Skill Forge: Broken Extra Character

"They must have found a hidden passage or something," Jett replied, glancing around with a thoughtful look.

Cedric sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping. "So... we\'re too late?"

The disappointment on his face was obvious. He had hoped to be with the others, to help them in whatever battle or challenge they were facing. The feeling of being left behind weighed heavily on him, like he\'d failed his team.

Sensing his frustration, Jett patted Cedric on the back. "Don\'t worry, I have a feeling they\'ll get the job done."

Cedric nodded half-heartedly, but the doubt remained in his eyes. He walked over to the massive bed in the middle of the room and collapsed onto it, exhausted. Jett and Rey followed suit, the long and tense day catching up with them. But as tired as they were, something still nagged at Rey\'s mind.

"What really happened with this stupid trial?" Rey muttered, staring up at the ceiling. "This whole thing escalated too quickly."

The ceiling above them was beautifully decorated, intricate golden patterns spiraling outward like constellations across the dark surface. It was strangely mesmerizing, almost addictive, to look at, and Rey found himself drawn deeper into its design the longer he stared.

"No idea," Jett said, stretching his arms behind his head. "We just go with the flow, I guess."

"But something still feels weird about this whole situation," Cedric added, his voice distant as if he was spacing out.

Rey started to retort, but Jett raised a hand, signaling for him to stop. He knew Cedric well: better than most, and he understood that in moments like these, Cedric had a unique ability to process things differently.

Cedric wasn\'t just someone who followed the flow of battle; he had an uncanny knack for understanding situations on a deeper level. In fact, Jett remembered from the game that Cedric\'s character had a hidden perk, one that wasn\'t known to many players.

If left alone to go AFK for about five minutes during quests, Cedric would sometimes trigger random hints: little pieces of information that would help solve quests or puzzles.

Jett had a hunch that they were in one of those moments now.

"Let him think," Jett whispered to Rey, gesturing to Cedric, who had closed his eyes, deep in thought. "He might just figure out what\'s really going on here."

Most people didn\'t know about Cedric\'s or the other character\'s hidden perks because the developers intentionally kept it secret, one of those elusive Easter eggs that only the most patient players stumbled upon. You had to leave your character idle, seemingly for no reason: often because something in real life came up, or out of pure chance.

Only then would Cedric\'s random hints start to pop up, slowly unraveling a hidden layer to his abilities that could help solve even the most obscure quests.

As Cedric began piecing together the current puzzle, he muttered aloud, almost to himself, "The princess goes missing, and there\'s a big chance she vanished from her own room since no one saw her leave. Then Seraphina and Marcella disappear, but we don\'t know where. The others vanish when they got here... One of the fragments was in this room, right?"

Jett, starting to catch on to Cedric\'s train of thought, nodded slowly. "Yeah, the last one was supposed to be here."

"So it took four fragments to find a way to the source," Cedric said with a deep sigh.

Rey, still lost in the conversation, furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about? How would four fragments be enough to get to the next stage when it clearly said five?"

"Is that what you really think?" Cedric asked, still not fully satisfied with Rey\'s understanding of the situation. He was piecing everything together, and his mind was already a few steps ahead.

Jett, however, had finally grasped the point Cedric was making. He glanced around the room, eyes narrowing as he connected the dots Cedric was laying out. The room, the fragments, the princess: it all aligned now.

"Rey, look around this room. What do you see?" Jett asked, his voice steady, as if inviting Rey to come to the same conclusion.

Rey hesitated, then stood up and surveyed the area. The room was opulent, filled with gilded furniture and luxurious fabrics. The ceiling, with its addictive golden patterns, was hypnotic, drawing the eyes like a maze.

Rey scanned the room thoroughly, hoping to find something, anything that stood out. But there was nothing. No scuff marks, no signs of a struggle, no overturned furniture. Just an uncomfortable clean room filled with expensive, familiar décor. He let out a frustrated sigh. "Just a perfectly clean room with fancy furniture that I\'m already used to.

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What are you getting at?"

"Exactly that," Jett replied, eyes narrowing. "This room is too clean for one that supposedly had a fragment. Remember, the other fragments were all being heavily protected. So why\'s this one any different?"

Jett sprang up from the bed and began pacing around the room, thinking out loud. His boots barely made a sound on the plush carpet as his mind raced. "There should have been a fight here the moment they picked up the fragment. But this place doesn\'t even look like anyone\'s been in it at all."

Rey, slowly starting to understand, nodded. "You\'ve got a point. Every other fragment had a guardian or some sort of defense mechanism. Here, it\'s like nothing happened at all. Not a single sign of struggle. No broken furniture, no magic residue...

it\'s weird."

"The princess disappeared without a trace," Jett continued, pacing faster now. "Asher and the others vanished without leaving anything behind, and we didn\'t get a notification, a signal, nothing. You know who else disappeared like that?"

Suddenly, the realization hit Rey like a bolt of lightning. "Crap... Seraphina and Marcella! So you think wherever the princess went, they went too?"

"Exactly," Jett said, stopping in his tracks and turning to face Rey. "They were all taken. But the real question is: How? And why here?"

Cedric, who had been quiet for a moment, broke the silence. "So what do you guys think? Was this just some random occurrence? Or was there an external factor involved?" His gaze was sharp, calculating, as if testing the waters of their understanding.

Jett crossed his arms, deep in thought. "I don\'t believe in coincidences. Not in a place like this."

****

The hall fell into an eerie silence. The sound of crackling flames filled the void as torches slowly lit up, one by one, casting flickering shadows along the stone walls. Then, in the dim glow, the form of the boss began to emerge: a towering stone golem. Its massive, tree-trunk-sized arms hung at its sides, and its glowing red eyes locked onto the group with a menacing intensity.

The air around it seemed to thrum with raw, destructive power.

Before anyone could speak, Elora broke the silence. "You know that guy?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the golem.

"As bright as day," Aiden muttered, visibly frustrated. "He\'s a hidden boss in the game. A really annoying one. Magic? Useless against him. Same with elemental attacks.

And his defense is insane. Oh, and when he stops moving... just close your eyes, or you\'ll be turned to stone instantly."

Elora hissed under her breath, "It\'s almost like we\'re being dared to get closer to that thing."

Rosa, her face pale, asked, "How do we fight something like that?"

Before anyone could answer, a projectile suddenly whizzed past them, cutting through the air and hitting the boss square in the chest. The impact was enough to make the golem take a few steps back, surprising everyone. They all turned in unison to see Evelina, bow raised, preparing to fire another arrow.

"We can\'t harm it with magic? So what? We can still take it down. If we have to burn through all our skills, so be it!" Evelina said, her voice resolute as she loosed another arrow. This time, the golem raised its massive arm, blocking the arrow with ease.

"Tch… get it together, you guys!" Evelina shouted, her frustration evident.

Asher, standing just a few feet away, caught Evelina\'s eye. He gave her a faint smirk, a gesture that held both determination and reassurance. She responded with a quick smile, a brief but calming moment between the chaos.

"Alright, everyone, anyone who can\'t use physical attacks, stay as far away from the boss as possible," Asher instructed, his voice steady and commanding. "Matthew, we\'re going to need you to distract that thing so we can get in some real hits."

Matthew cracked his knuckles, a grin spreading across his face. "Not a problem. Let\'s do this."

In the back, Finn let out a resigned sigh. "Damn it, I wish I could only use magic right now," he muttered, knowing that he\'d be in the frontlines this time.

As the group prepared for the battle ahead, the stone golem\'s red eyes burned brighter, as though it sensed the incoming fight and welcomed it.

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