Langa could feel pride in the eyes of The Lackadaisical Herald that were watching him. He wondered why. Was he proud of him for not running away? What reason did this god have to care about his decisions and how he lived his life? He supposed that he would have to ask him once the Challenge was done. The other deities were still silently watching him, and he wondered if it was because they were disinterested, or watching other players at the moment. Either way, it did not matter to him. Still, The Lackadaisical Herald's concern and his continued observation of him made Langa happy because it reminded him of when his father would watch over him when he was playing in the woods.

But now was not the time to think about this. He was still stuck at a dead end, and just because he decided not to run away did not mean that things were suddenly looking up for him. He needed to think of a way out of this mess, defeat the trollimp archers, and collect their healing sacs.

"Now would be a good time for some advice, Legacy," Langa said dryly. The trollimps could be catching up to him any second now.

"I've taught you everything that you need to move past the beginner level. It's up to you to apply the knowledge to your situation," was the response he received.

"How very helpful," he said, letting the sarcasm drip from his words. He stood as still as he possibly could, to ensure his stamina regeneration with the ring would continue before he had to fight.

Alright, he had to think fast, because those fucking archers would reach this height any minute now. He analysed the situation logically. He couldn't jump up the pillar; it was over 20 metres tall, and no matter how good his high jump skills were, that was just plain suicidal. Unless... could he activate his attribute and use his velocity to go up? No, Langa disregarded the thought, he would be stuck in the air if he just chose up as his direction, as he wouldn't be able to use his velocity for more than a second with his low stamina.

In the end, his only option was to destroy the pillars.

It would not be easy, and Langa doubted that the trollimps would just sit still and wait to be attacked. He had to destroy one pillar while enduring the attacks from the rest of the trollimps on the other three pillars. That was, unless he could find a way to destroy all of the pillars at once. He groaned. This was why he wanted to learn the Lucent Enchanting Skill so that he could make his own bombs and make his fights end even faster, or better yet, learn some long-range skills. For someone who hated getting hurt, it sure was funny how all his skills were close and mid-range combat-oriented.

He supposed that it would be efficient to blow up the pillars with his exploding orbs, but this was only the second level of the dungeon and the second day. It would not do for him to use all his trump cards already, before even facing off against a miniboss. He decided that he would only use those if he was actually dying.

As he was thinking of the best way forward, an arrow whizzed through the air towards him. The trollimps had reached the pillars closest to him. He raised his spear to deflect it. He was tired; his stamina was low, and he couldn't carelessly use Flash Step anymore, so he could only try to deflect the arrows. To his surprise, however, when he tried to block, the glaive passed right through the arrow, and another arrow struck him right in the abdomen. It had been an illusion.

Fucking hell, how was this fair? These corrupted monsters had illusory arrows too now. More arrows came for him until his left arm was bleeding, and suffering from frostbite, thanks to an ice arrow. He did not want to have multiple arrows sticking out of his body again, so all he could do was dodge and duck as arrows continuously came for him.

Enough was enough. While it had been a little thrilling to dart around the stairs dodging the arrows, this fight had gone on long enough. Langa had to end it now! He was on the highest point on the stairs, which meant that the pillars, while taller than him, all had their foundations on the stairs below him. His fight against Statia had given him a brand new perspective on how to use his weapon's skill. It was a powerful skill, and the force it could generate from its impact was good, too. He also knew how destructive Tonare alone could be even without the skill, from his fight against Fidser, so he decided that the best way for him to fight was to use Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike now and save his attribute for later.

Thanks to the light from the Legacy, he could see, exactly on which four pillars the trollimps were hiding. He decided that it was time to attack, and, holding Tonare in his right hand, he infused it with lightning and activated Thunderbird's Stunning Strike. He only had a few charges of the skill left. He didn't have any throwing skills, but through his resonance with the glaive, he could feel that it understood his intention as he threw it downward in a semicircular arc towards the closest four pillars as they were arranged semicircularly following the stairs. He didn't like to use it as a throwing weapon before because it was his lifeline, but he knew that the skill would deal bonus damage when the glaive was thrown as well.

It flew out like a lightning bullet, a blur bursting through the top pillar, following the semicircular arc he'd thrown, its momentum unchanged. Tonare struck and broke through two more pillars before the lightning fizzled out, and it missed the final pillar, falling onto the stairs.

The backlash from the skill was agonisingly unbearable as the glaive's lightning burned into his hand, but he was already numb, and the force of the backlash sent him tumbling down the stairs in pain. With his injured left hand, he grabbed onto the stone steps, cursing out in pain. He lifted his eyes and watched the result of his glaive's work.

The three pillars that had been hit broke apart in a burst of broken stone debris, and screams erupted from three trollimps as they fell from a 20-metre height onto the stone stairs. He stood up, ignoring his pain, still reeling from the backlash, and coated his daggers with the anti-heal potion and Kiribo's Sweat. He infused his mana into the daggers so that he could inflict burn damage on the trollimps. Thanks to his high agility, he did all of this in an instant, and then he ran his aching body towards the fallen trollimp archers before their health could regenerate. They were in various states of injury, mostly from falling and from being buried under the rubble of the destroyed pillars. Sparing no mercy, he took out his dagger to slash each of the three's necks.

The last trollimp remaining on the undamaged pillar kept firing his shadow arrows at him as he killed its companions. As he did so, Langa's back was riddled with more arrows, but he ignored the flaring of pain, killing the three trollimp archers. His health was dangerously close to 20% of its maximum, but he still made sure the monsters were dead by pouring two flaxes of the anti-heal potion on them before, finally, only the last archer remained. The trollimp seemed like it wasn't going to run, as it could see that he was on his last legs, and it felt sure that it could kill him.

This was it for both of them, and Langa had saved his attribute for this moment, as though not by much, his stamina had regenerated a bit while he was still on the stairs. With the amount of stamina he had, he could only use his velocity for one second. Tonare lay in front of the pillar with the last trollimp, and Langa, in his dizzy, disoriented mind from low health, decided that since his weapon was far away from him, he would use his velocity to crash his body like a rocket into the pillar. He could distantly hear the Legacy screaming at him not to be stupid.

He activated his attribute and used the full force of his velocity to crash into the pillar. There was numbness and then a burst of pain that felt like he had been hit by a fucking truck and left battered and broken. Yeah, that had been a terrible idea, he thought deliriously as his head started ringing unpleasantly. He emerged in a heap on the other side of the now destroyed pillar, his bones broken, his body injured, and in pain as the debris started slowly falling towards him.

Langa infused his last dagger with lightning mana and jabbed it into the neck of the fallen, screaming trollimp just as time returned to normal.

His armour was good, but even it could only protect him so much from crashing debris, and he crawled towards his glaive, needing to have it by his side in case of another threat. Notifications filled his vision, and with his blurry eyes, he saw a small wooden chest among the debris of the broken pillar, and he pulled it towards himself as the stairs broke beneath the weight of the broken pillars, and Langa began to fall.

He landed hard on a cold stone floor on his legs, and when the pain struck him, he knew one of them was definitely swollen or sprained. He grimaced as the leg failed to support him, and he fell until he lay at the bottom of the floor, dazed and in pain. He had tumbled down, his body now aching from the impact of the fall on top of his other injuries.

[WARNING!!! Your health has fallen below 10% of its maximum. Please seek healing immediately!]

With a groan, he slowly pushed himself up, wincing as he felt the throbbing pain in his leg. He applied the wound healing ointment to it, but it barely did anything since the leg did not have an open wound. He lay down for a few seconds, waiting until his health was at 11% of its maximum before moving.

Deciding that getting his leg to heal was a lost cause for now, Langa looked around, and realised he had fallen into a hidden chamber— some sort of secret place hidden beneath the stairs. Was this what the trollimp archers had been guarding?

He saw that the bodies of the four trollimp archers he’d killed had also fallen in here with him, but they were a bit further down. He would collect the healing sacs as soon as he made sure that this place was not a trap. He shoved the chest that he'd taken from the pillar into his Feathervault bag, needing to check his surroundings and ensure that he was safe before he allowed himself to rest and heal up. He slowly stood up, making sure not to put too much weight on his bad leg.

Cautiously, Langa hobbled forward, using the walls for support. The air felt different here, with a terrible stench surrounding the whole place. The low light from above revealed a small shrine, covered with strange carvings and symbols similar to the ones that he had seen drawn on the pillars. There was power here, a dark essence that seemed to fill the entire place. It felt somewhat familiar but also wrong at the same time for him to be here.

”What the hell is this place?” he wondered out loud.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

”A shrine for a disgusting boss monster who thinks himself to be a deity thanks to the powers he received from corruption would be my guess,” the Legacy said, its light allowing Langa to see more around the shrine. "And it is a worshipper of the lost race, no doubt."

His eyes widened as they settled on the strange objects scattered around the shrine. A collection of weathered bones lay neatly arranged on a stone altar, and above the altar, a peculiar carving hung from the ceiling—a delicate object shaped like a talisman, a strange light coming from it.

However, it was the paintings that truly captivated him. They lined the walls, depicting the story of an ancient trollimp wearing a crown. There was a drawing of a tall humanoid creature with its arms wide open as it granted the trollimp power, setting it free. It looked similar to the one he'd seen on the previous dungeon level. Having received corruption, the trollimp battled ferocious beasts with gnarly claws and sharp fangs, each confrontation frozen in time in the painting. The trollimp's strength shone through, as he effortlessly overpowered his adversaries. It was strange, but the trollimp disappeared from the frame sometimes, yet he continued to smite his enemies.

Another painting revealed the victorious trollimp, standing tall in front of a horde of tiny creatures. With their heads bowed in subservience, they seemed to obey his every command. The trollimp led the tiny creatures, along with a mass of other trollimps following him, into a grotto to construct a grand home, a fortress where they could thrive and prosper.

Langa couldn't help but stare at the paintings, his mind filled with wonder and curiosity. Who was this ancient trollimp? What power did he possess? Was the lost race the strange being that had granted him power? And why were these images tucked away in this hidden shrine?

No, now was not the time to be curious, he thought, as he limped towards the door on the side of the caved-in wall. As he made his way there, Langa noticed a small wooden statue of the crowned trollimp tucked away in a corner. Intrigued, he moved closer and found next to it a collection of ancient scrolls. They were filled with faded text, written in a language he couldn't decipher. Well, he may not be an avid gamer, but he sure as hell knew that he should take everything he could get from this dungeon. It would probably be worth something if he sold it, at least. He was sure there were people like his father who loved reading and researching ancient texts.

He continued towards the broken door since he knew that he needed to make sure that it was safe before he sat down to rest, he didn’t want any surprises. Since the door was already broken, a monster might jump out and catch him unawares. Langa cautiously opened the creaky door to reveal a much larger and spooky chamber filled with even more symbols and magical runes. His footsteps were the only sound he could hear as he walked softly on the cold stone floor and limped further inside.

At first, the room seemed calm and promising, but when Langa looked around, he saw a big cauldron in the corner. The cauldron was filled with a bright pink potion that the gardeners had been using to water the saffrons. It smelt really good. Was someone here? He was immediately alert as he went closer to the cauldron, yet there were no sounds except for the bubbling potion.

But just as he was about to relax, he heard a deep growl that made his heart skip a beat. He looked around sharply to find where the sound came from, and there, standing up from inside the cauldron, was another trollimp. The trollimp had red skin that shone in the low light as it was covered in the potion, and it had a big nose and two sharp fangs. It's one eye locked onto Langa, looking pissed as the potion dripped all over its body.

Corrupted Trollimp Warden

Level 10

HP: 940/940

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Langa's entire body screamed in pain, begging him to take a break, even as he readied Tonare, and took his stance, balancing on his uninjured leg. Normally, a single monster the same level as he was, with this low health wouldn’t be a problem for him, but all his main stats were still regenerating.

The trollimp snarled, jumping out of its cosy cauldron, and spilling the potion all over the floor. Langa's instincts kicked in, and he quickly raised Tonare. He kept his eyes on the angry creature, and, gripping his spear tightly, he prepared to face it. The monster jerked, its oversized nose twitching as it inhaled his scent. Its single eye glowed with a glare, and its sharp claws extended, becoming as long as knives, ready to attack. With a sudden burst of unnatural speed, the creature lunged towards him, its claws slicing through the air.

Even though its speed surprised him, Langa's reflexes kicked in, allowing him to dodge the monster's initial attack. He leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp claws that would have surely torn through his flesh. Pivoting on his good leg, he countered with an upward slash of his spear, aiming for the monster's thick red chest, but while the glaive cut into the skin, it was not deep enough to create a lasting wound. Shit, the anti-heal potion on the glaive was used up, but the monster’s skin was also much stronger than all the other trollimps he’d faced so far. It gave him no time to apply the potion again, as well as Kiribo's Sweat.

As it growled at him, Langa stepped back, creating some distance between them to allow him to use the glaive effectively, just as the Legacy was about to bark at him to create distance. But even with his improved skills, the creature's defences held strong. Without power in his legs, Tonare bounced harmlessly off the monster's hardened hide, barely leaving a scratch. Frustration surged through him as he realised his usual tactics would not be enough to overcome this battle.

Sensing Langa's momentary weakness, the trollimp warden took advantage of the opening. It retracted its extended claws and launched them towards him like deadly blade darts. He knew he could not afford to get hit. His health was already low, he couldn’t use health potions, and he could only rely on his reflexes as he could not move fast enough with his injured leg. A claw-dart grazed his arm, leaving bloody scratches in its wake.

He used Flash Step to get behind the trollimp, but the moment he landed, he cried out in pain. Fuck, he didn’t control which leg he landed with, and he had landed on his injured one. He still thrust Tonare into the trollimp’s back as he couldn't afford to let his leg get in the way of the attack. With the extra damage from Flash Step, he had finally injured it enough, giving it a wound that would not instantly regenerate.

There was a screech of pain, and then the trollimp once more moved with unnatural speed, turning around, leg raised. The trollimp’s leg collided with his abdomen before he could dodge, and he was violently pushed back, stumbling.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Langa knew he needed to change his strategy. His mana, health and stamina were all low, so he had to sacrifice two for one. Should he use Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike again with its limited charges and the backlash that might kill him at his currently low HP? Or should he use his attribute and Flash Step, risking the stamina debuff where he would no longer be able to move, not knowing if there were more enemies around?

Darting around the monster slower than he normally would thanks to his leg, he moved according to his Legacy skill’s designated steps, striking at its vulnerable joints when he found an opening but his attacks were not deep enough and its high health regeneration slowed down the effects of any progress he might be making. He aimed for the creature's eye, hoping to blind it temporarily, but the trollimp anticipated his move and twisted away at the last moment.

Sweat poured down his face as he tried to dodge the trollimp’s physical claws and its claw-darts while conserving his stamina, his injured leg pleading for mercy. With all the strength he could currently muster, Langa ran forward, driving his lightning-infused spear deep into the monster's side. The creature shrieked in pain again, momentarily stunned by the unexpected attack.

His leg protested painfully as he pushed himself harder, focusing on the goal of this fight, maybe there was a way out of here, to regroup, rest and fucking sleep. But the trollimp rushed at him so fast that had it been someone with lesser speed, Langa would not have been able to leap aside to avoid the claws slashing at him.

He stumbled again but managed to stay upright just as the trollimp extended its claws to attack once again. Fuck, he was exhausted, the trollimp's skin was hard, and his blades struggled to penetrate its skin. Only Tonare could do so, but the trollimp was not allowing Langa any space to effectively use his glaive. It was fast, not as fast as he was, but for a level 10 corrupted monster, it was too fucking fast.

Even as he thought this, the claws slashed him in the face, the pain ice cold against his skin as he tasted his own blood. His face must be hideous, he thought, as sweat and blood mixed on his face, as he closed his eyes in pain.

"Left!" the Legacy's voice said, and it was funny, but Langa could not even see it anymore, it felt like he could hear it inside his head, so he instinctively sidestepped to the left just as the extended claws of the trollimp swiped at the spot that he'd been standing before.

He pulled himself to a stop, swinging his spear up in a wide arc. He nearly lost his grip on Tonare as it connected with the trollimp's neck and something snapped as the creature howled in pain. He swung Tonare at its head, but it backhanded him painfully, and knocked the glaive out of his hands, sending it clattering onto the stone floor, too far for Langa to reach.

He felt breathless and only had time to turn around before the trollimp grabbed him by the throat and tossed him into the broken wall. Stars filled his vision as he slid down the wall to the floor beneath. The trollimp was coming for him again, and, blindly, he pushed out his uninjured leg, tripping the monster, so that it fell on top of him.

This fucking trollimp was heavy, and Langa knew that he would never be able to live down the fact, if he got killed by a level 10 monster that he could one-shot with Tonare on a good day. He was not going to lose to something weaker than him. He refused to. Tonare was too far away, so all he could do was grab at this chance before it could reorient itself.

In a panic, Langa hastily thought out to the system, 'Convert all remaining mana to stamina and all HP to stamina…wait leave 5% of my maximum for both.' That was just enough to raise his stamina to 50% of his maximum, the minimum needed to activate his attribute.

”Impulse Pulse!” he said, and the world slowed down.

He only had less than a second before his attribute was deactivated from his lack of stamina. He didn't think, the moment time slowed down, Langa grabbed a defective Exploding Fire Orb from his inventory, infused all of his remaining mana into it, and slammed it into the trollimp's heart as hard as he could.

He scrambled to get away from under it before the orb exploded, using the wall for support, but he only managed to move a few centimetres away before his attribute was deactivated.

The explosion sent shockwaves through the air, rocking the chamber and causing debris to rain down around them. Searing heat erupted above him and Langa shielded his face with his arms, feeling the heat and hearing the trollimp’s deafening roar. As the smoke cleared, he struggled to sit up, his body aching and his vision still blurry. He coughed as he struggled to breathe.

But as he looked at the spot where the trollimp had been, he couldn't believe his eyes. The monster was nowhere to be seen. Langa's heart pounded in his chest as he cautiously searched the area with his eyes, fearing that the trollimp had somehow survived the blast. But there was no sign of it. Had the explosion disintegrated the trollimp completely? It seemed too good to be true. As he scanned the chamber, his eyes fell on a large hole in the wall next to him, where the force of the explosion had blown a section away. Could the trollimp have been launched outside?

Driven by curiosity and the need for confirmation, Langa squinted looking towards the hole cautiously. He peered through it, and, astonishingly, there, lying motionless on the ground, was the trollimp. Its body was scorched and charred, its entire top half gone, evidence of the explosive demise it had met.

He couldn't help but let out a triumphant laugh, relief flooding through him. He had defeated the monster despite his weaknesses.

[You have killed a level 10 Trollimp Wadern.

Rewards will be issued once the quest is complete.

Please wait.]

[You are critically injured! Your health has fallen below 5% of its maximum. Please seek healing immediately!]

Langa tried to reach out for his glaive on the stone floor, taking a moment to catch his breath. He knew he couldn't waste any more time. There were still more challenges to face, and more monsters to defeat within the dungeon. However, to his horror, he couldn’t reach out as half of his left arm was gone completely, burned away by the explosion.

His right arm was still there, but it was sizzling with fire and he smelt his burning flesh. It was horrifying to look at and his mind couldn’t process it. He tried to force this into the back of his mind where he compartmentalised every trauma but it was hard to do when he could literally see that he had no left arm. Langa tried to sit up but he couldn’t even support his own weight and his head was dizzy. He could not think straight and the pain was weakening him even more.

[Debuff: Stamina below 5%. Reduced movement speed. You are paralysed until stamina regenerates to 10%. Time remaining: 52 seconds]

He wasn’t in the tutorial anymore, and the system wasn’t going to find ways to try to save him this time. Although his stamina regeneration had improved drastically since then, it wasn't going to help him with this pain. Fuck, this was why he wanted a self-healing skill. He refused to die here, but he knew this was real life. The will to live alone was not going to save him. He needed to get his head together and think of a solution.

There was really only one thing he could try. He was dying, and with no other choice, Langa reached into his Feathervault bag with his aching right hand and retrieved one of the poisonous vitality saffrons he had collected. He knew that these flowers possessed potent healing properties, but their toxicity could prove fatal if consumed raw. With trembling hands, he bit into the flower and chewed it. It tasted like lemon leaves, bitter and acidic.

“Fool,” the Legacy said, standing over him.

His already ailing body felt like it was on fire but he forced himself to swallow. He was sure that it was going to be painful but thankfully, blissfully, his mind drifted into unconsciousness. His last thought was wishing he had his divine domain right now, to regain his health and get some rest. He could only hope that the trollimp warden was the only monster in here.