The Achievement Junkie

"This… What is this?!"

"Quallace, shut up!"

Looking to Bikkem, Quallace questioned, "Why? I'm pissed off that we're back to the beginning of the floor. Aren't the teleportation circles supposed to take us to the next floor?!"

"There are a couple of possibilities that could explain what just happened. First, we might be on the next floor and it's eerily similar, though I doubt that. Second, and the most likely, there's more than one teleportation circle here and it's a different circle that will take us to the next floor," explained Bikkem.

"But why would a dungeon be like this? No other dungeon--"

"According to history, there was no other artificial dungeon created so extravagantly as this one. Also, this dungeon has always been rumored to be perplexing and misleading since Ancient Kartonia. Even some ancient heroes struggled to navigate this place if the legend is correct," Vixus stated, boasting his knowledge of the Leisure Guild. "If anything, I had a feeling that it was too easy. Now I know that it was. There must be another path that we overlooked or possibly a passage into the mountain."

"But… I guess you're right. Sorry for overreacting," Quallace sighed.

"It's fine, just don't let anything affect your judgment. On this floor it's fine, but there's no telling what may happen on the later floors that are more dangerous. Keep a level head, Quallace," persuaded Bikkem. "Even Kims isn't as frazzled as you. Keep it together."

"Right, then let's look for this other path."

The councilmen spent a few hours searching and testing a few different paths, most leading to dead ends or a circle connected to the beginning of the floor. It was on the fourth path that they found the circle leading to the fifth floor, finally relieving Quallace of plenty of pent up stress.

"This… Is this a maze?"

"It seems to be. It's well lit but there's no way for us to look at other paths," Bikkem chatted with Vixus. "It seems that this level will take us some time to figure out."

"But what if we run into Tralon's party?" asked Quallace.

Bikkem nodded, "Then we act and go for the kill. Even if Argyle and his son-in-law survive, we must kill Tralon. Otherwise, we've wasted our efforts coming here."

"Then I hope we're lucky enough to run into them inside the labyrinth," joked Kims.

"You mean unlucky enough," replied Vixus. "The walls are too narrow to have a proper group battle here, making our greater numbers a disadvantage if they have a good formation."

"But we don't have superior numbers," stated Bikkem. "Don't forget the fox and the boy will be fighting together, so it will be harder on them."

"True, but it's still not ideal to battle here. I hope we clear the maze first. And since it seemed that Tralon's party knew exactly where the correct circle was on the last floor, they may also know the exact path to take in this labyrinth," reasoned Vixus. "I think it's best to assume that they've already completed this floor or that they're resting at the circle before moving on."

"I agree. It's likely that we won't run into them so soon. But after this floor, we'll make sure to stay closer so that we won't be left behind and can make a move when appropriate." Bikkem nodded to the others, getting their approval to move forward.

They wandered for some time, reaching a few dead ends and being forced to retrace their steps. Eventually, they found the first treasure trove.

"What is… So many treasures?!" Quallace shouted with joy.

"Calm down, Quallace. There's no telling why they left this behind," reasoned Bikkem. "Wouldn't Argyle be adamant to take this with him?"

"But what if they've agreed that he can't take any treasures?" stated Quallace. "There's a chance that he's already been paid handsomely for his help."

With a shake of his head, Bikkem replied, "Just be careful, that's all I'm saying."

"Oh, I'm being careful…" Quallace carefully searched for the item that best caught his eye. "See, I'm only going to take a single item out of all these. Okay?"

"That's fine, I guess," sighed Bikkem.

Smiling and giddy, Quallace grabbed a gem-encrusted staff with a twinkle in his eye. But that smile vanished when the large gem at the top of the staff blinked.

"What the--"

Before he could do anything, Quallace felt teeth sink into his wrist, teeth that appeared to be made of the gems from the staff in his hand.

No longer hesitating, Quallace became battle-minded and blasted the staff with a raging ball of flame, forcing it too let go of his hand. "It's a mimic, kill it!"

Hearing his favorite word, Kims took action and launched a wave of sword energy at the mimic posing as a sorcerer's staff.

"Careful, Kims! Don't hit or touch any other item!"

Vixus tried to warn Kims, but it was too late. The sword attack hit the staff head-on, but the remnants of the sword energy glanced a few other mimics around them.

"Blasted mimics!" Bikkem shouted as he dashed in and grabbed the staff mimic. The furious monk hurled the mimic back into one of the hallways. "Get the other mimics in the hall! That way we won't have to fight the inactive mimics."

Both Kims and Vixus nodded, following Bikkem's example. Quallace focused his firepower on the hall, targeting all the mimics being thrown to the side.

The improvised teamwork was well executed and very accurate. Within a minute or two, all active mimics were killed and the inactive mimics were left behind as the party of councilmen moved on.

"No wonder they left those behind…" Vixus shook his head. "So, the Legend left hordes of mimics to fool any explorers of his dungeon. And anyone who doesn't know better, or for those who aren't guild members like Tralon, they could easily become overrun by a swarm of mimics."

"But what if there were some real treasures hidden among the mimics?" Quallace asked.

Vixus chuckled, "Knowing the Legend's temperament, I would say that there probably were. That is if Argyle hasn't already snatched them away. Since he owns an auction house, he most likely has a way to discern between items and a way to discern what treasures were real and which ones were falsified."

"Vixus has a point," stated Bikkem. "No matter what, we can't touch a single piece of treasure on this level."

"But Bikkem, we--"

"There's no way to scavenge through that many mimics without wasting our time. And if we take too long, we'll lose Tralon's trail," argued Bikkem. "I would offer to let you stay behind and sort through the mimics yourself, but we'll need your help to execute the plan to take down Tralon."

"Right… Then no more treasures. I understand." Quallace sighed, unhappy to be fooled so easily.

The councilmen continued and eventually made it past the next two treasure troves and reached a large clearing in the center of the maze.

"I wonder what… What is that?" Vixus quickened his pace, catching the attention of the other councilmen. "Is that a… mimic?"

When Vixus and the others behind him entered the clearing, they were blown away. Not too far away was what seemed to be a house fallen on its side yet still intact. But the burned and slashed tentacles gave away it's true form.

"A giant mimic… I guess they still had to fight something on this floor. And I'm glad it was them…" Bikkem stated.

"Imagine if we had found this place before them. Quallace would have started to search for treasures in that house, not knowing it could eat him alive," reasoned Vixus.

Quallace choked on some saliva before he forced it down.

"Ahh… I would've loved to fight that!" Kims pouted.

Unbeknownst to the others, light filled Vixus's eyes as he reexamined the corpse of the giant mimic. "I wouldn't say that if I were you, Kims."

"Oh? And why not?" laughed the swordsman.

"Because you're only lv. 65. Not only was this mimic giant in size, but it was also lv. 69."

"Lv. 69?!" Bikkem's neck jolted to the side as he looked at Vixus. "Are you certain?"

"I'm sure. I have an ability to see through monsters and beasts, whether dead or alive. And this behemoth of a mimic was lv. 69," Vixus stated clearly.

"But how could they beat it so easily, then?" Bikkem's questioned. "No… It wasn't that easy. They're probably resting by the circle now to recuperate after the fight."

As Quallace started to bicker with Bikkems and Kims about what to do next, Vixus approached the fallen beast. He kept his thoughts to himself as he examined the wounds of the giant mimic. There were many gashes present along with some minor areas of burns. But Vixus examined the rest of the giant beast, including the side it was lying on.

When Vixus noticed the damage done to that side, he froze momentarily. Vixus struggled to believe just how badly burnt the giant mimic was because such a burn had to be caused by a fire spell of mythic or legendary proportions, which Tralon didn't have.

The only other option was the Hell-flame Fox and the young hero of the association. And after witnessing that carnage, Vixus was all too curious about Jack and Bowzer.

"Vixus? What are you doing here?"

An aged voice rang out in Vixus's mind, clearly from his contact crystal. And it was a voice Vixus heard almost every day since he too was a member of the council.

Vixus glanced the other bickering council members a ways away as he took out his contact crystal and couched to regain his composure.

"Tralon, what is it you need?"