I chose a different path up out of the valley than the one I’d taken down the night before. There were over a dozen to choose from; seven of them were wide, like the one I had traveled down. I had a suspicion that each would lead to the exit of one of the seven boss rooms. Two of the wide paths led to a low point in the fortress valley, what looked like a crater. The shadows were dark, unnatural, a descent to hell, so, naturally, I decided to go in the opposite direction.

  Walking a path running along the fortress’s straight wall, I slowly climbed the mile or so toward the keep. The air was humid but not as bad as Texas, and the slowly dawning light eased the pounding of my heart. I was nervous, scared even, but the excitement and curiosity that had driven me to explore yesterday rose as I approached the fortress’s easternmost keep.

  I repeated the mantra over and over as I drew close to the keep’s ochre stone walls. The color of the stone was a strong contrast to the fortress wall’s dark stone, as if the keep had been built in a different location and then transported here.

  I approached the vertex of the semicircular fortress, the corner where the keep and fortress walls met. An archway opened into the keep, the end of my trek. That there was not even a door barring my way was encouraging.

  I reached the entrance and paused, looking back the way I’d come. My guess was that I’d walked about a mile to get here, which would make the diameter of the fortress about two miles. The arc containing the seven keeps, then, was just over three miles. The scale of this tutorial was daunting.

  I turned back to the archway, the stone worn and crumbling. I had no idea how much longer I’d be in Dev’s game, and I had no idea how hard defeating the tutorial would be. All I could do was take it one step at a time. Today, I was going to stay away from Elaine and explore some ancient ruins… while also making sure to avoid any boss rooms. I smiled, the crushing defeat of yesterday forgotten. All in all, things could be worse. I walked through the arch and entered what looked to be a training courtyard.

  Rotten dummies lined the wall, empty weapon racks beside them. A balcony ran along the wall surrounding the courtyard. I studied the courtyard, making sure I hadn’t missed anything, and shrugged. It was all innocuous. There were two doors on the ground floor and no apparent way to the balcony. I walked to the closest of the doors and checked it. It was locked. I raised my hammer and pounded it a couple of times, but it was much too sturdy to break through. I went to the other door and pushed. It swung inward easily. . I took a deep breath and entered.

  Beyond the door was a long colonnade. On the right was a worn ochre stone wall, multiple archways opening along the wall, each shadowed and leading deeper into the fortress. On the left, worn columns, crumbling balustrades between them that were open to the air, a sprawling jungle spread out a thousand feet below. The balustrades didn’t look structurally sound, and being all that stood between me and a long fall, I stayed near the inner wall as I started forward.

  I came to the first divergence in the path, an archway on my right that led to a dimly lit room. It looked to have been somebody’s bedroom once. A mound of what I assumed was once bedding sat in a corner, a broken desk and chair stood against the opposite wall. I meticulously examined the room, even rifling through the moldy bedding with my hammer. I pushed against some of the stones, but no secret passages opened. I shouldn’t have expected that every single room in the whole fortress would have some secret, but by my disappointment, I clearly had. It felt like bad game design to have such a useless room.

  I exited, frowning and inattentive. A clicking sound to my right was all that warned me of the impending danger. Instead of reacting with any sort of grace or battle-readiness, I simply stumbled back into the room, raising my arms. Luckily, this was enough to keep my head. A massive cleaver slammed into the arch, chipping the stone, a bone hand gripping its handle.

  My eyes went wide and I stared as a skeleton slowly walked through the room’s entrance. In the games I’d played, skeletons were always white, nearly pristine, but this one was anything but. Bits of flesh still clung to its body, sliding and bunching against the bone as the skeleton moved. Dark stains of what I guessed were dried blood covered the bones, only small areas rubbed white. Over all of this hung torn fabric, dangling from its shoulders and hips. With a click of bone on stone, it took a step forward, its movements jerky and uncoordinated, as if it were barely in control. Dim, flickering green lights became clear deep within its eye sockets as it stepped into the poorly lit room.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  It began to raise its cleaver, the movement beginning in the wrist, as if pulled by a string. I shook my head and took a step back. The skeleton stumbled forward with the momentum of its swing. The cleaver barely sliced into my stomach, a pain similar to a bad paper cut radiated from the shallow gash. The cleaver continued around its arc, pulling the skeleton forward. In disgust and fear, I shoved the skeleton back. It fell to the ground with a clatter.

  I took a quick, calming breath and stepped forward. I was not going to get stuck in a small bedroom with a cleaver-wielding skeleton. I swung, my hammer connecting with the skeleton’s rib cage. With the sound of cracking dry wood, the skeleton’s ribs caved in.

  I gripped my hammer in both hands, took careful aim, and swung again. I crushed its spine just below the rib cage. The two pieces of the skeleton fell still.

  I blew out some air and then took a few deep breaths. Like the day before, the monsters seemed very low level, but I had nearly been killed by inattention. I had also let myself get overwhelmed by the skeleton, allowing it to attack me a second time. If I continued forward like this, I wouldn’t get far.

  I slowly approached the room’s exit and peeked out. Another skeleton, a ways down the colonnade, meandered in the opposite direction from my room. Maybe I could test how easy sneaking was. Just because I was large didn’t mean I couldn’t race across the rooftops… letting all my future victims hear my thunderous steps coming from a mile away. I chuckled.

  Pain bit into my leg just below my calf. I jumped forward into the passage and spun, my leg burning. The top half of the skeleton pulled itself after me, cleaver still in hand.

  Anger at myself for a third blunder pushed me to act. As I had done the day before, I slammed my foot on the arm with the cleaver and swung my hammer. With a crunch, skull shattered, killing the skeleton… finally. Blue light rose from where the skeleton’s head had been and entered my chest. My fragment counter appeared in the top right of my vision, ticking from twenty-two to twenty-five.

  The cracking of bone on stone pulled my attention down the colonnade. The second skeleton was running toward me, its movements awkward. I opened my inventory, pulled out a large stone, and threw. The stone crashed into the chest of the approaching skeleton, knocking it to the ground. I rushed forward and slammed my hammer on its skull, crushing it. My fragments ticked up to twenty-eight.

  Breathing heavily, I quickly looked about. Seeing no other monsters, I was about to relax my guard when I noticed eight pale finger bones clinging to the edge of the walkway where the balustrade had been completely destroyed. I hesitated, not for fear but for greed. I could easily push the skeleton, letting it fall and die, but then I wouldn’t be able to loot its body.

  Before I could talk myself out of it, I stowed my hammer in my inventory and rushed forward, stepping carefully so as not stumble off the cliff. I reached down, over the edge of the passage floor, and nearly lost my moment, vertigo at the dizzying heights halting all thought, but the glowing green eyes staring back at me refocused my attention. I gripped the skeleton’s wrist and heaved. It turned out that skeletons were not heavy at all. I swung the skeleton in a wide arch, its heels clipping the ceiling. The skeleton burst as it smashed into the floor, bits of bone going in every direction. A blue light rose and increased my fragments to thirty-two.

  I took a long breath, then shook my head. I desperately needed to pay more attention. I studied the area a second time, seeing nothing. My shoulders relaxed. Three skeletons down, and barely a scratch. I looked down at the blood that had stained my shirt. Maybe a bit more than a scratch, but still. I congratulated myself, then looted the three skeletons.

  I got a cleaver from the first, a club from the second, and nine copper coins from all three, seven of which came from the one hanging on the edge. Seven copper coins might not be that much, but it was more than enough to buy pizza.

  More than the loot and fragments, the over the skeletons granted me a desire to keep going. In the focus of the fight, all else had fallen away. I didn’t think about tomorrow, Elaine’s oppressive presence, or the madness that I had been forced into by Dev. I was equipped well enough for the task, at least for now, and if I was smart and continued carefully, I should progress along with the challenge.