Gale and Demon both dashed up the 50 floors of the tower bolting past pools of blood and bodies of many dead monsters along the way. The blood was still fresh and the bodies of the dead creatures created a horrible stench throughout each floor of the dark tower.

  Finally the party was almost at the last floor of the tower, they slowed down and listened closely as they went up the final grand staircase. In the distance the sounds of clashing metal and the groans of monsters were prominent and ever continuing.

  Demon raised her hand in front of Gale and motioned him to come close, in a quiet whisper she said, “We should probably stop here for now, it would be best to have them finish off the monsters so they’re more worn out when we inevitably have to clash.”

  “Yeah, they must be fighting the dungeon boss right now so they're bound to be roughed up, if they even survive in the first place. I just hope that they don’t have any enchantments already, if so then our chances of winning are kind of 50/50 depending on what rank they are.”

  “I'm worried about that as well. Honestly it would be beneficial to sneak up closer to the top and try to take a peek at their abilities before we fight them.”

  “You're right. I’ll go up there and take a quick look and you stay here, I’ll make sure to relay everything back that I can figure out.”

  “Sure, just be really careful to not let them see you.”

  Gale nodded and started ascending the staircase slowly. When he reached close to the top he laid down and started to observe the fighters. There was a group of three men all fighting the huge orc like dungeon boss. The boss looked like it was on the verge of defeat as it had many huge gashes and holes all over its body which were flowing blood across the floor.

  The first man was wielding a huge shield which was as tall as his body. His armor was heavy and covered every single part of his body except for his eyes. In the middle of his shield there was a small blue triangular crystal that emanated a soft glow, it was an enchantment crystal. Based on its number of sides it was most likely a tier one crystal much like Gale’s.

  As the huge orc slashed his massive sword down, the tank raised his shield and activated his ability. Suddenly the entire shield was cast in a bright blue light, and once the orc’s sword collided with it, it just bounced off.

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding me, a parry ability? On that massive tank of a man? Did he really need more protection on top of the armor and shield?’

  Gale moved onto the next party member, a man with blond hair and a white robe. He wielded a staff that was embedded with a bright yellow triangular crystal which caused a divine light to permeate from the staff. He raised the staff into the air and quickly struck the bottom of it against the floor which caused a divine light to flow out from beneath his feet. As the light reached his other party members it started to slowly heal some of their wounds.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  ‘Damnation! A healer as well? Just how stacked is this party? A tank with constant healing is just so unbelievably overpowered!’

  When Gale finally moved on to observing the final member, he visibly flinched and had to take a second look to make sure he was seeing this right. The man was tall, had an average build with short brown hair and striking green eyes. He wore a light set of armor which seemed to be made out of a monster's tough crimson scales. He seemed to be standing back for most of the fight and observing the movements of his party members such as how a teacher observes his students.

  But the real frightening part about this man was his weapon. The huge great sword strapped to his back seemed to be made out of the same scales as the armor he was wearing, and in the middle of the sword was a large orange crystal, with five sides. It was a tier three enchantment crystal, it irradiated a piercing orange light from the middle of its pentagonal structure.

  Enchantment crystals come in ranks depending on the power of their enchantments. A crystal with three sides, such as Gale’s and the two other party members, is a tier one crystal. Tier one crystals usually have one unique skill, of minimal strength. The more sides a crystal has, the higher rank it is. A rectangular crystal would be tier two, and a pentagonal crystal would be tier three.

  The power gap between tiers is not linear, it is exponential. This means that an average tier three user could most likely defeat an army of ten tier one users with ease. Similarly a tier two user could probably defeat around three tier one users. These numbers also do not take into account the abilities of each, so results could vary.

  ~~~

  Gale was absolutely terrified at the sight. He forgot to even think and immediately went back to Demon and told her everything.

  In a panicked voice Gale said, “We need to get out of here right now. This is not worth our lives. If we step in there, we could be killed before we even notice it.”

  “Damn. That crystal that was being guarded by the boss, it's a tier two. If I could just get it before we have to fight them, then just maybe we could-”

  Gale interrupted her, “Do you have any common sense? No matter our situation right now, we're bound to be killed no matter what if we go in there. And even if you get that tier two crystal, you would still be heavily outmatched by the tier three user.”

  “I understand. We should just try and get out of here quickly.”

  The two party members slowly stepped down the staircase, one step at a time in order to not get the attention of their new adversaries. Right as their feet touched the bottom of the staircase, they heard a huge crash from upstairs. The dungeon boss was defeated.

  Immediately afterwards a loud voice echoed through the tower, “Don’t think you can run away. I noticed you the second you walked into the dark tower.”

  Immediately Gale and Demon stopped in their tracks and looked behind them. Standing there was the tier three user in all his glory.

  With a smug look on his face he said, “Leaving so soon, after plotting to steal our crystal. Oh I don’t think so. The moment you stepped into this tower was the moment that you sealed your fate, your fate to be struck down by my blade.”