Chapter 126 – Floor 11: Part 10

The Golems worked tirelessly and efficiently, day and night, to construct a wall that reached high above the settlement. Made of black and grey rock, it was dozens of feet tall and thick enough to repel the Anti-Life’s efforts to destroy it.

While the Golems worked, the Players fought the monsters that were assailing them, pushing the Anti-Lie back to their nest. When the final stone was placed in their section of wall, the Players retreated to battlements, hurling magics and firing long-range weapons at the creatures below them.

Mathew sat on the ground, his back to the cool stone of the wall as he recovered from the intense battle. He spent his time watching the mindless Golems work. Picking up large rocks, some would place them in a central area, while others used primitive tools to shape and mould the stone before more Golems would carefully deposit them on top of the marked foundations.

In less than a week, the wall was finished, and half the town had been constructed. Mathew could only assume that the other settlements were on a similar schedule. Wincing in pain as a small movement pulled at a wound on his side, Mathew pulled out another elixir of healing and downed it in a single swallow.

The fighting had been severe; the Anti-Life were more determined than he had ever seen them, likely due to the proximity of their nest. What made things more difficult was that the creatures seemed to evolve.

They were larger than before, heavier and stronger. Several had mutated from having four legs into six, with sharper teeth and longer claws. Mathew had seen them spit acid, shoot spikes from their back, or even explode into piles of gore and bone shrapnel when they were about to expire.

Mathew doubted the Players would have survived much longer if they hadn’t had the wall to fall back on, but he wasn’t sure how long they would have an advantage. Already, some of the Anti-Life had grown wings, assaulting the defending Players from above.

It was turning into a never-ending cycle of violence.

Ignoring his wounds, Mathew pulled up the shop. He had upgraded all of his equipment, and he was torn between gaining another level or purchasing another Blessing. With a rare break from the arriving reinforcements taking their turn on the battlements, Mathew took a moment to peruse his options.

The offering of Blessings had significantly expanded, whether from the Aether he had available or his increased ‘Spirit’ stat, he wasn’t sure.

His current Blessings allowed him to shape and change his flesh, muscles and bones. He could also breathe fire, acid or lightning from ‘Breath of Dragons.’ What he needed was something long-range, a Blessing he could use on top of the wall that would keep him from the worst of the fighting. Earthbind could hold the enemy in place, but it relied on Mathew physically dispatching the Anti-Life.

“Blood Magic….” Mathew whispered, noticing a list of new Blessings in the Shop that were now available to him. He had seen the effects of Blood Magic with his own eyes. The Blood Sorcerer he had faced had been able to use his own blood to create new limbs to attack from the ground or even create a swirling vortex of flames by igniting his blood.

It was expensive, and each of the Blessings he saw came with major side effects. Nausea, dizziness and anemia were only the start. There was one that created a Blood Servant that could fight alongside him, taking the shape of a beast or Golem, but the requirements for blood were steep.

Shaking his head, Mathew decided to keep browsing. He preferred to keep his blood on the inside unless absolutely necessary.

Some Blessings could further ‘Monsterize’ his body, granting him additional limbs, a long, spiked tail, and even wings. But they also came with side effects. It seemed the further he pushed his transformation as a ‘Arcane Alterist’, the more he would risk losing his sanity.

It also required him to practice with his new form; the Blessings warned that he may be uncoordinated for days, even weeks. With all the fighting he would be doing, Mathew didn’t have the luxury of time to practice. It seemed he had pushed his transformations as far as possible for now.

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There were dozens of Blessings that would affect weapons or other items. Mathew saw blessings that would enhance arrows with magical fire or give his blade the ability to sever any flesh, pierce iron, or even become nearly indestructible.

But Mathew didn’t see the need. He didn’t use a bow and arrow, and his knife was magically enhanced already. It was an easy choice to disregard these Blessings.

Just when he was about to give up looking for a new blessing, he came upon one that caught his interest.

“Enlarge.” Mathew muttered as he read the description.

Enlarge – Exclusive Blessing of the Arcane Alterist

As a master of Transmutation and Transformation, size is no hindrance to your power. A pebble can become a boulder, and a branch can grow to the size of a mighty tree. The limits of this Blessing can be determined by your ‘Mind’ stat and the amount of mana you use to fuel the Transmutation.

Note: It cannot be used on living objects.

“Of course it can’t.” Mathew whispered, thinking of the terrible effects of causing an Anti-Life creature to become significantly larger, or a Player growing to three times their normal size.

The Blessing was reasonably priced, costing only half of Mathew’s accumulated Aether, so he purchased it in order to test its effects. He could feel the knowledge of the new Blessing entering his mind as if he were suddenly remembering something that he had forgotten.

Picking up a small pebble from the ground beside him, Mathew weighed it in his hand as he assessed the area around him. There was a clear space for dozens of feet in front of him, with only the occasional Golem plodding slowly forward.

The pebble was barely enough to fill Mathew’s palm and had been worn smooth by the ever-present wind. Curious to test the effects of his Blessing, Mathew funnelled his mana into the stone and casually tossed it into the air in front of him.

He could feel the Blessing take hold, and his mana plummeted by a third. The stone spun sluggishly in the air, and Mathew felt as if time began to slow as the stone began to creak and crack. Soon, as it reached the peak of its arc, the pebble expanded. Its size doubled, then doubled again until it became as large as Mathew’s head.

But it wasn’t finished; by the time it landed on the ground with an impact that shook the earth and sent out a cloud of dust, the small pebble had become a boulder so large that it obscured Mathew’s vision of the Golems beyond it.

“That…is pretty effective.” Mathew exclaimed with awe.

The boulder vibrated, and a series of cracking sounds emerged from its surface as the mana Mathew fed into it evaporated, reducing the boulder back to its original size. In the center of the crater the boulder had made was a small, innocent-looking pebble.

“I wonder…” Mathew mused as he reopened the ‘Shop.’

The performance of the Blessing was pretty good, but the mana requirements were steep. The larger you made an object compared to its original size, the more mana it would use and the shorter the duration of the Transmutation. But what if he used something a little larger?

Going into the shop, Mathew flicked through the screens until he came to the Tiny Servants section. These were items that could be used to create small creatures or even Golems to serve the Player. There were hundreds of variations, and, even though it was marked ‘Tiny Servant’, some were quite large.

This is the section where Mathew found his magical horse statue on one of the previous floors. A small statue that would use its own mana to enlarge and become a magical approximation of a real horse.

“Ahh, there it is.” Mathew exclaimed, finding what he was looking for. A Wyvern servant that could act as a mount was larger than a horse. Looking similar to a winged snake with two back legs, the Wyvern was a relatively useless mount for Players.

It could fly, which was an advantage for sure, but it lacked the carrying ability of other flying mounts like a Hippogriff or Griffin. On top of that, the Wyvern was known to be much more unruly and aggressive compared to other mounts.

“It's technically not alive since it is created using a magical statue. It shouldn’t be a problem.” Mathew contemplated, hesitating on the purchase button. For only 200,000 Aether, it was one of the cheapest flying mounts available.

Finally, after waffling back and forth, Mathew made the purchase.

A tiny, stone statue of a Wyvern appeared where the screen had been, and Mathew snatched it out of the air where it was hovering. The statue was exquisitely detailed; each scale of the Wyvern’s body was recreated, and Mathew had the impression that the Statue would come to life at any moment.

Placing it down on the ground, Mathew spoke the command word.

“Awaken.”

The statue came to life, growing larger in a moment as the Wyvern came awake. In seconds, a creature larger than a horse stood in front of him, tasting the air with its tongue and looking around curiously. Immediately, Mathew felt the summoned creature fight against his control. Like a knot in the back of his mind, the Wyvern’s will contested Mathew’s own.

But Mathew was ready, and in moments, the Wyvern was docile.

“Alright, let’s try this out. Enlarge!” Mathew used his Blessing and this time his mana depleted until only a few dregs were left. The Wyvern immediately began to enlarge, expanding in size until it was double its original mass.

The creature towered over Mathew, and he couldn’t help but be satisfied with the results. Curious about how it would perform, Mathew gave it an order.

“Go to the top of the wall and kill any of the Anti-Life you see. Return to me when your mana is about to be depleted.”