In his unattuned [Triune Colossus] form, Zeke led the group to the massive chains leading to the floating chunk of rock in the pit. Glancing over the edge, he saw the charred remains of the tentaracles, and once again, wished he could have gone down there to loot it. Who knew what kind of useful materials he might get?

But due to the sheer sides and depth of the pit, it was impossible to get down.

“Well, technically, the descent would be extremely easy. It’s the getting back up part that would be difficult,” said Eveline. Since revealing herself to the others, she had been in a joyous mood, for which Zeke didn’t really blame her. While she had been a bit misleading about her own demonic origins, it had gone much more smoothly than Zeke could have expected. And on top of that, she’d managed to persuade Sasha to her way of thinking. All in all the conversation had been extremely fruitful.

Which was a little troubling, if Zeke was honest.

“I’m not going to corrupt them,” she said.

“That doesn’t really put me at ease.”

“My corrupting days are done,” Evelin insisted. “I’m just a benevolent mind spirit now, offering sage advice and pithy dialogue.”

“I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration,” Zeke countered. “You occasionally give good advice. I’ll give you that. But calling your quest for constant attention via sarcastic comments pithy dialogue is a stretch.”

“Well, that’s just rude,” she pouted.

Zeke gave her a mental shrug. “Just calling it like I see it.”

Eveline huffed, then went silent, letting Zeke concentrate on his environment. With each black, metallic link being the size of a full-sized truck, the chains were absolutely enormous – a good thing, all told. If they’d been any smaller, the trek to the central rock would have been quite harrowing. As it stood, it was only slightly disconcerting, and that was at least as much due to the creepy ambiance as the chains themselves.

Gradually, they crossed, and with every step, a sense of foreboding enveloped Zeke’s mind. At first, he barely even noticed it, but soon enough, he felt something digging into his metallic arm. Glancing down, he saw that Eta had him in a death grip.

“What’s wrong?” he asked aloud, scanning the area for threats. There was nothing.

“You don’t feel it?” the dryad asked.

Zeke shook his head. “No. What is it?”

But as he asked, he knew the answer. So did Eveline. “It’s a fear effect,” she said. “A strong one, too. You can feel it even through your skill.”

Indeed, with [Bulwark of the Tribunal] active, he was functionally immune to most mental effects. The fact that even a little of the fear had leaked through was a testament to its strength.

“Stop,” he said, looking back at his companions. “Does anyone have any mental defense skills?”

Jasper raised his hand. “I can use [Dirge of the Unseen],” the dark elf offered. “It is not perfect, but it should increase everyone’s arcane resistances by a tier.”

“Do it,” Zeke said.

According to everything he’d learned, most effects that didn’t have an obvious category were either combinations of more than one affinity or fell under the umbrella of the arcane.

“The universe’s catchall,” Eveline provided.

A melancholy hum filled the air, and Zeke felt himself relax. Slightly. The background unease that had slowly crept up on him had disappeared. The others visibly calmed as well as Jasper’s song took effect.

“You’ve got something for everything, don’t you?” Zeke said.

Jasper gave him a grin. “The benefits of having a good bard around,” he said. “We are an underappreciated people, but a high-level bard-type class can make all the difference.”

“Can’t really argue with that.”

“Too twisty,” Pudge said. “I like straightforward.”

“Says the ninja bear,” Zeke countered.

Pudge shrugged. “Still straightforward.”

“What is a ninja?” asked Jasper.

“Legendary assassins from my world,” Zeke said, smiling. His metallic face wasn’t as expressive as one of flesh, but it could still move a little. “I used to tell Pudge stories about them, and he was so into it that he actually created his own stealth skill.”

“I was copying the snow leopards.”

“Sure you were, buddy,” Zeke said. “But we both know you would never have tried without those stories.”

Pudge just shrugged, and through their bond, Zeke felt a deep sense of embarrassment. It reminded him of how he’d felt the first time he had brought a girl home to meet his mother, and she’d responded by breaking out the baby pictures. Zeke glanced toward Sasha, then back at Pudge. It was difficult to tell, but he thought Pudge’s expression was pleading – probably for him to stop talking about his youth in front of the girl he clearly liked.

“Good eye,” Eveline said with a mental roll of her eyes. “You really have no tact.”

“Right. Anyway, do we have any clue what to expect in the next room?” he asked, awkwardly changing the subject.

“You know we don’t,” said Eta.

“Something horrible, I am certain,” Jasper stated.

“Yeah. Definitely that,” Sasha agreed. “This whole thing has been horrifying.”

“Can’t really argue with that,” Zeke said.

Then, he continued to lead the others across the chains, and when they passed the halfway mark, he a tendril of fear return. It wasn’t as strong as before, but if he could even feel it at all through [Bulwark of the Tribunal], it had to be quite a powerful effect. At that point, Jasper converted his hummed song into full-fledged singing. The tones were wordless – sounding more like a chant than anything else – but the fear quickly faded.

“Interesting,” Eveline said. “His social anxiety about singing causes him to actively weaken the effects of his skills.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. Skills that require a performative component aren’t that uncommon. I once knew a {Hellknight} who had to shout his skill names to get them to activate,” she said. “Very annoying. But he had a way about him that –”

“Please stop,” Zeke said, getting a peek into her thoughts, which had taken a carnal turn. Then again, she had been a succubus, and even if Zeke hadn’t seen that side of her, he knew it existed.

“But –”

“Just stop,” he repeated. “I’m begging you.”

“Oh, you definitely know what I like. Beg for me, big –”

“Gross,” he groaned inwardly.

“Prude.”

“You’re like my sister. Or something. It’s just weird hearing that kind of thing from you.”

Again, she gave him a mental roll of her eyes. “Fine. But I still think you’re a prude,” she said.

Even as the uncomfortable conversation unfolded, Zeke continued to lead his companions across the chain. Fortunately, the pervasive fear effect only grew marginally more powerful, so they were able to reach the floating mass of rock at the center of the chasm. When they did, Zeke saw that a series of rough steps had been carved into the rock. Seeing no other way forward, he led the group in an ascent that eventually ended at the summit.

There, a spiraling staircase awaited.

“I hate stairs like this,” he muttered aloud.

“What? Why?” asked Eta.

“Bad memories,” he said. Then, he told them about his experiences in Hell where he’d been forced to climb the Spear of Desolation. “Every level was connected by stairs like this. I almost died a few times.”

“You can’t get into a fight without almost dying,” Eveline reminded him.

“Oh, come on. That’s not fair.”

But it was accurate. It sometimes felt like every time he got into a scuffle, he ended up out of commission for at least a few days. The problem was that, even if his stats were high, he really only had a few options in terms of avenues of attack. And if those failed, he was often forced to use his Will or his braid techniques, which were too powerful for his body to endure.

“Only you would have the issue of being too strong for your own good,” Eveline said.

Hopefully, when he reached level forty-five, the Framework would give him a few more options. Otherwise, he’d have to use his level fifty slot to create a repeatable attack, preferably one with a little range to it.

“Or you could go big,” Eveline said. “You can’t be everything, Zeke. There’s always some degree of balance. If you get a skill that you can repeat, there’s every chance that it’ll be too weak to affect the sort of enemies you seem keen on fighting.”

He gave another mental shrug, then said, “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the Framework offers.”

“Indeed.”

“So, does anyone need to rest?” he asked aloud. “Otherwise, we should probably get this over with as soon as possible.”

Everyone said that they were ready, so, without any further hesitation, Zeke mounted the steps. There was no rail, but at least they were wide enough that he was in no danger of falling. However, after only a few steps, a breeze tickled his skin. A couple of steps after that, the breeze became a steady wind. And within ten more steps, it gusted to hurricane force.

With the wind whistling in his ears, Zeke took the rope from his spatial storage and started tying it around his waist. Not for the first time, he wished he still had the ability to use runecraft in a more conventional way, which would allow him to enhance the durability of the rope. But after his path had transitioned into arcane destruction, its runecrafting applications were only good for destructive projects like breaking runes and building the exploding rocks.

“Complaining about a path that’s little too powerful to use without tearing yourself to pieces,” Eveline remarked, her purely mental voice unimpeded by the howling wind. “First world problems, am I right?”

“Don’t use Earth idioms,” he muttered, completing a knot. “You’re bad at it.”

She huffed, and Zeke handed the end of the rope to Eta, who was the next in line behind him. As he did so, he increased his weight via his cambion racial gift. The stairs creaked under him, but they held as the others quickly tied themselves to him. When they were all secured, with the giant kobold on one side and Zeke’s enhanced mass on the other, he looked up.

The stairs extended all the way to the ceiling, with was at least a hundred feet away. Hopefully, the intensity of the wind wouldn’t continue to increase at the same rate. Otherwise, it would end up exceeding anything ever felt on Earth.

Zeke took the first step, and once again, the stairs creaked beneath his massive weight, reminding him that the wind wasn’t the only issue. He decreased his weight by a bit, but he knew it was a fine line. He needed to be heavy enough to anchor the line, but he didn’t want the stairs to crumble beneath him.

He continued on, climbing one step after another. And every few feet of his ascension brought with it ever-more-ferocious winds. By the time he reached the three-quarter mark, he estimated that the gusts had reached at least two-hundred miles per hour. But still, he climbed because he and the others didn’t have much choice in the matter.

When he was only a dozen yards away from the ceiling, disaster struck.

Somehow, even over the wind, Zeke heard a high-pitched scream. Whipping around, he saw that Sasha, who was the lightest among the party, had been picked up by the wind. Next came Eta. Then Jasper. And finally, Pudge. The rope stretched taught, anchored by Zeke and Silik.

Then, the kobold followed.

Despite his massive weight, Zeke felt the wind lifting him an inch off the ground. For a moment, he felt weightless – but then he increased his weight, and his feet slammed back into the stairs.

Even if it was necessary, it was a mistake.

The step crumbled beneath one of his feet. Panicking, Zeke thundered forward, taking one step, then propelling himself upward with every point of strength he possessed. Even as the entire staircase fell apart, Zeke sailed through the air.

And with only the barest tips of his fingers, he caught the lip of the opening leading through the ceiling. The wind tugged at his dangling companions, nearly dislodging him, but he dug his fingers into the stone. It cracked beneath his strength, but it barely held.

With a grunt, he pulled himself up, one inch at a time until, at last, he rolled onto the next floor. Immediately, something heavy fell upon him, raking claws across his exposed back. Without looking at his attacker, he used [Colossal Legion]. The summoning portal manifested in an instant, and the trio of golems thundered out. Zeke gave them a mental command, then, trusting them to follow his orders, he turned his attention to retrieving his companions.

The rope had already started to fray, so he wasted no more time before, hand over hand, he hauled them to safety. It took longer than he would have liked, but through with his massive weight acting as an immovable anchor, he managed to pull them onto the next level. Meanwhile, the sound of battle filled Zeke’s ears as his golems fought against whatever had attacked him.

It was only when everyone had been pulled to safety that Zeke looked back, and he saw that his trio of golems were holding the line against at least twenty ambulatory skeletons. Each one was armed with a rusty weapon, and their eye sockets glowed with vivid, blue energy.

The creatures moved with a sudden, start-and-stop pattern that reminded Zeke of inexpertly piloted puppets. But there were no visible strings, and when one of them managed to get through the guard of one of his golems, it left a deep gouge in the bronze metal.

Clearly, these things were not to be taken lightly.

Zeke turned his focus on one of them and used [Inspect]:

Skeletal Marionette – Level 47

Only level forty-seven. That meant that they were, at best, foot soldiers. And given the name, it stood to reason that they would have to eventually defeat some sort of puppeteer.

Zeke summoned his hammer, then strode forward to join his golems in battle. The others readied their own skills, but Zeke didn’t expect that their participation would be necessary. After all, if there was one weapon meant to break bones, it was his hammer.

He fell upon the skeletons with implacable fury. With every swing of his hammer, skeletons were crippled. But despite his efforts, the creatures were reasonably resilient and, most of all, indefatigable. So, it took slightly longer than expected to dispatch them.

Everyone had pitched in, and to only minor success. The creatures seemed entirely unbothered by Pudge’s [Hellfire], and Silik’s [Spear of Memories] was completely ineffective. Eta’s roots were a little better, but Zeke did the bulk of the work. But the moment Zeke had joined the battle, the outcome had been inevitable, and after a few minutes, the dust settled on a scattered pile of broken bones.

He let [Triune Colossus] fade, and returned to his natural form. When he did, he ran his hand through his sweaty hair and said, “That was a little easier than I expected.”

That’s when the room started to tremble.