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  I, luckily, had a giant arrow visible that bobbed up and down in the air. This was similar to the one that had guided me to Old Man Carver’s bench the first night. Stand here, player! My position was clear. We weren’t too late. Everything from here was a matter of waiting.

  “How long?”

  “Dunno. This game doesn’t have watches.”

  Keeping track of which player was speaking had proven difficult. The fuzziness of my hearing made me feel detached from the group. Hopefully they would think I was following along. Or they would keep talking over me as though NPCs didn’t matter.

  “Do the math. You’ve got your external timer, right?” HotPants was busy twirling the staff through some basic motions. Her actions were clearly steps above where she had been a few weeks ago at Peg’s.

  “You got any more of those bindings? The stuff you put on your hands?” Shadow asked.

  “Sure.” There was a shuffle as HotPants got something out of her inventory and threw it toward Shadow. “Here’s a roll. You need help getting wrapped?”

  “If you could show me.”

  “It’s easier if someone else tightens it, at least for me. My skill isn’t high enough yet.” HotPants seemed pleased by Shadow’s asking.

  “Give it time.”

  “I’ve been patient this long,” she muttered while wrapping some cloth around Shadow’s hands. It looked like the same actions a boxer might do to ensure their knuckles didn’t get too damaged.

  “Good. Everything helps.”

  “How did your stuff go? You master making out yet?” Shadow needled the two lovebirds standing in the back.

  Both Awesome Jr. and SweetPea went beet red. I could see their stammering actions from my peripheral vision. I was interested too but hadn’t the heart to pick on them that much. Besides, I was trying to keep my head in the game.

  “It’s a surprise.” SweetPea said.

  “You did get something though?” HotPants asked.

  SweetPea nodded with a smile. The normally shy girl looked kind of cute when she stopped hiding under that annoying hood. Awesome Jr. was probably onto something with his crush.

  “Here it comes,” I said.

  In front of me, there was a swirl. Sparkles drifted down from above and landed on ledges unseen. Our surroundings had been dark but now were illuminated. More and more bright flakes fell downward like snow. A full minute passed while the doorway formed. Soon we had an entryway made of light.

  “Awesome,” Awesome Jr. said.

  I was impressed too but had to remain somewhat stoic. After all, William Carver was a seasoned adventurer.

  “Where does that go?”

  “To the Maze,” I answered.

  “What should we do?”

  “HotPants, would you go first?” SweetPea asked.

  I ignored them all and walked forward. The light blinded me as I ventured through the passageway. Mixtures of purple and black interlaced among the brightest portions. The world swung sideways, and gravity released its hold on Carver’s body. I felt a brief sensation of floating free from the world’s tethers.

  Then it was over and I was walking forward into another maze. This one was distinctly different than the one we had come out of moments ago. Hedges were inked with the same purple and black markings on their leaves. The branches were a muted white that bled at the edges into its other hues.

  “Holy moly.” Shadow came through first with a noise like someone jumping out of the way at high speeds.

  “Jesus.” HotPants was second through the gateway with a similar sound effect.

  “This, this is worth the subscription cost. My god,” Shadow said. “And the colors? I love this place.”

  Awesome Jr. and SweetPea came into the dungeon with their hands clasped together. Her eyes were closed tightly.

  “It’s awesome,” Awesome Jr. said.

  I managed to avoid replying with his tag line. This place was pretty neat.

  “Ah, are you kidding me? We went from one maze into another?” HotPants had calmed down briefly, and this new knowledge only set her off again. Nothing seemed to satisfy her.

  “It’s called the Maze of Midnight,” Shadow said and shrugged.

  The players assigned roles. These hedges were too high for our assassin to leap upon. Shadow instead explored ahead a twist or turn in order to see where the easy dead ends were. HotPants was in the lead of our main group since she was the toughest one here, according to her stats. SweetPea was in charge of making a map in case this maze was more complicated than the one outside.

  Their ideas all sounded fine. I had no real feedback. I hadn’t done any sort of dungeon diving or video game in years. My idea of exploration was to run around at high speeds, clicking stuff until a resolution appeared. William Carver and I were probably similar in that regard. Only he had done it for real.

  “Come on.” Shadow motioned.

  Awesome Jr. had to be prodded frequently in order to keep up. He kept getting distracted by the plants and our surroundings. These passageways we wandered for many a twist and turn were much wider than the ones outside had been.

  “Huh?”

  “What?”

  “I thought I saw someone,” Shadow whispered with a finger to his lips.

  “You think there are monsters in here?” SweetPea had closed the gap between herself and the others. and was peering around the corner. She would squint and turn her head around suddenly as if hearing something.

  I, of course, could hear nothing, see very little, and only vaguely smelled what had to be jasmine or some other tea leaf. Absently, I picked leaves from one of the plants and chewed on them. Worst-case scenario, I blew us all up. Nope, just a faint taste of oranges.

  “Mmh?” I raised an eyebrow and looked at one of the leaves. [Identification] provided a bit of information now that I’d separated everything.

  Skill Used: [Identification]

  Results: [Ish Plant] (Leaf)

  Details: This is part of a larger bush. The leaf is said to taste different when still attached to the vine. No known negative side effects are attributed to this.

  They were kind of tasty. I chewed on another one and tried not mourn my missing [Messenger’s Pet]. He would probably like a nibble as well. There were other messages I had been disregarding as we made the first few turns within the maze.

  Quest: A Last Gasp (Part 2)

  Difficulty: Unknown

  Details: The continuing adventures of William (Old Man) Carver have led you into the [Maze of Midnight].

  Restrictions have been activated:

  Autopilot time will not impact completion.

  Failure: Complete failure is impossible.

  Success: Possible information (Restricted)

  Restrictions: Death in the maze will be permanent for William (Old Man) Carver. Outside assistance cannot be summoned by William (Old Man) Carver.

  Not even for cupcakes.

  Oh. Oh no. Permanent death of Old Man Carver if this failed? How? What? I twitched an eyebrow and read some of the other fine points. No more [Messenger’s Pet] while in the [Maze of Midnight]? Not even for cupcakes? How mean! I guessed that explained where the tiny creature had gone. Probably back to that room of trials place to sulk and harass new players. It made me sad to think that he might end up following some other Ultimate Edition owner around.

  “Whoa, fuck, incoming!” Shadow shouted before fading into a plant.

  “Ehh?” I felt lost.

  “Get back, Mister Carver!”

  HotPants was standing with her staff out, eyeing our approaching enemy. There was a health bar available above a squirming mass of something.

  “What is that?” one of the players shouted.

  As if I had a clue. William Carver’s game body could barely see anything.

  “The arms! Watch the arms!” SweetPea was ducking while Awesome Jr. shouted out unnecessary advice.

  HotPants didn’t have time to give anyone else a glance. She was knocking away bl
urs of movement with one end of the staff then twisting and swinging back.

  “Got it!” Shadow was hard to pick out among the plants. His color choice blended in well with the background, almost as well as the monster attacking us.

  HotPants twisted and jabbed the staff. Shadow was trying to sway back out of the tentacles but got slashed around the face and arm. SweetPea was crouched down with both hands over her head.

  “Incoming!” Awesome Jr. had something in his hand that was thrown and resulted in the fiery explosion of a Molotov cocktail.

  The system showed the monster’s red bar sliding downward toward the empty end. A final slash from the daring Shadow finished it off. HotPants gave the monster an extra kick. I had no clue what had happened. Not really. Being trapped in an old man’s body made it hard to respond to anything with certainty. Actually seeing these creatures was tough. My group of players started chattering, and most of it was difficult to distinguish over the flames’ dwindling roar.

  “Anyone got details?”

  “Camo?” Shadow posed a question.

  “They blend right in with the maze walls.”

  “How did you block it?”

  “Try tackling half a pack of wolves at night. It’s the same,” HotPants answered Awesome Jr.

  “Okay. Damage?”

  “Hefty, if you get hit. No blind spots that I saw. I tried to get a backstab and it failed,” Shadow grumbled and picked up a tentacle. “This thing is all arms, no main body. No eyes.”

  “Is this entire place going to be like that?” SweetPea was downcast.

  “Says the woman who cowered in a ball. Why are you even here if you can’t look up?”

  SweetPea didn’t come to her own defense, but HotPants did by hitting Shadow with her staff and slicing off another ounce of his health. They growled back and forth a few times. I ignored it all. This new monster was less freaky than the giant spiders.

  We hung out for a little bit, seeing what would happen to Shadow’s health bar. Or they did. I looked down a corridor of our maze and wondered how many more were around. Was that swaying over there another one waiting for us to get into range?

  “My health’s not going up.”

  “Here’s a potion,” Awesome Jr. said behind me.

  “How did you make these?” Shadow asked.

  “Standard alchemy. It helps that I take chemistry outside the game.”

  “I’m impressed.” HotPants looked at Awesome Jr. with a faint smile. He had proven useful.

  “There are a few other things I want to try, but I won’t have time if we’re going to complete this.”

  “What did you do all night?” Shadow asked.

  “Gathered crystals. I’ll show you if you can tell me how you do that voice thing.”

  “The Batman?” HotPants added her own voice to the question.

  “Yeah,” Awesome Jr. confirmed.

  “Try to talk differently long enough. The system will pick it up.”

  “That’s awesome.”

  “Stop saying that or I’m going to hit you,” HotPants growled.

  We moved onward, down another few twists and turns. There were more of those strange monsters but only a few. I tried to help out with one but couldn’t move fast enough. Plus this cane wasn’t really a viable weapon.

  SweetPea kept at the mapping. She also proved to be decent at detecting an ambush before Shadow noticed any monsters. Her bravery gene hadn’t kicked in completely though. After the fourth monster, she stopped cowering in a ball. By the tenth, she managed to stand up while pulling her knitted hat downward.

  “Screw this maze,” she said.

  “Yeah. I don’t know if we’ll get anywhere before we have to split. It’s been what, two hours?” Awesome Jr. threw his hands up.

  “You can’t expect to simply breeze through these places. Otherwise, it’d be no fun,” Shadow responded.

  “What?” Awesome Jr. asked the younger girl. “Guys, hold up. SweetPea says there should be a room or something about here.” His hands were up and motioning for the others to come in close.

  “What?”

  The other three hunched over the map. They twisted their necks almost in unison as SweetPea pointed out the gap in her paperwork. Apparently we had explored most of the outer edges of this maze. Somewhere near the middle was either a giant room or a miniature maze inside the bigger one.

  “How do we get inside?”

  Even my artificially faded eyesight could tell that none of the paths we’d traveled had a turn that would lead farther in. None to the north, south, east, or where we stood in the west. I twisted my lips and frowned.

  “Probably a door. Or we’re missing something.” My eyes closed for a moment while I tried to remember where we had been so far.

  “A secret door? In a beginner dungeon?” Shadow asked from over my shoulder. Having the younger man behind me was kind of unnerving.

  I shrugged.

  “Lord save me from fools.” HotPants’s hands twisted around the staff angrily. “We have to go around again. This time, everyone look harder.”

  The others nodded, and we started around a second time.

  No doorways were obvious. I kept munching the sweet leaves while trying to see if any of Carver’s skills included detection of hidden items. There had to be a key somewhere in the listing. Hadn’t the Voices made this place for Carver? Yet Leeroy had spoken of the players I’d picked out. There was very likely a mix of our skills needed to make it through this customized dungeon.

  “These things keep appearing. Haven’t we been through here?” one of the players said.

  They kept talking when I was lost in thought, and Carver’s body made it hard to distinguish who was talking at the drop of a hat.

  “They’re respawning?” Awesome Jr. was looking up while counting on his fingers.

  “I dunno. Where are the other bodies?” Shadow poked at the latest victim of their growing teamwork.

  I would applaud the performance, but they were doing it all by their lonesome. Single monsters were posing no challenge.

  “Why is it when they’re dead, they change colors?” SweetPea asked.

  “Why indeed,” came my Carver-laden dry response. So far this entire place had held to the purple, black, white mishmash of colors. When the attacking creatures died, the floor turned green.

  “I don’t see why we can’t hack through these bushes toward the center.” HotPants had grown increasingly cross during our second lap.

  “You can’t even see past this row to the next one.” Shadow had been eyeing the bushes for a long time as we walked. If there was an easy path through, he probably would have found it.

  “So?” HotPants stuck her staff into the nearest bush.

  A high-pitched screech drowned out whatever else was being said. Branches spun and waved as one, then another, and finally a third creature broke apart from the walls. They were moving too fast for me to focus on and use [Identification]. Saying it out loud would give away William Carver’s player status.

  “Oh Jesus, are all these walls full of them?” SweetPea ducked behind Awesome Jr. but managed to keep her hood up.

  “There’s too many!” HotPants hit two quickly to get their attention.

  Awesome Jr. readied another flaming potion and gave it a toss toward the third.

  “Anyone got crowd control?” Shadow shouted, stabbing one of HotPants’s in the back with both daggers.

  A flash of red slid off its health bar. His target turned and switched focus away from HotPants.

  “Shit, shit, oh god.” The would-be assassin was knocked flying into some more bushes. His head shook as he tried to stand back up.

  “Don’t bring more of them!”

  “Careful with your fire!” SweetPea said while tugging on Awesome Jr.’s oversized cloak.

  Awesome Jr. had a strangely maniacal look as he lit another potion.

  There I stood like a lump with half a frown. If anyone had asked this old man, I could h
ave clearly told them not to try to break down the walls. That wasn’t being clever—that was cheating.

  “Give her a swing, Grant Legate,” someone whispered in my head.

  None of the players were near me, so it must have been a Voice. I raised an eyebrow and felt a shifting of weight. Now I held a giant sword instead of the cane that normally supported my frame.

  “Ah.” I glanced at it briefly with [Identification]. This was a sword worthy of a legend that had killed a dragon by himself.

  I lifted an arm. It was extremely light too. Or maybe the restrictions were gone. There was a buff to one side titled [Heroic Surge of Strength].

  Skill Used: [Heroic Surge of Strength]

  Cost: Remaining Energy

  Restriction: Can only be used once every hour

  Details: William Carver can temporarily remove his [Old Age] limitations and bring his strength back to his youthful days!

  Both eyes slowly blinked as I prepared myself to fight something for real in this game. This wasn’t as easy for me as it might have been for William Carver. I didn’t possess the leap-first-ask-questions-later mentality.

  “Good Lord, there’s more!”

  “Watch your fucking fire!” HotPants yelled.

  “You idiot, if we die in here, I’m going to camp your corpse!” Shadow snarled, but he was still in the fray.

  HotPants was busy backing up while three of the creatures grew closer.

  “I’m going to help!” one of the females yelled.

  Opening my eyes revealed more trouble. Four of the monsters had started creeping up behind us. Their arms looked like blurs against the hedge maze’s backdrop. Still, even with poor eyesight for normal situations, my ARC interface was kind enough to paint a very clear set of health bars.

  I inched closer and readied the blade as Peg had “retaught” me. An ache in my shoulder threatened to make me dip the blade. I held on, trying to active Carver’s [Stubborn as a Mule] trait. Messages flashed into being that seemed to indicate success.

  The creatures got close enough for me to make out their writhing mass of purple-and-black tentacles. I swung the blade and felt powerful as their health bars shattered. My head tingled pleasantly, my arms already felt warm, and a smile was plastered on my old face. What a rush! No wonder Carver had been a warrior.