The Ruby Magician

Wyn growled as he killed another of the boss's minions. They weren't particularly difficult to fight, falling somewhere in the upper first tier in power. But their presence still gave the boss monster two large advantages.

The first and most obvious was that they forced the team to divide their focus. While one or two of the melee team members could handle five or six of the monsters on their own, their numbers kept steadily increasing. At first only seven monsters emerged from the black portal, though that quickly changed as Wyn's last count was closer to ten. It was as though the boss had an army on the other side of the portal, and were bringing them out in an increasing stream. If it turned into a battle of attrition, they would lose just estimating that they had an endless amount of zombies.

The second and arguably worse advantage was that the boss kept using the minions to regain its own health and power in the most gruesome manner possible. When they successfully hit the boss enough, either with magic or physical contact, it would teleport away and feast on one of the minions, completely draining away its undead life. Wyn guessed it was recovering both its injured body and mana, as it didn't seem to slow down with its own use of abilities. Even John's weapon that was more effective against undead wasn't giving him too much of an advantage, and he had already utilized its Lightstrike ability twice without a marked difference of success.

It was a nightmare of a fight that had already gone on for almost ten minutes. It felt like an eternity.

"I need another break," Tasha said, moving to stand beside Marcy. She had taken to making sure she stood by one of them during the fight after the boss injured her, looking for both additional support and to help reposition the others. It was a good strategy as the boss was primarily focused on her, and the team was able to move themselves so that John or Cal was near her at all times.

Their current strategy was to start running towards Marcy at any point they weren't around the boss, as she needed to be close to the monster to keep her Hunter's Gaze ability active. It also helped make sure John or Cal could keep pressure on the boss, who hadn't been able to connect with Tasha since its first initial barrage.

While the boss showed intelligence, Wyn was proud of their strategy as they kept him trapped like a pack of wolves cornering a fleeing prey.

The only problem was they actually needed to outright kill the monster, which was proving to be near impossible.

Wyn moved through the small crowd of minions, killing another several in quick succession with abilities active. He had his usual effects up with Sprint, Drain, and alternating Flash and Frostsnap to great effect. He was going to help target the boss, but after finding Feeble didn't affect the boss after several tries, he knew his abilities were better served against the minions he could manage on his own. With his speed and abilities on rotation, he managed to handle all of the minions by himself.

For now, at least.

"What's wrong?" Wyn yelled, slashing through another of the minions.

"I can't stand still long enough to bring out Baratheon!" Tasha yelled. "I had to use another mana potion, too!"

Wyn cursed. Tasha was casting divine healing spells on the boss that were hurting him, but not able to do much else. A good portion of her spells required time to cast, especially her second and third tier spells. To bring on a Calling took almost as much time.

Time that was needed to be still and focus on the spell. Which meant that she couldn't do it while actively running away from the boss. The two times she had tried to cast them anyway were in vain, as the boss ignored the others and solely rushed at Tasha. She couldn't stand still and be hurt by him again or run the risk of being more seriously injured, or downright killed.

The boss was infuriatingly smart. As smart as any monster they had faced before, possibly smarter than most Climbers. It saw its main threat of Tasha and honed in on her like Marcy's spell would target her own enemies.

So their plan devolved into trying to trap the boss while Tasha kept running away. But her endurance was finite, and the quicker Cure spells she could cast weren't hurting the boss as much as they needed.

They needed to do something. Luckily, Wyn had a few ideas.

"Cal, Cedric, focus on the minions," Wyn ordered. "Marcy, bring out your hawk to help them and then help me with the boss. Tasha, summon Baratheon, and John, stay at her side so she can complete it."

John didn't argue as he pulled out a healing potion beside Tasha, finally able to pause long enough to heal the injuries he sustained from the boss's repeated wrath.

"How are you going to keep the boss busy?" Marcy asked.

Wyn changed his weapon to one he was most familiar with - a spear. "Just trust me. But I'll need some help."

Moving to intercept the boss, Wyn made sure his abilities were active. When Sprint wasn't active, he saw the boss move with fast movements almost in a blur, and knew that was how the others saw the monster. It was insanely fast. It was wildly strong. And seemingly endless with being able to heal with its minion army.

But as the speed skill surrounded him, Wyn saw the creature move with a similar and even slightly slower speed. His resolve held. He didn't need to completely kill it, but hold out while Tasha was able to use her abilities to change the balance.

The boss monster ignored Wyn as he approached, but Wyn cast Siphon and used a charge of Web from his necklace to try and lock the monster in place. It looked down at its feet curiously as the two glyphs intersected on the stone floor.

"Interesting," the monster said with a low rumble.

Shadows coalesced around its feet, and it was lifted into the air a couple of feet. The glyphs didn't seem to affect it as it floated.

While being frustrated, Wyn wasn't deterred. He cast Frostsnap quickly to try and freeze the boss. Blue snow and ice covered its body but it didn't freeze. It did slow a bit, but still moved forward in the air.

Then a green tinted arrow pierced it and large vines snaked their way around its body. It paused in the air, looking down at its bound form.

Wyn took the moment to activate his boots and started flying himself, rising to meet the creature. He stabbed several times at its head, but the monster was still able to move its head and neck and shifted it awkwardly at harsh angles to avoid the blows. It even started rotating in air to dodge more of Wyn's stabs, still bound but not frozen, cackling each time the spear missed.

Wyn was getting tired of the boss and its ridiculous antics. While he fought, he activated several spells in quick succession. First he coated his weapon with Silence Attack, then with a boosted effect, cast Greater Regen on the boss. He didn't use it often as the base spell was usually enough after being improved from his equipment, and the greater mana cost used most of his mana when full, but this wasn't the time to care.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The boss's smirk morphed into one of a pained snarl as the white aura overtook the shadows around its body. The divine magic was peeling its own skin away instead of healing it, and it growled as it rose its arms to burst out of the vines wrapped around its body.

Wyn held his ground as he simultaneously stabbed at the monster as his mana recovered. The boss was working harder to avoid each hit, and when the spear finally made contact, the red aura transferred to the creature, dispersing its shadows.

It felt to the ground on its feet and was rooted in place from the two trap abilities.

That was when chaos descended.

Wyn was about to strike out at the monster but instead jumped back and away, clearing room for the others. He realized that Cedric held down the minions with his strong storm spell, and Cal and the deathhawk were tearing through the ones not completely effected. But that allowed Cedric to help with the boss, and he, along with Marcy, started peppering it with attacks. A storm cloud formed above it, crackling with lightning that struck the boss repeatedly, and Marcy's arrows were glowing with a white light as they each sunk deeply into the boss's body one after the other.

Then Tasha finished her ability, except she didn't summon Baratheon. Instead, she used her Invoker's Might to channel the angelic being's power, hovering in the air beside John with a divine glow that dwarfed the boss's black aura. She raised her hands in front of her and summoned a blinding beam of holy light.

Wyn only heard the guttural scream of the boss for a few moments as the combined effects of Cedric's storm cloud and lightning, Marcy's rain of arrows, and Tasha's divine magic all but eradicated the creature in a white, purifying light.

Wyn stared in shock at the empty space where the boss previously stood. Its body was still crumbling apart, dusting before his eyes as though carried by the same unseen wind from earlier.

"Good gods," John said, walking over beside Wyn.

Wyn understood. That boss was powerful. Intelligent. Crafty. If it wasn't alone and they didn't team up against them with numbers in their favor, the outcome would have been far different.

But it raised a question. A question that Wyn could see on the other's faces.

If this was the challenge for the second tier, what was the difficulty going to be for the third tier?

Wyn tried to prevent his mind from wandering as they collected the treasure from the boss's pile, where two items radiated blue auras underneath a small mound of coins and gems.

He didn't succeed.

*****

Wendy gently rubbed Daniel's shoulders. "It's okay, dear," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "We'll keep looking!"

Daniel sighed but smiled softly at his betrothed. He leaned into her embrace and decided to rest for a minute.

They had been in Alestead's library for most of the morning, only stopping once for a break. After Wyn had told him about the stone tablets and the urgency of finding out more about them from the threat of the Faceless Four, Daniel had set out to try and search through the library for any additional information that could help.

That search had been fruitless after several days of trying. The only relevant information he had found wasn't even on the tablets but instead on the name of the masks of the dangerous group, which was already relatively common knowledge. The names were the creators of the four magical towers in the country and neighboring countries, and the one book that provided it was just their history. They were ancient beings considered to be gods, who crafted the towers and surrounding region with dense magic.

That was all.

Wendy had joined him this day both to support and encourage him, and he was enjoying her company far more than the misery that was his own thoughts of failure.

Nearly falling asleep with her combing his hair with her fingers, Daniel sat up slowly and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, darling, but I think we should stop for today. You go on back and I'll put away the books. This old mind has had enough."

Wendy feigned mock surprise, holding her hand to her chest with an amused shocked expression. "Never would I hear the day Daniel, the mighty Ruby Magician, would have met his match with books!"

Daniel giggled, causing her to giggle, and then a few surrounding patrons to shush them.

They tried, then failed, to suppress their laughter.

Slowly putting the books he had been researching back on the shelves, Daniel heard a book drop on a neighboring isle. Curious, he peered through the open shelf and saw a young man quietly cursing to himself while picking up the book. He franticly picked it up and smacked it with a hand, then haphazardly grabbed another book from the same shelf.

Daniel was appalled. How could someone handle the tomes so carelessly and with such lack of respect? Some of the books in Alestead's library were hundreds of years old, and if anyone was caught handling them so poorly they could be reprimanded as though committing a crime.

Placing his books back, Daniel hurried around to teach the young man a lesson. He walked up to him and raised a hand, keeping his voice at a loud whisper to not be too forceful. "Young man, you shouldn't treat these books with -"

"Shut up, old man," the young man said, interrupting Daniel. His eyes were wild and he bared his teeth.

Daniel nearly took a step back in fear, caught by surprise. The man looked like a rabid animal.

"Excuse me," was all Daniel could muster.

The man, not much older than a teenager, snarled at Daniel. "Just… go away! I have to find it or else! Or else… just, leave me alone!" He grabbed his stack of books and rushed off, nearly bumping into another person on the other side of the row.

Daniel watched, stunned. Just what was wrong with him?

But as he watched him through the open shelves stomp off to an empty table, concern grew in his mind. Was the young man troubled? Why would he need to be so concerned about finding something in the library?

Daniel could relate some, as sometimes there were mysteries that absolutely had to be learned or solved. But this felt different. He seemed… angry about not finding something. Maybe he lost a bet with his teammates or his mentor? But that didn't feel quite right. He didn't seem mildly upset but rather as though his life was in danger. The way he acted seemed to be that this was a last resort, like he had no others options except to find out some piece of information.

Why, though? The question tugged at Daniel nearly as much as his own reasons for being in the library.

Sighing, Daniel bent down to pick up the books the man dropped to the ground. His eyebrows furrowed as he noticed the books looked familiar, further confirmed by the titles. Unique Items of Alistair, Set Pieces of the Second Tier, Third tier treasures.

Interesting. Those were the same titles he had looked through the last time he researched the stone tablets.

He carefully looked back at the man, watching him at a table through the shelf. He was quickly going through pages on another book, frantically skimming the text. His lips moved rapidly as he muttered to himself, and his forehead was sheen with sweat.

A hand touched his shoulder and Daniel jumped, bumping into the shelf. He looked back at a startled Wendy.

"Dear?" She asked.

Daniel put his arm around her and slyly pointed to the young man through the shelf. "Do you see him? Something is off about him." He went on to explain his findings.

Wendy listened intently, her eyes occasionally glancing to the young man.

After deciding to wait, the pair watched the young man for short while longer, until he went through his stack of books and slammed the last one in frustration. He shot up from his chair and left to another isle, leaving them.

Daniel looked to Wendy, who nodded.

They quickly went out to the table with the stack of books as Wendy watched for the young man to return while Daniel took a mental note of what he was reading. Sure enough, they were the same books he had found before, too, with the addition of one extra that caught his eye - Secrets Within Alistair and How to Find Them.

He knew of the book. It was a popular one with multiple copies for young Climbers who sought special treasures in the tower, hoping to find something unique. It was well known that the tower had many secrets, and that secret rooms occasionally were found. The book had a mixture of incorrect information with some sound research, confirmed with Daniel's study of Wyn's Mushroom Lantern and his personal experiences with finding those rooms.

But why was the young man looking through it with such fervor? It was as though he was being pressured into finding something like Daniel originally thought. The content was interesting, too, as the collection of books wasn't commonly looked through at the same time. It was as though he desperately needed to learn about some unique item. Which was ironic, because Wyn was in the same position. Though only two sets of groups were heavily invested in those items.

A thought entered Daniel's mind. One that was dangerous if his forming theory was found to be correct.

He abruptly rose from the table.

"What is it?" Wendy asked. "Did you find something?"

Daniel shook his head. "Not definitively. But I have a hunch." He looked back at Wendy and smiled softly. "Why don't you go on home and I'll meet up with you later this evening? I'm going to research something a bit different."

Wendy looked at him worriedly. She started to protest but then stopped herself. She gave Daniel a quick kiss on the cheek. "Don't be too long."

Daniel watched her leave, upset at himself for lying to her. Or, at least, not completely lying to her, but not revealing the whole truth, either.

He was, indeed, going to research something a bit different. The implication was that it was going to be more books, but that wasn't his plan.

It took the young man another full hour to finish his scrambling around the library, acting increasingly erratic as the time ticked on. When he seemingly didn't find what he was looking for, he threw a book onto the floor and stomped out of the library.

Daniel followed him. He knew not to be too obvious or he'd give himself away, so he kept a safe distance while watching the man walk with purpose to the housing district.

There was a strong chance the man was being coerced into finding out additional information. Coerced by a deadly group intent on obtaining a certain set of unique items through questionable means.

Just what did that mean for this young man? And possibly worse, what did that mean for Wyn?