Perhaps the most frustrating part of the challenge, Wyatt realized, is he never gained experience after the fights. It had been a week since he started the final floor of the dungeon, attempting the challenge five or six times in a day before getting too tired to continue.
When he attempted the challenge, Wyatt had used a mix of all of his skills, even his runes, and never once did he level any of his skills on the fourth floor. He had used his rock spike well over a hundred times in total, and his earth magic remained firmly at level 12. He did not know what prevented him from leveling any of his skills while he was on the fourth floor, but he had leveled his rune magic and calligraphy skills both to level seven almost as soon as he began practicing them back in the tower.
Perhaps the error message in the challenge prevents me from gaining any levels when I’m down there, to prevent me from simply farming the challenge.
Whatever the reason, Wyatt needed to pass the challenge soon, as his supply of food was almost empty.
Wyatt had prepared as much of the meat he could, but most of the creatures he had killed in this dungeon were already rotting corpses, and he had to spend the fourth day just cleaning them up, so he didn’t have to hold his nose when he passed them every day. Wyatt had tried to kill whatever creatures were in the water, but he found that they were just too strong when in their own element, and beyond his reach from above the water.
The only way forward, Wyatt knew, was to finish the challenge. Wyatt had formulated a strategy based on the attempts of the past week, and he knew he would have to succeed today, or he would die in this dungeon.
Wyatt sent his troops on the offensive as soon as the battle commenced. He led the charge from the front, using his wind magic to push whole groups of the enemy forces as they advanced, and his soldiers moved in for the kill before they could stand.
Even without leveling his staff mastery, Wyatt had become more deadly with the weapon over the course of the battles, and he showed just how much he had advanced in this battle. Enemy after enemy fell to him and his forces, as he pushed into the enemy line, intent on killing the general.
His forces pushed, his archers taking out the enemies as often as they could. When their arrows ran dry, Wyatt had them join the battle, pushing the fighters from behind and keeping the momentum from slowing.
With his mana dwindling, Wyatt knew he was as close as he could get to the enemy general. With one final build of his earth magic, he launched himself at his target. The general stood from his throne as Wyatt fell upon him and met the mages staff with a swing of his sword.
Wyatt did not know how the soldiers around him would react, but he knew he had little time. He attacked the enemy general with reckless abandon, focusing all of his efforts on offense. The enemy’s sword cut him deep in several places, but he traded blow for blow as he attacked again and again.
The sound of battle around him faded, and he knew only his target. Wyatt attacked relentlessly, forcing the swordsman into a defensive stance, not allowing him even a moment to retaliate.
The mage raised his staff as the general fell to a knee and brought his staff down to strike the man’s head.
It didn’t connect.
The sound of stone on steel rang out as his blow met the sword of one of the soldiers.
“NO!” Wyatt growled, as more soldiers ascended the steps to the throne, and forced him away from their commander. As they circled him, Wyatt saw that all of his forces had been slain, and already the soldiers were at the pedestal on the far side of the room.
Then, they faded to smoke.
Wyatt fell to his knees. His strength was spent, and he was out of ideas. This dungeon was meant for more than just one human, and this battle was proof that there should have been others with him, that fighting alone would not be enough.
Wyatt walked slowly back to the exit, having decided to return to the tower. He did not know how long it would take for him to starve, or if there was any way out of the dungeon. The quest he received when he entered said the exit would be unlocked only when he completed the dungeon.
Wyatt stopped before the stairs leading out of the fourth floor. He turned his back on the exit one final time, thinking hard about the challenge. He walked to the pedestal, and placed a hand upon it, opening the challenge menu again.
New Quest:
Final Challenge
Conditions:
Prevent the enemy from acquiring the woman
Rewards:
Completion of the quest Dungeon of the Earth Lord
Description:
The woman before you holds within her an immense power. The enemy general wishes to use her power to destroy your people. You must prevent his forces from retrieving their prize.
Wyatt stared long at the quest. He read it over and over. He looked at his resource pools. All three were nearing empty, but his mana was at 30, giving him time for one more spell.
Wyatt selected Yes to start the battle one last time.
His soldiers appeared before him, and he looked at them. They were human, or the images of humans. Wyatt took comfort in their faces, in not being alone. They never spoke except to shout as they attacked, but Wyatt took this time to speak to them.
“My name is Wyatt. I am the last of the humans of Earth. I know there was little I could have done to save you, but still,” Wyatt’s throat caught, and he swallowed before continuing. “I still can’t help but feel like I failed all of you. There should have been someone else standing here. Someone strong, someone like Angela. Not me.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Wyatt turned to face the approaching army. They were close now, nearing the point that they would start their charge.
“It should not have been me here, standing as the final human alive.” Wyatt looked up at the woman, her scared eyes looking down at him, reflecting the helplessness he felt.
The enemy began their charge.
“I am sorry,” Wyatt whispered at the girl, as he conjured his Rock Spike again. He did not look away from her eyes, as he cast the spell.
Everything faded to smoke. Only the girl in the cage remained, a spike of stone stuck in her chest.
Quest Complete:
Final Challenge
Conditions:
Prevent the enemy from acquiring the woman (Complete)
Rewards:
Completion of the quest Dungeon of the Earth Lord
Description:
The woman has been slain, denying the enemy the weapon they desired.
Wyatt knew the woman wasn’t real, but the pain he felt in his heart at what he was forced to do was. Tears formed in his eyes as he stared into hers. Wyatt knew this had to be done, sacrificing her pretend life for his own.
The rationalization somehow did nothing to relieve the pressure in Wyatt’s chest as it threatened to bring him to his knees. This apparition wasn’t real, but the illusion was a powerful one, forcing Wyatt to face the grim reality of his actions thus far. He gasped for air, unable to look away from the grisly scene of the woman as she died before him.
Finally, the woman turned to smoke as the room around him began to fade. Wyatt looked up at the fake sun and watched it dim into nothing, bathing the lone human in perfect darkness.
When the light returned, Wyatt stood in another of the circular mural rooms. There was only one image: the face of a man wearing a crown. The rest of the wall was blank, and Wyatt didn’t know what that meant. Perhaps it would fill itself in later as he continued on his quest for vengeance. Maybe it symbolized the end of the history of humankind that would or could be made.
Looking back to the start of the mural, it took Wyatt several moments to recognize his own face. He brought his hand up to his jaw, feeling the hair that had grown from long months without a razor. His hand drifted to his head, surprising him when it touched something metal.
A crown?
Wyatt tried to take the crown off but found that it would not move. No matter what he tried, the crown was stuck to his head. Wyatt tried to use analyze, but without being able to see the object, he received no information.
Wyatt opened his notifications.
Quest Complete:
Dungeon of the Earth Lord
Conditions:
Clear all challenges to awaken the Earth Lord (Complete)
Rewards:
Experience, Title, Crown of the Earth Lord
Description:
The Lord of Earth has emerged, long live the king.
Your class has leveled up: Mage – Level 16
You have gained Attribute Points
New title unlocked:
Human King
Title:
Human King
Description:
You have endured the trials of the Dungeon of the Earth Lord and have been deemed worthy to lead the denizens of Earth. This title grants a 5% increase to willpower and charisma.
The irony of being king of humans was not lost on Wyatt, and he pushed the thought from his mind, choosing to focus on the increase to his attributes instead. He decided to place the points from his level now, putting two into intelligence and willpower each, and one more into toughness.
Closing his status page, Wyatt turned to the stairs leading up. He was not surprised when he couldn’t find any stairs leading down and left the circular room.
To Wyatt’s surprise, when he entered the mural room for the third floor, he saw another set of stairs leading up. There was no other door in the room, indicating the change in the dungeon layout.
Wyatt ascended the stairs until he reached the ground floor of the tower. Immediately, Wyatt saw three major changes to the room. The first were the thin openings along the curved wall in the room, reminding him of the small windows built into ancient castles for shooting arrows out at defenders. The light that shone through the arrow slits was a welcome sight, making the room light up much more than the mere torchlight before.
The next thing Wyatt had seen in the room was the pedestal in the wall opposite of the front entrance. It was a simple wooden structure about waist high pressed against the wall, with a slanted surface facing the center of the room.
The third change to the first floor of Wyatt’s tower was the large circular symbol along the floor. It took up almost the entire floor, with only a few feet between the outer edge and the wall. The symbol itself seemed to be stained into the floor, with a color only slightly different from the surrounding stone. The symbol almost reminded Wyatt of a rune, but it was one he had never seen before, and he sketched it onto a piece of paper.
The room brought back memories that Wyatt did not want to think about, so he decided to turn his attention away from the mysterious changes as he walked up to the third floor, where his study was located.
This floor – and the training room floor below it – had the same arrow slits built into the wall as the first floor. There had not been any other changes to these two floors.
When he went to the closest of the thin windows, Wyatt expected to see the elves camped outside. What he saw instead were trees. The mad flight from their pursuers didn’t give Wyatt much time to examine their surroundings, but his intelligence attribute was high enough that he would at least know if the sight was familiar.
Perhaps the dungeon location moved?
Before he left, Wyatt decided to add the spices from the cupboard to his cloak storage. As he did, he noticed the large barrel of water, still over half full even after months of drinking from it. Wyatt took off his cloak and draped it over the barrel. The cloak sank to the floor as it was added to the storage space, draining a good chunk of his mana in the process. Wyatt smiled, deciding he would have to add a few other items too. He didn’t know if he would ever return to the tower.
Wyatt added the couch, a few chairs, the desk, and the bookshelves to his inventory, as well. Then, he went upstairs and added a bed and a few of the chests, one of which he filled with extra pillows and blankets. He wasn’t sure how much space his storage had, but until it stopped allowing him to add anything, he could continue to do so.
The process took several hours, as the larger furniture drained a good deal of mana, and he had to wait for his mana to recharge more than once. He wouldn’t complain, as this gave him a good chance to nap and recover.
While he was on the fourth floor of the tower, he noticed the stairs that ringed the outside of each floor continued up wards. Looking towards the top of the tower, Wyatt noticed that it ended abruptly at a ladder, which lead to a trapdoor above it.
Roof access, Wyatt thought.
When he was certain he got everything that he needed, Wyatt went to the stairs leading up to the roof. He stood staring at the trapdoor for several minutes. Light filled the stairs from thin windows that weren’t there the day before. Finally ready to leave, the new king climbed the ladder and pushed open the trapdoor, pulling himself into the light.