*Ding*
You have slain [Corrupted Molten Wasp, Scout – Level 120]
You receive extra experience and skill proficiency for killing a creature fifty levels above you.
You receive extra experience and skill proficiency for killing a creature infected by Corruption.
*Ding*
You have slain [Corrupted Molten Wasp, Scout – Level 115]
You receive extra experience and skill proficiency for killing a creature fifty levels above you.
You receive extra experience and skill proficiency for killing a creature infected by Corruption.
Ding!
Class – Phoenix Healer (Rare, Enhanced) Lv. 51 → Lv. 58
+40 VIT, +40 END, +40 STR, +40 DEX, +40 WIS, +40 SPI, +40 INT, +40 CHA and +48 Free Attributes
*Ding*
Healing Skill – Golden Flame Lv. 55 → Lv. 58
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Flame Lv. 48 → Lv. 51
*Ding*
Constitution Skill – Phoenix Feathers Lv. 31 → Lv. 33
*Ding*
Perception Skill – Mana Sense Lv. 68 → Lv. 73
*Ding*
Movement Skill - Phoenix Step Lv. 34 → Lv. 38
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Impact Lv. 42 → Lv. 45
*Ding*
Movement Skill - Phoenix Cloud Lv. 1 → Lv. 5
In the midst of the battle, Monica completely forgot to keep Meditation active and boost her Skills Efficiency. Only now, seeing that Meditation hadn’t leveled up, she realized it.
I was too caught up in the battle, the redhead thought, rubbing her face. At least Phoenix Cloud reached Level 5. Now I can use it three times before it goes on Cooldown.
And considering how nasty these two Corrupted Molten Wasps had been, she would definitely need it.
Name: Monica Monroe
Race: Earther
Title: Avatar of the Twin Phoenix (Unique)
1st Class: Phoenix Healer (Rare) - Lv. 51 -> 58
2nd Class: Avalaible
Talent Class: None
Attributes:
Vitality - 448
Endurance - 290
Strength - 295
Dexterity - 346
Wisdom - 290
Spirit - 290
Intelligence - 290
Charisma - 290
Free Attributes: 144
Skills:
Golden Flame (Healing Skill) - Lv. 58
Obsidian Flame (Offensive Skill) - Lv. 51
Phoenix Feathers (Constitution Skill) - Lv. 33
Mana Sense (Perception Skill) - Lv. 73
Phoenix Step (Movement Skill) - Lv. 38
Obsidian Impact (Offensive Skill) - Lv. 45
Meditation (Utility Skill) - Lv. 33
Phoenix Cloud (Movement Skill) - Lv. 5
Equipment:
Steel Talons (Uncommon)
Twin Phoenix Bracers (Divine) - Twin Phoenix Set (1/12)
Nightshade Battle Wear (Rare)
Racial Abilities (Earther):
Tutorial
Quest System
Inventory
Map
Myriad Tongues
“I’ve got a bunch of Free Attributes,” Monica sighed, talking to herself. “But I should probably decide which second Class to pick, first.”
Monica found it oddly quiet after the two Corrupted Molten Wasps finally lay dead. Her breath echoed against the molten walls, and only the faint crackle of residual fire disturbed the hush. Splashes of her blood steamed upon the sweltering rock floor.
The redhead wiped her mouth, spitting flecks of blood onto the rubble.
She’d killed the wasps—a meager pair of scouts, according to their tags—and emerged victorious, though it had cost her a death.
“Scouts,” Monica bit her lower lip. “The rest must be even stronger.”
What was at stake was the future of her children. Machina said she had a way to bring them back—to bring back the one thing Monica had actual memory of. But if the difficulty kept ramping up like this, she wasn’t sure they could pull it off.
As if the System was reading her thoughts, she heard a notification.
*Ding*
Quest Received – ‘Eradication II/III’
Progress: 2/483
Reward:
???
Monica took a deep breath.
“The spiders weren’t the only ones reproducing,” she thought.
But it was to be expected, to an extent.
Machina was an Old God, a being of unfathomable power. The only reason Monica and the others hadn’t found a veritable army waiting for them was that they had received Thraldrirlum’s Dream from the System as a reward for completing the Crystal Wolves Dungeon. In any other scenario, they could have never made it this early to Viscera.
She glanced around, checking that no further wasps lurked. Then, with a shaky inhale, she sank to the floor, crossing her legs upon a relatively flat stretch of stone. The heat coming off the basalt made her battered thighs sting, but she forced herself to sit.
Time to meditate.
* * *
She closed her eyes, ignoring the heat waves and the metallic smell of molten ore. Slowly, she guided her Mana in the patterns Gromorlig had instructed them to practice. Soon, she felt her Mana regenerate faster than it would have usually done.
She’d soared to Level 58 in her Phoenix Healer Class—an impressive jump considering her Exp multiplier.
Yet, the signature Skills of her Class, the Golden and Obsidian Flame, had not seen any increase in efficiency.
Everything else but Phoenix Cloud and Phoenix Feathers is at Bronze Rank. When I checked the Obsidian Flame and the Golden Flame, they were at 0% Skill Efficiency.
So, the problem, as Monica saw it, was that both were Skills that someone else, the Twin Phoenix, had mastered before ascending to godhood. First of all, Monica wasn’t even sure she herself could ascend to Godhood, considering she was an Avatar blessed with such Skills. But then, she wondered, could she still increase the Skill Efficiency of the two? And if she could, considering how strong they already were, would that give her the edge necessary to face the monsters here?
The only thing left to do is to try, I guess.
She started with the Obsidian Flame, channeling it while using Meditation.
Over and over, she tried getting a feel of the Obsidian Flame. The black fire would spark across her knuckles, but the intangible sense of friction rose each time she attempted to truly study it. She couldn’t even make out how exactly her Mana moved around her body while using the Skill.
This is a whole other level than the rest of the Skills.
It made sense, though. Supposedly, this Skill had already reached her maximum Skill Efficiency. But Monica kept getting a hunch about it—she was weirdly convinced there was more of the Skill to explore.
As she sat cross-legged with a film of sweat coating her arms, she felt an intangible wall whenever she attempted to glean any understanding of the Obsidian Flame.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
The Twin Phoenix had said that Monica, more than anyone else, was capable of increasing the Skill Efficiency of her Skills since she could easily walk the line between life and death with no serious consequences. But then, why couldn’t she get any understanding of the Obsidian Flame?
Alone in this heat-scorched tunnel, she focused all her will into her Meditation and the Obsidian Flame for what felt like multiple hours. But to no avail.
She huffed in frustration, feeling the System’s silent refusal. I’m hitting a wall. She opened her eyes, letting the black fire flicker harmlessly along her arm. No revelations came. If the Twin Phoenix had left her with any hidden instruction, it wasn’t surfacing now.
“Hey, Twin Phoenix, you there?” Monica tried when at the end of her wits. “Hello? I have questions!”
No response.
“All right,” she murmured to herself, rising from the scorching floor. “I have to find a Blacksmith anyway.”
* * *
She had two vials of dwarven blood left. If Gromorlig was any indication, reviving a petrified blacksmith wouldn’t truly restore their old power. It might grant some knowledge, but not the skill to handle the forging of a Divine weapon. That was presumably the domain of a Master Smith.
If I can’t find a suitable dwarf… then it falls on me.
Thus, the Phoenix Forge Class seemed the better option to choose.
But Monica was truly enamored with Spirit of War.
Monica navigated deeper into the main tunnel. The environment only grew hotter—lakes and pools of magma churned below craggy platforms of black stone. She soon discovered the corridor split into multiple sub-passages.
This place is all messed up, she assessed. Is it just the Fire Mana accumulating and turning rock into magma or was part of this hellhole by design?
Faded dwarven signs, half-melted, indicated something akin to a “Smith District” in old runes.
Suddenly, however, she heard buzzing coming right from that direction.
Her caution soared. She’d barely survived two wasp scouts. If entire patrols roamed these passages, she’d be in constant danger. She softened her steps, creeping forward with her newly heightened Dexterity, gleaning what stealth she could from her battered cloak.
Sure enough, the first large intersection she peered into revealed a group of wasps—six in total, each sporting a “Soldier” tag.
[Corrupted Molten Wasp, Soldier - Level 150]
[Corrupted Molten Wasp, Soldier - Level 145]
[Corrupted Molten Wasp, Soldier - Level 144]
[Corrupted Molten Wasp, Soldier - Level 141]
[Corrupted Molten Wasp, Soldier - Level 139]
[Corrupted Molten Wasp, Soldier - Level 140]
They droned around in a tight formation, apparently on patrol.
Monica’s gut twisted. I can’t fight them. One or two, maybe she’d manage by using her best combos, but six? Not a chance. Her mind turned to flight or stealth, except flight was impossible—Phoenix Cloud would be limited in these tight spaces, and the wasps could easily chase her. That left stealth.
She pressed her back to the stone, waiting until the squad went into another tunnel. Then, as quietly as possible, she advanced.
Careful…
She crept past the ribbon of lava, clinging to the wall so the wasps wouldn’t catch a glimpse of her silhouette. One wrong sound, one sudden shift in the gloom, and an entire squad of those creatures could converge on her in seconds.
Sure enough, she died for the first time not long after.
She’d just cleared one of the labyrinth’s curved intersections, descending deeper, when the drone rose to a frantic pitch. Monica halted, mind screaming a warning: Too close! They’re too close. But there was nowhere to hide. The corridor behind her was blocked by a collapsed dwarven pillar; the side route was sealed behind a molten outflow that sizzled down the walls. She heard the click of armored legs on stone, then the ominous gurgle of resin building in the wasps’ gullets.
They saw her.
She tried to leap, but it was already too late. A spurt of molten resin splashed across her calves, pinning her feet to the floor.
She grit her teeth and flooded her body with Golden Flame, but before she could melt or break free, a stinger lanced her side. The paralyzing venom locked her limbs. A second stinger found its target—this time at her shoulder. Then, a final blow found her throat, and her vision faded to black.
Resurrection came quietly.
The wasps were gone—only a smear of gore where they had been… and the twisted remains of her previous corpse.
They keep damn dismembering me, she thought angrily. If they didn’t reproduce this fast, I could have just come here on my own. I would have loved to see Machina’s stupid creations to fight someone who can just keep coming back from the dead.
This time, she diverted before that ill-fated intersection, carefully picking a different route. She advanced maybe a hundred yards, crouching behind a fallen dwarven arch. The thick block of stone gave her a vantage point to observe three Soldier Wasps.
She watched their movements, waiting for the perfect moment to slip by—except her foot shifted, a chunk of rubble dislodged, and the faint scrape was enough to make one wasp wheel around midair.
After a brief battle, she was dead again.
Over time, a grim pattern emerged. She learned how to keep track of the patrol schedules—how some wasp formations circled the same route like clockwork.
She had to move slowly, anticipating each group’s path.
Yet the labyrinth was enormous. Runnels of molten rock veined across the corridors, sometimes leaving only a precarious, one-foot-wide ledge to edge along.
She’d be forced to wait, pressed to the walls, while squads buzzed past. Each time the hot air vibrated with insectile droning, she’d tense—if even one wasp recognized her silhouette, she’d have to fight or flee.
Both options too often ended the same way: pinned by resin, battered by stingers, forced to resurrect again.
During her third attempt to cross a collapsed dwarven courtyard, she did manage a moment of real triumph. Two Soldier Wasps cornered her, blocking the only exit. She decided to stand her ground.
She killed them both, though a stray stinger lacerated her side and slowed down her self-healing.
*Ding*
You have slain [Corrupted Molten Wasp, Soldier – Level 135]
You receive extra experience and skill proficiency for killing a creature fifty levels above you.
You receive extra experience and skill proficiency for killing a creature infected by Corruption.
*Ding*
You have slain [Corrupted Molten Wasp – Level 134]
You receive extra experience and skill proficiency for killing a creature fifty levels above you.
You receive extra experience and skill proficiency for killing a creature infected by Corruption.
Ding!
Class – Phoenix Healer (Rare, Enhanced) Lv. 58 → Lv. 60
+10 VIT, +10 END, +10 STR, +10 DEX, +10 WIS, +10 SPI, +10 INT, +10 CHA and +12 Free Attributes
*Ding*
Healing Skill – Golden Flame Lv. 58 → Lv. 60
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Flame Lv. 51 → Lv. 53
*Ding*
Constitution Skill – Phoenix Feathers Lv.33 → Lv.35
*Ding*
Perception Skill – Mana Sense Lv.73 → Lv. 74
*Ding*
Movement Skill - Phoenix Step Lv.38 → Lv.40
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Impact Lv. 45 → Lv. 47
*Ding*
Movement Skill - Phoenix Cloud Lv. 5 → Lv. 9
*Ding*
Utility Skill - Meditation Lv. 33 → Lv. 35
This was the first group of Wasp Soldiers she had managed to dispatch on her own. They weren’t too different from Wasp Scouts in the way they fought, but they were all around faster, stronger, and more lethal. Even the venom Monica had been injected with felt more potent than their Scout counterpart.
At least, Phoenix Cloud was leveling up—she would need the Skill like water in a desert to fight the airborne monsters.
Name: Monica Monroe
Race: Earther
Title: Avatar of the Twin Phoenix (Unique)
1st Class: Phoenix Healer (Rare) - Lv. 58 -> 60
2nd Class: Avalaible
Talent Class: None
Attributes:
Vitality - 458
Endurance - 300
Strength - 305
Dexterity - 356
Wisdom - 300
Spirit - 300
Intelligence - 300
Charisma - 300
Free Attributes: 156
Skills:
Golden Flame (Healing Skill) - Lv. 60
Obsidian Flame (Offensive Skill) - Lv. 53
Phoenix Feathers (Constitution Skill) - Lv. 35
Mana Sense (Perception Skill) - Lv. 74
Phoenix Step (Movement Skill) - Lv. 40
Obsidian Impact (Offensive Skill) - Lv. 47
Meditation (Utility Skill) - Lv. 33
Phoenix Cloud (Movement Skill) - Lv. 5
Equipment:
Steel Talons (Uncommon)
Twin Phoenix Bracers (Divine) - Twin Phoenix Set (1/12)
Nightshade Battle Wear (Rare)
Racial Abilities (Earther):
Tutorial
Quest System
Inventory
Map
Myriad Tongues
* * *
She timed patrol routes more precisely, pressing a hand to the stone to feel the vibrations of the wasps’ wings. She leveraged Phoenix Step in short bursts, jumping from one vantage to the next while squads were furthest away. Once or twice, she used a chunk of stone to clatter in a distant tunnel, drawing off a small group so she could slip past.
Eventually—hours later, or maybe half a day—she found herself at a vast intersection reminiscent of a dwarven marketplace.
Through the heat-shimmering air, Monica’s Mana Sense alerted her to an entire swarm of wasps.
Damn it! I need to get through here!
She looked around frantically.
They weren’t just a small patrol. She sensed at least twelve, possibly more, coming around.
She weighed her options. The columns might provide partial cover, but with that many wasps, they’d flush her out within moments. Another possibility was to circle around.
That was when she noticed the giant lake of magma coasting all around the giant marketplace—or whatever it was.
She had seen the wasps occasionally flying near magma, but never too close—likely the intense heat posed some hazard even to them.
The notion felt insane, but an idea sparked in her mind. Her Phoenix Healer gifts granted her full-blown fire immunity.
And that should have encompassed magma as well.
However, Magma was denser than water, thick and choking, and once she dove in, movement would be nearly impossible. But that also meant that the wasps would never expect a living being to simply vanish beneath molten rock.
She swallowed. The wasps’ droning grew louder; at least a few were drifting in her direction. She eyed a battered dwarven statue that lay shattered near the chamber’s perimeter. Its base extended close to the edge of the lava, offering a vantage from which she might dive in.
Well, even if I suffocated there, I could still keep resurrecting. Not a pretty option, but I’m pretty sure I can make my way through the magma.
A pair of wasps flew overhead, scanning the area and Monica waited in silence.
Only when their hum receded to the far side did she scramble forward again, hugging the broken dwarven statue. From behind this statue’s massive brow, she peered around. Across the chamber, at least eight wasps hovered, some forming a wide perimeter. They seemed agitated, likely searching for her.
They know I’m in here somewhere. She clenched her fists. No more waiting.
With a sharp exhale, she launched into a sprint along the narrow stone that bordered the lake. Residual droplets of magma splashed around her ankles, but she barely noticed. The wasps, at the chamber’s far corner, twitched at the sight of motion, wings abruptly buzzing louder. A couple of them soared upward, turning in her direction.
Monica had no time to overthink. She planted her foot at the final chunk of solid stone, leapt off in a graceful arc, and dove straight into the molten lake. The impact was immediate sensory overload. Lava enveloped her in sizzling pressure, so dense it felt like colliding with molten tar. Even with her fire immunity, an agonizing pressure seemed to crush against her limbs.
She forced herself deeper, ignoring the primal instinct to recoil from the molten mass. In fact, she immediately had an idea.
Monica covered herself from head to toe in Obsidian Flame, which consumed the rock around her and allowed her to move more swiftly, almost as if she was in water, and then used an Obsidian-Flame-powered Phoenix Cloud to push herself much deeper into the magma lake.
It was only after she submerged herself several feet deep that she turned on Mana Sense.
She could see golden hues hovering where she had disappeared.
Molten Wasps, huh? Monica smirked, also seeing the terrifying Fire Mana that was contained in the magma. Not Molten enough for a little swim.
Without waiting for her breath to run out, she started using a combination of Phoenix Cloud and Phoenix Step to barrel through the magma lake, keeping herself oriented thanks to Mana Sense. She also managed to take a few breaths when she saw that the monsters had completely lost track of her.
The magma is confusing them.
She had reemerged for a few seconds and seen them hover over the lake, lost. They hadn’t even noticed her head popping up from the magma and then diving back in.
In an ironic turn of event, as Monica torpedoed through the magma, she finally had some time to think.
I’ve barely seen any Dwarf statues here. Have the wasps destroyed them?
When she had crossed almost the entire lake and Mana Sense told her that the Wasps were gone, she finally reemerged.
Soaking wet with molten stone, panting from near-drowning, she looked at herself.
“Huh,” she looked at her clothes—or the lack of thereof. The Nightshade Battle Wear had somehow survived, despite even the metal on it melting partially. The rest of her clothes, instead, were simply gone. And with the inky substance of her armor mostly destroyed, her graces were full-on display. “Whatever,” she shrugged. There was no Ted or, regrettably, Sir Tristan to watch.
She slowly walked to the side of this small market and finally saw many Dwarven statues.
A few of them looked like Blacksmiths.