Archie examined the upgrades to his skills with intrigue. Material Insight remained unchanged, but both Thorns and Relentless Flurry received interesting enhancements. If I learn how to use other elements, I can imbue them into my skills for bonus effects, Archie analyzed.
Turning his attention to the first option in the skill list, Tactical Retreat, Archie was perplexed. Why would I even get this skill option? Is this a skill most Pugilists receive? Why choose this class if you’re going to run away from a fight? He quickly dismissed the option, feeling a sense of distaste.
The next option, however, piqued Archie’s interest. Stone Shroud—now that’s more my style. Judging by the description, if I channel enough mana, maybe I can tank a nuke, he chuckled. It seemed like a solid defensive skill to have overall.
Nature’s Vigil could be really useful, Archie considered. It would be my first perception-based combat skill and give me my own tingle sense,’ he chuckled to himself. Plus, it would be boosted by my mask and affinity.
A new idea struck him. “I could try to learn this on my own,” he mused aloud. “It would be great practice for connecting with nature spirits and elements.”
His thoughts turned to the Nature’s Veil skill. I just need to manipulate nature spirits and elements to cloak myself, essentially providing camouflage and enhancements.
This is a tough choice, he thought, weighing his options. Stone Shroud is something I don’t know how to recreate, so it’s up there on the skills I should get. But If I choose either Nature’s Vigil or Nature’s Veil, I can reverse engineer it to get the other, Archie thought.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Archie focused on the last option. “W-What?” he stammered, reading it over. This skill would allow him to reconnect with spirits and open the gateway to the spirit realm. He didn't think he would see a skill that would allow such a thing till at least D-Grade.
Without hesitation, Archie selected Spirit Bond as his skill of choice. This skill sounded perfect for him; this would allow him to connect with a spirit beast and access the spirit realm. All he needed was to find a medium to connect with a spirit beast.
He exhaled deeply, steadying himself. I can work on this once I’ve gathered the materials and returned to my base, he decided.
Archie approached the nearest fallen Magma Hound and spotted its core nestled in its shattered remains. Similar to the Lava Wraith Elemental core, it was round with pulsing reddish-orange lines that resembled molten rivers, but instead of grey stone, it appeared as dark, charred charcoal.
Magma Hound Beastcore:
A beastcore from an E-Grade Magma Hound retaining fragments of its records, left behind after its death. Within its fragmented records, lies the will of the Magma Hound. Can be used for various forging and medium applications.
Archie’s eyes widened as he read the last bit of text from the notification. I can use beastcores as mediums to activate my Spirit Bond. I guess this answers my previous question, Archie smiled.
Grabbing the core, Archie felt its pulsing energy in his palm. It was reminiscent of the Lava Wraith core, though now it felt heavier—perhaps because he understood its potential better. He quickly stashed the beastcore away, recalling the vulnerability he’d faced when Soul Link had temporarily muted all his senses.
Archie quickly gathered the remaining cores from the crumbling beast corpses and stored them away. Afterwards, he headed towards the lava pool to collect the Pyrestal and Magmasteel. He collected several large chunks of Pyrestal ore around the pool's edge and stored them away.
With a few calculated jumps, Archie reached the small rocky island in the middle of the pool, grabbing several large chunks of Magmasteel ore and storing them away. He quickly noticed the stone beneath him beginning to crumble and immediately started hopping from stone to stone to avoid the bubbling lava pool below. With a final leap, he landed safely on the volcanic soil surrounding the lava pool, a smile spreading across his face.
His attention turned to three Igneous Golems patrolling around the lava pools around the volcano's base. Standing at five meters tall, these golems had humanoid forms made of jagged rock fused with molten magma. Their legs were thick and powerful, though their thighs were comparatively slimmer. Their torsos tapered at the waist but expanded broadly at the chest. Each arm was solid and thick, without visible elbows. Instead of faces, they had faceless masks with a single molten hole that glowed ominously.
As Archie advanced, he noticed the golems suddenly stopping in front of a smaller lava pool. One of the golems crouched down, plunging its massive fist into the lava and extracting a chunk of Ignusite. It then moved slightly away from the pool, sat down, and began slowly pushing the Ignusite into the molten hole in its face. The other two golems positioned themselves to guard their seated companion.
I need to kill them now, while one of them is out of commission, Archie thought with determination.
Archie activated Adrenaline Rush pumping enough mana and stamina throughout his body to surpass the 45% limiter. The steam took a dark red hue as it exuded from his body. Archie activated Thorns and the Lesser Ice Reinforcement enchantment in his gauntlet, his thorns dying a deep blue color.
Kicking off the ground, Archie rushed toward one of the guarding golems. As he closed the distance, he activated Savage Charge, becoming a blur of motion, and unleashed a flurry of punches on the golem, activating Relentless Flurry. Each strike cracked the golem's hardened stone chest and with each blow, ice began to spread across its chest.
With a final strike, Archie created a large hole in the golem’s torso. Its upper body toppled backward to the ground while its legs crumpled to their knees before collapsing completely.
The other guarding golem suddenly appeared beside him and swung its arm at him. The crack of its impact echoed through the air, like a bat striking a baseball. The sheer force of the blow sent Archie tumbling thirty meters, his body flung through the air.
Dazed, Archie quickly rolled into a crouch, locking his gaze onto the golem that had sent him flying. It was standing over the golem he had already killed, touching its upper torso. The dead golem’s body turned liquid, the molten material crawling across it before hardening once more. The golem's form expanded, growing even larger, now towering at six and a half meters.
[Igneous Golem Lv 78]
Ah, fuck! Archie thought, his eyes wide as he stared at the now much larger golem. He had to act quickly before the other golem joined the fight. The adrenaline that coursed through him started to increase in pace, funneling an increased amount of dopamine.
Archie kicked off the ground, flooding his body with more mana and stamina, activating Savage Charge. Clots of blood appeared across his body, veins bulging across his arms.
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He blurred toward the golem, jumping over a wide swipe and delivering a crushing punch to its solar plexus, sending it crashing into the grounded golem. Both golems tumbled to the ground, motionless, but Archie didn’t drop his guard. His eyes remained locked on them.
The golems began to turn liquid. Goosebumps prickled across Archie’s back. He immediately charged toward them, not wanting to give them time to merge.
Archie grabbed the surprisingly dense metallic liquid golems and hurled them into the lava pool, watching it sink. Archie stared at the pool, his adrenaline flowing even faster, seemingly warning Archie of danger approaching. Bubbles began to form at the center of the lava.
Suddenly, the pool erupted. Lava splashed everywhere, some landing on Archie’s armor, causing it to melt slightly. A massive figure landed in front of him, throwing a fist that launched him fifty meters away.
Archie righted himself midair, eyes locking onto the hulking golem.
[Igneous Golem Lv 80]
This is getting dangerous... Archie thought, bracing himself as he landed. The golem was nearly twenty levels above his race.
The golem slammed both arms into the ground, sending a shockwave outward. The explosion of air was followed by a line of massive earthen spikes that shot up from the earth, growing larger as they raced toward Archie.
Archie’s eyes widened as he dodged the spikes, maintaining his speed. He activated Savage Charge, pumping even more mana and stamina into his body. His veins bulged further as some blood vessels burst.
He slid under the golem’s wide swing, maintaining his momentum. Rolling smoothly, he charged at the golem. In a blur, he drew out an Effigy of Wrath from his spatial storage, snapping it with a mana string. His muscles swelled as a surge of power coursed through him. The feeling of rage didn’t come, it was overwhelmed by a bit of nervousness and overwhelming excitement.
Archie ducked under the golem’s guard and unleashed a flurry of punches, activating Relentless Flurry. Each strike created a concentrated spread of ice that hardened its semi-liquid skin.
The golem’s liquid form seemed to gain structure, forming elbows that allowed it to grab Archie, hurling him away. Time seemed to slow as Archie left the golem’s grasp, he mimed grabbing onto its arm as he slowly got further and further away.
A sharp spike of adrenaline surged through him, calming him down as he inched away from the golem’s extended arm.
Within that calm moment, a loud snap echoed in his mind.
A burst of deep green mana erupted from a place beside Archie’s heart. It flooded his body, rushing into his left arm, extending vines that latched onto the golem’s arm. Archie barely processed the shock before he yanked himself back toward the golem, deactivating and reactivating the vines around his arm.
A guttural roar erupted from him as he released another barrage of punches, his arms covered in a deep green hue overtaking the deep blue hue on his thorns and fists.
The thorns wedged themselves through the cracks of its hardened skin. With each punch, thorns dug into the cracks of the golem’s hardened skin, growing with each blow.
For the first time, the golem started to shake.
With a final surge of deep green mana, Archie drove his fists into the golem’s body, causing the thorns inside to explode in size. They erupted from every crack, and a massive thorn emerged from the molten hole in its face.
The golem went still.
Archie’s adrenaline high dropped suddenly, and exhaustion overwhelmed him. He barely caught himself before collapsing. His skills deactivated as he tried to catch his breath.
Gasping for breath, Archie grabbed his knees, blood dripping from small holes in his armor, sizzling as it hit the volcanic soil. He had boiled his own blood from supercharging Adrenaline Rush, using the effigy, and whatever the hell his bloodline had done to him.
His eyes widened as his brain caught up with what had just happened. He looked up at the golem, and to his surprise, a smile spread across his face—wider than he realized. I did it... I don’t know how, but I did it, he thought.
He looked at the notifications, breathlessly.
*[Igneous Golem Lv 75] has been slain – XP has been given. 900 Tutorial Points given*
Skill Evolution: [Thorns (Uncommon) → Thornscourge Expansion (Rare)]
Thornscourge Expansion (Rare):
You are able to conjure transparent vines atop your limbs, and when channeling mana into said vines, translucent thorns will emerge atop them. You are able to manipulate and rapidly extend the vines you have already conjured with a burst of nature mana. When striking a foe with Thornscourge Expansion active, bonus physical damage is dealt with every strike. When elemental mana is channeled through the vines, they gain bonus elemental effects. The damage of the thorns is proportional to the amount of mana imbued in them and the current elemental effects.
Skill Upgraded [Savage Charge (Uncommon → Rare)]
Savage Charge (Rare):
You charge with explosive speed, able to dodge incoming attacks while retaining momentum as you crash into a single target with devastating force. Upon impact, the strike deals significant damage the following attacks deal increased damage. Heavily touched by the records of Adrenaline Junkie. Maximum distance: Agi/2.
*[Igneous Golem Lv 80] has been slain – XP has been given. 1040 Tutorial Points given*
*Your Class has reached Lv 61– Points allocated, +4 Free Points*
*Your Class has reached Lv 62– Points allocated, +4 Free Points*
*Your Race has reached Lv 62– Points allocated, +3 Free Points*
“That deep green mana was nature-attuned mana?” Archie spoke aloud, with deep breaths. “I thought most of my mana was nature-attuned already. My Forgesmith’s Flame had tinges of green in it.” Confusion laced Archie’s tone.
Archie still felt the echoes of the nature-attuned mana across his fists. Archie channeled mana through them and noticed a crucial difference. When he normally channeled mana, his mana looked sky blue with tinges of green, but now the opposite occurred. His mana was now dyed deep green with tinges of blue.
Did I just unlock my nature-attuned mana? Archie questioned as he stared at his now deep green mana that covered his fists. But I thought I was already using it.
Archie looked at his reserves and kissed his teeth, he was low on mana and stamina.
Health: 3085/5002
Mana: 148/1694
Stamina: 382/4542
I need to find some place to recover, Archie thought looking around him. It was too dangerous to run back into the jungle and potentially get ambushed while he was low on mana and stamina.
Archie scanned the area nearby and noticed a tunnel connected to a flowing lava river. The tunnel featured two elevated paths running along its sides, resembling walkways. Molten lava coursed through the lowered central channel, spilling out of the volcano and onto the volcanic soil, forming a long, winding river that stretched across the rugged terrain of the volcanic area.
“That’s the only place where I see some shelter,” Archie said, as he gathered the cores from the crumbling remains of the golems.
The cores were similar to those of the Magma Hound, but at their center was a large indent that revealed an inner surface resembling the top of a miniature volcano.
Igneous Golem Elemental Core:
An elemental core from an E-Grade Igneous Golem retaining fragments of its records, left behind after its death. Within its fragmented records, lies the will of the Igneous Golem. Can be used for various forging and medium applications.
Archie grabbed the cores along with the top half of the large golem and stored them inside his spatial ring.
With his task complete, he made his way toward the tunnel, picking up pieces of Volthrinite crystals scattered along the riverbank. As he moved, Archie noticed Lava Slimes bobbing within the molten river, bouncing against one another as they flowed downstream. He felt a twinge of annoyance at their seemingly relaxed state but quickly dismissed it upon realizing they made no effort to get closer to him.
Archie stepped into the tunnel, where the lava flowing through the lowered central channel filled the space with a reddish-orange glow and the constant bubbling and gurgling of molten rock echoed around him.
He walked deeper until the entrance was out of sight, and no sign of any creatures appeared. Finding a spot, he sat down, activated Nature’s Meditation, and focused on replenishing his reserves.
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Archie exited Nature’s Meditation once he felt his reserves were full. Rising from the floor, he continued down the path. It made no sense for a normal tunnel to be this long; it had to lead to a dungeon.
As he walked, Archie grabbed the Cragforge ore hanging from the tunnel ceiling and stored it away in his spatial ring.
After twenty minutes of continuous walking, Archie finally spotted something that looked very out of place—a large door standing ominously at the end of the path.