.” Sebastian explained as he stepped further into the long hallway shaped room, “I told you before, these dungeons are in a state of change. We may experience different rooms this time, or the ones we know, but in a new order.”

  “I don’t really get it, but okay.” Wolf said, putting his arms behind his head in a relaxed pose. The fibers of his shirt stretched. Wolf and Michael were both wearing borrowed clothes, their spar had damaged what they’d been using before.

  “Please don’t tear those.” Lin said to Wolf. She had said it many times this morning. Wolf shrugged.

  “Okay guys, let’s find the puzzle or challenge.” Michael said, trying to get the others to focus. He seemed to be the most alert out of everyone present. Hyato nodded and began to look around as well.

  As the swordsman searched, he found himself smiling. It had been several days now, and he had yet to change perspective to a new time. He knew it wouldn’t last, he remembered something that happened in this village that had yet to occur. A good enough reason not to be the challenger in the Trial of Combat. Still, it felt nice to be in the same place for so long.

  As the party spread out along the hallway to find clues for the puzzles, an Arkwarden appeared. Before Hyato had time to register it, it drew back a line from it's weapon and fired. The small energy ball hit Hyato in the chest and exploded in a cloud of haze. Hyato was knocked to the ground, but rolled on his back and sprang to his feet, sword drawn.

  Michael and Jess started to rush over, so Hyato shot one hand out to the side. “He’s mine.” Hyato said. The others stopped, so Hyato rushed in.

  The arkwarden had fired an explosive projectile from a small handheld ranged weapon. As Hyato approached, the Arkwarden shook, grabbing another projectile from it's waist. Hyato did not know what purpose these things served, why was this one built to look similar to a person when others were just floating shapes? Still, it needed to go down. The main core of the Arkwarden seemed to be it's head. It had a long scope protruding from it's head, like a too long nose, and lined up another shot.

  Hyato drew his sword in a flash, swinging it at top speed in order to deflect the projectiles. The Arkwarden shot with scary accuracy, all aimed at Hyato’s chest or head. Hyato deflected two and took a hit from the third. It slammed into his chest, hitting with a heavy physical impact. Hyato gasped as the foe lined up another attack from it's slingshot and let loose. This one struck Hyato in the head, causing another energy explosion. Hyato was knocked to the ground.

  The Arkwarden started posing, flexing and imitating laughter. Whatever world it was in, it seemed to be having a good time. Hyato felt the pain in his body, but it seemed so little. He’d experienced worse in the past.

  Or was that the future?

  Hyato rolled onto his back and kicked off the ground, landing on his feet. Sword out to his side, Hyato stepped towards the Arkwarden, focused on it. The enemy watched as Hyato approached, shaking with fear and looking around. What was the reason these things should emulate emotion? Hyato cast that thought aside and moved out.

  The technique that Michael used to jump through the canyon, Hyato had spent some time on it. He had hoped to practice more before using it, by skipping through time and working on it, but that hadn’t happened. Hyato jumped, soaring over the ground at incredible speed. Before the Arkwarden could fumble to draw another star to it's slingshot, Hyato struck. Red energy surrounded Hyato’s sword as he sundered the Arkwarden apart, returning it to static.

  Now that the battle was over, Hyato sheathed his sword and returned to the others. Michael smiled at him, “Hey, nice moves.”

  Joy exploded through Hyato’s chest. He made sure it didn’t show on his face, “Thanks Michael.”

  “Hey, I think I figured out the puzzle.” Lin said from down the hall. Michael turned and headed over to her to solve the puzzle. Hyato returned to watching, waiting for enemies to appear.

  After clearing the first room of the dungeon, the party moved on. Sebastian had not found any secrets in the hallway room, and continued to pulse as he stepped into the dungeon corridor. The party came into the room with the different height tiles, and Sebastian rubbed his chin. “I wonder if there are secrets to find in here, or if they are gone because we found them yesterday.”

  “Only one way to find out.” Lin said, ready to look as well.

  “I can think of seventeen ways, but this way is probably best.” Sebastian said, stepping to one side and starting his Arkpulse sweep. As the two searched the room, the others focused on solving the puzzle again. Michael and Jess learned that the puzzle was just a little different. The hints were in different places, and the patterns were shuffled.

  Wolf and Hyato took out the few groups of Arkwardens that appeared as Michael and Jess solved the puzzle. The search team found a new cache with two Ulprisms in it! Hyato and Wolf both acquired the Arkpulse skill. “So you can get secrets from places that were already searched.” Sebastian noted aloud.

  The party continued onwards, and the third room was the room with the six pillars of Arkwardens. The party all moved out at full speed to attack the pillars, letting Wolf distract the big enemies while Hyato cleared the ones that spawned in. In minutes, the room was cleared.

  “That was way better than yesterday.” Michael said.

  “Well, we knew what to expect this time.” Jess said.

  The doorway to the next room appeared, but no one moved towards it. “Search the room?” Lin asked.

  “Yes indeed. Everyone search.” Sebastian said. Wolf was reluctant and Hyato seemed to fumble with the newfound skill, but the party all began to pulse out seeker pulses to look for hidden items.

  Michael noted that everyone had a different color of pulse, and a question that had been weighing on his mind came to the forefront. “So, why is everyone’s pulse a different color?” He asked.

  “It’s because of their unique energy signature. Did we go over this? I can’t remember.” Sebastian said.

  “Well, I don’t know about it.” Lin said, “So, can you explain?”

  “It’s really rather simple.” Sebastian said. “Every person has a unique energy signature that can be seen when they use energy or mana. Most commonly, it is simply a color. Mine is blue, Hyato’s is red, and Wolf has yellow.”

  “I see it as more of an Amber.” Wolf said, emitting an Arkpulse.

  “Well, however you see it, it's a way to identify others. As you get stronger, it can get more complex. There are also, of course, ways to obscure or hide it.” Sebastian said.

  “I know of a few ways to hide it myself.” Jess added.

  “That explain enough, Lin, Michael?” Sebastian asked.

  “Yeah.” Michael said, and Lin nodded.

  Several minutes of searching seemed fruitless, until, “Hey, I found something.” Hyato said. The party looked over to see Hyato near the edge of the plateau. Near him was the glowing outline of what seemed to be an invisible bridge, or the wireframe of a bridge that was made of light.

  “Well now, this is new.” Sebastian said, approaching.

  “Think there’s really a bridge there?” Wolf asked.

  “Let’s find out.” Hyato lifted one foot to step onto the bridge, making the others flinch. Michael grabbed his arm as his foot came down. It planted onto the air, as solid as the ground. “Looks like it's real.”

  Michael let go and stepped onto the bridge as well. The outline showed a handrail, which Sebastian grabbed onto before stepping forth. “Don’t do things like that!” Sebastian said to Hyato. The stoic swordsman shrugged.

  The party crossed an invisible bridge to a small landing hugging the wall. There was enough room for the six of them, and not much else. Before them was a new door. It had a different design, was in a darker color of greens and browns. It did not feel the same as the normal dungeon doors. “What is this?” Wolf asked.

  “I don’t know for sure,” Sebastian said, “But I am guessing this is the door to another dungeon, one of the deeper dungeons.”

  “Woah...” Jess said, examining the door.

  “We aren’t here to delve deeper.” Sebastian said.

  “I know, we want to clear this one.” Jess said. She let out a pulse, revealing a small cache in the wall. “And that should help.”

  The cache opened to reveal text, ‘JI’ it read. The party looked at it, reading it. “JI. Ji, Vig, and Zur. All parts of the name of the dungeon, I guess.” Sebastian said.

  “So, do we need to find a console or something? Some place to enter the name?” Lin asked.

  “Or maybe we need to speak it to the door before entering the dungeon.” Michael said.

  “We need to figure out what the name is first.” Jess said. “Is it Vigjizur? Is there a space? Do we have all the letters?”

  “I’m not really sure.” Sebastian said. “I’ve never done this. I just know about it. Most delvers never find the names or clear dungeons.”

  “Well, clearing it is our objective.” Jess said. “Zurvigji? Zu rjivig?”

  “Should we head back first?” Michael asked.

  “We should.” Sebastian said, stepping back across the invisible bridge.

  “What about Jizurvig?” Lin asked. A deep rumbling noise sounded from below, and the walls of the dungeon began to glow. The bridge shook, and dust began to fall from the ceiling in a shower of haze.

  “Hold on!” Sebastian called, gripping the handrail with both hands. The others grabbed on to the bridge, which became obscured by the dust.

  “Guess so.” Lin said to herself. The dungeon shook, the light grew blinding, and then everything shifted as darkness closed in.

  Sebastian awoke, sitting up and looking around. Michael, Lin, Jess, Hyato, Wolf... where was Yan? He looked around for her, then shook his head as he remembered. Yan wasn’t here right now. The others were waking as well.

  A triangular room enclosed the party. On one wall was the dungeon entrance, the door that led into or out of the dungeon to the surface. Each of the other walls also had a door framed in. It was already apparent that this was not the same dungeon as before.

  Patterns were etched into the walls as they tapered to a single point above. There were six distinct patterns, two on each wall. A wider pattern at the base of the wall, and a small repeated pattern halfway up. The floor seemed to be made of tiled squares, but they were warped in size near the edges of the room to fit in the three sided space without being cut off. A single pillar stood in the middle of the room, reaching only halfway up the walls.

  “Everyone alright?” Michael asked. A variety of grunts responded to him, and he decided that everyone was okay.

  “Well, this is Jizurvig.” Sebastian said. “I doubt the ones who made it in the first place called it that, but it's called that now. Ready to clear the place out everyone?”

  Once everyone had collected themselves and rose to their feet, the party all looked around. “There are two paths. Which way do we go?” Jess asked.

  “Should we split up, cover more ground?” Wolf asked.

  “Bad idea.” Hyato said.

  “We should stick together, I would think.” Sebastian said. “Let’s leave it to a vote. Point at the door you want to head through first.” Everyone took a moment to decide and pointed. Lin and Jess pointed left, while all the others pointed to the right door.

  “Looks like we are going to the right.” Lin said, heading over to the door selected by the guys. She opened the door. Instead of a warped space dungeon corridor, the door opened to an immediate other room.

  “So the dungeon in its normal state is a real place.” Michael said. “Not something in some kind of other plane.” Michael said. The room beyond was familiar, a large hallway room. The very same room they were in when they entered the dungeon this morning at the start.

  There were key differences to this room. Unlike the one in the warped dungeon, this room had doors in it. “Twelve other doors.” Sebastian said, doing a quick count.

  Hyato looked to where he had fought the long nosed Arkwarden earlier. There was a dormant statue of a similar design. It didn’t stir. “You think there are Arkwardens in this dungeon?” Hyato asked.

  “We’ll see, I suppose.” Sebastian said. “We should start checking rooms. Perhaps I should make a map.”

  “I’ll do that.” Lin said, “I am good at mapping out areas.” Lin produced mapping tools and began to draw.

  Jess approached the nearest of the doors in the hallway, “Gotta start somewhere.” She opened the door and peered within. The compact room beyond the door had a bed, a trunk, and a sectioned off area with various bathing facilities. “A... bedroom?” Jess said.

  “Really?” Sebastian peeked his head in the doorway while Lin added the room to her map. “Should we test its authenticity? A repeat of last night, perhaps?” Sebastian said.

  Lin giggled while Jess shook her head. “Now is hardly the time. Besides, that bed can’t fit all three of us.”

  “True enough.” Sebastian said, returning to the hallway. “Another time then.”

  “Oh, keep it in your pants you three.” Wolf said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s focus on clearing the dungeon. I wanna fight something.” Wolf moved on to the next room.

  Michael tilted his head, “I think I missed something.” Hyato gave him a pat on the shoulder and left it at that.

  The party spent the next few minutes checking out doors. All of the twelve doors turned out to be compact bedrooms, and none seemed to reveal any further doorways. Michael spent some time using Arkpulse and found a stash of three ulprisms. Since everyone here already had the skill, he collected them for himself.

  “Well, this area is a dead end. Bedrooms, of all things.” Jess said.

  “Now now, the dungeons were originally sanctuaries to hide away from the troubles of the surface.” Sebastian said. “They needed places to rest, and food sources as well. It's not all puzzles, traps, and guardians.”

  “It's good we found the dead end first.” Hyato pointed out.

  “True, we won’t have to worry about doubling back to clear this area.” Lin said, finishing up her map. “Shall we head back?”

  “We shall!” Michael said, leading the way. He stopped to Arkpulse before stepping back to the entrance room.

  “Why are you pulsing so much?” Wolf asked.

  “There might be traps. That’s how Sebastian found them, right?” Michael said.

  “But we already came through here once.” Wolf said.

  “Michael is right to search. We shouldn’t drop our guard.” Sebastian said. “Just because we haven’t found any traps so far doesn’t mean they aren’t here.”

  They returned to the main room of the dungeon and checked out the other door. After clearing it, they peered through. Another familiar room greeted them, the room with the adjusting tile floors. “Maybe we did see all the rooms before fixing the dungeon.” Sebastian said. “Same pattern as before?”

  Jess and Michael nodded, moving to solve the puzzle. Though in a different arrangement from before, it went along at a fast pace. Sebastian and Lin convinced Hyato and Wolf to join them in searching for loot using Arkpulse.

  The walls shifted with a crackle of energy as the continued pulsing called forth it's twisted guardians. Arkwardens entered the room. Three diamond shaped floating arkwardens, weak enemies. Wolf created weapons, taking a combat stance with a grin. “No, wait.” Michael said, holding up a hand. “I want to test something. Leave them to me.”

  “Uh, okay.” Wolf said, frowning but dismissing his weapons.

  Michael approached the Arkwardens, using his seeker pulse on the area around him. The mechanical enemies veered towards him, and Michael smirked. “Good to know.” He said. Michael waited for the three enemies to draw in towards him. Their metal frames buzzed alive with a crackle of harmful energy.

  “Alright!” Michael brought his hands together and curled his upper body, focusing on the area of his arms. Violet energy surrounded his hands for a moment, then exploded out in a sphere all around! The wave he emitted was a thick purple wave of crackling force. It extended out three feet in all directions, passing over the Arkwardens. As the wave made contact with the foes, their metal bodies shuddered in pain.

  The pulse faded after three feet, leaving the three Arkwardens shuddering in the air. Their own energy arced along their bodies, and damage could be seen all over them, though not much. Michael focused to send out another pulse, but his fingers and gut were tingling with a fuzzy numb sensation, and no pulse came. He shook his head and drew his sword, doing a quick spin to slash all three of the foes. They were cut down, fading into static.

  “What was that?!” Sebastian asked, closing the distance towards Michael, a mixture of curiosity and amazement on his features.

  “The Arkpulse attack.” Michael said. “I wanted to try it.”

  “Oh, wow. Cool.” Sebastian said, rubbing his chin. “I never considered trying it.”

  “Why not?” Michael asked.

  “I assumed it would be weak.” He said.

  Michael chuckled. “Every attack has a use. I thought you liked trying out skills.”

  “I guess I always thought of Arkpulse as a searching skill...” Sebastian looked at his own hand. “Never thought to even try it's attack form.”

  Michael looked at his own hand. It was still tingling, but the numbness was fading. “It has a cooldown. I can’t pulse again yet.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Having vanquished his foe, Michael returned to solving the puzzle with Jess. It didn’t take them long to finish the puzzle, opening the way forward. A swell of synergy surrounded the party, just like one did after clearing each room. The party moved to the door that took them further into the dungeon.

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  The next room was familiar as well. The first room they had ever entered, the five sided room bearing three pillars. Instead of being scattered on the floors, the boxes were in spots of the walls. “That’s a little different.” Lin said. “I guess we just need to grab out the boxes.”

  “Hold on!” Michael moved over and sent out an Arkpulse at the first box. It returned nothing. “No traps then.”

  “We haven’t found any traps yet.” Lin said, grabbing the box. She tugged it free of the wall.

  The wall glowed with fierce blue energy, and two lancer Arkwardens stepped forth. They stabbed without warning, one striking Lin in the shoulder, the other hit Michael in the leg!

  “Idiots!” Wolf said, rushing forth. He kicked one of the Arkwardens aside, then slammed into it with lightning maces. Hyato appeared to strike the other one, followed by Jess, who delivered a killing blow.

  “You alright?” Hyato asked, turning back to look at Michael.

  “I’m fine.” Lin said, rubbing her arm.

  “Yeah...” Michael avoided touching his leg. The energy weapon had hurt, but did not cut. It felt like his leg was numb, and like a nasty bruise had formed on it where he was stabbed. “I’ll be okay.”

  “No traps, huh?” Lin said, giving Michael a withering look.

  Michael was unfazed. “None that Arkpulse detected. Is that even the right box?” They looked at the Box, which Jess had picked up. Sure enough, the puzzle was the same as the first time. She compared the patterns on the box to the three pillars. It didn’t match any of them.

  “No luck.” Jess said.

  “If the boxes are hiding wardens, let’s only pull the correct ones going forward.” Sebastian supplied. Lin rolled her eyes and started checking the pillars with the others. Michael rested for a few minutes, until walking stopped hurting.

  The party identified the three boxes they would need, and crowded around the first. Lin took up position to grab the box, with Michael nearby ready to send out a pulse attack. The others all stood back, ready to swoop in and strike. “On three.” Sebastian said. “One. Two... Three!”

  Lin grabbed out the box and jumped back out of range, letting it drop to the floor. Michael concentrated on his hands, then let out a damaging Arkpulse wave!

  No Arkwardens had appeared. The wave passed through the air, sizzling away in a spark of violet energy. Michael sighed, and picked up the box. Everyone else stood frozen ready to strike, standing around in an awkward tension.

  “Ah...” Sebastian said. “Well then.”

  “Next... box?” Jess said. The party all nodded, pretending that didn’t happen and shuffling along without looking at one another. Michael placed the box in the pillar, clicking it into place. The other two correct boxes were also free from ambush. The party finished the puzzle in that room, ready to move along and put it behind them.

  Six pillars, six walls, and a plateau of battle once more threatened the progress of the party. As they stepped onto the platform, Arkwardens were already appearing. “Same as before!” Sebastian said, sending out a ball of water with a spell. His attack splashed over the Arkwardens, knocking them back from the center of the area.

  Wolf jumped into battle first, slamming his maces on the ground. His attack released a shockwave of flames and lightning that decimated the foe, taking out about a tenth of them in one go. Michael followed up with a Dark Blade, launching the damaged Arkwardens up into the air.

  Hyato and Jess both rushed towards a nearby pillar, delivering a flurry of slashes to it in order to chip away it’s plating before more Arkwardens spawned from it. Jess created a small orb of energy and stuck it to the inside of the pillar as they exposed it's innards. They fell back as Jess snapped her fingers, triggering an explosion from the energy orb.

  Lin launched several kunai at the airborne Arkwardens, finishing off a few of them. The enemy gathered up to defend another blast from Wolf, and their tall leader fired a powerful charged beam of energy. A swirl of water rose in front of Wolf, blocking the beam from making contact. Sebastian’s spell deflected the blow, “Saved your life!” Sebastian said. Wolf grinned.

  “I have an idea.” Michael said, rushing towards the mass of foes. “Cover me!”

  “How?” Lin said, “You’re running into a melee!”

  Wolf launched a brilliant amber fireball in an arc towards the foes. It dropped towards them, and they blocked it. As they focused on the bright light, Michael rushed towards the enemy, stepping in silence compared to the sounds of battle ahead and around.

  Michael cupped his hands together and brought forth an Ulprism from his energy flow. As soon as it hit his hands he began to focus the energy around him. He rushed into the center of the Arkwardens, unseen, and channeled the power of the Ulprism into his energy. Sharp violet spikes faded into existence around Michael for a moment, then he exploded the Arkpulse attack out around himself!

  Erratic energy crashed into the foes all around. Sections of the arkwarden’s bodies were disintegrated, sizzling into static as the energy damaged them. The shield bearers, lancers, swordsmen, and diamonds were torn apart by the empowered Arkwave. Three bigger Arkwardens, one of them already charging another beam,took heavy damage but remained strong enough to battle.

  The Arkwave Michael emitted traveled a solid fifteen feet, due to the Ulprism. It struck two of the spawning pillars and shattered them, causing the pillars and the Arkwardens that were emerging to crackle away into naught. The Ulprism was used up and Michael fell to one knee, his body tingling all over. Three powerful foes surrounded him, recovering fast from the Arkwave. Michael tried to draw his sword, but lost his grip.

  A blur of red and yellow took over Michael’s sight for a moment, and the Arkwardens fell. Hyato and Wolf sheathed their weapons, and the swordsman offered a hand to Michael. “Good job man,” Hyato said.

  “Thanks.” Michael took the hand and stood up.

  Between the two ninja girls and the tactician, the other pillars had already been destroyed. Michael recovered from the tingling sensation as he appraised the battlefield. “That worked out well.”

  “Your stunt drew all the enemies together,” Sebastian said. “A perfect opportunity to finish them off. Excellent job.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Michael said, focusing on recovery. The tingle and numbness was easier to tolerate this time. “There are more rooms in this full dungeon. I guess it's every room we’ve done.”

  “Yes, we have already done all the ones we know of.” Sebastian said, “Going forward, we don’t know what we will find.”

  “I hope we can clear the place soon.” Jess says. “Once it's cleared the Arkwardens will stop appearing above, right?”

  “Probably.” Sebastian said, “It’s still possible for them to emerge from a deeper dungeon. Let’s continue.” The path continued. The party ignored the invisible bridge that led over to the secret door, instead entering the one that unlocked when they killed the Arkwardens. Wolf opened the door and stepped through.

  The next room was larger than the others. The floor had tiles on it, small tiles just big enough to stand on, but at various different elevations. The entire room was covered in the tiles, all the way to each of the seven walls. Each wall had a door, including the one they entered from. Six other paths to explore.

  Michael stepped onto another tile, hopping in place. “This floor doesn’t shift.” He said. “I don’t see any obvious markings either.”

  “We just need to find the right door, I would think.” Wolf said. He stepped over to the closest doorway on the right and reached for the handle.

  “Wait, check for traps!” Michael said, reaching to grab Wolf’s arm. Wolf didn’t listen, opening the door without pause. A loud boom filled Michael’s ears as the shockwave of force from beyond the doors hit him. Wolf was knocked back, stumbling over a raised tile and tumbling to his back. A corner of a floor tile dug into his back, making him arch in pain for a moment. “Ow!” Michael said, clutching his ears. Wolf grunted and sat up, he said something, which Michael didn’t hear, and then stood up. He patted Michael on the shoulder, and his face wore an apologetic look.

  The party spread out while Michael and Wolf recovered. Sebastian, Lin, and Jess started pulsing the doors. Hyato stood watch, alert for danger. It took Michael a few moments for his hearing to return. “Sorry.” Wolf said, rubbing his back. “My bad.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Michael said.

  The others returned after a few minutes. Walking across the room took effort, due to the different heights of the tiles. “Each of the doors returned a different signal.” Jess said. “Colors, actually. We don’t know which is the right door with just that.”

  “It’s all patterns up until now.” Sebastian said. “We should search the floors to find something related to the colors. I saw no patterns on the doors, nothing different from one another at least.”

  “I don’t want to explode five more times.” Wolf said. “So, I’ll help look.”

  “It would be four more times, right? If you found the right door last.” Lin said.

  “Unless they are all fake.” Hyato supplied. Lin pursed her lips, nodding.

  “We won’t know anything without more clues.” Sebastian said. “Spread out and search. Michael, you okay?”

  “I feel fine.” Michael said.

  “Me too!” Wolf said, “Let’s go!” With an enthusiastic pep in his step, Wolf strode off to look for clues. Lin giggled.

  Searching the room for puzzles proved simple for the rookie delvers. Their Arkpulse revealed a few hidden patterns in the tiles, and Michael found another Ulprism. After collecting the patterns, Michael wondered something aloud, “Is this too easy?” He asked.

  “We are finding things really fast.” Jess said, “Might be suspicious.”

  “It might seem that way to you,” Sebastian said, “But bear in mind that this is our third time through this dungeon. And every one of us has the Arkpulse, which is a great asset.”

  “True.” Michael agreed, “You did say it’s normally hard to get.” Feeling more confident, Michael focused on solving the puzzle.

  After finding several patterns, Michael looked at Lin’s map where she had drawn them out. “We found patterns for all but one color.” He said.

  “Where are you seeing the colors?” Jess asked, “These patterns didn’t have any colors.”

  “But these patterns had colors in other rooms.” Michael said, “So all but one door has an associated color here. The pattern for the color of this door,” Michael pointed out one of the doors, “Is the only one missing.”

  “And there were three of each of the patterns,” Lin said, “So I think we found them all.”

  “Then the last door is the way to go!” Wolf said, heading over to it.

  “Good luck.” Sebastian called, remaining where he stood a good distance from the door. Michael and Hyato both went nearer to Wolf, taking up stances just outside of the range of the blast from the trapped door. Lin and Jess watched from further back.

  Wolf opened the door without hesitation. It swung open to reveal the path to another room, and the party felt accomplishment as Synergy flowed into them. Wolf turned back at the others with a grin. “Worked.”

  “Good work everyone.” Michael said, heading for the door himself. “I have a feeling we are almost out of here.”

  “Why do you think so?” Lin asked.

  “Well, the number of walls keeps going up by one. Before too long, there would be so many walls it would just be silly.”

  “Here’s to hoping you are correct.” Sebastian said, taking a swig of his water bottle. The party gathered around the dungeon door to peer through.

  The next room had eight walls, just as Michael thought it would. This room seemed familiar, but it was a new room. The tiled floor was like the room they had just come from, uneven rough terrain. There were eight pillars in the room, three had open spaces for boxes. The patterned walls had several boxes holed up in them.

  In the center of the room stood an Arkwarden, taller than ones they had met before. It reminded Sebastian of the Hobgib they fought, nearly nine feet tall with an armored body and helmet. The horns of it's helm curved in front of it, just like the arkwardens that shot beams.

  Wolf stepped into the room, and the others followed. As they entered the room, four large floor tiles shifted upwards, becoming raised platforms. The Arkwarden in the middle of the room dispersed into static, and reappeared on the farthest of the platforms. “Well, this is the last room.” Sebastian said.

  “How can you tell?” Michael asked.

  “Because...” Hyato said, “This is a Boss Fight.”

  “A what?” Michael said. Lin and Jess both seemed confused.

  “Alright!” Wolf said, “My time to shine.” Spiked red energy grew from Wolf’s shoulders and the back of his head, like a mantle of horns, as he began to let the force of Dragon Energy flow through him. The power that Phanokai shared with their Draconic cousins. Wolf created two short spears made of brilliant amber flames in his hands. Then, with a roar, he further wreathed his arms with crackling lightning. “Bring it OOONNNN!”

  Wolf surged into battle before the others could stop him, bellowing a warcry that drowned out Sebastian’s protests. The pillars in the room all began to spawn Arkwardens, sword and shield knights that rushed towards Wolf. The raging Phanokai jumped and spun, slashing his weapons through the oncoming foes. His slash cut into the enemy and unleashed a wave of lightning over the battlefield. Three of the knights were destroyed from his slash, the rest were wounded by the lightning wave.

  The high pitched sound humming from the Boss Arkwarden was the only warning as a red beam of heated energy was fired from it's head. The attack hit Wolf, grazing his left shoulder and burning away the borrowed garb in that spot. Wolf hissed and swung his weapons again as he rushed towards the Boss. The Champion managed to sunder one of the pillars in his mad rush to claim victory.

  Wolf neared the pedestal the Boss stood upon and jumped, swinging his weapons to slash. The Boss Arkwarden disappeared again, dispersing into static. A high pitched sound tore through the air as a red beam of light was fired. “Guh!” Wolf croaked, arching as the beam struck him in the back. He collapsed to the floor.

  “Wolf!” Michael cried, a voice of anger. He had only just reached the first of the Arkwardens in an effort to join the battle. The others were having more trouble moving over the uneven floor tiles.

  “Idiot.” Sebastian said, “He shouldn’t have rushed in like that.”

  “It’s too late to chastise him, we need to take out the enemy.” Jess said.

  “I know, give me a moment.” Sebastian said, rubbing his chin with his eyes closed.

  The Arkwardens in the middle of the room continued to multiply. The pillars were all positioned near the center, and all seven of the remaining pillars were spawning more Arkwardens.

  “Break the pillars.” Hyato said, appearing beside Michael at the end of a Flash Blade. Michael nodded and lashed out with an energy slash, cutting into a nearby Arkwarden. Hyato and Michael both crossed blades against the nearby Arkwardens, overpowering them to leap past and strike the nearest pillar. Their combined attack shattered it, slowing the arrival of foes.

  “I have a plan!” Sebastian called, rushing towards the middle of the room. Lin and Jess were nowhere in sight. “Guys, to me!” Sebastian was hopping from tile to tile in order to cross the uneven floor, so Michael and Hyato jumped towards him.

  The Boss Arkwarden fired it's red beam at Michael while he was airborne. In a panic, Michael punched the air in front of him and released a jet of wind and a surge. His momentum shifted from the release of energy, causing the beam to graze his side instead of hitting his chest. Michael spun to the ground and landed in a heap.

  Sebastian and Hyato knelt down and Sebastian spoke fast, “Don’t get up yet,” Michael stopped, tensing his arms. He was hurt, but not injured, “Michael, prepare your big explosion, can you do that?” Michael nodded. “Hyato, help me draw them in, then deposit me near Wolf and head to the opposite pillar.”

  “Okay.” Hyato said, standing and swinging his blade. Hyato unleashed a sweeping red wave of energy with his attack, and followed it with others. The Arkwardens that were already crowding near were struck, and began to swarm faster!

  Sebastian cast a spell, creating four pillars of water. He positioned each one as a barricade between them and the platforms the Boss Arkwarden continued to warp between. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done!”

  “Can they understand us?” Hyato asked.

  “I don’t know.” Sebastian said, “So I’ll assume they can.” Sebastian’s water pillar intercepted a beam and splashed into mist. The water rising from the floor replaced it, reforming the defense.

  Hyato continued to attack Arkwardens as they got close. The distance between them dwindled, until they seemed to be surrounded by an impassable wall of autonomous metal energy knights. “There’s too many.” Hyato said, not a hint of emotion in his voice.

  Another beam struck a pillar, but instead of fading the beam was sustained. “Now!” Sebastian said, waving his arms towards the beam. The other pillars moved in an arc and reinforced as one, a continuous geyser of magical water rising to block the screeching beam of energy. Hyato sheathed his sword and grabbed Sebastian around the waist, jumping through the air to the empty platform that Wolf lay at the base of.

  As Sebastian and Hyato sailed away from the center, the pillar of water faded into mist. The beam sailed past, striking a group of Arkwardens and boring a hole into them. The Arkwardens all watched as their prey leapt away, turning to give chase.

  Forgotten on the ground, Michael smirked as he poured the rest of his focus into the Ulprism in his hands. He’d been pouring more and more energy in, filling himself to the limit of volatile force. As Hyato carried Sebastian away, Michael exploded.

  A violent violet vortex of erratic force exploded out of Michael in a ballooning wave of energy. The Arkpulse attack empowered by his Ulprism crackled in contact with dozens of distracted Arkwardens. The expanding wave overtook their number and shredded them into static, then slammed into the pillars of their origin. The pillars shook and cracked, the light within them going dim.

  Outside the range of Michael’s strike, the Boss Arkwarden had recovered from it's sustained beam. It focused it's gaze on Michael and charged a malevolent red light in it's head, taking a preparatory stance. As the pillars cracked, it leaned forth to brace itself to fire a beam.

  The kunai knife from the shadows struck the Boss Arkwarden at the core in it's helmet. The charged beam glow faded as it spotted Lin at the base of it's platform, and then it vanished in a shower of sparks, moving to another. It reappeared and refocused, only for a slash to cut into it's chest. Hyato was already waiting here.

  The Arkwarden moved again, right into a trap set by Jess. The explosion cracked it's armor before it warped away to the last platform. Sebastian stood before it, smiling and making no aggressive acts. The Boss Arkwarden took it's stance to fire point blank.

  Amber flames erupted from the ground, overtaking the Arkwarden before it knew what was happening. Before it could warp away again, the vivid fire was joined by a thunderous bolt of lightning. With one final deafening boom, the Boss Arkwarden of the dungeon faded into sparks.

  “Gotcha.” Wolf said, standing in a pained pose.

  Even after the Boss Arkwarden was slain, three pillars remained. The three with spaces in them continued to spawn more knights, having been undamaged by Michael’s major attack. Lin and Michael found the correct boxes to stop the attacks while the others held off the foes. After defeating the last of the arkwardens, the party took a few minutes to rest. The others made it through with only minor scrapes, but Wolf was having trouble walking. Sebastian and Hyato did some first aid, with the former casting a spell to numb Wolf’s pain. Even after their careful comfort, Wolf looked at the others with an apologetic melancholy.

  “Sorry guys.” Wolf said, “I really shouldn’t have done that.”

  “You don’t need to keep apologizing.” Sebastian said.

  “Can’t change the past.” Hyato said.

  “We can get you some salve back in town.” Jess said. “For now, we need to keep going until this place is cleared.”

  “I feel like we should be just about done.” Sebastian said. “Lin and Michael found the right cubes for the pillars, right?”

  Lin nodded, “Yeah, or we would still be fighting.”

  “We haven’t acquired the Synergy for this room just yet.” Michael said, pointing at a door that had been revealed when the last arkwarden fell. “It’s not over.”

  A grim silence fell over the party for a few moments. Then Wolf stood up and hobbled towards the last door. “Then let’s end this, right?”

  Michael and Hyato gathered first, then the others all joined Wolf to step through to the next room. A small room, about the size of the bedrooms from earlier, greeted the party. Michael noted that it had nine walls.

  The only detail of note was the plinth in the center of the room. Built to hold something, a treasure perhaps, or a book. Whatever it had been, the plinth was empty. Wolf’s shoulders drooped, “That’s disappointing.”

  “Well, dungeons have been around for millenia, I wouldn’t be surprised if the secret treasure housed here had already been looted.” Sebastian said. He stepped into the room. “Still...” He began to encircle the room, using his pulse to search it. Lin mimicked him.

  “No matter.” Michael said, approaching the plinth. “We cleared the place, right?” He rested a hand on the plinth.

  A storm welled up inside of Michael, making him flinch and brace himself against the plinth. The others around the room had a similar reaction, all looking shocked and dazed. For a moment the raging force inside felt alien, and then it consolidated into a singular force.

  Synergy.

  A feeling of absolute triumph welled up in Michael. A pride of completion, satisfaction, and peace. The emotion was momentary, but the imprint of power it left in him was incredible. More synergy than he had ever felt filled him. It could be changed, or used to change. Michael felt it's potential. Strength, Will, Insight. Many things were possible. He could grow his knowledge, or his muscles, or the power of his Soul. He even felt as if he could change his body, his ability, if he so desired. There was too much that could be done.

  When he got back to his senses, Michael felt a change in the air of the dungeon. The pervasive neutral light had shifted, becoming a more natural light from above. Small details on the walls and floors looked new with the change in light, as they no longer gave off a light of their own. It almost felt like he was in a different place.

  “That’s it then.” Sebastian said, “This place has been returned to reality. The Dungeon is cleared.”

  “Really? So... we’re done?” Jess asked.

  “Yes. We should head back, use up this synergy before too long. Get something to eat.” Sebastian said. Michael nodded, and the others agreed as well.

  Though they had found the entrances of deeper dungeons, the party departed. They returned to the village proper, and to the house they had been residing in all these days. Wolf broke off from the others to head to the healer’s hut, in the hopes of recovery. He was still having trouble walking.

  “What are you going to do with your Synergy?” Lin asked.

  “I dunno,” Jess said, “Might make myself faster, or advance my knowledge of the element power Sebastian showed me.”

  “Ooh, that could be fun.” Lin said, “I think I’ll pour some into Arkpulse, I feel like it will be easier to use once it’s stronger.”

  Sebastian grinned at the girls, “Think carefully before you use it all. You two might take a page out of Michael’s book.”

  “Oh, what’s he doing then?” Jess asked, looking around the room. Jess, Lin, and Sebastian sat around the table in the house, a light meal for company.

  “Training, of course.” Sebastian said, indicating the door to the training yard out back. “What kind, I am not sure, but he has been practicing modifying techniques for a while. I think he is using his Synergy to enhance that training.”

  “Isn’t Synergy Training really tiring?” Lin asked.

  “Yes.” Sebastian said, “And it can be really effective if you do it right. Train a particular technique with it, and the strain on your body will improve your related muscles and attributes. It does take alot longer, of course.”

  Jess stood up, “That sounds like a good idea, actually.” She said.

  Sebastian watched as Jess went towards the back yard area, “Have fun.” He said.

  Michael stood in the middle of the training yard, his attention focused on the sword in his hand. Jess thought his pure white hair was odd on a young man, but many things were odd about him. “What kind of training will you be doing?” Jess asked as she approached.

  “Well, there is a technique I am trying to make.” Michael said, “So that, for one. I also want to make a few other things I’ve learned more useable in actual combat. I’m trying to work out the best way to do that.”

  “Well, I’ve learned a bunch of techniques myself, and helped train many others as well.” Jess said, “Want some help?”

  “Absolutely!” Michael said, “That would be great!”

  “Okay, so how about you tell me what you want to improve?” Jess said.

  “Sebastian taught me Elemancy, and Wolf showed me a little Elemartialism. I want to use those two in my fighting.” Michael said.

  “What kind of skills are they?” Jess asked.

  “Well, Elemancy is a mental skill where you summon and control elements... and Elemartialism is a skill to add elemental effects to attacks, mostly martial ones.” Michael said. Jess nodded, so Michael continued. “After those two, I want to include my Arkpulse skill as well. I think it has good combat potential. And I created a technique called Light Form... I want to do something with it.”

  “Okay.” Jess said, “Is there anything else?”

  “The jumping technique I used to complete the Trial of Agility.” Michael said, “And I have an attack called Dark Blade that I am working on improving with Techmotion. Oh, I want to improve Techmotion, cause it lets me modify my attacks.”

  Jess nodded along, “I think I will need you to demonstrate all this for me to be able to help.”

  “Alright.” Michael said, turning towards a practice stone. “Then let’s get started!” Michael began to demonstrate his combat abilities for Jess, showing her each one and explaining them. Jess spent the next few hours with Michael, working on training and finding a solid plan that let him work on multiple skills at once.

  After Synergy Training for a few hours Michael spent some time practicing Command on the porch as the others went to sleep. Twilight turned to dusk, and slipped into night. Michael played seven games against himself, focusing on ways to improve. After waiting for an hour after dark, Michael went to bed.

  Yan did not meet with Michael that night.