Trixie guided Rin to the pillar’s edge and leaped without hesitation. If she’d been anything other than a floating phantom, Rin would have screamed in shock. Instead, he transmuted into his preferred flying form, the Scout of the Undead, and dove after her.
First, they examined the pillar’s walls, which contained dozens of pockets and hollows. One particular pocket stood out from the others because of its remarkable size. On closer examination, they saw that it dove so deep it turned into a full-fledged tunnel snaking deep into the pillar’s center. It was suspicious, indicating a possible secret, but the intense winds battered Rin so much he couldn’t clamber inside. His skeletal raven claws scrabbled uselessly at the rock until he was blown backward. To the boy’s annoyance, Trixie thought it was hilarious, hovering there blissfully unaffected by the turbulence.
Then, the solution clicked. It was always better to conquer a dungeon using the monsters provided within it.
With a flash of essence, he transformed into his latest acquisition, the level 27 Wind Fairy, with his new storage ring secured as an armband on his upper arm. The new creature was humanoid, so his disorientation at the change was minimal, nothing more than a fleeting moment of nausea before he regained control. Better still, the diminutive profile of his tiny wings cut right through the howling wind, and he found himself dashing into the rock tunnel barely out of breath, tumbling into a secluded area protected from the storm.
Scattered about the dim cave were five dungeon flowers, and Rin wasted no time reverting to human form to gobble them up. When the dungeon counter appeared, he lurched.
Windton Stepping Stones: 5/30 flowers acquired
Thirty? This place is a gold mine. But none of the flowers appear after a pillar is completed. Where are they hiding?
If Rin could acquire every last one, it would take his Charisma to 80, a staggering height. He might be able to tame every last monster in the Cursed Temple. The fleeting memory of the Murder Chicken at level 94 squelched that idea.
That’s too much of a gap. There’s no way I could tame it even with proper chicken feed. It would peck my damn eyes out.
He shuddered and returned to examine his surroundings. It was no surprise that the secluded area proceeded to become a narrow shaft the width of his hand. Rin returned to fairy form and eagerly dove in.
The tunnel curved through twists and turns until there, at the end, lay a teeny treasure chest. It had barely enough room for the lid to open.
But open it did, revealing five gold coins which he swept into his new ring.
Not quite a skill stone. Still, not too shabby.
They exited the pillar’s underchamber and began the grueling process of scanning up and down its entire face. It took thirty minutes to ensure there were no other tunnels worth exploring and Rin had to pause to gather his strength before they tackled the next pillar.
“I don’t think we need to check the entire thing,” said Trixie, pointing at the walls of the pillar neighboring their own. “You can see where the holes taper off about fifty feet from the top. From that point down, the rock is smooth.”
“You could have pointed that out thirty minutes ago!”
They made their way to the next, carefully avoiding the metal bridges swaying violently and attracting all manner of lightning. The following four pillars were much like the first, all filled with wind fairies of slowly escalating levels, with a secret chamber underneath that only a fairy—or their imitation—could access. Thankfully, the fairies were far easier to charm when Rin was transformed into a wind fairy himself. He was relieved he wouldn’t have to constantly zip about as the Bog Squirrel, burning through his stamina like a racehorse to avoid their attacks. And like the first pillar top, no dungeon flowers appeared after a pillar was conquered. He’d have to find every flower the hard way: via secrets.
At one point, Trixie decided to experiment with her new sword on one of the fairies Rin charmed, knowing it shouldn’t attack him even when she gave it a hack or two. To her astonishment, the sword cleaved straight through the monster, severing its body into two halves that tumbled into the grass and dissolved into essence. As if that wasn’t shocking enough, the essence flew into her body, momentarily brightening her spectral outline. It even affected her sword, which glowed substantially brighter.
“Gods above, I think the power of my sword just increased. It feels sturdier.” She swung the blade a few times, acclimating to its new heft.
“And the kill gave you essence,” said Rin, pointing out the obvious.
“Right! No more rat snacks, I can finally fight alongside you!” She held the sword aloft in the pose of a gallant warrior. The murderous look in her eyes heightened the effect. “I’m going to stab everything!”
Rin threw back his head and laughed. “Just whatever you do, don’t cut yourself. It might never grow back.”
They moved on to the next pillar with Trixie taking point, hacking quickly through the fairies. She only paused when she discovered a higher-leveled one that was a good candidate for Rin’s Available Creatures list.
The treasure mounted quickly, from dungeon flowers to gold coins to health potions. However, Rin couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed. He was so accustomed to legendary items that he started to think perhaps they were doing something wrong.
When he expressed his concern to Trixie, she laughed. “This is normal loot, Rin. Potions and gold. I never thought I’d say this, but your Cursed class has spoiled you.”
“Maybe.” The boy wasn’t ready to relinquish his hopes and dreams for this dungeon.
At least the next pillar was more interesting. They searched underneath the flying rock first, finding a disturbing lack of secrets there, which was new. The topology of its grassy top was different too, littered with enormous boulders to hide behind, and boasting not one, but two new monsters for him to tame:
Level 29 Vortex Warrior (Wind Type)
Level 28 Bladed Zephyr (Wind Type)
The Vortex Warrior was a walking tornado, entirely without substance except for strange bipedal arms and legs that hovered at its side. Similarly, the Bladed Zephyr resembled a wind-type version of the Whirling Stick Devil, with eight long sword blades that winked in the light as they twirled about. Both monsters spun impossibly fast, rotating several times per second, with speed being the trademark of wind-typed creatures.
Rin’s high Charisma made him bold, perhaps irresponsibly so, because he swaggered up to the monsters without any concern for his safety. He conjured the sleeves on his tunic to lengthen and touch each of them in turn, using the same material he’d employed for his Flight Suit Memorable Outfit, the scales of a Northern Sky Drake. The wind-type monsters loved it, and he received the notifications he’d been hoping for:
You have charmed a Level 29 Vortex Warrior (Wind Type)
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Duration: 2 minutes
You have charmed a Level 28 Bladed Zephyr (Wind Type)
Duration: 2 minutes
They decided to take a break here, huddled beside one of the hulking boulders to escape the wind while Rin experimented with his new monsters.
His extensive practice changing into the Whirling Stick Devil paid dividends here, allowing him to transform into these swirling creatures with minimal confusion. He tried the Vortex Warrior first.
Rin Cartwright
Level 29 Vortex Warrior (Wind Type) [CURSED] Level 6 Potato Farmer
Attributes:
Strength: 43 (+30)
Dexterity: 75 (+60)
Perception: 35 (+20)
Stamina: 69 (+54)
Toughness: 10 (+2)
Current HP: 100/100
Recovery: 100 HP/min (+70)
Magic: 19 (+9)
Current MP: 185/190
Absorption: 18 MP/min (+13)
Charisma: 64
Inherited Abilities:
Vacuum: Grade E
Whirlwind: Grade E
Rin caught himself from being too disappointed by the monster’s stats. It was precisely what he expected from a level 29 wind-type, with high Dexterity and Stamina, but it only had two abilities. Thankfully, they were both Grade E.
The word “warrior” in its title explained why its magic boost was so pitiful. But it did have an excellent Recovery stat, the best out of his entire monster inventory by a whole 40 points. The high Recovery was counteracted by its abysmal Toughness stat of only 10.
Wait a minute. That means this monster can recover its total health in a single minute!
His health and mana pools were shared by percentage no matter which monster form he took. If his total health pool was 100 HP and a battle knocked him down to half, or 50 HP points, he could switch to any other monster, and his total HP would remain proportionally half full, no matter how many total HP points the new monster possessed. The good news was, if he was beaten down in one form, he could hide and switch to this Vortex Warrior body to recharge swiftly.
If I can find the right monster, I can do a similar trick to refill my MP. What else have I been missing?
He moved on to the creature’s abilities, activating Vacuum to find his spinning vortex body growing taller, siphoning away mist from the clouds above him. It was a reverse tornado, from the ground up. After several seconds, the ability punched a hole through the towering storm clouds, allowing a piercing beam of sunlight to illuminate a spot of grass with a golden glow.
“Look,” said Trixie, pointing. “Aw, it’s covered up by more clouds now. Do that suction trick again.”
Rin obliged, following her gaze as he did so. Once he’d removed a large portion of the cloud, three dungeon flowers were exposed, levitating on the winds. He aimed his vacuum at the flowers and sucked them down, through his whirling body of wind to land in a pile at his feet.
So that’s where they’re hiding.
It was another example of Craven’s genius, hiding dungeon flowers away where only the abilities of the dungeon’s own monsters could find them. Arguably, Rin could have flown into those storm clouds if he felt like braving the winds for no reason. But no one in their right mind would ever do that. Even if they did, they’d likely never find the dungeon flowers, hidden deep within the clouds. And if they did, so what? Their pollen was lethal to adventurers. They were worse than useless.
But to Rin, they were treasure, pure and simple, and he gobbled them up.
He studied the clouds, planning out their route across the pillars. Luckily, they wouldn’t need to backtrack to the earlier pillars to find more missing dungeon flowers—the towering storm clouds gathered solely over the pillars with boulders on their tops.
“Let’s get going,” he said.
“What about your other monster? Aren’t you going to try it out, too?”
“Oh yeah, I can’t believe I forgot!”
Rin Cartwright
Level 28 Bladed Zephyr (Wind Type) [CURSED] Level 6 Potato Farmer
Attributes:
Strength: 41 (+28)
Dexterity: 72 (+57)
Perception: 30 (+15)
Stamina: 70 (+55)
Toughness: 10 (+2)
Current HP: 100/100
Recovery: 95 HP/min (+65)
Magic: 18 (+8)
Current MP: 173/180
Absorption: 17 MP/min (+12)
Charisma: 67
Inherited Abilities:
Lightning Sphere: Grade E
Whirlwind: Grade F
Fury of Slashes: Grade E
Again, the stats were nothing too surprising, in line with the boosts he’d already seen with the level 29 Vortex Warrior. The abilities, however, were something else.
How come a wind-typed monster has a lightning attack?
When he fired up the ability, everything became clear. The metal blades spun into a blur, striking each other with bright sparks to create a natural buildup of static, like two woolen blankets rubbed fiercely together. True to its namesake, he became a walking sphere of lightning.
A feeling built up in Rin’s spinning core and he aimed the attack against a nearby boulder. A mass of crackling white fingers pierced the air, burning visible char marks on the boulder’s face. It wasn’t as strong as a lightning bolt, but more of an area attack that could engulf any enemies within a ten-foot radius. The best part was that it was instantaneous and impossible to dodge once the attack launched. He could also summon the storm as a defensive sphere around his position because the electric arcs didn’t hurt him one bit. That alone upgraded the ability’s usefulness. Rin could imagine several scenarios where it might save his life. If a horde of weak monsters overwhelmed his position, he could activate the sphere for a brief rest.
I wonder if I can use it with Partial Transmutation.
A quick transformation proved that it worked. Predictably, it was much weaker in his human form, with four spinning blades rather than the eight in native monster form. Nonetheless, it was an impressive effect, and Rin couldn’t wait to use it in a fight.
The monster’s other ability, Fury of Slashes, was precisely that: a high-speed attack of sword blades brought to bear by a living tornado. The attack did an excellent job of cutting up the poor boulder, but he couldn’t control where strikes landed. It was a mass of whirling metal, plain and simple.
The boy reverted to human form and was about to set off when Trixie interrupted him. She was off to his side, staring at eight metallic rocks in a circle ten feet across.
“This arrangement … it’s oddly specific, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, too specific,” said Rin. “It’s gotta be a secret.”
They overturned every stone, finding nothing unusual. They banged on them and swapped their positions. Nothing happened.
Then, Rin had the epiphany that left him palming his face. He strode into the circle’s center, switched to the level 28 Bladed Zephyr, and activated his new Lightning Sphere ability. When the effect reached the metallic stones, they glowed a bright blue, with a continuous bolt of lightning arcing between them to form a complete circle. A second later, a dungeon flower materialized at Rin’s feet. He swallowed it up with a giddy grin on his face.
I think I found my new favorite ability.
Windton Stepping Stones: 18/30
Only 12 left to go!
The boy turned to Trixie, who was curbing her impatience by swinging her sword at imaginary foes.
“I think we’ve cracked the code to this dungeon,” said Rin. “You ready to mop up the other pillars?”
She propped her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”