I wiped the sweat from my brow as I watched the sun begin its descent. It was going to be completely dark soon and then it would get cold. I closed my eyes and focused on the pull toward my Place of Power. It felt so my teeth throbbed in anticipation but there was no use in pushing. Instead I started searching for signs of tracks. It didn't take long for us to find tail markings from a serpent or some other similar creature. We followed the tracks until we reached a burrow. The burrow's entrance was five feet tall and carved into the hard sand stone of the canyon. I pulled to a stop fifty feet from the entrance.

"Alright so if I were a giant snake what would get me to come out of my fancy hole in the wall?" I groaned when I came up with an idea.I waited another five minutes but couldn't come up with anything better. I climbed off the back of my salamander and got one of the dull blades from my ring. I placed the blade against my lower arm just below the elbow and cut. The sharp sting of pain made me regret my choice but there was nothing I could do about it now. I let the blood drip for a moment before bring out a small metal dish. I collected the blood and threw it around the sand in front of the cave. I quickly remounted and moved beyond the burrow and behind a large stone. Once there I began casting Sphere of Light. Once the palm sized sphere of light sprang into existence I sent it forward and into the burrow.

At first nothing happened and I was just about ready to spill more blood when a ear splitting roar filled the air. My eyes went wide as panic surged within me. I had just enough time to remark that my assumption might actually get me killed. A creature with a long serpentine body and the head of an elephant slithered out. The creatures skin was a dark dusky grey color covered in slashes and scratches. It was missing an eye and one of its ivory tusks was missing. Its long trunk of a nose trumpeted as it licked at the spilled blood. I immediately cast Lesser Revelation.

Kiasum: Level 10

Kiasum are the result of arcane experiments let loose in the wild. They are known for their brutality and habit of playing with their food. They possess intelligence to rival the greatest of beasts.

It was level 10! "Holy Fuck" I whispered as my mind went into action. I had to get away but how? Could the Salamander? Would it chase? I was still bleeding? Before I could make a decision the creature's head bolted up and a long thick tongue licked the air as if to taste it. It locked eyes with me and moved like lightning. The distance between us devoured before I realized what happened. My right hand twitched and then traced the patterns for Lesser Gout of Flame. The orange flames shot forward just as the creature arrived. Instead of the expected cry of pain the Kiasum continued forward mouth open and bathed in fire. I threw myself to the side ending the flow of magic just before its teeth could shatter my arm. The salamander bucked free of my control and barely avoided being torn in two.

I lost sight of the beast as I rolled to prepare for the next attack. I dual cast Sphere of Light hoping that they light would hurt or at least irritate the creature. As soon as the sphere appeared I divided it into three and sent them flying in a circle around the serpentine monstrosity. The creature hissed in pain and lunged at the spheres. Its remaining ivory tusk crushing one before I gave up on controlling them. Instead I began casting a different spell. Both hands came together to form Lesser Light Ray. The Kiasum destroyed the last of the sphere just as I finished the spell. I flexed my wrists aiming for the creature's head. Four rays of light shot forward like the fingers of an angel. Controlling all four rays felt like holding onto a pressurized water cannon. The light pierced into the creature's skin and its remaining good eye. The pain seemed to ignite a fury in the beast. It flicked its tongue and darted toward me. I desperately pivoted on my feet just in time to avoid being skewered. The horn tore a chunk out of the right side of my stomach. A glance revealed the damage. I had taken 98 points of damage from that one attack. My hp was nearly reduced to half. I brought both hands up.

Before I could start my next casting their was a blur of movement and then something slammed into the Kiasum. It took my brain a moment to process what happened but when it did relief filled me. The Rock Salamander had joined the fight. It landed on the Kiasum's back and began savaging it with claws and fangs. The beast was no pushover and once it got over the initial attack it twisted around and began coiling itself around the salamander. I grinned and began my next spell. It took only a few seconds before the dual cast bolt of light magic shot forward. The bolt shot into the creature's mouth causing to cry out in agony. The sound was the sweetest music he had ever heard. Adrenaline shot through him as he prepared another spell. The cry of pain from his salamander was painful but he focused on the task at hand. I rushed forward bringing both hands together and unleashing a gout of ember flame. I held the torrent of flames until my head began to spin. The beast was forced to release its grip in order to recoil from the pain. I threw myself back as the serpent lunged for me.

I rolled to the right just as the ivory tusk slammed into sand. I pulled myself up and pulled my water skin. The restoration potion tasted like heaven and I watched all of my bars leap back to full. I let out a roar of rage and the Kiasum opened its mouth. It lunged for me just as I finished my spell. Four Rays of light shot forward. The light carved through the Kiasum's throat and punched out the back. The head rolled forward and slammed into the ground. I resisted the urge to ignite the creature's skull, instead I ran over to the salamander. It was still alive but it was bleeding from multiple wounds. Thankfully it could still move. I made my way to its mouth. I gently and carefully opened its mouth. "Alright, don't worry. I have something here that should help you." I slowly reached down for my second water skin. I poured its contents into his mouth. The potion didn't take effect as fast as it did for me but its wounds did start healing. Its pained whimpers began fading. Once I was sure he would survive I let out a sigh and moved away. My excitement faded and was replaced with exhaustion. I leaned my back against a stone and went over my prompts.

You have been awarded 1000 experience from defeating Kiasum -level 10

Congratulations! Your skill Lumos Magic has leveled up. Lumos Magic has reached level 11. You are able to learn additional spells.

Congratulations! Your skill Dual Casting has leveled up. Dual Casting has reached levels 8 and 9. The spell power increases by 240% and the modified cost is 276%

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Congratulations! Your skill Pyro Magic has leveled up. Pyro Magic has reached level 4. You are able to learn additional spells.

I decided not to look at the combat log. A reminder of the pain I just went through could wait. For now all that matters is that I won. I leaned back and closed my eyes. Letting the exhaustion fade off of me. After a few minutes I opened my eyes and got to work. First I had to drag the body of the snake monster away from its burrow. I wasn't in shape to fight anther battle and the stench of blood was making it hard to think. Once my mount was up and ready to move we dragged the Kiasum another 100ft. I then got to work skinning it. I managed to separate some of the meat from the rest at the cost of several cuts to my hands,fingers and lower arm. Once I had enough meat I started a fire and began cooking. It took a half an hour before the meal was complete but when it was I was rewarded with a notification.

You have found a meal: Seared Kiasum Meat Details: Kiasum meat is a unusual and rare meal.

Your cooking skill is not high enough to get the benefits of this meal.

Dish Quality: Below Average

Dish Rarity: Rare

The part about not beings killed enough hurt but at least I had something to eat. My skill level didn't increase either. I couldn't be sure but if I assumed that affinity had some relationship with skill leveling than the speed that my magic skills were going up made sense. If that was the case I needed to get more spells. I didn't even know how many different magics there were in this world. The lack of knowledge was beyond frustrating. I considered going back and asking the Ifrit but that would be a waste of time. In addition relying on any one person too much could prove risky. I let out a sigh before cooking up another three meals. All of them Below Average. I gave two of them to the salamander, one I ate and one went into the ring for later. Once we were finished with our meals I mounted up and set out.

We pushed forward, relying on the last embers of sunlight to guide us toward a canyon wall. I pulled my mount to a stop when I caught sight of something coming toward us from behind. It looked like a large black wall. At first I thought it was a monster or a swarm of them, but as it got closer, I realized it was neither of them. It was like a wall of sand was moving through the desert. The salamander’s fidgeting brought me back to the moment. We needed to move. I tightened my grips on the reins and urged him forward. We were in complete agreement as we rushed through the black sands. We managed to cut the distance in half before the sand was upon us. The wind picked up as if we were in a thunderstorm. It was strangely quiet as black sand tore at my clothing and skin. Even the salamander’s scales were being cut. Blood trickled to the ground as they reached the wall. We found a cave and rushed into it. Just as I unstrapped myself, the sound hit. It was a frightening, haunting howl that seemed to reach into my bones. I took a moment to watch the wind and sand dig into the walls. “Shit.” my voice came out a low whisper as the weight of almost getting caught in that washed over me.

After a few minutes, I pulled my vision away from the mouth of the cave and headed deeper inside. We reached a small area large enough for both me and the salamander to sit comfortably. I started a fire and warmed my fingers. “How does a desert get both incredibly hot and cold?” I asked, not expecting an answer. I glanced over at my salamander and gently scratched a spot at the base of his neck. “I should probably give you a name, right? How about Rex? Or Leo?” The salamander blinked and didn’t seem too interested in either name, so I decided to go with Rex. “Right so Rex, it looks like we are going to be stuck here for a bit. Should we stay here or explore more of the likely very dangerous cave?” I chuckled to myself and laid my head against the stone behind me. I sat like that for a few more minutes before standing up. I wasn’t going to be able to rest if I didn’t go and do a little exploration. I decided to leave Rex behind, not wanting to risk him getting stuck if the cave narrowed. Once I was sure he understood, I checked my water skin. I still had about half my potion left, which wasn’t too bad. I took a deep breath and then headed deeper into the cavern.

It took nearly ten minutes and a couple of layers of skin before I found anything besides the black sandstone. The cave opened into a white room made out of a marble like stone. The stone was a dull of white with specks of black throughout. The room was about as large as an atrium. It was a circular room with multiple stone pillars that felt a bit like entering a Roman temple. Thankfully, the room was closer to twenty feet tall, giving me more than enough room to move around. “Alright, either a great monster will be here or some kind of treasure.”

I chuckled dryly before entering, stepping through an archway on my right. I kept close to the wall, hoping to minimize as much of my silhouette as possible. I pushed forward until I came to the large mural on the wall. It reminded me of Semere’s tomb, only the image didn’t show a battle. Instead, it should a woman drawing complicated spell circles. There were no words to go along with the images, so I couldn’t understand what was going on, but it seemed like. She was working on a new spell. “Are you the reason that Semere was able to stop the “Forbidden One”? Running my hand along the wall, I admired the detail put in the painting.The hallway ended, and I stepped into a room filled with three groups of seven statues. Each set of seven sat upon a throne and had animals at their feet. One had a serpent, another a lion, a scorpion with two stingers, and many more. The statues looked life like. Even the scorpion’s stingers looked like they were poised to strike me down. Each of the statues was ten feet tall and felt like deities. I couldn’t explain the feeling exactly, but it was like the room was judging me. It was creepy, so I decided to get out as soon as I could. I turned away from the statues and caught sight of a circular staircase. I gave the statues a polite nod and made my way over. Thankfully, nothing happened as I started climbing. It wasn’t until I was halfway up the flight that the sensation faded. An icy shiver went down my back and I made a mental note not to go through that room again if I could avoid it. I reached the top of the spiral staircase a few moments later. The room was pitch black. Just as I was about to cast a spell, a hissing sound hit my ears. I froze in place.

The hissing was so soft that it was easy to convince myself that I hadn’t heard anything. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Nothing happened. Every second felt like an eternity until I couldn’t hold it anymore. I began casting. As soon as the word of power left my lips, the hissing grew louder. The sphere of a light shoot into the air and the darkness was banished. A blur of black shot toward the opposite wall and disappeared out of sight. I raised both hands as my heart began to pound in my chest. There was a choking sound, and I threw myself to the side instinctively, just in time to see a gout of green liquid fall onto the ground where I had been standing. The sound of melting stone sent a chill through my bones. I split the sphere of light into three and spread them out in three directions. I caught sight of a blur disappear into darkness. This time, I was able to catch the creature’s silhouette. It was about as large as a golden retriever with black scales and an anteater like snout. I aimed based on the speed and direction of the creature and unleashed four rays of light. They banished the shadows as if the morning had finally arrived. Two of the four rays slammed into the creature’s chest while the other two hit the stone walls behind the creature. As soon as that finished, I brought two of three spheres forward. Each one flanked the creature while the third sat above my head.

The creature let out a hiss of pain. There was a disgusting gurgling sound, and then its snout bunched up. My eyes flew open as a sphere of emerald green acid shot at me. I had just enough time to move my head and bring up my right arm. The acid burned through my clothes and my skin, forcing me to howl in pain. There was another blur of movement and something slammed into my chest. I hit my head on the stone and my vision blurred just as the creature prepared to blast me with acid. I concentrated enough to bring all three spheres of light into the creature’s face. The monster hissed in agony before throwing itself back and into the darkness. I rolled to the side and climbed to my feet. I pulled my water-skin and quickly downed some of the potion. I let the potion work on healing my injuries while I scanned the darkness. I pushed two of the spheres into the darkness, searching for the creature. I found nothing. I kept both hands up and strained my ears. My health had refilled, but the pain was still vivid. The gurgling sound returned. I waited for my moment. As soon as the emerald liquid shot out from the dark, I brought all three spheres forward. The acid splashed onto my exposed arm, sending a fresh wave of pain through me. I pushed it down and began casting. Four more rays of light shot forward. This time, all four hit their mark. They forced the beast back. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the pain or if it was the light. Neither mattered in the end. As soon as the first casting ended, I brought both hands together and began a second cast. A gout of orange flames showered the beast. I pressed forward, narrowing the beam, forcing cries of pain from the beast. My magic drained rapidly. The beast’s life ended just as my magic points hit zero.