The golem before them was unlike anything they had encountered. Its form was monstrous in scale, towering over them with the same jagged, muscular limbs as the stone golems they had fought, but this one had crystalline areas—smooth, sharp, and shimmering with a kaleidoscope of colors as light from their torches bounced off its translucent surface. The veins of molten orange that pulsed through its chest had transformed into radiant blue and purple veins that seemed to hum with latent energy, giving off a faint, otherworldly glow.
It stood frozen against the wall, its feet wedged into the stone, but the way it pulsed with faint power suggested that it was far from lifeless. The Wayward Compass the artifact Lorelai sought, was embedded in its head like a cruel crown, glowing brightly against the backdrop of the golem’s crystalline features.
Lorelai felt her breath catch in her throat. This wasn’t just a golem; it was something else. The faint hum that emanated from it wasn’t just the sound of stone grinding together—it was something ancient and powerful, its very essence resonating with the dungeon.
“We’ve found it,” Lorelai said under her breath, though her voice trembled with more than just relief. The compass was almost within reach, yet she felt dread thick in the air, a suffocating pressure that made every movement feel sluggish.
[Floor 2 Boss: Stone Golem lvl 10]
Thrax exhaled slowly, his eyes narrowing. "This one’s different. You can feel it too, right?"
Aeryn, the keen observer, tilted her head, her blood-red eyes gleaming as she studied the crystal golem. "It’s not just stone, you can see the crystallized areas," she said, her voice laced with an almost reverent caution. "It most likely has different attack types than just throwing it heavy weight around."
Thrax growled under his breath. "Great, we’re fighting a boss that has surprises. Fantastic."
Lorelai had already stepped forward, her spear clutched tightly in her hands, her resolve settling into a solid mass of determination. "We have to destroy it before it fully activates," she said. " Or we'll never get to the compass," she thought to herself.
"Agreed," Aeryn added. "We’ll need to work together and keep the pressure on, or it’ll outlast us."
Before they could strategize further, the golem’s head shifted with an eerie grinding sound. The Wayward Compass in its forehead glowed brighter, and the whole construct seemed to stir, its massive stone form giving off an ethereal hum. It was as if the golem was waking up, and the walls of the cavern seemed to vibrate with it.
Then, without warning, the golem swung its arm in a violent arc, a blinding flash of light emanating from the crystalline shards on its body as it collided with the stone floor, sending out a shockwave that knocked Lorelai off her feet.
"Watch out!" Thrax shouted, already charging in with his maul raised high, the chill of the ice biting the air as he ran toward the golem.
Aeryn was already moving, darting to the side with her blood blade drawn. Her movements were swift and fluid as she avoided the shockwave and moved to the golem’s flank. The crystalline golem responded immediately, its eyes flashing brighter as it adjusted its posture, turning to face her with unnerving precision.
The boss’s stone body shifted responding to their attacks. Where the initial cracks had appeared from their assault, the damaged areas began to heal, but not in the way the stone golems had. Instead of just repairing, the golem’s surface became more crystalline, as if each blow it took was transforming it into a harder, more dangerous form. The jagged, rock-like stones from earlier now appeared as sharp, pointed crystals, making it even more deadly.
“It’s evolving!” Lorelai shouted, watching as each time the golem received damage; the damaged area would begin to sparkle and shift like fractured glass being reassembled.
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Thrax’s icy maul slammed into the golem’s chest with a deafening crack, but instead of crumbling or fracturing like before, the impact caused the stone to splinter and then regrow into smooth, crystalline edges that formed into sharper, more intricate patterns.
“We have to hit it harder, faster!” Thrax grunted as he swung again, his voice growing strained. He noticed that before the crystallization he would leave cracks in the stone, but now there was hardly any damage at all.
Aeryn was already on the move, flashing from side to side, her blood magic swirling in the air around her as she formed a dozen blood shards into a storm of lances that she hurled at the golem. They struck true, but instead of puncturing the surface they shattered upon the hard surface.
“I’m not getting through,” Aeryn growled, her lips curling into a snarl. “This isn’t just a defense mechanism, it’s actively improving itself!”
Lorelai, still recovering from the shockwave, wiped the dust from her eyes. The golem had already adapted and was becoming more dangerous with each passing second. “Then we need to stop it from evolving further. We need to target its core if it has one!”
The glowing blue lines that traced the contours of the golem’s body flickered brightly, pulsing as though in response to her words. The more damage they dealt, the more the crystal formations spread, becoming harder and more complex. It was clear that every attack they landed only made the golem stronger.
Lorelai couldn't afford to back down, she had an idea.
"Thrax, I need you to buy me some time! Aeryn back Thrax up, give it everything you've got?"
Aeryn nodded, understanding immediately. "If I can weaken its movements, we can keep it from damaging us. We cant allow this thing to fully crystallize, Thrax focus on the parts that are already crystal!"
Lorelai readied her spear, feeling the weight of it in her hands. This time, instead of trying to chip away at it, she'd have to deal as much possible damage in one go. She had to aim for the core in the center of chest. [Lightning Clad] She coated her spear in crimson lightning, the mithril taking the magic much more smoothly and in much greater amount that the steal one. With her hands on either side of the spear; she let go using her electromagnetism magic suspend it between her hands. It was difficult at first because it was a different metal than the last time she used her ability.
She used her magic to make it horizontal, aiming at the golem's chest. She spun in place like a drill faster, and faster; the lightning increasing in intensity proportional to the increased speed.
"ROAR!" Thrax roared as the dragonkin's body began to morph. He increased in size as all his muscles bulged, they began to get covered in multicolored scales; a deep red in the center and ice blue along the edges. His hands became clawed, wings and a tail sprouted from behind him. "Dragonize!" He roared as he shot off like a rocket towards the golem. He had finally traded his icy maul for one created out of blue flame, resulting explosions reverberating through the dungeon marking each powerful blow delivered.
“That’s it, Thrax!” Lorelai shouted. “keep it up!”
With a roar, Thrax charged, his fiery maul crackling as he swung it with all his strength at the golem’s exposed side. The impact sent a shockwave through the cavern, and the golem staggered, its crystalline form cracking further.
Aeryn didn’t waste a second. She rushed forward, blood shards swirling around her, her rapier flashing as she struck the core. But as her blade sank into the crystalline shell, it began to regenerate even faster, healing around her sword.
“No…!” Aeryn snarled in frustration, but Lorelai’s voice cut through the tension.
The cavern was being lit up like a light show as bolts of lightning struck out randomly...and powerfully. The spear turned drill was spinning at breaking speeds, "Draw it this way, then I'll wait for you guys to evacuate!" Lorelai instructed.
Lorelai made her move. Using her electromagnetism magic, she launched the spear, the projectile now a crimson blur as Aeryn and Thrax used everything they had to get out of the way. Her mithril spear exploded past Thrax, the force causing him to somersault in the air. The spearhead shattered the surface, and a cascade of sparks erupted from the golem as its core began to glow violently, but the spear was still shy of breaking the core.
“NOW!” Lorelai screamed.
Thrax, with a battle cry, slammed his maul onto the butt of the spear finally piercing the golem’s chest. Aeryn followed suit, her blood blade lashing out and sinking deep into the fractured body. The golem's core flickered once, then exploded in a brilliant burst of light.
The crystal golem shattered into a million pieces, its fragments scattering across the cavern. The Wayward Compass fell free from the shattered remains of the golem’s skull, its glow dimming, as if exhausted by the destruction.
[Level up x2!]
Breathing heavily, Lorelai reached out and snatched the Compass from the air, the mission was complete. She went to retrieve her spear and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the spear was undamaged from the intense attack. The cavern echoed with the falling fragments of the shattered golem, the three of them collapsed, utterly exhausted. Thrax reverted to his normal form, panting heavily, while Lorelai and Aeryn shared a brief moment of quiet triumph.