Chosen 1.2
"Guys is it me or does this situation not make any sense at all?" Kid Win asked as the group just finished fighting a small horde of normal and warrior zombies and were now resting.
"This situation doesn't make sense Kid Win. We all know that." Vista said as she sat on the ground with her hands on the cave floor behind her.
"No, I mean that this dude's power is beyond weird. It's like a mixture of different powers thrown together. He sneaked up on all of us and didn't get noticed until he allowed it and then he sent us into a different dimension where he is able to send realistic enough monsters our way. I just can't wrap my head around what his main power could be since all his abilities seem way to powerful as it is." Kid Win said and that made everyone pause in thought for a moment as Kid Win had a point about this powerset.
Powers this intense usually have some kind of draw back or limit but right now the situation only seems to be getting worse as they moved throughout this labyrinth. Taylor was about to speak up first before she saw a new alert appear in front of her.
You have levelled up! Level: 3-4! All HP, SP and MP has been fully restored!
Taylor let out a sigh as she had seen alerts about her physical stats improving due to all this exercise, she was getting with fighting these monsters but the fact she just levelled up felt strange to her.
"Trying to figure out his powerset is important and it might be our way out of this place but at the moment I don't think we have enough clues to figure out his ability yet." Taylor said as she summoned up her Inventory and took out her laser pistol and now has a short sword in her right hand and the laser pistol in her left hand as she also equipped some new armor that wasn't completely disgusting.
1x Copper Cuirass
2x Copper Gauntlets
2x Copper Greaves
Over her clothes are the chest piece, gauntlets and leg armor made of copper metal that dropped from the zombie warriors and now offered Taylor some mild protection from danger.
"Soul your powers are pretty weird too. You're getting slightly stronger and faster with the zombies in combat and when they explode into white particles or whatever it is. You seem to absorb it into your hand." Gallant said bluntly as Taylor stood up from her seated position on a large rock.
"Well, if I'm being perfectly honest I would have to say that my powers are well suited for this place. My power is really weird but the best way I can explain it is to say that my power basically changed me into an RPG character." Taylor said with her own bluntness that caught each of the Wards off guard.
"What?" Clockblocker asked with a mixture of confusion and interest before Taylor explained that she had stats, skills equipment and levels but she didn't mention the soul bar or anything since it seemed to function as an experience bar but at the same time seemed to be very different. "Whoa. Your power is awesome. Screw freezing things in place. I want to be an RPG hero too." Clockblocker said with pure excitement and a bit of jealousy that actually made Taylor smile and chuckle a bit.
"Same here. If you really have an RPG power set that means that the skies the limit for you. You could be as strong as Hercules or something." Kid Win said as he messed around with his laser pistols.
"I don't think I'll get that strong." Taylor said back as Hercules was insanely powerful and Taylor wasn't sure if she could come anywhere close to that level of strength.
"I hate to break this up, but this conversation isn't getting us out of this place any faster." Aegis said sharply and nobody could dispute that as they all got up and started moving again.
"Aegis you really know how to kill the mood dude." Clockblocker said as Aegis rolled his eyes behind his helmet.
"Whatever. I just want to get out of this place so we can kick the ass od the guy who put us here." Aegis said before they came up to what looked like a wall of condensed fog.
"What the hell?" Gallant asked as he walked up to the wall and placed his hand on it to see that it was indeed a physical construct yet when he pushed, he was able to push his hand through it.
"If Soul's powers are based on an RPG than that means that this must be a boss room." Kid Win said with a smile as Aegis turned towards Kid Win's direction and made him flinch with just a look. "Sorry."
"Actually, I think you might be right Kid." Taylor said as he walked up to the wall and placed her hand on it as well. "Let's see what's on the other side." Taylor said as she first pushed her hand through it before walking through the fog wall with the wards behind her as they all looked on and saw that they are now in a massive room the size of a school's gymnasium and near the center of the room are two things.
The first is massive boar the size of a mini van that is made out of shiny metal with dangerous looking tusks and sharp red eyes and the second thing they saw is a zombie in green robes themed after what magicians look like in a fantasy story as this zombie is female and is holding a metallic staff with a yellow star at the top of it.
You have entered a [Boss Zone]!
You will face [Undead Wizard Green] and [Fanged Boar] mini bosses!
"No way. That's Wizard Green from the wizard's team." Vista said in shock before the metallic boar charged at them.
"Spade Formation!" Aegis called out as the wards got into position as Aegis charged at the Boar and intercepted it by grabbing its two massive tusks while Clockblocker came up behind him and tagged the Boar to keep it locked in place while Gallant, Vista and Kid Win charged ahead at the undead wizard much to Taylor shock at how fast they responded.
The problem was that the Boar somehow still moved despite Clockblocker freezing it in place and before he could say anything the Boar raised its head up and lifted Aegis off the ground and swung him into Clockblocker which sent Clockblocker tumbling a fair distance away with Aegis still holding onto the tusks with his powerful grip as Taylor narrowed her eyes and decided to jump into the fight as well.
"The Boar is the bigger threat. The others can handle Green." Taylor said as she ran towards the Boar and fired her laser pistol at it, and it seems that despite the shine. The boar's protective metal wasn't reflective as Taylor hit it a few times and got the monster's attention.
"Bring it on you slab of bacon!" Taylor shouted and ignored the skill alert that appeared in front of her as the Boar charged as Taylor fired her pistol at the Boar while it headed towards her but what she was doing was carefully aiming at its face and luckily Taylor landed her shot as she hit one of its eyes and it burst in a small burst of blood causing the Boar to wail in pain and thrash around.
Aegis was sent flying as a result, but Taylor didn't waste the chance. She knew enough to know that Aegis wouldn't be hurt badly by the fall and as the Boar thrashed Taylor could see exposed flesh around its neck and with her sword, she carefully angled the blade and thrust into the exposed flesh as blood poured down her blade and she got splashed with blood.
Now Taylor played a few games at a nearby arcade and thought that her attack would have beaten one of those games but despite her powers it seemed that weird powers in reality weren't really the same thing as beating a game as the Boar turned its head and hit Taylor in the chest with one of its tusks which sent her onto the ground hard with her sword still trapped in the Boar's neck flesh despite the fact that it seemed to not care about the wound and instead wanted to gore Taylor into paste.
"Hold still!" Clockblocker said as he came up behind Taylor and froze her where she stood.
You have been inflicted with [Maximum Slow] and [Maximum Burden]!
Taylor was now extremely confused as she had gotten up to run away from the Boar's charge only to be frozen in place by Clockblocker who seemed to jump out of the way as the Boar was speeding towards her. A lot of thoughts ran through Taylor's mind before she remembered what she read on the Ward Wiki about Clockblocker and how his powers work.
Now the power didn't seem to affect the Boar much but with her she was fully affected and when the Boar collided with her, she heard a sickening crunch, but it wasn't from any of her bones or organs and instead came from the Boar itself as it crushed its own skull when it hit Taylor while she was frozen in place. The impact would have killed her but thankfully Clockblocker did some quick thinking since Taylor put herself in a bit of a corner with her lack of experience in combat.
'Note to self. Make sure a final blow actually gets the job done before you lose your weapon.' Taylor said to herself as she was now stuck in place as a frozen statue and could do nothing else as the Boar exploded into white particles that entered her brand while she saw Kid Win, Gallant and Vista handle Green Wizard with ranged attacks as she too burst into particles that traveled to Taylor.
"Good thinking Clockblocker." Aegis said as he walked up to Taylor. "Now we just have to wait until you unfreeze." Aegis said as if Taylor could respond. The sensation of being frozen in time is a bizarre feeling and frankly Taylor wasn't happy about it and didn't want to experience this again.
The duration of Clockblocker's effect lasted for about three minutes and forty seconds but to Taylor it felt like forever as she fell over onto the ground the moment she unfroze and when she lifted her head up, she saw the alerts.
You have defeated [Undead Green Wizard] and [Fanged Boar] bosses with help. Therefor you won't get the maximum number of souls you could have earned, but you do still get the mini boss loot!
1x Fanged Boar Helm!
1x Green Wizard Power Staff!
You have gained the skill [Physical Pain Resistance]!
The skill [Precise Aim] has levelled up! Level: 1-2!
Taylor noted that she got the aiming skill earlier and it certainly helped in this fight, but she wasn't expecting to get a skill to reduce the pain she felt as she certainly was feeling some pain now as she slowly got up. Thankfully her armor protected her.
"Sorry about the sudden freezing thing but I didn't know what else I could do to help keep you alive. My time freezing power usually works but somehow the Boar broke through it and that never happened before. I don't even think Siberian could do that." Clockblocker said as Taylor dusted herself off as they heard a rumbling and saw the wall at the end of the room suddenly split itself in half to reveal a new passageway.
"Well, I'm glad you did what you did. That Fanged Boar would have split me in two otherwise." Taylor said as the group walked a bit more exhausted than before as Taylor equipped her new helmet and instantly felt how heavy it was, but she decided to keep it on for safety.
The helmet looked like a smaller but still identical version of the Fanged Boar's head with the tusks included as well as black hair coming out from behind the helmet but instead of two red eyes, they are just eye holes and there are slits at the nose and mouth for Taylor to breath.
In her Inventory Taylor could see the stats of items she gets, and she glanced at the helm and saw that it was much better than the other helmet as she also put her laser gun away and took out the staff she earned and saw that it was the same staff that Green Wizard used in her fights.
The staff has buttons near the handle as the staff has the unique ability to shine a bright blinding light from the star on top of it to blind enemies. Green Wizard did that to robbers and villains alike who never seemed to expect the sudden flash of solar powered light but just like Pink Wizard's laser gun this thing was out of power and for the moment it just served as a regular but strong metallic staff.
"Did you…Get boss loot?" Kid Win asked as he glanced over at Taylor in confusion as the group walked.
"Yup." Taylor responded back as the wards are all shocked at what they are seeing.
"Where's my cut of the loot? I want a killer helmet like that to." Clockblocker said jokingly.
"You can get a helmet when you get RPG powers." Taylor said back in her own attempt at a joke as Clockblocker chuckled.
"Soul you're going to fit right in with us if you become a ward." Clockblocker said in a happy tone of voice.
"What the fuck?" Vista cursed as they came up to a bizarre sight.
"Language." Aegis said back despite how he was also in shock just like the rest of the group as the group saw that they were now outside of the cave and instead they saw that they were in a stone like hallway that looked like a dark age styled prison/dungeon.
Barred cells are across the hallways as the group walked through the halls lit by torches before noticing prisoners in the cells. The prisoners were in cape uniforms and were most likely brought here against their will by the mysterious cape that imprisoned Taylor and the wards but luckily as the group walked, they stumbled upon a living prisoner.
"Your alive and real?" Gallant asked as he walked up to the cage and can sense emotions coming from the woman as she has fair skin with messy red hair on her head and is dressed in ripped up brown robes with heavy chains around her wrists and ankles as she was bound to the center of the cell by the chains being implanted in the ground so firmly that she was struck in the seated position and unable to get up due to the chains length.
"It seems that Pontis has captured more slaves." The woman sad sadly as Gallant nearly doubled over as he felt a massive wave of despair coming from the woman.
"Who are you and is Pontis this guy's cape name?" Aegis asked as he also walked up to the cage.
"Names don't matter here. We are doomed to die at the hands of a bloody vagabond I once called an ally." The woman said sadly.
"We are getting out of here. I don't know how long you've been trapped here or what you've been through, but you can't give up yet." Taylor said to the woman as she looked up at Taylor as if she could sense something. Aegis gripped the bars and bent them far enough for him to step in and break the chains binding the woman as she slowly stood up showing she was a fairly tall woman.
"Thank you. It has been some time since I have been able to stand. However, this will still prove pointless. You've made it to the end of the labyrinth that Pontis has created but now his enforcer of this prison will slay you." The woman said as she stepped out of the cell as the group noticed the red marks where the chains had restrained her.
"We won't let that happen." Vista said proudly as the woman still looked utterly defeated.
"I can not aid you in this fight but now that I am free, I can at least give you some aid." The woman said before she brought her hands together as if she was going to pray as a golden magical circle appeared under her feet before a wave of golden energy washed over each of the teens.
Your HP, SP and MP has been fully restored!
"Whoa. I feel as good as new. How can a healer like you not get any attention like Panacea?" Kid Win asked as the golden light and circle faded out of existence as everyone heard an ear splitting and animalistic roar.
"That is the guardian of this world. If you can slay the beast then you and all the other prisoners of this realm will be freed. I wish all of you the best of luck." The woman said before she was enveloped in another golden light before vanishing entirely.
"Instant teleportation and healing powers? This place must be some kind of bad drug trip or something." Clockblocker said while trying to remain calm.
"Damn that woman. She had a one-way ticket out of this place, and she just abandoned us here. I bet she's saying that weird cape guy about us right now." Vista said while she crossed her arms in a fit of mild anger.
"I don't think that's it. If she was going to betray us, she wouldn't have healed us. If anything, she would have tried to fight us or something but instead she seemed like she was just…Gone. Like she had given up any hope she had of leaving and after freeing her she just couldn't remain here. I don't really know for sure but right now we just need to focus on getting out of here alive." Taylor said to the group.
"Soul is right. We've got to keep moving but we need to keep an eye out for any other prisoners." Aegis said before the group once again started moving through this place but at a faster pace now as they ran into a few more zombies they took care of as Taylor started grinding her sword and laser gun skills after putting away her power staff since she could learn how to use it later.
She also earned some more stat points for moving around and enduring the weight of the helmet on her head as well as having to cleave through a zombie or two that was actually wearing old and rotting styled armor which was a bit gross to Taylor and the other teens, but they pressed on until they came to the end of the maze. The doors to the exit were large and metallic as Aegis was the one to slowly push open the doors and sure enough the group walked through the doors and saw that they were on what looked like a large roof platform.
The size was large and to the left and right seemed to be a pit of spikes at the bottom if anyone fell off this roof platform and in front of them all the way on the other side of this flat roof like platform is a tower with a bell on top of it that seems like it needs to be rung and suddenly landing in front of the tower is a large gargoyle.
Taylor knew that the creature was a gargoyle due to a few Batman comics her dad had collected as the creature was the same looking beast, but it wasn't made out of regular stone. Instead, the flesh seemed tough like a Rhino's hide as it was a dark black color with a monstrous face with large wings on its back as its large tail wasn't a spade tail or anything and instead was a metallic dual bladed axe that seemed more flexible than normal metal and the beast is also wielding a metallic halberd in its hands that was a massive size.
You have entered a [Boss Zone]!
You must defeat the [Gargoyle Guardian] Boss monster!
"Oh hell." Taylor said as the beast let out a loud scream before it stomped its way towards the group as everyone moved out of the way as Taylor and Kid Win started blasting it with their laser pistols while Gallant fired blasts of emotional energy. Vista stayed in the back as she started focusing on trying to bend the space around the Gargoyle while Aegis jumped up high and punched the monster in its face with a powerful punch that bloodied Aegis's hand form the level of force behind his punch and the durability of the Gargoyle.
The Gargoyle aimed its halberd and swung down towards Aegis who managed to dodge out of the way in time as he barely got clipped by the weapon as Clockblocker rushed in and tagged the weapon making the Gargoyle unable to lift up the object for a moment before the object unfroze and was raised into the air by the Gargoyle much to everyone's shock.
The beast swiped its tail in a full 360 degrees as it turned with the swing for more power as it aimed to slice everyone in range with its axe tail as everyone dodged out of the way before the Gargoyle let loose a torrent of flames from its mouth towards Clockblocker who ran as far away from the flames as possible.
"Let's not do that again big guy." Kid Win said as he reached into his suit's back pocket and took out some strange looking grenade that he threw at the monster as it it's the base of the monster's tail and backside before exploding in a massive burst of quick drying containment foam.
Taylor didn't waste this chance as she rushed in after putting her laser pistol away into her Inventory as she grabbed her sword with both hands and thrust it downwards on a exposed joint in the Gargoyle's tail as black blood burst from the slash as Taylor managed to slice clean through. The Gargoyle let out another wail as it turned around to release a burst of flames at Taylor before Kid Win nailed it in the mouth with another grenade of containment foam that burst and filled the Gargoyle's throat and mouth as it stumbled backwards before falling onto its back as everyone moved out of the way.
Before the monster could get up it noticed that its senses were changed, and it had no sense of balance or proper direction as the Gargoyle's world view had suddenly been shifted inside out and upside down as Vista had managed to manipulate the space around the beast which confused it greatly.
Taylor was the one who delivered the final blow as she rushed in and thrust her sword into the monster's skull and sure enough it let out a final cry before exploding into particles that entered Taylor's body.
You have defeated the [Gargoyle Guardian] boss!
You have earned 1300 Souls!
You have earned the rare drop [Gargoyle Tail Axe]!
You have earned the rare drop [Flame Whip] skill book!
You have earned [Gargoyle Guardian] boss soul!
You have levelled up! Level: 4-5-6!
All of your HP, SP and MP has been fully restored!
The skill [Small Laser Gun Mastery] has levelled up! Level: 6-7!
The skill [Short Sword Mastery] has levelled up! Level: 4-5!
"Whoa." Taylor said as she saw all the alerts in front of her as she looked down at her sword and herself before taking a deep breath and mentally dismissed the screens as she also took note that the tail of the Gargoyle she had cut off was in fact the rare axe that just got deposited into her inventory and in this moment Taylor decided to use one of the items she just got and that item was the skill book as she took out the book and learned its contents.
[Flame Whip, Active Level: 1
This is a heretical pyromancy that harnesses your inner flame to produce a whip of fire that scorches your enemies with fire.
Damage Base: [Faith]-[Arcane]
Cost: 15 MP per minute]
After learning that spell Taylor felt something shift inside of her very being. She felt a strange warmth that was somehow familiar and unfamiliar at the same time and that this warmth was hers and hers alone. Something that nobody could take from her.
"Is it over. Can we go home now?" Vista asked in a unsure tone of voice as everyone heard a scream but this one wasn't from a beast and instead came from a man before the roof platform they were on suddenly shattered into pieces and the wards and Taylor started free falling.
The teens each thought that this would be the end of them but as they fell they saw a bright light and sure enough the light blinded each of them and when they opened their eyes they saw that not only where they back in the real world but they were on the pier and in the middle of the street was the strange cape that imprisoned them.
"You! The fuck did you bastards do!?" The man shouted as the group also noticed several dead bodies all over the place and a shadowy portal above their heads that started to close.
"We broke out of your damn fun house of horrors and released the people you've been keeping hostage! Now its time for us to kick your sorry ass!" Taylor shouted in rage as she readied her sword in front of her as the other heroes also stood at the ready.
"If you all want to die so badly than so, be it." The man cursed as he readied his trident and charged at the group of heroes.
End!
A/N: Cliffhanger baby. Now before anyone starts saying this was rushed, I am going to tell you that I didn't plan on making a whole bunch of chapers about a singular dungeon at the beginning. This was just the first level, and it serves as a makeshift tutorial for Taylor and now she is back in the real world where things are going to be a bit different compared to the dungeon enemies she had fought.
In Canon Clockblocker's time power can't be broken by normal means but magic isn't normal, so I have some wiggle room here. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter.
