Chapter Seventy-Seven: Mini-Djinni

"Hey… Crystal? Do you have any idea what happened with that new summon? I thought the class only had eight summons," I asked, looking up at a crystal's red, beating heart. The crystal's surface was faceted, catching the dim light and refracting it into a dance of crimson glimmers that filled the room.

Crystal pulsed faintly, almost as if considering.

[I'm… not sure. It could be due to Malikap's boon pushing you past an insight threshold. You could also have somehow channeled a spell from an advanced class early. You aren't supposed to be able to use them until you unlock them with death boons.]

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, huh. Advanced classes. That's neat, I suppose." I shook my head, trying to push the confusion aside. Now wasn't the time for mysteries. With renewed determination, I tightened my grip on my necrotic staff and charged forward. The staff was a gnarled piece of dark wood, twisted as if grown in the shadow of something ancient and evil, its tip crackling with faint, greenish energy.

The system just skipped the turns of the frozen goblins. In a blur of motion, my staff swung through the air, its necrotic energy shattering the neck of the goblin I struck. Its flesh withered instantly, and its life drained away in a sickly green light. Beside me, my companions turned the other into a frozen pyramid of red and green ice cubes. I panted, the cold air stinging my lungs, grateful it was over.

"Well, that was the easiest fight we've ever had," I said between breaths, eyes scanning the room. Once bright and bustling, the forges were now lifeless and cold, the metal surfaces slick with corruption. "Too bad everything here is corrupted. Except…"

My gaze fell on a chest in the center of the eight forges on a pile of corrupted ingots. The chest was an anomaly of pure, untainted wood, its surface unmarred by the creeping blackness. The corruption was alive, slowly inching toward the chest, moving through the ingots like rotten molasses, thick and foul. Heart pounding, I ran forward, yanked the chest off the pile of evil, and flung it toward the group, careful not to get any black liquid on myself or the chest.

It was only rare, but the entire point of the exercise was to gain loot, and this was our only chance to get all of the metal and items destroyed by the Djinn's curse. Thomas was the first to approach the chest, kicking it open with the tip of his right boot. The chest creaked open, revealing its treasure as dice rolled around us. I was again grateful that everyone got their loot from the chest.

[You have received four items.]

From the chest, I retrieved a potion and three weapons. Relief washed over me as I realized this was the first chest in a while that an Aerlyntium hadn’t eaten. I gave the weapons to Thomas and Klericho, including a steel greatsword, a steel mace, and a steel great axe. All these were items I couldn’t use on this run, and I had no plans of being in a physical class anytime soon. I kept the mana potion, though; who knew that would probably come in handy.

"Do you guys think we've cleared enough? The gold plague is spreading, and we probably won't get much from the last few rooms," Thomas said, his voice tinged with rare uncertainty. The usual confidence in his voice was replaced with a shadow of doubt.

I eyed the tall man warily before responding. “You’re the one who has been pushing us to loot these rooms and to clear everything except the djinn.”

Thomas's expression turned serious as he pointed to the only exit from the forge. "I feel that the room on the other side of that door is the Djinn. Look at the molding of the door. See the intricate patterns there?"

We all turned to the ornate doorway, which starkly contrasted the plain, wood-paneled archways that separated most rooms on the second floor. Someone had spent hours, if not days, intricately carving a design all over the door. The design was maze-like, with twists and turns, and it pulsed briefly with the ever-present sign of mana. A collective shiver ran through us as we realized we did not want to enter that room.

"I don't want the run to be over," I confessed, stroking the flame dog's fiery mane. The flames flickered under my touch, surprisingly warm and soft, like silk threads ablaze. The thought of ending it now felt like a loss, a missed opportunity to see what else I could achieve. My heart ached at leaving my pets behind, their loyal eyes looking up at me as if understanding my thoughts. Uncertain if I’d ever feel this sense of purpose again, I struggled to hold back a wave of sadness.

"Every run has to end sometime," Thomas said, his tone as firm as the hard-line set in his jaw. His weathered face, marked by countless battles and narrow escapes, showed no hint of doubt. "You've been on this run for days. Don't feel bad; you've probably gone further than anyone expected. Several of these bosses should have ended your run. They barely needed to lay a finger on you, and you'd keel over. It's almost like you're following the goddess of luck instead of Rellum and Aurentum."

"Hah, there's no such thing as the goddess of luck," Klericho interjected, rolling his eyes. His sarcasm was evident in the smirk playing at the corners of his lips, his skepticism as deep as the creases on his brow.

"Either way," Thomas continued, undeterred. "We should return to the goblin king and see what he thinks about ending this now."

Reluctantly, I followed them back to the goblin king, my mind wrestling with the prospect of leaving this adventure unfinished. Each step felt heavier, the silence between us growing more oppressive. The corridor's dim torchlight cast long shadows that seemed to cling to us, reflecting my inner turmoil. Just as we neared the king's chamber, a sudden roar echoed through the hall, and chaos erupted.

Dozens of creatures I'd never seen before swarmed the room, flapping tiny bat-like wings. They had furry faces in a variety of colors with large, expressive eyes that reflected the dim torchlight like obsidian mirrors and curled ram horns that added to their otherworldly appearance.

I quickly cast a scan at the largest, which had an orange coat and four tiny little legs.

Enemy Entry 0025: Mini-Djinni: Weak against: Nothing. Strong against: everything

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The bastard children of an all-powerful djinn. Throw the rules of reality out the window when dealing with Djinn and its offspring. These demons will eat the skin off your bones while you are still alive. Or they will pull out paper and teach you advanced calculus. Each mini-djinni is its own creature. Maybe one will adopt you and take you on as its minion.

Stat:

Level

Health

100/100

Potency

15

Def

15

Mdef

15

Item drops

Amount

Chance to drop

Gold

50

40%

Djinni Wings

2

60%

The orange mini-djinni locked eyes with me. Despite the ominous description from the scan, I couldn't help but find it strangely adorable. Its round face and childlike features were disarming, starkly contrasting the ferocity described. My heart raced as it flew towards me, but not out of fear. Its large, black eyes seemed to pull me in, and for a moment, I was lost in their depths. I wanted– no, I needed to pet it.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii, I'm Frannie. What's your name?" The creature circled my head energetically, its tiny wings buzzing like an overzealous hummingbird. "I think I'm gonna adopt you. I've been needing a new human. Wanna go overthrow my dad?"

It glanced at Thomas and Klericho with a look of disdain. "I don't like them. After this floor, you have to ditch them. Or we could ditch them now."

"I need their help," I replied, torn between amusement and apprehension. "I still need to return and gather the materials to kill the Djinn. Without them, I won't stand a chance."

"Oh, my father can't be killed. He can only be overthrown and trapped like in those Aerlyntium’s. Or like how my brethren and I have been trapped here and can't leave. It's annoying. I've heard the 3rd floor has books, and I've always wanted to eat one."

“Don’t you mean read a book?” I asked the flying orange-thing, raising an eyebrow.

"That's what I said. Oh, look, they killed the goblin king. No, come on, don't eat it. You're supposed to cook goblin first."

I sighed. "Frannie, focus. How do we trap your father?"

Before I could react, Frannie lunged at Otto, its jaw unhinging grotesquely. In an instant, Otto was gone, swallowed whole. My stomach churned at the creature's body, expanding unnaturally to accommodate him.

"Hey, what the hell? Why'd you just eat Otto?" I yelled, my voice shaking with a mixture of shock and anger.

"Oh, stop whining," Frannie said nonchalantly. "It tasted like mana-fried shrimp. It was pretty good."

My anger flared, the vein in my forehead throbbing. Why did I keep attracting these utterly insane things that could kill me with just a thought?

Thomas's face contorted with rage as he swung his sword at Frannie. "Get away, demon!" he shouted.

"Hey, watch it!" I dodged, pulling Frannie with me.

“These Djinni are the cause of the whole problem,” Thomas growled, his eyes wild. “They freed the Djinn. And now they've killed the goblin king and ruined our chance at a truce. It's their fault we're stuck here."

“Thomas, chill,” Klericho said, placing a steadying hand on Thomas's shoulder. "You don’t want to trigger any milestones.”

Thomas's eyes lost some wildness, and he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. That was uncouth of me. I don't know how Rod will make to this room on the next run with the king dead. Unless he has another ace up his sleeve, he can’t get through without us."

“And why don’t the two of you just head back and wait at the entrance?” They looked at me like I had grown a second head.

"Right, we should probably do that. Wouldn't want you to fail five seconds after stepping onto the second floor."

"No, silly, it'll only take him one try. That boon is insane." Frannie interjected, seemingly unfazed by the tension. "I can see the power coursing through him, and it's wonderful. And it's the kind of power that wins, unlike yours. You think your god is so mighty and unassailable, but the truth is he's just another coward, another cog in the machine of this place. No matter what you two do, he will make it to the end, even if I must drag him myself because I will be leaving this floor."

With that, the puffball roared, unhinged its jaw, and swallowed me whole.

[You have died. You have earned one death boon. End of Run 6]

Rod - Run 6 Corpse (destroyed)

Gold: 873

Death Boons: 132

Name

Amount

Condition

Effect

Description

Spout of the Immortal: 1 of 3.

1

(temporary)

Opens doors.

???

This relic is a key. It can open a secret door or serve another purpose yet to be discovered. Handle it with care, as it is fragile.

Iron great sword

1

25/25

It's a sword.

This class couldn’t even use this.

Mana Potion

1

20/20

It's a potion.

Use this to recover 20 mana.

[Rod, did you never pick the Red Death back up? You absolute moron! That would have been our ticket to escaping Penance, but who knows if it will ever spawn again? And was that all you got? Those Aerlyntiums cheated you out of loot, didn’t they?]