The Ruby Magician

FLOOR 1

Group: 5/5

Quest: The city is under siege! Foul creatures have broken through the defenses to terrorize defenders and citizens alike. Will you earn freedom or be caught in the onslaught? Danger lurks around many corners, but escape can be found in unlikely places.

Wyn folded up his parchment and tucked it into his jacket pocket. Well, that description wasn’t ominous at all. It was far different than a simple trek through the jungle, but he wasn’t complaining. Hopefully this would be the first and only time he and his group climbed the first floor.

Another rumble shook the small house where Wyn emerged from the portal inside Alistair. The others were right behind him as they all crammed into the space. It was borderline claustrophobic inside what could only be called a wooden hut, and Wyn was doing his best to suppress memories that desperately wanted to surface.

Before the season started he sat down with Daniel and had another lengthy discussion about his time at war. It was healing to be able to talk freely about his experiences with someone who genuinely wanted to listen, and he could tell Daniel had a history of his own. Maybe one of their conversations would steer towards Daniel finding his own healing. Wyn desperately wished that for the older Ruby Magician. He was far too selfless and kind to be harboring any negative thoughts.

But, Wyn knew that he himself wouldn’t be freed from his thoughts instantly. They still lurked in the back of his mind waiting for the opportune time to make an appearance. A new season to climb focusing on war and death wasn’t exactly something Wyn looked forward to, but his resolve was too great to be deterred. He told himself that not only would he make it through without spacing out, but that he’d also refuse to freeze in the heat of combat. His teammates deserved far better than that, and he needed to be better.

“Well this is an unexpected start,” John said. “Should we go out one at a time or together?” He pointed towards the single exit of the small hut with his sword. He was already gearing up for a fight, and based on the noise outside it was a smart move. Chaos seemed to whirl around them, with shouting, screaming, clanging of metal, and loud thumps all echoing through their shack.

“Let me check it out,” Marcy said. “I’ll be just a second.” She held an arrow along with her bow and opened the wooden door, disappearing around the hut in a flash.

Wyn could see that the outside was coated in a sort of orange-red light that was far too intense to be sunset. It looked to be more like the glow from a bonfire that encompassed the city. Based on the quest description, that may very well be what was happening.

Marcy suddenly appeared back in the hut. The arrow she held before was gone. “Be ready. It’s chaos out there. And it looks like some sort of demon-like creatures will be the monster of the month. Not sure if they have an element or not, but there’s quite a few of them.”

“For the first floor?” Tasha asked. “They can’t be that dangerous so soon.”

Marcy drew another arrow with plain white fletching. “They’re about the size of a stray dog. Not sure of much yet but you’re probably right. Still, I saw about a dozen just running around while I was out. They don’t look to be completely focused on us but better to be safe than sorry.”

“Agreed,” Wyn said. “We’ll go with our scouting formation. Tasha, just keep your eyes open for anything in the distance. Marcy will keep us on the path.”

The others readied their weapons and gear before moving into position. John gave Tasha a reassuring wink before facing the door behind Marcy. He held his sword and shield at the ready, waiting for Marcy to exit first.

“Stay close to each other,” Wyn said to Cedric and Tasha. “I’m going to stay at the back to make sure we don’t get flanked. If I need to move somewhere else, though -”

“You’ll start sprinting around like a madman, we know,” Cedric said. “We can handle ourselves. Have confidence.”

Wyn took a deep breath. Cedric was right, of course. The Wizard had far more experience at this than he did, but his experience and desire to lead and take command while remembering his teammates were capable of holding their own was a delicate balance. He needed to trust them.

“Alright,” Wyn said. “Marcy, let’s move.”

The Ranger stepped out of the hut while the others followed in a line. Wyn could hardly believe what he saw when he finally emerged from the hut behind Cedric. He knew the tower magically changed and presented different environments but what he saw was still unexpected. The sky was filled with dark grey and black clouds, red and orange like coals in a fire, and massive balls of flaming rock soared through the air all around them. It truly was a war zone, but not just any war zone. This was a magical siege from one of the hells.

The area around them looked to be a residential district as houses were everywhere. Most were on fire or completely turned into rubble, but some remained standing though not unscathed. Shouts and screams of people that Wyn didn’t know were real or magical came from all directions, and he started to feel a bit of a sensation overload. He took another deep breath and steadied his mind, focusing on his teammates and following them.

He inwardly sighed. This would not be an easy month.

Marcy led the group through narrow paths between houses on dirt roads. It was interesting how there actually was a layout ahead of them as several paths ended with burning huts or large piles of debris or simply didn’t appear to go anywhere. Once they started trotting along the road it was fairly obvious to see the path they were supposed to take.

It was only seconds before they met their first enemy. They were alerted to a deep resounding bark, and they all looked to the right when their road opened into a small shared section of several houses that was more spacious than the road. The animalistic noise came from three monsters that were standing in the middle of the open space just growling. Their bodies were black and hairless with jaws that seemed to open far too wide. Sharp jagged teeth were coated in disgusting white drool that dripped from their mouth like they were rabid and wild, and beady red eyes sealed their demonic look.

Marcy was right. They definitely looked like demon dogs.

The Ranger immediately loosed her arrow at one of them and a pitiful yelp came from it when the arrow struck its neck. The force of the hit caused it to fly back several feet but it still squirmed, not entirely dead. The other two lunged forward with surprising agility but John stepped forward to meet them head on. Before he could intercept their attacks a streak of lightning crackled and shot around the Climbers, hitting one of the demon dogs in the side and obliterating its shoulder and side. John bashed the last one with his shield and cut it down with two swift attacks from his sword.

Wyn ran over and inspected the dog that Marcy shot. It was starting to get up but hobbled from the arrow sticking out of it, and he promptly ended it with a stab of his spear. In seconds the body started to dissolve into magical dust. When he looked around he didn’t notice a single dropped item.

“Do you think they have an element?” Tasha asked as Wyn rejoined them on the path.

“If they’re demonic, no,” Cedric said. “Demons are susceptible to Divine magic but that’s about it.”

“So I can use healing spells and injure them instead?” Tasha asked. “I was told that could happen with some enemy types.”

“Yes, but I’d recommend only doing that in a pinch. It’s better to save your mana to heal and protect us, unless it’s a boss or really needed.”

“That’s good to know,” Wyn said.

“But we need to confirm their type,” Cedric said. “Get an item drop from them and check your parchment and we’ll know for sure. Otherwise, don’t waste it.”

Another loud crashed sounded from off in the distance. Some errant screams could be heard but otherwise the noise returned to its previous level of chaos.

John’s sword flashed with a blue light before the blade reverberated a rich blue hue. “I’ll add an aquamarine gemstone to my sword just in case they’re actually fire instead.”

“Good,” Wyn said. “Then let’s keep going. This new environment is overwhelming.”

The others agreed and continued their formation through the residential district. The path felt endless at times as each turn that they passed seemed to open up into more blocks of homes. It could take hours just to cover the distance.

But, the group was trotting along at a half-jog rather than the slower pace of the jungle the month before. Since there was no immediate obstacles to clear they could move easily. The only hindrance was that each of them would get distracted at one point or another from the houses on fire, the flaming sky, and the sounds of panic. It was unsettling, but didn’t seem to be directly affecting them. Only an ambient distraction that was incredibly effective. Likely, Wyn thought, one of the features of the first floor, meant to disorient and force Climbers to focus.

It only took a few more minutes before they encountered another group of the dog monsters. This pack had four of the dogs but they guarded the dirt road, waiting and ready to attack. The group quickly dealt with them with basic attacks, saving their mana for more serious needs. Wyn had to activate a Shield spell at one point to prevent being rushed by two of them, but the dull-minded creatures just slammed into the barrier and bounced away. Wyn felt like the magical shield was denser, and he attributed it to his second tier class and power.

Again, unfortunately, no item drops from the monsters.

Wyn decided to check his mark before they moved on, curious as to how much the spell took from his mana. The second circle that was added to his mark from his class upgrade held various markings he didn’t recognize, obviously markers of the tower’s magic. To his delight, the outer circle wasn’t even fully glowing, only a sliver being lit up. So based on the amount of his mark left, he could cast the spell at least a dozen more times in a row before he’d be too low or out of mana. That might not have been much for a spell that only used a small amount, but his ability to recover mana at a greater rate would help curb that deficit. Plus, the odds of him needing to use so many spells back to back like that were low. At least for the first tier. And, he had a mana potion on his belt just in case.

He smiled. He finally felt ready to take on Alistair’s challenge.

“Any luck?” Marcy asked. She pointed to John’s sword.

“I’m not sure,” John said. He looked at the blue blade before sheathing it. “They’re not too difficult to kill outright. I haven’t been able to tell a difference yet with the gemstone.”

“We’ll have more chances,” Cedric said. “I’m not too concerned about that.”

“As long as they’re this easy, it might not even matter,” John said.

The group killed two more smaller packs of the dog monsters in a similar fashion in less than 10 minutes from the start of the floor. No item drops came and their bodies dissolved quickly, leaving them to continue down the beaten path. They likely would have taken longer if they weren’t going at a faster speed, but the intensity of the floor around them helped pushed them forward.

Finally on their fifth monster encounter there was a familiar green glow when one of the monsters disappeared. Wyn excitedly picked it up. His excitement left almost immediately when he realized the item was just a patch of dried leather. Still, it was a green rarity monster item, so he wasn’t going to allow his disgust to get in the way of treasure.

Pulling up his parchment labeled ITEMS he looked down for the new item and found an entry.

Ashen Dog Leather - a piece of hide from the Ashen Dog, rabid animals that are burnt husks of their former strength. Fire element.

“There’s your answer,” Wyn said. “They are fire based, not demonic.”

“And gross,” John said. “You can keep that, by the way. I don’t want that anywhere near my pack.”

Wyn put the item in his backpack with a smirk. Even though it was definitely strange it wasn’t bloody or filthy. Just odd.

“So water will be our friend this season,” Marcy said. “I can work with that. I have some arrows I can bring next time and a few water spells I can use.”

“I’ll need to change my Callings,” Tasha said. “One of them is completely earth based which won’t be a help at all. I could change it out for a water Calling but I’ll need pretty much the rest of the day.”

“I can change my spells as well,” Wyn said. “Let’s stick with our plan, though. Get to the second floor and see if we can make it all the way. If not, at least we can use a key to return. Regardless, we’ll take the rest of the day to change spells and gear.”

John sighed. “I don’t have any gear or spells to change like all of you. My sword is excellent and my gear should still work fine. What am I supposed to do? Maybe find a nice piece of chest armor?”

“Go with me to the markets for equipment,” Cedric said. “I don’t need to change anything and we can look for you some solid pieces. You’ll need it since we’ll be climbing the second tier more. And we can trade a few things for more appropriate gear, like Wyn’s spear and Tasha’s staff. Maybe some more armor for you two as well.”

John’s excitement returned just as quickly as it left. “That’s a great idea! Is it time to finally use some of the items we kept from last week? Even after we sold most of it we brought in quite a haul!”

“Yea, I think so,” Marcy said. “Now that we have a better focus of the elemental type we can definitely do that. And if we find something else on the second floor we can adjust what gear we get. But only trade one or two pieces, not all of it. We’ll need to see what the second tier is like first.”

John waved her away. “Yea, yea. At least we have a good plan!”

The ground rumbled as another loud boom filled the air, closer than before.

“First, we get out of this hell hole,” Wyn said.

“Agreed,” Tasha added.

They continued on through another few turns past more burning houses and more Ashen Dogs before they reached a large courtyard. It was spacious and open with three side streets leading in different directions from their path. As they looked closer they realized one of the streets was blocked off from burning debris and another had a literal crater in the middle of it, but the path straight ahead was open.

Standing before the path was a new creature. It was human-like but tall and lanky, and looked to be just as burnt and demonic as the three dogs it held on collared chains. Thin black armor covered its body and head and it held a club in its free hand. The three dogs on chains were about a size and a half larger than the dogs they had faced so far.

The monster just stood there while the dogs snapped their jaws and pawed at the ground, eager to be let loose.

“Floor boss?” Wyn asked.

“Doubtful,” Cedric said. “We haven’t been here that long. Could just be a champion, especially it being the first floor.”

“On our first run?” John said. “I don’t know if we’re that lucky. Either way, we’re going to kill it.”

Suddenly the monster let go of the chains that held the dogs and they sprinted for the group faster than the previous Ashen Dogs. The monster followed behind them, slower but just as determined, raising its club to prepare an attack.

Wyn felt an aura envelope him and saw the red magical layer coat his body. He felt lighter and stronger as a surge of energy washed through him. It was John’s body enhancement aura from his new Squire class. It also was likely overkill, but Wyn wasn’t about to complain.

The two Climbers met the dogs head on. One of the monsters lunged at John while he stood his ground and absorbed the blow with his shield, never so much as budging from the hit. The dog fell back from the impact and sputtered on the ground in a daze. Wyn cast another Shield and blocked the two other dogs from biting and slashing him with their long claws. When they smashed into the magical barrier they were knocked back a bit but recovered quickly.

Wyn swept his spear horizontally and cast Wingbeat from the weapon. The familiar slash of magical green wind sliced over all three of the dogs but only left gashes. The monsters squealed in pain but weren’t killed outright like the earth elemental Lacerts from last season.

Well, his elemental advantage was gone. For now, at least. He quickly decided he’d pick up a new elemental spear to gain the advantage. Hopefully the other floors were also fire-based. If not, his strategy would need to be reevaluated.

Wyn quickly followed up the spell with another attack. John joined in beside him, both utilizing their enhanced physical features to attack faster and harder. Before the dogs could stand and attack again they were pierced and slashed several times over.

The lanky monster almost arrived just as its pets were killed, though a magically glowing arrow pierced its chest and stopped it in its tracks as a plume of force cratered its chest. A surge of small lightning arcs hit it next, and in seconds it was smoking and on the ground, dead.

The two ranged veterans killed it before it ever came close. They expended valuable resources to kill it, but the trade off was downing it before it even had a chance to attack.

A smile green pile glowed where the lanky monster fell. John walked over to it and laughed.

“Coins!” The Squire said. “It looks to be mostly silver cloaks, though it’s a good sized pile for the first floor.”

“Money is money,” Wyn said. “Every little bit counts!”

“I have better news,” Tasha said. She held her parchment with one hand and waved it. “There’s a secondary quest!”

The others stared at her before pulling out their own parchments.

Secondary Quest: Ashen Dogs are wild by nature but deadlier when controlled. The Fallen are twisted remnants of their former selves, hollow beings who have lost their way as well as their souls. When Fallen are awakened they can be an overwhelming force driven by nefarious means. You have slain one such being. Help ensure your escape by killing more.

1/4 Fallen killed

“Gods,” John said. “That’s not eerie at all.”

Wyn put his parchment away and thought the same thing. And this was only the first floor. What other weird and terrifying obstacles were they going to find? Looking up to the fire-red sky, it harkened a frightening season full of mystery and destruction. Wyn hoped it wasn’t an omen for their time for the next month.

“Why do I have a feeling this entire season is going to be eerie,” Wyn said.

“You never know,” Marcy said. “But killing things is what we as Climbers do. At least the quest is easy.”

A series of growls interrupted them further up the path. The others quickly put their parchments away and readied their weapons. Their climb had only just begun.