1

After hearing from Keshon, Harper informed the team of Lorenzo’s death. It made for a somber breakfast with lots of sniffling over his fate.

“It’s a damn shame, going like that… natural causes,” Zack bemoaned. The others looked at him peculiarly. “You know, normally when we lose someone, it’s at the hands of one of those big bosses, but to wither away like that…” He sighed, not finishing the sentence.

“I know what you mean,” Angie replied sympathetically, “but he did die at the hands of a boss, and he did it saving someone else’s life.” She looked around at the other members. “I’d say that was a worthy cause.”

They finished breakfast and prepared for the next floor, casting their glow and buff spells. While they equipped their armor, Damon and Harper walked to the front of the orc formation and ascended to the fourth floor.

The room they entered was much more expansive, with a ceiling three times higher than the previous ones. It was hard to miss the gigantic frog that was entrenched against the circular wall. Thirty-five feet tall and almost reaching the ceiling, the beast’s black-and-green eyes focused on the veterans. A row of V-shaped horns ran along the back of its blubbery body. Its orange-and-green iridescent skin was covered with a thick slime. The monster slowly opened its mouth, and a yellow-green tongue the size of a mattress lolled out.

As Damon watched the beast, his Creature Description details came up.

AGLEBEMU (Level 78)

HP: 963

MP: 606

STRENGTH: 88

CONSTITUTION: 96

DEXTERITY: 34

INTELLIGENCE: 60

WISDOM: 49

XP: 549

DESCRIPTION: Giant lake monster of Wabanaki Native American legend. Can suck moisture from any material.

“That’s boss-level,” he said, and Harper nodded.

On both sides of the immense beast were four relatively smaller, salmon-colored lizards. Perched on large boulders, the ten-foot-long monsters turned toward them as Zack came through the hole in the floor.

“Hey! We’re having frog legs tonight,” the Marine bellowed as he equipped his skelchion. Damon told him to shut up, but the orc went on. “No. For real. I hear it tastes just like chicken,” he enthused as he jumped onto the floor.

The red-skinned lizards slinked off of their rocks and scampered toward them. Their sharp, black claws clattered on the limestone floor. One raised its head and looked at them. A row of six eyes lined the hard flesh crown of its head. It croaked, a sound that was unusually high-pitched.

Damon’s Creature Description details appeared again.

ANURA WARRIOR (Level 35)

HP: 452

MP: 267

STRENGTH: 58

CONSTITUTION: 45

DEXTERITY: 71

INTELLIGENCE: 26

WISDOM: 19

XP: 251

DESCRIPTION: Don’t let this frog-lizard warrior get the jump on you.

As Armando rose into the room, the anura warriors leaped into the air, soaring high above the four teammates. In midflight, the red monsters opened their mouths, revealing sharp, pointed teeth. A slimy tongue extended thirty feet and slapped Damon across the face, knocking his cheek guard back and twisting his head sideways.

“Goddammit. What good are helmets if every mob knows how to avoid them?” he shouted as slime dripped down his neck.

The adhesive appendage pulled against his cheek with incredible strength, but the orc general had the weight advantage and remained solidly affixed to the floor. Before he could reach for the tongue, it ripped the layer of skin from his face. As he covered his bloody cheek with his glove, he heard Harper yell and looked up just in time to see another lizard catapult her body across the room with its tongue. She crashed against the far wall.

The airborne anura warriors landed all at once and fired more tongues at the veteran mage, ganging up on her. They leaped upward and used their momentum to slingshot her toward the gigantic frog.

2

As Harper soared across the room, the walls spun around her like a merry-go-round. She lost the grip on her steel staff and heard it clang against a wall or the floor. She slammed onto the Aglebemu’s thick, extended tongue and knew she was in big trouble immediately.

The beast didn’t try to eat her, but as she tried to pull herself free from the sticky substance, the air whooshed past her. She felt like she was on the wrong end of a powerful vacuum. The red fabric of her enchanter cape slapped against the rippling yellow slime that covered the beast’s tongue. The invisible force yanked her hair back and drew the saliva from her own mouth. It ran like rivers down her cheeks.

This boss could gulp me down at any moment, she thought. Harper had seen videos of frogs swallowing mice whole. She didn’t want to suffer the same fate. And almost on cue, the bed-sized tongue retracted backward.

She panicked, planting her palms onto the gummy flesh. Now her hands were pinned. She telepathed the team, Guys, I am stuck in the giant frog's mouth!

From her vantage point, she couldn’t tell if any of her teammates heard her. The tongue rolled back like a conveyor belt. Her skin became clammy, and soon her entire body was covered with perspiration, but the sweat was channeling down toward the monster’s tongue.

That’s more than sweat, she thought as a general weakness overtook her body. It’s draining the fluids from me. Her skin shriveled up and looked like that of a ninety-year-old’s. She noticed that the boss was using 7 mana points per second as it attacked with the vacuuming spell. It didn’t appear to have a mana regeneration rate.

Harper checked her hit points. 226 out of 328. As she was pulled closer to the monster’s throat, the top rim of its upper jaw slipped over her head. Despite the urgency of her predicament, she stared, fascinated, at a horde of white maggots that slithered in a thick patch of slime on the roof of the Aglebemu’s mouth.

Harper tried to wiggle off the tongue again, but with her hands pinned, all her leverage was gone. She whispered, “Fire Scorch” and the flames burst from her fingers.

They blasted against the giant frog’s inner flesh, but appeared to do no damage. However, its MP took a 30-point hit. She then cast Mana Flash. The giant frog quaked as its HP sank to 867 and its MP was knocked down to 527.

Harper’s mouth felt like sandpaper and her eyes ached from the dehydration. She called out to the team again, hoping someone would respond, but she could hear the fury of the battle below her. She fired another Mana Flash. The boss lost more HP and MP, but the veteran mage was running out of time. With her fluids and energy draining, she tried to pull herself upward but was too weak. She resisted the urge to wield another Mana Flash at the beast and cast Mana Heal instead. The spell replenished her, and she could feel her dry skin regain some elasticity.

The veteran mage exhaled, but her relief was fleeting as the frog’s tongue continued to move her closer to its throat. Harper splayed her knees to the sides, hoping it would stop her downward momentum.

It did. She checked the frog’s mana. It was down to 499. As she braced against the sides of the monster’s mouth, the Aglebemu croaked and a disgusting, rotting smell inundated her. She coughed violently. As she waited for her mana pool to top up, she wondered, Do I heal myself or try another spell?

“Fuck it,” she said and launched Mana Leech with the 45 MP she had regained. The spell stole 5 MP to her 1 MP per second. She smiled as she watched the monster’s MP take a nosedive.

475… 470… 465…

Harper watched her own MP dwindle and realized she wouldn’t have enough to empty the frog’s mana pool. “Shit. I should have waited longer for it to refill,” she croaked.

After another thirty seconds, the Aglebemu’s mana bottomed out at 250.

The boss responded by pulling more of her fluids. Harper moaned as whatever saliva was left in her mouth blew out in a steady stream. Pain exploded across her parched skin. She looked down at her hands and terror overtook her. Blood was oozing out of the pores on her skin.

The veteran mage moaned as she waited for her mana pool to replenish, then cast Mana Heal, draining her supply again. Still, she felt lightheaded. She kept her knees braced against the frog’s throat while she waited for her mana to regenerate.

Behind her, Harper could hear the clangs of swords and the cries of battle. Black spots started appearing in her vision as she thought about what to do next. Leech or heal? But she knew she would have to go with the healing. If I lose consciousness now, she thought, I’m dead.

She equipped a crescent knife and slashed at the monster’s mouth, but was not surprised when the curved blades were deflected by the frog’s barrier. She watched her mana drunkenly, her head spinning from the loss of blood and other fluids. When her mana reached 246, the Aglebemu drew its tongue back and closed its mouth, shrouding her in complete and suffocating darkness.

3

Hammer slipped through the opening on the fourth floor right after Armando. By then, the anura warriors were attacking, jumping and dashing around the three other orcs. The mobs kept a safe distance away from the heavier orcs as they lashed at them with their long tongues, ripping away patches of their skin.

“They’re so damn fast,” the Alabama orc muttered to himself.

Then Harper’s telepath pounded in his mind. Hammer turned his head and saw the mage stuck on the massive frog’s tongue. As he ran toward her, a massive force plowed into him. He rolled across the dungeon floor at an incredible speed, grappling with something he couldn’t identify, but assumed it was one of the red frogs. The room spun around him, and claws slashed him.

There was a flash of red and he was punched in the face by something sticky. Bright heat exploded from his left cheek. As he continued to roll across the limestone, a high-pitched growl filled his ears, and he caught a glimpse of his attacker. The anura warrior’s six green eyes bore through him intensely. The monster opened its mouth as wide as a shark’s. The head propelled forward as they continued to bounce across the room.

Hammer yanked his head backward, smacking his scalp against the cold stone, and the jaws snapped in front of his face. White spit flew from the creature’s razor teeth. The two combatants slammed into the dungeon wall, stopping their high-speed roll. Still clinging to him, the red warrior lunged for his head again. Hammer partially blocked the creature with his arm. Its teeth ripped the skin from his forehead. He screamed as blood flooded into his eyes. He checked his weapons list against a crimson overlay. The axe and hammer were too big to use in close combat, and he had lost his sword.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

The lizard scraped its long claws across the back of his neck, gouging through his skin. Hammer drove his fist into the monster’s head as he quickly looked over his spells list. As an orc, he had a very limited number of choices, but he needed something to drive the lizard off of him.

He fired a Boulder into its midsection. The round rock launched the mob upward and Hammer broke free of its clutches. He staggered to his feet as the lizard pushed off of the boulder and reoriented itself in midair. It shot its tongue against the dungeon wall and used it as a bungee, soaring back to the Alabama orc. It stomped onto his shoulders, pounding him back to the floor.

As the monster reared back to snap at him, Hammer heard a quick procession of stomps. All he saw was a blur as Silo pounded into the anura warrior. Green blood splattered against his face and the walls. The Alabama orc sat up quickly and saw the British orc impaling the frog.

I’ll be damned, Hammer thought. He’s using that Greased Lightning spell.

The twosome crashed down fifty feet away, but only Silo got up. He raced back into the battle at the center of the room.

Hammer stood up and wiped away the blood that was still flowing into his eyes, clouding his vision. He cast Basic Heal and gazed up at the gigantic frog. He could just see Harper’s head, sticking out over that thick tongue.

He ran and leaped at the boss, bounced against its wobbly flesh, and immediately slid off. He flicked his wrists, ridding himself of a thick layer of slime that had accumulated on his hands. Equipping his bone axe, he jumped again and swung, expecting to use the weapon to scale the obese creature. The blade bounced harmlessly off its orange-and-green skin.

Frustrated and not knowing what to do next, he turned to see if any of his teammates were free. Silo and Zack were killing the last anura warrior. The others were running across the room to his aid.

4

In complete darkness, Harper choked against the quickly fading oxygen remaining in the monster’s mouth. She cast Mana Heal.

That won’t help you breathe! her panicked mind told her, but she ignored it. The spell relieved her body somewhat. Gasping for air, the veteran mage made a last-ditch effort to save herself. She launched Acid Fly and moved the bug down into the monster’s throat. The spell ran at only .75 per second, so her mana pool continued to replenish at a steady rate.

She smeared the fly against the Aglebemu’s invisible barrier. Only it wasn’t invisible anymore. In the darkness, Harper saw faint glimmers of orange as the bug left its acidic residue on the monster’s barrier. Meanwhile, the monster’s MP was taking a beating, dropping much more quickly than it did against the other spells.

“Drip, you mother, drip,” the fatigued mage croaked.

She watched as the monster’s MP dwindled. 208… 188… 168. She raised her hand, willing the fly further down the beast’s throat. In the faint light created by the frog’s orange shield, she saw a pool of bubbling, purple acid collecting at the bottom of the beast’s throat. The toxic fumes from the fluids made her choke.

But I can’t turn it off, she thought dimly. It’s my only way out.

The boss started shuddering. It tried to swallow her, forcing her legs deeper into its esophagus and into the pool of acid she had created. The corrosive liquid splashed against boots and legs, disintegrating the leather and burning her skin. Harper screamed. In the claustrophobic space, the cry echoed hollowly against the slime and plump flesh.

With the first layer of skin burned from her legs, Harper broke free of the monster’s sticky tongue. She braced her legs against the roof of the Aglebemu’s mouth, plunging her feet into the eight-inch layer of slime and maggots. Struggling to breathe, Harper checked the monster’s mana.

68… 48…

“Yes!” the veteran mage rasped as she equipped the crescent knife again.

The last of the orange flickering disappeared. She swung the blade but never had a chance to connect as the acid at the bottom of the monster’s throat scorched its flesh. Harper felt the boss tremble like an earthquake, and then its mouth gaped open. The beast coughed violently, and suddenly Harper was flying across the room again, released by the adhesive tongue. She covered her head with her arms and waited for the hard landing against the stone dungeon floor.

As she spun in midair, she saw the faint image of a dark blur tracking her from the floor. In a matter of seconds, on each rotation, she glimpsed the hulking orc race across the room with her. As the floor sped toward her vulnerable body, Harper landed in Silo’s arms, breaking her freefall.

He set her down quickly, calling for the healers.

5

As smoke wafted from its opened mouth, the Aglebemu lurched towards the team members that surrounded it. It curled its head inward and swiped at the party with its V-shaped horns, tossing them to the right side of the room.

Sierra bounced right back up and strode toward the behemoth. She had tried dozens of spells, but they were all thwarted by the frog’s barrier. She didn’t need to worry about that now. As Silo called for the healers, she received a telepath from Harper.

The boss has depleted its mana.

The Aglebemu’s black irises turned toward her. It spat the remaining acid from its mouth at her, along with bucketfuls of slime. The rookie mage turned at the last second and pulled the enchanter cape over her head. The heavy liquid struck the thick, red cloth, and she heard the acid sizzling on its surface. She yanked it away from her body and shook the fabric out. Most of the acid was neutralized by the sheer volume of slime, but it still ate away holes in the cape.

“That’s the only one I got, you bitch!” she growled as she stalked toward the heaving behemoth. Around her, her teammates were bloodying the beast with their blades and aerial weapons. The giant frog’s HP was down to 537. She queued up a Fire Bullet from her druid staff. The prongs on the end of the wooden staff glowed bright red as the fireball expanded above it.

The Aglebemu roared and swiped at the team with its horns again. Most of her teammates went flying, but Sierra used her Grimalkin agility to hop over the blow. She landed back on her thick, padded feet and, in one quick motion, fired the bullet at the beast.

The basketball-sized fireball connected just above the monster’s upper lip, tearing its skin into shreds. Blood splattered against the far wall, near the room’s waterfall. The Aglebemu screeched a loud, piercing wail as Sierra’s teammates ran back into the fray. Hammer and Damon jumped at the monster, plunging their axe blades into its flesh.

Sierra saw that its HP was at 223. She readied another bullet and watched as arrows and blades rained down on the cornered beast. She glanced over her shoulder to see how Harper was doing. The veteran mage was lying flat on the ground, surrounded by Silo and the healers. Sierra turned back to the behemoth and fired the bullet.

The fireball zipped across the short distance that separated them and ripped through the monster’s mouth, following an upward trajectory. The back of the frog’s head exploded, pasting the walls with blood and brain matter. The boss slumped to one side as blood, slime, and other liquids streamed onto the dungeon floor. An Epiphany cloud rose from its carcass.

“Nice work,” someone said from just behind her, and Sierra knew it was Hammer.

She turned and looked at him with a sly smile. “Yeah. I did a little bit more than bounce off its rubbery hide like you,” she said, dissing him.

Despite the loss of his friend the day before, the Alabama orc snorted.

6

The team gathered around Harper to see the extent of her injuries. After a few healing spells, the mage’s skin below her knees was still shiny and red. She couldn’t stand on her feet due to the severe pain she was suffering.

“What happened to your boots?” Jordan asked, and she told him they’d been dissolved.

“At one point, they just slipped off my feet and fell into the acid,” she groaned.

Zahra informed the team that the veteran mage would have to sit out the next few battles. “She’s dizzy, has a migraine, her muscles are cramping, and she has a rapid heartbeat. These are all signs of extreme dehydration.” She pulled the members away from the fallen leader. “And she’s not out of the woods yet,” she whispered. “She could very easily develop a fever.” She paused as she glanced at her teammates. “I want Rachel to stay behind with her, to monitor her.”

The team agreed and bumped Sierra up to Harper’s position in the formation. “You’re a gamer,” Damon grunted. “I want you to assess the floor as soon as we enter.”

The rookie mage nodded quietly.

As Armando started a fire for Harper, Rachel and Zahra focused on healing her. The rest of the group approached the Epiphany clouds that hovered in the room.

“At least those mobs weren’t glitched,” Damon mused, then turned to Zack. “But hey, we might get lucky and find a spell that turns your hair back to black.” His Marine friend gave him the stink-eye and grumbled under his breath. The orc general laughed and turned to Sierra. “Go on. Find out what’s in those clouds.”

The rookie mage glanced at him with a curious expression. “Why me?”

Damon shrugged. “Some spells have class restrictions. The mages usually classify for most of them.”

Sierra approached the anura warrior’s cloud’s first.

Congratulations, Sierra! You have found an Epiphany that contains the spell: Leap. This spell will allow you to jump to new heights! Ranked progressive and available to all classes, so tell all your friends. Leap will cost you 2.5 MP per second and has a cooldown rate of 10 seconds. Get the jumpstart on your opponents with Leap!

Sierra immediately cast the spell, ran a short distance, and jumped. As her body soared upward, she let out a startled yelp. “I feel like I’m on the moon! It’s like there’s no grav—” Her head and shoulders bashed against the hard surface of the ceiling, and she plummeted back down to the floor.

Hammer ran underneath her and caught her. “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly.

Sierra laughed and rubbed the back of her head. Her fingers came away bloody. “Oh, hell,” she chuckled and cast Mana Heal on herself.

Hammer carefully placed her back down, and she rocked on her feet for a moment. When she felt she had her senses back, Sierra launched Boulder and passed into the cloud of stars floating above the Aglebemu.

Congratulations, Sierra! You have found an Epiphany that contains the spell: Damage Reject. An upgrade to the Mana Reject spell, this little ditty creates a protective barrier around your target of choice, rejecting the effects of physical weapons and offensive spells! Ranked progressive and available to mages, so tell all your friends. Damage Reject will cost you only 2 MP per second and has a cooldown rate of 8 seconds. Don’t be a social reject, use your Damage Reject!

Congratulations, Sierra! You have found an Epiphany that contains the spell: Sticky Slime. This spell will allow you to stick to flat surfaces, but you have to have a strong stomach to use this repulsive goo! Ranked progressive and available to all classes, so tell all your friends. Sticky Slime will cost you 2.5 MP per second and has a cooldown rate of 20 seconds. Learn how to climb with slime!

Sierra lowered herself back to the floor and told the orcs that there was another spell waiting for them. “I don’t know what it is,” she said. “But you have to go up there to get the sticky spell anyway.”

Zack expressed his disgust at having to ride the boulder again, but went through with it all the same. As he extended his arm into the cloud, he received a message.

Congratulations, Zack! You have found an Epiphany that contains the spell: Sucker. This spell will drain your opponents of bodily fluids (No, not those ones)! Ranked progressive and available to orcs, so tell all your tan-skinned friends. Sucker will cost you 3 MP per second and has a cooldown rate of 15 seconds. Don’t be a fool, be a sucker!

The Marine scoffed as he jumped off the boulder. “That doesn’t sound like a very useful spell,” he grunted, then inspected the Aglebemu’s carcass. He equipped his sword and sliced through the dead monster’s front leg to have a look at the meat.

“What in the world are you doing?” Sierra asked.

The blonde orc peered up at her. “I said we’re having frog legs, and I meant it.”