The party followed Gimli the dwarf into the mine.

“I’ve been thinking,” Steve said to the others, “That whoever designed this floor must have been from 20th century Earth. All the pop culture references are obvious.”

“It could have been an alien visiting 20th century Earth,” said Bon. Tian Bu Ru, his cultivation teacher, had been from Earth. How had he ended up going to another planet and working for the Tower?

“Do you always have to contradict everything I’m saying?” Steve asked, his eyes blazing with anger. He did not seem to be in a good mood today.

“I’m just laying out the possibility,” Bon met Steve’s glare and shrugged.

“I’ve just about had it with your lackadaisical attitude.”

Bon laughed, “Lackadaisical? Who even uses that word any more? Alright leader, take it easy. It was a 20th century Earthling. Can we go now?” Gimli nodded eagerly. It was apparent that he didn’t like being in the middle of such a conflict. The AI of these NPCs was really amazing.

Steve harrumphed and then nodded at Gimli. Within the mine, Bon had thought that he would be walking through little tunnels, and crawling through tiny spaces, but that wasn’t the case. The mining shafts were huge, easily able to fit a giant.

“What are you mining?” asked Bon. “Mithril?”

“No,” Gimli laughed, “Even better. Mana crystal.”

“What’s mana crystal? What do you use it for?”

“We can use it to craft magical artifacts,” Gimli was very excited as he talked about mana crystal. “If we had enough of them we could even build a flying city. Can you imagine that? Mana crystals are the most precious objects in the world, but very few people know how to mine and use them.”

“I’m guessing only the Main Mining Clan knows how to do it,” said Bon.

“That’s right,” said Gimli. “It requires high precision.”

Was the Tower generating these resources or had the crystals just naturally occurred in this area? The Tower was too mysterious. Bon had many questions he wanted to ask it. First and foremost he wanted to know why it had kidnapped a million human beings.

Gimli took a lantern off from the wall and ventured deeper into the mine. The light reflected off Steve’s armor, making it seem like there was a halo surrounding him. The surroundings were growing darker until it was almost pitch black. Only Gimli’s lantern gave them any sense of direction. In certain places, the crystals embedded in the wall gave off a blue glow, giving the mine some much needed illumination, but such places were few and far between. After a few hours of walking they reached a branch in the tunnel.

“The giant is through there,” Gimli pointed to the left. “I shall stay here and wait for you.”

“Give us the lantern then,” said Steve. “We’ll need to see.”

“There are mana crystals within the cavern at the end of this tunnel. They will give you enough light,” Gimli held the lantern out of Steve’s reach.

“Fine,” Steve unsheathed his sword. “Everyone ready?”

“Yes we are,” Kara said. “Let’s give him hell.”

They walked through the tunnel cautiously, holding onto each others hands as they navigated in the dark. Bon could see a blue glow coming from the distance, growing more brilliant as they came closer. They eventually made it to the cavern. The entire wall of the cavern was made of mana stones. Gimli was right. There was more than enough light here for their needs. Within the cavern, a giant at least twenty feet tall was pacing back and forth, growling every now and then. He held a great mace, engraved with red runes. He was bare chested and wore leather trousers. There was a tattoo on his chest, of a moon being devoured by a wolf.

“Identify.”

MINIBOSS The Nameless Son of Hati HP 20,000/20,000 MP 2,000/2,000 A Jotun who was abandoned in the wild. His many trials in Jotunheim drove him mad. Skadi, taking pity on him, raised him and trained him to be a warrior. When he tried to rebel against her, she banished him to the mines of Droughmir. Powers Moon Swallow Sucks in the air, pulling everyone in the vicinity towards him Ace of Clubs Swings his mace in a circle around him, dealing devastating damage Earthquake Pounds the ground with his mace, causing damage and disorientation Berserk Transformation When berserk, transforms into a wolf with increased damage and speed

Bon had the perfect song for the occasion.

RagnaRock Plays a medley of destruction. Explodes the air in front of the caster causing massive damage to anyone caught within the area of effect. Also causes Silence for five seconds. Mana required: 1,000 Cooldown: 2 hours

He wouldn’t have used it if his target wasn’t out of Norse mythology. He did not think it was a particularly impressive skill, even though it was a high level one. He had learned to control his mana output while grinding on the journey, and could now control his skills’ intensity of damage.

Steve engaged the enemy and Bon immediately played his song. It sounded a little like Chu Chu Train, fast and crunchy, but there were a lot of strange harmonics involved that gave it a very different flavor.

RagnaRock hit the giant, making him scream in pain. He looked at Bon with his big, bloodshot eyes and ran towards him. Steve immediately exchanged places with Bon, using his Exchange skill and engaged with the giant in close combat once more. Bon’s skill had damaged the giant for about 10% of his HP.

“Use that skill again in a minute,” shouted Steve.

“It’s on cooldown for two months,” Bon lied. He could bypass the two hour cooldown. He had learned how to mimic the skill as soon as he cast it, using Mana Sense to observe the mana patterns contained within the skill. The flow of mana that formed RagnaRock was easy to imitate. He just didn’t feel like casting it again.

“An ultimate two month cooldown skill could only do so much?” Steve said as he parried the giant’s mace. “Bards really are useless.”

“They sure are,” Bon chuckled, taking out his sickle and chain. He began having fun, hitting the giant with the weight at the end of his chain, and sending the sickle flying through the air. He swung his weapon so fast that it was a blur of light. Fighting with a sickle and chain was like an intricate dance between man and metal. It was especially beautiful when the sickle got the flame effect.

Steve didn’t say much about Bon suddenly changing his role in the party. Maybe he had just grown too tired of Bon’s eccentric style to care anymore. The giant, all of a sudden, began to suck in air. Bon planted his feet on the ground, but everyone else was having trouble staying in one place. Nia and Kara were in the worst condition, anchored their swords in the ground to keep themselves from being pulled into the giant’s grasp. A ring of light surrounded the giant and he swung his mace around him, thrice in succession. All the close ranged fighters were knocked back. The giant then ran towards Lucy and Elizabeth, and with a single swing almost killed them. Luckily, Steve exchanged places with Lucy just in time, and bore the brunt of the giant’s blow. The giant then hit the ground with his mace, causing it to crack. A second later, a fissure appeared and the earth began to shake.

Steve was being healed rapidly, but he was still at a quarter health. Would this be the first death of the party since Bon had joined? Steve was still fighting with all he had. Maybe they had a chance. This party sure as hell didn’t give up, even for a second. Bon decided not to act. He played a heal over time song for the party and then took out his preferred weapon again. He swung his sickle and chain, while the party regained their footing once more. The giant’s combo had been devastating, but not enough to crush them. Soon, everyone was healed back to their full health and the fighting continued unabated.

The giant tried its combo once again, but this time everyone was ready for it. The close ranged fighters ran back as soon as they saw the first signs of the giant’s Moon Swallow. The suction force was not enough to pull them into the giant’s range of attack and his combo failed. He tried using a combo of Earthquake and Ace of Clubs next, but again, as soon as the Earthquake struck, the close ranged fighters ran backwards and only took minimal damage. Their timing was spot on. The giant, noticing that his combos were useless, stuck with using Ace of Clubs only, which had a very low cast time. The AI on these bosses were really a step up from the Alpha Test.

Eventually, the giant went berserk and transformed into a wolf. The wolf was a pain to handle. It did not respond to Steve’s Provoke or Taunt skills, but randomly chose its target. It was too fast for Steve to catch up with, but Nia did an amazing job in controlling its movements. She was the only person there fast enough to deal with the wolf when it started running around. The wolf died and they got the notification a moment later.

There were only some gold coins as loot, which made everyone except Bon disappointed. He didn’t much care for loot anymore. He had an inventory full of Legendary items, that he didn’t even need to use. He had considered loaning them to his party, but he didn’t trust them enough just yet. Besides, he was saving them for Bojana and the others.

They met with Gimli at the junction outside the cavern who led them back to the city, smiling widely at the entire party.

“Without the mad giant around, we’ll be able to get rich.”

“But he will respawn,” said Bon. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Sure, he’ll come back in two months, but that’s more than enough time for us,” Gimli laughed.

Two months! It was a good thing that they had found this side quest first, before the other players found out about it. Gandalf met them in the Hall, and presented them with their quest rewards.

Boots of Skadi (Mythical) A pair of boots made by immortal craftsmen. The boots were crafted to be used in the frozen wastelands of the far north.

Freezing Run Transforms a foot of ground in front of the user into ice.

Movement speed increases by 100% while walking on ice.

Mana used per second: 25

“This item is really overpowered,” said Steve.

“It’s okay,” Bon said.

“Why are you trying to pick a fight with Steve?” Elizabeth asked sharply. “You’re always going against everything he says.”

“I’m just giving him my honest opinion,” Bon laughed. “Stop worrying about it. I don’t have anything against Steve.”

She scowled at him and then went back to admiring her boots.

They practiced walking with the boots for some time, but Nia’s and Kara’s mana regeneration rate wasn’t enough to allow them to use the boots’ skill for long.

“It feels just like skating,” Lucy grinned, as she circled around everyone. “I’m usually the slowest among everyone. These boots are just perfect for me.”

“Do you enjoy skating?” Bon asked. “I’ve never tried it myself.” The lakes didn’t freeze where he was from.

“I used to skate every winter with my parents,” Lucy sighed wistfully. “Those were some good days. I never really appreciated them.”

He could remember a few life events he had shared with Sarah and his family, but not many. Those memories he still had were treasured beyond measure. He would often go to sleep thinking of them. “We never truly appreciate things until we lose them,” Bon sighed. “Are you very eager to get out of here?”

“Of course,” said Lucy. “Aren’t we all?”

“Even if being here was very important? This training within the Tower might hold the key to our survival as a race.”

“That’s what Steve keeps saying,” Lucy moved in a circle around Bon. “If being here meant I could protect everyone I love when I got out, then I’d stay here for as long as I could. Thanks to the time dilation, or whatever, they won’t miss me out there.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” said Bon. It felt nice for someone else to reaffirm his views. When they were walking through the city, a person suddenly ran towards them. It was the princess.

“Please,” she said to Bon, “You have to help me.”

“We don’t need a guide going back,” said Steve.

“Just come clean,” Bon said to the worried girl. “Maybe we’ll help you if you explain everything.”

The princess stood up straight, “I’m the daughter of King Andras of the Nalata Kingdom. I disguised myself as a man and snuck out of the castle to elope with my love, who is a dwarf called Bibur, from one of the side clans of Droughmir. I knew my father would never agree to let me marry outside my race.”

“What happened to Bibur?” asked Bon. Something horrible must have happened to him to put the princess in this state.

“He disguised himself as a chambermaid and came to the castle to take me away at the same time I left. We weren’t able to tell each other of our plans beforehand. Now, Bibur has been imprisoned in the dungeons, accused of being complicit in my kidnapping.”

Bon wanted to laugh. They had both disguised themselves as the opposite sex and made such a bumbling mess of everything. They were perfect for each other!

“You want us to get this Bibur out?” asked Steve.

“Yes,” the princess looked at him through big eyes filled with worry.

“What’s in it for us?” asked Steve.

“Steve!” the girls chided him as one.

“We must help her. Where’s your chivalry?” asked Lucy. Bon heaved a sigh of relief. He would have left the party to help her if they hadn’t agreed. The princess had looked so hopeless that it had touched his heart.

“I’m just trying my luck,” Steve said in a low voice to the party. “We’ll help her even if she doesn’t have anything to give us.”

“I’ll give you this,” the princess took off her earrings. “They’re magic. They grant the wearer immunity from damage for five seconds when activated. You can use them once a week. They only work as a pair.”

“Legendary,” Steve gasped, as he identified the earrings. “They also give a ten percent increase to intelligence and wisdom. Elizabeth, they’re perfect for you.” He turned to the princess, “Very well. Let’s go rescue your lover.”

“Thank you,” the princess was so happy that a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

They journeyed back to the capital city, back through the forest of Vicious Bats where they killed every monster they came across. Steve was now level thirty nine while the others were around thirty five. He was leveling up too quickly. Maybe he had some item that gave him extra experience.

They rested at the inn for the night.

“We need a plan,” said Bon, when they all gathered for breakfast.

“What plan,” Steve laughed. “These ordinary people can’t do anything to us. We can just waltz into the dungeons and take him out.”

“We might be penalized by the Tower for hurting ordinary people,” Bon reminded Steve.

“We won’t need to hurt them much. Controlling their movements should be more than enough. Everyone, use your control skills.”

“Please don’t hurt anyone,” the princess said, while frantically wringing her hands.

“Don’t worry about that,” said Steve gently. “We won’t have to hurt anyone. Just a little shock and awe should do the trick, if anyone resists. Lead us to Bibur.”

They walked to the castle’s gates where they were stopped by the guards.

“Heroes, please wait,” said the captain, who was standing on the wall. “We will inform the king of your visit.”

“We aren’t here to see the king,” said Steve. “Your princess has invited us to see Bibur.”

“Princess?” the captain gawked at her. “It really is you! Where have you been? We combed the city for you. Why are you dressed like that?”

“I go wherever I wish, and wear whatever I want, captain,” the princess said coldly. “Now, open the gate immediately.”

“For you I will, but the heroes must remain outside until we get permission,” said the captain.

“No, they’re coming with me.”

Steve laughed loudly, “Enough of this farce. He walked to the metal portcullis and hit it with a normal attack. A big dent appeared on the portcullis.

“Hero,” shouted the captain, “cease this immediately or we will fire.”

“What good would that do?” asked Steve. “A few pinpricks is all.”

Steve used a skill called Frontal Assault and the portcullis blasted apart. The walls around it began to crumble. Soldiers began firing their crossbows at Steve, but the bolts just rebounded on his armor.

“Stop,” the captain ordered his men. “You might hit the princess. Twenty of you, come with me.”

The princess led the party on, while the castle guards walked behind them, not daring to attack. More and more guards joined them, some out of sheer curiosity, and some ready to attack the heroes even if it meant their death.

“You can’t go there,” shouted the captain, when they stood before the entrance to the dungeon. “Surround them.”

The guards encircled the party. One of them ran forward and tried to grab the princess out of the way, but Bon used Lullaby on him, putting him to sleep.

“Princess, what are you doing?” the captain asked, at the end of his tether.

“Rescuing my beloved,” she said.

“If you just talk to the king you might resolve this issue peacefully.”

“I’m resolving this issue peacefully now, aren’t I? Don’t fire and you won’t get hurt,” the princess stared down the captain.

“Elizabeth,” said Steve, “mass entangle them all.”

“Coming right up,” Elizabeth cast her spell, and vines erupted from the ground entangling themselves on the guards’ legs so that they couldn’t move.

The party moved into the dungeon. In one of the cells they found a dwarf wearing a dress. It was a strange sight.

“Bibur, my love,” the princess ran to the cell and stretched her hand through the bars.

“Lita,” Bibur got up. He seemed to be in pain. The guards had probably beaten him up. Lucy healed him, and color slowly returned to his face. “What are you doing?”

“I commissioned some heroes to help us,” she said happily. “We can run away to Droughmir now and get married.”

“Really?” Bibur asked.

Just then a tall man with white hair and a long beard entered the dungeon. He wore a coronet and was escorted by a score of big and strong guardsmen. Bon assumed that this man was the king.

“Lita, daughter,” the king said. “What have you done?”

“I’m getting married to Bibur, no matter what,” Lita stamped her foot, showing her determination. “If I have to fight against the whole kingdom to do it, then so be it.”

“Hey hey hey,” said Steve. “Who said anything about fighting the whole kingdom?” He turned to the king and said, “You can’t stop this. Bibur and the princess are coming with us. After they get married you can do whatever you like.”

The king ignored Steve, his eyes never leaving his daughter. “My darling, you will be the end of me. I cannot fight undying heroes,” the king said, suddenly slouching with the weight of the world. He now looked like an old and world weary man. “Very well, if this is really what you wish, then so be it. I cannot stop you. You will no longer be acknowledged as my daughter, and you will be cut off from the line of succession.”

“I would rather have your blessing for my marriage, father,” the princess said. “I don’t care about the succession, but I do care about you.”

“There are things I cannot do,” the king sighed. “And this is one of them. I cannot condone such a taboo. Leave now. My guards will not stop you. And heroes,” he turned to Steve, “I will not forget what you have done.”

“Is that a threat?” asked Steve, with glittering eyes.

Bon laughed, “We aren’t the bad guys here. We are on the side of true love. We could not bear to see your daughter crying herself to death. Look at how happy she is now.”

The king’s expression softened when he looked at his daughter. “Just go,” he said. “Go while I still haven’t changed my mind. I want you out of my city in a week,” he said to Steve.

The party and the odd couple left the castle and booked rooms in an inn.

“Everyone,” said Steve, “Go spread the message to all the players that we’ll be setting out to take on the Wicked Witch tomorrow. Everyone who wants to come with us is to gather outside the West Gate at dawn.”

Another Boss, another floor, thought Bon. He wondered what would happen to Steve’s army once they reached the outside world again. Bon mused on the possibilities as he sought out players to pass on Steve’s message. Whatever happened, Steve would grow very powerful. ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely,’ or so they said. Bon got chills just thinking about the possibilities. A heroic leader, with the Tower’s help, could conquer the world.