The room was pretty big. Easily spacious enough to hold a basketball court and a bunch of stands around too.
Spacious enough to hold more than two dozen Earth Elementals as well.
They were a bit different from the ones Ray had fought in that abandoned mine on Cliff Three. Where the mine ones had been lumbering hunks of compressed earth, these ones looked like they had been hewn straight from the stone surrounding Ray. In fact, if they hadn’t been moving and were straight up against the walls, they’d have been camouflaged pretty well.
Good thing they weren’t. Ray was pretty sure dealing with them while they tried to attack him stealthily, even with the assistance of Primordial Gauge, wouldn’t be great.
Thankfully, he had the actual Dungeon Obstacle to guide him. All he was supposed to do was get to that opening on the wall. The only exit in the room, other than the entrance Ray was coming through.
The first of the Elementals were spotting him. They were hurling towards him, their stance changing from bored disinterest to enraged aggression.
Ray tensed a bit, then quickly figured out his plan of action. He knew what he had to do here.
He would have rushed to the opening—he had figured out how to get to it already—but first, he had a spell to test. So, as the monsters neared, Ray cast Anima Charybdis.
A ring of dark energy bloomed on the ground approximately ten meters away. The monsters were definitely within ten meters of him by now. Enough of them to show just how effective the new spell could be. Six of the Earth Elementals froze as the energy blazed to life, an aura of deep crimson blooming around the area.
In the next second, the energy snapped. The red light tore and shredded, ripping over, across, and through the monsters caught within the spell’s area of effect.
As the Elementals staggered in place, cracked and broken all over, black-red energy shot out of their stony wounds. They all coalesced at a point over the area of effect. Ray gazed at the sphere. It was pretty different from the Spiritguard orbs. Where they sparked with chaotic energy, this one was smooth and glimmering, like it was made of glass.
Ray knew what to do, though. With a quick focus of will, he made the glassy, red and black orb descend upon the monsters.
It landed with a violent, shattering crash, unleashing an explosion.
The blast was powerful. Ray himself was sent staggering back at the force behind the shockwave. While it didn’t kill all the Earth Elementals caught in its radius, four of the six monsters were crushed and destroyed. The remaining two were terribly injured too.
[Enemy Defeated—Stone Elemental]
Tier 10 Monster: Stone Elemental [Level 26] x4
Essence: +10,400
Knowledge: +8
True Mana Restored: +1,040
Essence to Level 31: 62,710/64,600
Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,192/1,250
Oh, alright. So these weren’t Earth Elementals. They were Stone Elementals. Ray wasn’t exactly sure what the difference was, aside from rock-chucking skills and a stonier exterior. But hey, who was he to argue against the idea of lumbering monsters that could be killed easily.
It had been a good test too. The new spell was definitely something he could use, especially when facing larger groups of monsters.
The commotion had drawn more of the Elementals towards his area, though. They were rushing towards him. The whole horde of them at once. Even the injured ones were standing back up, apparently not too debilitated by Ray’s last attack.
He grimaced. While he was tempted to face them down and get himself a bunch more Essence, it would be a bit of pain. While powerful, Anima Charybdis cost a hefty amount of True Mana.
Plus, even ten meters wasn’t a big enough radius to take out the whole group of monsters in one or two more casts. The area was too large, the Elementals were too spread out, and worst of all, they were numerous enough that a different group would attack him while he tried to take care of one batch.
Ray had just been lucky he had even managed to take out four of them at once. No need to push things.
So, he focused on his real objective. Reaching the exit that led deeper into the dungeon.
A quick cast of Soullife Cloak and summoning his wings with Primal Spiritcraft had him ready. The opening was still a little higher than he would have been able to reach just by flying. The warning from the notification about the Dungeon Obstacle was right. It was higher than the thirty maximum feet his wings could take him alone.
But that was the thing. They weren’t alone. Ray had other things to augment his flight, other spells he could use to boost his maximum elevation.
The Elementals attacked from a distance. Turned out these different ones had some different skills too. Literal chunks of their body burst apart and rocketed at Ray like they had been shot from a sling.
Ray was ready for something like that. He cast Mottling Spiritguard to summon up a storm of revolving chaos orbs. His surefire defence was just that. Surefire. They protected him against the barrage of craggy, bruising rocks from the monsters as he flew through their midst with ever-increasing speed.
He made sure not to use up all his Spiritguard orbs. One kept revolving, front to back, over and under Ray, instead of around his side, while the rest kept him safe against the Elementals’ attacks.
Just as he reached about twenty feet from the wall, Ray launched the chaotic orb while ramming the brakes on his own flight. All the momentum of his charge transferred to the sparking, black-red ball. Its constant revolutions had also imbued it with meteoric speed, all of which combined to send it shooting straight to Ray’s target.
That little opening high up on the rocky wall that he couldn’t reach with simple flight.
He could, however, get to it with a cast of Spectral Step. The world twisted and contorted as Ray was deposited on a lip of stone almost fifty feet above his original location.
Despite the disorientation, Ray smiled. That had been a great success. Even the twisted feeling in his head was leaving fast. He was getting used to the disorienting effects of Spectral Step.
The Elementals down below had rounded to face him. Several were trying to attack from range with their rocketing rocky parts. They didn’t reach him. Ray was out of their range.
He was sad to just leave them, though, especially when he was so close to a level up.
“Fine,” Ray muttered.
He called up his Greater Windbane Maws. All three of them went flying forward, jaws bristling with chaotic flames. Ray commanded the to unleash their fiery breaths with as much force as they could eject.
The lasers attacked with crushing ferocity. They were strong enough to crack apart the rocky monsters below via the sheer force behind their impact.
The Stone Elementals tried to fight back, but they weren’t having much luck. Not only did the maws fly too fast for them to aim properly, but they were also struggling to defend themselves. That meant the number of rocks that shot everywhere decreased over time. The flying draconic heads were able to dodge even more easily.
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Though, things did change as the massacre went on. With the other monsters dying, the remainder started hiding behind their fallen comrades. The rocky bodies, dead though they were, acted as decent barricades against the chaotic flames.
Unwilling to waste too much time or True Mana, Ray called his constructs off. He had more than enough Essence now.
[Enemy Defeated—Stone Elemental]
Tier 10 Monster: Stone Elemental [Level 26] x11
Essence: +28,600
Knowledge: +33
True Mana Restored: +2,860
[Level Up!]
Reward
* +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
* 10 True Mana shards
Essence to Level 32: 26,710/70,400
Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,225/1,250
More True Mana shards as a reward. It wasn’t bad, but he had regained most of the True Mana he had used from the death of the monsters, so it wasn’t like he needed a big chunk. But since he had received a spell last time, it was unlikely he was getting another anytime soon. Ah, well.
Ray moved on. The tunnel slowly twisted to his right as it continued rising upwards. He appreciated the fact that the passages themselves didn’t seem to be rigged against him. No traps, no surprise monsters jumping out of nowhere. Nothing indicated by Primordial Gauge.
It was all too peaceful for what was supposed to be a Tier 13 dungeon. Ray decided to keep his senses on high alert.
The next room proved to be an even wilder challenge than the last one. It was also much bigger.
Calling it cavernous would have been doing it a disservice. The huge cylindrical hollow he ended up in could easily have housed the Empire State. If there hadn’t been the giant Earth Elemental standing in the middle of the room, that was.
Ray was just about to focus Primordial Guage on the gargantuan monster, but he was interrupted by a new Dungeon Obstacle notification.
[Primordial Gauge—Dungeon Obstacle]
Giant Climber’s Hollow
Up and up. That way lies your objective. If the previous chamber’s exit was too high, then this one’s is unfathomably out of reach. However, reach it you must. And there is only one way you can do so, assuming you have no strange climbing powers or items.
Ray was unfortunately lacking any strange climbing powers or items, which meant the System’s terrible hint was all he had to go off.
It wasn’t bad because of its vagueness. Ray already knew what he had to do. It was obvious as soon as he had seen the titanic monstrosity slowly turning to face him. The System was just too ham-fisted in its attempt to be coy and mysterious.
However much Ray might have wanted to fight the damn stone giant, he knew he couldn’t defeat his only ticket to the next exit. It was in the name of the Dungeon Obstacle. Giant Climber’s Hollow. This little cylindrical hole was all about climbing a gigantic Stone Elemental, all so he could get out of here.
The monster roared. Ray was forced to clamp his hands over his ears at the sound. It made the whole chamber shake, dust and pebbles falling all around him.
Then the enormous Stone Elemental attacked.
For such an enormous monster, its fist smashed in way too fast. Of course, Ray was still faster. With Soullife Cloak active, sizzling away a chunk of his spirit to keep in reserve, and his wings shooting out little chaotic jet streams, he was able to dodge the monster’s direct blow.
Still. The impact unleashed a shockwave that nearly made him lose control of his flight. Plus, he was forced to call up Mottling Spiritguard to defend himself against the volley of broken earth and rocky missiles flying at him.
Even worse was the fact that the Stone Elemental’s roar had called in other monsters. Vilewyrms appeared, crawling all over the tall chamber’s side like monstrous geckos.
The nearest ones jumped at him. Ray saw the combination of their skills even before they were put into effect. Rampage and Enhanced Charge made the overgrown lizards shoot meteorically at Ray, like cannons firing at him to dislodge him from the air.
He was forced to keep moving. To keep dodging, even with multiple casts of the Spiritguard orbs doing their best to protect him.
The problem came in climbing the monster. It moved around too much. Plus, Ray couldn’t fly straight up its stony legs. There was no surface for his wings to keep him afloat off of. The monster also kept attacking. That made things extra annoying.
It dug its hands into the sides of the tall chamber, then dragged them forward to throw an avalanche of broken rocks at Ray. He had to shelter behind Impervious Shell. It was actually surprising the construct held, though he supposed the Tier of Lifeblood Soulform was quite high now.
But that didn’t work when the monster raised its enormous leg and stomped down.
Ray had a pretty good feeling that huge weight was not something his Impervious Shell construct would handle. As such, he had thrown himself backward. The titanic Stone Elemental’s foot crushed down with blisteringly quick speed, making the entire area shake.
But Ray was safe. Well, safe from being quashed. Several of the Vilewyrms attacked him from the sides. They were the ones that had shot in with Enhanced Charge.
There was a whole horde of them. Ray barely managed to summon up another salvo of Mottling Spiritguard in time, though the monsters were already upon him.
He weaved and dodge between the reptilian monsters. straight up punching one that got close. It was such a good thing he had used Fleshed Exchange before entering the dungeon proper. The Vilewyrms that reached him received a nasty reminder to stay the fuck away.
“Get back!” Ray shouted. “I don’t have time to deal with you assholes.”
It was easy to call on Soulstrike next. He swiped the entire arm along the ground. It took some time to move the True Mana arm, and he suffered several attacks for it. One Vilewyrm munched on his leg, another shot a Mana Breath that reduced a good chunk of his garb to tatters.
But it was worth it. Ray smashed aside the annoying monsters so he could focus on the real issue.
That damn gigantic Stone Elemental.
It was attacking again. Bringing its other massive foot down to squash Ray.
He gave it no opportunity to do so, shooting to the other side of the room. At the same time, he called up two of the Greater Windbane Maws to keep any more of the pesky Vilewyrms busy. That, combined with another couple Mottling Spiritguard salvos, ought to be enough.
“Hey!” he shouted up at the huge monster. “You’re not going to hit me like that. Come at me yourself, coward!”
The monster turned around, its motion making the whole chamber tremble. Despite Ray’s taunt, it still tried killing him from a distance first.
More stones came flying at him, more stomps that attempted to crush him to bloody pulp. Ray continued blocking as many as he could and evading those he couldn’t. All the while, his mind tried to think of frantic ideas that could work.
Maybe he could use the Imitator construct to imitate enough rocks to climb that huge bastard.
Maybe he could try using his draconic maw as makeshift jetpacks and shoot himself straight up.
Or maybe he could somehow replicate the trick he had pulled on the giant’s much smaller cousins. Send a spell high enough to where Spectral Step would take him where he needed to be.
Shit. None of those would work. Well, they might, if he was extremely lucky.
Things changed when the monster grew tired of Ray. It roared again. This time, Ray let the noise pass through him, letting his Recovery fix up the damage to his ears so he could hear properly again after the behemoth was done.
He grinned when the huge Stone Elemental smashed its fists straight downwards at him. Ray was able to dodge that. It was the height of luck that none of the Vilewyrms had gotten to him again. He was thankful for it.
Ray managed to withstand the impact of the giant’s fists on the ground. His grin widened. “You idiot.”
That was all Ray had needed. He shot to the huge stone arms and landed on them with his wings. The enormous monster began to rise, but Ray didn’t remain still. He kept moving, rising up the length of the huge arm with the aid of his wings.
The Stone Elemental’s other arm slammed in, but Ray was moving too fast. All he felt were rocks pinging off his Valorous Back Shield.
Almost there. He had almost reached the spot where he could jump off the monster and glide straight to the hole he was supposed to enter. The exit was almost at hand. Almost, but not quite yet.
Just as Ray reached the shoulder, the spot from where he could have located the direction he was supposed to head next, the Stone Elemental jumped.
Ray cursed loudly. It was such a dick move.
The ceiling came in way too fast. Ray just barely managed to leap off his titanic ride before he was smashed to pulp against the dungeon’s roof. Even then, he wasn’t safe. As the monster crashed into the ceiling, huge chunks of rock broke off and rained all around.
Ray could use the jet stream from his wings to move around and dodge, even if he was losing elevation way too rapidly. Not getting hit by the falling rocks was his main priority.
That was when he saw it. The hole. The exit. It was way too far. No.
Shit, shit, shit. Ray had gotten way too close to be losing all his progress now. He was still falling, still trying his best not to get hit by the bigger rocks. Some had already struck him, leaching gashes on shoulder and a wound on his head, but they weren’t serious.
The more immediate concern was the fact that he had almost lost the exit. If he didn’t do something now, he would fall back to square one.
No way.
The idea was wild. He only came up with it because he had been frantically thinking about it not too long ago.
Soaring Wings wouldn’t be able to take Ray to the exit. They would lose elevation long before he even came close to where he had to go. So, he needed some other means of maintaining his height while pushing himself towards his goal.
That was where the Soul Aspect of the Greater Windbane Maw came into play. Ray called on them. Not as constructs. No.
What he did was use Soulstrike to create two True Mana arms, then cast Primal Spiritcraft with the help of Mana Imbuing to turn the ends of the arms into draconic maws.
“Fire!” Ray shouted.
They did. With full fury, they unleashed their laser breaths upon the world in the opposite direction to the hole in the wall where he needed to be. His momentum shifted. A little too fast. Ray ended up colliding against the wall of the huge chamber.
The stunned feeling lasted just a second. He pushed himself off, applying a bit of Recovery to make sure he was fully conscious, then redirected the jet streams from the draconic maws.
“Left!” he shouted. “Left!”
They did take him left. As he swung to the other side, the huge monster crashed down and struck the area he had slammed into. The whole chamber shook, more rocks raining down. But Ray made it. He yelled out in triumph as he hurtled through the opening, the momentum of the constructs dragging him along the floor before he dismissed them.
But the Stone Elemental wasn’t letting him go that easily. It thrust its enormous at the tunnel and pulled the entire rocky section out, with Ray still inside.
“Fuck!”