Horrible high pitched screams came from the group of [Magmen] Ylsa was in the midst of. As I entered the room, she drew her ice spikes from the chest of one [Magman] whose body appeared to be turning to stone before shattering into a million pieces half a second later. The goliath woman spun low to avoid a globule of lava thrown by a pair of the red hot creatures working together before surging toward them nearly perpendicular to the floor.

“[Frost Blade!]” She screamed excitedly as her leading shin suddenly did its best broadaxe impression before cleaving one of the offending goblinoids in twain. She truly embodied her [Mountain Tempest] Class at that moment as she showed what a mountain blizzard could do to a group of creatures weak to cold.

Leaving her to take care of the dozen fiery bastards on her own, I turned to find Raiju doing far worse. Despite her innate stat advantages as an S ranked beast, her lack of ability to produce any meaningful ice or water Mana left her in a tough spot when surrounded by thirty [Magmen]. For each one she blasted with [Thunderhead] or [Lightning Strike] five more of them threw lava balls that splashed against her lightning shield from [Storm’s Embrace].

As I watched, one of the lava spikes from a slightly larger [Elder Magman] slipped through after [Storm’s Embrace] failed and before she could reup it. The dagger sized spike of lava hit her square in the front right quarter, burning off the lustrous white fur there and exposing scorched red skin below. Her howl of rage and pain was more than I could handle calmly.

Dad’s training had a dozen different techniques to deal with an ally who was surrounded, but only one came to mind in the moment and it was the one he told me was both his favorite and the worst for a stealth specialist like him and I – though me to a much lesser extent than him. Blades of psychic Mana in each hand, I triggered [Mana Slide] to get behind the group attacking my bonded and went absolutely apeshit on them.

I was on them in less than a second and they were not ready for me.

The first thing I did was tear into the [Elder Magman] who’d actually managed to strike Raiju. Two [Pysknife] fueled [Backstabs] with [Dual Chop] for good measure was enough to erase him from the Tower in a satisfying pop, but I wasn’t there to see what happened next as I spun into the next pair of smaller hotfoots. A single [Psyknife] to the base of each of their spines was enough to send them to the void. At that point, one of the rearmost [Magmen] spotted me and shouted to his compatriots in Goblin to watch out, or he would have if I hadn’t thrown a [Psyknife] into his forehead the moment his mouth opened. He fell back with white eyes before expiring.

[Psyknife] is absolutely overpowered for someone with [Wits] like mine. I triggered [Haste] to dodge around and slash into another pair of monsters as my mind raced. I can’t help but wonder if it’s something people know about, but don’t take advantage of, or if it’s something hidden by those who have it because of how effective it is. I guess I’ll have to ask Dominus the next time I level up. As is, Raiju’s clear, so I should…

“Room clear!” Jaegan bellowed as he let his [Arcane Battery] constructs fade into blue flecks of Mana that faded a moment later.

I raced around the large lava filled chamber once more before disabling [Haste] and rushing to Raiju’s side. I slid to my knees beside where she lay, nursing her shoulder. Mentally slotting [Hydrosphere], I summoned the ball of water around her wound, which got her howling for a moment before turning to glare at me. Her gaze softened and she let her head fall to the ground in resignation.

“It’s alright, I’m here.” I used [Healing Light] through the sphere of water and watched as the burned skin slowly sloughed off to reveal fresh pink flesh in its place. “Should just be a few more moments, though I’m not sure how long it’ll be before your hair grows back there. Sorry about that.”

“Stupid fire chuckers. Can’t even use the good elements and they think they’re all big and bad.” She huffed. “I’ll show them next time.”

Petting her fur as I let the [Hydrosphere] fade, I chuckled softly. “Maybe you should stay at a range against the [Magmen]? Lava and fur don’t exactly mix well.”

The look she gave me sent shivers down my spine and I suddenly knew how everyone she’d ever killed felt. Absolutely terrified.

“No. I will prove that I can deal with those fiery jerks.” She huffed and rose shakily to her feet before taking a couple of test steps and looking back at me. “I suggest you get a move on, because I’m going to leave this room in one minute to look for revenge.”

“Gotcha.” I turned around to give Volta and Voltaire orders, only to find them floating above the center of the lava pool. I put my fist on my hip. “What’s up?”

“There’s a strong Mana source in the middle of this pool.” Volta bowed. “We were debating how to retrieve whatever it is for you, Pactlord.”

Looking from them to Raiju, I knew time was of the essence, so I didn’t hesitate. Pulling up the [Elemental Pactlord] panel, I switched the dials to summon a [Obsidian Knight] which triggered [Essence Reading] again.

[Obsidian Knights are imposing elemental creatures, their forms forged from the obsidian depths of the confluence of the earth and fire elemental planes. They resemble armored knights, their bodies composed of the dark, volcanic glass that shimmers in the light. Their eyes, two burning embers, glow with an intense red heat. Their swords and shields, crafted from the same obsidian as their bodies, are incredibly durable and capable of inflicting devastating damage. Obsidian Knights move with a fluid, almost serpentine grace, their every step leaving a trail of obsidian shards in their wake.]

I addressed it with a courtly bow before addressing it in Terran. “Sir Knight, would you please retrieve whatever is producing the Mana in that pool?” I paused. “Also, what is your preferred name?”

“Arlian, Pactlord. It seems you are in a rush. Please advance, I will catch up.” The imposing figure saluted before walking straight into the fifty foot wide pool of lava, sinking after taking just a few steps.

“Volta, Voltaire, please stay and guard the pool and Arlian.” I looked to the side and found Raiju mere feet from the path out of our current chamber. “Sorry, gotta go!”

I was just barely able to squeak past my hairiest companion into the next hallway and was surprised when I only found a single trap about thirty feet into the hundred foot long black tiled tunnel. It was a curious thing, a single uneven tile in the middle of the huge tunnel and it stood out like a sore thumb, even to my party.

Getting closer, I pulled out an old sleeve of tools Dad always swore by. “Longspoon thieves’ tools. Never thought I’d actually want to use them again, but this is just what they’re for.” I shivered at the memory of my training with them as a teen as I drew the three foot long steel implements from their sleeve. I slid the tool forward until I could catch the edge of the tile with the tip and gently pried up on it about half an inch.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Two seconds later, the end of the hallway we’d entered lurched upward on the axis of the center of the hallway where I was, slamming our rearguard, Ylsa, into the ceiling with a grunt.

“Put it back!” Our [Mage] hollered as Ylsa slid into the back of his knees, bowling him over and sending the pair of them barreling toward Raiju’s furry self who stopped them cold.

“I am!” I delicately, but quickly, slid the tile back into place, but not before spotting a void at the other end of the hallway below where the exit should have been.

Two seconds later, the hallway slammed back into position, but this time we were ready and braced ourselves for the shift. My companions slowly clambered back to their feet as I pulled my tool back and found the metal near the tip was far more pliable than it should have been.

Touching it, I swore. “Dominus damn this place, the trap had some sort of acid or fire enchantment on it. I’m going to have to fix this when we get back to town.” I slipped the damaged tool back into my ring before pulling out the old standby of all adventurers.

“Ten-foot pole.” Jaegan grinned. “No adventurer worth their plate ever leaves home without one.”

“But of course.” I matched his wry grin with a smile of my own.

Placing the end of the ironwood pole against the tile, I gave it the gentlest of touches, barely moving it an eighth of an inch. As I’d expected, the hall shifted to match the state of the tile, revealing an opening not only at the bottom of the newly angled hallway, but also at the top. With the angle at a much more reasonable angle, we were able to take a minute to look and found there appeared to be rooms beyond each opening we’d exposed.

“Top or bottom first?” I scratched the back of my neck anxiously. “I’m partial to the top, that way we can slide back in here if something goes wrong in there. Anyone else have a strong opinion?”

My party collectively shrugged or grunted something noncommittally for a few moments, so I took the initiative to start walking up the slope to the newly exposed opening.

“Keep up!”

Raiju took my words as a challenge and quickly made me regret my choice of words as she blew past me fast enough to spin me around like a top. If it weren’t for [Air Step], I’d have fallen back toward the middle of the tunnel without a doubt. With it? I was able to spring off the air itself to run after her, laughing all the way despite the situation outside.

In the Tower, at that moment, I was just a boy chasing his oversized dog.

She barked excitedly when she reached the top, jumping with her legs extended to clear the barely more than four foot opening. Her barks quickly turned to growls before I heard the distinctive sound of her [Lightning Strike] and [Thunderhead] abilities.

Turning to the group behind me as I ran, I yelled. “She’s fighting up there. We have to hurry!”

With a thought, I triggered [Haste] and blurred up the incline and through the me-sized entrance to find myself in a sixty foot circular chamber with a thirty foot tall [Flame Golem] in the center. Its arms swept around the room as it poured a tremendous amount of flames toward Raiju’s sprinting form.

The problem was, it was able to turn faster than she could run in here, where she couldn’t get a good run up to trigger the speed portion of [Swift as the Wind], and her back legs already had char on them from where she didn’t manage to dodge. I watched as she tried running into the air over the torrent of flames, only to have the golem switch one arm to follow her movement while the other one tracked where I’d entered the room.

[Flame Golem - Rank C Mini-Boss

Level: 40

Vulnerabilities: Cold, Force

Immunities: Fire, Lightning, Poison, Psychic, Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing]

[Flame Golems are towering, thirty-foot behemoths of living flame contained within molten sandstone shells. Their forms resemble a humanoid, but their bodies are composed entirely of molten rock and burning embers. Their eyes glow with an intense, fiery heat, and their gaping cores, shaped like a furnace, emits a constant roar of flames.

These creatures are not elemental in nature, but are actually remnant creations of an ancient race of master craftsmen who harnessed the power of fire to create these formidable guardians. Flame Golems are often found in ancient Towers and Dungeons, where they serve as formidable challenges for adventurers who seek to plumb their depths.

Their primary attack is a torrent of flame that they can shoot from both arms and sometimes their furnaces when they are close to being destroyed. These flames are hot enough to melt Mithral and warp Adamantine.]

As I darted in closer to it, [Essence Reading] told me what I was working with and I was excited and worried in equal measure. We needed to find and kill ten [Flame Golems] to leave the first floor, but with the immunities it had, I wasn’t going to be nearly as useful as I had been against the [Magmen] unless…

Shaking my head, I banished the beginnings of that thought.

Focus. You can use [Light Arrow], it’s basically just an arrow from a bow, but made of light instead of a normal arrow. That should do something to it at least. I hope.

A [Mana Slide] narrowly sent me beneath the initial sweep of flames so I could focus on summoning my bow of light. Technically, it wasn’t needed for the Skill, but it helped me think of it as a weapon instead of a Spell, so I used it like that without thinking.

I unleashed a barrage of [Light Arrows] toward the behemoth as I kited it as best I could. From what I could tell, it couldn’t do anything besides rotate so as long as Raiju and I were able to keep ahead of the flame–

A yelp of pain from Raiju broke me out of my flow state and nearly got me clipped by the moving wall of flame that swept toward my miniscule form. Before that could happen, I heard Jaegan yell as he entered the room.

“[Wall of Force]!” The [Mage] stood with his hand extended as a clear blue wall of magic sprang into existence around the entirety of the [Flame Golem]. Behind the wall there was a conflux of flames attempting to leak out, but Jaegan’s shield held. But only just.

You see, [Wall of Force] is an interesting Skill. It’s damn near impenetrable, but all the damage inflicted upon the wall is reduced by ninety-nine percent before being passed onto the user as pure psychic damage. That would be great for Jaegan with his [Bad Deal] belt buckle connecting him to Ylsa, if it didn’t have a single caveat, the psychic damage bypassed all types of damage mitigation or redirecting factors besides the user’s [Arcane] and [Toughness] stats.

I watched as tiny cracks began to form on the nearly transparent wall of magic. Turning to Raiju, I found her limping toward me with her front left paw looking like a charred mess. Blood poured from the cracked, scorched, mess of a paw she clutched to her chest protectively.

Without bothering to check my notifications, I knew I’d stolen [Wall of Force] from Jaegan, so when I tried to slot it in, it worked. Or it would have if not for…

[Dominated Skills - Slots Available 0/6

Minor Magnesis

Healing Light

Solar Deflection

Spike Field

Open

Hydrosphere]

[No slots available, unable to slot Wall of Force]

Bullshit! There has to be a way!

I started to panic as the cracks grew in Jaegan’s [Wall of Force]. Until, in a moment of panicked clarity I remembered something Grandpa told me about years before.

“Never forget, Starchild, the System isn’t just some unthinking, uncaring entity. It can be bargained with.” Tears ran down his face. “Just be prepared to pay the cost if you do, for there is no going back when dealing with it and it won’t hesitate to ask for far more than you’re willing to pay to give you what you want.”

Sprinting toward the center of the room, Ylsa leapt high into the air before unleashing a devastating axe kick to send a [Frost Blade] down into the head of the trapped [Flame Golem]. It reeled back in pain, but everyone in the room could tell it would take far more than a few [Frost Blades] to kill this mini-boss. As we all watched, Jaegan slumped to the ground and his [Wall of Force] fell with him. Torrential red flames poured out into the room toward my allies and I.

“System, I want to bargain!” I screamed and the world went still.