“Righ- no, left! Go left!”

Paul groaned, keeping his hand on the wall of the maze as Jamie whispered directions in his ear. A spider half his size scurried by, stopping to glance at him on its way down the twisting corridor.

“Sorry, sorry! The announcer’s yelling again, and it pulled my focu- oh! Climb up the wall to your right! There’s a loose ceiling tile that leads to the next room.”

“Are you kidding me.” The room he’d just entered was standard fare for a maze. There were three paths to choose from, each branching in different directions. Instead, he was supposed to climb…

“Oh, this sucks.” Three thin vines hung from the ceiling against the rightmost wall, looking like they’d collapse under his weight. “You’re sure that’s the only way?”

“Yep!” Jamie replied. “Trust me, it’s the fastest path to the middle from here.”

“Alright then… here goes nothing…” Grabbing the lowest vine with his hands, he tested his weight against it. There was a loud creaking sound, but the vine held.

“…yes, H, you’re right… no, MP’s fine… you wanna? I’ll set ya up…” Jamie kept whispering in his ear as he climbed, linking them together with WIND. It was distracting, but he could manage just fine, and the benefits outweighed the cost.

Grunting, he grabbed onto the next vine, pulling himself up hand-over-hand. He was glad Jamie had scoped out the maze earlier with WIND and EARTH. Trying to feel the main pathway through the maze had taken its toll on her, though, and she’d been rendered unconscious for a few minutes afterwards.

Either way, he’d needed it. Pushing aside the loose ceiling tile, he grinned, seeing only one path leading away from the hidden room. Finally, something straightforward for once!

“Heya Paul!” Heather called, and he jumped in place. Wow, okay, didn’t expect that. “How’re things going for ya?”

He glanced around and sighed, pulling his hammer from his belt as some rather large ants rushed towards him. Grunting, he threw his weight into an unaided swing, and an ant screeched as it spun through the air, striking the wall with a solid thump.

He probably wouldn’t need SKILLS for this.

“Not too bad.” He dove into a roll as an ant tried to barrel into his legs, swinging his hammer around as he stood back up, braining the thing. “Just fighting some worker ants, I think. This a hive?”

She hummed in his ears, and he struck another ant. “Nah, Jamie doesn’t think so. Just one of the many- WILL YOU STOP?”

He winced at her volume, stumbling. Before any of the ants could take advantage of the opening, he activated STURDY and abruptly straightened, swinging his hammer to kill one overly ambitious ant in the process.

“Sorry.” Her voice was subdued, and he grunted as he killed another ant. Only two more left. “Announcer was getting annoying again.”

“Isn’t he always?” Ah, Jamie was back. “Also, go through the next hallway with your hand running along the right wall about… hm… should be a meter from the ground. You’ll activate a hidden passage to the next room.”

“Of course, I should’ve known,” he griped as the final ants finished their death throes. “This whole maze makes no sense.”

It had been fifteen days since they’d first arrived at the COLOSSEUM. Around half the total teams had been eliminated, making each day progressively more difficult for his party as their competition increased in skill. Paul was currently working his way through today’s challenge, a timed maze that had been constructed within the arena.

Most of the teams eliminated in the past week had been eliminated by this maze. A simple mistake often led someone straight back to the entrance, lost with no real sense of direction. It had already happened to him twice, even with Jamie’s voice in his ear. She wasn’t infallible.

Half an hour had passed, leaving him with only half the time left. If Jamie didn’t make a mistake, he should be alright, but he was relying heavily on her basic memorization skills. Which, according to her… weren’t always the best.

There was a click as a pressure plate shifted under his right hand, and a section of the wall opened, revealing a greasy slide snaking its way through the stone maze. After a few meters it curved around the corner, vanishing from sight.

Paul toed the entrance with his foot, watching some dirt and dust slide down the trough.

“Uh… is this thing… safe?”

“Hm… gimme a sec, I’ll check for ya.” The air shifted around Paul as Jamie went quiet, swirling around the room. Some of it went down the slide, the rest hanging back, lazily flowing around him in a small circle. He waved as the wind rustled a hanging tapestry, and it tightened its circle in response.

It was almost like Jamie wanted to mimic a hug. Adorable.

“Urg… alright, got it.” The wind settled down, the air quickly growing stale. “Yeah, it’s safe. There’s a boss of sorts at the end, but after that you’ll hit the middle and we’ll be done for the day. I’ll try and help however I–“

“Nah, take it easy. I got this. You pull back and take a breather, alright? Ya sound like ya need it.”

“I–” She cut herself off, her breath shaky. “Yeah… you’re right. I’ll trust ya. Good luck.” Her voice gradually faded from his ears, the connection cut.

Paul ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it usually was. His team needed some serious help if they ever made it out of this alive. Jamie and Heather had a dangerous habit of pushing themselves to the point of exhaustion before breaking past it, brushing aside his worries with half-baked excuses.

Well, no time like the present. He threw himself down the chute feet-first, the oil along the sides sticking to his clothes and smoothing his decent. Picking up speed, the slide banked through a few wide turns before abruptly steepening its angle.

Wind shot through his hair as he flew thorough the last segment of the slide. He came around one more steep turn before being spit out the ceiling of another hallway, landing in a dazed heap on the hard stone floor.

Groaning, he pushed himself up, his legs shaking. Red light spilled from his chest, signifying the broken ribs he’d have if this were the real world. It didn’t hinder him, but it hurt all the same.

Ah… this is what I get for playing on Hardcore Mode. Should’ve known. Most Leveled Plane veterans used Hardcore Mode, although there were a few exceptions. It shared some similarities with Realistic Mode, but without many of its… issues. Of the many game modes, though, it was the one that offered the most versatility.

The main downside? Pain was increased. It wasn’t to the point of Realistic Mode, but it was noticeable either way.

Paul heard a loud clanking noise from where the hallway mushroomed into a room, and he turned towards the source. His fingers tightened their grip on his hammer.

A large war tank gradually drew closer to his position, its turret swiveling back and forth as it searched for intruders. He saw a small collapsed pillar near his location and immediately dove behind it, barely avoiding the tank’s searching gaze.

Pressing his back against the stone, he heard the clack clack clack of the tank’s turret as it moved past his position, still scanning for him. He took the time to clear his head, calculating his odds of defeating the boss within the time limit.

Hm… other players have already cleared the maze. So, there must be a way to defeat it quickly, even though its HP seems pretty high. I just need to figure out how.

Carefully shifting around behind the pillar, he kept out of the boss’s sweeping gaze as he studied its patterns. Left, right, center, pause for two heartbeats, repeat. As the turret continued its regular cycle, Paul moved away from his position and crept closer to the tank.

His hammer in his right hand, he ducked behind another pillar as the tank’s turret swiveled right again. The moment the barrel was no longer aimed towards him, he sprinted towards the tank, praying that he made it in time.

There was another loud clack as the turret moved left, and Paul felt some of his tension ease as the turret stopped halfway through its rotation, pausing in the center position. It gave him just enough time to reach the tank and scurry up the side of the machine.

The treads almost crushed his feet, the tank still circling the room, but he managed to get them out of the way before anything happened. Grunting with effort as he pulled himself up, he balanced on top of the machine, his gaze searching for anything out of the ordinary.

Hm… maybe I could… no, no. That won’t work. What about…

Paul tried tugging on the hatch leading inside the tank, but it wouldn’t budge. He had to drop down on his stomach as the barrel of the turret moved right through where his chest would’ve been.

There were a few small holes in the top of the machine, but Paul didn’t have anything he could use to attack the boss’s inner workings. He was an ARTIFICER, and his specialty in combat was in traps, tanking, and misdirection. He didn’t have much attack power on his own unless he was using a COUNTER, or maybe a BASH.

So… he didn’t trust himself to fight the tank directly. The boss would stay idle if he didn’t enter its line of sight. It followed a very set route in how it moved about the room, and its turret always followed the same movement pattern.

Two options here. It’s either a puzzle boss or I’ll just have to hope I can hit it hard enough. I’m guessing it’s the first option.

Shifting his attention, he started scanning the walls of the room. If his theory was correct, there should be a… aha!

One of the far walls had a long crack branching down from the ceiling, positioned in such a way that it was only obvious if someone knew what to look for. A faint blue light spilled from the crack, barely visible against the dark stone.

Paul grinned as he was reminded of a minotaur he’d fought while leading the BEARDED BOOTS a year or so ago. They had managed to confuse the boss into running through an unstable pillar, and the minotaur had been crushed under its weight as the pillar collapsed.

An idea began to form in his head, and as the tank turned to do another lap of the room, Paul used its momentum to slip off the side. He broke into a sprint as soon as his feet hit the ground, racing against the creaking turret as it rotated to face him.

Come on… come on! Almost–

The turret whirled to life just as he slipped behind another pillar, and the entire room shook as half the pillar disintegrated. Chunks of melting stone flew by Paul’s head, and he winced as some landed on his skin, draining a small portion of his HP.

“Ah! Sticks! I just need– NO NO WAIT–”

He dove to the side as the tank barreled past him, the turret glowing orange as it charged up another blast. Stumbling to his feet, he only managed to take three steps before he heard the crackle and hum of energy ready to be released.

Shifting his grip on his hammer, he activated SHIELD. The energy shield blazed to life, with two glowing hands clasped in prayer appearing above his head. Planting his feet, he squared his shoulders and prepared for the knockback.

He wasn’t ready. The breath was knocked out of him as he flew backward, his energy shield throwing up sparks as it skid along the ground. Flipping back on his feet, he used his momentum to bounce towards the crack in the wall, trying to force the tank closer to the break.

The hunk of metal sped up abruptly, catching up to him far too quickly. Paul swung his hammer out on instinct, changing his grip to activate BASH in the process. Instead of knocking the boss away like he’d hoped, BASH forced a torque on his character and sent him flying again.

At least it got me out of the way. Still… that’s not a good sign. Its HP barely dipped.

If he tried to fight this boss properly, he’d lose. He could maybe, maybe, wear it down over the course of a few hours, but he didn’t have that kind of time. He’d already wasted at least ten minutes.

Landing deftly on his feet, Paul wove his way between pillars as the tank gave chase, its turret going off sporadically. His shield was still holding up, so he wasn’t taking damage, but the knockback from the turret kept forcing him away from the crack in the wall.

Dust drifted down from the ceiling as the turret fired again, and Paul eyeballed the trajectory of the shot, sliding just barely to the left. The laser slammed into the side of his energy shield, knocking him back at an angle.

Paul smiled, his back slamming into the wall. Shifting his grip on his hammer again, he let his SHIELD deactivate, the energy dissipating with a low hiss. The tank was rolling straight towards him, its turret charging back up.

“COME ON, YA FORKIN BISCUIT!” He widened his stance as the tank grew closer… closer… closer…

Multiple things happened at once. Paul dropped to his stomach as the turret fired, blasting right into the wall behind him. Grinding metal filled his ears as the boss seemed to realize his plan, trying to switch directions at the last second.

Unfortunately, it was too close to Paul’s position and only managed to redirect itself slightly to the left. That was enough for it to run directly over Paul’s avatar, though, and it took full advantage of it.

Paul let out a yell as his chest was pressed into the ground, his HP depleting quickly. He grit his teeth as the weight above threatened to crush him, the pain he should be feeling being dulled dramatically. He was so glad he wasn’t playing on Realistic Mode right now.

The weight vanished, followed by a loud crash as the tank rammed right through the wall and into the room beyond. With a groan, Paul pushed himself up, wincing when he saw his HP was almost in the red. That had been way too close.

A whirring sound filled the air, and Paul’s eyes widened as he hastily formed his SHIELD again. Another orange beam slammed into his shield, sending him careening away.

“Just– FLIP!” He rolled the moment he hit the ground, dodging another laser as the tank rolled towards him. The front of it was dented from the impact with the wall, but the damage was superficial. The tank still functioned well enough to try aggressively running him over.

The wall, on the other hand… a low chuckle bubbled up from his chest as he wove around another attack. The crack in the wall hadn’t just been for show—a gaping hole had replaced it after the tank had burst through like a 60-ton battering ram.

A glowing blue sphere floated in the middle of the newly revealed cavern, and Paul wasted no time. Diving under another laser, rolling to the left as the tank screamed past, he shot to his feet and ran.

His energy shield flickered. COUNTER redirected the boss, making it clip his arm instead of his entire body. Spinning from the impact, STURDY brought his momentum to a halt as he pushed himself faster, faster faster.

Burning lungs. Gasping breaths. Halting steps, screaming limbs. The boss let out a mechanical whirl behind him as it changed phases.

Paul could barely focus past the black creeping its way into his vision. Moving faster than his STATS allowed, he forced his virtual body to BASH his hammer into a large missile, charging right through the ensuing explosion.

He tried to use BIND, but the boss burst right through the coiled energy, not slowing in the slightest. Paul was forced to weave around the massive metal tank again, almost tripping himself up in the process.

His pain slowly increased as he pushed past his limits, the game trying to force him to stop. He wouldn’t. If Heather and Jamie could deal with their limbs getting blown off with only a wince, he had no excuse.

He roared, his hammer swinging wildly around him as he ran. SKILLS activated over and over again, never ceasing, his HP steadily decreasing as the boss continued launching missiles at him. It circled for another pass, moving at double the speed from before.

NO! NO! COME ON! It felt like fire snaked up his legs, his body screaming to stop, please stop I can’t. It felt like that time back in college when he’d broken his shin, and he tripped on his next step.

STURDY activated again, and he lunged forward, his hand closing around the blue orb just as the tank crashed into his avatar. White-hot pain flared through his side as he tumbled, his vision swimming with blue blue blue. Everything was bright, too bright, and his stomach was churning uncomfortably–

And then it was over. Paul’s back crashed into the hard, dusty ground as the world erupted in a cacophony of noise. He winced, scrunching up his face in disgust, and his churning stomach began to settle.

“I mean– whoa! Paul! Hey hey, what happened in there? You look horrible!”

A sigh. “H, really? There was like… no tact to that. At all.”

“Yeah yeah, I know… but seriously, ya good?”

He grumbled some choice words under his breath, feeling the system alienate them on his lips. Hate that stupid censorship algorithm.

Someone laughed, their face blurry in his swirling vision. “He’ll be fineeeeee, see? Just… like… half his side’s all red and stuff, but it’s healing, sooo…”

“Jamie, shut up for a sec.” He coughed, forcing himself to sit up. “My HP’s in the red, ya know. Could use a bit of help here.”

There was a giggle, his vision clearing enough to make out two amused red eyes peering at him from over a smeared blotchy lump. Probably Jamie’s shoulder.

“Hm… ya look a bit too comfortable down there…”

“Can you both just, I dunno, help me up?” They both laughed, and two pairs of strong arms pulled him to his feet and tugged him away.

“AND NEXT UP, WE HAVE ONE OF OUR FEW SOLO PLAYERS! WHAT ARE THE–”

“We gotcha, big guy. Don’tcha worry. And… thanks, ya know... for not dying and all. Glad ya made it through alright."

Jamie paused, patting his back gently as she guided him away from the arena. "Let’s all get some rest, yeah? Been a long day.”

He sighed, slowly nodding. These two numbskulls needed someone to make them dinner, anyways.

Besides, he’d never truly minded the banter. It ground them all—made them forget, for just a moment, how far they still had left to go.

Hopefully tomorrow would be better. He wanted an easy day, for once.