Merrick stood just inside the dungeon. The grand stair had been repaired completely. He looked down, in the distance he could see the faint pulsing light of the Water Platform. He had already delved into the depths of this dungeon.
He had traveled all the way to the bottom and peered into the void below while undead minions tried to pull him into that darkness. He had saved the Pure Fire Elemental from an explosion that would have ripped the entire prison to shreds. He had restored the Crystal Coffin holding the Pure Earth Elemental so that he could climb upwards. Then finally he had returned to the place where his first fight had occurred, the Water Platform. Even that Elemental had been calmed.
Now there was just one place for him to explore. One last bit of his dungeon map remained uncharted. The final platform, Air. The home of the Warden, the last Pure Elemental of this dungeon. Merrick checked his gear one last time, made sure Crudle was ready as well, and then he began his ascent.
This dungeon had pushed his limits. The fighting had been infuriating and enjoyable. The mechanics were so rich and vibrant that it felt like he was actually casting the spells when he released a lightning bolt or summoned his earthy companion. Now it was time to clear the dungeon and see what the rest of the game held.
After circling the grand stairs upward, Merrick reached the Air Platform and felt the bottom of his stomach fall out. The stairs continued upward.
More than that, there was a Crystal Coffin in the center of the Air Platform. It was clear with streaks of yellow marking its internal structure. There was also a gaping hole in its center. It was as if a core had been cut from the Crystal Coffin.
Merrick approached cautiously, he could not help himself. He was rewarded with an almost mechanical alert from the Crystal Coffin.
-WARNING: YOU ARE NOT THE WARDEN OF THE ELEMENTAL CAGE. DO NOT APPROACH THE ELEMENTAL INTERFACE. ONLY THE WARDEN IS ALLOWED TO INTERACT WITH THE CRYSTAL COFFINS.-
"Everyone thought you were the Warden… but you're just another prisoner."
-WARNING: YOU ARE--
Merrick tuned out the message, only paying enough attention to know that it was repeating itself. His eyes drifted back toward the stairs. If the Pure Lightning Elemental was not the Warden, then Merrick would need to press on.
As soon as he took a step toward the stairs, the message changed.
-WARNING: ONLY THE WARDEN IS ALLOWED TO USE THE CENTRAL PASSAGE TO THE SURFACE. IF ANYONE ELSE USES THE PASSAGE, AN ALERT WILL BE SENT TO THE WARDEN.-
Merrick paused for a moment and smiled back at the Crystal Coffin. "You're a prisoner, just like your brothers. You betrayed them and ended up just as trapped but don't worry, I'll have a word with the Warden about your release as well. Even if this is just a game, no one else is going to die in this prison. Not the elementals that are hidden in this column and not the prisoners being used as your batteries."
The Elemental made no response to Merrick's monologue. Instead, as soon as he turned to head upward, the same warning played again.
-WARNING: ONLY THE WARDEN IS ALLOWED TO USE THE CENTRAL PASSAGE--
Merrick pressed on. As he rounded the first half circle, he faintly heard a warning about an alert being sent and that the Warden had been alerted to his presence. The last few rounds of the spiral staircase seemed the least lifelike of the entire dungeon.
It felt like he was passing through a bubble from one reality to another. The walls seemed to dull out, the edges were blurry, and Merrick had to make sure it was not his headset dying. Though that changed quickly, as if he loaded into a new area, because the last turn of the staircase ended in an archway.
Merrick stepped through the archway and onto a moonlit courtyard. It was made of the same stones as the dungeon below. There was an ominous wind and the moonlight seemed too bright compared to the dungeon he had just exited.
Though, as Merrick walked forward to face the final boss, he assumed this was still part of the dungeon itself. The final battle, facing the boss, on the very top of the dungeon.
As if on cue, the boss appeared. A hulking figure wearing heavy plate armor. A blade as wide as a tower shield wielded in one hand. The most striking feature though was the name floating above the boss's head: Guardian Xerxes.
Merrick focused on the name. The game presented him with more information:
NAME: Xerxes
PLAYER ID: KLEIO41
PLAYER ROLE: Guardian
DUNGEON: The Secret of the Elemental Cage
RESTRICTED:************************
RESTRICTED:************************
While Merrick had been distracted by the new information, Xerxes had started talking. Merrick missed most of the words due to the revelation that not only was the boss of the dungeon a player, but that he was able to see player information. The forums had been spotty on the subject, but it looked like he simply needed to visually inspect the player and some data would be revealed.
Merrick finally asked, "You're a Player?"
"What?" Xerxes responded. "What do you mean? Oh, I get it, you're a beta tester that they sent to find me. I know she was poking around on the surface trying to find me, but I never thought they would send someone through the game to get me."
"Through the game?"
Xerxes laughed, "You don't know?"
Merrick scowled, "You think this is real, don't you?"
"It is real."
"If it's real, then how could you let all those prisoners die just to contain those four elementals?"
Xerxes laughed again, "You really don't know. How long did you spend in my dungeon and yet you figured out nothing. Nothing about the real secret of the cage. Nothing about the game. You had full access as a beta tester and yet you towed the line they sold you. Pitiful."
Merrick shook his head, "I was not sold a line, I'm not a beta tester. Dungeons Below is a live game and I'm just a Player, same as you. No one is out to get you, but seriously, how could you let those people die if you actually thought this was real?"
Xerxes smiled, "Because this is my dungeon. If you don't like it, try to stop me. If you can stop me, maybe you'll realize the nuclear bomb you just walked out of."
The ground around Xerxes started to shift as three forms rose up from the stone. At first Merrick looked around for a Summoner, but then he realized this was the power of a Dungeon's Guardian. Suddenly, Xerxes was joined by two Sylphs, one of Fire and one of Lightning, as well as a Death Knight.
Merrick was suddenly glad he had not spent his special one-off item that the game had gifted him. He pulled the summoning seal out and flooded it with energy before Xerxes's minions could move.
A system notification appeared at Merrick's side:
-- Due to beta privileges within project KLEIO, administrative resources can be summoned.--
-- Summoning administrative resources.--
-- An Administrative Account has responded to the summoning, the number of summoned resources has been increased from one to three.--
-- Summoning additional administrative resources.--
Merrick ignored the notifications and watched as three figures appeared in front of him. They were humans, Merrick figured they were either non-player characters or heroes of some kind programmed into the game. The first two that appeared were a Wizard and their Apprentice. At first Merrick did not see the third, but then they stepped up next to him from behind.
The third summon was… odd. They appeared to be a cross-platform summon from some kind of war zone/survival game. The summon was tall, lanky, and loaded out like a modern day military soldier: a Commando if Merrick had to guess a class. Probably a bug that was introduced by the system notification.
Without hesitation, the Apprentice fired off a bolt of water at the Sylph of Fire. The Commando readied a gun from their side. Xerxes, on the other side of the courtyard, finally stopped smiling. He shouted something but Merrick could not hear it over the sudden din of water bolts striking a flaming half-elemental.
Xerxes took off running, the Wizard chased after. Merrick took a step forward but the Commando stopped him. "We need to cover her back, or else they'll have her surrounded. As strong as she is, she's still a spell caster not a fighter."