Credit where credit is due, two hours of rest do my flagging body a lot of good. I don’t think anything short of a full night’s rest is going to truly get back close to a hundred percent, but so light activity, mostly making notes on my glyphs for my Ethertech and Spellcraft class, is enough to curb my lightheadedness and reduce the lingering phantom pain to so dull aches.
Thanks to the [Sacrificial Transference] property of [Angelic Bond], coupled with my natural regeneration, I’m now sitting around three-quarters of my maximum [Ether] reserves. Despite the soul-searing tornt I suffered earlier, I’m only too eager to leap back into the fray. I know full well what awaits us in less than a month, and I will be damned to the deepest abyss if I don’t endure everything I can survive if it’ll increase our chances of coming out alive at the end of it all.
“Hey, Dad,” Chloe says. “There’s sothing I don’t understand, if you don’t mind.”
“Go ahead. I can’t promise I can answer, but I will if I can.”
“It’s just… I know from experience and from all the compiled evidence on the System that the classes we’re offered are reflections of what we’ve done and who we are at the deepest level. I guess I’m just wondering what about your [Shadowwalker] class spoke to you?”
“I’ve spent my entire adult life working in the shadows. Everything I've done these past twenty-two years has involved clandestine operations. I’ve even gone so far as to deceive my own wife, experinting on my daughters without their knowledge or consent. Is it any wonder I was given a class all about hiding in the background and manipulating battles from the shadows?” He huffs. “I guess I owe you another apology, Sera, this ti for being a damn hypocrite.”
“What’s done is done,” I say, even if I do appreciate the apology. “With that said, do you have any intelligence about the third floor? Things we should prepare for or be aware of?”
“Temperature,” he says. “This floor is just a bubbling lake surrounded by relatively temperate conditions. The next one will feel like stepping into a sauna. Steam thick like pea soup fog, with a temperature hot enough to start cooking you alive. Sera, I know you have perception Skills that will help you, but Chloe, you may have so trouble.”
Chloe’s eyes briefly glow. “I don’t have eyes as sharp as Sera’s, but they’re good enough to see through nonmagical fog.”
“We take every reasonable precaution. I haven’t been through the final floor myself beyond a brief survey of the area, so I cannot guarantee its safety or speak to specific threats beyond those just described.”
“So, what do you think?” I ask Hank. Despite everything, I do value his opinion; I’m just not going to subordinate myself to his or anyone else’s orders without a reason more substantial than ‘because I said so’. “Should we try to bumrush the boss and get out of there quickly before the effects of the dungeon compound upon us, or go slowly and thodically?”
“No, we proceed cautiously,” Hank reiterates. “The level of the normal enemies is likely to be approaching seventy, and the boss is likely right at seventy-five. We explore, we hunt for materials, and we retreat at the first sign of danger one of us doesn’t feel we’re equipped to handle.” His eyes narrow as the weight of his gaze falls upon . “I trust you are going to be fine with that much, at least?”
“Of course.” I’d roll my eyes, except he actually has a good point.
I take the lead as we descend down the cavern and enter the final stretch of the dungeon. Just as Hank said, the temperature rises and steam starts to fill the narrow stairwell descending into hell.
But, in contrast to his warnings about the oppression I’d feel and the strength I’d feel slowly diminished as heat takes its toll upon , I feel strangely comfortable. The heat has never bothered much; I’ve always liked my showers near-scalding. And now, with the [Crimson Heart] aligning my [Ether] toward the elent of [Fire], it seems my resistance to heat and maybe cold has increased that much further.
“How are you holding up?” I ask Chloe.
She grabs a bottle of water from her [Inventory] and takes a sip before vanishing it back away. “I don’t find it quite as pleasant as you do, but I should be fine as long as we’re not in here for an exorbitant amount of ti.”
“I am the sa as her,” Hank says. “Though it may be worse for the two of us once the fighting starts; I hope you will take that into consideration when making those reckless plans of yours.” He purses his lips.
The small tunnel opens up into what appears to be the true Ancient Lake, one of roiling magma floes rather than water. There are paths of hardened stone, and just to ensure we won’t end up trapped behind a river of lava, I try flying to confirm that the ability still remains functional.
“No,” Hank says. “I cannot fly myself, but do not concern yourself with that. I am quite capable of extricating myself from perilous situations.”
As he says this, his right hand seems to lt, turning black as night, matching the color of his robes which I still think look a bit silly on him. But, it’s not like I have any grounds to stand on regarding fashion, so I wisely keep my mouth shut.
Soon after we reach the main area of the dungeon, we’re assailed by a giant rock monster. No head, just a massive torso, two stubby arms, and a small body supported by legs that should be far too frail to support so much weight. Little veins of crimson and gold line its exterior, pulsing with magma as its blood.
I stand between the stone golem and Chloe and Hank, but I don’t make a move. I take a defensive posture, my swordstaff in front of , ready to parry and count in whatever direction is necessary. I’d like to avoid slipping into subspace if at all avoidable. My body still isn’t back at a hundred percent; there might be so spatial sickness that I’m not aware of and isn’t being reflected in my health. Maybe Chloe would know— my [Status] is showing no abnormalities, but perhaps her magic can peer deeper at it.
The creature before us has no eyes, but I can sense it looking at , analyzing , determining how it wants to attack. I keep my senses sharp and focused, watching for any signs that an attack might be incoming. The lava floes to my right aren’t behaving erratically, nor can I feel the vibrations that would signal it is trying to move the dirt around .
Chloe attacks first, throwing a [Mirage Sword] toward it with trendous speed. It impales the creature before falling to the ground. The sword is now but a broken knife that winks out of existence, and the hearty chest of the fifteen-foot-tall beast is completely unaffected.
“Damn,” Chloe mutters. “Not a scratch from that?”
“Probably a strong armored shell with shielding Skills. Magic might be more effective, or it may have a weakness sowhere. Between its legs, perhaps, or maybe on its reverse. I might be able to probe for it with my own Skills, but the two of you will have to defend until then.”
“I’d like another chance, if you don’t mind.” Chloe steps in front of , swords drawn. “Sera, make sure nothing else interferes in my fight.”
“Are you sure?” Hank asks. “You should–” His eyes twitch to the side. “Are you confident in whatever it is you’re about to do? You are our healer, and therefore the most important person in this group.”
“Sera got to have all the fun in the last fight. Now it’s my turn to demonstrate what I can do.”
Realization hits as I rember her last fight. “Are you going to try that again?”
Chloe only smiles. “I’ll need a couple of minutes, but I promise you, Dad. The results will be worth it.”
I smile. “Blink and you might miss it.”
Chloe grins. She walks toward the stone beast, both swords at her side, and begins channeling [Ether] into them. The beast raises one of its arms, sending chunks of volcanic rock out of the air and turning the flat-ish battlefield into a rugged arena with jagged stone outcroppings. More chunks of rock materialize in the air above, coalesced [Ether] from this monster given physical form.
Chloe maintains her distance. Her swords begin to glow as she builds up the power necessary to use [Lightspeed Slash]. All the while, she’s keeping her distance. Stone rains down upon her. She blocks what attacks she can and heals off the damage from the rest, though not before a few drops of blood sar onto her [Auracite Armor]. Blood which then pools back into droplets and starts oozing back into her wounds before healing over as though ti itself reversed at her command.
“How is she doing that?” Hank asks. “She’s healing herself, all without casting a spell. I’d wonder if she has so sort of [Potion of Regeneration], but I’ve never heard of one lasting this long.”
“A Skill she got a couple weeks ago, just before her second ascension. Only she knows the exact details of how it works.”
“I suppose I was correct after all,” Hank says, a bit too proud for my taste. “Entrusting the future to the potential the two of you have was the right course of action.”
“It’s not about whatever manipulations you did,” I say. “It’s Chloe’s determination to keep moving forward and carve her own path in this new life and world we’ve been given. I think we all have that kind of potential buried within us. It just takes a certain strength of will to harness it.”
“I’ll accept that,” Hank says. “So, how much longer until she makes her move? I can’t imagine she plans to just dodge forever.”
“Shouldn’t be much longer. Look at how brightly her swords are shining now. I’d say maybe five or ten more seconds.”
She breathes slowly and thodically, neither losing her focus nor succumbing to the thrill of battle. Every move is calculated and precise, not wasting any of her limited stamina as she continues to circle around the monster before her. Never does she let the creature get too close, nor does she allow herself to be boxed in between the beast and the raised stones it keeps summoning out of the slurry beneath.
Chloe mumbles under her breath, though I can perceive her words through the movent of her lips.
“I’ve always been considered weak. Frail, short, a spoiled rich kid, just a pretty face who had everything handed to her on a silver platter. I’ve heard it said so many tis in so many different ways that I’ve started believing it for myself. Worst of all, there was a certain truth behind their words, even if I didn’t realize how easy I had it at the ti.
“But I refuse to continue to be weak. Not anymore, now that I’ve seen so of the horrors of the world. People with horrible diseases tearing their bodies apart. Victims of horrific tragedies, families torn apart by monsters straight out of a horror movie. In order to protect my family, my friends, and those who co to for protection and healing, I have to be strong. Strong enough to stand tall and face down whatever cos my way.
“Watch , Sera, my love. See that, whatever horrors await you on your journey, I will stand right there by your side and shoulder them all the sa. Not because of destiny or data, but because that is what I choose to do of my own free will.”
Chloe’s entire body glows with a blinding radiance that forces to look away. Hank, though, is unfazed. The next mont, she appears behind the monster, though in her case, she hasn’t teleported.
The roar of the beast and the sound of crumbling stones falling back to the ground give way to silence, and then to quiet footsteps. Chloe walks back toward us, uninjured but fatigued, holding a pulsing red crystal that slowly fades in color.
“I think this might’ve been its heart?” she says nonchalantly. “I noticed it as I cut through the creature’s armor, so I grabbed it. I figured it might make for a good crafting material when we’re done here.”
“Yeah,” Hank says. “I imagine it probably will. Do you still feel well enough to keep going, or are you ready to turn back?”
“Just a bit of mild [Ether Strain],” Chloe says. “Nothing that won’t take care of itself in short order. Besides, Dad, we still haven’t gotten a good chance to see what you can do.”
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