The Elemental Relics

Faced with three directions, Ali picked the one that would take him to the center of the maze. He could see nothing but metal panels making up the walls, the floor and the ceiling. The square shaped panels were roughly four times his height. The metal surfaces were reflective, almost as if they were mirrors. When he touched the walls and the floor, they felt warm to the touch. With no features on any of the surfaces, he couldn’t discern any traps. Therefore, he had to walk at a steady pace forward.

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Hit by projectile. Lost 3 HP.

Currently, you have 17/20 HP

>

Ali cried out in pain as a cone like projectile went through his calf. He fell to the ground to nurse his injured calf.

Damn it! How does HP regen work?

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Your HP regen scales with your Survival stat.

Once injured, you need to provide the conditions for your wounds to recover. For example, a wound with a projectile stuck cannot start healing until the projectile is removed. Once the conditions are met, wounds will heal based on HP regained and, once full health, all wounds should be healed.

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Ali checked the prompt to confirm that his HP regen was at 4 HP/min. At the end of the minute, the excruciating pain vanished and an update came up.

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With HP regen, you now have 20/20 HP.

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The teenager cautiously put some weight on the foot with the earlier injury. To his surprise, it felt as good as new. As he stood, he noticed a projectile forming on one of the wall panels and leaped out of the way.

I wonder if the wall periodically spawn projectiles.

Ali counted sixty seconds before the next projectile. Another minute later, he saw a fourth projectile. With a better understanding of how the first trap worked, Ali proceeded deeper into the maze. A few turns later, he found himself facing a metallic scorpion. As soon as he made eye contact with the scorpion, the creature pointed its tail at him and released a projectile. The teenager barely dodged the attack and, as he readied his ability, the scorpion was gone.

You’re not getting away from me!

Ali pursued the scorpion and nearly caught up when a new alert came up.

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Hit by spikes. Lost 6 HP.

Currently, you have 14/20 HP

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Staring down at the spike trap, it took all of Ali’s strength to not fall down and get impaled further. One spike went straight through the toes of his left foot while the other spike went through his right foot, ankle and knee. When the spikes retracted, the teenager forced himself to limp to the next floor panel, thinking the trap functioned similarly to the earlier wall trap.

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Hit by projectile. Critical hit! Lost 6 HP.

Currently, you have 8/20 HP

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Critical hit?

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When abilities hit a critical organ, the ability lands a Critical Hit and does double damage.

Critical organs are brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys.

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Ali fell forward as the pain was too much. During his fall, he caught sight of the scorpion simply standing there. When he looked up, he could see a projectile forming at the tip of its tail.

You want to hit my head? I won’t go down without a fight!

Lying flat on his stomach, Ali raised his left hand and aimed it at the scorpion that remained motionless. He felt power gathering in his hands before he released it. A few seconds passed but the creature didn’t even flinch.

How? Is that thing immune to my ability?

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All body parts have different defense values. If the defense matches or exceeds the damage of the ability, then no damage is inflicted.

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The projectile on the scorpion’s tail was nearly complete so, in desperation, Ali fired another one of his air slashes. This time, four of the scorpion’s legs were sliced clean off. While the creature did tilt over, the projectile on its tail was still unleashed on him. Ali couldn’t move his body so he had to take the hit.

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Hit by projectile. Critical hit! Lost 2 HP.

Currently, you have 6/20 HP

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The attack nearly made him black out but Ali hanged on to his consciousness. He forced his left hand up with the intention to hit the other four legs. His aim was off as he sliced off the creature’s tail.

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You have killed a foe.

( 18 / 26 XP to Level Up)

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The scorpion disintegrated into nothing. Upon seeing the danger gone, Ali succumbed to the pain, allowing himself to completely black out.

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With HP regen, you now have 20/20 HP.

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Ali stood up and felt the locations where the projectiles went through him. He couldn’t even feel a scratch. Even his top showed no signs of anything penetrating through it. Having no more pain bogging him down mentally, the teenager was able to recollect his thoughts on the maze and proceeded forward. Despite encountering a few more static traps, he didn’t come across another scorpion. Therefore, he took his time to reach the center where he found the key. As soon as he touched the key, it dematerialized and a key shape appeared on his right palm. Before he could ponder on the matter, the floor started shaking.

Shit!

An ant nearly as tall as the walls crawled towards him. The teenager, having no intention of learning the intention of the creature, immediately searched for a way out. Backtracking would do him no good as he would eventually be stuck in a dead end. His eyes wandered but they eventually focused on something behind the ant.

I hope that’s the exit and I may not get more than one chance to get past that creature.

Ali readied himself as the ant got closer. He studied the passageway ahead of him but the outlook appeared very gloomy. Given the width of the passageway, there was very little room to maneuver past the creature. Going under the creature was an option but Ali didn’t like the idea of being crushed underneath the ant.

Here goes nothing!