Luckily, the monster didn’t like him on its back. As soon as it stood up, it started to fall again, trying to body slam him. He leaped clear, trying to put some distance between them as he let one of the shadow knives fade and pulled a flechette from his bandolier.

  Ben landed facing the beast, anticipating the roll. As soon as the monster rolled, he leaped back another step, then two. On his third step back, he finally had a clear shot. He threw the flechette into the narrow gap, but the metal clanged off the stone. He wasn't fast enough, or perhaps the flechette was too slow. Either way, he knew he would need to repeat the same circumstances.

  As the monster started to stand again, Ben climbed onto its back and began hacking at the cracks. Predictably, the monster tried to body slam him. For all its toughness, the monster didn't seem very smart.

  Ben timed his throw, telling himself to throw the flechette as hard and as fast as he could. The metal dart left his hand, cutting through the air faster than before. It went into the crack and got stuck as the stone tried to close around it but couldn't. He frowned at the failure and worried he wouldn't be able to defeat this beast. Then, as the monster stood up, he could see the thing's exposed brown orb, almost like a heart or core.

  He leaped onto the monster's back and attempted to stab into the exposed crack, but there wasn't a good angle, not with the dart stuck in there. Ben needed a better way to break through the rock, and then it came to him.

  He reached into his satchel and pulled out the hammer he'd received with the climbing equipment. It was made of a lightweight metal, lighter than anything he'd ever encountered before. It had a small head, just big enough to strike a piton into rock or, in this case, a dart into a monster. Ben smashed the hammer into the dart, driving it deeper into the rock gap, with the tip of the dart barely piercing into the orb, producing a sound like cracking glass. The monster spasmed, roaring in pain and nearly bucking him off its back. Ben held on tight and swung again, missing. He tried to swing again, but the monster finally managed to toss him.

  Ben landed and rolled, bouncing off the stone floor painfully. It was good training for his Toughness and Thick Hide skill, but it still hurt. The monster was back on its feet and seemed to glow, a sign of impending danger.

  Then the rock shards scattered around the room floated into the air, signaling a potentially even more dangerous situation than Ben had initially imagined. He looked around urgently for some form of cover, but there was nothing except the giant rock monster. With little choice, he ran for the beast, positioning himself directly underneath it, just in time as the floating stones started whizzing through the air, encircling the monster but not coming too close to it.

  The beast noticed Ben and moved to body slam him again. However, this time he couldn't run from it, or it would be running directly into the rock storm. Ben growled angrily as he summoned all the mana he could, forming the largest Zhanmadao he could manage. He hoped it was strong enough to brace and keep the rock monster from squishing him underneath.

  The sword tip struck, and the ground below Ben cracked slightly but held. The rock monster roared angrily, lifted itself up, and slammed down again, cracking the ground beneath Ben's feet a little more, but still, the sword held. The monster roared again, lifted even higher, and slammed down a third time. The ground gave way, but so did the monster. Ben's giant sword sliced into the rock monster's center mass, cleanly bisecting the orb at its core. All at once, the stonestorm stopped spinning, and chunks of various sizes and shapes dropped to the ground, clattering harmlessly. Ben, however, wasn't so lucky. The rock monster above him fell apart, and his sword, which would have made a great shield, was both stuck in the ground and in the monster's core. Stones plummeted, smashing into his arms and body as he curled up, doing his best to protect his head.

  When the rocks finally stopped moving and he found that he was still alive, Ben tried to breathe a sigh of relief but failed. The stone pressed in all around him, making it very difficult to breathe. He attempted to move, and the stones above him shifted, followed by the sound of stone rolling and bouncing off other stones. He gave it a moment to settle before trying to move again, but his need for air was becoming urgent. He shifted once more, trying to press upward, and this time a large stone that made up the majority of the weight shifted and fell away, allowing him to breathe more easily. After a few more pushes, the stone holding him down fell away, and he could see the lighted room again.

  Ben let out a real sigh of relief. Five minutes later, he had pushed enough of the stone away to safely climb out. He stumbled down the pile of rocks and found a large one to sit on. He gave himself a cursory exam. His right shoulder was dislocated, and the arm connected to it was broken in three places. Worse, the dislocation must be pinching a nerve because he wasn't feeling any pain. There were a lot of bruises, scratches, and a couple of deep gashes, but nothing life-threatening. Ben looked around at all the stones and couldn't help but feel extremely lucky to have survived. Not for the first time, he hoped everyone got a different Gauntlet.

  He clenched his teeth as he gingerly placed the joint back in its socket. His broken arm pulsed with excruciating pain, blurring his vision and making him light-headed. He used bandages and gauze to form a splint, wincing with every movement as a searing heat shot through him.

  With a harsh pull, he set his broken humerus back into place and screamed in pain. There was no reason to hold back. He applied one of the splints from his satchel. Finally done with the worst of his injuries, he fell back against the cold stone floor, breathing heavily and wishing he'd set the bones before fixing his shoulder. But First Aid told him that would have been a bad idea. Too long without feeling, and the limb might have died. That would have been really bad.

  With his bones set and splinted, he dug into his bag for a healing potion, sucking it down in two quick gulps. Warmth spread through his body, almost instantly reducing the pain. Ben knew he needed to keep moving, but healing was more important right now. He would need both arms if there was another wall to climb or a rock monster to fight. He closed his eyes and waited. It was almost an hour before he decided his arm was good enough, and he finally looked around. On one side of the room was a large reward chest, and just behind it was a door.

  He moved cautiously across the room, stopping short to check for traps and finding a poisoned needle on the latch that was thankfully easy to disarm. He opened the chest and found a belt with a small bag attached to it and a skill stone.

  Skill stone – Identify – Would you like to learn the Common Skill Identify?

  Ben gladly accepted the skill Identify. Only an idiot would say no to that skill.

  After learning the skill, he looked at the belt and received a system message immediately.

  Belt of Holding – This belt will not provide much protection, but the attached pouch can hold a great deal of material.

  While he loved his satchel, it was often unwieldy. Having something smaller like the pouch attached to the belt would be great for things like lairs where the satchel was sometimes an impediment.

  He quickly traded his old belt out for the new one.

  Ben checked the door for traps but found none, so he turned the knob and gently pushed it open. He stepped through and found himself back in the room with the portal, and he was alone.

  Chapter 34 – Interlude II – Yui Nakamura

  This was not how her grandfather said things would be. What was he thinking, sending that letter? Ordering her to “get close” to the Hero. Worse, ordering her to seduce him. The thought made her skin crawl. He was a dogboy. She was a foxgirl. It would never work. And yet . . . And yet, she did what she was told like a good little granddaughter.

  “It will bring great honor to the clan,” he’d said. What good was honor if she ended up dead for her troubles? Didn’t he know this team’s last healer died in their very first lair?

  “Oh, but you’re better trained,” he’d said. That was probably true. She was rather exceptional. Beautiful, talented, and an all-around rather exceptional student.

  “When has any kin ever been able to resist your charms? It’ll be easy,” he’d said. And yet the boy wanted nothing to do with her. She even offered to take him to a Sunapunese bathhouse. She had basically offered to sully herself, and he had refused! She’d never been so insulted.

  Yet she had let it pass and even followed him into a gauntlet-type lair. Regardless of the increased difficulty, this would be nothing compared to what her clan put her through as a child. Even if she had chosen Reiki over Ninja, she had the training for the latter.

  She passed through the door and sniffed disdainfully at the tile floor puzzle. Was this a joke?

  It took her less than a minute to rearrange the tiles to form an image of a pagoda temple that looked a great deal like the one in her clan’s main temple.

  Yui gasped and took a step back from the image. She’d nearly been enthralled by it but stopped herself mere centimeters from stepping onto the tile and setting off whatever trap lay beneath. She shook her head one more time and moved to the passage that opened to her left after she solved the puzzle.

  She descended the stairs and walked into a room she knew well. It was the training room from her family dojo, though the tatami mats were covered with dummies which stood in rows, their arms and legs held out, their positions stiffened by strings that pulled on their joints and pushed them up against springs. The blades attached to their hands would slash randomly from side to side in a blur, so that even a well-trained eye could not read them.

  Yui sniffed again. “An obstacle course. Really? You’re going to have to do better than that.” Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a pair of gloves with sharp spikes protruding from the palms, and slipped them on. She took a few steps back and charged at the wall to her right. Reaching the wall, she placed her foot against it and scaled the wall quickly with her gloves, her glare intensifying with each hooked grip she found on the smooth surface until she reached the ceiling. She stepped on the wooden beams that spanned the room.

  Yui looked down at the obstacle course disdainfully and walked calmly across the room, completely bypassing the mess below. On the other end of the training hall, she dropped down, put her gloves away, and walked through, muttering, “Child’s play, honestly.”

  The moment the door clicked shut behind her, she felt a rush of air past her ear, followed by a thump. A dart had embedded itself into the wall next to the door. In the center of the room, a figure clad in an ankle-length dark-blue shinobi shozoku moved with practiced ease, stowing away a blowgun and swiftly drawing a curved ninjato sword. The hood of the garment obscured any features he may have had, except for two narrow slits that revealed two golden eyes.

  Yui snorted, “You send a Ninja to face me? Really? Very well, allow me to show you what a real Ninja looks like.” She lashed out, throwing a brace of knives at the lair-born creature.

  The Ninja raised his blade, quickly deflecting one knife after another and then leapt back as a glowing white fist struck the ground, sending a shockwave of energy through the room and almost knocking the Ninja from his feet.

  “Against my Reiki, you have no chance, false shadow,” Yui hissed, slowly drawing up to her full height.

  That was when a second Ninja struck from behind, the blade cutting into Yui’s arm, drawing a little blood as she dodged aside.

  Yui looked at the cut and snarled, “Do you have any idea how much this kimono cost me?”

  Neither Ninja responded as they focused on her, circling her.

  Yui waited patiently for the inevitable attack as she drew a ninjato from the magic bracelet she wore everywhere. It was a gift from her mother.

  They moved, and steel clashed, the two Ninja pressing her back. Yui grinned as she spun to the side, holding the two blades at bay as she swung a glowing white fist into the side of the closest pretender. Her fist passed right through him like he was smoke.

  She frowned and quickly dodged aside again as the same Ninja reappeared behind her and attacked. Yui was certain she felt a blade pressing back against her own when she struck. How was it possible he disappeared and reappeared behind her that fast?

  “You’re fakes, just illusions,” Yui realized. Still, she’d been cut by something. She glanced briefly down at her wound. It wasn’t a sword cut but a tiny pinprick. The foxgirl suddenly and viciously ripped her sleeve off, revealing sickly black veins from where she’d been hit, not by a blade but by a poisoned needle. How could she have been so arrogant?

  “You’ll pay for that,” she hissed in pain as something touched her neck in her moment of distraction.

  She lashed out, cutting through smoke. The world was turning blurry, and her legs suddenly didn’t want to answer her. She fumbled for her bracelet, the gift from her mother. She had antidotes for most poisons in there. But her hand, it wouldn’t listen to her commands anymore.

  Something pinched her leg. Then her stomach and her back.

  Yui’s mind slowed to a crawl as the realization dawned on her. It was too late for an antidote.

  “Disrespect warrants disrespect,” a voice whispered in her ear as the world rumbled around her. There was a click of disappointment then another whisper, “I have overstepped. Now, get out of my lair!”

  Chapter 35 – Survival

  Ben looked around quickly, hoping someone else had made it out. To his dismay, he was alone. Where his door had been, there was nothing, but the other nine doors remained just as they were before.

  He moved close to where the portal should appear and sat down. With a sigh, he opened his new hip pouch and stored his goggles inside. While he waited, he quickly organized packets of food, sorting them into piles and segregating by rations. In his mind, he went over every detail of the Gauntlet, wondering how much time he'd spent inside. He guessed about ten or eleven hours—far less than the allotted twenty-four. If everyone else took the maximum time to complete the lair, then he was going to be waiting around for quite a long time. He only hoped they were all doing well.

  He waited on pins and needles for a door to open and was rewarded almost two hours later when Plvoer emerged from his door. Plvoer's feathers were smoldering and some had completely turned to ash, yet he was alive.

  “I didn’t see that coming,” Plvoer moaned as he collapsed. Ben rushed to his side, a healing potion in hand and uncorked before he even got to him. He tilted Plvoer's head back and poured the concoction in. Then he patted out the smoldering feathers. With that done, he started dressing Plvoer's other wounds and burns, spreading ointment and tinctures as needed. He really hoped Alphonse would be out soon; he needed a real healer.

  Plvoer coughed and spat out something black. “Pride cometh before the fall, they say. Me, who prides himself on seeing everything, saw nothing until it was almost too late.”

  “Stop talking, let the healing potion work. And stop moving, you’ll aggravate your wounds,” Ben ordered, checking over Plvoer's injuries again and applying salve as necessary.

  It was another hour before Coach Liv came out looking mostly unharmed. He had a few scratches on his armor but otherwise looked untouched. He gave Plvoer a look and thanked Ben for taking care of him.

  “Anyone else out?” Coach Liv asked, hope tinging in his voice.

  Ben shook his head, “Not yet.” His Handler came out next, followed a few minutes later by Beau. They both looked to be in about the same condition as Coach Liv.

  It was hours later that Robin and Rober emerged, almost at the same time. The two argued about who was first, but Coach Liv quickly put an end to the disagreement. The pair were banged up and looked exhausted but were otherwise elated to have made it out alive.

  Alphonse emerged from his door, his gear tattered and torn. The fabric was shredded, exposing jagged holes that looked like punctures. But, he seemed unscathed, and the only thing missing from him was the confident smirk he'd had before entering.

  A full hour later, Sam emerged from the door, his right hand blackened and mutilated. He was missing several digits and an ear. Ice crystals clung to his ragged clothes like tiny stars, and his skin was as pale as a sheet of paper. He lurched away from the door, shivering uncontrollably, before collapsing to the ground. Al rushed to his side and did what he could.

  “Belov, I need a mana bun,” Alphonse shouted, and Ben quickly ran one to him. Alphonse chowed down on it and gave instructions through a full mouth, “Bandage what you can. As soon as my mana recovers, I’ll be able to do more. Hopefully, I’ll be able to regrow those fingers, or one of the healers at the academy can.”

  Ben didn’t fight or argue with Alphonse, choosing to do as he said and started applying his First Aid Skill, starting with getting a warm blanket on Sam to stave off hypothermia.

  Finally, only Han and Yui were missing, and time was running out. It was a giant relief when the moleman geomancer's door creaked open, and he staggered out. He collapsed to his knees, his face badly scorched. Ben rushed to his side, and between Al's healing and the badgerman’s First Aid, they were able to address the wounds.

  A few minutes later, the room filled with commotion as Yui stumbled out of her door, her body shaking, and her eyes bulging. Foam bubbled up from her mouth, and her skin was turning a distressing shade of blue. Ben scrambled to her side, “Alphonse, she’s been poisoned! Get over here and help me!”

  Coach Liv spoke gravely from the other side of the room, “Do what you can, but be quick. We don’t have much time left here.”

  Ten minutes later, everyone was stable, and a minute after that, they exited one by one. As Ben made contact with the exit, he received a single achievement.

  Achievements

  Gauntlet Lair Defeated - Improved Disarm Trap

  They emerged from the lair, exhausted. Many of them were still injured and barely able to stand. They were quickly ushered to the academy grounds, where they were met by a team of healers. Al had done his best to treat them during their mission, but the academy's dedicated Healers were more experienced. They smiled gently as they healed the group’s wounds and restored their energy.