“So the creatures are from an incorporeal reality,” Myantha said after we cleared the second cavern of shadow creatures. “This means if we come across any fire creatures, they are likely also to be incorporeal.”

“Iron is fairly corporeal. Could there be multiple realms?” I asked.

“Possible. We are in new territory here.”

I swept up the bodies here, too.

“If these are real creatures… It doesn’t make sense. Why are they just crowded into a cavern and waiting to be slaughtered?”

“What should they be doing?” Myantha asked.

“Even animals know how to hunt. They have instincts.”

“They may be swarm-type creatures, and that is their method,” Myantha replied.

“Possible. I am a hard counter to them, so they might not realise that danger.” I wasn’t totally satisfied with that, but “If the fire creatures are the same, that could be a problem.”

“Exactly. Level 1 Air manipulation will not be enough,” she sounded a little worried.

“Your other air skills are not useless. You have a strong wind to keep them away, right?”

“Gusts, yes.”

“We are missing something,” I said.

I cast out the Mana Web (Sensing). The cavern is not overly large, and I cover the whole cavern, sensing nothing. I reduce the size of the web, increasing its density. Then I do it again. The Mana web is for sensing Mana variations, including where I can’t see them. I reduce it again. And again.

I then went around the cavern carefully. I got a twinge of something halfway up a wall about two-thirds of the way to the end. It was too deep in the wall for it to register on anything except my Mana Web (Sensing), which was designed to go where I could not see.

I got out my mining equipment and started chipping around the spot. The rock was hard, and I had to go in about two handspans before I found a fist-sized crystal which was pitch black. It was strongly shadow-orientated, and my Shadow Manipulation felt it but couldn’t penetrate it.

I handed it to Myantha, “Any idea?”

She examined it for a while and shook her head. “Maybe it is where the shadow creatures live? I am guessing. They are completely foreign to anything I have seen or read about. Let's check the first cavern.”

“After we check for more here.”

There were no more in that cavern, and we found one in the roof of the first cavern. I had to stand on Myantha’s shoulders to mine it, and we both showered in rock. She also had Steady Footing and Acrobatics. Her strength was more than enough.

I didn’t need my Spectral vision (Heat) to know there was a fire in the next cavern. We both moved forward in stealth. She had good stealth, which you would expect from a former assassin.

It was incorporeal fire creatures. I was half expecting molten iron golems, but the theme seems to be consistent. There were just as many as the shadow creatures.

“We could try stealthing it.” I said, “Take them in small groups.” Our skilled strikes will work, ust not as effectively as light worked against shadow.”

“Risky. If we get swarmed, we don’t have the equivalent of your Flash. What if we try and find the Crystal and get that early?”

“I'm not sure how that will help, but we could try. You would have to hold them off while I mine. Let's see if there is anything I could buy to help.”

She waited while I went into the Skill Points to see what I could get. Water Bombs and Water Auras were greyed out as not compatible. I am restricted to Light, Shadow and Death.

Solar Reflection was too expensive. Photon Dampening reduces light intensity and cools an area, reducing heat. It is a specialised ability. There are very few other applications outside this. Photon Shield is better as it creates a barrier of light reflecting heat away. Either will cost ten points, and for the limited application, they are not worth it, in my opinion. Buying for for specific situation in a waste.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

What about shadow skills? The Eclipse Field is an extension of my eclipse to a wide area, and I suppress other energies like heat. Darkness Wave will disburse opposing energies, including fire. Both are ten points. I am pretty sure when I max out Eclipse, I will probably get Eclipse Field, or something similar.

Here is a five-pointer which might work well with Myantha’s Air starvation. Umbral Cold. It lowers the temperature in an area of shadow. That will give us some protection from the fire and reduce the strength of the creatures. Combined with Myantha’s Air Manipulation, it will enhance our chances. It will have uses outside of this. It would slow the cold-blooded lizards effectively and even people a little bit. More as it levels up. I buy it.

As the spell settles into my mind, I realise that in the higher levels, it would get close to an ice skill. It is limited only to shadows. That actually might be a problem I didn’t think about. The cavern is lit up in flickering flames, and there is very little shadow. I can push out shadows with Shadow Manipulation, but it is only Level 1 as well. I am not sure if I can bend Light as I do the other two at the same time. That is very mana intensive.

What’s done is done, and I only have seven points left.

I look at Myantha. “We go in stealth as much as possible. I reduce heat, you reduce air, and we cut for all we are worth.”

“Let’s start on this side, work our way around the edge, and look for the crystal as we go,” she said.

We moved out, and there were two close by that we isolated. She sucks out the air from the area, and I push Shadow Manipulation against the light of their flame and lower the temperature. Lowering the temperature is good as it is very hot in the cavern, so hot the rocks underfoot are glowing. We knew it was hot, but we didn’t realise how hot it was.

We managed to get the first few and move to the next three, which were harder. I am not sure how these things sense, but we have avoided attracting attention for now. After those ones were killed, we stopped, and I cast out the Mana Web (Sensing). Myantha regenerates her Mana at this time, but I am still spending it with my Mana Web (Sensing). The heat is hard to handle without Umbral Cold, but I need to conserve mana.

Then, we move on to the next group. I was using Mana Syphon to at least get a little bit of mana back. I should have been using it and levelling it rather than coasting with the kids.

We got about halfway when something went wrong. I am not even sure what went wrong. Suddenly, they were all swarming to us. I slammed Shadow Manipulation and Umbral Cold in a wide area as I could, and Myantha was sucking air from the place as best she could, and we stood there and defended ourselves. It was a pleasure to be fighting beside someone who knew what they were doing.

I was Mana Syphoning, and Gusts of Wind would push them back. I think Myantha was trying to get them into a line.

Holy Strike worked, as Myantha said, against the Shadow ones. Death Strike was surprisingly effective. I didn’t bother with Burning Strike. Quick Hands, Quick Strike, Slash, Chop. I wasn’t moving much. The heat was building and became too much for Umbral Cold, and I stepped forward to take the point, and I started to burn. This wasn’t such a good idea.

“Back toward the tunnel,” Myantha said, and I followed her, walking backwards and trusting my Perception to know where to step. By the time we get there, Myantha is chugging her second Mana Potion, and I will be on my first despite the Syphon. Both our armours have significant burns, and so do we. My Toughened Skin, Fire resistance, and Minor Regeneration mean I am better than Myantha. She does seem to have some sort of self heal ability, but it is less than Minor Regen, and more costly in mana.

When we back into the tunnel, there are significantly fewer than there were, and we can manage them better. We are both hurting and exhausted when we finish the last one off.

I look at Myantha and give a small laugh.

“What?” She asks.

“No eyebrows.”

“You had better check yourself first.”

I raise my hand, and anything outside my helmet is burned away. My skin is healing. I give her a nod.

Eventually, we get ourselves to our feet, and she holds out her hand, “I can sweep while you search.”

I nod and hand her the broom. The dust remains are orange rather than black. So is the crystal when I find it.

“We have to be able to do better than that,” I say.

“Yeah,” she replies. “Next time, we pull a few into the tunnel entrance at a time, and if we get swarmed, we are already there.”

I nod. “That will help control them without you wasting mana on the gusts.”

We move through the tunnels, clearing one chamber after another. Some chambers have multiple tunnels connecting to them, but my Map records where we have been. We are conscious that we are on the timer. The six hours are going fast.

Six Shadow Chambers and six Fire Chambers. Six of each crystal.

The problem is there is no sign of iron. Will there be no iron? Did I do it wrong? Or will the Guardian boss be Iron?

We snuck up to the last chamber. We had about forty minutes on the timer. The trial Guardian was a Myantha-sized crystal golem. Black and orange crystals. It was carrying four dark blue crystal swords, one in each of its four hands. The forearms were Fire Crystal, and the upper arms were Shadow. The shins were Fire, and the thighs were Shadow. The torso and head were dark blue crystal. Six of each type of crystal. We definitely missed something when coming here. I hope it doesn’t bite us now.

“The swords are something other than shadow or fire crystals,” Myantha whispered.

I nodded, “Iron Crystals, I think. We might have missed collecting them.”

“It's too late to go back now,” Myantha said, and she was right. “I am the better swordsperson,” she said. “I will engage, and you figure out how to destroy it.”

I nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”