All three females ran in ahead of me at high speeds. Our path went up a ramp into the dome’s second story. SheHulk kept spinning around to deflect incoming projectiles with amazing timing, likely warned by a skill. Each time her shield flashed a bright gold.

“Through here!” TinkerHell yelled from the doorway. We ran down a curved hallway which bent around the dome's inside edge. Concrete like substance with bits of wiring poking out littered the wall like an electrician’s nightmare come to life. Swords and other items lined the hallway.

Skill Used: [Identification]

Results: Sword

Details: Enchant [Lightning’s Minor Bane] present. This weapon will deal increased damage to electricity elementals and ignore a portion of energy based shield abilities. System Notice!

Most enchanted weapons do less damage than average due to their altered makeup. This makes them dangerous to use as everyday weapons. Higher ranks of [Enchantment] will allow these modifications to be negated, or other possible side effects.

“Babe!” I yelled ahead to my wife while pointing at the weapons. Hopefully she saw what I did. Xin nodded then turned quickly, took a stance, and started chanting.

A horde of people were coming up the ramp behind us. I turned and threw [Morrigu’s Echo] across the field once more. Most players were wise and flung to the side to get out of its way. One particularly rough looking woman took my javelin to the knee. She cried out until two of her own team members promptly decapitated her.

“Voices,” I muttered, aghast at how quickly her own people turned violent. Seeing this made me feel a little better about my actions in times of battle.

My wife’s hands bobbed in the air as runes lit up. Many were still red from the earlier destroyed monster, but she had enough to recreate two small skeletons that promptly collapsed next to enchanted weapons. Their bony fingers slid around hilts creating an illusion of deceased Locals.

An enemy figure literally flashed into view next to me. I barely reacted in time. [Awareness Heightening] helped me get a blade up. Their deflected attack skimmed off [Morrigu’s Gift] and tore into meat under my shoulder.

Ice spilled down the hall, slowing this newest player killer even further. I turned and smashed with a shifting [Morrigu’s Gift] then watched as the ARC took visual input too far. Faint reassurances that the player was okay in their own ARC, but maybe upset, meant very little as his head cleaved in two. A slight taste of bile crept up once the game gave me tokens for murdering another player.

“Come on!” TinkerHell yelled from down the hall.

An actual body joined the two skeletons. Other attackers filled the far doorway and peered inside with caution. Our small group of players stood on the far side of this long hallway, through a doorway, on what looked to be a ledge.

“Oh, he’s not going to like this,” Xin’s voice carried as I ran to catch up. The wall curved right, and the next room opened to a huge wide open area. At a glance, we seemed to be two stories above a flattened floor. We were inside the dome proper, and orange crackled along the ceiling. To one side was a rickety ladder to get down.

On the dome's far side sat an absolutely giant mechanical monster. It had eight legs, large faceted eyes that shone red, and a large red end that housed gears. Small spikes came off each leg and the dried bits of prior combatants could be seen all around the room.

“It’s a big, mechanical, spider.” I felt a chill of annoyance. One eye twitched while I tried to figure out how big a hammer would be needed to smash this damned bug into oblivion. Heavy footsteps down the hall distracted me.

Skill Used: [Identification]

Results: [Sage’s Guardian #4]

Rarity: Four of a Kind

Health: [Extra], [Regenerates]

Details: The Sage hand crafted four of these beasts over many years of hard labor. In the end, he left the key to their usage unexplained, and perhaps never created. The Sage himself has not been seen in [Arcadia] for years.

An Ode to the Sage’s creation;

Of mechanical creatures, the Sage was a fan.

Four of these roam the halls made by one man.

On the power of runes and bound magic they ran.

In the end, each is still an ugly tin can.

“Tin can?” I questioned.

Stomping pounded down the hallway. My head shook to get back in the game. Another stealther could be sneaking up. Both eyes closed to remove visual feedback long enough to activate [Sight of Mercari]. The results displayed an army’s worth of people nearby. At least fifty stood outside our dome alone while more rushed through the town. We were outnumbered, and most of the players were headed our way, no doubt to pick off the smallest group.

No one with a [Stealth] ability showed up, at least not below Rank four. I turned, ready to throw a javelin through the hallway again but the lead person had both a heavy shield and blue glowing energy about them. They crept up slowly. [Morrigu’s Echo] couldn’t pierce that even with my [Brawn].

I threw it anyway. The blue shield crackled violently as my weapon skidded into a wall. One of the enemy players reached out to grab the weapon while shouting happily. [Recall] caused it to vanish from their grip and return to my side. I twisted the long spear into a smaller shape then readied myself to hold them off.

“We’re going to pull! Engaging the boss will close the entrance!" SheHulk motioned to TinkerHell.

“What else happens after we start it?” Xin's normally quiet voice picked up as a fresh blast of energy arced overhead. The energy kept overpowering our speech. Communication would be difficult, and my wife looked paler than normal.

“Bad shit happens,” SheHulk grumbled then leapt down. Her body plummeted like a slow falling meteor.

Xin nodded then turned back toward me, looking beautiful despite the haggard chaos. She handled [Awareness Heightening] far better than I did.

Thuds pulsed in both ears. The people coming down the hall grew closer, the heavy shield bearer remained in front. Xin turned and waved both hands and the skeleton traps reached for people hiding behind their tank.

I leapt in as they became distracted. Xin's minions slashed wildly with their weapons. Two people coming down the hallway took damage while their companions rang out the alarm. [Blink] put me half twisted near the ceiling. Bones on her pets crunched as I fell down with a slash.

[Morrigu's Gift] cleaved through two people who were close together. I suppressed my stomach and tried once again to remember this was just a video game. These people weren't really dying. My actions were simply like punching someone out of a bad dream.

"Fuck! What Rank are these guys?!" someone in the back yelled in slow motion.

[Blade Dancer] and endless hours of footwork kept me moving the huge two-handed blade. A dagger hit me in the same damaged shoulder and in response, the still spinning [Morrigu's Gift] cleaved into another attacker. One foot dipped and I rolled forward to get to a new position. Shazam’s lessons all involved moving, constantly, especially when fighting mobs.

Red mist hung from unexpectedly weak defenses as I dashed through. One arm dragged slightly. A foot squeaked trying to get into a new position. The floor was only with heavy rain from outside. These people's feet were simply slippery. The liquid forming in puddles below couldn’t possibly be blood.

[Denial] served no purpose. There were too many. Xin's backup of bone missiles kept firing down in a rhythmic pulse. I counted them coming every third beat. Feet stepped again to get a new position and an unexpected slash dug into my stomach. Pain jolted through the ARC. My latest assailant froze mid-motion as one of Xin's projectiles ended his digital existence.

"I don't know! That one's got an altered aura! It says he's almost a fucking Voice!"

"What are you pussies waiting for?! Do you want to live forever?!" Their words keep on buzzing while I dashed around. [Blink] was used every time the cooldown finished. [Power Armor] twisted on in short bursts. Metal clanged as my huge blade hit off walls, often with people's body parts or weapons shattering.

“You pussies see that notice! Charge like your loot depends on it!” One of the people in the rear waved his weapon and a crowd flooded into the hallway. "God dammed scrubs! You're lucky we even carried you this far!"

They surged forward like a tide of lemmings. I tossed [Morrigu's Echo] a final time. A cramped crowd of players couldn't deflect the bolt as it sailed through weaker players in the back. Messages flashed of critical hits, skill stats comparisons, and various Paths I had earned over the last few months.

“Heads up!” Xin's shout of warning caused me to take a step to left and fade backward. A huge ass hammer swung through then smashed into the wall causing sparks to fly. I jabbed out with [Morrigu's Gift] but missed. Eyes turned back to see Xin's situation. She stood facing a charging player that had slipped by me.

Dusk’s blast of fireballs filled the room beyond. Gears screeched on one end of the hallway. I grasped at the wall with one hand, stepped upon a fallen Traveler’s body, then [Blink]ed toward my wife.

With a disturbingly casual disregard, another Traveler's virtual life was ceased. Endless messages of stupid player versus player tokens being awarded flooded part of my ARC interface. Crackling filled the hallway and I heard one of the players shout from damage that hadn't been caused by us.

Electric flares crawled through the far end of our weapon and player lined hallway. People were charging at me while screaming obscenities that made no sense. [Awareness Heightening] drug out their cries into a dull drone.

I huffed while backing down the hallway toward Xin. People kept rushing as objects flew by. A line of throwing daggers clinked off my shield then clattered to the ground. Each one shocked my arm with numbness.

Shouts could be heard from SheHulk. Tinkerhell’s chanting filled the dome. I winced as a close blast of fire splashed off the wall.

"Get away!" I yelled at Xin.

She nodded. We were the only ones moving sanely in a sea of slow motion. My chest flared with a spike of pain. This situation needed to get back under control. ARC feedback had become more powerful on my device since activating [Morrigu's Gift] at [Haven Valley].

“Don’t wait!” I waved at Xin. She ran and started descending the metal ladder. One stupid part of my mind hoped my wife remembered to wear clothes under the black robe.

Another blast of fire hit. I stepped back and hugged the wall, just outside the sight range of those charging down the hallway. One foot twisted right and [Camouflage] activated and I felt thankful the Rank three version actually blended in with walls of any color.

A Traveler burst through and stared down. Crackles of light could be heard from the hallway. People were screaming and the sound barely registered. Two more came out and I lifted my foot back in a swing. The aggressive action caused [Camouflage] to fade away, but my metal covered boot had already connected with the enemy's backside.

The man wearing lighter armor went flying. [Morrigu’s Gift] skewered a person to the left. I glimpsed the still flying Traveler and saw wide eyes as he went straight into the giant mechanical arachnid.

[Sage’s Guardian #4] went from calmly attacking SheHulk with three metal arms alternating to enraged in one burst as the raider slammed into its face. Two arms lifted and pulled apart the offending player in a rush of gore. The coloring of our dome's roof changed. Gears on the mechanical spider changed as well to the next stage of green.

“What phase!?” SheHulk yelled while ducking behind her shield. The giant spider tapped the shield's front hard enough to send the Hispanic woman sliding backwards.

I huffed for breath while fighting the fourth man. He kept blocking every sneak attack, change of weapon or other ability. The man’s Path or general skill had to be high.

“Three! All of them need at least three!” TinkerHell’s lanky form ran around, casting with short chants. Each one sent frost spikes at the beast. Gears slowed briefly upon being struck, allowing SheHulk time to recover her stance and press forward, or cast a heal.

“Whatever plan you have, won’t work!” the man attacking me yelled. He had two skulls on his clothes like Nam Redrum. “There’s too many of us, and we’re constantly resurrecting! You have no healers! You have no people watching from outside! You have nothing!”

Each explanation accompanied a scrambled defense on my part. The wound in my shoulder hurt like mad. I rallied myself enough to push the man back then pinged with [Sight of Mercari]. A name popped into existence back in town again. Now I knew what was happening, someone out there kept bringing back dead players.

“Message from Awesome Jr., his dad’s under siege! They have explosives!”

“They’re resurrecting!” I yelled to the others who may not have heard my enemy's demoralizing boasts.

Xin started laughing from below. The man fighting against me looked down in confusion long enough for me to slide [Morrigu’s Gift] into his gut. He turned back in time to see [Morrigu’s Echo] chop through his head. The weapon jerked halfway as its durability started to give.

[Leadership] was in effect for us. My health bar ticked up once. Both shoulders ached and arms tingled. I took a few deep huffs of breath while surveying the mess below. [Sight of Mercari] showed a load of people near the wall outside. My health kept recovering while the spider hammered faster upon SheHulk’s shield.

The people outside ran away in unison. Something bad was coming. “Babe,” I failed to yell.

One of the dome’s walls exploded inward. Rocks went everywhere, spraying the inside of our fighting zone. Xin’s arms went up and I stumbled into another [Blink], appearing in front of her with far less coordination than desired. We fell to the ground and rolled.

Immediately projectiles from outside started pouring into our dome. Fire rained with arrows and rocks. The ground thudded and wires in the walls melted together. Electricity above skipped right into deep purple as the fight took on a new level of difficulty.

My efforts hadn’t been enough. A few hundred stupid tokens were in my inventory now and it amounted to nothing. How many people had I killed? How many Travelers were still against us? Names showed up everywhere and all I could do was scramble to cover Xin while trying to block her body from attacks raining about the dome. Her eyes were wide and the material falling about us kept coming in slow motion. Each item collided with the ground in exaggerated thuds.

I closed my eyes then activated [Blink] again. The world tilted sideways as our new position left us a few feet off the ground upstairs. We slammed into the ground, jarring my shoulder even more. Pain hissed through clenched teeth and copper dripped across my tongue.

“Shit!” SheHulk’s words were a bit faster. “You miserable pig fuckers should go find someone your own size to pick on!”

TinkerHell spoke but her words didn’t make it through.

“Fuck yeah, I am!” There was a clang of noise that sounded like a huge bell gong. “Time for the last resort!”

Both girls were chanting in [Lithium]. Xin’s ears perked and she turned to see out from under me. The [Sage’s Guardian #4] looked to be pounding away on a giant yellow bubble which formed around them.

TinkerHell’s chant caused her breath to freeze and staff to glow with blue energy. SheHulk’s body twisted as she took in huge breaths. Each exhale of air went into a stream of chanting which only increased the short woman’s size.

Soon she was taller than me, and I think even taller than Leeroy had ever been. TinkerHell behind her looked less substantial. Almost liquid in her movement. Whatever they did clearly involved busting out ultimate special moves.

Xin’s mouth hung open. My own jaw dropped. Both girls radiated an insane level of danger that made my heart race. It could have been the ARC feedback, or brain cells screaming that SheHulk should not be ten feet tall or made of pure muscle with an aura of gold radiating from her.

I wanted a really neat super move like that. Maybe I could trade [Wild Bill] for a power cleave sword from the heavens or something. Seeing them transformed brought a measure of happiness to me. We could do this, maybe.

“SheHulk smash!” Her words drug out. The [Sage’s Guardian #4] stabbed down and Elane casually flicked its leg away with the now diminutive shield.

TinkerHell started chanting more [Lithium] but it sounded like high speed, more so than normal. Like multiple people were chanting instead of a single person. Four circles started forming rapidly and ice flew out the doorway. Broken sides to the dome that had been blasted open went subarctic in moments.

People in the way turned into popsicles. Other players started unleashing huge spells and abilities. Two of the enemy fighters grew in size as well, but nothing compared to SheHulk’s mass. Armor glistened with bright light as she charged through them like a mobile wrecking ball.

Behind everyone trailed the [Sage’s Guardian #4], its body moving jerkily as it tried to stay upright on now slick flooring. Its healthbar showed near full despite slipping motions. These bosses were excessively large and seemed designed to wear players down rather than brutally overpower them.

Those who were frozen from TinkerHell’s bolts could only watch as an angry giant Hispanic woman charged into them. Her form wrecked humans with as little disregard as the buildings last night. People who were still mobile ran. They fled back down the hill, through the city only to find a wall of spider formed [World Eater]s on the other side.

I come out behind them to see both girls stomping around. Ice Bolts were fired off. Other players in the city attacked back. A large spider made of gears and wires lifted four of its eight arms to greet everyone as a potential enemy. I could see wide eyes on our attackers as they realized a boss level creature was now loose

“Where do we want the guardian?!” SheHulk's voice came out like a ragged sounding man's. Or maybe it was a woman coming off a five-day bender with a bottle and smokes.

“I don’t fucking know!” TinkerHell shouted back with an annoying after echo.

The energy bolts were going absolutely crazy. Wires drained most of the violent electrical arcs down the hill. Giant rolling spikes of electricity fizzled through three foot wide cords. I could see why these enemy players were able to get close enough to explode everything. Our own preparation had worked in their favor.

“Awesome says bring them together!” TinkerHell shouted a minute later. She started running with the large staff off toward the other breached dome.

[World Eater]s were on the far side of our player killers. They focused on those in the rear casting support spells I saw one person chain resurrecting players in the back. Their green glowing body went down under an army of spiders which leapt twenty feet at a time to close in toward prey.

We needed to pull out all the stops, and I really only had one more trick to play. [Wild Bill] came off my head. The open pocket waved over my hand and a small golden coin appeared. On it was a marble statue of a man, fist on chin, atop its head sat a crown of laurels.

What did gold matter at this stage? I had a metric ton. Gambling had shot up in popularity as people tried to cash out with more money. The auction house was flooded with other items that were all over the board in prices too.

“No risk, no reward.” It had been so long since I risked anything with this hat, but the stakes were high enough that I had to try. Suffering side effects to get a boon of use would be worth it. “Xin, you’ve got to keep safe back here.”

“If you go, I’m going. We’re in this together until the end.” She held up the wedding ring. “Remember?”

My eyes closed and I contemplated the insanity. We could pull out [Recall] scrolls and go home to [Haven Valley]. Doing so would put us too far away to recover the key left by Michael, which came with a direct cost in the form of AI lives.

“Okay,” I said then held up the coin.

Money didn’t matter. Only advantages to help us get through this were important. I flipped the coin and prayed that a [Blabber Mouth] or [Stream of Consciousness] debuff wouldn’t come out. Being near Xin and displaying every single worry on my mind would turn out terrible. Pessimism was best kept to myself.

“Ray! Tails!” I flipped the coin.

It spun with an inaudible ring. After three attempts which came down heads, [Mute], [Monochromatic], and [Unfortunate] were all applied. The world shifted to a slightly more black and white setting. My voice stopped working. On the third coin flip, I lost more luck, which impacted critical hits and loot drops. None of that mattered to me.

I mouthed the words, ‘Once more’ and flipped the coin upward in hopes that [Unfortunate] wouldn’t slam the fourth try. Hundreds of gold ticked away on a box and my bags lightened slightly. This time, it came down tails.

Buff gained: [Silent Threat]

Details: You give off no sound. All abilities which require hearing an opponent are mitigated by this ability. [Stealth] type abilities can be activated once every ten seconds while in combat. [Stealth] abilities which have a hide penalty will be reduced accordingly. Aggressive abilities can be used without causing an immediate deactivation of [Stealth].

The ground near me vibrated rapidly. I looked up to a long line of players charging our way. Xin’s robe showed flashes of red runes. We hadn’t been fighting long and her bone skeleton formations were running low on whatever mythical fuel made them go.

I grinned happily. The ability itself might be workable. If I understood right, any of my normal actions which broke out of [Camouflage] would still reveal me, but be delayed. An invisible sword could wreck insane levels of havoc.

One foot stomped down then twisted. The world around me faded then [Blink] went off. My body appeared in the middle of four players but no one noticed. Their eyes were glued on the empty space where I had been.

[Morrigu’s Gift] ended more lives than ever before that day. Elation rushed through me along with a slow thud in my chest. All this excitement after being hospitalized weeks ago made me nervous. The ARC’s feedback level had been cranked too high.

But beyond those problems, Xin’s life was in danger. These people attacking us needed to be removed. I kept charging further and further out, chasing down everything that looked remotely violent.

A voice shouted over the crowd. It carried past all our swords clanking and the sounds of people screaming as ARC feedback told them about mortal wounds. Mechanical arachnid attacks and SheHulk’s thunderous stream of hatred were drowned out by one person.

“Hermes! The Messenger! It’s a pleasure to finally meet the man who started such a glorious quest for us!” the man said in a voice that clearly rang over the battlefield. If felt like we were simply a crowd of people sitting in a conference room while he motivated us. Nam Redrum held his arms wide open as if coming for a gruesome hug.

I turned. At some point I had gotten further away from Xin than ever expected. She also looked distracted by enemies nearby. Small bone shards fired into spiders that ventured near. [World Eater]s were an actual threat.

“Hold him down!” Nam shouted. Most of the guild who had protected this town were dead. Two of the [Sage’s Guardian]s were going berserk. One lay broken, twitching uncontrollably.

Someone threw out a powder in my direction. Dodging it was impossible as the substance spread through the air like a net. I tried to [Blink] but the air around me fizzled instead.

[Escape Barrier] applied.

Personal special distortion abilities are [Locked]! Triggering such abilities is impossible until the [Escape Barrier] fades or you travel outside of it.

I took a breath. This was beyond my [Depth] by far. One foot twisted again to activate [Camouflage] but a sword jabbed in my direction rapidly. Without [Blink] to relocate I couldn’t take real advantage of the synergy between abilities.

Shazam’s training and my own experience weren’t enough to stack against this many player killers. Some of them had been at this for years. It was only offbeat extra abilities given to me by the Voices which kept me competitive. That and experience didn’t make idiots into fighting geniuses.

Xin’s body twirled. An angry set to her jaw accompanied two bone shards blasting off. The giant skeleton, half broken from fighting, swung weakly to drive other players back. Its attacks barely tapped the encircling players and certainly didn’t deter Nam Redrum’s approach.

System Notice!

[Blink] unavailable, [Escape Barrier] in effect!

There were six people on me and I couldn’t get around them quickly. Twisting to move failed. We were out in the open and these were people hardened to kill other players. My earlier success must have come from Xin’s backup, small hallways, and being unprepared. I needed better statistics. I needed more skills and perfect reactions. There was simply no time to create new skills with the server crashing around us.

My breath caught as all the ways I had wasted time once again occured to me. Most thoughts were half formed or self-berating as I waved both weapons back and forth, clanking against the incoming attacks of other Travelers.

Slightly further away TinkerHell and SheHulk were fighting back to back. The tall blonde had wounds all over and chunks of her hair were outright missing from being pulled, or slashed out.

I tried to make it out of the forming circle but failed. Xin’s face snapped toward Nam Redrum. The leader of all these player killers marched forward without a care. One single hand batted away bones flying at him as Xin chanted [Lithium] spells.

This was Commander Queenshand, or StrongArm all over again. Those near to me were going to die. I raged with [Morrigu’s Gift] and another Traveler died. Two more nearby went down under [World Eater]s. Too many monsters, creatures, and [Sage’s Guardians] were in the way.

I broke free of those trying to pin me down and started running at high speeds. [Light Body]’s effect carried me forward quicker than normal. Still, all my efforts meant nothing as the large burly man with skulls on his body and swirls of red energy stabbed his sword straight into Xin’s gut.

A cry of, ‘Not again’ never made it past my [Muted] lips. I tried to scream in denial again but failed. This goddamned ARC wonderland of heaven and hell could only be considered worthwhile if Xin was with me.

System Notice!

[Blink] unavailable, [Escape Barrier] in effect!

I ran another five feet then I tried to use the ability again. Envisioning that gut clench of motion that meant my body was being hooked elsewhere. The rejection notice came up again.

System Notice!

[Blink] unavailable, [Escape Barrier] in effect!

Xin’s fingers twisted upon each other as the white skeleton started to crumple. Its form fought through the breaking, much like mine, to get upright and protect Xin. Bone fingers clawed outward and the large sword in its hand gave way, sending my wife’s summoned construct toppling to one side.

Everything slowed down even further as [Awareness Heightening] stopped being split between two people. Xin’s face moved slowly as the life bar continued a steady decline. Gone were the system messages and bars on my screen. One hand brushed through them all with a series of soap bubble pops in order to strike an appearing ‘yes’ button. I silently screamed while accepting summons from Xin's wedding ring.

But it was too late. My wife’s health hit zero. The last vision to greet my eyes before a rainbow of colors overwhelmed me was Nam Redrum kicking Xin off his sword with a boot.

Xin was dead again. The ARC feedback started distorting as my brain lost any semblance of sanity.