Full speed ahead. Relative term for a peg legged Scout. Enoch did his best with what he had. Choo trailed behind, fused to his Thorny Spook Bark Shield, wobbling in strange arcs, mumbling to himself.

The curved corridor led to a stone bridge. Most of its span covered in white moss. Erosion had taken its toll years ago, a small stream came down from the ceiling, feeding the moss, turning the simple crossing into an ordeal.

A second crossing for Enoch, now on his way back to the caravan. He secured the scroll case, just in case. Foot forward. Peg leg forward, tenuous hold on the wet stone.

It took a dozen of strides before the tip of his wooden leg slipped. His enhanced reflex kicked in, compensated as a long strip of moss fell in the abyss below.

His mind saw the piece of vegetation fall, registered it, then maxed out to full alarm as his Perception picked out a hidden silhouette at the end of the bridge. An archer with an aim bot on his shoulder, letting lose an arrow. The projectile vanished. Reappeared in Enoch’s torso. [-42 Health].

Enoch knew that skill, Instantaneous Arrow, perfect against high Mobility target. An absurd aim time but a guarantied hit that ignored Armor. Of course, the suicidal group would have dedicated their build to counter him.

A quick whistle to Choo already on his way with the shield. They would need the Totem Golem for this one.

A huge chunk of the bridge, right in the middle, morphed into the axewoman.

Enoch sighed, turned back and, as expected, saw two purple circles of pixels cross each other from top to bottom and then again as the third player materialized. Teleport. The annoying Mage casted a Force Barrier to block the tunnel’s entrance, a smirk on her face.

A second arrow on the way, this one at standard speed, with a standard arc. Choo’s shield moved to intercept, but the projectile blurred in a multitude of superposed versions of itself. Passed through the shield undisturbed, collapsed back to a single arrow and continued toward Enoch’s head. Fuzzy Arrow. A popular skill to shoot unblockable projectile. Delightful.

Enoch attempted to Dodge and failed. [- 15 Health]. At least this one didn’t ignore armor.

The axewoman, almost in striking range, started to swing her oversized weapon when an oversized stone face slammed her at full force. The Totem Golem. Enoch smiled, anticipating her fall, but she shrugged the blow. High Willpower. High Endurance. Great.

Enoch’s thoughts raced, analysing the options, stacking the moves one on top of the other. The music frantic, every scenario ending in his demise, and, worst of all, in the cursed trio’s victory. He froze as the axe came for him, searching for an out. Surely there was a way out. Or down.

The fall down the chasm emerged as a real possibility. Fall damage. Possible holds. Total depth. Spike at the bottom? A cold river? A shallow lake? He lacked information. At least, he thought, this option ended in question mark. Not a definite X.

The swing destroyed his armor, then his flesh. Red pixels exploded. Adrenaline icy cold in his veins. Enoch took a step back, clapped for them, gave them his mocking smirk and fell nonchalantly to one side of the bridge. Down, down in the bowels of the earth.

***

A fingernail caught an easy hold. Burst into red pixels. The impact made him tumble. His feet caught a new hold, further down from the first, his body already falling at full speed. [-18 Health]. His leg folded under him. Fall damage was forgiving in this game, but there were limits. This whole situation had obviously passed it, probably a couple of hundred feet ago.

Enoch managed to stick his peg leg into a hole. The celebration short lived as the straps broke, liberating his stump to wiggle uselessly.

The mage materialized in a burst of visual effect. Conjured a ghost hand who snatched Enoch in a deadly grip. The woman was flying, robes extended, flapping menacingly, full of power. She charged a spell, a ball of Green Mana expanding and compressing at the tip of her staff. Bad news.

A bean from Enoch’s Slippery Necklace exploded, countering the magical grapple and the fall resumed, much slower after the full stop provided by the spell. The green bolt missed by a wide margin. Sent a cloud of debris after him. The mage didn’t follow. Out of Mana?

The brief pause, thankfully, had let Choo catch up to him. The serrated shield whistling in the rushing air. The Totem Golem booming, its unchanging face frowning angrily.

Enoch noticed a dramatic music, lost in the ambient chaos of his fall, glimpsed part of the chat, his awareness taking the time to read them, absurdly.

“This guy needs a parachute.”

“What’s up with these underground biomes and their impossibly deep chasms?”

“If this keeps up, he’s going to pop out on the other side of the world.”

The darkness rushed by him, lit up with by the purple glow of his Bonded Artifact. The shield caught him first. Enoch grabbed it. Ignored its serrated edge. Ignored the damage. The few pounds of strength from Animate Object 3 barely slowed his descent, but it allowed the Totem to catch him. Thump. The stone face held the shield as an uncomfortable hat ornamented by a human.

“Got… you… Master,” strained Choo.

And he did have him. The world slowed down. The pursuers well out of range unless they were suicidal. Oh wait.

No mater. Enoch raised his bleeding hand in victory. Shouted in relief, half laughing, “Whoo-hoo. I’m still alive you useless bitter losers.”

Then he hit the ground. Hard.