Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

20 Mid-Boss

"Stim Plant, Ignition Powder, I have the Skyward Thrust in my free attunement slot, all my rings are equipped, my sword is upgraded, my armor is upgraded, and I can fight the boss with a full flask if I avoid all the enemies, so yeah...I should be good." Sam let out a breath as he thought out loud. He lingered at the blacksmith's camp Beacon Fire for a little longer, debating whether or not to use his solid quintessence to turn human again before the fight. He could use the human form health boost. He needed to avoid dying again though since his stock of solid Quintessence was already low. He had much more loose Quintessence contained in his Death Mark in the boss area.

"Fuck. I need that Quintessence."

Sam contemplated playing without it, despite Alex's warning, since he didn't want to lose any more of it. He just knew that the cheap ass dragon would take many of his lives before he managed to beat it. As soon as he rose up from the Beacon Fire without turning back into human form, he got a call from Alex.

"Sam, what are you doing? Have you already forgotten what I told you?"

"Of course not. I'm using my brain and conserving my resources if you hadn't noticed." He snidely answered back.

"Listen, this is no time to play like that. Have you already forgotten the rules of that game you're always mentioning?"

"Are you talking about The Death Planes?"

"I can't say, Sam. But in whatever game you're always talking about, what kind of bonus did you get for killing a lot enemies before the boss was defeated?"

"You got loose Quintessence added to your stats. It used to be the best way to farm it, well outside of destroying people in PVP (player versus player). I'm surprised I forgot that. It still doesn't help me though, if the boss kills me. I'll have to run to my Death Mark all over again to pick it up, which will be trapped on the other side of the Soul Barrier. See the problem with that? If it's over there, that means I can't use it to turn back to human form at the Beacon Fire. Big problem."

"Just be smart about it, Sam. That's all I wanted to tell you."

She cut the line, ending their conversation on a somewhat solemn note. Sam wondered why she was so concerned with him staying in human form. Her voice had held a note of lingering gloom. He couldn't help but feel more on edge thanks to her odd mood shifts and inconsistent intrusions. He thought that maybe she was trying to keep him safe due to some new issue with his pain receptors. Maybe they couldn't actually fix them and perhaps his real body could actually be affected by his virtual injuries.

"Alex."

When she didn't answer, he yelled out to her.

"Alex! Where the hell are you?"

The line remained silent and the armored clad bear and his master stared at Sam with wide-eyed expressions.

"Ya see apprentice? Once these undead folk die more and more, they lose their damned minds. Ay crazy, move it along why don' cha?" yelled Barrington.

Sir Sedwin stood up on his four legs and bared his teeth at Sam.

"No, no, no. I'm fine guys. I'm only calling for a friend. Though it sounds like she's ignoring me."

Sedwin sat back down on his rump but continued to stare at Sam. A tiny text message popped up in front of Sam when tried to send a message to Alex via the Alpha Build menu.

Alex Madura, Designer: Unavailable

Why are you acting so damn strange, Alex? Why won't you answer me?