Chapter 51

Giant

We make our way back to the previous chamber and take the upward path. All along the way, we see more and more crystals. It's little surprise what we see when we reach the next chamber, then.

Little surprise, but still breathtaking.

We must be near the dungeon's core now. Crystals are growing upon crystals are growing upon crystals in this chamber. Crystals are jutting up from the ground like violent stalagmites. Crystals are hanging from crystals from the ceiling, like stalactites that might fall at the slightest provocation.

"There's another adventurer." Ayre notices the body first, this one the first dwarf I've seen since coming to this world. "And this one still has his head. Pierced through by--"

KABLAM

"REMMI!"

Crystals piercing the skull or no, my vigilance is immediately vindicated by a notice for points as I double-tap the corpse. But the report still hasn't faded when Ayre's screech fills the air beside it ... followed by a rumble in the walls.

Instead of telling Ayre about the zombie, I'm grabbing her by the arm and running for the tunnel we came through. "Back the way we came! It's coming down!"

Pieces are already falling, and we started halfway across the chamber. Terrified we're not going to make it as the rate of collapse increases, I give up dragging the elf alongside me, grab Ayre up in a princess carry and mentally slap the button for Empower.

Ayre's scream is barely audible over the crashing of crystal as I take us diving into the tunnel.

We cover our heads with our backs to the cavern until the crystalline roar subsides. When it finally does and I look to Ayre to apologize for grabbing him up, he's instead looking into empty space.

"... I got points for killing half a dozen zombies."

"Yeah," I confirm. "That one I shot was a zombie, too. They were probably supposed to ambush us."

At that, Ayre gives a pouting scowl and whacks my chest with the back of his fist. "You have to start warning me before you do something like that! How do you not realize how loud that thing is?!"

I can't come up with anything but a shrug. "It just doesn't bother me. Probably a class feature. Back home, we'd normally use hearing protection, but I haven't needed it since I've been here. Sorry, Ayre, I'll try to be more mindful. I just didn't want it jumping up and getting you."

The elf sighs at that, crossing arms. "How did you even know it was a zombie? It was impaled!"

"I didn't," I admit with a roll of my shoulders. "But this dungeon is trying to be undead-themed, and the last corpse we found tried to barbecue us. I figured a little proactivity couldn't hurt."

"I'll admit, it seems to have paid off." Ayre dusts his thighs off - keeping knees together, I note - as he stands. "It left us with another problem, though."

I turn my attention to the cavern we just made our rapid exit from, as well, now blocked by crystal wreckage. And then an idea occurs to me.

"Hey, these crystals aren't part of the structure anymore, right?"

I go up to the blockage and place my hand against the crystals, but frown as I pull up Identify.

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ARCANE CRYSTAL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though known for its luminescent

beauty, this crystal is contaminated by

corrupted energies, greatly decreasing

its value for crafting, enchanting or as

a precious gem.

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Ayre comes up beside me. "You aren't still hung up on those earrings, are you? Glowing earrings are kind of kitsch, don't you think?"

Well, if Ayre says it, it must be true. There goes that idea. "Actually, I was thinking they're items now. Items I can collect into an infinite pocket space."

The archer's face lights up at that. "Oh, good thinking! And are they?"

"Yes, but they're contaminated. I'll need to purify them first. I don't want to put whatever the corruption is directly within an essence construct, that sounds bad for everyone."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Ayre shares my frown at that and nods in agreement. "Yes, that does sound like a recipe for disaster. Just let me stand clear."

Once Ayre relocates further back up the tunnel, I turn my attention to the mass of crystals before me. So far, the holy rounds have been effective against everything in here, so I load a fresh magazine of those in.

"Now here's hoping I don't just destroy them all," I mutter.

An aura of energy erupts around me as I activate Empower again, then another around my gun as I activate Spiral Shot. I have a feeling the penetration will be essential here.

"Here goes! Purification Cannon!"

This time, the light is a golden tornado of energy pouring out from the barrel of my gun and drilling into the crystals ahead of me. Their light rapidly escalates in response until all I can do is keep my gun aimed steady, because I can no longer see anything.

I vaguely hear Ayre calling my name as my attack fades but the light is slower to do so.

"I might have flash-banged myself," I shout back, unsure if it's necessary to do so. "I can't see a thing! Can you?!"

I can feel more than see Ayre coming up behind me, the elf's voice much clearer. "Cover your eyes, you idiot! It's the crystals, you're just staring at them!"

I try that, and though I'm still getting serious sun spots, the light decreases substantially. "Oh, thank goodness, I thought I'd gone blind."

"Blindness would be darkness, Remmi."

"Right ... You know what I mean ..."

Gradually, the light of the crystals fades to a new normal. It's still awfully bright with so many of them, but we can actually make them out again.

And the description has changed.

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ARCANE CRYSTAL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This luminescent gemstone has been

Purified by the light of a Hero and

charged to bursting with Holy energy.

This Purified Holy Arcane Crystal is

highly valued for crafting and

enchanting Blessed equipment, and is

often worn as ornamentation by high-

ranking members of the priesthood.

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My grin splits my face. "Jackpot!" And the glow brightens again before we're left in relative darkness as all of the purified crystal gets grabbed by Auto-Loot and shunted into extradimensional storage.

Immediately, another pop-up appears that makes me grin even more.

Because I technically just successfully looted more than I can carry, I got the passive skill Strong Back, which doubles my lifting and carrying capacity. Apparently, all of that crystal is worth a whole lot, too, because I got a second passive for collecting over a hundred bars worth of total loot, Keen Eye, which increases my luck at finding more valuable treasure. This system really is too generous.

And then there's the third notification.

"We just dropped the Arcana Level by three ranks?!" Ayre gasps.

"All that crystal must have represented a substantial amount of the energy it was trying to vent," I reason. "Come on, we must be near the end now."

The tunnel forward is crowded with razor-sharp crystals, but none are so close as to hinder Ayre and myself. If we actually did have some sort of tank role, it probably would have been a lot harder, but two svelte, nimble dakka gals can slip through without even slowing down.

We pause halfway through.

"You hear that?" I ask.

"Sounds like fighting," Ayre puts in after listening for a moment.

"So someone is in here. Maybe even the source of the corruption." I pull my pistol from its holster and nod to the archer, who returns the gesture and motions with his bow to show readiness.

We start forward again and soon enter the largest chamber yet. Easily twice the height of the first cavern, it's a massive coliseum of a room, pounded flat by the crystal-gilded stone giant that calls it home. There are fewer crystals here, too, likely because of the fight going on between the giant and two intruders.

I say fight, but it's more the two humans trying desperately to avoid being pummeled. The older of the two, I want to call him a kid, but the truth is probably that he's not more than a year or two younger than I am now. He's got black, messy hair and the angry look on his face I'd expect to see on a tween out to prove something to the universe.

The other is a girl, surely no older than eight, in what I would call in Earth terms a gothic lolita dress entirely out of place here. Her raven-black hair is in a hime cut and held out of her eyes with a simple hair band. She is clearly the boy's sister, even if the equal richness of their attire wasn't indicator of their relation enough, but seems to lack his fire and rage at the world.

We don't have time to question the scene. The giant has the kids cornered. The girl sees me, her eyes wide.

My legs start moving before I even come to a conscious decision. Since I used Purification Cannon, my magazine is empty, so I punch the release even as I'm ripping a pack of overpressures from my satchel, letting the empty one freefall to the ground.

"Hey! Big guy!" I rack the slide and raise my gun. "Pick on someone half your size!"

Even as I'm firing, Ayre comes up alongside me with Spiral Shot. The giant, the golem I realize, raises an arm against the bombardment with an indignant roar, but that doesn't prevent the specialized attacks from penetrating deep into its body. It staggers briefly under the onslaught, but finds its feet just as my magazine bottoms out.

The giant is looking a lot less like stones and a lot more like swiss cheese just from that brief exchange, but that doesn't stop it from charging at us.

Ayre and I jump in opposite directions, and I reload with the explosive incendiary bullets, determined to use the strategy I had considered for the Abomination.

"It doesn't have any glowing bits," Ayre shouts over the quaking from the giant's fist impacting where we'd been standing.

"I've got a plan," I call back. "Fall back and protect those siblings!"

The golem tries to take a swipe at Ayre when the elf turns to leave, but my first fireball rattles the creature and draws its attention to me.

"That's right, Gravel Face! Over here!"

I plant my feet in line with my shoulders and hold my pistol up before me with both hands like I'm expecting a huge recoil.

"Now! Let's go all the way! Empower! Spiral Shot! Time to find out how fast I can pull the trigger!"

Against the far wall, Ayre balls up and guides the kids to do the same, covering their ears and tucking them between the archer's body and the wall.

The next moment, the room fills with heat and noise as a twenty-round barrage of deep-penetrating fireballs tears into the golem. Spiral Shot basically turns them into High-Explosive Anti-Tank rounds, exactly what the Hero ordered for one big, angry pile of pavement.

The smell of sulfur and smoke linger in the air for longer than the explosions, themselves.

"Did you have to use so many?!" Ayre protests after even those finally fade and the golem is nothing but actual gravel and dust.

"Dunno!" I grin cheekily as I raise my pistol out of the firing position. "Too late to find out now!"