Adam led the carriage in through the open gate of the stone wall. Thick roots wrapped themselves around the fortification and shifted like great serpents as he looked at them. He deftly steered the horses, while dozens of Elphin watched him suspiciously from both above and inside the city. Within the vehicle was Belamouranthe, although her face was pressed up against the window in the door so she could look out at her home.

  He felt weird, and it took him a moment to realise why.

  I can’t move my body. It’s like I’ve been possessed!

  Am I in a cutscene?

  Adam blinked and was transported somewhere else, suddenly standing on his feet. In front of him was a tall and strikingly-beautiful Elphin who looked a lot like an adult Belamouranthe. Her golden hair reached all the way down to her legs and her lithe figure was like that of a ballerina. She wore a loosely-draped ephemeral silver dress that paired well with her ashen skin. Her eyes were like mini suns and glowed even brighter than Bel’s, but most strikingly were her horns. There were two large ones that curled back from her brow, before fanning out to the sides like the horns of a stag. Several smaller horns sprouted around the top of her scalp, creating the impression of a crown. From her back hung a single translucent-red wing, like that of a butterfly, and the pattern on it shifted mesmerisingly.

  This has to be the Elphin Queen.

  She was holding Belamouranthe’s hand and the girl was looking up at her and smiling.

  Around Adam were many muscular and handsome guards wielding longswords and spears. They too had red see-through wings hanging from their backs, though theirs were much shorter than the queen’s.

  I wonder if the wing is a mark of maturity, since Bel doesn’t have one.

  He couldn’t tell if they were in the city or not, since they stood within a deep pit, but he also couldn’t turn his head to check. His body was still not his to control and the sensation was deeply unsettling.

  “My gratitude, Traveller, for returning mine daughter to me,” said the beautiful Elphin woman. “At last, she can fulfil her destiny and bring prosperity to our people.”

  Someone came running down the steps into the pit where they were gathered.

  “Mine Queen!” he exclaimed. “The enemies are at our walls!”

  “The Forlorn King truly believes he can defeat me?” the queen asked defiantly. Her eyes ran along the warriors surrounding her and Adam. “Defend the Sanctuary and slay every last invader!”

  “I will lend my aid to your people,” Adam said, though the words were not his.

  This feels so fucking weird!

  It’s like a bizarre nightmare.

  “I will prepare the Ritual of Adherence while you help protect this Sanctuary.”

  Suddenly the weirdness let go of Adam and he could move freely. Around him, the Elphin warriors ran up the steps of the strange pit they were in. It looked like an Indian stepwell, with staircases running back-and-forth along the four sloped walls around them. At the bottom where he stood was an enormous engraved stone disk carved into the ground, with channels to diverge water into a pattern he couldn’t quite discern from here.

  Shitbox appeared between him and the queen, who was still holding Belamouranthe by the hand.

  [Stage Four is the first Stage in the Trials that does not feature Waves. Additionally, there are three objectives for the Stage, each of which may separately lead to victory. Failure to protect the Elphin Queen and the Child will result in your death.]

  < < Stage Objectives > >

  < Defend the Ritual Site for 20 minutes >

  < Defeat the Forlorn Captain >

  < Slay all invaders >

  “Will there be no more Waves going forward?”

  [I cannot say.]

  “I thought it wasn’t advantageous for you to tell me how many Waves future Stages have?”

  Shitbox ignored his remark. [The 20-minute Timer has begun.]

  Guess I’ll just have to survive and see for myself then.

  Adam cast one last look at Belamouranthe before he hurried up the side of the strange pit. He didn’t like the idea of her being the catalyst for some ritual, but he didn’t have a say in the matter. If he pushed back, he would die. If he didn’t defend the ritual, he would die.

  As he neared the top of the hole, he saw the city properly for the first time. His breath caught in his lungs at the sight. It was most easily described as fantastical and picturesque. He climbed to the top so he could take it all in.

  The ground was mostly covered with thick moss, though there were large stones planted in the ground to form roads for the carriages that moved through the city. The houses, if they could even be called that, were four-storey-tall towers made of boulders lashed together with writhing roots. Plants, mushrooms, and small trees sprouted from the sides of the towers and criss-crossing walkways filled the air between them. There was not a single building that was the same, and he wondered if their unique traits reflected the residents they housed.

  Adam spun around as his eyes ran across the towers and tracked the movement of the dozens of Elphin warriors heading to the walls to defend their home. He paused as he saw that one building was not like the others. It was an actual tree and not an amalgamation of living roots and stone. It was enormous. Carved into it were tunnels that led to walkways and balconies higher up. Pods of weaved-together vines dotted its dark-blue bark and its canopy was large enough to shade the southern part of the city, with only a few rays of light shining through its leaves.

  The loud thrumming wail of a horn broke him from his awe-filled reverie.

  Adam looked in the direction the sound had come from. It was almost directly opposite from the great tree. He couldn’t see the large stone walls from here, but he heard a loud explosion that could surely only mean one thing.

  The enemy has gotten inside!

  He ran towards the sound of danger, while marvelling at the sheer size of the Stage. It was completely open for him to explore, and he was fairly sure that 20 minutes wouldn’t even be enough to see everything.

  Secrets will be a lot harder to find with this much ground to cover.

  From what Ilya had told him, he knew that at least one Secret was hidden amongst the great tree’s roots, but that was in the opposite direction of the action, so he’d have to go find it later.

  He also said that there’d be many places to defend, so that probably means that they’ll breach more than one wall.

  Although it had a 1-minute cooldown, Adam triggered his Spring Boots and launched himself forward. The Relic accelerated him to three times his max speed and he soared through the air as though shot from a cannon. He flew over the heads of Elphin warriors running in the same direction. Above him on the web of walkways were parkouring archers who swung along the vine bridges with the innate finesse of monkeys. In the approaching horizon rose a solid wall of stone at least seven metres tall. It was wrapped in massive roots that were aiding a small group of Elphin in defending a breach in the fortification. Beyond the wall was a forest of tall dark-blue trees. He couldn’t yet see the invaders, but he could hear the sound of fighting.

  Adam had tested the Spring Boots several times in the Player House, but he hadn’t been able to test them for this type of rapid traversal. So, when he quickly plummeted from the apex of his insane leap, he had no idea if he would survive the landing intact.

  I should’ve tested the boots outside on Interim Island.

  He’d thought about it, of course, but had been too scared to accidentally launch himself off the edge of the flying island.

  Adam’s clawed boots hit the mossy ground and tore up deep furrows that exposed the dark-brown earth. He barely felt the impact up through his legs.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I’m still alive!

  I wonder if these boots will save me from falling?

  As he ran towards the hole in the stone wall, the Elphin defenders were quickly pushed back. It looked like the spirit had gone out of them and the armoured soldiers were able to dispatch them with ease. The metal plates worn by the enemies were a dull grey and visibly rusty as though decades old. Scraps of blue cloth poked out here-and-there and a few wore the tattered remains of tabards. Even their swords and metal-braced wooden shields were rusted and decayed.

  A group of six invaders were gathered in front of the hole, surrounded by the corpses of the early defenders, while fighting three serpent-like roots that tried to crush them. It was a perfect target for Adam’s new ring.

  Before he could prepare the blood bolt, one of the enemies was slammed to the ground by a root, knocking off his metal helmet. Adam grimaced at the exposed skin of the soldier. It was rotten. Black putrescence leaked from open purple sores in his lifeless skin and only tattered bits of wispy hair remained.

  These aren’t human… They’re more like undead…

  I hope the Fiendbarb still works on them…

  Adam closed his left fist over his thumb and the liquid red ring, charging up the blood bolt. As he watched the invaders, they chopped their swords into one of the roots and a black taint spread onto the living plant causing it to slow down and start to decay.

  I really shouldn’t get hit by their weapons, he realised. Not that I was planning to, of course…

  He launched the blood bolt at the centre of their formation, just as the downed soldier got back to his feet.

  With a pop, the bolt exploded against his target, showering blood crystals all over them. Several failed to pierce their armour and just bounded off harmlessly. Nevertheless, all but one were hit where it counted and the effect of the Fiendbarb was immediate.

  When the two remaining root serpents retaliated, the affected soldiers broke into pieces. It was clear the crystallisation of the Fiendbarb was extremely effective against them.

  I just need to aim for the gaps in their armour.

  Fortunately, the rusted and decayed nature of the invaders’ equipment meant that there were lots of gaps to be found.

  Adam rushed forward and hammered his spear into the remaining soldier, striking his shoulder where parts of his cuirass had rusted away. With a loud crack, the entire arm and shoulder joint just fell away from his body, as though the soldier had been turned into brittle glass.

  Despite the grievous injury, the soldier swung his sword at Adam’s neck.

  Caught off-guard, he only clumsily managed to block the attack with his shield, but the impact knocked him back several steps.

  Before the soldier could capitalise on the opening, two arrows suddenly appeared in the left eye-socket of his helmet. Then a roaring Elphin warrior surged past Adam and chopped the soldier’s head off with a longsword.

  Eight additional warriors joined Adam as he regained his composure, but more soldiers burst through the opening in the stone wall at the same time. Behind them came a 2-metre-tall armour-clad monster with black smoke billowing out from the grill of his metal helmet. In his hands was a massive greatsword that was wider than Adam’s head and looked too heavy for a normal human to carry.

  What struck him most was how the sunlight seemed incapable of illuminating the figure, as though the darkness that oozed from him was swallowing up the light.

  “Shitbox, who is the big guy?”

  [That is a Forlorn Knight.]

  Forlorn? What’s that supposed to mean? Is it a different way of saying ‘undead’?

  The Elphin warriors charged forward and Adam moved with them. Unlike the invaders, none of them wore sturdy-looking armour, opting for lightweight moss and bark strapped to airy shirts and pants made of silk.

  Adam drove his spear through the eye-socket of a soldier’s helmet. The Fiendbarb triggered, instantly killing him. Adam freed his spear with a shield bash to his neck.

  In front of him, the remaining roots focused on the knight, but he immediately split one down its length, before cutting the other in two.

  The Elphin around Adam fared well and managed to land the first strike on the soldiers, but their weapons, which Adam realised were made of only wood and stone, were insufficient to pierce the enemy’s armour. Even when they landed fatal hits, the soldiers pushed through. It was only when the head was destroyed or decapitated that they stopped moving.

  A pane of blood appeared to Adam’s side as a sword drove straight for his neck. He hadn’t even noticed the attack until it bounded off the defence created by his choker Relic.

  It’s impossible to keep an eye on all threats while I’m in the thick of it! he realised, knowing he needed to disengage.

  Adam rammed his spear through the soldier’s exposed abdomen, before kicking him in the same spot and breaking his body into two. As the enemy fell to the ground, an Elphin came in and chopped his head off with a precise slash at his exposed nape.

  Adam backed away as the knight pushed through the defenders, knowing that staying inside the melee would get him killed. An Elphin hammered his spear into the knight’s left hip, where part of his armour plates were rusted away, but it didn’t even slow him down.

  While his smoke-oozing helmet stared directly at Adam, he grabbed the Elphin’s red wing and yanked it free from his body. Like a light that was snuffed out, the man just collapsed, instantly dead.

  What the fuck!?

  The knight pushed back the rest of the defenders, who were being picked off one-by-one by the soldiers.

  Adam shot forward and slashed his spear blade across the same point the dead spearman had struck. The Fiendbarb triggered and the knight’s hip joint crunched and broke, causing him to stagger. Despite the disabling strike, he still swung his two-handed greatsword behind his back to try and hit Adam. The tip narrowly missed him and he noticed that it left a dirty trail of darkness in the air for a moment.

  There’s something wrong with their weapons!

  The knight didn’t have any weak-spots in his armour near his head or neck, and Adam’s weapon couldn’t pierce the plates at all, thanks to the Fiendbarb. But then he remembered the Slime Glove on his hand.

  As the knight tried to turn, only destroying his hip joint and ruining his left leg more, Adam raised his right hand and fired off a glob of corrosive acid. It struck his armoured back, right between the shoulder-blades, and immediately started running through rusted holes too small to be exploited by Adam’s spear. While the acid couldn’t destroy metal, it could destroy organic tissue.

  Within moments, the knight collapsed onto his stomach and his helmet rolled away, revealing a broken spine and severed skull within the hollow space of his armour.

  In an instant, the tide turned as the remaining soldiers lost their ability to survive mortal wounds. Black treacle blood sputtered out of their countless wounds and the three remaining Elphin warriors were able to kill them in only a few seconds.

  Adam let out a sigh as the battle came to an end.

  Around him lay twelve dead Elphin and sixteen invaders, counting the knight. If Ilya was right, this was only the beginning.

  The Fiendbarb is great, if I can hit them where the armour doesn’t cover, but having to destroy their heads makes things more difficult.

  I should focus on destroying the big guys, since they seem to be what are holding the soldiers together with their strange necromancy magic. If I can do it fast enough, the defenders should be able to clean up the rest.

  < Choose your Upgrade >

  Where the knight had dropped, Shitbox was unfolding itself into an upgrade podium.

  So, this is how upgrades work in this Stage. Interesting.

  An explosion from the east drew his attention.

  Shit! There’s no breaks to be had here, huh?

  He quickly looked through the options.

  < < Upgrades Available > >

  < Spear Growth (Rare) — Increases spear length by 45% >

  < Bash Damage (Uncommon) — Increases shield bash damage by 10% >

  < Luck (Epic) — Increases luck by 5 >

  The Luck one is tempting, but I don’t actually know what effect that translates into.

  Plus, the third, and potentially last, weapon evolution might be really strong.

  < < Upgrade Selected > >

  < Bash Damage (Uncommon) >

  “Armament,” he said as he ran along the stone wall to reach the new hole that’d formed in the east. None of the Elphin had gone with him, opting to guard the breach in their defence.

  While following the wall, Adam quickly realised that it formed a ring around the city, rather than a square like what he’d imagined. For some reason, that was surprising to him.

  There were about four metres of unoccupied moss-covered ground between the wall and the nearest buildings, but the archers that parkoured along the walkway between the towers had a great overlook from above and would be able to strike any invader. However, none seemed to be present in this part of the city.

  < < Weapon Status > >

  < Spear & Parry Shield >

  < Common Quality >

  < Level 13 >

  < Stat Upgrades >

  < Spear Damage 45% >

  < Spear Speed 45% >

  < Spear Growth 30% >

  < Shield Parry 2.5 seconds >

  < Bash Damage 35% >

  < Shield Speed 35% >

  Just 5 more upgrades to go and I’ll get my third evolution. I wonder what I’ll get offered. Hopefully it’ll work well with my current Relic build.

  The breach in the wall came into view and he saw that Elphin defenders were already fighting a losing battle against twelve soldiers.

  Woosh!

  Something struck Adam right in the shoulder, stopping him in an instant and slamming him onto his back. Agony unlike any he’d ever felt set fire to his brain and he couldn’t even manifest a scream.

  [Warning! Health below 10%. You are close to dying.]

  He managed to barely turn his head and saw the thick bolt that was buried in the flesh and muscle just next to his clavicle.

  That was fired from a crossbow! A giant one!

  “Damage…?” he croaked, while trying to reach for one of the potions in his belt.

  [The attack dealt 85 points of damage, which was increased to 94 due to your Defence rating. That means you now have 6 Health or 6% remaining.]

  He pulled the potion free and lifted it up towards his mouth.

  Holy shit! I would’ve been dead if I hadn’t picked the Defence upgrade last Stage…

  Adam bit down on the potion’s cork stopper and pulled it free by wrenching his left hand. He was in a hurry, because at any moment the enemy would finish reloading. Some of the red water spilled onto his shirt, but he managed to get most of it into his mouth.

  He sputtered and coughed as he swallowed it, and the healing effect was immediate. The bolt popped out of his shoulder and the wound knitted itself closed.

  [Small Healing Potion consumed! Recovering Health back to 46%.]

  Unlike the healing apple, however, it did not refill his health back to full and pain still lingered as he rolled to the side in the moss.

  Woosh!

  A large bolt the length of his arm buried itself right where he’d been.

  That was way too close!

  Adam sprang to his feet, but he felt woozy from pain, even though adrenaline rushed through him.

  Gritting his teeth, he charged right at the breach.

  Above, atop the wall, stood a dark shadowy figure carrying a crucifix-shaped weapon.

  Adam used his Spring Boots to launch himself off the ground towards the forlorn knight.