From Jeff’s studies in the library, he guessed that Necrotic energy was some type of composite, made up of two types of mana—the rune appeared to be an amalgamation, resonating with the dual essences of Death and Coercion, or Will.
He recalled a crucial piece of lore, something he had read about opposite mana types and their neutralizing effects on each other.
Gripping the edge of the banquet table, he struggled to stay upright, his analytical mind working overtime to solve the problem.
If he could somehow synthesize the exact opposite types of mana to nullify the effects of the poison, he would have an antidote and a potential weapon—an effective countermeasure to use against the Baron—seeing as his regular mana bolts had no effect.
Death and Coercion, Death and Coercion… Jeff racked his memory for their opposites, something to counterbalance them.
The antithesis of Death came easily—Life—its rune a familiar one from his studies, but the counterpart to the Coercive element in Necrotic energy proved to be more elusive.
Jeff delved into his mental archives, trying to remember the runic sigils he had pored over in the huge tomes last time he was in the library. He had set out to memorize thousands of runes, attempting to emblazon them into his memory.
Coercion…Coercion…What was the opposing force? Suddenly it jumped out at him, clear as day.
Acuity!
Acuity was the perfect opposing mana type to Coercion: a symbol of clarity and insight, the natural enemy of manipulation and control.
The rune for Life had seemed to spring fully formed into his mind, so deeply had he memorized those simple, basic shapes.
Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t picture the more complex structure that made up the composite fractal rune for Acuity, perhaps because the books he had access to in the library were for mages of a much lower level, and they had touched on advanced composite mana forms only fleetingly.
Then, just as he was about to give up, he recalled his momentous Vision during the Initial Class Selection, and the blazing rune he had glimpsed on the forehead of the Steel Mage. This time, the rune filled his mind’s eye—a detailed schematic of the fractal-like, calligraphic sigil.
Acuity. That’s it!
Now fully equipped with the building blocks, all he had to do was combine the two, somehow merging the pair of mana types, Life and Acuity.
His mind focused to a sharp point, envisioning the shape of the twin runes in more detail.
Actualizing them.
In his mind’s eye, the two fractal symbols hung suspended, floating lazily side by side, surrounded by a drifting haze of the mana types they represented.
Channeling every last ounce of his remaining will, he commanded the pair of runes to merge.
The two disparate strands of mana, Life glowing yellow, and Acuity a bright blue, began to flow together, intertwining and merging, like an intricate puzzle snapping in to place, to become something new.
Through some inner process even he couldn’t quite comprehend, a deep subconscious wellspring opened up within him.
The newly forged rune, radiating a vibrant emerald hue, shimmered into existence, fully formed in his mind. Its intricate design flawlessly encapsulating the essence of both Life and Acuity, the perfect synthesis of the two mana types.
HP at 5%. Death/Undeath is imminent
Once again, Jeff felt his consciousness slipping away as he lost his grip on the table and slumped to the floor.
The Baron stood over him, cackling, the thick plume of poisonous Necrotic energy continuously pouring from between his jaw bones, washing over Jeff’s prostrate body, now huddled under the banquet table.
Jeff rushed inward to his Core Space, and concentrating on the final remaining drops of raw, untainted mana in his pool, with the very last of his energy, summoned the newly forged rune into existence.
Slowly at first, then with gathering speed, the silvery outline of the rune began to shimmer into being in his Core Space.
Concentrating the full force of his will, Jeff held the newly created rune extant, abiding over the roiling mana pool. The composite rune began to cast a soothing emerald light over the polluted pool and the surrounding cave.
Slowly at first then with increasing brilliance, the pure glow from the rune began to dispel the gloomy aura of the Necrotic energy. And the pool responded, beginning to undulate, ripples spreading from the center moving outwards, obeying his indomitable will.
Another concentric ring of mana began to form at the circumference of the pool, a glowing, vibrant green in color, the exact opposite of the dark Necrotic energy ring that still circulated there. The two currents moved in time with each other—dual forces diametrically opposed but not mixing or touching.
The final step of the process was to use this newly created antidote to clean the excess, unwanted Necrotic energy from his system. Jeff concentrated and pushed the antidote outwards from his core and through his pathways, cleansing himself in the process. The bright green composite mana flowed through his veins, into every cell in his body, like a purifying injection of disinfectant.
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Bit by bit, Jeff felt his HP begin to tick back up.
Vision clearing, Jeff slowly rose to his feet to face the Bone Baron.
“Wh..wh..what? What trickery is this?” The Baron gaped, the stream of Necrotic energy vomiting from his mouth stuttering to a halt.
“No tricks. Only treats…” Jeff quipped, dusting himself off as his HP began to climb rapidly, before unleashing a bolt of the newly crafted composite Life/Acuity mana directly at the Baron’s head.
The fireball, a brilliant emerald in color, shot across the distance between them and hit the boss square on the temple, with an effect which was nothing short of spectacular.
As soon as the ball of composite mana struck, the Baron seemed to freeze, the eerie light in his eyes flickering wildly. Then, with a sound like cracking ice, the rune on his breastplate shattered and he was blown backwards and off his feet, scythe clattering on the flagstones.
The giant armor clad form lay paralyzed on the floor, twitching and jerking convulsively.
Each movement sent showers of green coruscating sparks shooting from his exposed skull and in between gaps in his armor.
“Wheeeee…” the Baron made a sound like a tea kettle—his once formidable, badass voice now reduced to a comedic squeak—he tried to speak but was overcome by the effect of the Life/Acuity mana still coursing through his body.
Jeff walked cautiously towards the prone figure, kicking the scythe safely out of harm’s way.
A glance at the Baron’s hovering health bar and stat console confirmed it—his HP was rapidly and inexorably dwindling, the effects of the composite antidote mana relentlessly purging the Necrotic energy from his body, and showing no signs of abating.
The dungeon boss glared up at Jeff malevolently. In his eye sockets, flickering remnants of dark energy clung on tenaciously, giving him a chilling, demonic appearance.
Reaching down, Jeff grasped the huge scythe by its handle. It felt strangely appropriate somehow, that he finish the Bone Baron off with his own weapon.
Assuming a golfing stance, Jeff took a few practice swings before bringing the scythe blade round in one smooth motion, sending the Baron’s head flying off into a shadowy corner of the hall.
“Fore!” Jeff called out, continuing with the golfing metaphor, chuckling to himself.
The usual system rewards and notifications popped up, flooding Jeff’s vision, along with a larger than normal torrent of coins.
You have killed a Grade I Dungeon Boss
Reward: Fifty Omega Energy Points
Level up!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 33
Congratulations! You have completed Tantalus-East Dungeon.
Access to Bone Tempering Bath granted.
Exit Dungeon: Y/N?
Dungeon will respawn in 0:59:59
The countdown timer for the dungeon respawn began to tick down in the corner of his vision, while a rumbling sound issuing from behind the throne indicated a passage or portal of some kind was opening.
Moving quickly, Jeff swept through the hall gathering together as much of the loot as he could from the banquet table, including the silver cutlery and serving dishes, chairs and the table itself.
Next he turned his attention to the fallen Skeleton Knights.
Methodically he collected their armor and weaponry, before finally looting the Bone Baron’s scythe and fancy nine foot tall suit of armor.
Jeff circled around the imposing dais and peered behind the huge golden throne.
A passageway of some kind had opened up in the stone-hewn walls of the barrow, with steps leading downwards to a torch-lit chamber.
Jeff cautiously descended the stairs and stepped into the subterranean chamber.
Recessed into the flagstones, was what looked like a plunge bath of some kind, filled to the brim with a turbid semi-liquid porridge, almost black in color but containing shining flecks of what looked like mica.
Jeff looked closer and saw that the material in the bath was gently moving, ripples constantly spreading across its surface.
Another System notification popped up, describing the bath in more detail.
ITEM: [Bone Tempering Bath]
ITEM TYPE: Resource, non-moveable
ITEM CLASS: Peak, Grade G
REQUIREMENTS: none
EXPANDABLE: n/a
DESCRIPTION: Your reward for completing Tantalus-East Dungeon is the use of this Grade G Bone Tempering Bath. This rare resource offers a unique opportunity to reforge your skeletal structure. Complete immersion in the bath for prolonged periods will grant the user stronger, more robust bones, their durability and resilience considerably enhanced. The longer you can endure it, the more benefits you will accrue.
Jeff was puzzled by the description, and intrigued—he decided to ‘test the waters’.
De-equipping his gauntlets, he gingerly dipped the index finger of his left hand into the sluggishly moving substance.
Jeff chose that particular finger for a reason. As a child he had fallen off a jungle gym in the park and broken it. Ever since, the digit had been stiffer and occasionally sore in wet weather.
The finger barely grazed the bath’s churning surface, but instant agony flared, propelling him backwards reflexively, gripping his injured hand.
Through tear blurred eyes, he looked down and saw that the skin and flesh had been instantly flensed off, starkly exposing the four bones that made up his finger.
“Arghhh…What the hell!” Jeff exclaimed, staring down in horror at his hand, or what was left of it.
But his anger was immediately replaced with amazement—the tissue and skin began visibly healing before his eyes, flesh and sinew weaving together with astonishing speed. Within the space of another five seconds, the finger had totally healed, including a new fingernail sprouting, unfurling from the quick and covering the soft, tender flesh, like some time lapse film on fast forward.
Congratulations! Your High Pain Threshold Skill has now reached Level 4
A new System notification appeared.
Challenge: Achieve a perfect Iron Body using the Bone Tempering Bath.
Bone Tempering Bath Challenge: 0.5% Complete
Wonderingly, Jeff flexed the finger. As good as new?
No. Even better…The finger felt stronger, the bone had definitely been repaired and enhanced in some way.
Jeff looked again at the pool, then his gaze shifted upwards to the roof of the chamber.
The chamber’s ceiling was a tapestry of runes. Densely decorated panels, each one intricately carved with symbols giving off a soft mana glow covered the roof of the chamber.
Jeff put two and two together—the bone tempering bath was a crucible forging bones at the expense of tissue, while the runic arrays decorating the ceiling above were designed to repair the collateral damage.
Unfortunately the healing arrays did nothing to stop the pain.
Resolutely, Jeff stowed his clothing in his ring and, buck naked, made him way towards the steps leading down into the bath.
Forty-five minutes later, Jeff lay flopped out on the flagstones by the side of the bath, exhausted.
His body was in torment, wracked with pain, as the flesh, sinew and skin of his right arm and leg regrew.
Through a series of excruciatingly painful experiments, in which he had dipped the same finger repeatedly into the bath, he had discovered that continued exposure to the strange, bone-tempering material brought ever increasing rewards.
After the fifth immersion, the bones of his index finger had taken on a metallic luster indicating maximum density had been achieved.
Further dips gained no more enhancements—five dips of around 20 seconds each were enough to achieve peak hardness.
Trying again with another finger, Jeff discovered that if he could bear the pain continuously for just under a minute, the same result could be achieved in one single, torturous submersion.
Finally he could do no more, and Jeff halted his experiments. The dungeon was set to respawn soon and he had only managed to complete the bone tempering process on one leg and a part of his right arm up to the elbow.
Bone Tempering Bath Challenge: 14% Complete
Obviously the next logical step was total submersion.
Leaving aside the agony of the process, Jeff was concerned that if he fully entered the bath, he would have difficulty extricating himself from it—the dissolution of his muscles during the process would mean that using his arms or legs to climb out would be impossible, leaving him trapped.
He briefly toyed with the idea of anchoring his arms on the bath’s edge and then somehow pulling himself up after a minute, but the risks of this strategy were too great—if something went wrong, he would be ensnared in the bath without any means of escaping.
He did wonder if the dungeon respawn mechanism would transport him out of the bath automatically at the end of the cycle…
Then he decided on a more scientific approach.