This Game Called Life
By: Bubbajack
Editors/Co-Authors: Icysnowsage, Heliosion, Loamy Coffee, Old man of the mountain/Darklord331
Disclaimer: We own nothing, the courts are corrupt, both political parties suck, the prices at the pump are too damn high, and the last decent thing to happen in Hollywood was justice for Johnny Depp! In other news Cyberpunk Edgerunners is LIT!
Ch.6: Dungeon Delving With Friends pt.I
[Dungeon: Tutorial Challenge Rating: 3 (party) lvl.12 (solo) Rewards: +2 Level, Basic Path equipment. Repeatable: Yes.]
[Welcome Back Player 2. System notices more players than the previous clear of the Dungeon. Difficulty Raised from Nightmare to Ultra Nightmare. Be Warned Acererak does not take well to Thieves!]
"Bring it on!" Xander said with more determination than he felt as he looked back at his group. It consisted of Buffy, Willow, G-man, Ellie, Morgana, Theresa, and himself. More people meant more danger, more monsters… but more rewards. 'We can do this, right?'
Buffy laid a hand on his shoulder. "Nervous? That's not good for troop morale you know?" she joked.
"Yeah but I'm not much of a leader, Buffster," The Class Clown said depreciatively.
In response, the Slayer punched him 'lightly' in the arm saying, "I think you don't give yourself enough credit Xan," She pointed at the girls who looked grim yet determined to follow him into the dungeon. Haylee was changing into her armor from the privacy granted by Gilles car, while the others gripped their weapons determinedly, waiting for his signal to go inside.
He noticed Theresa was sitting cross-legged on the ground in prayer while Morgana was studying the tome of fire magic he'd given her earlier. Making his way over to the Female Wizard he asked quietly so as not to disturb Theresa's prayer, "How goes the reading?"
Smiling up at him while fixing her glasses Morgana replied, "Well thank you. I can't thank you enough. First you save my life, then, you just give me this tome, and then for you to take me clothes shopping in that bazaar as well. I am in your debt Alexander," She gave him a sharp glare to silence him when he tried to complain, "No, I won't hear any excuses or naysaying. I am in your debt and I will repay it… somehow."
"Likewise," Theresa echoed the sentiment from her place on the ground.
Xander could deal with people hating and disrespecting him, the opposite though? He didn't know how to handle this. Not really, so he just rubbed the back of his head and replied, "You two really don't have to though? I mean I was doing the right thing to do, not because I wanted to get something out of it."
"And that just makes it all the better, most men would've… well you know?" Morgana flushed a bit but cleared her throat and carried on, "Asked for something very specific from maidens he'd saved if you take my meaning."
"I'm not a scumbag Morgana," Xander deadpanned.
Morgana shook her head, smiling brightly at her rescuer, before frowning, "No you're not, but unfortunately, the same cannot be said of most male adventurers back home."
"Just to be clear, Morgana is talking about sex right?," Theresa asked, opening one eye to look at the wizard questioningly. "And how Mister Alexander Sir didn't try and talk us into it after he saved us even though he likely easily could have?"
"Yes… indeed she… was." Elphaba replied, "You are… more perceptive… than you let on."
To which the blonde huffed, "I am an acolyte of the Earth Mother. Our duties around the temple included blessing crops, acting as midwives, and assisting in local animal births. Occasionally a woman would come by to drop off a bastard on our doorstep. To be raised as an acolyte. I… I was one such child actually."
Ah… I'm sorry?" Xander replied.
[+1 Charisma for your Empathy.]
Yet the priestess shook her head. "Don't be, I enjoyed growing up at the temple, everyone there was a family and the abbess acted like everyone's mother," She spoke wistfully, thinking back on her childhood. "We hold grand harvest festivals, and make beer and assist in making wine with the fall and summer crop, fresh apple pie when they were ripe and we'd help heal any adventuring party that came back from a quest," She chuckled, "When we were younger we'd fight with stick and slings pretending to be adventurers on quests… I guess… I never really grew out of that since I actually became an adventurer."
"Nothing wrong with that," Xander said, placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "In my experience any battle you can walk away from is one you can learn from."
"Well, I learned not to go into Goblin dens ill prepared," Theresa said with Morgana nodding in agreement.
Crossing her arms the red-headed genius of the group asked, "Are we going to go in or not?" Willow huffed in annoyance sickened at the display of affection she had to witness.
"Sure Wills one sec," Xander replied before he called, "You ready, Haylee?"
The minotaur slayer replied, "I'll be right out!" She appeared moments later bedecked in her armor, her war axe balanced on her shoulder and helmet tucked under her arm. "Ready to go when you are Xander."
Xander quickly donned his armor from his inventory screen and gave some simple orders. "Buffy and Haylee with me in the front line, G-man and Wills, second row, protect the casters. That is to say Ellie, Theresa and Morgana. Heads on swivels people this place was full of traps and skeletons when I went in alone last time, it's probably gonna be ten times worse now. If anything feels off, it probably is, if it feels safe it's probably not, and if it's too good to be true it likely is."
Everyone swallowed and nodded and then they headed into the all-consuming dark of the dungeon.
[Synergy System:
Depending on who you have in your party, the party as a whole will get one or more bonuses like so:
Synergies in effect:
Classic Lineup- Have a warrior, mage, and rogue in the party: a +10% to ATK, DEF, and Mana Regeneration.
Three of a Kind- Triple Arcana: Have three of any kind of magic class in the party +30% to Magic Damage and Mana Regeneration]
"Well that's cool," Xander said about the Synergy System, he frowned and when the second screen popped up and said, "That's not," Everybody saw that right?" Xander asked.
Almost everyone nodded, some confused, and Morgana asked, "What is this screen?"
Now wasn't really the time to explain about the System so he hedged, "It's… complicated, I'll tell you later if we make it out of here alive." He promised.
"Um, I can't see any screens." Buffy sheepishly admitted.
"Why?" Xander asked as he took a hesitant step forward. Not feeling any pressure plates he took another step. 'I should've made more torches before coming back here,' Xander thought to himself.
"I kinda told the guy in charge I wasn't interested."
Releasing a sigh, Xander said, "That was really dumb, Buff."
"Yeah yeah, I deal with enough wiggy crap on a regular basis, okay? My life turning into a game? Beyond the pale, thank you," She said as she hefted the gladius Giles just so happened to keep in his trunk. "So do you happen to know how to umm, turn the screens back on? She asked as she took a step forward ahead of Xander only to hear a sudden *click*
Xander pulled her backwards sharply seconds before spears descended from the walls and ceiling intent on impaling her where she would've been had she taken another step forward.
"Be careful, Buffy," He said, his eyes boring into hers as he rolled from on top of her.
The Slayer looked at the nine or so half-rusted spears that had descended from the darkness seeking to kill her because she was careless, "R-Right, thanks for the save."
"We need light. Morgana?" Xander asked questioningly.
"Candlelight." The mage intoned invoking one of the new spells she learned from the tome Xander gave her. On command, a pale white sphere of light floated above Morgana's head, projecting light up to about ninety feet.
Xander nodded, "Okay, good job team, we can see now… of course that also means the enemies can see us coming a mile off. Especially if they can see in the dark naturally."
"You couldn't just stop at 'good job team' could you?" The wizard grimaced.
The warrior shrugged, "I'm a realist. I take the good with the bad. Trust me, you'll live longer as an adventurer if you start thinking that way. Let's go and remember heads on swivels, people."
And so the group proceeded into the dungeon. If possible, It was even darker than Xander recalled, beyond the glow provided by Morgana's spell, they couldn't see anything at all. That is why it was pure luck that the arrow whizzed out of the gloom missed everyone.
"Form up!" Xander called as he raised his shield to prepare to block more arrows. Their enemies slowly trod out of the gloom. They were undead, covered in half-rusted black platemail with the flesh clinging to their skulls. They were emaciated and the only semblance of life in their eyes was this crimson red fire burning in their eye sockets.
Buffy charged heedless of the group formation, "Buffy no!" Xander called as he used [observe] to identify their foes, but she paid him no mind she was 'The Slayer' and she ate undead like them for a midnight snack. 'If I'm gonna be stuck with these powers might as well put them to good use,' She thought as she swung her gladius at the nearest undead only for its sword to raise with speed on par with the likes of Angel or Spike and block her blow, surprising her. She swung again, and the blade phased through it like it wasn't even there.
"What the hell?"
"I tried to tell you, those are Baneguards. They blink which lets them phase through attacks. It makes them harder to hit." Xander called. "Get back before you get killed!" as more arrows flew in from the darkness, which he blocked on his shield. 'Three swordsmen and I just blocked four arrows so there are at least that many bowmen. Seven in all. So a squad.'
"Xan, I got this!" Buffy called as she kicked the Baneguard in the chest before she lopped off its head… only for it to keep going. "Oh come on! I cut your head off!"
"It was just a flesh wound!" Xander called as he protected the group from arrow fire.
"Now is not the time to quote Monty Python, Xander!" Buffy shouted back as she rolled out of the way of a blow from one Baneguard, nearly skewered by two more.
Turning to Taurosa he offered her his shield and said, " Trade ya?" Getting the hint she took his shield and handed over her ax, and he continued, "Look after the others, I'm gonna go save Buffy." Turning to Theresa he said, "Loan me your mace please?"
The priestess nodded, "Right!"
"Right, be safe." Haylee said as she lifted the shield in time to block another volley of arrows.
Xander charged into the fray smacking the Baneguards away from his friend, tripping up one with the axe before he crushed its skull to powder with Theresa's mace. A soft white glow came off the mace causing the other undead to back up slightly. For even the dead "fear" the purification of holy light. Xander smirked as he looked at Buffy, "Look Buffs, I know vampires are your forte but let us help with the undead. They are hardier, stronger, faster, and scarily enough show no pain or fear when killed by normal weapons."
"Noted, anything I should know?" The Slayer asked a little breathless.
Seeing something familiar Xander nodded towards the wall and replied, "Herd 'em towards the wall, but be careful."
Looking over and seeing a large black sphere, Buffy asked, "What is that?"
"Our instant win button, called a sphere of disintegration now c'mon. But remember, be careful. One wrong touch and only ashes will be left."
The faux-blonde blinked before she ducked under a sword blow, "Wait, there is a sphere that will dust humans? WHO THE HELL MADE THIS PLACE!" Buffy yelled as she used the blunt end of her gladius to smash a skeleton into the sphere. She was horrified as it was zapped by green lightning and then just as Xander said dust was only left.
"A lich with too much time on his hands called Accerak."
[Name Recognized. Boss awakening. Warning Warning Danger level increased. NO ONE SPEAKS MY NAME BUT ME!] stated the system text as something took over part of the text.
[Objective: The dungeon boss is powering up a spell that will kill your entire party. Find and destroy the three orbs protecting the boss lair and kill the dungeon boss within the time limit.
Time: 1 hour
Failure: TPK "Total Party Kill"
Success: Monetary rewards will be doubled and one Guaranteed high tier item drop for each party member scaled to your level upon completion.]
"Mister Alexander Sir, I hesitate to ask but why is this lich so powerful?" questioned Theresa while the others start sweating that an all powerful system could be taken over by a simple lich and then enact a death penalty for everyone.
"Gods, demons, angels, dragons, and elementals are all pawns in the lich's games. He is most famous for slaughtering nine gods, stealing their divinity, and hiding their essence away in one of his crypts to birth a god subservient to him," was the grim answer Xander gave.
"Good heavens! That is something the Watcher Council has never even heard of! Xander, are you sure we can survive this?" asked Giles, sweating even harder as he watched the situation and wondered if they overstepped their bounds with this dungeon.
"Talk later, archers now!" Xander replied as arrows still rained down on the group from the darkness. Seeing something gleaming in the dark, he instinctively pulled Buffy down onto the ground.
Seconds later, a floating set of arms carrying a longsword flew past at head height, and would've decapitated them both if he hadn't seen its sword glinting in the dark.
"What the hell was that?!" Buffy asked.
"A Dread, according to my [observe] skill. Floating arms carrying swords. A real bitch to fight," Xander replied. Moments later, a huge gout of flame sped off into the darkness and one of the Baneguards in the process.
Looking over he saw Ellie looking annoyed. "I've had… enough… of this… bad weather."
"Same," Xander replied before shunting ki to his legs and blitzed down the archers. With his speed doubled, he was in melee range before they could react and he crushed the skulls of two of them with Theresa's mace, only for the last two to switch over to some aged looking axes. He was getting ready to bring Haylee's ax to bear when one of them was tackled to the ground by the girl herself who proceeded to crush the Baneguard's skull with the steel rimmed edge of his shield, while he handled the last by snapping its kneecap with a swift kick where there were weaknesses to benign bone after all.
The undead snarled at him definitely before he crushed its skull with the mace. "Yeah, fuck you too asshole," The Californian replied before turning back to his fellow warrior and offering her her preferred weapon back. "I think this is yours?"
"And this," She said, trading him for his shield, "Is yours. How did you move so quickly? Adrenaline?"
Shaking his head, Xander replied, "Ki," he said as he watched his faux-blonde friend try and fail to kill the Dread by herself. "Does someone wanna help Buffy out? We're on the clock now and can't just fool around. I know we all saw that window."
"What… window? Hold still damn it!" Buffy yelled at the floating arms as they spun like a dervish trying to kill her with style apparently.
"The one that said if we don't defeat the boss within an hour, we all die due to the boss casting an instant death spell," Xander replied.
"Oh come on! That's just not fair!" The blonde raged. "A little help please?!" She called behind her for the Dread to be summarily consumed by a gout of flame and arc of lightning. "You couldn't have… done that… sooner?" Buffy huffed annoyed and a tad out of breath.
"You… didn't ask. You also… broke formation… and put… all of us… at risk," Elphaba rebuked with a glare. "That was… reckless stupid… expected of a… gloryhound… or a… greenhorn. Alexander assures… us that you… are neither. Don't do this… again."
Buffy looked at the floor. No one, not even Giles had ever rebuked her like this before. "Right, sorry it… won't happen again."
"See that… it doesn't… Alexander has… much respect… for you. I would hope… it's not… misplaced."
"I… sorry," Buffy said again.
"Actions… speak louder… than words," The Witch said in response.
Buffy nodded, "Understood."
"Okay," Xander said, having just joined the group. "We all know what's going on, so I think it's best if we all split up into groups of three. Each of us will go after a core and then regroup at the boss room."
The Brit of the group couldn't help but comment, "Where is the boss room though?"
Xander thumbed behind him, "There's a big ass door further down that way, it's sealed off by three metal bars. I bet if we take out the cores the locks move," Xander pointed at people, "Theresa, with Buffy and Willow. Haylee with Morgana, and G-man. Ellie, you're with me."
"Are you sure Mister Alexander Sir?" the Priestess asked worriedly. "What if you get hurt?"
The Fighter smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I have a health potion, I need you to go with Buffy and Willow because they have no armor and are more likely to get hurt. They need you, Resa."
This was the first time since the cave that anyone said anything like that. She wouldn't fail this time. No one would get hurt again, not on her watch. She stood a bit straighter and tried to sound more confident as she spoke, though it unfortunately didn't come out as she intended, "O-Okay! I-I'll do my best to not disappoint you, Mister Alexander Sir."
"I'm sure you will, Theresa," Looking at the Slayer he said, " Buffy, keep her safe."
Seeing the look on the Witch's face that said 'don't screw up this time' Buffy nodded and replied, "Can do Xan, no worries. C'mon girls' we'll take the left path."
"We'll go right, come on Mister Giles, Morgana. Be safe Xander," Haylee said as she departed with her own group.
"He'll be… fine… he's with… me," Ellie sighed. "Forward then?" She asked her apprentice once they were alone. "If we…weren't… on a time limit… I'd ask… if you wanted… to try restoring… your ki… with those… bedroom arts."
"Ellie, the dungeon is not the time or the place for a quickie," Xander said, shaking his head and walking to hide his blush.
[She is as you kids like to say these days 'thirsty' Player 2. Also +1 to Wisdom and Charisma. Charisma for being able to turn her down, and Wisdom for being smart enough to do so while in a dungeon on Ultra Nightmare. And +1 to Strength it isn't as easy as it looks to shatter bone in one blow like you did.]
'Oh great, the peanut gallery is here too,' Xander thought.
[Hey now, I'm here to tell you about the bonus objective, or should I say, your original one?
Bonus Objective: Find the corpse of the Elf Maiden, transport it outside the Dungeon, and give it a proper burial.
Reward: Depends on the Constellations who Favor you.
Time Remaining before Death Spell Activation: 47 mins 56 secs.]
"Okay," Xander said, cracking his neck, "Let's do this," Turning to his partner he said, "Ellie, we gotta do something a little extra. Keep an eye out for an elf corpse, female. We get it out of the dungeon and we get extra stuff." He said as they walked down a hallway that looked to be prison cells. Thick wooden doors with metal bars at the top allowing jailers to look inside with slats at the bottom to allow what passed for food to be shoved through.
Xander gave one such room that had a skeleton that looked like it died holding some gear, a swift kick… then he enhanced his legs with ki and tried again and the door broke apart like so many splinters as he made his way warily inside. He poked at the bones with his sword in case they were faking death and decided to jump him when they got close.
The Witch watched this silently for a moment before she said, "Alright… on one… condition."
Sighing Xander asked, "Is it sex?"
"Maybe…" The Witch said with a cheshire smile on her lips as she watched her partner
Running his hand through his hair, 'I forgot to equip my helmet, too used to fighting in just clothes,' Xander thought. As he rummaged through the dead body he replied, "I'd prefer to take you on a date first. You know, wine and dine you… sex is just so… meaningless. I mean, I'm a guy and you're hotter than any spell you can cast but… I want more than just your body. Does that make sense or just sound dumb?"
The Witch stared at him silently for a moment before she said, "You actually want to court me first and not just take me to a room and mindlessly fuck me? Where have you been all my life?"
"Wow… the guys in your dimension must be real cavemen if I'm the gold standard," Xander said as he ran a hand down his face. He found a potion, a spear and some kind of rolled up vellum scroll.
"Women are expected to… adhere to their roles. Wife, cook, mother. Adventurers break the mold… somewhat… but still. Men are still…the ones in… control. A woman would not say no to a… noblemans' advances… for example or risk … ritual sacrifice. For goodness sake, Xander the man I wanted to marry … until I met you was going after Guild Girl no matter how hard… I tried he… wouldn't notice me … also flame bolt…" Ellie ended by shooting a spell of fire at a skeleton up ahead with an axe ready to strike as her partner peeked into the other prison cells.
"Nice situational awareness. But yes, when we all make it out of here alive, I will take you on a date," Xander promised as he brained another skeleton with the flat of his sword. "We can have it here or go back to that Four Cornered World of yours."
Elphaba beamed. She hadn't felt this happy since she was first put on a team with Spearman, and that was years ago, "Here is fine… and I'm looking forward to it… You know… the others… will be jealous… I asked you first, right?"
"First Buffy, now you? Why does everyone think I'm a chick magnet?" Xander asked cluelessly.
'Idiot' Both the Witch and the DM thought at the same time, one with affection and the other with exasperation. As they turned the corner… and found a Drider zombie standing in front of them and glowing behind it was a red orb.
'Well shit… I hope the others are having easier fights than we are about to,' Xander thought as he readied his sword and shield as his blade was suddenly coated in flame courtesy of his partner… yet he felt that, even with it, this was going to be a difficult fight.
The path Buffy and her group were walking down a hallway that had more of those human dusting spheres every ten feet on either side of the wall. It made the path difficult to traverse, especially the corners. 'This place is a living trap,' The Slayer thought. 'Whoever this Accerak guy is, he's devious. Evil, one hell of an architect but devious.' She couldn't help but compliment him, just a little bit. Before the whole Slayer thing happened she was considering becoming an architect. She did like building things as a kid. 'I miss the simple things, like Legos and crushing on Picard.' She thought idly as she hugged the corner to avoid being dusted by a death ball. "This place sucks, all in favor?"
"Aye!" Theresa and Willow echoed, both downspirited.
Willow, who was behind Theresa, was having her own much darker thoughts. 'It would be so easy to get rid of this one. To see him hurt. I'd just need to give her a bit of a push,' She thought as her hands tightened on the Priestess' arm.
"Ow, you're holding me too tight Miss Willow," the blonde complained.
For a moment, Buffy saw it. Willow's eyes were glowing red as she glared hatefully at the blonde in front of her. On instinct Buffy pulled Theresa close and said, "Willow, you okay?"
Blinking and giving her head a shake, her eyes went back to normal and Willow smiled, though Buffy could tell it was forced, or maybe even fake. "Yeah Buffy, I'm fine," She rubbed her shoulders to simulate warmth. "This place is just giving me the creeps."
"Is that why you were holding me so hard a minute ago? You were scared?" Theresa asked, understanding shining in her eyes. "It's okay Miss Willow, I… was in a similar situation until Mister Alexander Sir saved me."
'Oh goodie for you, you little skank,' Willow thought as she kept her face neutral. "Yeah he mentioned something about that in his base… what happened?" Willow didn't really care; she was just looking for other ways to hurt her. If she could do so by bringing up trauma in some way she would.
Theresa took a breath, she felt she could trust the companions of her savior. 'He trusts them after all,' she thought optimistically before she spoke, "We were going on our first mission as a party. We thought it was going to be a simple mission. Rescue some kidnapped women from Goblins… it did not go well. We underestimated them completely. Our leader was taken out quickly, then our monk had her leg broken in the fighting. Morgana was poisoned and my healing spell doesn't cover that so don't get poisoned," She chuckled morbidly before continuing, "And then we thought all hope was lost and we were going to become Goblin breedingstock… he showed up."
Neither one needed to ask who he was. Her tone was reverential when it came to Xander, bordering on fanatical devotion.
'She's got it bad,' Buffy noted. She was also keeping an eye on Willow. She noticed the twisted smile on her face when she talked about the horrors she faced, only for it to turn into a twisted grimace when she talked about Xander her eyes even flickered red again. 'Yeah, something is so wrong with Wills.' She decided. 'I need to bring it up with Xan in private, once we get outta here.' Keeping her own counsel she said, "We need to keep moving girls, we're on a time limit remember?"
The Priestess nodded, "Right."
"So Theresa, what spells do you know anyway, and how many times can you cast them?" Buffy needed to know what she was working with.
"I can cast Heal and Holy Light, but can only cast three spells a day since I'm new." She replied with a bit of self-depreciation before she shook herself and said, "But I promise, I'll make myself useful!"
"I'm sure you'll do just fine," The faux-blonde encouraged before she peeked around the corner and noticed the floating red sphere. "I think we found the thingamajig we're looking for,"
It was just sitting there out in the open. Remembering her hero's words, Theresa said, "This is a trap isn't it?"
Buffy nodded, "Oh yeah, no way they left this thing unguarded."
As they stepped out into the circular area, the sphere just seemed to be innocuously floating in, and then from cracks in the floor and ceiling they came. At first, they thought it was a group of spiders… then they started flying… and after that Buffy noticed the human eye sticking out of the palm of their hand.
"Eww, disembodied human hands!" She said as they started firing magic missiles causing her to shout, "They can fire lasers?!"
"Not lasers, magic missile, it's a basic wizard spell." Theresa replied as they ducked behind the corner to avoid a volley of spellfire.
Buffy peeked around the corner, "Hmm… I got an idea…" turning to the priestess she said, "Theresa, I'm gonna get their attention when I do, you cast Holy Light behind me okay?"
"Can do, Elizabeth." She said with a determined nod. "I mean, Buffy."
"You're fine, kiddo… Ready?" Seeing her nod, Buffy ran out getting the attention of the flying fingers, and right when they were preparing to pelt her with spellfire, she shouted "NOW!"
Theresa slid out from behind cover and yelled "Holy Light!"
A blinding flash of light came from behind the slayer and the undead hands flinched back as if in pain, leaving her free to charge into their rank and file, slapping with the flat of her blade she sent them spinning into the sphere's of destruction. The three that slammed into stonework or landed on the floor she stomped on with her Slayer enhanced strength or impaled with extreme prejudice before flicking their still quivering remains off her blade and into the closest Orb of Destruction for disposal.
Turning back to Theresa and Willow she called, "We're clear!" Giving the priestess a thumbs up she said, "Great job Resa, they fell for it."
Mimicking her gesture with a bit of confusion the other blonde echoed, "Thank you Eliza-Buffy," She corrected herself before she stopped in shock and exclaimed, "Oh! A screen just popped up!"
What's it say?" the Slayer asked.
[T-Minus 30 mins 25 secs left until death spell is cast] Relaying the information to her group Theresa said, "We need to hurry."
"One busted orb thingamabob coming right up." the faux-blonde said, rolling up her sleeves as she approached the orb preparing to swing away with her sword like it was a baseball bat. She swung and shattered the red orb…
Only for the stone floor to give way beneath her causing her to yelp in surprise and look down into a spike embedded pit that had the impaled skeletons of others who had already fallen, quite literally for this bait and switch. Yet Buffy felt a sudden jerk on her arm and found herself dangling above certain death. Looking up, she found Theresa holding her wrist in a death-grip, holding on with both hands, refusing to let her fall, her face fully flush with exertion.
"Miss Willow!" She called without looking behind her, "Please hurry! I can't hold her for long!"
"Yes," Willow said as her eyes flickered crimson again and a devious smile flickered across her face as she approached and peered over the edge of the pit.
Seeing the glow in her eyes, the Slayer asked warily, "Willow?"
Hearing her tone, Theresa turned to have a look herself and found herself saying, "Miss Willow?" just before the redhead put her foot against her back… and pushed her over the lip of the pit.
'Why?' Priestess asked as she fell alongside Buffy, the adrenaline flooding her body making the ten foot fall come in slow motion. 'Why did she do that… I… I don't want to die… Earthmother,' She prayed with her hands clasped, eyes clenched shut, 'Save us.'
Since her eyes were closed, she didn't see the screen that popped up in front of her face that said, [Your patron heard your prayer and decided to grant you additional power. Welcome to this Game Called Life!]
The two landed on something solid that took their breath away and Theresa opened her eyes only to gasp. "This is… a barrier spell?" She found they were laying on a greenish translucent wall of force. Then she noticed the screen in front of her eyes. "So I've been accepted into Mister Alexander Sir's cabal." Going over to the Slayer she gave her a shake and asked, "Elizabeth, Elizabeth, are you alright?!"
"Fine," She growled, sitting up before she shouted. "When I get up there Wills, you are in big trouble!" The only reply was the sound of footsteps fading away. "Well she's fucking lost it…" Looking at the white mage, Buffy asked, "Are you okay?"
"Well enough," Theresa confirmed, before pointing, "Look, on the other side of the pit there is a red orb stuck in the wall."
Buffy saw it, glowing through the translucent shield. "I see it… but what if it's another trick?"
Looking at all the impaled skeletons, Theresa asked, "Do you really think so?"
The boogie man's boogie man shook her head, "No, this place is just making me paranoid. Plus with what Willow just did… well I'm not all that trusting right now."
Taking her hands in hers as if in prayer, Theresa said, "I'm sure there is a good reason for Miss Willow's behavior, but we don't have time to worry about it right now. This spell won't last long, and we need to get away from the spikes before it fades."
"Right," Buffy nodded, she scanned the pit, and pointed to something her comrade missed, "There's an old grate over there set into the wall, looks like it's sealing off a tunnel."
"Then we need to get over there," Theresa said as cracks began to appear in the barrier like on a pane of glass. "Quickly!" She urged.
Buffy surged to her feet tucking Theresa under one arm as she ran, sprinting on the barrier caused it to shatter in her wake and with a running jump as it broke, Buffy just managed to land in the safe zone of the pit. Glancing down, she asked, "You good?"
In response, Theresa gave the Slayer a thumbs up only to glance back and ask, "How will we destroy the orb from here much less advance though?"
Placing Theresa against the wall, Buffy growled, "You let me handle that," she said as she approached the small cave mouth where the half rusted grate sat, gripping it with both hands she pulled on it, grunting she tugged on it once, twice, three times all while yelling, "I've… had it… with this damn place already!"
With a fourth mighty heave, the crisscrossing metal grate was torn off its place in the wall, the gratel twisted and warped. But Buffy didn't stop there, she rolled the metal into a large ball, and then chucked it at the sphere with expert precision, shattering it with one toss.
Theresa noticed a ping on a screen in front of her.
[Player 1 has exhibited a feat of Great Strength. +2 to Str. Please tell Player 1 this as her screen function is disabled. P.S. I am proud to talk to you in person disciple - She who Cradles Civilization]
"Oh… okay. Hello," The Priestess said in confusion, before turning to the still huffing Slayer and saying, "Um Elizabeth, someone wants me to tell you your Str, whatever that is, has gone up by one because your screen function doesn't work?"
"Ask… ask him if there is some way… if I can turn the screens back… on," Buffy was out of breath mainly from anger rather than exertion.
In reply a screen popped up in front of the healer, [I would be willing to do so… provided she defeats the secret boss of this dungeon by herself.]
Relaying that information to her, Buffy scowled and asked, "Which way is it?"
[Take the tunnel. You'll get there eventually.]
Turning to Theresa, Buffy said, "You don't have to come with me, this could be dangerous."
"Would you rather I stay here?" Theresa asked, eyebrow raised, "At the bottom of a spiked pit?"
"Right… forward march it is then, when we find the Big Bad just… let me handle it okay?" Buffy told the other girl who nodded as they trekked into the dark tunnel that spontaneously lit with torches on the walls as they got close.
"So, Mister Giles," Haylee asked as they walked down a narrow stone passageway, "What can you tell me about Alexander?"
"What exactly do you want to know… or more specifically why do you want to know?" Giles asked, peering at the girl over the rim of his glasses.
"Personal interest," She said before holding out her hand. "Wait, something off up ahead." The passage they were walking down had widened out into a circular room that branched off into many more passage ways. "Oh dear… I know what this is."
"What?" Morgana asked.
"A Labyrinth," Haylee replied, before she reached into her belt pouch and pulled out a large ball of golden twine. "That means that there is likely a minotaur and possibly even Kobolds about, but don't worry," She said with assurance, "Maze-running creatures are my specialty."
So saying, she tapped the ball of twine and said, "Guide us."
The ball glowed in warm yellow light for a moment before it began to unravel traveling down the middle path.
Surprised, Morgana said, "You know magic?"
Shaking her head, the adventurer replied, "Not really, I just collect certain magical devices and make certain to learn how to use them."
"Ah, you're a Tool User," Morgana noted. Someone who could use magical devices like wands and such, but had no personal magical potential to speak of. Some magicians looked down on such people, she was one such person before the cave, now? She saw no point. Not anymore. "Do whatever you have to to stay alive," She said with a nod.
"Mmhm." The adventurer replied as the group proceeded to follow the faintly glowing string into a cavernous complex with honeycombed holes carved into the sides of the walls. It looked like nature had at least in part reclaimed this part of the labyrinth. Haylee stopped suddenly, holding up a fist and held a hand to her ear and listened. She heard the skittering of claws on stone coming from the walls. Looking back with panic shimmering in her rose hued eyes, she yelled, "Run! Kobolds!"
She broke out into a sprint and the other two were hot on her heels as hot coals were suddenly launched from the crevices in the wall as a maniacal hyena-like cackling followed in their wake, echoing off the walls. Following the string with all due haste, the trio dashed around corners skidding down an incline before tumbling out into an open area.
It was well lit by natural light coming down from a hole in the ceiling, motes of dust floated in the gloom, and standing in the center of this large sand filled pit like arena was a Drow female, her bulk covered by a dark breastplate etched black covered in golden spider filigree and dark cloth, a slender rapier held off to the side in one hand, with a hulking creature that was half man half bull, its skin a sickly gray and its eyes a milky white as its tongue lolling out of its mouth as it let out a dull groan with only a loincloth protecting its decency. The beast carried a rusty axe that seemed to be chipped and worn to a dull edge. Never taking her eyes off the Minotaur as the edges of her vision was tinged with red, as she slowly pulled her battleax from the baldric on her back she said in a too calm tone, "Mister Giles, I leave the Dark Elf to you and Morgana. The Minotaur is mine!"
"Sure"
"I will try," were the responses Haley got from Morgana and Giles respectively. As she started to move closer to the minotaur, the drow saw her and a smirk started to form on the dark skinned woman's face.
"So, Lord Accerak has decided to reward me with a few sacrifices to Lolth? I was wondering when another foolish adventurer would come. The last one screamed for her God's mercy as I removed her fingernails and then her fingers. I slept soundly to her screams as I threw her to the iron maiden. Hopefully you will keep me occupied longer, girl. Go my puppet, soften her up a little," at the drow's command the minotaur groaned and started to stomp forward towards Haylee dragging his ax on the stone floor and starting sparks to fly.
Morgana decided to be proactive and cast a fire arrow. The Drow priestess was not idle and noticed the spell coming towards her minion, "Dispel Magic!"
Giles surprised Morgana and Haylee when he calmly pushed his glasses up and magic began to swell around him, "From the boundless sky that reaches the four corners of the plane! May the eternal chaos be free to scour the land! I command you to obey and your will is mine to bind! Come forth my Ally!"
From a circle that formed as the words of power were spoken a four foot tall living storm, its body a swirling thunderhead and its voice howling winds had appeared. It knew its master's will and reacted in kind! The elemental flew into the air and started to summon forth a mighty lightning bolt upon its enemy. The Drow priestess had to jump out of the way as a mighty bolt struck where she stood. Both Halylee and Morgana paused at the might of will that the somewhat beleaguered librarian had shown them.
"Mr. Giles, remind me to ask you for lessons when this is over," spoke Morgana as she prepared another spell while Haley decided now was the opportune time to strike a blow against the minotaur. The clang of steel clashing against steel was heard as the undead minotaur and the minotaur slayer met in a clash of melee combat. With their weapons locked, The monster slayer was quickly giving ground to the superior strength of her hated foe. Yet, she had something her opponent did not due to being undead…
Intelligence and cunning.
Willfully dropping to her knees, she swept one of the minotaurs cloven feet out from under it, before rising and using her momentum to swing her ax, the blade biting deep into its shoulder where it got stuck on some bone.
Where a normal minotaur would've cried out and flinched back in pain, this particular foe acted as if nothing was wrong for it felt no pain. Why would it after all, it was just a corpse brought back by necromancy. So the heroine was surprised when it backhanded her with its wounded arm sending her flying backward a welt already forming on her face from the blow. Spitting some blood that got in her mouth from her now split lip, Haylee's eyes blazed as she drew her short sword and dove back into the fray. Sliding like a baseball pitcher through its legs she slashed both of its achilles tendons as she slid past, and it fell to the floor flopping around like a dead fish.
'It may not feel pain, but it still requires essential muscles and bones in order to function,' She thought grimly, her eyes filled with burning determination as she approached, the zombie now using its ax as a crutch to prop itself upright. Holding her gladius in a reverse grip she prepared to go for the killing blow, only for the minotaur to leap at her headfirst ramming her with its horns right as she drove her blade into and through its throat, its own forward momentum all but severing its head from its shoulders in its final suicide charge.
"That was my favorite servant!" The Drow cleric hissed as she rolled to the side to avoid another lightning bolt from the storm elemental. "And you've soiled my robes with dirt! You will pay for both of these inconveniences!"
"My, her priorities are all over the place," Morgana mused as she cast another firebolt only for the Drow to counterspell it using dispel magic. Turning to her senior in the magic arts she inquired, "Mister Giles she keeps negating anything we can cast at this range, can you think of anything?"
The Englishman paused for a moment before he said, "Give me a moment my dear and I might be able to come up with something."
"You think I'll just let you stand over there and plan?!" The dark elf scoffed, her red eyes glowing like hot coals as she glared at the party as she started to chant something in a language no one present understood, "Cause FEAR!"
A miasma of dark energy flew out of the drow's shadow and rammed straight into Giles covering him in the miasma!
"Take that you bloody sorcerer!" She turned to the greener mage with a malicious smile one her lips as she purred, "Now, with him distracted I will slowly kill you two myself!" yelled the Drow as she raised her rapier and shield and charged Morganna slamming her shield into her.
Giles felt a sense of fear and fright overcome him. Giles felt the fear but sadly he had felt much worse in his life. Fear of the demon that haunts his dreams, fear of losing Buffy who he saw as a daughter to a vampire, fear of his past coming back to haunt him, but this. This fear was nothing.
[To overcome fear is no easy feat. May knowledge and wisdom guide your path.]
Giles, invigorated by the encouragement from his new sponsor, felt energy coalescing into his hands. He looked down and noticed them glowing an eerie green in color. A simple spell came to his mind. One that would help in times to come.
"Eldritch Blast!" yelled Giles as the blast flew from his hands and smacked right into the drow exploding in a small burst of energy throwing the drow to the ground. Pulling herself up using her rapier as a crutch much like her undead minion she hissed, "This isn't over human! This fight had just begun! Hea-"
She was abruptly cut off by the point of a sword sprouting through the back of her throat. Morgana and Giles looked over to Haylee who had managed to roll over onto her stomach and throw her shortsword. "You Non-prayer types always talk too much. If you're gonna kill someone, don't talk about how you're going to do it and just kill them," Her arms gave out under the minotaurs bulk and she cried out, "Little help?"
"Coming, coming," Giles said hurriedly, making his way over Morgana hot on his heels as she wiped the blood off of the veteran adventurer's shortsword on her cloak.
"How to get this off of you..?" The Englishman wondered only for a gust of wind to ruffle his hair. "Ah, right you're still here," He said to his storm elemental. "Can you uh-um do anything about this situation we find ourselves in?" He asked.
In response, the storm elemental flowed underneath the corpse and shot up like a powerful gust of wind, throwing the cooling mound of meat off the pinned warrior woman.
"Thank you very much Stormy," Haylee said in thanks as she picked herself up off the ground.
Quirking an eyebrow Giles inquired, "Stormy?"
"Yes well, he needs a name, if you're going to summon him again, you have to call him something right?"
Giles' mouth hung open for a moment before he nodded, "I suppose so. But… Stormy? He's an elemental, not a pet dog."
Haylee just smiled. "Well, he seems to like it, look he's turning white and fluffy that means he's happy I think."
True enough the mass of storm clouds was becoming white and fluffy like cotton candy. Giles didn't know much about storm elementals but that fact it wasn't black and throwing lightning everywhere did seem to be a good sign he had to admit. "Fine, Stormy it is then."
In response, Giles felt a warm pass through his hair. The elemental was pleased. It shot off a salute and its form slowly began to dissipate.
"Oh no, what's happening?" The warrior of the group asked.
"Nothing bad," Giles assured her, "The summoning has just ended; he's being sent back to his own plane." A sudden spark of electricity jumped from the elemental to Giles' nose. "Oww. whatever was that for?"
Morgana smiled a bit, "Mister Giles… I do believe Stormy is a girl."
Taking off his glasses and polishing them Giles said, "Oh good Lord." Placing them back on his face he said "We must find this orb quickly." He looked around, "I don't see it anywhere do any of you?"
"Detect magic," Morgana said as she looked around she saw a red sphere glow… coming from inside the undead minotaur. "Eww… the Dark Elf, she must've stored it inside of her minion for safe keeping."
"Right just let me get my ax and I'll fix this real quick," Haylee said as she put both hands on her ax's half while putting a boot on the corpse and with one tug, pulled her weapon free.
Giles however was more cautious. "Hold on a moment, doing that could be dangerous. Please, allow me. If you would take a step back?" Once she was clear he intoned, "Eldritch Blast!"
The verdant spear flew from his fingertips and struck the corpse… only for it to be consumed in a gout of flames seconds later.
"Fireball spell," Morgana mused. "You were right, Mr Giles it was trapped."
[Two of Three Spheres destroyed. One sphere remains 9 mins 56 secs remaining until Death Spell is cast.]
"Two down one to go, shall we make our way back to the crossroads ladies?"
"Hang on, that Dark Elf had some good stuff on her, we should take what we can," Haylee said. "Loot is an adventurer's lifeblood afterall. We'll take it all with us and divvy it up with the others once we get outta here. I'm kinda hoping Alexander will let me have this breastplate though." She said as she pried it off the corpse. "Good finds like this don't come along everyday."
"Teenage girls," Giles sighed as he polished his glasses again, "Even in a life-or-death situation won't stop them from shopping for clothes."
Word Count: 8,500 Number of Pages: 19 Date Completed: 10/26/2022
AN: Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter of This Game Called Life and the first two parter. The chapter was a bit shorter than usual this time but it felt like a good place to stop. Not much happened stat-wise this chap except for Xander gaining +2 to Charisma and +1 to Wisdom and Strength and Buffy getting +2 to Strength so I'm not going to do whole character sheets for that.
Snowy: Hey folks, the gears of writing are still turning. We will push it forward and get these chapters running. After a bit of time we got this finished. I will do the best I can to help. Wish me luck for job hunting.
Bubbajack: Indeed pray to whatever deity you believe on on Snowy's behalf folks. That said, I do hope you all enjoyed it. Snowy, First Hassan and I will see you all next time. Peace.