With Shade leading, it only took a few minutes to wind through the maze-like room. Owin exhausted the charges of both wands to kill the various ocular mobs and a warper, leaving him with no ranged attacks by the time they neared the minotaur.

  The massive ocular lord embedded into the far wall had continued watching, but had yet to attack. He suspected it would wait until they got closer.

  Fortress Mob

  Minotaur

  Level 35

  The bullheaded mob was huge. Its muscles were so defined it looked like it nearly didn’t have skin. It wore armored pants, but no shirt. It had a human-like torso, but with more hair and clawed hands.

  “Now, I’m not one to call mobs sexy,” Shade said.

  “Hm?”

  “Who enters my labyrinth?” the minotaur said in a deep, gravelly voice.

  “Damn,” Shade said quietly.

  “What?”

  “Leave me alone.” Shade continued walking closer. The path right before the minotaur wound back and forth. If Owin had to traverse the room without Shade’s assistance, he could see himself getting impatient and trying to jump or rush. He would have absolutely fallen to his death.

  “Who?” the minotaur repeated.

  “I’m Owin.”

  The minotaur tilted his head a little, regarding Owin with a single blue eye. “A child.”

  Owin groaned. “You know, I think we should send the Thunderstrike Maul back and take Isotelus again if we’re going to fight things that fly.”

  “You just don’t want me interacting with this minotaur.”

  Owin had Shade sheath the sword and take the hammer. “See you in two minutes.”

  “What did I do to deserve this punishment?”

  They stopped just before the path connected with the minotaur’s platform. The mob had positioned himself right in the center, watching with what Owin assumed was a confident smirk, but being that it was a bull’s face, he really wasn’t sure.

  Summon the Withered Shade

  “Your ally is gone,” the minotaur said.

  “Yeah. That’s okay.” Owin stepped onto the area around the minotaur. According to Shade, it was an actual platform and not a narrow walkway. Other than knowing he stood on one side and the chest was in a corner, he had no real idea how big the platform was.

  But it didn’t matter. He launched himself forward and punched. The minotaur barely started to react when the fist smashed into the tip of his nose. He stumbled back, growled, and heft his axe. By the time the mob was ready to attack, Owin hit him again, this time in the knee. Bones cracked and caused the minotaur to stumble. Another two quick punches caused the minotaur to stumble, stagger, and step back, where he missed the platform and plummeted into the darkness.

  Owin found the ledge and looked over, staring into the nothingness. The minotaur’s cries had even disappeared not long after he had fallen.

  0 Experience

  “Easy.”

  Something strong smashed into the shield on Owin’s back. He staggered and stared into the looming depth. A quick breath, some tightened muscles, and a few choice words flowing through his brain helped Owin steady himself.

  Another blast smacked into the shield as soon as he calmed, and this time, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from going over. Everything beneath him was black smoke, not unlike the void nexus portals. While there was a chance the pit would just teleport him elsewhere, he wasn’t willing to find out. He had gotten experience from the minotaur, which only happened when a mob died.

  Owin shoved his left hand out against the wall, pushing himself across the gap. According to Shade, the outer black wall was as firm and impenetrable as a boundary wall. Owin caught the black wall with his metal hand, slowed himself slightly, turned, and pressed his feet firmly against the boundary. With a solid push, he leapt back up to the ledge. He collided with it, falling face first onto the nearly invisible floor.

  Another laser shot over his head. He peeked up, panting, and looked straight into the ocular lord’s pupil where a red fire raged.

  “Oh, no.” A quick shove against the ground helped Owin roll sideways as another intense laser launched from the far wall. He crunched his feet up and leapt, hopping over another blast.

  Summon the Withered Shade

  Cooldown: 80 seconds

  The only chance to get a ranged attack was through Shade. Owin hit the ground and immediately leaned. The ocular laser burned the edge of his arm as it blasted past. He had no armor to block, and with his shield on his back, he would have to turn away to use it.

  His only advantage was the distance between him and the ocular lord. Each blast moved incredibly quickly, but with his feat, he could react just fast enough. For another thirty seconds, Owin danced across the platform. Jumping, ducking, diving, leaning, and any other movement he could think of to avoid.

  It wasn’t working. More than once, the ocular lord caught him in the shoulder or arm while he was in the air. As the beam knocked him back and burnt his skin, a single looming thought entered his mind.

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  A bald, shorts-wearing thought.

  Owin planted his feet firmly and stared out at the fiery storm of the ocular lord.

  All of that practice had been focused on melee fights, but there was a key part Zezog had stressed. Predictions, reactions, and plans.

  The ocular lord had been aiming primarily for his chest, which was Owin’s biggest target. If he kept his feet steady, he could focus on moving his upper body out of harm’s way.

  The first few movements were stiff, but enough to move aside. After a few dodges, Owin could feel the practice click into place. While the ocular lord’s blasts were fast, they were infinitely slower than Zezog.

  For the next minute, he dodged.

  Summon the Withered Shade

  The skeleton poofed into existence, squawked like a bird as he dodged a blast, and tossed Isotelus to Owin. “What is happening!”

  As soon as the floppy sword left his hand, a red beam smacked into his face. Shade was knocked onto his backside.

  “You survived that?” Owin asked.

  Shade looked back and forth. “I survi—”

  Another blast hit the skeleton and shoved him right off the edge of the platform.

  Owin activated Shuriken, sending the sections of the sword spinning out into a thin cloud around him. He pointed his hand, sending the swarm flying. As soon as the spinning bones struck, the ocular lord died in a spray of blood.

  Owin brought them back, letting the sword put itself back together. He walked over to the chest and flipped open the top. After staring inside for a few seconds, he opened his index.

  Specter Skin

  Divine Magical Item

  A swath of specter skin, stripped from a monarch.

  Can be worn as a cloak or integrated into armor, weapons, or other equipment.

  Provides resistance to apparition damage when worn.

  Adds apparition damage when added to damage-dealing equipment.

  Provides unknown bonuses when combined with other specter pieces.

  Owin flipped it over his head and tied it around his neck. Wearing it as a cloak seemed weird when it was just a small square, but as soon as he started to tie it, the material shifted shape, becoming a cloak with a hood. He couldn’t quite place the color. It was somewhere between gray, purple, and blue. Maybe it was shifting, or he just couldn’t see it properly in the room with all the solid black walls.

  Summon the Withered Shade

  Shade yawned and looked around. “That was quite the way to hop back into a fight, you know.”

  “When did you die?”

  Shade leaned over the edge and pointed down. “Basically as soon as I hit the black smoke. I don’t recommend falling off.”

  “I did.”

  A skeletal finger jabbed into Owin’s cheek. “You seem to still be alive.”

  “Yeah. I got back up.” He held up Isotelus. “Thanks for grabbing this.”

  Shade reached his hand past Owin’s face and grabbed the cloak hood. His eye sockets narrowed as he fiddled with the cloak for a moment. “What’s this?”

  “A divine piece of specter skin, I guess.”

  “Oh.” Shade let it go and tilted his head. “So, you’re going to keep that? You don’t want to give me a big piece of skin?”

  “It gives me resistance to apparition damage.”

  “Now, I do see the benefits to that, but as you know, I’m naked.” Shade gestured to himself.

  “You’re actually wearing clothes.”

  “But not shoes.” He held up a finger. “We were also talking about my skin, not my attire. Don’t try to trick me. Do you want me to be naked or not?”

  “I don’t know if I care.”

  “Ah. Fair.” Shade took a step off the platform. Owin immediately reached for him, but the skeleton didn’t fall. “Did you know there is a secret door here?” He walked on nothing and pressed against the outer black wall. It swung open like a normal door. “Do you think, perhaps, this is the secret?”

  “You can just see this?” Owin cautiously stepped off the platform and felt solid ground beneath his feet. Unlike the rest of the area, he couldn’t see anything directly beneath him.

  A high pitched scream assaulted them.

  Owin tensed and readied Isotelus.

  Nothing appeared and the doorway led only to complete darkness.

  “That surely isn’t dangerous.” Shade took a step into the door.

  The sound erupted again. Whatever made the noise flew out, moving faster than Owin could follow. It hit Shade in the head, tossing the skeleton onto his back, and passed directly over Owin’s head.

  He pivoted, activating Shuriken. His eyes darted back and forth until he finally caught sight of what looked like a bird. Almost like a bird. Fur covered its wings instead of feathers, and the beak was long and hooked.

  It placed talons against the far black wall, turning itself, before launching forward in a dive at Owin. He didn’t even get a chance to use Examine as he pointed, sending the spinning blades flying to meet the creature. Fur, feathers, and blood poofed into the air as all the shurikens collided with the oncoming bird.

  0 Experience

  “Do you know what that was?” Owin asked.

  Shade, who was still on his back, shrugged. “Want to see what’s in the secret now?”

  “Yeah.” Owin brought Isotelus back together and pulled Shade off the floor. “I’m going to let you lead so I don’t fall off and die.”

  “Ah, good idea. I prefer you don’t die, and you prefer I do. It’s a win-win, if you know what I mean.”

  Owin was already pushing the skeleton onward. “Sure.” He kept his hand on the skeleton as they entered the dark doorway, which never got brighter. The black haze was impossible to see through, though Shade managed fine.

  After a moment, Shade kicked a chest. “Is it easier if I loot it?”

  “I can’t see.”

  “But you can hear, so you can answer my question.”

  Owin sighed. “Just open it, Shade.”

  The skeleton crouched down, opened the chest, and pulled something out. “I’m going to hold onto this for a moment. Maybe longer than a moment.”

  “What is it?”

  Shade maneuvered around Owin, carefully pushing him aside, and led him back out into the main part of the floor. The skeleton held a dark gray bone and wagged it in front of Owin’s face.

  “Oh. Good.”

  “I figured we should get out of this room before I poof back to limbo.” Shade immediately set off, letting Owin keep a hand on his waist.

  Since they had already killed the mobs throughout the room, they only had to worry about their steps, which Shade made incredibly easy, though it was still slow. Owin couldn’t help but wonder what other people did in such a complicated room when they didn’t have a Cursed familiar helping.

  As far as he knew, nobody else had a Cursed familiar, and people had obviously finished the Fortress before.

  They had to backtrack a long way from the minotaur to get to the path that led past the ocular lord and into the door beyond. As soon as Owin opened the door, Shade shoved the bone into his hands, causing the skeleton to disappear.

  Owin took a step into the room, swore, and stepped out. There were ocular swarmers all over the room, and one big one in the center. He hadn’t seen one since the secret cathkabel fortress in the Ocean, so he leaned back in and used Examine.

  Fortress Mob

  Ocular Occultist

  Level 34

  The eye itself was taller than Owin. It floated in the center of the large room, with the small swarmers hovering randomly throughout. Rings rotated around the occultist, sometimes blocking its view of the door, where it now watched Owin.

  “I can beat that.” He stepped all the way through the door. The swarmers all shot lasers and the occultist immediately launched a fireball.

  Owin dodged some of the lasers and was hit by others as he scurried back out before the fireball exploded nearby.

  It was always about range. Ranged classes had it easier.

  He scowled. He was a ranged class.

  But how could he use his three meager spells and burned away mana to his advantage?