They tried the backdoor next. Malik figured that they had already met the two hardest minibosses, so they went with the same group. He wasn’t able to stop himself. After all, the one who saved the princess would be given territory in Waldberg. That was an unheard-of prize, and even though he had lost items, a level, and some gold, he had still rushed back. Entering the through the back door, Malik and his crew found a big room full of rocks. He didn’t understand why there were so many random stones lying around in the middle of a well-maintained manor. The explanation became painfully clear the second the door closed behind them and a giant humanoid covered in boulders stepped into the room. The behemoth was wielding a tree trunk the size of Malik and Valerie’s body strapped together. The stone creature laughed, but Malik thought it would still be an easy fight. His party members told him to control the battle with magic, as the “Grobendiss” was strong against physical attacks but weak against magic.

The battle began smoothly, and Malik saw hope. The spells were coming out neatly. The party’s Fire Wizard was in full form, throwing blasts everywhere and landing at least two-thirds of them directly on the Grobendiss as it came toward them, and each blast seemed to hurt. Just when they thought that they might have a chance, the big beast yelled out a single word, “SMASH!” and then struck the whole party at the same time with the massive log in a horizontal sweep. Malik crumpled like a beer can at a frat party as his armor-covered body flattened violently against the wall and then fell to the floor. Before dying, he spent a shocked moment watching his own blood trickle down the brickwork.

The next time around, the group insisted on trying the front gate once more. The results were the same as the first attempt, only more gruesome. Malik had now lost several levels, a lot of gear, and a good amount of money, and he was getting frustrated, so they looked for an alternative.

Then, with Valerie’s help, he found out that there was a crazy blacksmith named Willmarth in the capital who sold a massive bomb, one that could be used to break through one of the manor walls and sneak directly into the castle. The only problem was that Willmarth charged an arm and a leg per bomb, and thus, the whole group, which had already lost quite a bit of money on this quest, ended up feeling pretty sore about finances going into their latest attempt.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! The bomb knocked the whole party off its feet as it went off and punched a hole clean through the manor wall. Malik dusted himself off and tried to remove all of the dirt that covered him from head to toe as he walked into Lucas’s dungeon.