I was surrounded by monsters. That was nothing new since I’ve been surrounded by monsters ever since I was respawned inside the Labyrinth.

The new monsters were small and looked something like naked mole rats with turtle shells on their backs. There were probably a couple hundred of them scattered about the rocky dessert terrain, but they were slow. In fact, they were so slow that their normal movement was about the same speed as if they’d been trapped inside my ‘Cursed Ground’. The dozen or so monsters who actually were in my ‘Cursed Ground’ might as well have been glued there.

“At least we don’t have to worry about those ones escaping,” I mused as I looked at the patch of ‘Cursed Ground’ and all the monsters that were trapped in it. Normally, monsters could escape my bane, but they moved slowly enough that we could usually kill them before that happened. This time, that wasn’t even a concern.

What I was worried about, was their big brother. While we were in the middle of dealing with this swarm turtle rats, a MUCH larger one had arrived to join the fight. This one was the size of an elephant and looked more like an angry rhino with a turtle shell.

“It seems the alpha has arrived,” Frank commented as she stretched out her shoulders and then raised her axe.

“Damn,” Grayson exclaimed. “I didn’t think we’d see a boss this close to the exit.”

“Unfortunately, Mister Grayson,” Giles said with a grim expression, “the Labyrinth does like its little surprises.”

“Fucking great,” Lenore snarled as she backed up and conjured another arrow, one of her special golden ones that were armor piercing. “And Red has already used her ability.”

I nodded at that, wishing that I’d saved my ‘Cursed Ground’ for big brother here. However, I wasn’t completely out of the game. I hit the big one with a ‘Hex’, then moved back. It snorted and shook it’s head, even staggering slightly, but it was too big to be taken out that easily.

Everyone else used that as the signal to actually attack. Lenore shot her arrow right at the monster’s eye, only to miss and hit it’s shell instead. The arrow went in a couple inches at most and then stuck there.

Stine and Grayson charged forward, almost side by side. They reached the monster at the same time and hit it with their attacks. A sword blade slid off the shell, leaving a deep scratch but little more. However, the brawler’s punch actually caused some spiderweb cracking on the shell.

Giles and Frank held back a little, examining the monster and looking for a better way to take it down. A few seconds later, both of them moved towards it’s head, deciding to target that rather than the heavy shell.

The monster suddenly stomped the ground and everything shook. I was knocked back from the shockwave, landing right in the middle of my own ‘Cursed Ground’ where I was surrounded by the little turtle rats.

“Crap,” I snarled as I got to my feet.

I quickly started to move back, only to realize that I could move quickly. I looked around the area, which was still glowing from my bane.

“It…isn’t working on me,” I said in realization.

I was the one who’d created this enchantment, and I seemed to be immune from it too. Then I looked at the small monsters and grinned, suddenly wishing that I still had that sword. If I could move around freely in there while my opponents couldn’t… Well, this just made my ‘Cursed Ground’ even more useful.

“Hey, Red,” Jag called out, using Lenore’s nickname for me. “Get out of there so I can use it…”

“Use it?” I asked blankly.

Then I saw what Jag had in mind. She’d created an illusion of herself, and it was standing right in front of big brother, trying to get its attention. A few seconds later, it moved forward, looking like it was going to try stomping on her. The illusion stepped back and the monster advanced again.

I quickly scrambled back and out of the ‘Cursed Ground’, leaving it relatively open for Jag to lure the monster into. Everyone else stood back while she worked, letting her do this. Then, as soon as the monster’s foot hit the enchantment, it suddenly slowed down even more.

“NOW!” Frank ordered.

Everyone attacked the large monster at once. I hit it with another ‘Hex’, which stacked with both the previous ‘Hex’ and with ‘Cursed Ground’, amplifying the effects of all three. However, I wasn’t even sure that the monster noticed this since a sword, an axe, and a halberd blade all hit its head just seconds apart.

Big Brother dropped to the ground, though it wasn’t dead yet. It’s head was badly damaged and it tried pulling back into its shell, but that was when Lenore fired another armor piercing arrow, right into it’s eye. This time, she hit.

There was a shriek of pain as the monster successfully managed to retreat into its own shell. This protected the head from any more direct attacks, but it left it unable to actually defend itself. And at this point, it’s increased defense no longer even mattered. My banes were still stacked up and working on it. It died shortly after, still inside its own shell.

“Now for all the little ones,” Grayson announced, turning to look at the relatively harmless monsters that were still scattered everywhere.

Lenore let out a sharp laugh, then fired one of her arrows, one that split into multiple arrows before striking three of the small monsters. “I almost feel bad for this.” She smirked at that and added, “Almost.”

Killing the rest of the monsters was slow but relatively easy work. But as soon as the last of them was dead, another popup appeared in front of me.

YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 10

I was a little startled to have leveled up again so soon, but we had just gone through several large groups of monsters. I just smiled at that and added the free point to presence. Then, there was another popup.

YOU MAY UNLOCK A NEW ABILITY. SELECT ONE OF THE CHOICES BELOW

-DANCER’S GRACE
-CURSED OBJECT
-CONFUSION

I stared at the options in excitement, nearly drooling at the thought of adding another ability. Getting more powerful like this was sort of addictive.

After reading over those three options a couple times, guessing at what they might do, I focused on them one at a time and tried to feel what they actually did. After having done this a couple times already, I was able to get a sense of the abilities a little more quickly.

Dancer’s Grace was the same ability that Grayson had, the boon that gave him a temporary boost to his agility. A smile formed on my lips as I thought of how effortlessly he was able to move around the battlefield and just how useful that could be for me.

“Nice,” I quietly mused to myself.

With that extra agility, I’d be able to run away from threats. I’d be able to dodge monsters and avoid attacks entirely. And when I added in the recent upgrade from my armor, I would have a great defense. This would improve my ability to survive a LOT.

My first impulse was to select ‘Dancer’s Grace’ without even examining the other options. It was that good. But then, I considered the downsides. It was a boon, not a bane, so it wouldn’t get any benefit from my specialization. It would help my defense, but it wouldn’t do anything for either my offense or my debuffing power. And then, there was the fact that it was a temporary boost to agility. I could get the same effect permanently just by assigning a few extra points.

“And free points are easier to earn than new abilities,” I thought aloud.

‘Cursed Object’ was another bane, one that felt very powerful but also extremely limited. I’d be able to cast it on a single inanimate object, and then, the ability would have an even longer recharge time than ‘Cursed Ground’. Those were some pretty big limits.

Then I considered the ablity and how I might be able to use it. If I put a ‘Cursed Object’ onto someone’s armor or weapons, then I could turn their own gear from assets to threats. I liked the idea, until I remembered that most monsters never used any equipment at all. This was an ability that could be devastating against a single player, but which would be useless against most monsters. Another limitation.

“Probably a bit too specialized,” I thought aloud. “How often would I actually be able to use it?”

And then there was ‘Confusion’, the last of the three options. This bane immediately reminded me of ‘Cursed Ground,’ though it wasn’t quite the same. I had the feeling that this one would really fuck with focus and perception, which could be useful. I also sensed that this was an ability that I projected outward in some kind of wave or cone, so I could catch multiple targets at once.

“And I think it recharges faster than Cursed Ground,” I mused.

‘Confusion’ wouldn’t really give me anything new, but it would let me do what I already did a lot better. Instead of just dropping down a ‘Cursed Ground’ in one spot, I could actually mess with several areas at once, and it gave me something I could use while waiting for ‘Cursed Ground’ to recharge. No, this ability wasn’t really new or exciting, but it would be useful.

Then my thoughts shifted to Pham and Grayson, or at least, to several conversations we’d had about ‘build’ and ‘role’. By this point, I was already leaning heavily into a mage type build, and that felt right to me. As for my specific role… Well, I was a black enchantress, which meant that my job was to fuck with my opponents. My job was to make it harder for enemies to hurt me and my friends. It was to weaken enemies so that they were easier to deal with.

“And which ability helps with that the most?” I asked myself.

I could improve my own mobility and survivability, both of which were important to me, and this would keep others from having to risk themselves for me. I thought of Pham and winced at the memory. If I’d been able to react faster…

Then I shook my head and refocused. My other options were just as important. Just as vital.

I could get a powerful new ability, one that would be extremely useful in just the right circumstances. Or, I could double down on my role as a black enchantress by grabbing an ability that could use to fuck with enemies the most often.

“Decisions, decisions,” I mused.

“Hey, Red,” Lenore asked, knocking me out of my thoughts. “What the hell are you doing just standing there? We’re gonna leave you behind.”

I looked around and realized that everyone else was already starting to move back down the trail again. I shook my head at that, annoyed at myself for getting so caught up in my own thoughts that I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings. That was a great way to get a shank in the back.

With that, I began following after the others, deciding to give my new ability a little more consideration before choosing. After all, this would be important to my build going forward, and I didn’t want to fuck it up by not thinking things through. I’d already done too much of that during my life, and it was about time I started taking a different approach.