Although he tried to [Examine] the Golem, Alan's Skill failed to activate in time. Before he ever got a chance to access the beasts information, it sank back into the floor. His [Spectral Firebolt] arrived a heartbeat too late, hitting nothing but air, passing just inches above the Golem's head. Hoping his self-dubbed 'Mana Vision' would be of help in locating this evasive beast, he activated [Mana perception] while keeping a close eye on his surroundings.
In hopes of drawing the beast out Alan turned around and continued walking towards the end of the hall, leaving his back seemingly unguarded while carefully monitoring the sand floor around him for any kind of change. Not even sure what it was he was looking for, Alan discreetly searched the room while he hoped for Something to stand out.
Without giving any type of warning, the Golem made a sudden appearance next to his legs, within the boundaries of [Aqua Shield]. Perhaps as a means of self-defense, or perhaps it was merely blocked off by the translucent barrier, but only the top half of its body was visible, the rest having remained submerged beneath the sand. The beast latched onto Alan's Staff with its left arm and began trying to wrestle it from his grasp. Momentarily on the back foot, Alan was distracted by the Golem's attempted theft of his weapon. Sensing an opening, the Golem's right arm dropped low and started to pummel him with powerful hooks.
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[How to Take a Punch] has grown to Level 2!
Surprised by the intrusion within his barrier, Alan continued to dumbly yank back on his Staff in a pitiful attempt to free the weapon.
What the hell am I doing?! Alan wondered, forced to take a step back under an onslaught of heavy blows. Nearly as surprising as the intrusion of his barrier was the lack of force behind the Golem's punches. The last time he'd been on the receiving end of a Desert Golem's attack, he had literally been sent flying across the room.
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[How to Take a Punch] has grown to Level 3!
Alan was starting to recognise just how far he'd grown within the Sandstone Palace. Though it had been utter Hell, his body and mind were being reforged in the chaos. As his surprise quickly turned to annoyance, Alan braced his legs and pushed his staff forward, using his adversaries own momentum against it.
Staff clenched tightly within his grasp, Alan's stabilized fist slammed into the Golem's Core, and the beast's defenses were immediately proven insufficient. The force of his punch ripped the beast up out of the ground and pinned it to the inside of Alan's barrier.
Caught between Alan's mighty punch, the Warlockwood Staff, and the inner wall of [Aqua Shield], the Core within the Golem's head had no choice but to shatter under the pressure. Continuing unobstructed, Alans fist-full of staff passed through the back of its head in an explosive spray of sand and turquoise fluid, destroying his already damaged barrier on the way out.
Remarkable! You have defeated a Lvl 9 Desert Golem!
+6144 Exp gained!
As Alan dismissed his kill notice amid a rush of Experience, the Golem's body collapsed to the ground. He felt satisfied knowing it was now nothing more than a lifeless pile of sand to be reabsorbed into the dungeon. For killing the beast he was given a (Common) loot box containing 300 (Iron Grade) Lotus coins and two (Iron Grade) Tutorial Tokens.
It was a lucky punch, but Gods DAMN it was powerful! What the Hells happened to my body when I reached 50 in all Stats? If Stats are actually what increased my physical abilities by so much, I really wonder what improvements Evolution will bring...
Raising his Staff and peering at his fist, Alan couldn't help but be stunned by the vast increase in his power. The first Desert Golem he'd come across had easily overwhelmed him, nearly suffocating him in its mighty grasp. Only the instinctual casting of [Shocking Water Cannon] combined with his [Shock Resistance] Skill had allowed for him to narrowly defeat the beast.
Once he had stored his loot, Alan walked the short distance to the end of the corridor where he saw three Corrosive Scorpions awaiting him at another dead end. [Examine] placed all three at Level 9.
Alan warily crept forward a few steps in order to get a better view of the situation. As he held onto his Spells, It seemed to Alan that the large teal bugs were wandering around aimlessly, pincers clacking noisily as they opened and closed in a threatening display. After a few minutes of watching them saunter back and forth, he started to notice a pattern.
The scorpions tended to stay separate as they circled around the small dead end, yet every sixth rotation, the beasts all gathered up at the entrance of their small room.
Already knowing better than to get too close, Alan activated [Stealth], [Double-casting] and [Mana Regulation] and then began calling up two [Spectral Firebolt]s.
Sensing the perfect opportunity to kill three bugs with one Spell, Alan began adding more Mana into his fully-formed [Spectral Firebolt]s, charging them with so much extra Mana they shuddered uncontrollably. Before they could detonate in his face, Alan released hold of the Spells.
Just as he planned, the scorpions finished the sixth lap around the room and made their way to the entrance just in time to be incinerated by the unstable bolts of green flame. The Spells hit the floor between the scorpions and exploded in a temperamental fit of fiery rage, which engulfed the bugs along with the entire entryway in a wall of Daemonfire and liquified sand.
Waves of ghostly green flames rolled across their exoskeletons. Under the extreme temperature, the scorpions began to glow red-hot. Teal chitin first warped, and then started to crack, revealing the delicate, flaky meat it was meant to protect. Screeching as their insides cooked, it took less than a minute for the beasts to become nothing more than ashes dancing in the air, providing him with a small burst of Experience. Insatiable, his over-charged flames relentlessly consumed the sand in the area, as well as destroying the rising loot boxes.
(3x) Remarkable! You have defeated a Lvl 9 Corrosive Stout Tail Scorpion!
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+768 Exp gained!
+2304 Total Exp gained!
Remarkable! Your Skill (B)[Stealth] has grown to Level 2!
Alan was helpless to do anything else but watch in dismay as his treasure melted and was swiftly being reabsorbed into the floor. "Dammit! I must've used too much Mana!" Smacking his forehead in disbelief, he turned away from his ruined loot with disgust obvious on his features. Alan made his way back to the 3-way split and chose to take the right-hand pathway this time.
When he entered into this new hall, Alan was greeted with an unexpected notification.
Remarkable! Your Skill (U)[Steady Hand of the Cartographer] has grown to Level 2!
Pulling up his Mini-map Alan saw that he'd explored a little over 30% of the first floor. However a glance at his Quests tab shows he's defeated (75/100) enemies.
Alan's blue eyes shone with determination and a smile spread from ear to ear. Through all of the torture, humiliation, and self doubt, and regardless of what was yet to come, Alan had begun to feel as if he were actually making progress towards his actual goal.
Becoming strong enough that he could not only protect himself and his brother, and carving out a place in the multiverse where they could thrive. That tiny bit of positivity provided him with a much needed emotional boost, raising his spirits in the process of getting his heart pumping faster with anticipation. He glanced nervously at the progress of his Emotional Stockpile and took solace in the fact it had barely increased.
*Unique*{Suit of Anger} Lvl 1 Current Emotional Stockpile: 3%
With a wary eye on everything, Alan crept forward under the effects of [Stealth]. The short corridor turned once before it led him into another dead end. At first glance, Alan hadn't seen anything worth his attention, but as he turned around to leave, a slight movement in the corner of his eye brought him to a sudden stop.
Alan spun back around, calling up [Water Shield] as he faced the room he had just been sure was empty. A commotion under the sand caught his eye. It was almost as if large fish were swimming laps just beneath the surface. He tried to use [Examine] on the unseen creature(s?) but his efforts were rewarded with nothing more than another [Examine] failed notice.
He had no idea what was disturbing the ground and wasn't about to casually walk up and ask. Instead Alan removed a handful of Trail Mix from inventory and threw it underhanded into the wall at the end of the passageway. Before the rations left his hand he was activating [Dual-casting], and conjuring up another round of [Spectral Firebolt]s.
Since he had no desire to chance ruining yet another round of loot boxes, Alan held off on [Mana Regulation]. Opting to simply cast his Spells in their basic, far less powerful forms.
The random nuts and raisins rebounded off the surface of the smooth sandstone wall with a slight Click that echoed out strangely through the narrow passage.
The second his handful of tossed snacks touched the ground, four Corrosive Scorpions burst out of the sand with unexpected quickness. In their haste to attack, the beasts rammed themselves head first into the stone wall. Alan unintentionally cringed at the sickening crunch of insect bodies breaking and Activated [Examine], sparing a glance at the miniscule amount information provided by his nearly worthless Skill.
Lvl 9 Corrosive Stout Tail Scorpion Hp: 297/370
As the large bugs hit the solid surface at full speed, the Scorpion on the far left released a blast of putrid grey acid. Alan leaned forward in excitement when it splattered across the wall, dousing its companions in caustic poo as they struggled to stand up. Alan's shoulders slumped, and he sighed in disappointment when the acidic grey ooze failed to cause even the slightest damage to the now shakily standing scorpions.
I should've seen that coming...
"Why am I the only one that gets melted around here..." Alan complained, unleashing the normal [Spectral Firebolt]s. He took several steps back and watched the Firebolts blast forward into the center of the pack of dazed insects and burst apart. Unable to react, let alone avoid the oncoming beams of flame, the two Scorpions in the middle were killed instantly, blown into chunks under the onslaught of Alan's Spectral flames.
Alan dismissed his active Skills and viewed the scene without remorse. A trickle of Experience flowed into him, and incoming notifications were promptly dismissed.
Just outside of the kill zone, the remaining two scorpions had been ravaged by the shrapnel of their kin, and tossed carelessly to either side. Though not outright killed, the force of the detonations had dashed them against the outer walls, snapping several of their thin insect legs upon impact. As the beasts crumpled to the floor, Alan unsheathed his Basilisk Fang and threw it at the the scorpion on the right. As his blade spun end over end, he lifted his Staff and charged the flailing bug to his left.
The Basilisk Fang slammed into its target, penetrating through its abdomen and pinning the already stunned scorpion to the floor. At the same time, Alan arrived before his prey. With his Staff held high, he stomped down on the acid-launching tail, crushing the dangerous appendage to the floor as he flipped the Staff over and drove its jewel-embedded tip deep into the scorpion's abdomen.
Lifting the Staff, and slamming it down avoiding the erratically clicking pincers. Repeatedly, Alan pummeled the scorpion, cracking open its tough shell and thoroughly smashing its internal organs. Experience continued to trickle in, but Alan couldn't seem to get himself to stop. Howling in rage, Alan vented every last ounce of his pent up frustration upon the unlucky arachnid. Multiple times he felt the soothing effect of his emotions being stockpiled, but his rage grew faster than it could be contained.
Only when he was unable to lift his Staff did Alan finally cease his pain-filled scream. With tears streaming down his face, he gazed down at the unrecognizable mess beneath him. All that remained of the scorpion were chunks of pulped meat driven deep into the sand, and ichor splattered across the front of his armor.
The Dungeon was already hard at work cleaning up the corpse, and a (Basic) Loot Box was his reward. Only once his reward box fully manifested did Alan notice the other scorpion had already died. His Basilisk Fang still remained sunk hilt-deep into the sand, sitting next to another (Basic) loot box. He saw there were also two more loot boxes sitting on the ground where the first two scorpions met their swift end.
With notifications flashing angrily, Alan opened them all up, if only to make them go away. As he read through the notices Alan opened the Loot boxes and collected a total of 1000 (Copper Grade) Lotus coins and 4 (Copper Grade) Tutorial Tokens.
(x4) Remarkable! You have defeated a Lvl 9 Corrosive Stout Tail Scorpion! +768 Exp gained!
+3072 Total Exp gained!
Remarkable! Due to your modest capabilities with misusing magical artifacts you have gained the (Basic) Skill [Staff Utilization]!
(B)[Staff Utilization] Lvl 1- This passive Skill provides a slight increase to comprehension of Staff usage and damage slightly increases dealt when using a Staff.
Comprehension and damage increase with Skill level.
Alan was in desperate need of an outlet for his boiling anger. Fury burned in the core of his being, and he sensed his Emotional Stockpile struggling to keep up. A look at his PSA showed it was charging at an unprecedented rate.
*Unique*{Suit of Anger} Lvl 1 Current Emotional Stockpile: 24%
Alan cracked his neck and strode purposefully back to where he recently fought his second Desert Golem. His left eye twitched as he studied the pathway to his left, which also happened to be the final unexplored hallway remaining to him. He knew he needed to blow off some steam, and fast.
Not even bothering to activate any Skills, Alan sprinted forward in a desperate search for a fight. As he ran headlong around the very first corner, he located what he'd been looking for.