Torch in hand, Vala could almost feel the taste of copper in her mouth as they stared at the massive cave-in in front of them. The stale odor of blood and old meat had gotten progressively stronger the further they ventured into the dungeon, peaking at around the moment they stumbled across a dead end: the tunnel they had followed so far had collapsed.

“There has to be a way forward,” said Lilly. “We haven’t seen a single fork in the path ‘til now.”

“Not to mention this damned smell,” Bane grimaced, pinching his nose in disgust. “This whole ‘keen sense of smell’ thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…”

A moment later, a grayish wisp had materialized over Drake’s shoulder. “There’s a current of air coming from behind that boulder,” said Zeph, the shadows around them flickering in sync with his light and that of their torch.

Vala threw Drake and Bane a glance as she slowly approached the boulder in question. Circling it, she beheld the narrow passage and gagged, the stench having become almost unbearable. Holding her breath, she raised her shield and charged in, the others trailing closely behind her.

She rounded the corner and her gaze fell upon the image of a grinning gnoll sleeping on a small pile of fly-infested bones, its muzzle smeared with streaks of half-dried blood. With her shield firmly strapped to her left forearm, she gripped the shaft of her axe with both hands and raised it above the head of the level 12 Cave Gnoll. And with Drake aiming the tip of his sword at the creature’s head, they both brought down their weapons.

A quiet yelp echoed throughout the passageway as a system notification rang out.

You have gained 55 experience points. (-20% Guild Party Penalty)

“Nice,” whispered Bane. “Since these gnolls are a couple of levels above us, the bonus XP practically cancels out the whole party penalty thing.”

“It does speed things up,” said Vala as she shook the excess blood off of her axe, “but we still need to kill dozens of these things to just level up once.”

“Let’s just go,” Drake pleaded, holding the collar of his coat over his mouth and nose. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

“Alright,” Vala nodded. “Follow me.”

“Can you just give me a moment?” Mia asked, prompting curious glances from everyone. The healer, however, brushed off the extra attention and closed her eyes. She slowed her breathing, bringing up her palms as motes of light converged towards a single point, ushering in a glowing, golden orb. “I… I did it!” she grinned, bringing the light closer and nestling it within her hands as if to protect it. “I remembered Drake doing something like this back in the cart ride to Harkon. And since I’m not doing much right now, I thought that this might be a bit more inconspicuous than a torch.”

No one argued with that as they all got into formation. Vala and Bane led the way through the passageway that had since widened up to the point where it would have allowed even three of them to walk side by side. Progress was slow given the fact that they wanted to avoid alerting the other gnolls of their presence. Vala had even swapped out her sabatons for her old, leather boots, all in the hope of minimizing the noise her gear made.

A short cackle made them all freeze as the sound of claws scraping against the uneven, stone floor came from further beyond a bend in the path. Her shield ready and her back close to the wall, Vala raised her hand at which point Drake immediately sidestepped and crouched. He raised his right palm towards the source of the noise, his mana coalescing into a bright sphere, as Lilly stepped behind him, aiming her bolter in the same direction.

The second the two gnolls had appeared, Vala lowered her hand and charged the closest one, Shield Bashing the level 11 gnoll. The creature stumbled back a couple of steps, stunned by the impact, as Drake and Lilly both started to fire at the other mob, erasing all of its health. Vala then hooked the first gnoll with her axe’s spike, yanking it closer where Bane’s eager short swords plunged into its chest. A pained yowl reverberated throughout the passageway, giving rise to a flurry of rustling as they all heard several other gnolls snarling and scurrying all throughout the tunnels.

“Seriously…” Bane sighed, “should’ve aimed for the head.”

“Dude, not the time,” said Drake, taking a step back towards Lilly and the healer.

“Lighthouse!” Vala ordered as they all exchanged a short glance. Mia then closed her eyes and began to silently chant the incantation of her spell while the others moved in. With their backs to her, they walled off the sight of their healer just as the first few mobs poured into view.

Five level 12 gnolls stood in their way, shuddering and glaring at them with a deranged sort of feral glee. Claws, spears and spiked maces at the ready, the hyena-like humanoids fanned out and inched forward. The gnolls holding old, rusty spears poked at Vala’s shield, forcing her back as the entire group moved with her, with Lilly using her freehand to help guide their healer at the center.

“Any day now,” Drake mumbled, his shoulder brushing against Vala’s.

“Not yet,” whispered Bane. “I can still hear a few more of them.”

Vala nodded along, more to herself than anything, as her ears also picked up the harsh scraping of claws against stone. The gnolls in front of her bided their time, pushing them back one step at a time, all while snarling and grinning whenever Vala snapped at their prodding spears.

“Vala, four more behind us,” said Bane, his voice carrying within the tunnel as the scurrying finally stopped.

“NOW!” she boomed, startling the gnolls and shutting her eyes tight.

Just as practiced, everyone had done the same the moment Mia’s arm shot up and she yelled. “Blinding Flash!”

Visceral screams and howls filled the passageway as Vala saw almost a third of Mia’s mana vanish, her HUD and party info still visible even with her lids shut. A moment later, she opened her eyes and charged.

Her shield crashed into the nearest gnoll, the spear rattling against the ground while its owner got slammed into the wall. The newly carved rune on the blade of Vala’s axe glowed a brilliant red as she raised her axe and braced herself.

You have activated your weapon’s Vario rune. Weight increased by 200%.

She arched her back and swung. Vibrations rattled through her arms as her poleaxe’s tip came to a stop against the wall, the gnoll’s flesh and bones giving way easily. Rotating her grip, she snapped back and stepped forward, ripping the weapon’s head out of the stilled mob. She traced a semicircle of blood and glinting steel above her before impaling the spike of her poleaxe straight into the forehead of another tear-filled gnoll. The impact bowled the monster to the ground, its limbs flailing around like those of a ragdoll before coming to an abrupt stop.

As one of the unarmed gnolls snarled at her, wild hatred reflected in its bloodshot eyes, she cocked her weapon to the side before twisting and sweeping the monstrous hyena’s legs with the spearhead of her poleaxe. And in one flowing motion, she guided the blade’s momentum up and then back down, severing the gnoll’s neck. She then scanned the area, locking in on the eviscerated corpse behind Bane and the fifth gnoll, snarling and thrashing its spear in the lycan’s face as it frantically rubbed its eyes.

Dark, purple energy swelled around his hands as Bane leaped to the side and launched his swords, driving them into the monster’s chest before pulling them back. Blood gushed out of the mob’s wounds as the blades shot back towards him with a squelch. However, the gnoll refused to falter and instead steadied itself. It then launched its spear towards the lycan.

Dread filled Bane’s eyes as he easily dodged the desperate throw, only to realize that Mia should have been behind him. But Vala had already jumped in front of their healer, tightening her grip on her shield’s straps before swatting the spear out of the air. The lycan’s ears drooped as he sighed in relief. He then grabbed his swords by the blades and charged, flinging them behind the gnoll. Still disoriented, the monster simply swiped at him in a frenzy, its jagged claws missing their target entirely.

The massacre finally drew to a close when Bane activated his marks and pulled back, toppling the gnoll as his swords lodged themselves near the creature’s spine.

Vala nodded towards him before spinning around to see Lilly grinning and Drake wiping the blood off of his sword, the two of them surrounded by the mangled corpses of the other four gnolls. “Well,” she said, storing her poleaxe into her inventory, “this went about as well as we could’ve hoped for. Good job, everyone.”

“I have to admit,” said Drake as his gaze zeroed in on Mia’s, “I’m really curious as to just how bright that amped up Blinding Flash of yours is.”

“I don’t know,” she smiled, tilting her head. “But normally, the blind effect only lasts for a second and a half. This one lasted for at least a few more. And the secondary effect seems a bit stronger as well,” she said as she glanced up at the freshly created orb of light.

“They also seemed disoriented afterwards,” Drake noted.

“Oh, one more thing,” said Mia, her eyes darting across one of her interfaces, “it’s asking me if I want to name this spell variant.”

“You should,” he replied. “Makes it easier to cast at a moment’s notice since you then just have to focus on the amount of mana you want to pump into the spell, rather than the entire process.”

“Alright,” Vala interjected. “Let’s go. You two can pick it up along the way.”

****

The atmosphere had grown strangely quiet following their last encounter with the gnolls. It didn’t take long for them to find another opening into what seemed to be the network of tunnels that they had first entered below the temple ruins. The strange, perfectly squared tiles unnerved Drake in a way he couldn’t quite put into words.

“It really is similar,” the spirit said, circling around Drake’s head. “It looks way too much like that temple beneath the Manor where you found me.”

Zeph was right. “Now that you mention it,” he replied, “if you take away the dust, dirt, and cobwebs, it also looks eerily similar to my lobby. Minus the whole wall murals and sculptures.”

In front of them, the lycan had stopped the moment he had made a left into an adjoining passage. “Uhm, guys?” he said, turning towards them with an eyebrow raised. “Is it just me or does this look familiar to you as well?”

“Yeah,” Zeph said, “I think this pretty much confirms it.”

Drake had no way to disprove his spirit’s claim. At least, not with a giant depiction of a tower-like structure surrounded by Enoa’s mortal races staring back at him from the surface of an opened stone gateway.

“What is it?” Mia asked as she stopped next to Drake. “Huh… this kind of looks like that thing we saw in the distance.”

“Y’know, I think you’re right,” Bane muttered, scratching his head.

“What thing?” Lilly asked.

“We saw something similar on the way to another dungeon,” said Vala.

“Another sculpture?”

“No,” the taur clarified as she stared at the image etched into the immaculately shaped white tiles. “We saw it to the east over the Ironsea’s trees. You could barely make it out past the horizon.”

“Wait a minute,” said Drake, taking his eyes away from the wall and pointing at the tower at its center, “you’ve actually seen this thing?”

Everyone apart from Lilly nodded.

“Okay…” he sighed. “I’ve come across this same mural at the entrance of another dungeon. And more importantly, I’ve also seen it or something incredibly similar in the lobby.”

“What lobby?” Vala asked, confused.

“My lobby. Prism’s lobby.”

Silence befell the others as they exchanged puzzled looks.

“Even if that’s the case,” said Lilly, “it’s not like that has to mean anything. You’ve seen how many games reuse assets before, right?”

“Well, yeah,” said Bane, taking another look at the wall before staring at everyone in turn. “I do see his point… I mean, we’ve been at it ever since Prism came out, and I never once stopped to justify anything as ‘just part of the game,’ you know?”

“I guess,” Lilly agreed reluctantly.

“Whatever it means or doesn’t,” Vala said, “we can worry about it later. For now, we’ve got some villagers to find and rescue.”

Stealing one last glance at the image etched onto the wall, Drake followed behind Vala and the others. The darkness soon gave way as they eventually crossed the threshold into a giant cavern. The light of dozens of white-flamed torches shimmered across the surface of an underground lake. And near its shore was a large, circular platform.

“Now this is what I call a boss room!” Bane whistled.

Before Drake could so much as turn to say something else, he saw something moving in a corner of the room just as Vala pushed him to the ground.

“DOWN!” she yelled, crouching and slamming her shield in front of herself.

Drake saw a single glint in the darkness before a thundering boom threatened to deafen him. His ears still ringing, he staggered back before raising his gaze to see Vala sprawled on her back, holding her shoulder. Nearly torn in half, her shield laid next to her, a crater the size of a baseball bat at its center. The metal had caved inward as if someone had shot a cannonball through it.

Rushing next to her, Mia pulled her back, leaning her against the wall as she placed her hands on Vala’s shoulder. “Mending Light!” The neon red gash disappeared almost immediately as the taur’s health climbed back up to around two thirds.

“Shit,” Drake muttered. Peaking past the wall, he saw what looked like two other players crouching near the entrance of a tunnel on the opposite side of them. Whatever dark armor they wore made it next to impossible for Drake to see them clearly from a distance. He did, however, see something glinting again. He quickly pulled his head back as a section of stone wall exploded, right next to where his head had just been a moment ago. “Is that a sniper?!”

“Or whatever passes as one,” sighed Vala, carefully rotating her shoulder even after her wound had disappeared completely. “Someone beat us to it.”

“Question,” said Bane, keeping his head low, “why the hell are there other players inside the dungeon if we’re already in it?!”

A low rumble echoed above them as a stone slab started to slowly descend from the ceiling.

You have engaged the Rift Keeper, Decrepit Elemental Sentinel.

“Crap. Do we move in?” asked Lilly.

“Coast’s clear,” said Drake, taking another look as he turned towards Vala. “It’s now or never.”

“Go,” she groaned, touching the mangled shield and sending it to her inventory before heaving herself up.

They rushed in and ran down the slight slope leading up to the lip of the platform. The ground quaked as the stone door behind them slammed against the ground, sealing the cavern off. At the platform’s center, a small cube levitated, its runed surface glowing ominously. The dozens of torches placed along the cavern flared wildly as glimmers of light floated from them towards the cube, accompanied by endless streams of tiny water droplets rising up from the lake’s shimmering surface, and shards of earth splitting off from all around the platform.

With the strange, magical device at its center, a rough, humanoid shape began to take form. Runic patterns akin to those on the cube glowed and shifted across the almost metallic surface of the construct’s body, reconfiguring themselves constantly as the Sentinel’s body continued to assemble itself. But before it could finish, a loud bang reverberated throughout the cavern.

Drake spun back only to see Lilly still aiming her bolter at the cube before shooting another stone bolt at it. But instead of stopping, the runes on the automaton grew brighter and, within seconds, the process had ended.

“I had to at least try,” said Lilly. “Now what?”

“Now, we fight,” Drake answered, unsheathing his sword.

The level 15 Sentinel blared out an otherworldly warble. It then raised a limb towards Lilly, reconstructing its arm into a sort of cannon. But before it could fire, Vala had charged towards it. She hewed her poleaxe at the boss’ arm from below, striking it just as it discharged a burst of air that smashed into the wall behind Lilly. Looking back at the damage caused by the shot meant for Lilly, Drake’s eyes went wide.

A nervous chuckle escaped Zeph. “I think we should definitely avoid getting hit by that.”

Though something still didn’t feel quite right. They hadn’t even hit the boss once, yet its health bar barely hovered at a bit more than a tenth of its maximum. Any such concerns, however, disappeared immediately when Drake saw the Sentinel transform its other arm into a titanic spiked mace. The ground trembled as Vala barely managed to jump out of the way.

“Zeph.”

“On it!” The spirit replied as the air around Drake stirred.

You have activated Tempest.

Movement and Attack Speed increased by 20%.

With Zeph busy channeling his buff, Drake focused as he slid his fingers across his sword’s spine, blue flames erupting from its surface before his Spellblade coalesced into a thin, shimmering aura.

He dashed to the side, flanking the Sentinel while it was busy swinging away at Vala. The wind around him picked up as he kicked off and prepared to swing at one of the boss’ legs. But just before his sword could make contact, the automaton stopped. Stone slabs shot out from beneath the Sentinel’s feet, layering themselves atop the boss’ limbs like armor.

Sparks flew as his blade gouged through the earthen armor, but the automaton’s health had barely budged. Reversing his grip, Drake aimed at the same place and took another swing. However, the slabs repositioned themselves as the mana-infused edge bit into fresh stone. Several more impacts rang out as Drake saw the boss defend its cube from a volley of Lilly’s stone bolts and Bane’s attempt at launching his short swords.

Another chilling warble raced throughout the cavern. The Sentinel’s runes lit up again, forming slits along its body as it unleashed a torrent of steam around it, blanketing the entire area around it.

“No!” Lilly yelled. “I can’t see shit like this!”

Taking a breath, Drake rushed into the fog. The blue aura around his sword vanished as he channeled a third of his mana into a Wind Strike, the air around his hands raging against the boss’ makeshift smokescreen. The massive gust cleared the area, causing everyone to freeze for an instant. The automaton had fused its hands together into a sort of cannon. Its barrel glowed a bright red as flames smoldered within.

“Jump into the lake!” the lycan screamed as he ran in front of the boss and crouched, slamming his hand against the platform.

Drake pumped more of his mana towards Zeph, augmenting his spirit’s Tempest spell as he heard three splashes around him. He then dumped another quarter of his mana into a Spell Piercer, the orb of mana swirling wildly in his palm as he fired it into the Sentinel’s head.

Enraged, the boss swept a torrent of flames across the platform as deep, purple energy pulsed around Bane’s arms, the lycan launched himself up as Drake dashed around the platform’s edge, trying to outrun the blazing inferno. With such an attack, however, it didn’t take long for the Sentinel’s attack to die down. The platform shook as the runed automaton slumped to one knee.

Almost out of mana, Drake stopped and gasped, taking out a blue-tinged potion and downing it. His eyes crackled with energy as the mana particles around him flared and spiraled towards him.

You have activated Xelian Battle Trance.

Using his Mark of Will, Bane slowed his fall and then pushed himself towards Drake, landing next to his friend as he then unsheathed his daggers. “Quick!” said the lycan. “Can you use that spell on my swords? The blue flames thing!”

“Think so. Zeph, a little help!” he yelled as he stopped his Trance and traced his fingers along Bane’s short swords. While he could only apply the basic version of Spellblade with Zeph’s help, he had channeled all of his remaining mana into the lycan’s other blade.

Drake fell to his knees, feeling slightly dizzy as the Sentinel’s joints groaned. But before it could actually lift itself, Bane yelled as he pushed his blades one after the other into the boss’ core, a trail of blue light chasing after them.

The automaton shuddered, its limbs losing some of their integrity, but not enough for them to unravel completely.

A vicious scream ripped through the cavern as both Drake and Bane turned to see Vala hoisting herself out of the lake. Her eyes narrowed into slits, she took off, leaping towards the Sentinel’s head. The rune of her axe-blade flared as she drove it into the cube, shattering it two. With its core destroyed, the rest of the automaton crumbled away, bathing the platform in a wave of dust.

You have defeated the Rift Keeper!