Chapter 18: Something Special Inside

  Isa cupped my face in her hands and gave me a sad look. It was a strange expression, considering what we’d just done. I wanted to take all her worries away, but it wasn’t as easy as whisking her away to Earth and hoping she would forget everything that happened. She would never abandon her friends, and I didn’t want to think about what would happen after we rescued them. Would she want to die to be with her parents? Would she leave me again? All I could do was hope for a miracle.

  Vince cleared his throat loudly from around the corner. “I don’t hear anything over there. Are the two of you done recharging?”

  “Almost!” Isa cried, peeling herself off of me. “Just give me a moment to…ahh…all done.”

  “Wait!” I balked, hastening to pull up my pants.

  It was easier for Isa, who decided to wear a miniskirt, to protest over not being allowed to fight.

  “Are you both decent?” Anna asked, covering her eyes as she followed her husband out.

  I turned toward the boss to hide my embarrassment. “We’re ready. Let’s do this.”

  The Wonkey was fast. It blurred by me as I approached, making a beeline for the others. If not for my golems, it would have made it to the others. They just managed to stick out their large stone arms, barring the path. That gave me a few precious seconds to lash out at it with Excalibur.

  The relic sword still felt odd in my hands. Whenever I wielded it, it controlled my arm. More appropriately, the sword swung itself, and my body somehow managed to follow. I never questioned the magic, and it never missed. The blade sunk into the back of the Wonkey, carving a long red line through thick grey fur.

  The attack didn’t seem to slow it down at all. It emitted an ear-splitting roar and rounded on me, showing off jagged fangs and bathing me in slobber. I held up my stone arm to shield my face while closing in from both sides with my golems.

  The Wonkey weaved through them like they were standing still and took a swipe at me with its razor-sharp claws. Sparks flew as they made contact with my stone arm. Excalibur swung around from the other side and dug into its muscular arm. It howled in rage and jumped back a few steps, only to be met with Vince’s gigantic two-handed axe. The Wonkey roared in outrage as the axe tore into its back, making an X against my original attack.

  I slashed at it repeatedly as it rounded on the hapless berserker. Isa cried out and tried to run to her father, but I positioned a golem in her path with a thought. Anna wasn’t distracted and flicked her wrist, causing a geyser to erupt from her fingers and splash the Wonkey in the face. That bought Vince a few seconds to retreat and, more importantly, gave me an opening to get between it and my party.

  It roared a challenge and slashed at my face. I brought Excalibur up in time to parry its claws and counter with a slash of my own. In the meantime, my second golem barreled into its exposed flank, knocking it off balance and allowing me to get two more hits in. By then, Vince managed to sidle up to my golem and swung that massive axe at the Wonkey’s exposed neck. Blood erupted as the axe opened a gaping wound before glancing off.

  A blade of water swished past me and followed the cut from the axe with amazing accuracy. I turned to see Anna’s face screwed up in concentration as she wielded her magic from twenty feet away. I ducked out of the way as she raked it through the wound, nearly severing the Wonkey’s head. She pulled back just in time for Vince to attack the same spot, finishing the job. He fell back, landing on his butt at the same time as the monster collapsed beside him.

  I let out a sigh of relief as I sheathed Excalibur. Isa rushed past me to examine her father, looking him over for wounds she could heal. Once she was satisfied he wasn’t injured, she glanced over at me.

  “Are you okay?”

  I nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. “Yeah, no wounds. How’s your dad?”

  “I’m fine,” he grunted, dusting himself off and picking himself up.

  “Not bad,” I complimented the team, satisfied that we took out a boss without taking any damage.

  “That’s not good enough,” Anna cut through my confidence with her rebuke. “We aren’t cohesive. This isn’t all about you standing between us and danger. Vince, honey…you jumped in too soon and got the monster’s attention. Isabelle, dear child…you panicked and broke formation. Your job is to keep everyone alive, not to make everyone protect you when you do something reckless. Alex, don’t cover for us. Not here, of all places. If we make mistakes, you need to let us pay for them. Stand your ground, but let us get used to fighting with you. No heroics.”

  “I understand,” I sighed, realizing I was part of the problem.

  “Alright, you heard the lady,” Vince said, hefting his axe on his shoulder. “Let’s try this again.”

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  “It’s been like this all week,” Isa sighed as she looked me over as if to make sure I wasn’t lying about my injuries.

  Anna huffed. “Maybe with a bit more tough love, you won’t get yourself killed next time.”

  “You’re one to talk!” Isa growled. “It was you both dying in the first place that got us into this mess.”

  “How many times do we have to apologize for that?” Anna followed her daughter, who was doing her best to storm off. “We didn’t mean to die and leave you alone.”

  Vince wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Give them a few minutes. This fight has been going on for quite a while. I do think my wife is making some progress.”

  “Why aren’t you helping?” I asked, nonplussed by his nonchalant attitude.

  He laughed. “Because my wife is the family diplomat. I’d just make things worse if I got involved.”

  “That’s convenient,” I said, giving him an exasperated look. “Don’t you think Isa wants to hear from her father too?”

  “You think?” he asked, looking less sure of himself. “I suppose I can try.”

  I watched as he followed after the two women, feeling slightly out of place. Before she died, Isa had felt like family. Now, I was less sure of myself. The way she looked at me made me feel like someone she used to know in a past life.

  My thoughts ran away with me, and I was only shaken out of them when Isa shook me. “Are you ready for the next boss, or do you need a minute?”

  Our training went on all week as we worked out the kinks in our formation. Out of the four of us, Anna was the best suited to fighting in a team. Her water magic was the perfect thing to support all of us. It kept Isa back when she tried to rush in, warded off wayward attacks when Vince went overboard and drew the monster’s attention, and even helped me when an overzealous boss managed to slip through my defense. I was stunned when a wall of water enveloped my body during a particularly ruthless attack by one of Bori’s monsters.

  “Not yet!” she shouted at her husband when he looked like he was going to rush in before I’d done enough damage to keep the boss’s attention.

  Anna didn’t need to say anything to Isa. She stood by her side and stopped her with a well-placed splash whenever she looked like she wanted to close in.

  “What do you expect me to do if either of them gets hurt?” Isa argued between fights. “You don’t expect me to let Daddy die, do you?”

  Anna sighed. “Think about it this way, Sweetie. This formation is part of a strategy. Right now, Alex is on a different level from us. The three of us are here to support him. Your father is holding back, too, only going in when it’s safe. Your job is on the back line to make sure nobody dies.”

  “Don’t worry, Isa,” I tried to comfort her. “I’ll keep your dad safe.”

  “What about you?” she asked, making my heart swell at the look of genuine concern.

  “I won’t die,” I replied. “I promise.”

  It was time to go. Even after everything I’d done, it felt like I wasn’t ready for what Xanadu had in store for me. It was the first time since coming to Gaia that I was heading into danger without Pi. Sure, I had the company to rescue me if I got into trouble, but they were unreliable at best.

  We were prepared, though. Ingrid came through with a full set of armor for Vince, making him look like one of my knights. Anna got a cute pink robe from the local magister that didn’t suit Zelle’s muscular body at all. Isa was somewhere in between, getting a leather tunic and matching pants that hugged her form. She looked more like a monk than a healer. I knew she placed the order hoping to fight on the front lines with me and Vince.

  Ingrid made some armor for me as well. She provided me with a chain vest that fit snugly under my tunic and some grieves to go with it. I tested Cornerstone to make sure nothing got in the way of my stone armor.

  For weapons, Vince got his massive axe. The first thing he did was cut his finger on the blade before giving Ingrid a thumbs up. Anna’s wand was kind of lackluster, but she swished it around a few times, doing some impressive tricks with water before also giving her nod of approval. Isa didn’t get a new weapon. Instead, Ingrid reforged the metal bits in the knuckles Zelle had made for her. She didn’t say what she did, but I noticed a green tint that wasn’t there before.

  Platinadium Greataxe

  Rank A

  Attack: 25

  Special: Cleave

  Aquand

  Rank A

  Magic Attack: 15

  Special: Water Affinity +

  Weighted Knuckle Grips (Modified)

  Rank A

  Attack: 20

  Special: Knuckle Sandwich

  Ingrid stopped me when I started to leave. “There’s one more thing I made for you. If you’re going to fight with that sword, you might as well have a proper shield. You are more of a mage than a knight, so I made you a small one. You can clamp it onto your stone arm.”

  Platinadium Buckler

  Rank A

  Block: 20

  Special: Shield Bash

  We picked up the potion order before heading to Helen to check on the food. The dining room was filled with wrapped plates and pots. The air was filled with the aroma of mouth-watering food.

  “A lot of this is pretty basic,” Helen explained. “I made stew and sandwiches. Your magic bag should keep everything preserved until you’re ready to eat it. I also made a few snacks for Aurora, so don’t eat them!”

  “I won’t,” I lied, still wanting to taste food meant for a dungeon.

  Aura appeared beside me and scooped up her dishes. “I’ll take good care of these, thank you very much.”

  The food vanished, and Helen gave her a nod. “Wise choice.”

  “I didn’t know you could store stuff,” I grumbled.

  She winked. “It’s one of the perks of being a dungeon. I have a certain amount of pocket space. Be nice to me, and I’ll invite you inside someday.”

  “I can go in your personal space?” I asked.

  Aura smiled. “You’ve been inside of my space plenty of times. You know it as the bedroom, though I admit I can make it look however I want.”

  “I’ll be sure to take you up on that,” I said with a grin.

  The last thing we had to do was make sure Bori was all set to take over dungeon duties in her mom’s absence.

  “Be sure to behave while I’m gone,” Aura said, patting her daughter’s avatar on the head. “And no big parties. Six members at a time, tops. Oh, and try not to kill anyone. You’re not ready for that.”

  “Oka~ay,” Bori chirped. “I’ll be good. I promise. Oh, and Daddy. I think you should have this back.”

  I frowned as she handed me the still unsolved Deductus Cube. “Wait, don’t you still want to be a puzzle dungeon?”

  She nodded. “Sure, I do, but I think this is a puzzle only you can solve. It didn’t respond to me, and you opened it right up.”

  “It could just be that I’m smarter than you, Sweetheart,” I joked.

  Aura rolled her eyes. “We all know that’s not true.”

  “Hey!” I barked, eliciting a laugh from both of them. “But fine. I’ll try to figure this thing out before I see you again.”

  “Good luck, Daddy,” Bori replied. “I have a feeling there’s something special inside.”

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