Chapter 69


    James heavily sighed as he handed the platinum coin to Rue. At the same time, all he could do was glare at SoulDemon. The asshole had shown up and completely ruined James’s chances of winning the bet. He was so sure he would have gotten it this time too. But whereas Z, and even Skar would have explored the first floor, no doubt, SoulDemon had a different opinion. He wanted to clear the floor as quickly as possible, to show off his skills to the others. And that meant, logically, taking the stairs up.


    The raid party of fifteen players ascended the massive stairs, having to practically pull themselves up each stair to ascend to the next. Manly the Dwarf, and GnoMore, actually had to have help getting up the too large stairs. Meanwhile, SoulDemon simply disappeared on a step, to instantly reappear a few more up. A new skill of his, that he seemed to revel in using over and over again. The man’s class, which had last been listed as God of Death, had changed once more. The level 104 player’s class title now shown, in golden letters, as God King of Inevitability. A haughty title, for a haughty man.


    “Don’t feel bad,” Rue said as she pocketed the coin, “if ever there was a time to get rid of your bad luck, now is it. After all, everything needs to go smoothly later today.”


    “Still,” James glared at SoulDemon, “of all the people to show up. Him, at that time. Ugh.”


    “Maybe he’ll get himself killed on this floor?” Rue offered helpfully. James doubted it. SoulDemon was an arrogant prick, but he had the skills, at the very least, to back up his attitude. Z and the others were great gamers, but their true power came in their teamwork, that compounded their individual skills, and made them legends. SoulDemon didn’t have teamwork. He didn’t have an ounce of compassion in his body. But he was a stone cold PvP solo player whose individual talents were on a tier of their own.


    In terms of raw talent, he was the best. And his class skills, combined with his levels, and his gear, meant there was no doubt he was the strongest player on the seventh floor. He would not die easily, and he definitely wouldn’t be the first one to fall. If, or when, the party wiped, SoulDemon, James had no doubt, would be the last one, and only after he’d left a trail of destruction and death in his wake.


    As much as he hated SoulDemon though, and the situation that was currently unfolding, James couldn’t help but feel his anticipation and excitement growing as the group ascended the stairs. The second floor was the fitness center, filled with the swimming pool, as well as all of the various weights and workout equipment. Mob wise, James had filled it with Turkey Dew’s, feeling the strange turkey and mountain melded creations could fit the theme…somewhat. Additionally, there were LMFAO Shots jumping around on the floor, amusingly doing various calisthenics exercises and swimming laps in the pool.


    “What in the name of Yarx?” Oak mumbled as he crested the top of the stairs. SoulDemon was already there, a disgusted look on his face as he shook his head.


    “This dungeon is such trash,” the PvP player said, “seriously, the AI must be faulty.”


    “No need to be needlessly hurtful,” Z said as he looked over the mobs. He quirked an eyebrow as he glanced at the various LMFAO shots working out, to the Turkey Dew’s that were standing near the squat racks. “Though, this is definitely a more… unique floor.”


    “Whatever it is,” SoulDemon’s swords were in his hand for a moment, before the weapons, and the player, disappeared. “We’ll kill them and keep moving.”


    “Uh,” Oak looked back at SoulDemon’s actual party. “Do you guys know where he went?” They’d all joined the same party. By normal game mechanics, that meant they should all be able to track each other’s whereabouts on their maps. Even if a player was invisible, the map would still denote where they were, to avoid friendly fire.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    “Nope,” SpinToWin said with a sigh, “one of his new perks is the ability to be completely invisible, to both friend and foe. But he’s around, and trust me, he’ll make his presence known soon enough once the fighting starts.”


    “If you say so,” Oak looked at the mobs. Since the players hadn’t moved from the top of the stairs yet, the mobs hadn’t aggroed onto them. “Would you like to do the honors then… since he’s technically your party leader?”


    “You mean since you don’t want to tank creatures that have unknown skills and abilities?” SpinToWin cracked a smile at Oak, large shields appearing in the air, circling out about twenty feet from SpinToWin. His tank class, James knew, excelled at protecting his party by encircling them with protective shields and barriers. It was an all-around tank class that let him protect a lot of players at once, though didn’t have the individual tankiness of something like Oak’s class. Because SpinToWin’s abilities covered such a wide range too, it was easier for a strong attack to blast through the defenses.


    “Let’s just say I’m trying to preserve my mental strength today, and am really not in the mindset for any surprises I don’t have to deal with.” Oak looked flatly at SpinToWin, “you guys showing up has already really messed with me today.”


    “That’s fair,” SpinToWin walked out towards the pool, moving cautiously as he did. Everyone else followed suite, slowly, Oak on one side, Skar on the other. It was like a spear moving forward, piercing into the floor, with the actual damage dealers, and healers, tailing behind the tanks, ensuring they wouldn’t be in any immediate danger when the battle started.


    James watched as fourteen players moved cautiously towards the first few mobs they could find. A handful of LMFAO shots, one doing jumping jacks, one doing pushups, and the other, weirdly, attempting to do sit-ups… even though the shot glass obviously had no stomach to bend. As the swirling shields neared them, they abandoned their exercises. As one the three mobs turned towards SpinToWin.


    They only managed a single step, before all three of them were split into pieces as a shimmering rift in the shape of an ‘X’ appeared in the air. For a brief second, James saw SoulDemon, his blades gone, only their hilts in his hand, as the rift like energy rippled all around him. He grinned at his party members, standing cockily over the corpses.


    “Pathetic mobs,” he said, looking down at them, “I expected more from level 115 creatures.” Before he could keep gloating, the mobs glowed. Where at first there had been 3 of the mobs, now, there were six. He struck again, killing the first one before it fully stood back up. It split again, and a scowl crossed his face as his body seemed to flush.


    “What the hell is a Hangover debuff?” He grumbled, looking at the mobs, of which there were now seven.


    “I think that’s what you get for causing a party foul.” Z offered, unhelpfully. “Everyone be careful not to get too close,” Z started, as SoulDemon struck another down. Now there were eight. “I’ve a bad feeling about these guys.” Now there were 10. With each death, the mobs got weaker, making them even easier for SoulDemon to kill. James wasn’t sure how he’d executed the first three, but doing so had halved their stats for the six, and each time he killed one, when it split, it would halve its stats more. Reckless, was definitely what SoulDemon was being. And yet, James had no doubt in his mind, that he would not be the one to suffer the consequences of his actions.


    “Twelve,” James counted, as more fell, and split, “Thirteen, fourteen,” they hit sixteen instantly, the moment everyone joined in to attack the mobs. The concussive explosions that followed, all sixteen of them, were greater than what James could have prepared himself for. It was one thing, after all, to read a stat description. It was another, to see the math work out.


    Party Popper- When there are sixteen LMFAO shots, all shots will detonate, each one doing (lvl*1.5) damage to all enemies within a (lvl*1.5 foot) radius. This damage is classified as true damage, ignores all elemental resistances, and penetrates 25percent of all armor.


    Sixteen explosions, from sixteen level 115 mobs. Sixteen explosions, each of which did 172 points of damage… and each of which detonated in a radius of 172 feet…  With a diameter of 374 feet, the explosions covered the span of two football fields, washing over the startled players, reaching the full width of the floor, and covering half the length of it in explosions in the span of a few seconds.


    “Well,” Rue said as the scene below them was obscured by the explosions, one after another, completely blocking their view of the players, and drowning out any sounds from the seventh floor. “Those definitely started the party off with a bang.”