Chapter 12 - Gunther: Part 1

                                    

                                          
The monotonous and repetitive nature of the Tower bothers me. The stairs are always the same, four hundred and seventy-six steps between each floor. The doors are always the same, wood-framed in iron. That is unless they signal the end of the floor, then they are gold. The sound made by the door locking behind us or when we clear a room is always the same. It's driving me nuts. 
                          
At this point, I would have returned this game to the store and picked out a different one. If we have to go through this same formula ninety-six more times, I'm going to scream. 
                          
The first room on floor four is no different. Blank stone walls encase a mostly empty room with light orbs hanging from the ceiling. The wooden door on the other side is locked with bars and five orcs are huddled up.  
                          
Orcs in this game are human-like but with green skin and horns growing from their foreheads. Some have sharp canine teeth sticking out of their mouths in random places. If I didn't know better, I would have thought they were cosplayers. 
                          
They are armed with a variety of weapons. One has a two-handed sword, one has a club, one a bow and the last two have three daggers between them. None of them are special by any means compared to the others. All of their name icons read:
                          
Tower Orc; Level 8
                          
When the door slams, the Orcs all turn and step into a formation similar to the one we used against the goblins. They wouldn't allow us to get behind them and the archer is protected on all sides. Two words. Not good. 
                          
"I guess it's time to show these thugs which party is better, right boys and girls?" Brick says with a lot of confidence. He steps forward and presents his small round shield in a battle salute then stands ready. The large war door shield he used before lay abandoned on the floor below.
                          
"I think a little demonstration is in order. Don't you?" Tamos adds, stepping up beside Brick, his hand glowing. The rest of us join them in a brief battle stance before our side charges in. 
                          
The fight turns out to be nowhere near as hard as I made it out to be beforehand. We have an advantage with two long-range attackers while they only have one. 
                          
Rina throws her blades to deflect arrows while Tamos throws magic at the archer. It only takes them minutes to kill the bowman. The Orc's screams of agony die off when his HP bar bottoms out. 
                          
Brick is holding the attention of three Orcs at once while Tella and I take the fourth apart. She runs in and strikes, then the Orc repels her. I follow up with a strike of my own. We repeat this cycle a couple of times and once my bleed effect kicks in, his fight ends quickly. 
                          
Now it's five on three. Not long after, it's five on one. Only their Tank remains. Brick makes the killing blow with a stab to the Orc's chest. No one waits for the chime. 
                          
I manage to grab as much of the Orcs' crappy gear as I can on my way out. Nobody else wanted it. There are also some coins that I divide evenly between the five of us. 
                          
They did have to wait on me for a minute. I stopped in mid-looting to realize how odd it is. The dead bodies have a slight sparkle to them. When I touch the body, a window opens saying what loot a monster has. Just like any other game, I accept and move on. 
                          
The next room is an obstacle course.  More like a death trap in my opinion. Following the laid-out path would take a Player through swinging axes, jets of fire, and tiny bridges that span vats of ooze. There's a climbing wall that showers stone rocks every few minutes, hurdles with blades that shoot out of them, and much more gruesome takes on regular obstacles. 
                          
Brick starts placing his gear in his bag, sets it on the ground, and begins to stretch when Tella steps forward.
                          
"Brick, you did the last one. I feel like I should attempt this one." She says in a pleading tone.