Dungeon Sniper

I knew this was going to work. After all, I had pulled off something like this in the past. At least I was not riding an explosion that would go off right beneath my feet.

But I also was not flying with proper equipment. No giant kite shield to propel me upward nor a sturdy wingsuit to help me navigate through the air.

Instead, I had highly flammable pieces of clothes, courtesy of Elysia, tied together in the form and means of a glider-parachute that I would have to catch the upwind produced by the heatwaves close by the fire wall.

Again, theoretically, this could work. Even right now, the Wind Reader Skill was showing me the various paths of upward heatwaves that would take me high up in the sky.

"Elfling, what is he talking about? What 'flying?'"

By the time Elysia attempted an answer to the confused old Orc's question, I was already running toward the ring of fire, the Omega rifle strapped fast on my back.

A particularly steady and uniform heatwave stemming from the knee-level was my target.

All of the heatwaves twisted, coiled, and flickered at a moment's notice like some malicious snakes—worms—bent to burn me whole if I came any closer.

Or grab me only to drop me from high up.

I stuttered a little at the hot air that engulfed me as soon as I got within ten feet from the fire wall.

The upward heatwave was still there, tortuous and tantalizing, staring and daring.

The moment I opened up the makeshift glider and angled it right above the upwind path, the heatwave struck me hard, momentarily blinding me as well as suffocating me, pushing me back.

Pushing me back... but upward.

Burnt and teary-eyed, I quickly looked up to see that the cloth glider was still intact, thankfully.

And so I was airborne, flying—floating—precariously and uncontrollably, but flying nonetheless.

.

.

.

Amidst all the spinning and struggling mid-air, I thought I saw on the ground Elysia's worried face and Rafaqa's aghast look, but I could not be too sure. Elysia later told me that all the while I was floating dangerously over their heads, Rafaqa grimaced and g.r.o.a.n.e.d, not out of apprehension for my safety, but of 'doubt' over my sanity.

"You crazy, Human," said Rafaqa after everything was over and done.

.

.

.

That happened later. I might have been crazy at the moment, but I had not won yet.

After about fifty spins and sudden falls followed by equally unpredictable rises, I finally got the hang of staying afloat. The Aerodynamics Artistry Skill barely functioned, and just barely. I twisted and turned my body with a considerable effort each time I wanted to catch particular currents that would take me up higher, as high and far away from the flurry of hot winds in which I was caught, the chaos of hellfire stemming from two increasingly converging sources: the burning Dragon Tree and the ring of inferno it had created. The closer they got, the more turbulent the in-between heatwaves became.

So far, the heatwaves alone could not burn the cloth glider-parachute that I had been holding onto with dear life. Sooner or later, however, a tiny ember would spark off the either of two fire pillars, and I would be done for good.

Just as I flailed and kicked to direct myself to the few and weak currents soaring and disappearing into the high sky, over both the towering Dragon Tree and the equally tall fire wall around me—

[Secret Skill gained: Reckless Skywalker]

—I gained stability: a fleeting, brief balance.

Everything was calm... and cool. The hellish fire was below me. I was reflexively, and peacefully, riding the current high and above.

It did not make any sense. I was floating in the air like it was second nature, all too suddenly, too inexplicably.

And the answer to my confusion came right away, and with the most infuriating voice.

The position of the Omega rifle strapped on my back made Alpha's voice sound as if he were talking right behind me, whispering into my ears.

[Nice show. You should be pleased to know that I am thoroughly entertained.]

I shook involuntarily. Not because of the sudden voice. I knew Alpha was watching everything.

But for him to intervene like this, help me in this fashion...

All those timely Secret Skills that I had acquired and activated to save my a.s.s... the Breakfall, the Synesthesia, the Blind Shot...

I was not lucky. Not once.

Instead, just as Alpha had said, I was chosen.

And played like a pawn.

[... Nothing? I expected some testy words from you, but I guess you're too shocked right now—]

"How long? How much? How many instances, Skills, bail-outs were you involved, damn it!"

I yelled in the air, feeling furious and foolish, helpless and powerless.

[What do you want to hear? Everything, or nothing? The truth, or a comforting lie to save your puny pride? You really thought you were something, didn't you? But now you see you're nothing without my help. You would never even be here if it weren't for me—]

"Shut up," I snarled with the utmost contempt I had for the officious wannabe-god.

[... That's right. Focus on the task at hand. You haven't won just yet.]

Alpha sounded as if he was having too much fun to take offense at my words. Either that or he had begun to enjoy everything now, including my insolence, which was all that I had now to deny his influence, the superiority, over me.

And, soon, over the entire Dungeon.

[By the way, try to look less desperate, can you? I don't know whether to laugh at your efforts or take pity. I'm doing both at the moment right now, but it's rather toiling on my part emotionally—]

I felt like throwing Omega into the fire below just to shut Alpha's voice up. And it drove me mad that I could never do that, not until I finished the worm first.

[—And please act with the consciousness that you're being watched. That'll teach you to be humble at some point, I hope.]

"... Are you done?"

I tried to sound cool, but Alpha heard all the tremor in my voice.

[Yes, I am, in fact. Enjoy your gift, Beta, as you have all your former gifts. Oh, and don't fall. I can only do so much to help you, but don't expect me to revive you or anything. You'll just be replaced, and that's just more work for me, so do both of us a favor, m'kay?]

It took me long, extended five seconds to come back to my senses after Alpha's last words.

There was a point that I had felt that I was making changes in this world. Willingly or not, the important thing was that I was the force itself, the one driving and not driven, at least when it had mattered the most.

My journey, as random and reckless as it had been, never had a plan, an objective.

I certainly did not.

But now I saw that Alpha did.

.

.

.

I must have spaced out once again as I started and blinked back to reality at a distant cry. Elysia was shouting inaudibly at me from the ground below. She waved her hands and then pointed to the ring of fire that had now almost reached where she and Rafaqa were.

I felt tired. And I wanted nothing more than to fix the current stymie and think for once.

I wanted to think about my purpose of existence here. My real role other than playing the hero, more often than not unwillingly and reluctantly.

But first, the Dragon Tree had to be dealt with. With the new Secret Skill, I glided over to the burning worm and floated right above its core: a red, translucent sphere that was exposed in plain sight. The core was unprotected not because the Dragon Tree was unaware of my presence, ready to destroy its 'heart' at a moment's notice. I saw the worm trying its best to move and regenerate its wooden body to cover its core.

I also saw that it could not, at least not until the fire was extinguished from its body. The fire was no longer produced within the hollows. Rather, it was burning, helplessly and uncontrollably, while using its own bark and skin as fuel.

The Dragon that wanted to control the entire Level Four was now unable to control the fire it had created.

And I felt not justice but pity as the burning monster of an existence reminded me of something, someone.

Me.

I had never felt out of control than now. Not even when I got myself captured by idiotic enemies. In fact, I was beginning to question whether those had been planned and willed by Alpha, and for what.

There was a huge difference between losing control and not having had any control from the start. To lose something meant it was once owned.

What could one do when nothing, not even his own life and choices, was under his control?

I reached for the Omega rifle with one hand and in disgust while eyeing the red core that sat defenselessly some twenty feet below me.

There was no excitement or relief as I flicked the switch to activate the new, fourteenth mode, something I had been planning as the last shot to the worm, a freeze bomb that would go off once the compressed ice seed reached deep inside the core and explode within. It was the icing for the not-so-piece-of-cake Dragon Tree, the most formidable enemy of so far.

But was it really my enemy? Was I just fighting against it because Alpha had planned for this battle?

Was Alpha my enemy?

Or was he my master?

Holding the cloth glider in one hand and aiming the Omega rifle with the other, I finally pulled the trigger. The freeze-seed shot out of Omega and pored into the core. Gradually, the red core began to turn purple, a deathly color, from the bluish ice forming inside it.

Then it burst, unceremoniously and almost silently, with pink, frozen skin bits disappearing as soon as they splashed into the fire nearby. The ring of fire dwindled and quickly expired, but the Dragon Tree, or what was left of it, kept burning with indiscriminate, and now natural, fire.

It was an unspectacular end to the last spectacle of the strongest species in the Dungeon.

And its ending felt even less sentimental for me, a puppet, an involuntary piece to someone's grander plan.

An ornament, a decorative pawn.

With the blazing ring of fire extinguishing fast, I was already making a slow descent to the ground.

I threw Omega into the fire, regretting nothing.

When I landed and placed my feet on the ground after those long minutes up in the heated air, I felt disdain rather than relief.

It felt as if I was being placed on top of a cake, ready to be eaten—or smashed—at Alpha's will.

And there was a belated message following the complete destruction of the dragon's heart.

[Perk gained: ???]