The Grand Alliance of Players set off towards the Cockatrice's nest towards the afternoon. Everyone was a little hungover and in low spirits. Most of them had taken off their armor and weapons and left them in their inventories, too sick to carry any extra weight on their bodies. The few monsters that came their way were easily dispatched by Steve and a few others who remained alert. Bon enjoyed the walk, the feeling of the soft breeze against his face, the smells of nature, and the songs of the birds. They set up camp at sunset, and everyone gathered together around numerous fireplaces.

“Can you play a song for me?” Nia asked Bon.

“Sure,” Bon began to strum.

“Do you know anything by the Architects?”

Bon could vaguely remember the band. He didn't know why he still remembered such irrelavent things. “Aren’t they a metalcore group?” He looked at Nia in surprise.

“Yeah, why? You don’t think someone like me can enjoy metalcore?” she asked.

“It’s not that,” said Bon. “I just can’t imagine you moshing around. I can’t remember any of their songs, but I can play something similar.” Nia had seemed like the prim and proper type, a goody two shoes. Even seeing her up to her knees in monsters’ corpses hadn’t changed this impression of her. Her choice in music was something he had never expected.

Bon used qi to change his guitar’s tone, to something more distorted and crunchier. He began to play, making up his own breakdowns on the spot.

Nia clapped her hands. “That does sound like the Architects. Good job.”

“Ooh,” Kara shouted, “Now play some John Mayer.”

“I can’t remember any of his songs, but I do remember the general style,” said Bon.

Kara began to sing loudly as he played, making up her own lyrics. She sang very off tune. Steve was smiling as he lay on Lucy’s lap. The other players around the fire were in a good mood too. Bon guessed that everyone wanted to keep their thoughts away from the goblin queen. Even if they didn’t believe she was a real human being, her death had looked very real. How many other goblin queens would there be in the future? Would the Tower change them into a batch of cold hearted killers as they climbed up more floors? Perhaps being a killer was necessary for whatever it was that Tian Bu Ru had hinted would soon come. Was the Tower training them to be soldiers? It sure seemed that way.

Bon finished playing and everyone went to sleep. It was a warm night, so nobody bothered erecting their tents. The stars in the sky showed unfamiliar constellations, but they looked beautiful, so bright and close. Bon had a mage skill called comet. If he aimed it towards the sky, it would make a good light show. He made sure nobody was watching and then pointed at the sky. A small ball of fire shot up into the sky, becoming bigger and brighter the higher it climbed into the sky.

Comet Summons a comet to travel in any direction the caster wishes. Damage and range depend on the Wisdom stat Mana required: 1,000 Cooldown: 5 hours

“You still awake? What are you thinking about?” asked Kara, who had gotten up for some water.

“Just watching a comety show. It’s called Hey Lee.”

Kara looked up and smiled. “That’s so pretty.” They watched the comet pass by together. “So, are you going to stick with our party after you reach the thirty first floor?”

“Sure. This party is a lot of fun and Steve is a decent leader. Why? You want me to go?”

“No,” said Kara. “I just thought you might feel left out because of how everyone acts around Steve. I know we can be a little silly at times, and you seem to look quite irritated when we do.”

“I’m okay with everything. Don’t worry about it,” Bon reassured her.

“That’s great,” Kara went back to her sleeping bag.

Staying with Steve was probably the fastest way to reach the top of the Tower. It would be faster if he gave them some legendary equipment, but he wasn’t close enough to them to reveal his secrets. It would be even faster if he just one shotted all the big bad bosses into oblivion as soon as he reached a floor. Would even the hundredth floor be a challenge for him? Bon hoped so. He was getting bored, and he really wanted to level up. Seeing his level not moving at all was so irritating. He didn’t like being stuck at a plateau. As for his cultivation, it would take a long time before he reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage. He had no idea what to do after that.

The Grand Alliance of players soon came to the Cockatrice’s nest, which was within a green field. Bon could see a giant rooster head staring at them with malevolence in its eyes. Its body was like a red dragons', with scales. Its wings were like a chickens'. Why couldn’t it make up its mind and be one or the other? Most of the Bosses in the Tower were strange chimeras, an exercise in creativity by the Tower’s designers.

The Cockatrice’s nest was quite big, and held nearly fifty eggs. Was there some giant hen monster around these parts, laying eggs for the Cockatrice to fertilize, or was the nest just some decoration from the Tower?

“Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Bon asked the players around him. Telling a joke now might ease the tension that everyone was feeling. “The r—”

“This is no time for jokes,” said Steve. “We have a problem. If you have Identify, take a look at it yourself.”

Bon identified the Cockatrice.

BOSS Cockatrice Doodle Doo HP 100,000/100,000 MP 20,000/20,000 Cockatrice Doodle Doo is the ruler of the Dew Plains. Blessed by Bayi, the god of wind, Doodle Doo can lay waste to whole villages with a single flap of its wings. Powers Limited Flight Allows one to fly for short periods of time Wind Gust Sends forth a gust of wind that blows back and damages the enemy Tornado Covers an area with a tornado, causing damage over time to anything caught within Wind Feathers Launches feathers at multiple targets Petrify Turns target into stone for 10 seconds Poison Mist Poisons surroundings Level Playing Field Increase in level depending on the number of foes faced

“Did you see it?” Steve asked.

Bon nodded. “Cockatrice Dodo Doo Doo or something.”

Steve gathered everyone just outside the Cockatrice’s line of sight. “Everyone, if you’ve used Identify you have probably noticed that the Boss grows stronger, the more enemies he is facing. We can either fight it in small groups, taking turns with one another and launching an all out attack once it has reached the critical point—”

“The Tower has probably already thought of that,” said Bon. “We don’t know if its health will suddenly regenerate if new players take to the field. Once we are attacked, it’s probably not going to let us go, no matter how far we run, so we had better think of a way to kill it here and now. Forget about escape.”

“How do you know so much about the Tower’s Bosses?” one of the players asked.

“My guide told me,” Bon lied, without even the slightest change in his expression.

“Then,” said Steve, “The other option is to go all out from the start and nuke it with everything we have. Our mages will be the main damage dealers, so we will have to protect them. The ten man box formation we used against the goblins won’t work against the Cockatrice. Its tornado will wipe out the boxes. We have to spread out, but not so far that the mages and priests have no protection. Do you understand?”

The players nodded, and some shouted ‘yes’ confidently. They had faith in Steve’s leadership.

“Set up a resurrection shrine here,” he ordered. The resurrection shrine was a one use item that created a spawn site for dead players at the desired location. By setting it up, they would ensure that everyone stayed close together, even after dying. The Cockatrice Doodle Doo’s death was certain with the resurrection shrine here.

“What are the death penalties?” Bon whispered to Kara.

“How can you not know that?” Kara asked with an amazed squeal. “Didn’t you say you died many times?”

“There was a glitch.” Indeed, there had been many glitches. This tower was a bug ridden mess. The Alpha Test he had been stuck in had no death penalties. “I couldn’t see my death debuffs,” he lied with a straight face.

“Well,” said Kara, “Apart from losing a whole chunk of experience, you get put into a weakened state for an hour. During the weakened state your movement and attack speed are also reduced by 50%, and your stats reduce by one third.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Bon murmured.

“All swords to the front, support to the back. Spread out some more,” Steve instructed while everyone got into formation. “That’s right. Ready? Let’s go.”

“Alright,” Bon grinned. “Let’s kill a Doodle Doo.”

As the Grand Alliance moved closer to the nest, the Cockatrice Doodle Doo roared. The eggs cracked and little cockatrices jumped out and ran towards the players. Doodle Doo took to the sky, while the mages, archers and gunslingers fired at it. Necromancers channeled portals through which skeleton soldiers emerged. Summoners summoned their magical beasts—earth bears, fire lions, poison cobras, blood leeches, wind hawks and a myriad of other animals, reptiles, insects and birds. Druids transformed into birds, attacking Doodle Doo in the air, while the rest of the players battled the smaller cockatrices on the ground.

The Cockatrice Doodle Doo was much more intelligent than the ones Bon had faced in the Alpha Test. It flew just out of range of the ranged damage dealers as it fought with the druids and the summoners’ flying pets. The ranged attackers ran forward to attack, but were always just slightly out of range. The Grand Alliance changed its tactics. The summoners and the druids would keep the Cockatrice busy, while everyone else attacked the mob.

The Cockatrice then sent wind gust towards the mass of attacking druids and winged pets. As soon as it had made space for itself, it swooped towards the ground and attacked a heavily armored fighter with its talons. The priest in the fighter's party did a good job healing the fighter, while everyone else ran towards the Cockatrice, eager to cause some damage to the Boss at last. The Cockatrice took some damage before it was able to kill the Fighter. It then flew into the air again, and cast Tornado at the group of players beneath it.

“Everyone, spread out,” Steve shouted over the fighting and the other noise, as he saw the tornado swallow up at least twenty players.

Bon used his sickle and chain to have some fun. The mob of little cockatrices was slowly dwindling away, dying to the players one by one. He could have killed them all quite easily. A single pebble thrown by him would spell the end of Doodle Doo, but the players needed this experience in slaying bosses though. If the Tower really was training them to be soldiers, then it wouldn’t do for Bon to babysit them. The death penalty didn’t seem that bad, and they would be able to bear the pain.

Doodle Doo soon lost its power of flight and landed on the ground. It seemed to realize that Steve was the leader and ran towards him.

“Five parties, fight it from different angles,” Steve ordered, readying his sword, his armor glinting in the sun. “Take turns rotating with other parties. Ranged damage dealers, fire at will. Just try not to hurt your teammates.”

Friendly fire was a real problem now that they were fighting up close like this. Fireballs and fire arrows struck Doodle Doo. They had figured out that fire was its weakness. Doodle Doo made its way to Steve and clawed at him.

“Impeckable timing,” Bon said while hitting Doodle Doo with his chain.

Steve tanked the damage, holding it in position, while the others hit it with everything they had. A few seconds later though, things went awry. Doodle Doo turned Steve to stone, and hopped into the middle of another group of players, dealing carnage. Mayhem rained over the Grand Alliance. Doodle Doo exuded a green poisonous vapor from its feathers that made everyone choke with the smell. Their health bars were slowly decreasing. It fired its feathers in a circle around itself, causing many more players deaths.

Doodle Doo took to the air once more, its Limited Flight now off cool-down. The stone covering Steve crumbled, as the petrification lost effect.

“Everyone, spread out some more,” Steve ordered, a few moments before Doodle Doo summoned its Tornado. Poison mist was mixed with the Tornado, making it particularly deadly. Luckily, very few players were caught within its effect this time.

“Bon, use your status immunity skill when you see the Cockatrice is about to Petrify someone,” Steve said, a little blame in his tone of voice.

Bon had been having so much fun with his chain and sickle that he had forgotten all about buffing his party. Chu Chu Train was already off cooldown. Had it been fifteen minutes already? It had been a long fight. He buffed everyone’s attack and movement speed and got ready to play Caprice that would grant immunity against Petrification for one minute.

He played Lullaby, putting Doodle Doo to sleep. The big Cockatrice fell from the sky, and five parties immediately rushed in, attacking it from all sides.

“How come your Lullaby works and mine doesn't?” A bard with a flute asked Bon.

“I’m wiser than you. That’s why,” Bon grinned. “The Dodo has a natural appreciation for wise men.”

“What was the punchline of your joke earlier?” the bard asked, while everyone looked at Doodle Doo’s health being whittled away. “Which came first? The egg or the chicken?”

“The rooster.”

The bard chuckled. “You’re very bad,” she said.

Steve shouted out orders the next moment, “Rotate! The priests are beginning to get low on mana.”

The second set of groups smoothly took over from the first. Steve led their own group forward. Doodle Doo seemed to hate Steve with a passion. As soon as it saw him it went to attack him, and began casting Petrify. This time, Bon played Caprice, nullifying the Petrification. This would give Steve immunity for one minute.

Steve took full advantage of the immunity while it lasted, unleashing everything he had on the Cockatrice. The bard, healer and mage of their group cast their blessings on Steve as he led the attack, increasing his health and mana pool in huge jumps. Doodle Doo began to lose health quickly. When its health fell to 30%, Doodle Doo went berserk.

Bon had some more movement control skills that he hadn’t used yet, but he decided keep using Lullaby. It would be suspicious if he used too many skills. He had already revealed too many of them. Some of the skills he had used had very high level requirements, but so far none of the other bards had noticed. All they knew was that Bon was playing some very exotic tunes.

After the cooldown was over Bon played Lullaby again. Their party gave it their all while the twelve seconds of Sleep lasted.

“Rotate,” Steve ordered, and their party ran back to regenerate their health and mana, while another took over. The next group of parties managed to kill Doddle Doo.

You have killed (BOSS) Cockatrice Doodle Doo Quest ‘Slay the Cockatrice’ completed Reward: 1x Griffin Chest Plate, 500 Gold, 10,000EXP

A blue portal appeared on the Doodle Doo’s nest, but everyone was waiting for something else. The loot finally dropped out of its corpse. One golden sphere containing what looked like armor, and the usual gold coins.

“Mythical armor,” the players gasped.

Steve took the armor and held it up for everyone to see. “Let’s hold an auction for the item. The gold received will be equally distributed among everyone.”

That seemed to be the best option. Nobody could say it wasn’t fair. They waited for all the dead players to come back to the field, and then Steve began.

“This is a chest piece called Feather Armor. It adds two levels to Wind Resistance, increases your strength and agility by 10, and attack and movement speed by 5%. Who’s going to bid?”

The Feather Armor was eventually sold for a price of 587 gold. Steve distributed the gold equally between the players.

“Remember to take care of your armor,” Steve said to the man who had bought it. “The items here don’t have a durability rating, so you will have to pay close attention to it.”

The man nodded gratefully at Steve’s advice.

“Alright everyone,” Steve shouted. “See you on the thirty first floor.” He was the first one to step through the portal. The others followed suit. Bon said goodbye to everyone in his party.

“Use the ring to meet us on the next floor, if we don’t teleport to the same place,” Kara said.

“Got it,” Bon said.

Bon was amongst the last people to enter the portal. The thirty first floor waiting room was just like all the others before it, white and brightly lit. He yawned and went to sleep on the couch, the lights dimming on their own.