Private Hylands Ascent Unexpected Playtesting

[Dynamax]

Pushing himself upwards, Max managed to climb another rocky platform, breathing a sigh and sweeping a sweat out of his forehead, just as he stood up and continued to march through the ascent, that seemed to be endless, even for the most resilient and patient of the adventurers. On his back, he kept his crystalized sword as usual, having as a company, a little fairy that never left his arm length.

"Max, this place is way too dangerous to keep going. Why do you keep trying to kill yourself?" The fairy sighed, facepalming as she fluttered her wings to keep her flying height.

"I don't see why you are saying this place is dangerous, it is very chill." Max responded, pushing aside the half-broken sign with 'DANGER' written with a worn out scarlet hue that almost seemed like a splatter of blood.

"Oh yes, I wonder WHY, you stupid monkey- Ah, for the Eternal Summer..." Jade rolled her eyes.

Max grimaced, turning around to face the fairy, leaning in. "The only dangerous thing here is you talking so loud that monsters will hear us." He retorted.

"What?! How dare you little-"

She approached abruptly, slamming her forehead against Max's, as they stared daggers at each other, nearly throwing hands, until something echoed from a nearby cave.

"KYAAAH-! Wh-What was that?"

Max frowned. "Sounded like... Someone?" He frowned, looking at the fairy. "But it could be a monster too... And that means... Loot." With monster in a neuron, and loot in another, the two neurons connected, sparkling an impulsive reaction from the boy, that was... Running straight into the cave, without looking around or behind, while the fairy hurriedly chased him, only not yelling for him to stop because it would probably cause more harm than good, being near anything dangerous like a monster.

@Omega Redux

 

[Omega Redux]

A super secret evil boss lair was for those starting at the bottom like an incremental game. Today, it was a not-so-secret and moist cave. Tomorrow, she'd be in space. Nonetheless, the cave was far enough out that only really adventurous or stupid people would find their way here! And even those were usually deterred by the dangerous 'DANGER' sign she had re-purposed! And if THAT wasn't enough...

...well, the multitude of traps and security measures she had put up were all in shambles and disarray. In fact, if Omega was 20 years older, it wasn't wrong to compare her current mood to that of a tiny mid-life crisis. Only consuming incredible amounts of sugar instead of alcohol to cope with the terrors of a specific recent event...

Why was Omega even still playing? She wasn't addicted for sure! Just holed up in her tiny little cave tinkering away until, suddenly... until @Dynamax would likely sneak up on her! As the little loot goblin ventured deeper into the tunnels, he really wouldn't see much of what could be described as a workshop. Thanks to player inventories defying the laws of physics! Though that didn't stop Omega from putting up rudimentary metal plates and various props that made the entire thing look like a special dungeon!

The entrance alone had various glowy crystals and torches put on display. Illuminating metal plates screwed onto the walls depicting a badly drawn Omega having done various deeds and achievements. In one she was standing on a planet that was her size, holding an Omega flag victoriously in her hand. In another one, the planet was replaced by a star system. Another one had Omega laughing evilly at a classic depiction of a four-man hero party. A third one was showing a space station with an Omega Logo floating above an Earth-like planet, and so on.

Going deeper, Dynamax would also stumble upon some signs that said something like 'Placeholder: Lava Room', 'Placeholder: Training Hero Room', 'Placeholder: Riddle Room', and so on. There were even treasure chests with no loot inside them! Just another 'Placeholder' note.

Really, there was only so much time Omega had to do all these things!... And in case of him wanting to loot some of the stuff, he'd soon realize they were made cheap, only looking good.

Nonetheless, the curious boy and his companion fairy would soon enter the room with the only other living entity in the cave: The one and only Omega Redux!...

Who did not even notice them? Instead, she was busy focusing on her work, not to mention the noises! Surrounded by a multitude of engineering drones as she essentially metal-welded away on what appeared to be a biped mechanical suit, roughly three times the size of the two tiny people. A small sign to the side mentioned 'Workshop', and all-in-all this room seemed a lot messier than all the others. Junk, mechanical parts, and half-broken weapons or attempts littered the floor.

Omega never liked cleaning her room anyway.

 

[Dynamax]

Ignoring the inactive traps and going straight into the entrance, the glowy crystals and torches lighting up the metal plates brought a confused frown on Max's face, and Jade seemed to approach one of them, carefully analyizing it.

"... What? What is this?" The fairy tilted her head.

Despite the initial confusion, Max soon understood what those drawings were meant to be- "My History teacher taught me about this last week." He said, before stating what he considered to be obvious: "It is parietal art."

"Parietal... Art?" Jade questioned.

"Yeah. It is art cavemen do. And this is a cave, so it only means that there is a caveman in this place." Max said, squinting as he looked at the villanious figure against the four heroes. "... And it is an evil caveman too. Probably this dungeon's boss."

Jade rolled her eyes. "You Landers and this stupid way to refer to creatures."

As soon as they reached for the placeholders, Max couldn't help but just look at everything with a mild uninterest and disappointment. "This dungeon sucks." Max said, bluntly, before gesturing at the Lava Room placeholder. "Where the hell is the lava? Where are the threats and monsters making me fight for my life?" He complained, giving a soft bump with his feet on the sign, letting out a tired sigh.

The fairy scowled. "... You... You want something threatening your life?" Jade couldn't believe his words, and upon noticing his excitement lowering, the fairy turned around before perking up and approaching one of the 'loots' "Look Max, this looks powerful, what do you think?"

Max brightened up for a moment, quickly approaching while his monkey tail swayed around, only for it to curl in annoyance as he realized "This is just a piece of trash." He stomped the ground, shifting his gaze toward the depths of the dungeon. "This is an absurd... I will go straight to the boss. It is the only way to settle this." He growled, stomping his way through the cave, until he and the fairy finally got into the true lair of the boss of that dungeon... Something that made Max pause, look around with a hint of greed, only for his gaze to be interrupted by the @Omega Redux, working meticulously on her creation.

From what it looked, that person was responsible for creating everything in that room, that at the very least looked much more impressive than the rest of the dungeon, which poked Max's curiosity. "That caveman is hella smart." He admitted.

"Caveman? That is a girl, not a caveman. Not a monster either." Jade pointed out.

Her words made Max's father words echo in his mind: 'Remember Max, gentleman treats girls and elderly kindly. And never hurt them! Well, unless they hurt you.'

"That thing ain't a girl. It is the dungeon boss." Max said, grabbing his crystal sword and holding it tightly on the hilt, considering how he would stab her... No, not her... It. It's back or head, so she-- Ugh.

What if he was wrong tho?

Casting an annoyed glance at the figure, he sighed and opened his mouth widely. "HEEEY! Overly intelligent caveman dungeon boss that lacks loot despite everything looking cool in here--!" He said, just to give the boss a chance to show its true nature-- If that was a boss, that is.

"Prepare yourself, because I'm here to bring down your... Half-done dungeon... And tale away all your treasure and loot!" He declared, before then adding-

"If you aren't a girl."

 

[Omega Redux]

People.
Intruders!
Omega would have acted shocked and confused if she hadn't practiced for this! Days of shadow-imagination-training for this kind of eventually.

Thus, Omega turned around in one swift motion and- "WHO DA-chooo!" Her voice sounded try AND she sneezed at the same time! Oh no! What the silent mind training didn't do, was to account the hours of not saying anything made her voice rather dry. She cleared her throat, having lost most of her momentum didn't stop her from playing it off.

"WHO DARES TO INTERRUPT OMEGA IN HER OMEGA WORK, INTRUDER?" She spoke, pointing an accusing finger at @Dynamax. "Don't you know that this is a dungeon under construction?! You said it yourself! Half-done. Duh. And... what is this about caveman?! Omega has you know that Omega is a final boss in training AND a girl."

Whatever logic he applied to... this. Omega hopefully just shattered it?! A 'boss' AND a girl?! What is he gonna do about that? "What are you gonna do about that?" With a snap of her finger, the drones stopped working and now all turned towards Dynamax, Omega's own eyes wandering to the small fairy. Crossing her arms. Weren't those supposed to be loud, bubbly, and annoying?

 

[Dynamax]

Max kept his guard high, especially when the magia rose her voice, albeit temporarily hindered by a sneeze before she went on in a mix of accusatory and scolding tone. Regardless, Max only braced himself further for a combat, taking a stomp forward to prepare an offensive stance, and when she finally revealed she was a 'Final Boss in Training'--

"Then, Omega, your training ends he-"

-- 'AND a girl.'

"..."

Max paused, staring at Omega for a long couple seconds before loosening his stance and resting his free hand on his hips. "What, not only you are a final boss in training, but you are a girl too?" He frowned. It never occurred him, for a moment, that one could be the two things at once. Perhaps because he treated 'final boss' as if it was some different animal of the sorts.

"For Gwyndolainn and Rhiannon. Travelers are so weird." Jade lamented what she was witnessing.

"What am I going to do about it-?" Max said, staring at Omega intently.

His father did tell him to be a gentleman and never hit girls unless they hit him first. And her mother always told him to not steal from innocent people, so-

"- I guess nothing? I won't hit or steal from a girl, even if she is a final boss in training or something. Especially one with a dungeon that sucks. There is barely any loot in here." Max argued.

@Omega Redux

 

[Omega Redux]

'You're weird!' Omega would have spat at the kid's weird companion if she felt in any way or form addressed by being called a 'Traveler', but she didn't. Far from it!

Instead, it was @Dynamax smart rhetorics who pushed a dagger through Omega's heart! Stumbling a few steps back she had to be careful to not fall over her own trash super-awesome-rare-mega-cool-dungeon-parts!

"A dungeon that SUCKS!?" She spoke, her voice hurt and upset. "Well, excuuussseee you! Omega's super-awesome-temporary-in-progress boss lair dungeon is still in progress! Haven't you seen the EPIC placeholders and drawings of what is soon to be...? Never heard of Early Access, have you?!... Omega had drawings, yes?" She wasn't quite sure, somehow it felt like an eternity since she last did anything to the cave.

"Ahem, but Omega ab-so-lutely understands if someone like you can't comprehend the genius that is Omega!" With crossed arms, closed eyes, and a smug smile, Omega regained her composure.

"That said, Omega has no issues HITTING little boys." Having spoken that, a light bulb powered up above her head. "ALTHOUGH, if you find this cave-in-progress to be SO terrible, Omega wouldn't mind hiring you as a henchman! Maybe you'll learn a thing or ten!" The offer of the century!

 

[Dynamax]

"Oh, well, yeah. Those drawings back there were super cool, epic, and everything- IF they had what it is written in there. How the hell I am supposed to be impressed by a sign saying there is a pit of lava over there, when there is no lava at all?!" Max contested, gesturing at the nearest placeholder that was within sight, before crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"What? Early Access? This is more like a pre-alpha." He shrugged, letting out a sigh.

"... What are the two of you talking about?"

Jade tilted her head, confused as her wings fluttered.

"Yeah. I really can't understand how genius you are. But if you hit me, I won't care if you are a girl anymore, did you lissen?" He chattered like the monkey he was, narrowing his gaze and then slowing down as she offered him to be her henchman.

"Henchman? And what do I get by being your henchman?" Max looked around.

"Better question: Why are you even considering that, Max?"

The boy just glanced at the fairy, returning his gaze to @Omega Redux.