The Ruby Magician

All around Wyn was chaos. It could’ve been worse, of course, but he certainly didn’t feel that way in the moment.

Arrows flew like quiet bringers of death, strategically placed to be able to bring down mushroom after mushroom with the most efficiency possible. Wyn recoiled as another pop of crackling energy echoed off the cave walls, the smell of burnt plants filling his nose.

His companions were doing their part. Wyn was doing his. He kept his head down and just ran, holding his spores-filled hat so nothing would fall out. It wasn’t the prettiest hold or run since he still held onto his spear for emergencies, but it was the best he could do. The orange pedestal wasn’t too far, and he did his best to ignore the impulse to check his surroundings and focus on his task.

Marcy and Cedric obviously worked well together. What would their situation be like if they both were more close-ranged Climbers?

Wyn pushed the thought away. He was thankful for their abilities and teamwork. Maybe, just maybe, when they made it out, they’d be willing to group up and continue climbing together.

Without a single mushroom focusing on him, Wyn made it to the pedestal and dumped the contents. It was more than before and it filled up over halfway. He smiled, happy that it filled more than he and Marcy together were able to carry with their hands. The strategy paid off. It could take just a couple of trips, maybe less if he filled his pockets, too.

Silence filled the room. It was a strange contrast to the pops of Cedric’s magic, twangs and thuds of Marcy’s bow and arrows, and loud crashes of giant, monstrous mushrooms. They had succeeded again for the second wave of enemies, and Cedric and Marcy took them out with relative ease.

But at what cost?

The three Climbers wasted no time.

"Fill your pockets!" Wyn yelled, trying to save time. "Take as much as you can!"

They ran around the room gathering spores where they could, filling pedestals with their respective color and trying to be efficient. Cedric was using his robe pockets to fill the spores, grabbing and scooping as much as the dead plant would offer. Marcy unfortunately kept her strategy of cupping her hands as she didn’t have pockets on her armor. Between the three of them gathering, transporting, and dumping the spores, they worked more effectively than the last wave of enemies.

In the middle of them running around the room, however, they each noticed something. Two more white mushrooms had spawned, and all three of them were unmoving in the room. It was like they were glued to the ground though able to turn as a whole, resembling movable statues.

Marcy was the one to point out what they each were thinking, yelling it out while they kept filling pedestals. “Cedric, they’re following you!”

It would’ve been more eerie if they weren’t white and round like a child’s toy, but the Climbers still wondered what their purpose served. For now, though, they were merely distractions, not engaging in the fight and not posing a threat.

As the next minute rounded off, the remaining spores dulled. Wyn was in the middle of pouring blue spores into the pedestal when some of it went dark and the pedestal stopped filling with color. He cursed.

When he looked around the room, though, he realized they had completely filled the orange, green, and yellow pedestals. They partially filled the purple, red, and blue ones. The portal was that much closer to being freed, and relief washed over him seeing more bars that kept the portal locked away retracting. This was their most successful wave yet, and Wyn guessed it would take only one more round if the correct colors fell for them to use.

The three Climbers met in the middle of the room, huffing and breathing heavy. Cedric leaned on his staff for support while Marcy took big breaths arching her back, both hoping to calm themselves down after nearly sprinting around the room. Wyn could feel his own fatigue set in as sweat dripped down his cheek and neck.

Both of the veterans looked utterly exhausted. Wyn understood, though. They’d climbed the tower all day and were still doing the majority of the fighting despite his intention to lead them. Marcy had bruises all over her exposed skin but was seemingly unhurt. Cedric’s robes covered his body so Wyn couldn’t tell if he was injured, but his lack of magical armor revealed that he’d taken some blows during the last wave. The aura still covered his head, hips, and left leg, but was gone everywhere else.

“This needs to be our last shot,” Cedric said. “This armor won’t last past the next round, and I’m nearly out of mana.”

“Same here,” Marcy said. “I only recovered three arrows and have enough mana for about two spells, depending on which I use.”

Wyn checked his forearm. He was still recovering most of his mana as they’d only been in the final cave room for a short time. No spells or skills would help him for this next wave.

“New strategy, then,” Cedric said. “We only kill the colored mushrooms we need and avoid the others unless absolutely necessary. Marcy, you and I take out the red ones. Wyn, handle the blue. They’re resistant to magic but weak to physical attacks. And if you can, use your Ice Shard spell on the purple ones - they’re the opposite, resistant to weapons but weak to magic.”

Wyn shook his head. “I don’t have enough mana for that, yet. I can do my best to distract the other colors and take on the purple ones while you two focus on the red and blue.”

“Shit,” Cedric said. “Once I use my mana I’m useless. I have no charges in my staff or any way to recover.”

Marcy pulled a large knife from her boot. “I’ll do what I can with Wyn and save the arrows for the big baddies. Cedric, call it out.”

Wyn stared at the two Climbers for a moment. “Call it out?”

“Climber terms,” Cedric said. “Being the eyes and ears for your team when you need to solve a task.”

“You were military, Wyn, you should at least infer that,” Marcy added.

Wyn sighed. “There are plenty of differences, you know. And I absolutely don’t know everything.”

“You’re such a rookie,” Marcy said.

“Focus,” Cedric said. “We have three colored pedestals left and the large gray one, too. I can’t remember how it plays into the room but I do remember we need to use it. Hopefully we can figure it out sooner rather than later.”

Wyn knew climbing the tower would be difficult but he never imagined the amount of thinking required to progress. Of course he should've known there'd be one more piece to the puzzle on this floor. He hoped one of them would figure out the final piece before it was too late.

Wyn heard, rather than saw, the mushrooms shake their spores. There were so many across the room it was audible, like a waterfall of sand being poured onto the stone floor.

The three Climbers braced themselves. By the sound and looks of the spores falling they expected about a dozen or so to emerge.

They were wrong.

The spores on the ground collected together, forming larger piles than before. Mushrooms began to grow from the ground, rising like large stalks that looked more like trees. Seven new mushrooms formed in total. One was white and was the size of the others, making four of those strange creatures.

The other six were huge, at least ten to twelve feet tall, completely towering over them. They made the last wave of enemies look small in comparison. Two yellow mushrooms and one each of red, purple, green, and blue were scattered around the room.

The colors they needed were there. All they had to do was survive the others.

Wyn had trained for years to harden his body and resolve. There was no way in all the hells he’d let this be the end.

He raised his spear and readied himself to charge. There really wasn’t any choice but to attack and to attack fast.

“Wyn, distract them while Marcy and I take out the red and purple!” Cedric yelled.

Wyn stopped his advance. He had ran directly at the closest green mushroom, and it faced him ready to fight. But now that Cedric called for a change of direction he needed to divert his strategy.

The easiest way would be to have them chase him around the room. Would it be that easy, though?

One of the large yellow mushrooms lumbered forward towards Wyn, dragging a large yellow sword on the ground behind it. The monster walked right behind the green mushroom who was still focused on him.

Apparently it would absolutely be that easy.

Wyn started jogging away from Cedric and Marcy in an arc, hoping to pull the attention of the majority of the mushrooms. The two veteran Climbers moved away and threw rocks at the red and purple mushrooms, successfully separating them from the rest. It was honestly a brilliant move, not sacrificing any resources while quietly gaining their attention.

Wyn didn’t have time to be impressed, though. He had four mushrooms trying to kill him.

The green mushroom was far more physically intimidating than the others with their improved strength and reflexes, but the yellow mushrooms had weapons that increased their deadliness. Oddly, the blue mushrooms seemed to be a mix of the two, but it didn’t wield any weapons as far as Wyn could tell.

Wyn turned to check the distance between himself and the mushrooms just in time to see the blue mushroom furthest back raise an arm and fire a large ball of magic from its hand. Wyn abruptly stopped and jumped back, dodging the bolt of magic as it slammed into the cave wall not ten feet behind him exploding a huge brown mushroom into a plume of spores. The attack left a small crater in the wall. There was serious power within that magic.

So the blue mushrooms were weak to physical attacks but could cast magic. That was not good for his current strategy.

Wyn cursed and decided to go on the offensive. The green mushroom was the closest and would be his first target, and he had time to exchange a few blows before the yellow monsters would get close.

He raised his spear and stabbed out to the large green mushroom. It sidestepped the attack fairly easily and countered with a kick with its thick, trunk-like leg. Wyn tried to avoid the hit but couldn’t dodge all of it due to the sheer size of the monster. Its green leg glanced off of his shoulder but it still knocked him to the side. He hardly felt the impact at all due to the magical armor taking the brunt of the attack, but if an attack actually landed he’d be in serious trouble.

Wyn recovered quickly and lunged out with his spear. Even though his spear gave him additional reach the mushroom was still quick and strong, and several short jabs at the creature’s torso barely connected. One strike was a solid blow, but the spear barely seemed to hurt it. There was no blood, no deep gash, no major reaction, or any real indication that Wyn made much of an impact at all.

Instead, the monster swung a wide punch that Wyn tried and failed to dodge. The force actually knocked him off of his feet, sending him tumbling to the side and rolling on the cave floor. He took one deep breath, thankful it wasn’t as painful like he thought it’d be. It definitely hurt, but felt more like a bruised side than a cracked rib.

Unfortunately his armor was now completely gone on his left side, the attack using up the protective aura in that area. Fortunately he held onto his spear, years of training to always hold onto his weapon coming in handy.

Wyn stood up and realized two things. One, the other mushrooms were closing in on him and would all attack him if he didn’t move away. Two, this was a fight he absolutely was not going to win. Not with these circumstances, anyway. He wasn’t equipped to be able to fight them all at once, and his teammates were handling their own tasks.

The blue mushroom raised its arm again for another ranged magical attack. Wyn started to run away at an angle, trying to maneuver himself in the square cave room so he’d still keep these monsters away from Marcy and Cedric. When the magical ball came at him again, one of the yellow mushrooms stepped in its path and took the force of the attack in its back. It lurched forward from the hit, one of its arms falling to the ground as its torso now held a large crater from the magic. The blue mushroom didn’t seem to care that it hurt its ally. The others didn’t even acknowledge the instance.

An idea suddenly crossed Wyn’s mind. It was risky, but potentially a way for him to overcome these mushrooms monsters.

First, he had to let the yellow mushrooms catch up. Despite their size they were slow to move but faster with their weapon attacks. The green mushroom mostly kept up with Wyn, and would be the biggest threat. If the other were gone, though, he felt more confident about handling just one mushroom instead of four.

It took several minutes and several more close calls with the green and yellow mushrooms almost hitting him, but Wyn was able to position himself to where the blue mushroom’s magical attack defeated both yellow mushrooms. Only large, unneeded piles of their spores remained on the floor. The green mushroom was an aggressive annoyance, dodging both Wyn and the magical attacks of its brethren with relative ease. It needed to die next, though, so Wyn could kill the blue mushroom last. He had to run its precious blue spores to the pedestal right away once it was defeated, and couldn't run the risk of dealing with the green monster at the same time.

Wyn knew what he had to do. He just hated it.

At least he had a health potion to use after.

*****

“You sure he’ll be alright?” Cedric asked. He had his staff pointed forward, a spell ready in his mind. “That’s four of those monsters chasing him around like hounds.”

Marcy had an arrow nocked but hadn’t pulled the bowstring yet. She stood right beside Cedric, waiting for the opportunity to attack the red and purple mushrooms that spotted them. “He has to be,” she said. “He’s trying to prove something to not just us, but himself.”

Marcy drew back the bowstring and channeled a small amount of her mana into the weapon. It was hardly a noticeable amount, but too many of those magical shots would reduce her mana pool to a point where she couldn’t cast the spells she might need. Plus, each arrow imbued with her bow’s magic greatly reduced the chance of recovering it to use again. Even her enhanced arrows weren’t perfect.

The arrowhead glowed with a dull blue, almost white in color, the telltale sign of non-elemental magic. It flew true and was placed well, hitting the fiery mushroom where its heart should be. Well, if it had a heart.

The magical mushroom momentarily halted its advance towards the two Climbers, its left shoulder dissipating into the air in red smoke. It screamed in rage and pain, an eerie high-pitched sound that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

Then, it took in a huge breath as its stomach swelled. The flames on its head grew in size and strength, and a large whip of flame spun from where its empty shoulder.

It was suddenly a couple of feet shorter but a new arm formed from its own power. It resumed its advance.

“Shit,” Marcy said. “Only four arrows left. Have to make them count!”

“Take out fatty first,” Cedric said.

The purple mushroom didn’t seem to be offended by the insult. It lumbered behind the smaller and more agile red mushroom, its bulbous body and stubby appendages trying hard to keep pace. Its size looked to be more detrimental than helpful, but was surprisingly resilient to physical attacks and couldn’t recover at all from magical ones.

Marcy relaxed her draw a few inches from her face. “I thought you wanted me to deal with the red one?”

“I think we need to focus on taking them out one at a time. So, big guy first!”

Marcy growled in frustration and turned her aim from the red mushroom not fifteen feet away to the large purple mushroom further behind it. The arrow glowed like before then shot forward and past the red mushroom. It struck the purple creature in the neck - an easy target from its size and slow movements - and it lurched backward as though hit with a sizable attack many times more powerful than a mere magical arrow.

Cedric’s staff glowed with the familiar yellow light, runes forming just in front of the topaz at the staff’s end. It wasn’t as intense as before, the aura smaller and runes less complex. A small streak of lightning followed the arrow’s trajectory, hitting the purple mushroom and dispersing in smaller arcs across its body.

The monster seized for just a moment before falling to the ground in a heap of spores, its magical weakness its final downfall.

The red mushroom closed the distance quickly, its body growing larger causing the flames and heat to grow in intensity. It was nearly in striking distance to Marcy.

Marcy anchored her arrow to her chin. She knew there'd be enough mana for one more spell after the one she planned to use, and it would have to do.

The spell left her mouth without hesitation. “Drench.”

A green runic combination appeared in front of her arrow followed by the arrowhead being smothered in a brilliant blue glow.

The Ranger released the arrow right as the red mushroom expanded twice its size not five feet in front of her.