The thing was fast. If it had attacked right away, Rich knew he would have been caught flat-footed. But it dove past him, lightning flickering out to lick along his wings, bending impossibly and jolting him with an unpleasant buzz.

He banked right, and watched the form go, only to hear Blackbinder yell “There's two of them!”

Instinct drove Rich into a hard left, and the second one passed by far enough away that the second dragon's lightning aura missed him.

They were easily as long as a city bus, and half as big around, made of segmented metal with sparking rods jutting out of their frames every few feet. Tiny little clawed arms trailed behind heads that were mostly jaws, though their burning green eyes never left him as they danced and flowed through the air like eels swimming through water.

And their names were identical.

Thunder Dragon – 25

They traced out a rectangular path at the bottom of the chamber, giving him a moment to breathe. Rich checked his party status...

...and gasped. “Oh shit. That lightning does stamina damage.”

“That's a problem?” Blackbinder asked.

“For me? Yes. My endurance is good, but if they get enough hits in...”

He felt them shift on his back as the members of his party stared down at the black abyss below.

“Looks like I'm tanking, then,” Suzy said. “Just focus on moving, and keeping away from— oh shit, here they come! Fight the Battles! Set Spears!”

“Spears?” Rich said, trying to gain altitude as the two dragons came spiraling toward him. “We don't have any—”

SHUNK!

Suzy pulled out a hilt, and a thirty-foot long lance spiraled out from it. Bracing it against her shoulder, she spun and tried to get a bead on the approaching metal threats.

“Yeah, I guess it's time to cut loose,” WorldwarpR agreed. “Wall of Force! Wall of Force! Force Bolt! Force Bolt! Force Bolt!”

“On the plus side, Elementalist was one of the jobs I had to do to get Shadowcaster,” Blackbinder mused. “My skills are kind of low, but let's see what I can do with Manipulate Air.”

For a moment, it worked. One of the dragons was forced into the channel between the twin walls of force, and staggering as Blackbinder pulled the air out from under it. The force bolts slammed into the thing, and Rich darted closer, roaring “Burninate!” bathing it in gouts of flame.

It was satisfying to see it wriggle free of the trap and flee, visibly smoking and with holes throughout its hull.

But to his horror, Rich realized that he'd lost sight of the other one.

He tried to turn, but it was too late, as a metal tail rose up from below and snapped up to club his head, just as twin arms grabbed hold of his own tail.

“NNNYYYYYAAA!” he roared as his whole body shook and twitched. With horror, he saw yellow numbers pulse out of his head. Most were in their twenties, and with sick dread he knew he was screwed. The only reason he was still conscious was because he'd blessed his agility, and so buffed his stamina. Once that was gone...

He wasn't the only one howling, though.

And fortunately, he wasn't the only one whose ass was on the line.

“Warper! Fly me!” Suzy yelled.

Yelled and leaped, dropping the spear and drawing her sword, as she arced downward, lightning flaring off her to scatter to either side.

She sunk her blade into the thing and it roared, letting go of Rich and rolling over, speeding away as she dug under the plating, chanting skills to strike over and over again, sending red numbers up to mix with the yellow ones streaming out of her helm.

“Flight!” WorldwarpR bellowed, gesturing at her.

“Incoming!” Blackbinder shouted, and pointed up.

Rich dodged, as the dragon they'd wounded earlier missed them by a hair. He braced himself for another zap, but fortunately the damage had taken out a few pylons, or it was low on juice... either way its aura didn't take him out, and he counted that a win.

“No no no shit!” WorldwarpR said, and pointed down. “Catch her!”

Reorienting, Rich stared down to where the dragon and Suzy Reign were falling, both forms limp as they plummeted into the void.

“Lesser Healing!” he tried, but knew it wouldn't work... and indeed she didn't twitch as she left his sight, swallowed by the darkness.

Suzy Reign has left your party!

“Hell,” he muttered, but there was no time to mourn. She had died; the remaining dragon was his concern now.

“Holy Bolt,” he commanded, and a white blast of light shot forth from his eyes to blast off part of the creature's armor.

Your Holy Bolt skill is now level 17!

“You couldn't have done that earlier?” Blackbinder snapped.

“It's not very damaging!” Rich protested, dodging as the thing tried to ram into him again.

Worldwarper shot it between the eyes as it came, and whooped as one of its eyes extinguished. “Yes! Crit!”

And then it was falling away, to join its brethren and Suzy in wherever the dead things went, in this trial.

“Fuck. Ow. Everyone okay?” Rich asked. “Can someone yellow potion me?”

“On it!” Warper said, using magic to levitate a few yellow vials to Rich's waiting maw.

The bells were tolling even as Rich crunched down, and felt his tired frame loosen up. Above, the storm clouds peeled back and green light gave way to red, as the sun grew, hot and blazing.

“Let me guess,” Rich said as he spat out glass. “Fire.”

“Fire,” agreed WorldwarpR. “Red color, and the associated animal is the pheasant.”

“Doesn't sound too bad,” Blackbinder said.

“Remember the geese. Stay on guard,” Rich warned.

They fell silent then, waiting, as the words flashed by.

SIXTH TRIGRAM: FIRE

CHALLENGE STARTING IN 9...

8...

7...

Five blazing trails of flame carved across the sky, converging to a point. Then they radiated out, leaving two large contrails with two smaller ones between them.

And what he had taken for meteors coalesced into great fiery birds. Phoenixes by any other name, Rich supposed.

Though as they fell towards him, he saw their titles:

Pheasant of Fire – 30

If he'd been a noob, he would have been worried. They'd just barely won against two level twenty-fives, and now there were five things that were higher level.

But Rich had been “playing the game,” for about a year now, and he knew that levels weren't everything. The difference between a level twenty-five dragon and a level twenty-five housecat was huge. So the fact that there were five of them meant that they weren't as bad individually as the dragons that had preceded them.

Also, they were made of fire. And fire was a small threat to him, so long as he wasn't up against Cindermancers or other problematic players.

So Rich met them, rising up as they fell, roaring his challenge...

…and only remembering that he had players on his back when Blackbinder and WorldwarpR started screaming.

He veered off in a hurry, and the crack of WorldwarpR's flintlock drove one of the flaming birds back, a spurt of lava blood narrowly missing him.

“You were an Elementalist,” Rich called back to Blackbinder. “Don't suppose you've got anti-fire tricks?”

“I was all about air! I can try to smother them.”

“Worth a shot!”

“Destroy Air!”

There was a BANG from above, but Rich didn't have time to look up and check. He focused on evading, as WorldwarpR threw out walls of force and mana bolts, and Blackbinder tried different air elementalist tricks.

“You're not using shadow magic?” he called back, after the caster took a break to drink potions, cursing between chugs.

“No! This whole place is on fire! I have no shadows to work with!”

Rich gnawed his lip, and glanced upward.

The sun was the brightest point in the sky.

“I'll get you some shadow. Get ready!”

“What are yoooooooUUUU—”

Rich abandoned his drive and rose, pulling past the surprised firebirds, straining his wings to their limits to gain altitude.

Your Fly skill is now level 29!

Your Fly skill is now level 30!

Up he went, watching the pheasants scramble beneath him. If he hadn't kept agility buffed they would have easily caught him, but with that slight magical edge, he managed to soar up far enough above them...

...and then he blotted out the sun.

For just a few seconds, they were in shadow. Only slightly, they were still beings of fire.

But there were shadows. And Blackbinder didn't disappoint.

“Hungering Void!”

A hole opened in reality, and the birds shrieked fire as four of them vanished into it. It snapped shut, in the heartbeat before Rich's shadow moved past the last one, and they were gone, just like that.

But the fifth one was made of sterner stuff, or was perhaps just a bit faster. It dodged a mana bolt and arrowed in, and Rich braced for impact.

At the last second, he realized his mistake.

The flames washed over and past him, because the bird wasn't targeting him.

“Force Shield!” WorldwarpR snapped.

Blackbinder screamed. A scream that cut off, replaced by a rapidly retreating sizzle. Rich whipped around to see the bird fleeing downward, a bundle of black, burning cloth thrashing in its claws.

Rich shouted “Greater Hea—”

Blackbinder has left your party!

“—ling,” Rich finished, awkwardly.

Your Greater Healing skill failed!

No valid target within range.

“Well shit,” he said, and dove after the pheasant.

With only one of them to worry about, a few bursts of his sand breath followed by a volley of force bolts from WorldwarpR soon took it down. The thing was a glass cannon, more or less.

But it had gotten in a lucky hit, and now their party was down to half strength.

The bird exploded into cinders and drifted downwards, smoking, as Rich took a breather. I'm making mistakes. This is stressful. And there are two challenges left.

“Assuming that heaven's last, the next one is either lake or marsh,” WorldwarpR said, sounding as frazzled as Rich. “The associated animal there is the goat.”

“Level thirty-five goats? Jesus,” Rich said. “Hopefully they won't fly.”

That said, he was starting to feel tired again. All the aerial acrobatics were wearing him down.

The bells sounded, the flames from on high died down, and a light blue glow replaced the crimson glare. Steam billowed up from billow, boiling away before it rose more than a few hundred meters. And through the mist, Rich could see solid ground for the first time in a few challenges, in two islands that pushed up to the northern side of the chamber. Between and to the west lay only water.

SEVENTH TRIGRAM: LAKE

CHALLENGE STARTING IN 9...

8...

7...

And in the center of the lake, a bubbling heralded something rising from the depths. Something very, very big.

Two metal horns, browned with tarnish and encrusted with barnacles and coral broke the surface, followed by a massive head, easily the size of Rich's draconic form. Followed by two glaring, glass eyes that glowed with turquoise light. Followed by a bearded snout, that snorted steam so hot that Rich could feel it from this distance.

Followed by two raised hooves, and the fin of a metal tail, counterbalancing the golem, as the construct turned its gaze upon the two players above.

Goat of the Lake – 35

“I think we should split up,” WorldwarpR said. “Good luck! Flight!”

Rich really couldn't object.

Or do much more besides shut his eyes and ride out the sudden blast of steam, as the goat mecha did its level best to melt him.

Rich weighed his options, there in the scalding steam. The thing was using a heat-based attack, and a quick check of his party status showed that it wasn't harming him much.

Fuck it, he decided. Let's keep this simple.

“Holy Smite, Unholy Smite, Enhance Pain, Shield of Divinity, CHOMP!”

Skills ticked up as he pounced downward, and tore into the the metal of the goat with tooth and claw. For once his wings were getting a rest, and the thing was slow to react as he burrowed into the armor. No skill here, just brute force, and to his surprise, it was enough.

It wasn't helpless; the thing managed to shake him off a few times, and get in some boneshattering headbutts. But he just healed himself up, or transferred the wounds, and went back in for seconds.

And it worked.

Panting, battered, his sanity low and his moxie running out, Rich shook his head as something in the shredded remains of the goat gave way, and the construct fell limp as it sunk beneath the waves. With a flap of his wings that was more of a boosted jump, he landed on the island where WorldwarpR waited, a small heap of empty potion bottles around him.

“One more challenge,” Rich rumbled.

“I'm out of potions. Well, the kind I use, anyway,” WorldwarpR confessed. He cocked his flintlock. “Getting low on ammo, too.”

The bells sounded again. And the water drained, as the sun descended, and the cyan light was replaced by a clear blue sky, with puffy clouds. Land rose to snap into place, and the sky grew closer as Rich realized that the island he was on was rising, becoming a small hill as the rest of the floor rose up to join it.

EIGHTH TRIGRAM: HEAVEN

Dare you challenge heaven? Y/N?

Rich opened his mouth to get it over with, then paused. “Hold on. This one's different.”

“Ye... uh, affirmative, sir.” WorldwarpR caught himself just in time. Want to wait and see what happens?”

Rich watched as the walls of the chamber rose, revealing pagodas and houses and orchards full of trees, their branches swaying with heavy fruit. It looked a bit like the garden outside, only more so. The plants were metal and terracotta replicas, for the most part, with lacquered wood in a few colorful places. Flesh and blood people moved among them, tending them with glowing tools that seemed to work with the inanimate foliage.

No one spared them a second glance.

And after a second, the sound of hoofbeats echoed from what appeared to be a palace in the distance.

“The animal associated with heaven is a horse,” WorldwarpR whispered.

And indeed, it was a horse of purest porcelain that trotted up to them. On its back rode a man in simple robes, wearing a toolbelt much like those that the gardeners wore. His hat added a good foot to his height, tall and eight-sided, much like the chamber they'd come through.

His face was elderly and perfect.

Too perfect.

And above the horse's glowing title, Horse of Heaven 40, his name made both Rich and WorldwarpR take a step back.

Terracotta Emperor 84

Rich's perception let him see the details that WorldwarpR couldn't. The skin was too smooth, too perfect. The hairs were too evenly colored, and of equal thickness. And the wrinkles were actually joints in a very flexible mask.

“You do not wear a body of flesh,” Rich murmured.

The man's smile widened. “Young dragon. No... more than that. You wear your body of flesh very well. I wonder if you wear your true shell as well as you wear this one?”

“Good writing on this NPC,” WorldwarpR said. “Uh, should we bow?”

“You can. But you are not my subjects, so it is not necessary.”

Rich considered, then bowed his head.

WorldwarpR grunted as he knelt beside him.

“Oh rise, rise. And do tell me. Are we to fight today?”

“What happens if we choose to challenge heaven?” Rich asked.

“Then I suppose there shall be a fight. And I shall bestow rewards to the victor. What brought you to this heaven I have built? What do you desire? Perhaps a peach of immortality? Perhaps a staff that some insolent monkey lost the last time he was here? Maybe a cloud that thinks it is a magic carpet, that thing has been pesky and I have no idea where it came from.”

“And what happens if we do not choose to challenge heaven?” Rich continued.

“Hm...” The figure pulled on his beard. “I suppose we could have tea and talk about what brings you here in the first place. Yes?”

“Ye—” Rich caught himself.

The prompt was still in his sight.

“No, I do not want to challenge heaven. Yes I want tea,” Rich said, and the emperor nodded, satisfied.

And as he declined, new words flashed past his eyes; words that told him he was truly out of danger... at least for the moment.

You are now a level 24 Young Stone Dragon!

CON+30

STR+30

WILL+30

WIS+30

Armor +25

Endurance +25

Mental Fortitude +25

But the relief at surviving the challenge was replaced by a chill worry, at the Emperor's next words.

“Come then. We have a little time, I think, before the world ends.”