The one thing he knew for sure was that good or bad, this 'Sixth Sense' as he'd started to call it, had been what led him to finding his Spell scrolls. Without which he no doubt would've long since joined the former owner of the Spell Scrolls in a long dirt-nap.
Just another pile of bones buried in the Sandstone Palace... Alan couldn't help but imagine himself as a pile of bones wearing boots. Yeah. Fuck that!! His determination grew. I DID find those Spell Scrolls, and I AM going to use them to make it out of here. Whatever this is that I'm feeling, it hasn't let me down so far..
At the insistence of his self-dubbed 'Sixth Sense' Alan chose the path to his right. A sudden sense of impending danger caused him to freeze and activate [Stealth]. Alan stood there still as stone, waiting with anticipation for whatever it was that alerted him.
With the harsh sound of stone grinding on stone, a ten foot section of the wall before him opened outwards, and two Golems led out of the new opening. Following in their wake, the Desert Naga slithered partially out of the large doorway and stared directly at Alan with her alien-looking, yet strangely soft humaniod features.
For just a moment, Alan was left stunned by her beauty. From the waist down, she appeared to be nothing more than a massive snake the color of sand and stone. However, everything above her waist left him unsure exactly what to think.
What IS she? Alan thought, having never seen anything like it. Though he had plenty of experience with goblins, who were somewhat Humanoid in appearance, there was a stark difference between the little green men and what stood before his eyes. The goblins, though roughly human shaped, were obviously monstrous little savages. Sharp teeth and claws, narrow pinched faces, and eyes full of malice. And if that weren't bad enough, add to it the goblins penchant to cook and eat any available Human, and it left no question to their vile nature.
Im totally lost now.. Is she one of the Dungeon Born? Is she some kind of weird hybrid alien species or something?! What in all of the Nine Hells is going on around here?
As his mind ran around in circles, he couldn't stop himself from studying the eerily majestic creature. Where the snake ended, an aquamarine-scaled humaniod torso began. A smooth scaleless stomach and ample, perky chest were laid completely bare, nestled between two thin, yet athletic-looking scaled arms. The polished blue scales ran down her ribs, and up her neck, stopping just above her jawline.
Alan watched on in confused admiration as she raised her left arm and ran her long, slender fingers through her braided silver hair. As she withdrew her hand, a flick of her wrist caused a fist-sized chunk of condensed sand to form mid-air. With a snap of her fingers, the stone zipped across the hall. Before Alan could react, her projectile struck him in the stomach.
Grunting in shock more than pain, before Alan's astonished eyes the Naga started to growl. She lifted her right arm in an unsuccessful attempt to cover her ample breasts and tossed an icy look in Alan's direction. Realizing he'd been openly staring at an undressed woman like a prepubescent teen, his face flashed hot. He swiftly averted his gaze, looking instead into her golden eyes. As his ears turned from pink to scarlet, he registered that her pupils were the vertical slits of a reptile.
For some reason Alan found himself feeling both embarrassed and ashamed of himself. Although the creature standing before him was so vastly different from anything he'd ever seen, he would be lying if he said he didn't find her to be the most stunning being he'd ever laid eyes on.
Although the lower half of the Mini-boss' body almost looked like sand and stone, she was nothing like the Flans or the Golem's. In comparison, the Sand Naga would be considered a masterful work of art, every detail laid down with flawless execution. While the others were the hapless creations of unsupervised children playing with mud.
"I'm s..so sorry.." Alan dumbly stammered. To his surprise, while he stood there stuttering like an idiot, she beamed a cautious smile and lifted her delicate left arm, waving at him casually as she retreated backward.
What the fuck just happened? Alan felt relief, and dismay in equal measures as he saw the the wall close up with another piercing shriek of grinding stones. The door closed, and the silence found him once again alone. Well, alone with two Lvl 10 Desert Golem's staring down at him.
"Who wants to die first?" Alan asked, confidently staring at the large beasts in open defiance. With a quick activation of [Dual-casting] and [Mana Regulation] he called forth a pair of [Wind Blade]s. The beasts bellowed in challenge, charging at Alan with fists raised. He stood his ground, grinning malevolently as his Spells swiftly formed before him.
He continued to pump excessive amounts of Mana into the translucent blades, watching them double, and then just as fast triple in size. At the same time he concentrated on the rapidly approaching Dungeon Born Monsters.
Alan waited until the very last second. When the Golems were less than ten feet away he released his Spells horizontally. The first blade was released three feet above the floor, the second one hovered four feet above the first. Now nearly quadruple their normal length and width, the shimmering blades of razor-sharp compressed air emitted a harsh roar. The blades tore deep grooves into the walls on both sides of the hall as they blasted toward their targets.
The first Golem in line was both decapitated and chopped in half at the thighs as the blades rushed through the narrow hallway. Still several feet behind the first Golem the remaining beast was left to witness the incapacitation of its comrade. In an attempt to avoid a similar fate and escape the looming threat of the approaching Spells, the Golem tried to evade the [Wind Blade]s by using its movement Skill.
At the last possible second the Golem decided to make a last ditch effort to retreat into the ground. Somehow it was just in time to slip under the blade that was about to lop its head off, only losing an inch of sand off the top in the process.
Although it was able to avoid the first [Wind Blade] it wasn't nearly as lucky with the second. While he saw it being chopped in half at the waist, Alan ran at the already double-cut Golem.
Remarkable! Your Spell (B)[Wind Blade] has grown to Level 3!
...
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Remarkable! Your Spell (B)[Wind Blade] has grown to Level 5! +1 Free Status Point!
Once he was within arms reach, Alan snatched up the Core. Its attempts to reform its body were rudely ended along with its life as Alan absorbed its Core into his Storage Ring.
Remarkable! You have defeated a Lvl 10 Desert Golem!
+12,288 Exp gained!
Remarkable! You have reached level 14! +30 free status points! Evolution to next Evolutionary Stage (F) is still available. You have 31 unallocated status points.
37,287 Exp to next Level!
By the time he reached the second golem, it had already regrown a pair of stubby baby legs. Because the beast failed to even attempt to use its movement Skill Alan assumed that it must be temporarily unable to do so. Perhaps it happened when he interrupted the Skill with [Wind Blade], or maybe it was something as basic as an inability to use the movement Skill without having adult-sized legs.
Either way, Alan got a running start and kicked the beast in its side. The blow lifted the golem up off the ground and shoved it several feet to the side. In a disappointing turn of events, aside from being flipped over onto its back, the beast seemed otherwise unharmed.
Reaching down, Alan placed his hand on the blue Core and willed it into his Storage Ring. To his relief it worked, and the beast crumbled away the instant the Beast Core was removed.
Remarkable! You have defeated a Lvl 10 Desert Golem!
+12,288 Exp gained!
So if I can get ahold of the blue stone in their heads, these damned Golems don't stand a chance! I wonder if I can put a living Scorpion in Storage? I'm pretty sure it'll probably die in the process, but it's definitely worth a shot.
Yet again left with a sticky blue hand, Alan got out his canteen and popped the top. Clamping the canteen in his armpit and leaning forward allowed water to spill from the canteen onto his hand. Alan washed up as best he could while grumbling about the difficulties of only having one arm. All finished with his cleaning, Alan took several Scorpion chunks from inventory and cast [Healing Fog].
He ate a hasty meal while his Stamina recovered, cracking off chunks of shell and popping flaky bits of meat into his mouth while staring numbly at his Statistics. With 31 unallocated Status Points ready to use, Alan already knew that 2 of them were going into Luck. Left with 29 points he placed two points into each of his other Stats.
Alan shrugged his shoulders and placed his remaining 7 Points into Luck.
As he started to feel the increase in Stats take effect, he waited with bated breath while secretly hoping that hitting 100 in his Luck Stat would provide some kind of a boost to the Stat. As he started to worry that nothing was going to happen, a notice finally materialized.
Remarkable! You have reached 100 Points in a single Stat! As the first denizen of the (Human) Tutorial to reach 100 Points in a single Stat you have aquired the Title Entry Level Adventurer!
Entry Level Adventurer- +3 All Stats
"Nothing to do with Luck huh.." Although he was a little bit let down that reaching 100 in Luck hadn't improved the Stat in any noticible way, Alan couldn't help but be excited about the new Title. +3 to all Stats equaled 36 free Status Points after all, more than he'd gained from his most recent Level Up. And that wasn't including his percentage bonuses.
I wonder if I'll get a Title for reaching 100 in all Stats too..? I'm not going to find out standing around here. It's time to move out.
Itching to get a move on, Alan packed up his leftovers along with his canteen and the shards of Scorpion Chitin. With a final glance around to ensure he hadn't forgotten anything, Alan scooped up the contents of the (Common) Loot boxes left behind by the defeated Golem's and roared in triumph upon viewing the contents. The chests held a combined 600 (Iron Grade) Lotus coins and 4 (Iron Grade) Tutorial Tokens, but that's not what had him all worked up.
Inside the first chest he found a pair of (Uncommon) Wasteland Tortoise Scale Pauldrons, and within the second chest awaited a set of (Uncommon) Wasteland Tortoise Scale Faulds!
Quick as thought Alan activated [Examine] and inspected their descriptions.
(Uncommon) Wasteland Tortoise Scale Pauldrons- High quality scale and shell pauldrons, painstakingly crafted from the remains of an Adult Wasteland Tortoise and Enchanted with both the Auto-cleanse and Self-repair Enchantments. +2 Constitution, +1 Agility.
Set bonus: +5 Constitution, +5 Vitality, +3 Agility, +2 Strength.
(Uncommon) Wasteland Tortoise Scale Faulds- High quality scale and shell Faulds with built in Tassets, painstakingly crafted from the remains of an Adult Wasteland Tortoise and Enchanted with both the Auto-cleanse and Self-repair Enchantments. +2 Constitution, +1 Agility.
Set bonus: +5 Constitution, +5 Vitality, +3 Agility, +2 Strength.
"That's more like it!!" With childlike glee, Alan stored his new armor, and then removed it from inventory. As he waited with barely contained excitement, his old Tutorial Pauldrons vanished from around his neck and were replaced with a beautiful pair of blue-scaled Pauldrons. In place of the dense leather covering, a thick plate of jet-black shell covered each of his shoulders and the upper portion of his back.
At the same time, his new Faulds locked into place around his waist with the attached Tassets hanging down over his upper-thighs. The Faulds attached seamlessly to his breastplate, and became a single long piece of impressive armor. The Faulds were comprised of a layer of blue scales covered with a protective layer of small tortoise shell segments. While the Tassets were basically large ovals of shell draped over his upper thighs, hanging nearly to his knees.
Now covered with an extra layer of protection, Alan was far more confident in facing whatever happened to come next. He continued to walk forward partially hidden under the effects of [Stealth], while paying close attention to his surroundings.
The path turned sharply to the right, and then again to the left. Alan carefully proceeded down a long, narrow corridor before coming to yet another left turn. Just around the corner he saw he now stood at the entrance to a large rectangular room. The walls and ceiling were the usual smooth sandstone, however Alan was unsure what to make of the alternating white and black marble tiles paving the floor. In his honest opinion it made the room seem like an oversized chess board. Five large spiraling obsidian pillars stretched from floor to ceiling. One was displayed proudly on a white tile in the center of the room, as well as one in each corner of the room
The pillars were masterfully carved with what Alan thought resembled a scene of death and what may lie beyond. The base of the columns resembled a pile of freshly shredded bodies. The scene depicted severed limbs and various chunks of wet-looking flesh stacked unceremoniously, seemingly unconcerned of who they once belonged to. Above the bodies, as if in a desperate flight from the brutal ending of their mortal shells, the souls of the recently deceased ascended up and around the pillar. At the end of their arduous journey, the damned souls could be seen ascending into the roof.
The look of fear and betrayal on the wailing faces of the dead were so life-like, that Alan swore he could almost hear their unanswered pleas for salvation. Within Alan, a small portion of their fury tried to establish roots but was instantly consumed by his greedy Emotional Stockpile.
*Unique*{Suit of Anger} Lvl 1 Current Emotional Stockpile: 42%
After minimizing his PSA Alan tore his gaze from the hideous pillars. He took notice of a large obsidian door that was set into the wall directly across the room. The door had also been carved with a lifelike image, though this one was much less complex to decipher.
Yet somehow the feeling of dread it instilled within him was unparalleled.