I’m such an idiot.

Grabbing all the keys, I move to the odd eight locked door and insert a key. I turn the key and hear a click. Then I pull the key out.

Couldn’t I?

I use the same key on the next lock and hear a click.

I do the same for the final six. The door slowly slides open. I glance at the bundle of seven other keys in my hand.

Somehow, I hate this tower more than the previous two.

Dropping the keys, I enter the open passage with an annoyed grimace. I’m fully recovered from injuries, stamina, and mana. The only thing that has yet to recover is my mood.

Traveling the long passageway of obsidian, a thought ries in my head that worsens my mood.

The walls are obsidian. Couldn't I just chisel around the door?

I extend a clawed arm and watch as my claws scrape into the walls as easily as stone. It's not some magical stone or anything. It’s literally just stone.

At the end of the passage, I arrive in a large obsidian chamber where the obsidian walls are very smooth. In the center of the chamber is my final destination. A tower with a locked door.

Let me guess. I walk to the tower, the boss appears, I fight the boss and win, then I retrieve the key planted in the boss's body.

Before I approach, I take a moment to see if I can find the Boss in this room. I don’t. The thought of transforming into a bird to use its superior vision does cross my mind, but I find the hassle a waste of time. It won’t matter if I know where the boss is before the fight- so long as it shows up, I just have to kill it.

Taking one final breath, I leave the protection of the passage and approach the tower. Only when I am meters from the tower do I feel a rumble. The walls shift and move, grinding against stone. I watch as the smooth obsidian walls reveal creases that seem to elongate. Like a snake leaving camouflage, I watch a serpentine body morph out of the walls and slither towards me. A mouth opens from its head to reveal a circular mouth filled with sharp grinding obsidian teeth.

A giant obsidian worm. That’s just grand.

I take a stance as the worm approaches. Once it is a distance close enough to me, it immediately stops with its open mouth pointed at me.

I have a bad feeling about this.

The numerous teeth turn towards and I’m immediately reminded of the Scorpis Matriarch.

I jump to the side a moment before hundreds of razor-sharp blades penetrate the floor I was standing on.

Fuck me and these fucking projectile shooting monsters!

________________________________________________________________

With only about fifty [Gladiators] remaining, the last round of the day is going to be one of even greater skill and capability. Currently, every fighter is well-armed and well-armored. Most are skilled and most have leveled to an advanced class. The few that haven’t are expected to if they survive this final round.

Cillian raises a seventh mug. “If Boriss weens dis round, weare rich.” He hiccups and then burps for a moment, spilling some of his peanuts on the stand. Gond and Myers give the Scot a glance, but return their attention to the tournament. Money is nice and all, but when you’re as old as Myers and Gond, your priorities tend to shift.

“Oh, this is karmic.” Gond says with a smile.

Myers shares the same grin. “Indeed.”

Boriss final opponent is none other than the [Staff Berserker] that won against Gino in the second round. The man looks at Boriss with a skilled confidence lacking much of the nervousness that the Russians' previous opponents had.

The two combatants take to the arena, take a stance, and then the judge begins the fight.

They immediately circle, neither side willing to be the first to engage at the start. Both combatants assess each other slowly, waiting for an opening or the other to move. Eventually, Boriss breaks the stalemate with a charge and swing. His opponent expertly diverts the greatsword to the side and then shifts to strike. Boriss counters with a block from his weapons pommel before swinging again.

The two fighters go at it, parrying, attacking, dodging. It is a maelstrom of skill between two people that has both Myers and Gond leaning forward. Initially, they both seem to be equally skilled, but it’s clear that the [Staff Berserker] is far more of an expert with wielding his weapon than Boriss is. The Russian is a skilled generalist with a physique superior to any [Gladiator]. It is precisely this physique that allows him to keep up where others would flounder.

Eventually, the pressure shifts as Boriss does the unthinkable. He jumps high, higher and over his opponent. The [Staff Berserker] shifts around to regain sight. When he does, the pommel of Boriss’s greatsword slams into his face. The man recovers near immediately, but the opening is made. Boriss had thrown his greatsword the moment his opponent lost sight of him. Now, the Russian’s hands grasp around the staff with a superior grip, followed by a pull and the crack of a headbut.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The [Staff Berserker] loses consciousness for a moment and crumbles. He regains it quickly, but not quick enough to stop Boriss’ armored boot slamming on his chest and the staff positioned on the [Staff Gladiators] throat.

The [Gladiator] is forced to surrender, followed by a spilling of more peanuts and a happy squeal from a short plump alcoholic.

_______________________________________________________________

I dodge to the sides via hops, avoiding the sprays of projectiles. Eventually, I get close enough to the serpent for an attack. Crouching, I jump forward, cracking the stone underneath my feet. I pull back my arm and then thrust my fist at the serpent's obsidian-armored side. The stone cracks on impact while simultaneously sending the monster skidding several yards.

When I retract my arm, I find that the damage is very minimal. The obsidian stone is just as dense, if not more-so than the prior monsters. The cracks in its armor is progress, but not that much.

The serpent recovers quickly as it aims its head at me, forcing me to dodge. The good thing about this enemy is that the teeth shift a moment before they are shot- giving me a clear tell of when it’s going to shoot.

This is going to be one long battle.

Dodge about, I find another opening for my fist to strike at the exact same location previously, increasing the cracks further. I do this half a dozen more times till the armor cracks inwards and causes slight bleeding.

The serpent seems to get angry with the pain as its body shifts rapidly while its mouth takes aim. I dodge away and create distance from it.

The beast does not follow or follow up, instead it seems to retreat a bit.

I grin at its retreat.

Yea, you better fucking run and stay over there… while I catch my brea- oh come on!

I watch in trepidation as the worm's obsidian armor shifts and moves throughout its body. The damaged pieces are excreted from the wound and new ones quickly take their place.

That's just bullshit.

It doesn't end there either, for in between the plate, numerous obsidian blades extend and cover its body.

That’s… annoying, but not exactly dangerous.

The needles begin to move, shifting around the monster's girth. At first it’s slow and the blades slice the floor underneath it. But eventually, the speed builds up faster and faster- rising to an rpm not dissimilar to a handsaw.

Shiiit.

As soon as every blade is at max speed, the worm moves headfirst at me. From its mouth, it fires projectiles that I dodge. But now, it rushes at me with its body. I dodge again and grimaces as the stone floor is ripped apart on its passing. The word does not give in as it turns at me, even climbing over its body. When it does, the blade retract inward while keeping up the rotation so as to not harm itself.

Goddammit I wish Auranta was here. A wind blade into its mouth would easily solve this problem.

Dodging again and again, I’m put on the backfoot with few openings to attack. Specifically, the only opening I can attack safely is the sides of its head. It is the only place that is absent of blades. It is also unfortunately where the obsidian is most thick.

I’m going to need to break through. But first, I need leverage.

I grimace as I retreat from the worm and lead it to the tower. As I reach the tower, I see the monster getting into position. I jump up to the side of the tower, and then use it as a springboard to ascend towards the ceiling.

If this doesn’t work, I’m either dead or I need to retreat.

As I reach the ceiling with my legs bending fully. I call up my mana and form two separate spells. The first I activate at the same time as my legs extend. The runes rise from my chest and exit violently at my back. I feel flesh and skin cook as an explosion accelerates my jump to speeds that shatter the sound barrier. As I descend, my arm shoots forward with as many runes as my mana can create. My fist shatters into the armored plate of the worm's head at the same time as the spell activates.

Then everything goes completely dark.

I awaken mid-flight with extreme pain that gets worse as my body bounces several times before skidding to a stop.

The moment my body stops sliding, I attempt to move, only for it to fail throughout.

Fuck, that’s a lot more potent than I thought.

Shifting my head up a little with only three working eyes. Then I grin at the flaming splattered corpse of the boss. Its head and a good portion of its upper body is shredded, ripped, and now cooking.

I then shift my gaze to my right to find my arm missing shoulder down.

Yea, I shouldn’t expect to have an arm after turning it into an anti-tank payload.

I continue looking over my body to find that it’s mostly intact. Sure, most of my bones are broken and several organs have failed, but I’m alive.

I wonder how long I’ll need to heal to be able to move.

The answer is about an hour. Organs are first repaired, followed by bones shifting back into place, healing, and then finally my muscles. During this whole process, I am met with intense hunger that I forcibly suppress. Once my muscles have regenerated enough for me to move, I force myself to stand up and limp towards the still-burning corpse. When I arrive, I immediately gorge on the monster's flesh like a desert when it rains. The taste is quite poor and very earthy, like eating meat with sand. Not that I care, for I can feel my regeneration accelerating.

Fenrimorphs are surprisingly very heavy for their size. Not because of compressed muscle fibers and larger bones- but actually because they store excess nutrients throughout their body. These nutrients are there specifically to be used for healing so that the body does not consume muscles, organs, or bones.

Once my belly is full and much of my body is healed. I look around the fleshy debris and quickly find a piece of metal that is my gauntlet.

Emma’s going to be pissed.

I try to see if I can find my arm, but other than patches of flesh and bone, the arm is pretty much gone.

This is going to take awhile to regrow.

Shaking my head, I next try to see if I can find the key in the wreckage. I spend a good hour looking until I realize that there is probably a better way.

I transform into a bird and ascend to near the ceiling. Then I flicker through wavelengths of sight. Immediately, a good distance away from the corpse is a metal similar in structure to the tower.

Must have blown far from the explosion.

I fly down, transform back into a Fenrimorph and pick up the key. I then walk back to the corpse, pick up my destroyed gauntlet, and walk to the door. With my only remaining arm, I insert the key and twist.