8:00pm, The Twenty-Third Day

We crouched in a circle behind a large boulder, leering at the massive wooden gate stretching across the ravine. It was intricately carved with runes and marks of guarding, and stood resolutely closed. A crystal golem holding a jagged polearm guarded each side of the gate, watching over the unpaved entrance path. On both the left and the right the ravine walls stretched up to a ceiling many dozens of meters above our head.

From what I had learned of the dungeon before going in from the NPCs outside, this was the entrance to the final portion of the dungeon. Inside this gate would be the final gauntlet and the boss, which was supposedly just a unique version of the crystal golems we had in front of us. After this we would be free to leave the dungeon and return to Paelgard, an event I had waited most of the last month to complete.

We got through this much faster than I thought we would. I thought. Artel and I had taken two weeks to get here and back while this party took only four days to run all the way to the final third. The fact that this time a skilled pathfinder and guides now accompanied the party didn’t escape me, but I still felt disappointed. The speed by which we found the correct paths and shortcuts made me feel that I had just wasted the two weeks before walking around aimlessly.

A lot of that was because we turned back to find the entrance. I reminded myself. I turned back to the others to report.

“It doesn’t look as if they’ll move. We’ll probably have to defeat them first.” I glanced at Kyoura. “Did you see anything different Kyoura?”

“Kyo.” She corrected instantly. “It looks like that however. Their halberds…”

“Billhooks.” I corrected.

“...billhooks should be slow enough that we can use Honsol’s glyphs to take them down, but it will be difficult if we fight both at the same time.” She looked at Svite. “Do ya think ya can hold the other one’s attention long enough for us to defeat the other?”

Svite looked over the boulder, studying the golem’s again. When he came down again he sounded unsure.

“It’ll be tough. That..” He glanced at me. “...billhook looks weighty enough to push aside my parries unless I can counter each attack with an ability.”

I put my hands behind my head. It was tricky work holding a mob's attention, sometimes called aggro, by yourself. If Svite had picked up any of the tanking skills such as Shielding or Two-Handed Weapons this would be different, but unfortunately nobody in our party had anything like that. Svite’s One-Handed abilities had worked fine when facing single enemies however, so hopefully he could at the very least keep it distracted.

In simpler games monsters simply attacked whatever was closest to them. This was even true in Finkar for stupid or crazed creatures. More intelligent monsters however would attack whoever seemed to be the bigger threat. If someone simply dodged all of a monster's attacks but did little damage, then eventually that monster would switch to someone who was a bigger threat. It would be a massive problem if we got attacked by both golem’s if Svite couldn’t keep the other’s attention. Therefore, Svite would have to meet and block as many attacks as he could with abilities of his own. The only problem would be if his abilities didn’t stun the golem afterward, so he would have to be careful with managing his ability cool downs.

“You’ll have to make do.” The mage looked at all of us. “Unless anyone has any other plans?”

I scanned the top of the ravine, hoping that a convenient boulder trap or lever would pop into existence, but I had no such luck. Studying the door as well it looked pretty solidly closed. We wouldn’t be able to cheese this fight that easily.

“The only other option would be splitting up evenly.” I said. “But I feel like it would be much safer if we quickly finished them off one at a time. We just have to put our hopes on Svite.”

Kyoura patted his shoulder. “No pressure or anything, but if you fail my ghost is definitely going to be haunting ya.”

“I’ll keep that in mind?”

After a few fine adjustments to gear and plans we strut out to face the golems.

…

I finished the glyph right in time for the billhook to connect with it, almost knocking me down with the air displaced by the force of its blow. Continuing my strokes, I flicked my dagger in a flourish as I finished drawing the trap rune behind it. Then I jumped away just as the golem activated it, shouting as I did so.

“Hit it!”

The other three activated their abilities and ran in, Kyoura leaping forward to use Cleave on its leg while the mage’s Flare flew into the golem’s chest area. Artel came from behind the golem and slashed into its heels. Large red gashs opened up on the golem to visualize the damage, and its health bar finally slipped past fifty percent and turned yellow.

Why do they have so much health? I thought despairingly as they hacked away at the creature. We had done roughly the same thing eight times now, stunning and switching as the golem’s apparently massive health bar slowly inched further and further to the left. These were much tougher than the golem’s we had fought before, and definitely worthy of guarding the final zone. I glanced at Svite in concern.

He wasn’t looking great. Svite currently stood several meters away from his foe looking like he had just survived a bomb blast. Red gashes covered his body, and metaphorical sweat glistened on his skin as he panted from exertion. In front of him, the golem was preparing once again for an overhead strike, looking almost undamaged. I couldn’t see his health bar from this distance- Finkar didn’t have a UI that told you your party’s condition unless you were very close- but I didn’t think he could hold out much longer, even if he wanted too.

“Svite won’t be able to hold out much longer, we have to finish this up or leave!” I shouted at the others and they dodged backwards to stop by my side.

Kyoura shook her head without tearing her eyes away from the golem in front. “We can’t kill it in time...”

I cut her off. “Then you three go help Svite, I'll distract this golem until you can get him healed.”

I was doing way better health wise anyway, and if I played conservatively I should be able to keep it distracted while they healed.

A shout of alarm rang out from Svite’s direction alongside a thunderous thud. When I looked over a massive cloud of dust had risen, hiding whatever had just happened to Svite.

Kyoura nodded at me and they all ran off towards Svite. Kyoura leaped towards the golem to unleash a Cleave while the mage took Svite to the back to begin healing him. Looking ahead at my own problem, I saw that the golem was starting to charge at me, clicking twice.

I threw up the same Air Ward as I had done so many times before. Again it’s weapon collided with the hardened air and the golem sprang back. Setting up the Trap Ward, I fell back into the pattern of warding and trapping as I’d done for the last month. When the golem came at me for the third time however, I could sense something was off. It only took a second to realize what it was, but by then it was already too late.

It didn’t click. I thought with a start as it charged. Taking a few steps back, I focused on its weapon as it swung, trying to determine what angle it was attacking from. Watching as the golem hurled its billhook around its body in a diagonal slash, I attempted to draw the Air Ward in its path to block it.

I miscalculated. The Air Ward flashed into existence just inches to the right of the polearm, completely missing the golem’s attack. The billhook slashed into my gut, knocking the breath out of me. My health bar instantly lost thirty percent as I was tossed against the hard crystals of the cavern wall, draining another three percent of my health.

I guess they have boss level strength to go along with that health. Looking down, I almost expected to be covered in my own blood, but the game wasn’t coded for that. More thankfully, I didn’t even really feel pain from my flight, only the vague weakening that came with losing health. This would take its toll of course, and would make it harder to fight as you took more damage, but it was survivable. Taking my attention away from my own injuries, I got up and looked again at the battlefield while my own golem recovered from its attack cool down.

Svite and the mage sat next to the boulder healing. From the look of his injuries, they could still be out for another thirty seconds or so. Thankfully, Kyoura and Artel were still standing against the other golem by the far wall, but as I knew all too well that could change with a single combo. Regardless they were currently keeping their distance, probably after seeing what had just happened to me. Every few seconds they would dart in and dart out like a duo of sardines, but they didn’t commit to any heavy attacks as they danced out of range of the golem’s polearm. Internally I could feel my competitive streak start racing.

Well, I can’t let them show me up now! Jumping up into a now familiar stance, I charged my golem. It lumbered towards me as well, undeterred. Raising its weapon silently yet again, it prepared to swing, the billhook glowing with malice. Once I got close enough it initiated by hurling its billhook around its body horizontally, and I began to draw an Air Ward. Instead of in the path of the coming weapon however, I made the two swift marks a little below chest height as I ran.

Let’s see if I can pull it off this time. When the ward materialized I jumped up, using the hardened air as a stepping stool to get more height. This brought me out of the path of the billhook, but more importantly it brought me right next to the golem’s gem encrusted face. Slamming down my dagger with all of my might, I stabbed the golem right in the onyx. Then, drawing another rune as face as I could, I leaped away from the golem back to the ground, flipping backwards through the air before I landed. Behind me, the trap rune exploded, knocking the golem to the ground with a subdued blast as it clicked out pain. Nailed it.

I got up and looked behind me to survey the damage. It would’ve been super cinematic if that had killed it. Sadly, even with hitting it in its weak point like that, the golem was still kicking, though it currently lay stunned on the floor. Because of that however, it’s health bar has slipped just a few more percent into the yellow. I gauged that the golem had at most thirty five percent of its health remaining, but even that was pretty impressive compared to the little damage our repeated combos had done to it before. I had just started to plan out how I would go about the rest of the fight when I was interrupted by Svite.

“What are you just standing there for? You’re wasting a perfectly good stun!”

Flashing a smile as he sprinted past me, Svite and the mage started their assault on the beleaguered golem. Stifling a laugh, I joined them as they unleashed all of their abilities into the golem as it raised itself to its feet.

Thankfully, the slowness and weakening that accompanied accumulated damage also applied to monsters. Though elite enemies might not show it as much or might switch movesets, as a rule their attacks still grew slower and weaker as the battle went on. This would mean most fights got easier and easier as time went on if players were subbed in and out to heal sufficiently.

We finished with my golem within the next four stun rotations. After that the mage took Kyoura to the back to heal while Svite and I battled the other golem. With only one golem to focus on however, the fight was even easier, and it was defeated soon after Kyoura and the mage came back to help.

…

“You almost earned ya’self a haunting back there Svite.” Kyoura said over the crackling of the campfire.

Rusty pickaxes and shovels adorned the wood paneled walls, and crates of lantern oil were piled against the door where we’d left them. The room was dark and musty, only our feeble fire working to light it. I’d become long since immune to the smells of stone and water, so the strong scent of aging wood was somewhat irritating to experience.

Ya’self? I munched on my second bun while they bantered. We had skipped lunch due to a lack of safe zones, so I was making up for lost time. After making sure that the gate had unlocked once the second golem fell, we found an abandoned stockpile just inside so we had decided unanimously to stay the night.

“I mean I don’t have any tanking skills and I was all by myself. I think I did pretty well!”

“Well or not, ya were this close!” Kyoura made a small measurement with her forefinger and thumb.

“Ha! Says the girl who had to be subbed out after only three minutes.”

“Hopefully not all the enemies in the third division are that durable.” The mage spoke up abruptly from his position leaning on the wall. I could barely make out his details in the low light, giving him the appearance of a ghost or shadow.

The mage was somewhat of an enigma to me, as an air of mystery seemed to follow him wherever he went. I wasn’t sure just how much was on purpose, and how much was just the foreignity of his actions. The most premier among these mysteries for me was his name. None of the others seemed to call him by anything other than mage around me, though I was pretty sure I’d heard some snippets of a name when I was away. Again, I wasn’t sure if they were deliberately hiding it from me for some reason, but I did know I wasn’t about to ask now, not when I’d been traveling with the guy for four days. That would just be embarrassing.

“What do you think Hans?” Svite directed a question towards me, rousing me from my ponderings. “Do you think they’ll all be that difficult?”

I thought about it for a second. If I was creating the game the monsters would definitely be harder as you went in, but I wasn’t sure that they’d all be on the level of those gate guardians. That would probably be too difficult for players. Although I also wouldn't've made the exit so hard to find once you went in.

“No, I don’t think they’ll be as hard as those two. If every mob was that strong most parties would be hard-pressed to continue. This is one of the first full-fledged dungeons, so they wouldn’t do that.”

“Mob?” Kyoura questioned. “As in a mobster?”

“No, it's short for mobile I think.” I looked at her in confusion. “Haven’t you heard the term in other games? I’d say it’s a pretty common phrase.”

Her cheeks turned a little pink. “I didn’t have very many chances to play games before.” She tilted her head at me for a second. “What does it mean here then?”

“It's shorthand for mobile, but it normally means enemies.” I raised an eyebrow at her.

Isn’t this the person who’s been spotting half the secrets and cloaked enemies for the last four days? Kyoura definitely struck me as someone who had played games all her life.

“That sounds stupid. Where did that even come from?”

“Some decades old game, I assume.”

The fire roared again as the mage cast flare on it once more, and I grew curious it grew. I’d never used magic in this game, so I had to wonder just how it worked with the two option perk tree each skill had. How were elements decided? I definitely remembered seeing different people cast with lightning, fire, and ice in the beta. I resolved to ask him about it later.

“You know, once we’re done here we’ll have been the first party to complete a dungeon.” Kyo suddenly said.

“I didn’t even think of that.” Artel added. “We’ll be pioneers in the field!”

“I’m sure at least one dungeon has been completed already.” Svite said. “I mean, we’re almost a month in.”

“Sure, maybe somewhere in the world.” Kyo continued drawing. “But on the plateau specifically? I’m sure we’d be the first.”

“I know for sure that dozens of groups have at least tried.” Svite responded. “Both Nathanial’s and Ahti’s groups went out to clear some just last week or so. They might’ve already finished.”

Kyo threw a small rock at him. “You’re such a buzzkill. How about first to complete Stonepit?”

“Aye, that’d work.”