The Ruby Magician

Wyn emerged from the portal in stride, stepping out into the small clearing that bordered the temple ruins. He took a few deep breaths to settle himself, thankful that he was already tolerating the portal trip better.

Tasha promptly sat down in a small shadowed patch of grass directly outside the jungle. The stone arch that signaled the entrance into the ruins wasn’t too far in front of them, and again the layout was different than yesterday but still familiar. She reached into her bag up to her shoulder and searched around before pulling out some bread. Her water skin was already out and in use.

“Are you hungry?” Cal asked. He sat on the ground beside Tasha and took off his backpack, stretching his back and arms.

Tasha gulped down her water for several seconds before letting out a satisfied sigh. "I am, surprisingly. All that running in the humid jungle did me in."

"Do you want me to make something?"

Tasha furrowed her eyebrows at him and tilted her head. "What do you mean? Do you have a secret compartment of food somewhere in that pack?"

Cal chuckled. "I have the means to make food. Pots, pans, ingredients - I can cook some lunch if everyone wanted."

Tasha shot up onto her knees, dropping her water skin in the process. "That's so resourceful! I think that's a great idea. We can climb longer and take our time without needing to go back to Alestead for food!" She climbed to her feet and fumbled with her staff, rambling and clumsy in her excitement. "What do you all think?"

John sat down beside Cal and sprawled out on the ground, taking a large whiff of the jungle air. "Not a bad idea at all! I'm not hungry right now, but I'm open to the idea."

Wyn watched Marcy inspect the large stone arch at the edge of the ruins. She wasn't in earshot, instead taking in the environment since this was her first time on the second floor for the new season. Wyn had a feeling like she was still able to hear them, though, thanks to her advanced perception of her surroundings.

"I think it's a good idea, too," Wyn said, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck. "Though we should probably push on for a bit first. It could take awhile in there, and we need to make the best use of our time."

John groaned as he stood up, then put out a hand to help Cal stand up, too. The Mapper grabbed his forearm and pulled, and John was yanked forward before replanting his feet and using his other arm to help Cal the rest of the way.

"You know, you're a stout guy," John said, rubbing his arm after helping Cal up. “If you wanted to fight instead you'd make a hell of a Climber.”

Cal's cheeks flushed as he scratched the back of his head. "Yea... thanks. Maybe." He quickly slung his backpack on his shoulder and hurried down to the ruin entrance.

John furrowed his eyebrows. Wyn made the same face, and they looked at each other in confusion. That was more than a strange reaction. Cal was shy, sure, but that was a fairly dismissive response.

Under the stone arches, Wyn felt a bead of sweat fall down his cheek. It was unfortunately just as hot here as the jungle, but he was thankful it wasn't as humid. From their vantage on the clearing he could tell the ruins held a few pockets of shade where stone held together for small spots on ceilings or corners, or tall walls shading the stone paths from the sun's rays. Those areas would serve as good places to take breaks, though they could also hold more traps or enemies.

The entirety of Alistair was a death trap, but its design made it manageable. At least so far.

The courtyard ahead of them was empty and quiet. It wasn’t long - maybe fifty feet until the next section, Wyn guessed - but it seemed more frightening due to its innocent and inviting appearance. It looked similar to last time, except the appearance was slightly changed, like trying to create something new from a dream or memory. The sandstone path was smooth except for various pebbles and debris, and the walls on both sides were halfway broken apart. Excerpts into other parts of the maze were visible behind the sides, though Wyn wasn’t sure it was possible to scale them and break the traditional layout that was obviously set before them.

"So these are the ruins,” Marcy said, not taking her eyes off of the scattered stones and path ahead. “And you said there were traps in each section?”

“That’s what Devon found, but not every section,” Wyn said. “Just this first section was trapped. It looks innocent enough, but arrows flew out of various holes in the stones on either side.” Wyn pointed to the stones on the sides of the small courtyard ahead of them.

“I can sense them,” Marcy said. She knelt down onto the ground and softly ran her hands across the stone surface. “It’s a distance trigger. Something that weighs enough and goes far enough will set it off. So dust or pebbles won’t set it off.”

John picked up a stone and chucked it forward, letting it skid across the ground. Two arrows flew across the path from each side, one a bit further than the other. They bounced harmlessly off the stone on the opposite side. It was strange, too - the arrows were nearly silent except for the brief whoosh when they were fired and the twang of hitting rock.

“There’s two down,” John said, smirking. “Is it that easy?”

“For this type of trap, yes,” Marcy said. “Though I have a feeling there will be other kinds the further we go. These floors are designed to be strategically overcome rather than brute force, so we likely won’t find many wandering monsters, either.”

“I don’t know about that,” Tasha said. “We encountered a group pretty quickly last time. They were different and harder than the first floor, too.”

Marcy snickered. “That comes with the territory. Each floor will obviously be harder. The trick is finding out how much harder, and surviving it. Then, after a few climbs through the floor figuring it out, it’s much more manageable.”

Wyn stepped forward, unafraid now that the traps had been set. He reached down and picked up another rock, throwing it forward. The stone set off another arrow, and he advanced down the path, knowing it was safe. He reached for one more stone, carefully throwing it so it wouldn’t go far past the wall that separated the courtyard from the next section. Marcy needed to check each new path, but he figured he could at least contribute along the way.

“That wasn’t so bad,” John said. “And we have no shortage of rocks.” He kicked a rock to the side with his boot.

Cal slammed a small book shut, and the pop made the others jump. He looked at them sheepishly before slowly putting the book in a pocket. “I’m sorry. I’m just taking notes.”

Wyn laughed. “It’s okay. Just unexpected. You’re already taking notes?”

“Of course,” Cal said. “I started a small drawing to help us navigate, and made a note about the trap. There shouldn’t be more than a few different kinds of traps here.”

“Wait a minute,” Tasha said. “Have you helped another group on this floor, Cal? Do you have information about what others have found?”

The Mapper smiled softly and adjusted his pack. “Funny enough, I’ve only been on the first and third floor so far. This is new for me, too.”

John’s eyes went wide. “Oh! So you know about the third floor! What’s there? Enemies? More traps? It’s the temple, isn’t it?”

“Not now,” Marcy said. “We can discuss it when we rest. We still have to climb this floor, John.”

John put his hands up defensively. “Alright, alright. I was just curious!”

“Curiosity and cats,” Marcy said, walking forward to the next section. “You know what they say.”

John moved his mouth mockingly behind her, using his hand as a puppet to emphasize his point.

Marcy repeated the same tactic as before, kneeling on the ground and inspecting the stone floor. It only took her seconds before she stood up and clapped her hands together, a small cloud of dust forming.

Wyn smiled to himself. Devon did the same thing before.

“No traps here,” Marcy said. “This is going to get old fast having to check every section.”

“Maybe it’s like the sections of mushrooms,” Wyn said. “Until the next branch the path was the same. Maybe here it’ll change once we find the next portion of the whole floor?”

Marcy nodded her head. “That’s likely. It’s still annoying, though.”

Wyn sighed. “I know.”

The group slowly moved forward, section by section, just like the last time they were here with the others. It was tedious and boring, but safe.

Eventually they came to a wider, longer section of broken stone that was reminiscent of the courtyard at the beginning. At the other end wasn’t a continuing section but a perpendicular cross way, their first branching path of the ruins.

Marcy stopped at the edge and crossed her arms. “No traps here, but it seems odd. I can’t put my finger on why, though.”

John walked forward, hand on his sword hilt where an amethyst gemstone was socketed. “Could be the enemies like before. Maybe that’s the next section you mentioned?”

Marcy straightened suddenly before grabbing her bow and drawing an arrow. "I sense something coming. Get ready.”

Wyn grabbed his spear and walked a few feet away from the group, giving himself some distance between them. “I’m going to distract them, then Marcy, pick off what you can. John, be ready for a fast follow up.”

John moved forward slowly along the path, repositioning himself. Marcy stayed put with an arrow nocked, ready to attack whatever revealed itself behind the crossing way ahead.

A small patrol of Lacerts stepped into view from left to right. It was a different setup than last time - there were only three of them, two carrying halberds and one carrying a sword and a shield. They weren’t quite as armored either, which made Wyn wonder if they met champions last time.

The creatures quickly yelped in surprise seeing the Climbers, readying their weapons and crouching to move into position. Wyn wasn’t too far from them, though, and stepped forward to close the gap he needed.

“Flash!” He yelled, and held his hand out in front of him. He didn’t know whether the magical light would affect him, too, but he decided to close his eyes just in case. In an instant a bright flash erupted from his open palm flooding the monsters in white light.

They all immediately screamed and held their hands or arms over their faces and eyes in response. One of the Lacerts holding a halberd dropped it. They all stumbled back, disoriented.

“Now!” Wyn yelled, hoping Marcy and John would take advantage of the opportunity. He didn't wait for them as he wanted to end this quickly, only hoped they’d act fast. Taking only a couple of steps he lunged out with his spear, stabbing the closest Lacert in the stomach. He was aiming for the chest, but due to it writhing in blindness, his target moved, and the spearhead dug deep inside its abdomen through the armor it wore. The wind element of the spear again worked in his favor, and it felt much easier to strike in addition to the spear being able to pierce the armor and cause more damage.

While pulling the spear out, the Lacert screamed louder, its eyes wildly rolling around uselessly. It clawed out in a panic, though Wyn was at a safe distance due to his weapon's reach. He stabbed it two more times in quick succession, and the third blow felled the flailing creature.

Wyn turned, ready to attack the next creature, but was too late. John had stepped to another one and attacked it, and was currently pulling the entire blade out of the monster's chest in a sickening sound. The sword was a rich purple, imbued with the wind element from the amethyst stone. The third Lacert had an arrow sticking out of its chest, and John promptly slashed it across the entirety of its torso with a harsh swing that nearly separated it in two.

There was a brief moment of quiet, the only sounds being a few deep recovering breaths from the two warriors.

"That was new," Marcy said, as the rest of the group walked over to the aftermath.

"Yea, but amazingly useful," John added. "Why haven't you used that before?"

Wyn started to wipe the blood off his spear but stopped when it started to dissolve back into the tower along with the monster’s bodies. He wondered if he would ever get used to that.

"I just added it," Wyn said. "I changed a few spells to be better support. I realized I needed to utilize my ability to have spells more, and I'm hoping what I chose now will be good enough for awhile. I still favoring using a weapon and want my spells to complement that and all of you."

"It's definitely helpful," John said. "That spell will be great to use again. How many times can you use it? You know, before your mana runs out."

Wyn checked the mark on his forearm. Only the outer circle was glowing, showing that he had barely used any of his mana. It wouldn't take long to fully recover, either, especially if they didn't meet too many more groups of enemies.

"In quick succession, and using no other spells, likely six or seven times," Wyn said. "Though I have a feeling I won't need to worry about that since I'll gain my mana back before long. That spell didn't use much."

"That's a spell from my list," Tasha said, more as a statement than a question. "I haven’t really heard of it being used at all, but it really was effective. I might need to add it just in case."

Wyn nodded. "It's not popular because you have to be closer, and it's not ideal for you to be too close, right? That's what my mentor mentioned, at least."

"Yes, that's what I was told, too," Tasha said. She fiddled with the hem of her robe and furrowed her eyebrows. "But it's definitely useful. I'll have to remember that."

"You're useful, he's useful, we're all useful," Marcy said, waving her hands in the air. "We all know we're useful. Let's move on, already - I think this is the start of the next portion."

Everyone agreed and moved on, Marcy leading them. Tasha stayed behind them as they walked, and Wyn could sense something was wrong with her. She might have wanted a bit of privacy from the others, so he walked slow to let them get a bit ahead.

"Everything okay?" Wyn asked. He lowered his voice so he wouldn't be overheard too easily.

"I guess," Tasha said. "I'm just... still feeling useless. I want to help more. That's all."

"Tasha, you are an incredibly important part of our group. I wouldn't want to climb at all without you here. I know you aren't doing as much now, but your healing and support is crucial. Honest."

Tasha sighed and shook her head, her black curls bouncing around her shoulders. "I know, I know. Maybe towards the end of this season we'll already be at our class upgrade. I’ll be ready for more and to do more.”

“We’ll get there. I know it.”

The group stopped again, Marcy standing before a new pathway. She was looking around in all directions, trying to spot something.

This particular path was still broken stone, but it seemed different somehow. The stone path and walls were darker, and the debris that littered the ground was more grey than brown, like stone from a building rather than sand. The ceiling was still gone as the sun illuminated their path and brightened the area. The path was even, large square blocks of stone, where before it was simply a large stretch of sandstone.

Overall, there wasn’t much difference, as they were still in ruins and still outside. But it was still obvious.

“So we’re definitely in the next section,” Marcy said. “See the sconces on the walls? Or where they’re intact, at least. That’s new.”

“Kinda like we’re in some inner portion of a castle?” Wyn asked.

“Sort of,” Marcy said. “But more like the inner workings of a temple. This is the same environment, after all, and the large temple is likely the next floor. It’d make sense that this would’ve been an outer portion of that temple long ago, and is now in ruins.”

Wyn tried to see what Marcy pointed out. Sure enough, there were remnants of a sconce on the back left wall, or at least what remained of both. It was hardly noticeable, but the Ranger spotted it and apparently spotted others.

Marcy stepped forward before immediately jumping back. The square stone she stepped on was pushed down an inch below the rest of the path.

Everyone froze, waiting to see what would happen. Slowly the square stones in front of them dropped down, and a loud clatter came from below them. Wyn and Marcy peeked over the edge trying to see what happened.

About twenty feet below them was a pit of many jagged, wooden spikes along with the crumbled remains of the stone flooring. The pit was three stones long, easily over ten feet, and stretched the entire width of the path.

“What is it?” Tasha asked.

Wyn turned to look at the others with a frown. “Not good.”

“How?” John asked. He walked over to the pit’s edge. “Oh.”

“Yea,” Wyn said. “We’ll have to jump it.”