Kyrian appeared on the second floor of the Nether Dungeon. The air buzzed as he arrived in the strange setting, immediately aware of the tainted mana's sharp scent. Tall crystal formations surrounded him, their surfaces emitting a faint light that formed deep shadows on the winding paths. Kyrian paused briefly, adjusting to his new surroundings. His silver hair fell over his forehead as he calmly assessed the labyrinth before him. Suddenly, a vibration shook the ground under his boots, growing into a loud clash of crystal and metal. Kyrian turned swiftly as a guardian emerged. The Golem towered over him, made from gleaming crystal and dull alloy - an entity built to drain life from intruders using System magic.
**Beast Identified. Level 102 Golem**
Kyrian's gaze met the hollow glow of the golem's eyes. This creature was an aberration, a perversion of the natural order he was sworn to uphold. The corrupted sentinel advanced, steps sending fractures through the crystalline floor.
There was no room for hesitation. Kyrian moved with grace. He summoned his primordial energy, feeling it pulse against the invasive drain of the golem's magic. The dance of battle commenced, with Kyrian weaving between blasts of corrupt light and razor-sharp shards launched by his foe.
The golem matched his agility with brute force, attempting to overwhelm Kyrian with sheer power. But where the golem was relentless, Kyrian was inexorable; where it was unyielding, he was fluid. With every maneuver, he chipped away at the behemoth’s defenses, his attacks a blur of precision and controlled might.
The labyrinth echoed with the clash of primordial force against twisted System magic—a symphony of destruction that reverberated across the dungeon. Kyrian’s focus never wavered, his thoughts clear as the strikes he delivered. As steel met spell, and will clashed with programmed duty, the suspense of the encounter hung thick in the air, a palpable tension that threatened to suffocate the very light.
Kyrian's hands traced arcanic patterns in the air, weaving spells that resonated with the very fabric of Kendreia. Primordial energy surged from his core, manifesting as spears of pure light that struck the golem's joints, exploiting the minute fissures his keen eyes had detected. The golem staggered, its attempts to retaliate growing sluggish as Kyrian's relentless assault continued.
With a final, thunderous roar, Kyrian launched an orb of condensed primordial force directly at the golem's heart. The impact resonated through the chamber, and for a moment, time seemed to hold its breath. Then, with a sound akin to the shattering of the heavens themselves, the Golem fractured, crystal fragments cascading down like a rain of stars.
**Level 102 Golem Defeated. 750 XP Re-ERROR**
Without warning, a cluster of crimson eyes blinked open in the darkness. They emerged from the gloom like wraiths, their ethereal forms undulating menacingly. Tendrils of shadow lashed out towards Kyrian with the speed of striking serpents, each one aiming to siphon the life from his veins.
**Beasts Identified. Level 103 Shadow Fiends**
Kyrian's reflexes were instantaneous, his body moving instinctively to evade the dark appendages. His eyes flared with primordial power, igniting the air with palpable intensity. As the tendrils converged on him, he unleashed a burst of concentrated light, banishing the shadows back to the fringes of reality. One by one, the fiends recoiled, their shrieks echoing through the crystalline corridors.
Yet they were persistent, swirling around him in a dance macabre, desperate to envelop him in their abyssal embrace. Kyrian stood firm, a sentinel against the encroaching night. His power was a beacon amidst the dark, his will unyielding, his determination a blade cutting through despair. His lips curled upward ever so slightly—a silent challenge to the darkness that dared to defy him. With a flourish of his hand, he summoned spheres of radiant energy, sending them spinning into the heart of the swarm.
The orbs exploded upon contact, light cascading in waves that sent the Shadow Fiends scattering like leaves in a gale. One by one, they dissipated, unable to withstand the onslaught of primordial light.
**Level 103 Shadow Fiends Defeated. 980 XP Re-ERROR**
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
As the last vestiges of the fiends evaporated, a new challenge crept forth. Spiders the size of boulder emerged from their glistening lairs. Their many-faceted eyes reflected the corrupt light in a spectrum of deceitful beauty.
**Beast Identified. Level 104 Nether Spiders**
The spiders lunged, their crystalline legs slicing through the air with deadly precision. Kyrian's agility was his shield; he sidestepped and leapt, his body a conduit of grace under pressure. He summoned blades of condensed mana, shimmering edges that met exoskeletons with shattering force.
Shards of crystal rained down, twinkling like stars against the dim backdrop of the dungeon, each spider's demise a supernova of destruction. Kyrian moved through the nest, a tempest of calculated violence. His hands weaved patterns of obliteration which crashed violently onto the spiders.
Ahead, the air shimmered, and the ground trembled with malice. Out from the shadows slithered sinuous forms, their scales glinting with an unnatural sheen, infused with the System's dark sorcery. Their presence triggered a stark warning:
**Beast Identified. Level 104 Nether Serpent**
Without a sound, the serpents lunged, their fangs dripping with venom potent enough to corrode the foundations of mana itself. Kyrian stood firm, his pale face set in unwavering determination, the very image of preternatural calm amid the brewing storm.
The first serpent struck, its speed a blur against the stone. Kyrian's reflexes were immediate, a dance of avoidance, as he sidestepped the deadly bite with a fluidity that defied the natural order. His robes billowed as he summoned the essence of primordial fire, sparks igniting at his fingertips and coalescing into a roaring blaze.
"Burn," he commanded. The fire erupted from his hands, a conflagration that surged towards the serpents. Scales met flame, and the dungeon echoed with the hiss of burning corruption.
Another serpent attacked, aiming for where Kyrian had been a heartbeat ago, but found only the caress of flames as it recoiled, seared by the unleashed inferno. The air crackled with heat, the stone around them scorched by the intensity of the battle. Each serpent that dared approach was met with relentless fury, their corrupted forms reduced to wisps of ash.
Kyrian's movements were precise. He wove between their assaults, an artist painting destruction with broad strokes of fire. The serpents writhed and twisted; these beasts desperate to sink their fangs into the creator they could not comprehend.
A colossal serpent reared above him, its maw wide, a cavern of death. In a burst of action, Kyrian summoned a spear of pure fire and hurled it upwards. The weapon pierced through the beast, leaving a trail of embers as it disintegrated, snuffed out like a candle in the wind.
As the last of the serpents fell, Kyrian's breath was even, his strength undiminished. Kyrian stood amidst the charred remains of the Nether Serpents, the air around him still crackling with the residual heat of his primordial fire. Kyrian waved the System messages away.
Before him lay the corrupted cores of the monsters he defeated, pulsing with ominous light. With measured steps, he approached the cores, their sickly glow reflecting off his luminescent skin. He extended his hands, palms facing the aberrations, and began the intricate ritual. The air hummed with energy as his fingers traced arcane symbols, weaving a tapestry of primordial mana.
The dungeon seemed to hold its breath, the eerie silence punctuated only by the thrum of Kyrian's power. The crystalline structures around him shimmered, responding to the shift in energy as if yearning for release from their corrupted state.
Then, the corrupted cores began to quiver, their structure fracturing under the pressure of Kyrian's relentless will. The ritual demanded perfection, and Kyrian was its master. He was both sculptor and stone, shaping the energies with the finesse of a craftsman honed over eons. The cores’ light shifted, the darkness waning, giving way to a purer radiance.
His movements accelerated, a dance of power and precision. As the corrupted energy unraveled, it lashed out, seeking to overwhelm him. But it was a futile effort. Kyrian was an immovable force, an anchor in the storm of chaotic magic.
Kyrian's eyes blazed with an inner light, his form a beacon in the darkened expanse of the dungeon. With a final surge of power, he commanded the corrupted mana to yield, to be reborn anew.
The cores, once vessels of System mana, now pulsed with a harmonious light, cleansed by the touch of a being who defied the very laws it had been subjected to. Kyrian's chest rose and fell with a controlled breath, the only sign of exertion in his otherwise tranquil demeanor.
As the purified primordial mana settled into the fabric of the dungeon, the crystalline maze around him dimmed in light. Kyrian allowed himself a moment before dissipating the purified energy to the realm core. For a moment, he thought he heard it sigh.
**Congratulations. You have successfully cleared the 2nd floor of the Nether Dungeon.
Rewards:
* Experience Points (XP): Error%)
* Item Obtained: [Storage Ring] (Rare)
Level Up!
Current Level: ∞ERROR ➜ ∞ERROR
Objective cleared. Transporting to 3rd floor**