They traveled along the corridor of this make-shift temple, passing by each pillar of complex design that was near gibberish.
And in this tower, it might as well be, but Mikella still wondered as to the reasoning of this temple. There were some carvings on the walls and some sculptures, but none of them had the Common language that she interpreted as English, or anything remotely resembling any sense with the sculptures.
However, it still left her in a state of awe as a temple would normally do, mostly due to how big the place is and how dangerous it was. Once after leaving the giant chamber facing the miniboss, there were no longer any rooms to enter into. All of it were just halls intermingled with large chambers to pass through.
However, the number of the ambushers increased by the dozen, making Zeke pull out his barrier every once in a while to stave them off while trying to drain the numbers a little. It was becoming hectic, even after including the Journeymen into it.
Zeke and Mikella retold their own experience, remembering the somber looks on the knights faces as though they lost all hope. It was strange compared to now where the lizards seemed to be driven to take the intruders out with no remorse to their lives, even sacrificing what little intelligence they had to take them down.
Eventually they reached the last doubleset of doors, but these doors were immaculately carved with a strange lettering, and this time something different happened. The letterings made sense to not just Zeke, but to Mikella too.
‘Beware’, it said.
“How original,” Mikella rolled her eyes.
“I wonder if this is what it said before too,” Zeke muttered, putting on his thinking face again.
Rather than keep thinking about it, Mikella instead pushed onwards with her massive Strength. Pushing the two doors forward, they were met with a large nave within the temple, where at the end resided a large sculpture at the center. It reminded Mikella of that last room where they faced Alex, but this was clearly larger, and the presence in the room was staggering.
They slowly entered, their guard up and their eyes peeled for anything. Just in case, it was already decided that Piker would keep his senses up for any ambushes regarding the cold, but so far there was no freezing air around them.
If anything, it felt stifled. Strangely enough, the nave had plenty of pews, long stone benches with a backrest. There were also various paintings around the nave decorating the walls and pillars, but once again, none of them held any historical meaning and were just blemishes according to Mikella’s artistic senses.
“This is… weird,” Myra mentioned. Her knuckles were turning white from how hard she was squeezing her spear shaft. “What kind of place is this?”
But once a strange noise curled into existence, they stopped moving. The air turned heavy, the pressure leaning on their shoulders as Mikella grunted in surprise. It was strong. In fact, it was just as strong as she remembered.
But that was when her level was below 10, and her stats were just farts in the wind. She was already stronger than she ever was before, yet the pressure was the same. Her eyes squeezed shut before forcing them open to find the others in similar positions.
“This is… the same!” Zeke grunted. His voice was agonized as his knees bent forward. Piker and Myra were seen better off, but either one of their eyes were closed or gritting their teeth so hard they could shatter.
“This is the boss?” Val said in awe as everyone noticed something being distorted in the distance.
The air quivered as something started to appear slowly in thin air. Like coming through an invisible portal, a scaled hand the size of a car came forward. Then, slowly, its arm, shoulder, then its entire head and torso came into the scene.
It brought up its massive legs, the size bigger than even the columns of the nave, crushing the pews that were just sitting by it. Debris crumbled as the creature came into existence, and it was even decked out in heavy plated armor covering its chest and waist. On the other hand was a massively large double bladed axe, bigger than any other weapon they have ever seen that fit right into the massive creature’s hand.
Its head, resembling not a lizard, but a bonafide dragon, opened its mouth and roared a challenge. The air turned heavier thanks to the roar, the pressure increasing in potency. Mikella could only use an Identify on it.
> Drake Commander, Level ???
“T-That can’t be…” Mikella uttered in disbelief. Her chest felt cold, dread filling her from her core. “Just how powerful is that thing?”
It was the same as before, only now with Identify, they were right to run away. What the hell was she thinking? What were they all thinking? At her stage, she could see beyond Level 60, right after Journeymen.
If she is seeing question marks now, then that means it was stronger than a Journeymen. It was a Master Rank boss, only possible to achieve after level 100.
The drake commander roared again and the pressure resumed its course, amplifying the power. It hefted its giant axe, somehow precisely avoiding the columns as it swung it down with sheer force.
Zeke was the first to act, conjuring a barrier so dense and potent, it must have cost him a good sum of mana. The axe hit the barrier for just an instant, then shattered it to smithereens. Zeke grunted in alarm, the pieces of the broken barrier falling and dissipating as he fell to his knees.
“Fuck… it hurts…” Zeke said, mostly shocked than surprised. “It’s too strong!”
Mikella could feel the dread all over again. She tried to shake it off, but after seeing Zeke’s barrier just being destroyed proved that one hit from that thing would outright kill her. Still, her hands still held onto the hilt of her sword, her teeth clattering together not from the cold, but from the fear.
Damn it, what’s the point of all this training if I’m so damn afraid!?
There was one thing she got going for her. She didn’t receive any status debuffs like before when she faced Val in combat. She wasn’t afraid, but rather considering her options. If she could, she would rather forget the reward and just leave. She turned to Zeke, still agonizing from the shattered barrier. It looked like the blow was so hard it hit him at a metaphysical level, but he shook it off before staring right back at Mikella.
He was saying they should go, and she eagerly agreed.
“Guys, I suggest we run,” Myra said, noticing the commander readying for another attack. “I’m all for a fight, but I know we won’t win against this.”
“I agree,” Piker said, turning to the Journeymen. “General, we should– Captain?”
Piker’s voice sounded stunted, getting everyone else to turn to find the captain Valorie staring at the creature with… want in her eyes.
In fact, the glow that she usually had in her naturally green eyes turned dim, and now there was a hazy red coloring her irises. She breathed rampantly, her chest heaving up and down as her sword hilt was slowly creaking from her fingers grasping too hard.
And somehow the air around her was causing the entire pressure surrounding them to be pushed back. Though it wasn’t any better than before. This time, the Experts all walked away from Val. They weren’t even ordered to, or even thought about why they did it. It was an instinct they channeled and nurtured to survive.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Cloud,” Zacharia said. His shoulders were tense, and he even had his greatsword held in his hand behind his back. “What’s going on with her?”
“Val,” Cloud stepped up, probably the only one who could, with a serious look in his eyes. “Is this it? Is this the one you wanted?”
As though she lost all sense of reason, she eagerly nodded without hesitation. Her breathing turned rasped, almost husky in response to the creature in front of them. The creature was just about ready to strike again, but before it could swing down its axe and slash at them all, Val pushed against the floor and roared.
She jumped, practically flying towards the creature with her sword in front. The two weapons, despite the different sizes between them, clashed together and created a quake so vast it brought the others down a peg and made them fall on their asses.
Mikella grunted in pain from the explosion of air, her vision turning blurry as her first thought was finding Zeke. She later caught him, his body actually flying in the air from the force and landing harshly at the ground. Since he wore less armor and no weapon, his body could just easily fly all over.
But like he usually is, he shrugged it off, but he stared at the scene in shock. Turning back, she gaped at the sight of the strange fighting.
Val roared, her screams unlike any human they ever heard of. If anything, it was a primal sort of roar that sounded like boulders grinding against each other, and her face turned to that of a raging maniac. What’s more, despite the size, her blows were countering each one the commander was swinging, hit by hit. Each blow made a reoccurring wave that nearly brought the entire chamber to crumble and fall, the walls beginning to crack from the intensity of each hit.
“Cloud, what’s going on!?” Mikella shouted. “What’s up with Val? She’s gone nuts!”
“That’s… a little hard to explain right now,” Cloud said, doing his hardest to help up Myra that got hit in the head from the flying rock. It was a hard one, but Piker had it worse after landing straight into a pillar to which Zacharia was helping now.
“Kinda pointless to worry about timing when we can’t do a thing!” Mikella blurted out. There was blood trickling down her head, but she shrugged that off too with a heavy stare. “What’s wrong with Val?”
“There’s nothing wrong with her… per say,” Cloud said, tilting his head slightly. Mikella almost scoffed at how Cloud seemed like he was in trouble for something. “It’s just that she’s been searching for this kind of creature all this time to increase her tier.”
“Her tier?” Zeke asked. “You mean her attunement? But isn’t her attunement special?”
Mikella turned to Zeke. “What do you mean?”
“That’s…” Zeke paused, looking at Mikella with his own guilty look. “I can’t. It’s not my right to say.”
“It’s fine, Zeke,” Cloud said, answering his guilt. “Mikella, Zeke often healed Val, so he found out about it earlier. It’s not something Val wished to be public about. But I suppose there’s no other choice…”
Mikella raised a brow as she looked back at Val again. She almost flinched after seeing her body starting to show… changes.
Her limbs had scales growing out of her skin, black and green at the edges that looked incredibly sharp. Her face was partially scaled as well, but the most noticeable part was her mouth turning larger, elongated to encompass her entire face. It was almost like watching Ms. Pac-man opening her mouth, raising it high and screaming in bloody murder.
“What the… what the actual fuck?” Mikella said in alarm.
“It’s her attunement,” Cloud admitted. “She wasn’t able to get a natural one. So it’s sort of an artificial one.”
“An artificial… what do you mean?”
“Mikky, Val never was able to use magic,” Zeke admitted, and that got everyone, including Myra and Piker, to widen their eyes in alarm. “I noticed this whenever I was healing her. She didn’t have any mana in her body at all. Because of that, she couldn’t, or rather, shouldn’t be able to have an attunement.”
“It was something she was born with, unfortunately,” Cloud said regretfully. There was a pained look in his eyes. “I made Zeke promise not to reveal this to anyone. Not that it would disprove her strength, but it’s a personal thing for her.”
Mikella looked over to Zeke, and he nodded to prove that Cloud was right. Sure, Mikella can’t blame Zeke for keeping this kind of secret. If it was Val’s decision, then she wanted to respect it.
“Okay, so she got an artificial attunement,” Myra said. Looking over at the fight going on. “But that doesn’t explain why she… looks like that!”
“That’s precisely the case, Myra,” Cloud answered. A tremendous force echoed as Val slammed the commander upside the head, causing it to crash against the nearby wall and making it crumble. “Her attunement was synthesized with monster essence. As for what it is, it uses a monster’s power to enhance her form. Power, speed, defensive capabilities–the works. The problem, obviously, is that it’s not so easy to use. But she spent many years honing her attunement to suit her needs. Unfortunately, that comes at a cost no matter how much she trains her attunement.”
“She can’t raise the tier,” Zacharia answered, crossing his arms. “That explains her ridiculous power and speed. Even for ordinary Journeymen, she’s well known across the kingdom as a powerful warrior. But because it’s synthesized, it’s impossible to find something to raise her tier.”
Cloud nodded, but he argued back. “Nearly impossible, not completely. She and I found out a way to increase it. The only way is to find exceptionally strong monsters, then let her eat its heart.”
That got everyone to pause, instead staring at the now madwoman ready to keep striking no matter what. It seemed to continue on forever, letting them figure out what to do. After all, they can’t just step in at the moment–they’ll just get destroyed.
The Journeymen could, but Cloud seemed perfectly at ease letting Val continue while Zacharia watched from the distance. Mikella could only understand why since even she herself can’t just jump in willy-nilly. She'll just get shredded by not one, but two powerful monsters.
“Right… so she eats the heart,” Myra nodded slowly. “I get that. Sort of. But why is she… like that?” She pointed out the specific changes in Val’s body.
“A side-effect of her synthesized attunement. Because it’s made from monster essence, her form takes the shape of the monster. As for her behavior, because of that essence, when she finds a creature around or higher than her own level of power, her instincts kick in. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s been a long while since she found anything to raise her tier. So… it’s sort of like getting used to it all over again?”
Cloud left that last one like a question, something that confused Mikella despite now understanding Val’s situation. In a word, she respected that woman all the more now than before.
Not being able to use magic, so forget about getting an attunement, she can’t even pick up certain skills that require magic. What’s more, she couldn’t even take the basic Mana boost type of attunement, something that normal people could have.
But rather than give up, she kept going even if she had to take on a synthesized attunement, something she guessed was looked down upon. Still, despite that immense gap in power, she still worked as hard as she could and made a name for herself, even reaching Journeyman stage.
She also noticed the gleam in Myra’s eyes. Sure, it was scary to look at from the start, but over time, Val’s drive to improve herself laid a pathway forward for them. It doesn't matter how impossible it seems to be–as long as one has the will, one has the way.
But just when she thought she couldn’t respect Val more than possible, Val herself slammed against the ground near them, breaking the floor entirely and creating a small crater.
Her body, shifted and transformed as it is, crumbled and groaned as she growled weakly. Blood trailed down her body everywhere, proof of her injuries from the fight. Even if she wasn’t hurt by its strikes thanks to her fast speed, her own strikes couldn’t handle the sheer power of the boss of the tower. Her body broke apart in ways that should’ve been prevented if it were a normal fight.
“Val!” Cloud shouted, both he and Zeke coming over and healing her. While Zeke specialized in singular healing, Cloud was the sort that healed generally all over the place. With both of them working in tandem, Val’s wounds closed easily, and blood was swatted off as she quickly raised to her feet to see the commander roaring at them.
The pressure increased again, but Mikella could handle it now. Her hands stopped trembling too, now that she noticed it. Seeing Val fight despite the odds made her inspired. There was no way she could let this boss stand in her path to power.
“We gotta do something,” Piker said, pulling out his sword. “I know we can’t do much, but if Captain continues this…”
“And there is still that reward at the end,” Zacharia said, pulling out his own two handed sword. “However, the Experts need to stay put.”
“I agree,” Cloud said, trying to hold onto the nearly rampaging Val, but despite only having his hands on her shoulders, she only shuffled slightly, groaning in displeasure from having been kept away.
“We want to help too,” Myra said. “Maybe we can do some support. Isn’t there something we can do?”
Mikella turned over to Zeke who had his thinking face on. After fighting together for so long, and nearly living with each other for that long, she could tell whenever Zeke had a crazy idea in his head.
And this time it showed up again on his face. There was a manic look in his eyes, a gleam that was so hard to spot, but Mikella noticed it.
“Zeke, you got a plan?” Mikella asked, getting everyone to turn to him. Despite the attention, Zeke refused to turn meek as he answered slowly.
“There might be a way for all of us Experts to do something… and Cloud can help. Zacharia can help defend us while Val keeps the commander busy. I have a… strategy that could work with my barrier.”
Zeke then conjured a small sphere with his Barrier Craft. It was absolutely smooth with its turquoise color, spinning softly on the top of his palm. The commander roared in defiance, not willing to be ignored again.
Zeke turned back to Mikella, and a grin was plastered on his face. “Ready to be the first to try out my first ever make-shift bomb?”