The door was absolutely magnificent. Tall, wide metallic barrier full of intricate designs and carvings, a story of wealth and power with a blend of arrays integrated just beneath the surface.

I picked up my cut-off hand and put it back in place. It healed instantly.

“This place is dangerous.” Sonic frowned. I noticed they were keeping back and giving me space.

[I would be worried if there were no traps. A place like this does not remain standing for such a long time without a good reason.] I said. Ancient ruins survived either because they were difficult to discover, or because they killed the explorers. Considering the place was on the surface, easy to find, and the stairs rose back up, closing the entrance, I considered the place the latter.

I focused back on the door, looking for a clue to open it. There were no handholds or a doorknob, just a carved surface that shimmered in the dark.

[There goes nothing…] I placed body my hands on the door, and instead of getting cut off, I saw my flesh disintegrating. It didn’t even hurt. If I hadn’t been paying attention and tried to put my weight behind it to push the door, I would have fallen forward and turned to dust. Maybe.

I pulled back and looked at my stumps.

“Okay, that’s just creepy. Are you alright?” Naran asked.

[No… This bastard just took 0.7% of my body mass!] I kicked the door and my foot turned to dust. [Never mind, that’s 1.5% now.]

All three regenerated in a moment, and I grew even larger, letting the Qi flow through me to enhance my body. Instead of strength or defense, I focused on the stability of my cells and energy. I took a few moments to sink my mind deep and took over the Qi flowing through me. I coated my entire body with it, pushing the concentration so high, I could barely move. An entire Soul's worth of energy flowed through my Dragon Veins, enhanced by all kinds of arcane metals and bloodlines.

I turned, took a step forward, and touched the door with my finger. The reaction was not immediate like before. The tip of my finger began to fall apart and my skin turned to dust, but it was slow. Much slower than before. I could actually touch the damn metal unlike before.

With a victorious grin, I pushed up my regeneration, poured even more energy into my hands, and then really put my back into it, pushing the door.

I growled as my muscles flexed and bulged, and the door began to move. Millimeter by millimeter they opened inward as dust continued to fall from my hands.

[Come on you stupid thing! Open!] I roared and transformed, growing even larger, with fiery wings, claws, and scales.

I took nearly the entire bottom of the stairs, even though the place was quite large. The other four huddled together as I pushed with all my might and managed to just barely push the doors open and for a crack. Light came from beyond the door, gentle and cold, and with a final body slam, there was just barely enough room for a person to squeeze through.

I huffed and reverted my transformation, growing smaller.

The group of Cultivators approached as I tested my new fingers.

[Almost 3% damn it.]

“Sorry about that. We really couldn’t have done it without you.” Sonic bowed.

[Eh…. Don’t worry about it.] I waved my hand. [I’m getting my investment back one way or another. If nothing else, I’m taking this door with me.]

There were a few chuckles at that, but they quickly quieted down when people saw I was being serious. I mean, what were they thinking? The entire door was made out of a metal that began with a C! And no, it was not copper!

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

[Let’s go. There should be enough room to squeeze through. Be careful not to touch the door though. I somehow doubt you can regrow your body like I can.]

“We will be careful.” Irit affirmed.

[Well then… After you.] I gestured.

“Um… Thank you.” The man said quietly and looked at the opening. He nervously gulped and then kept his body rigid as he slowly shuffled through.

“Irit! Are you alright there?” Sonic shouted after him after he disappeared from our senses.

“Yeah, I’m fine!” The man shouted back. “Man, this place is huge!”

The other three quickly followed, squeezing themselves through the opening, and I followed behind them.

I noted the door soundlessly closed behind me as soon as I stepped through. The back side was perfectly smooth, so there was no way to open them from there and that made me frown. No way to move back it seemed. The place was forcing us forward.

“Woah… Look at this place.”

The room we found ourselves in was massive. It was a long hallway, with statues along the edges, each of which was around ten meters tall and carried a weapon.

I carefully looked at each of them from where we stood near the entrance. Twin curved blades. Daggers held in a reverse grip. A sword and shield. A longsword. A curved stick that looked suspiciously like a bow without a string. A greatsword nearly three times my size. A spiked club and a mace. Handheld claws like that of a certain regenerating superhero.

And yet more statues were further down the line, some of them holding things I had not even seen before. Each of them was covered in plates of armor that did nothing to hide their metal bodies. I felt my mouth salivate simply by looking at their shiny exterior.

Each of them stood on a slightly raised platform, and I noticed some of them were scratched and chipped on the corners. Other than that, the place was pristine. The ceiling glowed with a gentle light. Not even a speck of dust anywhere.

Then, while awed by the view, we heard the sound of a horn. A long, deep, rumbling sound that made the entire place vibrate. Then, at the far end of the hallway, a giant string of golden lights lit up. I recognized it immediately. High Elven numerals. And they were counting down.

“Watch out!” Sonic shouted, and I felt my body get slammed into as he tackled me to the ground. An instant later, a massive blade slammed into the floor where I had been a moment prior.

The statue nearest to the door had come to life. The platform beneath it began to glow, and the massive metal warrior took a step down. It was preparing for another swing, that time aimed at the others.

[Get back!] I roared and transformed, growing to nearly twice the size of the statue. I would have grown more, but there was not enough space. I slammed into it and nearly bounced off. The thing didn’t even budge!

Its sword continued on its path, narrowly missing Ruth as the woman rolled off to the side.

“Stay away from it!” Sonic ordered, and the others didn’t have to be told twice. They split up, running as far away as they could without coming closer to any of the other statues. For all we knew, they would come alive as soon as anyone came close.

The metal warrior moved, pushing me to the side as it prepared for the next swing. I growled and released my shackles on gravity. Instantly I felt the weight of my body press on me, and for the first time in a while, I felt my true power. My muscles flexed under the strain, yet with the extra weight, the power I could exert was amplified a hundredfold.

I roared and struck the giant again, nearly knocking it over with a simple blow, and making its swing miss. I pounced on it, beating and tearing at its armor, but my blows simply glanced off ineffectually as the runes on it began to glow.

While trying to tear it apart, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and looked down to see the blade had pierced through me. It then moved, carving through my flesh like it was a piece of rotten wood and not the ultimate Spirit Body.

I roared, and as the wounds began to heal, I gripped the head of my foe and blasted it with my ultimate ability, the Arcane Blaze. Energy poured out of my eyes in two thin beams, burrowing into its metal eyes, and carving it up piece by piece.

Even as the pure energy flames pierced all the way through, my foe still remained just as vigorous and aggressive in its attacks. The head was not a weak point. I consumed a Soul and triggered a Disruption, the strongest one yet, but the metal giant didn’t seem to care. Its blade pierced my chin from the bottom but failed to penetrate my indestructible bones.

I slapped its hands away and then grabbed it, cutting off the blade at the handle with my beams, and melted its hands together. Next, I did the same with its feet, and slammed it into the ground, with me on top of it. I then began carving up its body, piece by piece, until it finally stopped moving.

I sat there, in a pile of scrap metal and molten slag, breathing heavily as my Qi worked its way through my body, healing the exhaustion. Why was I breathing if I didn’t need air? I don’t know, I just was. The fight was exhausting. That’s when I heard a second horn, and the statue with twin curved blades stepped off the platform. It turned to look at me.

[Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me. This place is Hell.]

I stood up, consumed another Soul, letting its power flow through me, and boosted my body. The statue moved. It was fast.

[Come at me then!] I roared and transformed into my beastly form. My claws grew just as long as its blades. [I’ll tear you all to pieces!]