“The standard of players has really fallen. I thought you were awful, but I cannot believe there exist players so much worse than you, even fresh from the tutorial,” the Legacy exclaimed, shaking its head. "I misjudged you."
Langa raised his eyebrows. Why was the Legacy talking like it was an old geezer? Didn't it come to life from the Blessing of The Lackadaisical Herald? Well, Langa had no way of knowing what its deal was, instead, he chose to tell it the truth. “I’m actually one of the best. I'm in the top five of my tutorial batch!” he hissed quietly.
“Really?” For some reason, the exaggerated tone of surprise in the Legacy’s voice pissed Langa off. “I wouldn’t have guessed it.”
Langa watched the three players flailing around in panic and sighed. "Fucking idiots, I warned them."
“So, what are you going to do? They obviously bit off more than they could chew, are you going to let them die?”
Langa rolled his eyes. “Of course not. If I let those three fools die in front of me when I could have saved them, I’d suffer from nightmares for years. I have enough trauma, and I have no desire to add more. Besides, I don’t want to lose any more sleep,” he said. “Aargh, this is all so fucking annoying.”
Seriously? What the hell were those players doing in a yellow zone with no weapons? Why were they struggling against a monster with such pitiful HP? Since he'd mostly fought against maestrils, Langa had forgotten how weak regular corrupted creatures were, especially when it came to the amount of health they had. Unlike maestrils, these monsters couldn't use karma to heal themselves either. As he watched, the corrupted baboon released a roar, and a gust of red mist emerged from its mouth. The air in the entire area heated up, and the mist, like smoke, seemed to choke the players, making it hard for them to breathe. Since they were running, and they needed as much breath as they could muster, Aquila’s dwarf companion lost his energy, stumbled, and fell to the ground. With its hot breath hanging in the air, the monster prepared to strike him with its massive palm.
The way the three of them moved was pathetic, and it made Langa wonder if this was how his own movements looked to the Legacy. If so, he owed the Legacy a massive apology because this was both unseemly and kind of sad. "I can't watch this anymore. Let’s go, Legacy."
Frustration fuelled Langa, and in the blink of an eye, he activated Flash Step and materialised in front of the fallen dwarf. Lazily, he charged forward, and surprisingly, even without activating Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike or trying to infuse his mana into the glaive, it buzzed with a crackling energy that illuminated the dark forest surroundings as he thrust it into the monster's abdomen.
The giant primate roared, but no magic came out of its mouth. No, this was a roar of pain, as it was no match for Langa's single, quick, and deadly thrust. In an instant, its body fell to the ground, dead.
[You have killed a level 8 corrupted baboon
+170 EXP
+2 karma
+1 Inferior Scorching Breath Solution]
[Inferior Scorching Breath Solution
Rank: Common
Single-use consumable.
Grants +0.5% Fire Resistance for 30 seconds.]
Well, that was a pitiful reward, pitiful karma, and pitiful experience. Langa pocketed the solution anyway and turned to look at the three idiots. Who the hell would be hunting here without armour? What if Statia had heard this ruckus and came to investigate? It wasn't like Langa had found a way around the level 15 player, but he still didn't want to draw his attention unnecessarily.
The three of them, their faces filled with awe, surprise, and fear, all stared at Langa, unsure whether his intervention heralded salvation or a new threat for them.
“You killed that corrupted monster...in one shot!” Aquila gasped. He looked up at Langa, and seeing the displeased and annoyed expression on his face, he hastily added, "Please don't attack, Mr. Langa! Don't you remember us?"
“How could I not? This is the second time I've wasted time, thanks to you. No, it's actually the fucking third. Anyway, what the hell are you doing in a level 9 hunting field without armour?” Langa withdrew his glaive and glanced around to make sure there were no more monsters in their vicinity. Taking a second look at Aquila and his entourage, Langa noticed that they all looked rough, the shiny new armour that they had worn when they tried to intimidate him two days ago was gone, they had all lost one level, and they were also down a man. "What happened?" he asked.
"Ah, it's actually a long story," Aquila said as he looked down, embarrassed. "As you can see, we came into the level 9 hunting field, but unluckily, we got overrun by dozens of those bunyips in the swamp. We managed to run, but we were attacked by players from the Retessa Guild who were guarding the entrance to the dungeon. This whole zone is their territory, and we didn't know."
Langa resisted the urge to ask him how he could not have known given that it was clearly marked as such on the map that Alfsol had given them, but he allowed Aquila to continue.
"There were three of them, all level 9, and they caught us off guard. They beat the shit out of us and took everything, all our gear except for what we left in our bags," he said, fists clenched. "We knew we couldn't just leave like that, so, we waited for them all through the night, and then we ganged up on them early this morning when they were tired from watching the dungeon entrance."
It hadn't been a bad plan, and Langa was impressed that they had used their heads to ambush their attackers.
"We managed to subdue them, and we were about to shake them for our stuff, but then another guy came along to take over the guard duty." Aquila looked down, ashamed. "He killed all four of us."
"One player killed all of you by himself? How?" Langa asked curiously. Sure, he could believe it if it was the level 15 player, but there had been four of them, could they not have run away?
The one who answered this time was not Aquila, but the dwarf, Ormeth. "He has some force shield that blocks all magic attacks, and none of our physical attacks were strong enough to break through it either," he said, his face contorted with pain. "I think its a divine skill, and none of us has one. We did our best, but we all still died. Klonu forgot to bind his soul to a safe zone, so unlike us, he didn't respawn after he died."
Langa closed his eyes in disbelief. It was only the third day after the tutorial ended, and someone from their tutorial batch had already permanently died? Why were people so careless with their lives? He had warned them, for the gods' sakes, he had told them that they weren't ready for a level 9 field!
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life. What kind of player forgets to bind his soul the moment he enters a new Floor? How did he expect to respawn?" The Legacy asked. Langa agreed; he was also bewildered by this.
Langa was ready to chew Aquila and his companions out for discarding his advice and being reckless with their lives when he saw the solemn looks on their faces. He realised that whatever he could say to them, they had already said to themselves. This had been a hard lesson for them, and they had the blood as evidence to prove it. There was nothing better than failure to humble the proud. "Your attacker, was his name Statia?" he asked.
"It all happened so fast, but I don't know," Aquila said, shaking his head. "I didn't scan him, I was too busy dying."
"Yes, that was his name, I saw it. I thought he would be a red player with how easily he got rid of us, but he's a yellow player. I'm pretty sure he either only targets newbie combatants as his guildmates did to us, or he only killed us because we attacked his colleagues." The one who spoke up was the only female in Aquila's group, a spiderkin. She walked up to Langa on her four legs, her large, beady eyes glued to his. When he scanned her, he found out that her name was Aramaga. "Can you kill him for us? You're strong, right? We saw you fight against multiple voidents at once on the Dent. Please help us."
All three of them looked up at him hopefully, but Langa shook his head. "He killed your comrade, shouldn't you want revenge for yourself? Isn't that why you came back here after your respawn?"
"No," Aquila said, looking down. "We aren't here for revenge. We just want to recover Klonu's body so that we can bury him. His body is close to the waterfall, where Statia is. We can't go back there to face him alone, we're too weak. If we try to sneak around, one of us has to distract Statia while one recovers the body and the other fends off the monsters. You were right, Langa, we weren’t ready," he said, frustrated. "Please, we'll pay you. I still have some silver in my bag."
Langa sighed again. He could not care less about people who ignored the well-meaning advice of others and went their own way, but he couldn't just ignore this. If he had a weakness, it was that of recovering the bodies of the dead, making sure that their eyes were closed, and ensuring that they were buried in a good place so that their souls would find peace. It was one of the most important teachings of his culture. And even besides that, he knew how terrible it was to lose a friend and not be able to bury him. "I'll try to go help you recover your friend's body. I can't make any promises other than that."
"Thank you," Aramaga said, and her beady eyes were wet with tears. Right, she was the same species as the one who died, so Langa surmised that they must have been close. "You have no idea how much it means to us."
"Yeah, sure," Langa said, looking away. Gratitude always made him feel awkward, what was he supposed to say to that? It was not even like he had already gotten their friend's body back. He cleared his throat. "Aramaga, come with me to recover the body, I'll take care of the monsters. Aquila, you guys must watch Statia for us, but if the noise from the monsters near the body gets his attention, you find a way to distract him. If he chooses to engage you in a fight, you flee as fast as you can. There is no need to risk your life for someone who is not here anymore. Got it?"
"Ah, yes," Aquila said.
“What about the monkey? Do you want me to store it for you? We can sell it for parts at Risa’s Plateau," Aquila offered.
Langa frowned. “I don’t have space in my inventory anymore.”
Aquila tilted his head. “You don’t have a FeatherVault Bag?”
”What the hell is that?” he asked.
Aquila took out a small rucksack that was fastened to his belt, and Langa scanned it.
[Feathervault Bag
Item Rank: Uncommon
Effects:
Can accommodate any number of non-living items, regardless of their size, up to 100kg. The Feathervault Bag itself weighs only 10% of the total weight of the items stored within.
Cannot be stored in Inventory.
Note: While the Feathervault Bag enhances your carrying capacity, it does not alter the properties or effects of the items stored within.]
It was a cool item, but Langa preferred the inventory since it didn’t weigh anything and did not slow him down. But he still needed something for now. "This thing must be expensive. How come you guys were able to afford this?" he asked. It did not make sense now that he thought about it. He had to have made more money than them from the tutorial, yet before, they had able to buy much better gear than him.
"It's because we can access our inventory now," Aramaga said. "When we entered the tutorial, the system sealed our access to any items not earned in the tutorial, but now that we are in the Tower, all our money is accessible. Those people stole almost everything, though. The only reason mine and Aquila's bags survived was because we had stashed them with our tents in the forest."
That was fucking unfair! People from natural worlds would have known to carry some money with them, even if they could not use it in the tutorial, for the Tower. People from lost worlds really got the short end of the stick.
”Borrow me that,” Langa said, holding out his hand. "My inventory's full, and I'm going into a dungeon. I'll give it back to you after I complete my Challenge."
He wondered if, with their lacklustre performance, these guys received any Challenges. Well, Aquila said he was a Chosen One, so he did not need to do a Sponsorship Challenge as he already had a patron deity.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Aramaga offered her bag to Langa. "If you help us bring Klonu's body back with us, you can keep the bag," she said.
Langa nodded his agreement. He took his backpack and placed it inside the Feathervault Bag, carrying that as a backpack.
”I'll carry the monkey's body in my bag for you. We’ll give you the money when you return,” Aquila added. "We'll meet back up below that red tree over there." Langa marvelled at how one loss could really humble a person as Aquila began to lead Ormeth towards Statia's location, their expressions filled with both fear and resolve.
He couldn't help but feel some responsibility for these players, even if they had made foolish choices. He hated feeling responsible for anyone or anything, so he just wanted to get this shit over and done with.
Langa started walking towards the waterfall. If these guys could keep the guard distracted long enough, he might be able to slip into the dungeon unseen. Well, he would get their friend's body first, of course. If he was able to reach the dungeon without fighting Statia or risking the lives of Aquila's team, that would be great. However, if he was being honest, he was curious about how he would fare against the level 15 player. His competitive blood was boiling, and a part of him wanted to fight Statia. He was not conceited enough to believe that he could defeat him as he was now, but it would be thrilling to test himself against him after he completed his Challenge.
“Contrary to your laziness, you are surprisingly noble,” the Legacy said.
“That's not it. I’m annoyed as fuck already. If I didn’t help them, they’d just get in my way,” he muttered. “Besides, I can't, in good conscience, leave a body to wallow in this wretched place without finding rest.” More than anyone else, Langa understood the desire for revenge and the need to honour their fallen comrade.
The Legacy watched him thoughtfully, "Are you perhaps projecting your own failures on these players? I cannot help but think of what you said to the Guardians' instructor about finding revenge and-"
Langa snapped at him, not wanting to bring that up. "Will you shut up? I'm in the middle of something important here!"
“Sorry?” Aramaga said, looking at Langa. She was startled and looked a little fearful as she thought that he was talking to her.
“Oh, uh, no, that wasn't meant for you. I was just talking to,” he paused. If he were back on Earth, people would have thought he was crazy for talking to thin air, but right now, he had an excuse. It would work, right? “I was talking to a spirit?” He held his breath, watching her reaction. Instead of thinking he was mental, she looked relieved.
“Oh, is that it? I thought maybe you'd changed your mind,” she nodded in understanding. "Please thank your spirit for watching over us."
The Legacy's already sullen face turned unpleasant. "I am not a spirit, I am the essence core of a unique Legacy!" Langa ignored him and focused on the path ahead.
The dense forest hid Langa and Aramaga as they quietly walked through the mass of trees, listening for any sounds of distant battle. Large white rocks and jagged mountains were all around them, casting shadows that concealed their movements. All of a sudden, a menacing growl came through the trees, and a massive wolf-like creature lunged at them. Langa's reflexes kicked in, and with a quick step forward, he thrust his spear into its neck, taking down the creature in one instant strike.
“Good,” the Legacy said in approval, and Langa smiled proudly. Running here while holding Tonare had paid off. The glaive felt like a part of him now, and he had even managed to raise the skill to beginner level 6. Aramaga was still looking sullen as they continued towards the marsh.
Moving cautiously, Langa and Aramaga pressed forward until they reached the area close to the swamp where Aquila’s fallen comrade lay. The body of the spiderkin was on the ground with a hole in his chest, his eyes wide open in terror. It was too late to close them now, and Langa felt bad about that. He looked away from the body, not allowing the dead player's face to merge with Makoto's face in his mind. He closed his eyes, pushing the image away from his mind and breathing in deeply. The air around him smelled both stale and unsettling, and Langa wanted this to be over as soon as possible.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of someone screaming in the distance. Langa wasted no time; he picked up the lifeless body, and Aramaga used a skill. With a strange hand movement, webs emerged from her four hands, and their silk-like threads enveloped the dead spiderkin, wrapping around him like a bandage. They had to hurry, Langa knew that Aquila and Ormeth would not be able to stand against Statia.
"Go," Langa whispered to Aramaga, urgency in his voice. "Wait for the others at the rendezvous point."
Aramaga gripped her staff tightly, her four legs quivering with nervous energy. "Are you sure about this, Langa?" she asked, her voice filled with uncertainty. "He's level 15!"
Langa glanced at her. "I'll be fine, get out of here."
Aramaga nodded and swiftly vanished into the shadows, almost undetectable as she moved through the forest.
Langa, now alone, turned his attention to the sounds of fighting. He took a deep breath; he hadn't found a way to sneak into the dungeon, so he had to fight Statia anyway. So he sprinted towards the clash, the Legacy trailing behind him. Emerging from the shadows, he saw Aquila's sword bending unnaturally as he was desperately trying to withstand a rush of strange black balls coming from Statia, while Ormeth was throwing rocks at him. It was pathetic, really, and Statia was toying with them.
Without hesitation, Langa unsheathed three of his daggers and infused them with his mana. With pinpoint accuracy, he threw them, sending them flying towards Statia, forcing the guard to evade backward and create some distance, and his black magic balls stopped chasing Aquila.
"Run! Join Aramaga!" Langa shouted, his voice loud. Aquila and Ormeth turned to him, both looking exhausted after barely a minute of fighting against Statia. Aquila looked back once, hesitant to leave, but in the end, he and his comrade ran away. Statia let them go, looking at Langa. He didn't need unarmoured, mana-exhausted, and health-deprived players to help him. He would end up having to protect them and limit himself.
"Hey," Langa said in a friendly voice to Statia, trying to steady his mind and not let his nerves show. If he wanted to complete his Challenge, then this was the first step.
“He's stronger than you; you cannot defeat him easily,” the Legacy said, standing behind him.
“I know, we’ll figure something out,” Langa said, picking up his daggers as Statia glared at him.
“Who are you? Are you here to take revenge for those fools?” Statia’s voice was deep and annoyed.
“I get that you're, you know, protecting your guild’s territory or whatever, but you are strong enough to have subdued them without killing them. You’re almost double their level,” Langa said, daggers now back on his belt and his glaive at the ready. “One of them lost his only life, and for what? For nothing!”
Statia laughed, amused, as he twirled his wand in hand. “This is the Tower, if you're weak, don't provoke the strong, or you will die,” he said. “Enough, if you feel so bad for the dead, you're free to join him.”
Statia had positioned himself in front of the pathway to the entrance to the trollimp dungeon, standing on top of a large white rock. “You're all from this new batch, right? You must think you're strong just because you're a little bit ahead of the pack. Come, let me correct your arrogant thinking.”
The fight began with a strange attack from Statia. Immediately, thick, thorny spikes emerged from the ground under Langa in a 5-metre radius, and he Flash Stepped away. It would be dangerous for him to step on them, as it would hinder his movements, especially with how fast he would be moving. His boots would protect him some, but he did not want to waste their durability. Langa wanted to test the new armour that he got from Instructor Rancho as well. So far, the material of the jumpsuit had been really breathable and easy to move in. The boots were still the ones he'd gotten from the tutorial, but they were pretty decent too.
It was time to see how well he performed in combat. Without missing a beat, more spikes appeared in front of Langa once again, and this time he ran up towards Statia using his normal speed, but the spikes kept following him, and he had to Flash Step forward. Statia was a mage, so Langa intended to defeat him in close combat. Sure, the spear was good at a distance, but he still needed to get in closer than he was right now if he wanted to actually cut Statia and cause him damage. He prepared himself to rush in.
However, before he could even get close, two large spikes, each about a metre high and as sharp as a knife, emerged in front of him, and because he was expecting the smaller spikes, he only managed to dodge one of them, the other cut deep into his leg and he knew that the damage was reduced thanks to the jumpsuit's defence. “Fuck!” he swore, Flash Stepping away. He limped, hiding behind a white rock, to take an inferior health potion. Shit, at this rate, he was going to run out of stamina from overusing Flash Step.
“Nothing more to say? Where did your sense of justice go?” Langa heard the player’s voice and immediately knew that his hiding place had been discovered.
He backed away from the rock just in time because Statia was focusing his magic straight at him. There was no time to worry about whether Aquila’s team managed to escape as Statia sent a beam of white light in his direction. Langa jumped back and ducked, causing the beam to slice through the rock. It was a clean cut, and he shuddered, thinking it could have cleaved through him just as easily.
With its power, he hoped that this light beam skill had a long cool-down, and Langa knew this was his chance to counterattack. He hastily recovered his balance, Flash Stepped towards the Mage and slashed at him with Tonare. However, an invisible barrier stopped the glaive from reaching the other player.
“Shit!” he cursed again, stepping back so that Statia's spikes would not strike him. How many skills did this guy have? Was this barrier the skill that the others had told him about? Well, that was a question that he would have to ponder another day because Statia generated a new ring of round black magic balls around himself, and then he sent two of them flying towards Langa.
“Block,” the Legacy said at the same time that Langa dodged to the left using Flash Step. But the moment that Langa landed with the skill, a black magic ball struck him square in the stomach.
“Wrong,” the Legacy said, shaking its head.
There was pain in Langa's abdomen, but it wasn't the main problem. The ball had drained away a large chunk of MP from him! He could feel his mana being sucked out of him, and he fell to the ground, feeling slightly weaker. Even worse than the pain or the impending mana exhaustion was how Statia had accurately timed the balls’ trajectory. They were flying in a circle in a 7-metre radius around Langa’s previous location. He had already determined the maximum distance that Langa could move with Flash Step and had made sure that at least one of his balls would hit him when he landed, in whichever direction he chose. This guy either had good battle sense, or perhaps it was experience.
“I told you to block. If you keep evading like that, how will you master the skill?” the Legacy asked.
Langa gritted his teeth, rolling on the ground as more balls started to fly towards him. “You told me to block when I'd already started dodging, so there was nothing I could do.”
He then stood back up and used his speed to run and hide behind another large rock, and one of the balls struck the rock behind him. Thankfully, the balls weren't physically strong, so the rock didn't break. He knew that the Legacy was trying to help him so that he could raise his spear skill to the intermediate level, so he had to meet it halfway.
“Fine, let's do things your way,” he said. He breathed, and then he stood up next to the Legacy. Langa had gotten out of his hiding place; if he was going to train in combat, then he would do so head-on. Statia raised his eyebrows, looking at him in disbelief.
“I guess you're ready to die. I respect those who embrace death bravely,” he said, sending four black magic balls flying towards him.
Langa raised the spear and struck outwards, managing to deflect two of the balls, and then he dodged backwards to avoid the other two. Statia, still standing on one of the large white rocks, once again summoned the blinding beam of light, forcing Langa to dart away, not daring to hide behind another rock, as he would just get caught up in the attack anyway. This beam felt stronger than the last, and sure enough, the rock was completely pulverised into powder.
As the heavy energy faded, Langa seized the opportunity to throw his daggers, just to test the limits of Statia's protection, but Statia's force shield deflected the attack effortlessly. The mage retaliated, conjuring five more of those black balls that would steal Langa's mana upon impact, but Langa, agile as ever, moved between the rocks, avoiding Statia's relentless magical ball onslaught. He did not use Flash Step this time, as that seemed easy for Statia to counter. Langa supposed he could just reduce the distance he moved with the skill, but that would just be a waste of his stamina.
This fight was not going well. Without any ranged attacks, Langa was a sitting duck. Statia, however, remained resilient behind his impenetrable shield. He was too resilient, in fact, he wasn't moving an inch even when summoning those magic balls. Still standing on top of that one rock, the mage unleashed another burning beam, forcing Langa to retreat and strategise, but just then, some spikes appeared below his feet, cutting right into his skin through his low-durability boots.
"Watch your surroundings!" The Legacy barked. Langa had been so absorbed in the battle that he almost forgot about its presence. The spikes were also a big issue for him because they restricted his greatest weapon, his agility. He could not recklessly dodge the mana balls, as he did not know where the spikes would pop up.
He had to find a way to damage his opponent. Langa tried to burst through the force shield with Flash Step, moving closer to Statia and then trying to Flash Step through the shield. It felt like he was a truck that had just crashed into a solid brick wall. His head throbbed from the crash.
"I'm starting to wonder: what's stronger, your speed or your stupidity?" Statia said with a mocking laugh as Langa clutched his ringing head and tried to dodge the spikes.
"Shut the fuck up!" Langa shouted. He did not want to use his exploding orbs before entering the dungeon, but it was either that or use his few charges from Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike.
Even after throwing his glaive at him in full force, Statia did not flinch, and the force shield deflected it. Langa did not know how far the force shield stretched. What if he used his attribute to run away from Statia and then crashed into the shield again? Statia was not moving from blocking the entrance, standing right in front of it, and his Velocity only allowed him to move in one specific direction, so he could not go around the shield either.
There was no forcing his way past the force shield. It was too damn strong, and he was sure only something crazy like an earthquake would force Statia to break his concentration and move, nullifying the shield.
The strength of a divine skill was truly overpowered. Langa also wanted one.
His pain wasn't for nothing, though. He was sure now. That shield required Statia to stay in one place. So, as long as he did not move, the shield remained intact. Langa had to find a way to break his concentration.
Statia's force shield was his greatest obstacle. It negated magic attacks and proved difficult to penetrate with physical strikes. Langa needed a plan. If it were up to him, he would just run straight past Statia but the way into the dungeon was narrow, and Statia's force shield blocked the way. There was something that he could try to get the mage to break his concentration and stop his force shield.
Statia was clearly stronger than him, so Langa thought about it. Could he get inside the dungeon without defeating the player? If he could leverage his speed and run into the dungeon, then Statia would not be able to follow him. If that failed, well, he'd go fight some monsters and get stronger before returning to challenge the dungeon. But he had already wasted enough time. He was running out of mana, so he did something he'd stupidly neglected to do until now. He still had some free attribute points from his last two level-ups, so he put three in mind and three in agility.
Statia, unaware of Langa’s thoughts, summoned five balls of magic, each capable of stealing mana upon impact and launched them towards Langa, who narrowly avoided them with an aptly timed Flash Step to the side before Statia could anticipate the direction he would teleport to. He was inching the battle ever slightly toward the waterfall bit by bit. With a quick calculation, Langa decided to execute his simple strategy. It might be stupid, and it might not work, but it was the only thing that he could think of to disrupt the force shield. He took his attack stance once more.
“Lower your stance,” the Legacy told him, and Langa bent forward a little, spear raised, with the butt of the spear at his waist.
“Again? Do you never learn?” Statia asked in annoyance, his magic balls already in the air.
It was good that Statia thought he would try to attack the shield directly again, but that was not Langa’s aim. When he activated Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike, he used the absolute minimum amount of mana that he could infuse to activate the skill. He bolted forward, but instead of striking the shield, he struck the ground in front of Statia, just outside the shield’s range, with his spear, causing a tremor in the ground, and the earth cracked open, Tonare's lightning sizzling.
The force of the tremor broke the rock that Statia was standing on and he lost balance and, as if he'd been struck by a strong gust of wind in a storm, Statia was thrown at high speed onto another white rock. He yelped in pain as his arm started to bleed. The important thing was that the attack disrupted his force shield for a brief moment, and Statia swayed from side to side as he stood up, trying to regain his bearings. Seizing the opportunity, Langa swiftly sprinted towards the entrance of the dungeon, utilising his speed to outrun Statia and ensure that by the time he cast his next spell, he would be gone. Statia, caught off guard by Langa's sudden ingenuity, attempted to regain his composure and launch another beam of light at him from his place on the ground, but it was too late. Langa had already reached the entrance and disappeared into the dungeon.
Although Langa did not win this fight, his resourcefulness allowed him to outsmart Statia and gain access to the dungeon. Langa only had five days to complete his Challenge, so he wanted to be as prepared as he possibly could, after all, this could be a defining moment of his life. His journey was just beginning, and he had no idea what path he would choose to take inside the Tower, or who he was going to become, but for the first time in many years, he was looking forward to his future.
[BOOK 1 - END]