He woke up to the debuffs.

Staggered | Debuff

Hinders Speed by 90% | Hinders Aim by 90% | Agility -2 | Intellect -3

Duration 4 minutes 23 seconds

Fracture | Ribs | Debuff

Strength -1 | Stamina -2

Crippled Leg | Debuff

Hinders Speed by 90% | Hinders Jump by 50% | Hinders Climb by 80% | Hinder Swim by 25%

The chat scrolled, sideway from the ground.

“He failed down.”

“Came for the Ogre Trains, stayed for the Cripple Puddles.”

Great. He turned to one side. Removed the shield embedded in his kidney. Flung it to the side. Laid face down. Prepared to push with his arm to get up no matter what.

“Time to get up, son.” Tag | Dad

Achievement unlocked | Long fall

You had the longest fall in the game and survived. Please note that there are several easier alternatives than a straight fall to your death.

Reward 1000 XP |Skill unlocked – Double Jump

Yellow light swirled around him. The catchy tune played. Level up. Nice, but the three players killers wouldn’t let him get away just because he had fallen a mile of so. He drank his Potion of Regeneration. It didn’t last long enough. He crawled until the Staggered debuff went away. Barely made any progress until he held Choo’s Totem as it dragged him on the hard, dusty soil.

Enoch switched to a weird three pod wobble when the debuffs ended. Went as far as he could until he registered that his Speed didn’t make sense no matter who was after him. He stopped, gave a long sigh and asked, “say Choo, care to Craft me another leg out of my spear?”

“Will do,” said the core, purple tendrils of Mana extending to the weapon. A few minute and Enoch had a new Steel Peg Leg and a Short Steel Spear. Bad stats on both.

He didn’t dwell on it. Started running immediately. His mind clear. His spirit coming back.

The scenery finally registered. A highly detailed corridor, typical of the Drones’ famous Vault. Treasures were about. And danger.

He foraged in his worn-out duffle bag. Retrieve Ipabo’s idol, patron god of traps. Prayed for his blessing with a kiss. Put it back in the bag.

***

Flat. Hugging a wall filled with elaborate carvings. Nicely done. Great ambiance. Had to watch out for suspicious motifs, they could trigger deadly mechanisms. Put your finger over a goddess’ ass. Eat an iron spike in yours. Fair enough.

Enoch cheated, using Choo’s animated shield as a floating stair. The devs would have to adjust something there. It didn’t seem right.

Along with his Parkour Skill, it rendered most obstacles trivial. This vault was supposed to be a high-level challenge.

With a smile, Enoch turned a hidden dial. A latch opened between the giant legs of a drone statue, some kind of hero judging by all its upgrades. Six bladed arms, four smaller ones with tri-podded pincer for minute tasks, dual layer carapace, runes of power, sleek head, dozens of magical rings. All carved in polished pink marble.

The opening led to a ribbed tunnel. Too narrow for his bag and the Serrated Spook Bark Shield. Unphased, Enoch crawled on all three and a half. His head popped out first, followed by an impatient Golem Core, glowing purple. Light shone in the ancient room, back after aeons.

The air turned foggy white from the deep layer of dust they disturbed. The room shaped as a bowl with a pedestal in the middle, displaying its Artifact, a T bar of dull metal. Could it be? Enoch preferred swords as a secondary weapon, but he would gladly make an exception for this one.

He wasn’t the only one to recognize the weapon, the chat also went into a frenzy.

“Is this what I think it is?”

“Talk about luck. Such a rare drop.”

Enoch wasn’t as impressed. He knew better. Odds and stats, a fundamental part of the game yet so misunderstood. Anyway, he would enjoy this treasure. It would more than make up for all the days lost running the empty tunnels.

Pressure points all over the floor and the walls. A big one under the Artifact. A trajectory slowly appeared in Enoch’s mind. A toe there, followed by a backflip to this tile, then a rotation, a tumble, a backward jump and a Dash back to the exit. Nah, too many things could go wrong.

Once again using the feature while it was available, he whispered his instruction to Choo and retreated to the other room. No way this would stay in the game. The devs would have to fix it quickly.

So, Choo stood there, inside the tiny access tunnel, and casted Telekinesis. The sword pommel flew toward him, promptly caught by a ray of purple mana.

A stone slab fell over the treasure room entrance. The whole complex shook, oversized blades slice and dicing by the sound of it. Glad he wasn’t in there.

The heroic statue started to close its many legs over the narrow tunnel. Choo flew out. Flung the item to Enoch who caught with a proud hand.

The hilt lit up, neon pink, a long blade appeared, wide and triangular, same color, made of materialized pixel. A Blink Sword.

Enoch laughed out loud, shoved his Short Steel Spear in his bag, caught his Golem Core with his freed hand, touched the discarded shield with his good foot and ‘pouf’, they were out of there.