49th Floor, The BNY Mellon Center, The Pitt - 1:29 PM

I stood atop the broken glass as I looked over the setup for the last hidden object. This floor was one away from the dungeon boss chamber, and mostly barren except for a raised platform about 3 feet tall that covered the vast majority of the room. Sitting in the middle was a single warrior.

The Tomb Guardian had the shape of a human, though parts of his face and body were covered with scales. He was a Half-Dragon, and despite being undead he certainly didn’t look the part. As I jumped up onto the platform, he started to move.

The warrior picked up his shield and khopesh, a sword that curved halfway along the blade into a shape that looked similar to that of a question mark, and the bronze scale armor he wore shifted loudly as he stood. Even though his back was turned from me because he was facing the staircase down, I didn’t attack him.

“You have chosen an interesting manner of ascending the tower,” the Guardian said, still not bothering to turn to face me. “You have skipped most of it, choosing to conserve your strength.”

“Climbing the way the architect intended would have taken too long and sapped too much strength for me alone,” I replied. “This just puts me in a better spot to do battle with you, honored warrior, so that I can ascend and take out your master.”

“Arrogance,” the man spat. “I am the Tomb Guardian who is protected by the gods. No one will pass through here without first proving themselves to me.”

“Then turn around and face me,” I challenged, occasionally tapping the ground with my Vague Stick. “If you underestimate me, you might die for real, you know?”

“The people of this era are weak,” the Guardian claimed, finally turning around. “As you have skipped most of the challenges this tower was to provide, I am sure you are no different.”

His slitted, ocher Draconic eyes focused on mine, and I started feeling a physical pressure pushing down on my body. The voice in my head was small, but my instincts screamed at me to flee somewhere, anywhere, and I ignored them. Instead, I did the same thing he was doing and activated Tyrant’s Will.

Despite the Tomb Guardian being undead, he was still susceptible to mental attacks because he was closer to living than most anything else in the skyscraper. According to his own given lore, this was because of a curse placed on him to eternally guard the dungeon’s pharaoh equivalent. Curses were far from an exact science, and a lot of their properties contradicted themselves, which was how he was undead but considered alive.

My enemy’s eyes widened as I sneered and hit him with a taste of his own medicine. “You were saying?” I asked. The pressure came off of me immediately, and I ended Tyrant’s Will before it could take any more of my Mental Points.

“Perhaps I was too hasty in my judgment,” the warrior admitted, striking his shield with his khopesh. I matched the beat by striking the floor with the bottom of my Vague Stick. “But we will see about that. Ready yourself.”

The Tomb Guardian stopped beating on his shield and took his stance. I did the same after, holding the Vague Stick in both hands. We continued to stare each other down for a few seconds before I got bored and rushed forward.

He met me in kind, yelling as he ran. His move was the first as he thrust his bronze shield towards my face. I skidded to a stop and backed just out of his reach as the khopesh sliced underneath it. It cut through my already tattered hoodie, but didn’t strike me.

Despite his miss, I felt the skin on my chest become dry and cracked. This was a special debuff known as Skin of Papyrus that was tied to the Tomb Guardian rather than his weapon. It already started to hurt, but it was only a small annoyance at this stage.

They took a step backwards, wary of my reach. That had been a good plan, because I went on the offensive. Even though I didn’t change my Vague Stick into a spear, I used it as one. I continued stabbing forward, hitting nothing but shield while laying on the pressure. In one smooth motion, the Guardian knocked my staff away and thrust forward with his sword.

I spun to dodge, shortening the grip on my weapon as I attempted to get him with the back swing. The warrior ducked under it, pushing against my hips with his shield as he attempted to hook my leg with his khopesh. Leaning against the shield, I lifted my foot and pushed his blade to the ground underneath it.

I felt my foot succumb to the same curse as my chest, but didn't back off. He attempted to pull his sword free, but soon found himself too distracted to put much effort into it.

As I swung at his head, the warrior pushed me away with his shield. It was enough to get me to step back, which messed up my strike. My blow landed on his shoulder instead, and most of the impact was absorbed by his armor. I was thrown off balance enough that he was able to shift his khopesh free, and I took a step back to avoid his upwards strike.

Spinning the Vague Stick to keep momentum, I swung towards his sword hand. His scale armor only went down to his wrist, and I was aiming for a very small target. The shield raised to block me, and as soon as his view of me was obstructed I took a step back. With both hands on the Vague Stick, I Dropped it for some extra momentum and aimed for his hip.

It collided, and some of the impact was absorbed by his armor. Not all of it, however, and he was sent stumbling. I pressed forward, thrusting at his feet in order to keep him off balance. The warrior was pushed backwards, growling as my thrusts continued to slap the ground in front of him but not backing off.

The Guardian lurched forward and fell. His shield pushed down on my Vague Stick, forcing it out of my hands and onto the ground. In the same motion, his khopesh moved towards my leg. I dodged it but was wary of him hooking me, so I took a step forward and kicked his face with as much power as I could muster in the short distance.

It connected, and I heard his nose break. Before I could get away, however, he grabbed my leg. I glanced back to see him on his knees, one arm around me to prevent me from getting away, and his khopesh swinging towards me. Activating Force Field in its path, the sword bounced away, but the ability shattered from that single strike.

Attempting to yank my leg free, the warrior swung his khopesh again. I Lifted his forgotten shield, setting it to protect me. It slammed against the back of my legs as I pivoted and twisted, bringing my fist down towards my foe’s head.

The Guardian released me and rolled away. I followed after, Lifting the Vague Stick to my hands instead of going after him with my feet. Before I could bring it to bare, he returned to his feet and thrust his sword. Swinging my Vague Stick to block, he stopped short to hook my weapon with his own and pulled.

His strength was monstrous, and my weapon snapped in half. With two halves of the Vague Stick in my hand, I took a step forward and swung both of them inwards and down. Instead of ducking as I had assumed, which was what my trajectory accounted for, he stepped in. My arms harmlessly bounced off of his shoulders and heads as he thrust the khopesh again.

I instinctively activated Shield as I shifted my body. The warrior’s sword scraped across the psychic projection, causing it to shimmer, and I stepped in to match him. Dropping the two ends of the Vague Stick, I grabbed his head in both hands and leaned my head back. His eyes went wide, and he attempted to slice my back.

Shield broke and his sword cut my skin, but it was too late. I brought my head down against his face. Thanks to the Thick Skull passive I had picked up early, the attack was very effective.

His attack, unfortunately, was as well. The skin across my back began to dry out and crack as a larger area than before was afflicted. A warning about the debuff decreasing my Dexterity and Constitution appeared, but I ignored it.

Though the Guardian’s injury was bloodless, his nose was now a complete mess. He reeled backwards, wildly swinging his khopesh in an effort to make sure I didn’t follow him as he regained his bearings. I had no plan to chase him down, however. At least not for now.

I Lifted both pieces of the Vague Stick into my hands and connected them back together. The item merged into one piece again. The malleable trait that allowed me to shift its form as long as it continued being the same relative shape was a lifesaver for the wooden staff.

When the Guardian realized I wasn’t stepping after him, he stopped and scowled at me. I twirled the Vague Stick once before raising my hand and inviting him to try again. A look of anger passed over his face and he tossed his khopesh.

He wasn’t throwing it at me, but the ground. Regardless, I immediately backed away from where it was going to land. The khopesh hit the stone and transformed with a flash of golden light.

Instead of a sword, a golden chariot was sitting on the ground with harnesses for the two invisible creatures pulling it. They weren’t actually there, even if the leather straps made it look like something was, but that wasn’t my immediate concern. I watched as the Tomb Guardian stepped onto it and grabbed a long spear with one hand and the reins with another.

My foe sneered before whipping the reins. The chariot’s spiked wheels started moving as it lunged forwards towards me. I might not have had to worry about any creatures, but the vehicle was another thing. I threw myself to the side, ignoring the sound and sensation of the papyrus skin on my back painfully tearing apart, but didn’t dare take my eyes off of my enemy. With the Vague Stick, I parried his spear midair before landing and rolling to my feet.

By the time I had gotten up, the warrior had done an unnaturally quick 180 and was heading my way again. I clicked my tongue at the skill’s mobility before spinning and wheeling off on my Heelies of Hermes. Divine Messenger was putting in work even though my inventory wasn’t full enough to give me the full speed boost.

[[Skill]]

Divine Messenger

When traveling on the Heelies of Hermes' wheels, gain a boost up to double your speed in accordance with how full your inventory is. You may also use the wheels indefinitely as long as you are on level ground or a downwards slope.

No matter how much mobility he had, there was no way the warrior would be able to compete with me skating across the platform. He chased after me, spinning his chariot around with supernatural quickness, but by then I was already beside him. We raced side by side, and I parried his spear thrusts with my Vague Stick.

With my free hand, I pulled out Vermon’s Smash Stick from my inventory even as I continued to block blows from the Tomb Guardian. Instead of using it to bash in the chariot and destroy it, I instead Pushed it into the wheel.

The spokes shattered as the club got stuck. It lurched downwards, and I skidded to a stop as I willed my Vague Stick to take another shape. The warrior’s aggravated expression changed into one of confused panic as he was flung forward. He sailed through the air, arms windmilling, and looked back at me with wide eyes.

Once the Vague Stick had fully transformed into a harpoon, I threw it underhanded and let it Orbit as closely as I could to my body in order to pick up the maximum amount of speed. It didn’t take long.

As I Pushed the Vague Harpoon forward, there was nothing the Tomb Guardian could do except try to block with his spear. That proved to be a fruitless endeavor. My weapon pierced right through it before doing the same to his heart.

The light of undeath left his eyes quickly, and his body started to shrivel up and turn to sand. By the time the armor, untouched by whatever process he had undergone, hit the ground, it was empty. The chariot returned to its original form, and I Pulled the Smash Stick into my hand.

Pain wracked my body, and I shivered. My shirt and hoodie as well as one of my shoes and socks were now covered in blood from where my skin became thin and brittle like papyrus. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to walk knowing that Heavenly Hero would eventually fix it.

I moved to stand over the armor and stared down at it. It had fantastic stats, and it looked like yet another prize from the fight along with the khopesh and shield. The only thing that made it seem like something was wrong was the lack of a skill book drop. That was because the fight technically wasn’t over. Yet another trap had been set for any players raiding the dungeon.

Lore would blame it on the curse, but the Tomb Guardian was bound to his armor. So long as the dungeon was still active, he would regenerate if given enough time. Alternatively, the other way to bring him back was to put the armor on. He would possess whatever poor fool had done so, allowing him to fight again with the stats of a new body.

That second method worked even if the dungeon was already liberated. Even I, who had a high defensive mental stat in Wisdom, would have a hard time keeping the ego of a possessed item at bay. I had never tried it, deeming it too much of a risk, and I never planned to.

Raising Vermon’s Smash Stick, I brought it down hard on the scale armor. It took a good ten swings to destroy the supernaturally durable item, but when the job was finally done a brown skill book appeared at my feet.

“Rest well, Tomb Guardian,” I whispered.

Sitting down, I took a deep breath and brought it into my hand. In addition to getting a new skill book, it was also time to upgrade a few pieces of armor.