Without any needed introduction, the Ancient Labyrinth Beholder squiggled its tentacles like grotesque sun-warmed spaghetti and shrieked a deafening "UWAAAAAA!" The sound rattled my teeth and scrambled its minions into a perfectly hexagonal formation, neatly distanced from each other like very angry, very organized drones. Their eyes, once a sickly yellowish, now began glowing brighter with a striking, golden-orange hue, pulsing with malevolent energy.
Heightened Awareness:
Name: Floating eyes
Attack: Laser beams barrage
Attack Area: Shown in red lines
The lab floor erupted in a crisscross pattern of angry red lines, encircling the precise location of the tag team. A laser light show, and they were the unwitting stars.
"Veil of Thorns! Greater Deflect!" Billabong roared, a true tank to the core. His armor, already resembling a rock, now glowed with faint red spectral vines, wrapping around him like protective pythons. Then, a shimmering shell of light encapsulated his entire location, forming an impenetrable dome.
Heightened Awareness:
Name: Billabong
Skill: Activates Veil of Thorns; Greater Deflect
"Hey, Fallen One! You do know that you'll be next if we die, right? You can't hide forever, 'cause this thing has a spot skill!" Shouted SmileyX, his happy mask still aimed at the Beholder, ready to pounce, yet his eyes darted to my hiding spot. "And, I'll tell you in case you don't know yet, your kind can't respawn when you die. How about helping us with your overpowered skill, and we call it even, huh?"
"Yeah, Fallen One, lend us a hand, will ya!" Billabong parroted, his voice booming from inside his glowing shell.
What did he just say? I can't respawn when I die? My heart turned to a block of ice, colder than a politician's promise. Was he telling the truth, or was he just trying to guilt-trip me? Or was the 'Wtf is this?' mode I'd randomly stumbled into before being transported to this world actually the 'Hardcore' mode? Like in the Diablo franchise, where one death meant game over? Questions popped one after another inside my head, a frantic, anxiety-fueled popcorn explosion.
The Beholder began to vibrate, still chanting "Uwa" like a demonic mantra. Then, laser beams rained down, line after line, scorching the ground, drawing ever-tightening circles towards Billabong and SmileyX, zeroing in on their position.
"Smiley!" Billabong shouted, raising his tower shield. SmileyX, without a second thought, took cover underneath it.
Heightened Awareness:
Name: Ancient Labyrinth Beholder
Attack: Digestive Viscous Goo Spit
Attack Area: Shown in red circle
Attack Time: 4-6 seconds before impact
The Beholder's monstrous mouth moved in a sickening way, like a person about to vomit, its maw growing and bulging like a massive, translucent bubble. A spreading red circle began to expand on the floor, directly underneath Billabong and SmileyX. It's a trapping combined skill—smart! I thought, my mind racing. But this also meant if they perished, I'd be next, and if SmileyX was really right, I'd be next with no promise of respawn. Nope, not today, Satan.
In a split-second decision, I bolted. I ran as fast as I could, a speed I barely believed myself capable of. In no time, I reached the laser lines, dodging them easily one by one, already anticipating their direction. Some lasers tried to follow me, but they were too late; I could see through their predictable attack patterns. I lunged skyward, soaring through the laser beams. "Smiley, grab hold onto Billabong!" I shouted, my voice cracking with effort.
"Bout time," SmileyX said slyly, already responding. He hugged Billabong with both hands and feet, clinging to him like a desperate, tiny octopus—a sight that was unsettlingly funny, to say the least.
I dropped two meters near the duo, executing a perfect combat roll. I grabbed Billabong's feet, shouting, "Hey!" It's your time to shine, I thought, glancing at my right bracer.
General Awareness:
Right Bracer of Giant Strength:
Description: Increase strength by 25%.
Item Skill: Boulder Toss: Lift something and throw it in a distance.
Cool Down: 30 seconds.
Activate skill, I commanded mentally.
"Item Skill: Boulder Toss activated!" the prompt cheerfully announced.
I hoisted Billabong, who I figured should weigh like a tank, but surprisingly felt no heavier than a kilo of rice. With SmileyX still clinging to him like a furry, happy parasite, I spun, mimicking an Olympian discus thrower. But instead of a ball, it was a Billabong-SmileyX combo. I spotted a clear space with fewer laser beams—a momentary lull in the storm—and launched them. "WHAT THE HEEEEEEE!" they shrieked in unison, like a pair of terrified cats.
Heightened Awareness:
WARNING: Goo incoming!
The laser beams were still raining down, now accompanied by a massive blob of viscous goo, all converging on my location.
Force Dash skill, I thought, a desperate gamble.
Skill: Force Dash
Definition: Dash 5 meters in a blur. No need for a platform to propel from. Can be used in succession.
Remaining Charges: 3
Cool Down: 10 seconds per charge
I blurred upward, which was an understatement. It felt like going faster than 100 kph on a T-PLEX highway. I'd already mapped out my escape route between the laser beams. I used the second charge to dodge one particularly nasty laser that zipped past, singeing some of my already silky-dirty hair. The laser beams tried to follow my mid-air trajectory, but Force Dash was faster. I used the third charge to propel myself back to the ground, making a heroic drop in a cool, crouched stance. Wow, I was so cool.
The laser fire died down, and the goo splattered with a hideous hiss, slowly dissolving the ground and creating thick, noxious vapor. The Beholder growled, a sound of seeming frustration, though I wouldn't know for sure—I don't speak Beholder.
I heard a whistle in the distance. My eyes followed the sound, and around 30 meters away, there stood SmileyX, clapping in a slow, theatrical manner, saying, "Touche, touche." Billabong, a few meters away from him, was already standing up.
"UWAAAAAA!" squealed the Beholder, a sound that now chillingly resembled the intro to "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed. The floating eyes scrambled, breaking formation one after another. Their sclera—the whites of their eyes—turned light red, as throbbing veins visibly emerged at the same time.
Heightened Awareness:
Name: Floating eyes
Attack: Eye bombardment
Attack Type: Bomb
Attack Area: Shown in red.
I looked around to gauge the attack locations and saw both Billabong and SmileyX glowing red. Then, me—I, too, glowed red. "Quack!" I yelped. "Homing missiles, and we are the target!" I shouted at SmileyX and Billabong, pointing at the incoming barrage of eye-bombs.
SmileyX nodded, said something quick to Billabong, and then ran. Billabong, ever the professional, picked up his shield and ran in the opposite direction from SmileyX. Damn, these two are phenomenal teammates... if not on a mission to kill me, I thought wryly.
The floating eyes flew like kamikaze planes, each heading towards one of us. Then, the Beholder's mantra, "A a a a," registered in my ear, a relentless hum in the background.
"They're around thirty!" SmileyX shouted, cutting short my observation. Thirty? So, around ten each towards us, maybe? I wondered, my mind frantically calculating odds.
One floating eye dropped towards me, which I dodged with a right-side roll. It exploded, but then its explosion seemed to stop mid-burst. A phasing sound erupted, then it imploded, leaving a perfect sphere crater on the ground.
"Implosion!" I shouted, simultaneously with SmileyX. Then, the floating eyes, one after another, hit my location, imploding. I dodged left, then right, then dashed, creating a chaotic trail of uneven spherical craters.
Finally, all the floating eyes that had targeted me imploded. My lungs were hyperventilating, sweat dripped down my face, and adrenaline pumped furiously through my veins. More implosions erupted elsewhere in the lab.
And then, at the last implosion, I heard a loud cry, "Aaaaah!" I looked in that direction and saw a horrific image—Billabong was missing his right arm.
General Awareness:
Name: Billabong
Status: Bleeding