Exalted Champion: Ch 14 (Rough Draft) (Patreon)

thoughts on this dungeon chapter would be cool, like combat vs OP'ness. if the levels felt unique enough stuff like that. did the fighting feel fast pace slow, trying to get better at writing combat

Chapter 14: Wind and Stone

“Stormrunners They’ll try to knock us off the bridge before we reach the next mesa,” Lucius warned, shield already braced, his voice sharp over the howl of the wind. The stone under our boots vibrated with each gust, the bridge nothing more than a narrow strip of rock strung between two towers of stone. His eyes never left the sky as he raised his shield, silver etchings flickering with protective light.

The first screech split the clouds and a shape dove, wings cutting the air like blades. A stormrunner hit hard, talons spread wide to hook and drag. My tether line snapped tight as the gust slammed into us, but I held firm. The others hunched against the shriek and downdraft.

“Move,” Titus barked, and we surged forward, boots hammering the stone, every stride aimed at the mesa rising through the mist ahead. The bridge shook with the weight of wings, but the flat expanse of the first landing waited, a hard promise of ground and a better killing field.

Our feet hit the arena of stone, the wet smack of Milly’s hammer rung out splattering a stromrunner. The bird tumbled over the mesa, feathers mangled its bones pin cushioned from its back.

I followed Lucius headed to the next bridge as the Razor hatchlings rushed from the far end. Small dumb ass chickens, I thought as I sent shuriken wind blades spinning into their long necks, adding a half dozen decapitations to this run. Shasha and Branwen loosed their arrows, feral smiles of glee painting their faces as they took down the large flying birds.

Kill notifications pinged as last of the dungeon monsters on this mesa died and we reached the next bridge.

You have killed: Sky-razor hatchling, times six, you have killed Stormrunner, times two.

XP earned: 10,800.

The bridges past with stormrunners deciding from the sky above to try and knock us off. There gales of wind and talons did not slow us a step. We were to coordinated and my affinity with magic to great. I flexed my wind affinity whenever their magic threatened us, throttling the birds attacks.

The first two mesas went down in a blur of feathers, claws, and wind. My sword sang through the air, clipping wings, shattering beaks, and sending twitching bodies tumbling out into the mist. Milly’s hammer smashed through the breast of a stormrunner, splattering guts across the stone. Rachel’s staff pulsed with blue, lightning arcing in waves that cooked the hatchlings before they could even screech. Ashley fired bolt of ice, jagged spears that impacted with the force of truck knocking the birds out of the sky.

We kept moving, never slowing, Lucius and Titus leading with shields raised high. The bridges were nothing but deathtraps suspended in the clouds. Every ten meters, something dove for us, screaming wind and hate.

You have killed:Stormrunner, times eightSky-razor hatchling, times sixteen

XP earned: 42,000

Brie yelped as a razor-wing caught her by the arm, but Chariklia’s ax cleaved the monster before it could drag her off. Sasha and Branwen fired in tandem, arrow after arrow, the impact of their shots snapping bones and pinning bodies to the stone.

“Watch left!” Branwen screamed as a cluster of stormrunners broke through the cloud cover, talons outstretched. I dropped to one knee, braced against the mesa, and let loose a blast of compressed air and pulled up spikes of stone. The gust stopped them dead in the sky, and the shotgun blast of rock hit them, tearing the birds to pieces and sending them into the mist below.

You have killed:Stormrunner, times ten.

XP earned: 18,000

We hit the next mesa, boots sliding on the mist slick stone. The hatchlings here were bigger and meaner, their beaks silver with steel. they could nearly fly, just one high school house party away from joining their siblings in the sky as stormrunners. They crashed into the magical shields of Titus and Lucius, their charge infantile against the seasoned warriors. Milly smashed, Allie and Brie cut and stabbed, as Ashley’s ice spears blasted open holes and Rachel put on a dazzling electric light show.

XP notifications pinged in the back of my mind but I ignored them. There was no point in wasting time. We had to clear the level, get to the floor guardians, and move on. The next level was an earth based level.

Every mesa, every bridge, the same, flying things attacking from above, hatchlings rushing from the far sides of the mesas. The lines held. No one fell. If a bird grabbed a team member, the tether snapped them back and someone else finished the job.

The last bridge was a nightmare. The wind howled so loud it stole your thoughts. I kept the line taut on Ashley and Rachel, ready to brace against any hit. The stormrunners had grown bigger, faster, more aggressive. The air magic was layered thick.

We reached the final mesa in a dead sprint, the mist swirling around our boots. The floor guardians waited: two stormrunners, each the size of a bus. Maybe two buses. The male perched at the edge of a shattered stone nest, wings outstretched, silver-black feathers catching what little light there was with every twitch. His eyes followed us, sharp and cold, and he screamed once, a sound that rattled my armor. The female hunched over a smaller, sadder nest behind him, her wings mantled defensively as she blocked view of whatever was inside. She looked bored. The nest was a mess, like she’d given up on motherhood and decided to just hate the world instead.

I never thought I would be worried for the mental health of a dungeon monster but fuck if she doesn’t look like she needs a break.

I didn't waste a fucking second.

My mana sense was already active, reaching down into the mesa beneath our feet. The basalt was perfect for what I needed. Dense, hard, full of silicon and oxygen and iron. I pulled on it, not gently, yanking the atomic structure into my awareness like grabbing a fistful of Sasha’s hair when she wanted passion.

The stone answered immediately. I felt it shift, molecules realigning as I pulled two columns of basalt up from the mesa floor. My mana flooded into the rock, diving deep, splitting apart the molecular bonds and restructuring them. The silicon dioxide lattice shuddered under my will. I compressed it, forced the atoms closer together, tighter than nature ever intended. The iron content gave it weight, gave it bite. I wove enchantments directly into the crystalline structure as it formed, stability runes that would hold the shape.

Two spears erupted from the stone at my feet, as I flooded the stone with acceleration, my will made kinetic through mana. “Heads down!” I yelled, as the stone lances tore through the air. The concussion knocked me back a step as they moved faster than sound, the air around them superheating into plasma trails. The male barely had time to register the threat before the first lance punched through his chest and out through his wings. The stone spear obliterated everything in its path, turning bone and muscle and feather into a red mist that sprayed across the nest.

The female had been attempting what I was sure was a sonic attack, a screech that would kick this battle off, but instead of a keening whale that defend our ears her head and upper body were converted into red mist.

The echo of the attack faded, and Titus spoke, “Well, that’s one way to do it, lord Eric, ha.” his amused chuckle and shake of his head was filled with the joy of seeing a comrade’s successes.

Ashley's laughter rang out first, “before they could even attack? That's not even fair, Eric."

You have killed: Floor Guardian:

Stormrunner Matriarch Floor Guardia.

Stormrunner Patriarch.

XP earned: 150,000.

Rachel laughed, the sound bright and genuine as she lowered her staff. "I think Eric just saved us about twenty minutes of dodging sonic attacks and wind blades."

"That was amazing, Master!" Milly gushed, bouncing on her heels despite the weight of her hammer. "The way they just... exploded! I didn't even see the spell cast! Are we going to level five now?" her question was filled with excitement.

“Yes, that’s the plan.” I said following the rest of the team to the nest to look for the chest.

Branwen let out a low whistle, her tail flicking behind her. "Remind me not to piss off the prince."

"As if you needed reminding," Titus replied, though his lips quirked in what might have been a smile. "That was good work, Lord Eric. Clean, fast, no unnecessary risk."

Lucius had already moved to the nest, his shield still raised despite the threat being thoroughly eliminated. "Chariklia, help me check this area. let’s find the floor guardian chest."

"Insane," Clymiphae finished, her blonde ponytail bobbing as she nodded, and her hooves clacked against stoon as she moved around the nest. "Completely insane! In the best way possible, though! found it." Clymiphea waved to us and we went over to the loot chest.

Chariklia motioned to it, “After you Prince Eric.”

I knelt and flipped the latch on the chest. the wood was smooth save for a few gouge markings on it as if it had been picked up in large talons. The chest looked nice, well cared for and far less haphazardly put together than the others we had found. It sparkled slightly with the flecks of white imbedded in the wood.

I opened the chest, the hinges smooth despite their apparent age. Inside, seven crystalline tags lay arranged in a perfect circle, each one pulsing with soft light. I picked one up, feeling the familiar weight and texture of a dungeon access token.

"Level five tags," I announced, holding them up for everyone to see. "Looks like we're cleared for the earth level."

"Nothing else?" Titus asked, leaning over to peer into the empty chest. His brow furrowed as he knocked on the wooden bottom, checking for false compartments. "That's strange. Usually, the floor guardian’s chest has loot, at least some coins or materials at the very least."

I closed the chest and stood, "Legion is conserving his energy. He's not wasting mana on creating treasure when he's barely keeping the dungeon from collapsing. The tags are all we need anyway."

Titus's frown deepened, but he nodded slowly. "Makes sense. If the dungeon is as bad off as you say, every bit of power matters."

I distributed the tags, handing them to Ashley, Rachel, Sasha, Milly, Allie, and Brie. Each woman took hers carefully, adding it to whatever collection system they used. The tags would allow us passage to level five, which was all that mattered.

"Everyone have their tags secure?" I asked, waiting for the nods of confirmation. “Good, I want to get level five done today as well. First, assign your points if you leveled,” I said, pulling up my own status page.

—

Individual Statistical Analyses.

—

Name: Eric Grayson.

Imperial rank: Exalted Prince.

Race: Human.

Level: 41

147,901 XP / 200,000 XP.

—

Titles:

Deed Holder to the House of Stars.

Legion Champion (hidden).

Primal Fire blessed (hidden).

Abyssal Adversary (hiiiidddeeennn*$#@-the Abyss knows all).

—

Imperial bank balance:

14 mithril coins.

160 platinum coins.

509 gold coins.

250 silver coins.

200 copper coins.

—

Health: 100 percent.

Mana capacity: 940.

Mana regeneration: Error…Max 23 mana per second.

—

Attributes: 4 points per level. 4 points to distribute.

Strength: 20. (40)

Body: 21. (84)

Speed: 25. (50)

Dexterity: 20. (40)

Mana capacity: 94.

Mana regeneration: 23. Plus 4.

Charisma: 30.

—

Affinities:

Arcane mana manipulation: 100 percent.

Earth: 100 percent.

Fire: 100 percent.

Air: 50 percent.

Water: 50 percent.

Life: 85 percent.

Death: 15 percent.

Light: 85 percent.

Shadow: 75 percent.

Spacetime: 25 percent.

Summoning: 25 percent.

—

Abilities: 1 per level. 10 points to distribute.

1.  Graceful doge: 10 out of 10. Passive. Increase balance, doge chance, area awareness, and all movement actions.

2.  Saving heal: 5 out of 10. Passive. If health drops to zero and death is activated, instantly heal for 50 percent, once per day.

3.  Resurrection: 8 out of 10. Passive and active. If the ability holder dies automatically resurrects to 60 percent health(secondary), and limbs are not regrown. Activate on a corps that had been dead for less than three hours to revive. The revived party has skills returned to journeyman, spells set to level 10, and Base level set to 10.

4.  Inspect: 10 out of 10. Active. Used to identify objects, people, animals, monsters, beasts, and abyssal horrors that have crossed over into the system. Ability level superior.

5.  Linguist: Level 10 out of 10. Grants the capability of speaking any language that is heard. Language must be within human vocal cord range. Allows for the complete automatic translation of heard languages into one’s native understanding. Allows for reading and wright of foreign languages as long as the wielder of the ability could read and write beforehand.

Increased cum load: Level 3 out of 10. Increased maximum volume of cum. Your balls and prostate glands have increased in density, providing three times the amount of normal cum.

—

Skills: 1 per level. 1 point to distribute.

—

Enchanting: Journeyman.

—

Tailoring: Novice.

—

Mapping: Novice.

—

Longsword: Journeymen.

—

Gardening: Journeymen.

—

Herbalism: Journeymen.

—

Alchemy: Journeymen.

—

Spells: 1 per level. 14 spell points to distribute.

—

Arcane mana manipulation: Error… 0.1 initialization.

1.  Fuse: Level 1.

2.  Butcher: Level 11.

3.  Cut: Level 1.

4.  Arcane Shield: Level 10.

5.  Accelerate: level 1.

6.  Clean: level 1.

—

Fire: Error… 0.1 initialization.

1.  Candle Flame: Level 1.

2.  Metal Shaping: level 10.

3.  Purify: Level 1.

4.  Campfire: Fire must be in a hearth or pit. Level 1.

5.  Fireball: level 9.

6.  Flame Whip: Level 11.

7.  Plasma Beam: Level 1.

8.  Lightning Bolt: Error… 0.1 mana per second channeled lightning. Level 1.

—

Earth: Error… 0.1 initialization.

1.  Stone Spike: Level 1.

2.  Collect Element: level 12.

3.  Fertilize Soil: level 1.

4.  Clean: Level 1.

—

Air:

1.  Shuriken’s Wrath: Level 9.

2.  Yarn Spinning: level 2.

3.  Weave: Level 2.

4.  Bernoulli’s Gale: Level 9.

—

Water:

1.  Nutritious Water: level 3.

2.  Ice Spear: Base cost: 35 initial mana, Error…1 mana per 1 mile per hour (1.6 km an hour). Level 1.

—

Life:

1.  Analyze Body: Level 1.

2.  Focused Healing: Level 10.

3.  Mass Healing: Level 1.

4.  Manipulate Plant: Level 20.

5.  Rapid Growth. Level 12.

6.  Invigorate: level 5.

7.  Sleep: Level 1.

8.  Paralysis: Level 3.

9.  Mass Paralysis: Level 3

—

Light:

1.  Mana Eye: Level 9.

—

Spacetime:

1.  Internal Dimensional Expansion: Level 1.

—

Soul bound items:

—

Imperial Royal Bank identification card.

—

Enchanted Storage Ring.

—

Dungeon instance tracker.

—

Inlaid mithril master slave band: May hold the contracts of 125 slaves. Slave total: 120

—

Quests:

—

Divine Quest From: The Goddess Sippsie.

Complete my tasks to know the pleasure of the flesh and how to best serve your master or husband.

Female:

1.    Discover your pearl above the lips of your flower and find the way to your own bliss.

2.    Taste the petals of another flower and drink of the nectar.

3.    Taste of the stem of power and drink the sap. Collect the sap in under five turnings of a minute glass.

4.    Take into your flower the form of the stem and coat it in your nectar.

5.    Take into your flower the stem of someone close and receive its sap.

6.    Ride a lover in the hay and in the open fields, while the summer sun warms the sky, know the tender kiss and the pains of goodbye.

7.    Unknown to you and unknown to them the secret nectars mix.

8.    Quickly plowed is poorly sown but the season’s time can be demanding.

9.    Done one way then another yet there’s more, twice you must think to bend the stem toward the sun again for nectar and sap to mix.

Many blessings these shall bring. Some are known now, some in time, others hidden as if blind.

—

System Quest: Distortion of Affinities.

This is a system quest. Discover the reason behind the low-affinity percents behind the death, summoning, and spacetime affinity and what is causing it. Status: Accepted.

I added my attribute points all into mana regeneration, bringing it up to 27, and changing the error message to 27 mana points regenerated a second. I kept the ability points, skill points and spell points, there distribution right now would serve no purpose and I had a feeling I might want to have them in the bank if I found something I truly needed. A Rainy-day fund so to speak.

Sasha and Milly along with Allie and Brie finished distributing the points they had earned. They nodded along with the Titans shield. We were ready to head to the next level, and I spoke to the dungeon legion, “I want to be transported to level five.”

As soon as the words were said in unison by us the rock face by the haphazardly made nest crackled to life, the swirling gray static solidifying into reality. I step through and was twisted through space and time.

My next step carried me through the wall of a cliff, quarried stone rising in a half circle to each side. Bone dry and gray-white dust swirled, left from the hewn and broken stone that lay before me. the air was dry and the light a harsh noon day sun on midsummer. Fuck this is dry, I thought as the rest of my dungeon party stepped through the portal arch carved into the cliff face.

“The bone quarry. Were the blood of time hardens,” Titus said, coming to stand next to me.

The dry canyon walls curved and flattened. There was no life here. “What is it?” I asked. Must be rock golems or something.

“The ancient dead, bone made of rock.” Branwen said as she sipped water. “Hate this dry place,” she finished as I to pulled my water skin out and sipped.

“Yeah, unpleasant. Everyone have water?” I asked.

“Yes,” I hear Milly cheerfully reply as the others nodded.

“Most important thing here, Eric, is no magic, or as little as possible.” Titus added.

“No magic?”

Lucious answered, “Makes more of the bone rock creatures come alive. If we just walk and use melee combat and get lucky it’ll only be a few of the monsters that hatch from their stone shells.”

I motioned for Titus to take the lead, “Wedge, no magic shielding, and don’t use your enchantments. Any mana that bleeds off will make this ten times harder than it has to be.”

Lucious took point, with his legionary tower shield out. Chariklia and Titus took up position alongside him with their shields out as well. Branwen had a small buckler and Clymiphae had a massive round shield.

Our steps kicked up small puffs of finely crushed stone, the pulverized dust dry yet soft.

“Eric the rocks, they have pictures in them,” Shasha said from next to me pointing. They had been split open. Cracked in half and inside was something I knew all too well.

“Fossils,” I said seeing the quarry more clearly now, “that’s what they are called on my world. When things die, and are in the ground deep enough, the flesh rots away and the bones are left, then over a very long time the bone is replaced with rock or becomes rock, something like that.” The splayed ghostly indents of ferns now made since, the crustation like creatures frozen in stone. This was a quarry full of this world prehistoric fossil record.

Shit… that means these things are going to…

Stoner shards shattered, pelting outward, “Right!” Titus yelled. Clymiphae’s spear lashed out, no magic or active skill or enchantment, just raw strength and speed.

Fossilized bone shard cracked. the leg of the long four-legged sharp toothed thing blew apart.

Fossil born: PakicetusStandard Beast – Undead Petrified LifeformLevel: 23.Health: 100%.Weaknesses: Bludgeoning weapons, extreme heat, and vibrational resonance magic.XP Category: StandardXP Value: 23,000

Brown tail spinning in a blur Allie struck hard with her sword, fox ears pointed hard and her normally cute face focused with the concentration of dealing death. Slash after slash fell from her sword, stone bone flying, until the reanimated fossil fell. Ancient bones made rock dissolved, drifting up in motes of the fine white-gray dust to join their brethren upon the quarry’s sunbaked ground.

“YAY! That’s Right Allie, you get them,” Ashley said in celebration. Allie blushed at her mistress’s praise and genuine joy at seeing her get stronger.

We moved forward, and I kept my mana sense passive, not wanting to wake anything unnecessarily. The canyon stretched ahead, walls rising higher as we progressed deeper into the quarry. areas leveled off where great chunks of stone had been hauled away or broken into rubble. the sun baked overhead robbing moister from the air and if i ever had to return her i was going to bring a wide brimmed hat. not that my body was really affected by the sun, I could walk through level three, which was hundreds of degrees hotter than here. No, here it was the mind that sent the single, the subconshious saw the light and told the body “We should be hot right now,” even though my body felt like I was taking a nice walk on a cool summer day.

Another crack split the air to our left. I spun, sword already moving as a creature pulled itself from the stone wall. This one was bigger, some kind of ancient crocodilian thing with legs that bent wrong and a skull full of teeth designed for tearing.

Fossil born: Mesosuchians

Standard Beast – Undead Petrified Lifeform

Level: 25

Health: 100%

Weaknesses: Bludgeoning weapons, extreme heat, and vibrational resonance magic

XP Category: Standard

XP Value: 25,000

Milly was on it before I could even call out, her hammer swinging in a brutal arc that connected with the creature's skull. Stone shattered, fragments exploding outward in a spray of ancient bone dust. The thing tried to lunge forward anyway, driven by whatever energy animated these fossils, but she brought the hammer down again, this time on its spine. The entire skeleton crumbled, dissolving into that same fine powder.

"Good hit," I said, and Milly beamed at me, her chest heaving from the exertion.

We kept moving, our formation tight and disciplined. "How far does this level go?" Rachel asked. Her fingers twitched at her sides, muscle memory reaching for spells that would only make things worse on this level.

"About thirty miles," Titus replied, his shield up and ready. "Mostly straight, the canyons get smaller and eventually we get to the desolate plain that’s where the floor guardian is."

Thirty miles. In this heat. Even with my enhanced body, the thought wasn't appealing. "Any shortcuts?"

"Not unless you want to wake up every fossil in the quarry," Branwen said, her tail flicking with irritation. "The way you do magic, all that energy would light this place up like a beacon."

I nodded, accepting the reality. Sometimes the dungeon forced you to do things the hard way. "Then we walk."

Another fossil stirred ahead, pulling itself from a pile of rubble. This one looked like some kind of ancient whale, though its body was all wrong, with legs that shouldn't exist and a jaw that could swallow a person whole.

Fossil born: Basilosaurus

Standard Beast – Undead Petrified Lifeform

Level: 26

Health: 100%

Weaknesses: Bludgeoning weapons, extreme heat, and vibrational resonance magic

XP Category: Standard

XP Value: 26,000

Milly charged first, her hammer connecting with the creature's jaw. The impact rang out across the quarry, stone teeth shattering in a spray of dust. Allie darted in next, her sword flashing as she slashed through brittle bone. Brie moved with them, her spear a blur as she stabbed deep into the crumbling fossil. The ancient skeleton dissolved, vertebrae shattering under their combined assault.

The canyon walls grew taller, casting shadows that offered brief respite from the relentless sun. My throat was dry despite drinking regularly, the air itself seeming to leech moisture from everything it touched. Sasha's ears were flat against her head, her tails drooping in the heat. Milly's usual cheerfulness had dimmed, her face flushed and sweating.

Another crack echoed through the quarry, this time from above. I looked up to see a massive fossil pulling itself from the canyon wall, its body easily twenty feet long. Some kind of ancient sea scorpion, all segmented armor and massive claws.

Fossil born: Jaekelopterus

Elite Beast – Undead Petrified Lifeform

Level: 28

Health: 100%

Weaknesses: Bludgeoning weapons, extreme heat, and vibrational resonance magic

XP Category: Elite

XP Value: 56,000

"Elite," I called out, my sword already in a defensive position. The creature dropped from the wall, its stone legs hitting the ground with enough force to crack the packed earth. One of its claws swept toward Lucius, who barely managed to raise his shield in time. The impact sent him sliding backward, boots digging furrows in the dust.

Chariklia surged forward, her axe already in motion. The blade caught the creature's claw joint, biting deep into the fossilized exoskeleton. Stone cracked but held. The scorpion twisted, its tail arching overhead to strike down at her.

"Move!" Titus roared, slamming his shield into the tail before it could impale Chariklia. The impact sent vibrations through the air, and I winced knowing that collision had probably just woken up more fossils deeper in the quarry.

But my attention snapped back to the immediate threat as Sasha's arrow buried itself in the creature's eye socket. The stone shattered, fragments spraying outward. She was already nocking another arrow, her four tails steady despite the heat. Milly charged in from the left, her hammer swinging low to take out one of the creature's legs. The stone limb exploded under the force, sending the scorpion listing to one side.

Allie darted in with her sword, slashing at the joints where the segments connected. Her blade found purchase between the armor plates, carving through the brittle stone with surprising efficiency. Brie moved in perfect coordination, her spear jabbing into the creature's underbelly where the armor was thinnest.

The scorpion tried to pivot, its remaining claw sweeping wide. Lucius caught it on his shield again, the impact driving him back another step. Titus moved to his side, adding his own shield to the defense. Clymiphae braced from the other angle, her round shield absorbing a strike from the tail that could have crushed bone.

The Titan's Shield held the line while my slaves tore the creature apart.

Sasha's arrows found every weak point, each shot precise and devastating. The creature's other eye socket shattered. A crack appeared in its carapace where her arrow punched through. Milly circled around, her hammer rising and falling like a piston, each strike pulverizing another segment of fossilized shell.

Allie was a blur of motion, her sword flashing in the harsh sunlight as she carved through joint after joint. The scorpion's movements grew more erratic as it lost mobility. Brie's spear found the gap between two armor plates and drove deep, the stone cracking from the inside out.

The creature's tail whipped around one more time, but Branwen was there, her buckler deflecting it just enough. The scorpion lunged forward with its remaining claw, but Chariklia's axe came down in a brutal overhead swing that split the claw clean in half.

Milly delivered the killing blow, her hammer crashing down on what remained of the creature's head. The skull shattered, and the entire fossil collapsed into dust, the animation leaving it all at once. The particles drifted up into the air, joining the perpetual haze that hung over the quarry.

I wiped sweat from my brow, not from exertion but from the psychological weight of the sun beating down on us. The canyon stretched ahead, narrowing with each mile we covered. The walls that had towered hundreds of feet above us at the entrance now closed in, maybe sixty feet at most. The oppressive heat seemed to intensify as the space contracted, the stone walls radiating illusory warmth.

"Keep moving," Titus ordered, already turning toward the next stretch of canyon.

We pressed forward, boots crunching on the pulverized bone dust that covered everything. The fossils came more frequently now, pulling themselves from the walls with increasing aggression. A pack of small raptor-like creatures erupted from a collapsed section of wall, their stone claws clicking against the ground as they charged.

I met the first one with my sword, the blade cleaving through its fossilized skull. The others swarmed around us, forcing our formation to contract. Milly's hammer swung in wide arcs, each impact sending stone fragments flying. Allie and Brie worked in tandem, their weapons finding the weak points between vertebrae and joints.

Fossil born: Deinonychus, times six.

Standard Beast – Undead Petrified Lifeform

Level: 24

XP Value: 24,000 each.

You have killed: Fossil born: Deinonychus, times six.

XP earned: 144,000.

I leveled once more reaching level 42. placing the attribute points I received into mana regeneration, bring it to 31 points a second, though that was an error message, it might be functionally higher and that was the system could calculate.

Individual Statistical Analyses.

Level: 42

91,901 XP / 300,000 XP.

The canyon continued to narrow. Forty feet now, maybe less. The walls pressed in from both sides, and I could feel the weight of the stone above us. This deep into the quarry, the fossils were everywhere. They lined the walls in layers, geological strata of ancient death waiting to once more awaken and kill.

The canyon walls closed in to thirty feet across, then twenty. The fossils packed so densely into the stone that every step risked awakening another cluster. A massive trilobite pulled itself free, followed immediately by three more of those raptor things. We cut them down without slowing, my sword finding purchase in brittle stone necks while Milly's hammer pulverized everything within reach. Sasha got more than a little practice using her short sword as we moved through the canyons.

The heat pressed down on us like a physical weight, though my body registered it as nothing more than a pleasant afternoon. My mind knew better. The sun had barely moved since we entered this level, locked in perpetual noon.

The canyon bent sharply to the right, and suddenly the walls fell away. We stumbled out of the narrow passage into a vast open plain that stretched to the horizon. The bone dust here lay thick enough to reach my ankles, disturbed only by wind patterns that created strange dunes and valleys across the wasteland.

"Hold," Titus commanded, raising his fist. We stopped at the edge of the canyon's mouth, still sheltered by the last remnants of the quarried walls.

In the center of the plain, maybe half a mile distant, something massive stirred. The dust shifted and rolled as the thing pulled itself upright. It looked like someone had taken pieces of a dozen different fossils and fused them together into something that shouldn't exist. The body was vaguely whale-like, but with six legs that ended in claws the size of wagons. The head combined the worst features of a crocodile and something with far too many teeth. A tail that belonged to some kind of scorpion curved overhead, the stinger dripping with stone venom that hissed when it hit the ground.

Floor Guardian: Chimeric Fossil Titan Legendary Beast – Undead Petrified Amalgamation

Level: 35

Health: 100%

Weaknesses: Sustained structural damage, extreme heat applied to core, vibrational resonance magic

XP Category: Floor Guardian

XP Value: 350,000

“we’re supposed to kill that thing without magic?” I asked skepticism thick in my voice.

Titus answered with a chuckle, “Yes or no. you can kill it with magic, but you have to do it quick or the rest of the quarry monsters will descend on this location, though I don’t think that would be a problem for you, Prince Eric, ha,” his sardonic chuckle seemed eager to see me do it though. “Or we could kill it the old fashion way, attack and block. If we go the magic route, you all need to reach the floor guardian chest and get the tags to the next level and exit quickly.”

“Hum, after we kill this things, we should head to the forge cathedral and regroup before leaving. The dungeon is the only place we know we are not being watched.” I added considering how to take out the floor guardian.

“Works for us.” Branwen answered getting affirmative nodes from Charicklia, Lucious and Clymaphea.

“I hope Rakthanos has a bath in there somewhere.” Ashley added.

“That would not go a miss.” Rachel added voice tinny from behind her armor. She had not changed its configuration since we entered the level not wanting any of the mana bleed from the enchantments she was so found of using to fuel the fossil creature’s revival as we fought through the canyons.

I studied the Chimeric Fossil Titan across the dusty plain, my mind already calculating trajectories and force requirements. The thing was massive, easily the size of a building, but size meant nothing against the right application of physics.

"How much time do we have if I go loud?" I asked Titus, my mana sense already reaching down into the ground beneath our feet. The entire plain was fossilized bone compressed into sedimentary layers. Perfect.

"Three minutes, maybe four before the first wave hits us," Titus replied, his shield already raised. "After that, it's imposable to teleport out until you kill all the monsters. I’ve never heard of anyone surviving that."

“Right, I’ll handle it.” I said, stepping forward onto the bone dust plain. "Everyone else, head for where the chest is I won’t attack until your close. Grab the tags and we portal directly to the forge cathedral."

"Eric," Rachel started, concern threading through her voice.

"Trust me," I cut her off gently. "I've got something in mind that won't take long enough for reinforcements to arrive."

Titus studied me for a moment, then nodded. "You heard the prince. As soon as he says run, we move for the chest."

I walked out onto the plain, my boots sinking slightly into the accumulated dust of countless ancient deaths. The guardian's head swiveled toward me, whatever passed for its senses locking onto my approach. A roar split the air, the sound of grinding stone and prehistoric fury.

“Run!” I yelled and everyone sprinted as fast as they could for the chest.

I was already reaching down with my mana yanking on the molecular bonds of the compressed bone beneath the plain. The entire geological layer responded, trembling under my will. I pulled calcium from the carbonate, phosphorus from the phosphate, compressed the silicon dioxide lattice until it screamed.

I focused my will, my earth affinity at one hundred percent singing through every atom of compressed bone beneath my feet. The molecular bonds answered my call, calcium and phosphorus separating, silicon dioxide lattices restructuring themselves at speeds that defied nature. I wasn't just manipulating the stone anymore. I was becoming it, my consciousness diving deep into the geological layers of ancient death.

The ground beneath the Chimeric Fossil Titan bulged upward as I forced millions of tons of fossilized bone into new configurations. I wasn't making weapons this time. I was making hands.

Two massive appendages erupted from the plain on either side of the guardian, each one three times the size of the creature itself. The fingers were crude, blocky things composed of compressed bone and stone, but they didn't need to be elegant. They just needed to hold, to grip and to rip.

The guardian tried to turn, its scorpion tail whipping toward the nearest hand. Too slow. The first hand closed around its midsection, stone fingers crushing into the fossilized body with enough force to bend steel and crack bone that had turned to rock eons ago. The creature roared, thrashing against my grip, but I was already bringing the second hand around.

It clamped down on the guardian's head and upper torso, and I pulled.

The sound was catastrophic. Stone shrieked against stone as I ripped the floor guardian in two. The tail whipped uselessly, still attached to the lower half. The head snapped its jaws one final time as I brought the massive fist down on its head, stillness settling over the body. Both halves crumbled, the animating force leaving them as thoroughly as I'd destroyed their structure.

You have killed:

Floor Guardian: Chimeric Fossil Titan

XP earned: 350,000

"Got it!" Titus's voice carried across the plain. I looked over to see him holding up a crystalline tag, the rest of the party already clustered around the opened chest.

Then the entire canyon system behind us exploded with sound.

Hundreds of cracks split the air simultaneously. The canyon walls shuddered and buckled as every fossil within miles tore itself free from its stone prison. I could see them through my mana sense, a tide of ancient death rushing toward the plain. Raptors, trilobites, massive whale-things with legs, scorpions the size of houses, all of them converging on the source of the magical disturbance.

"Rakthanos's forge cathedral!" I heard Ashley shout, her voice tight with urgency.

The air around my party shimmered and they vanished, pulled through space to safety.

The first wave of fossils burst onto the plain, stone claws churning up bone dust as they charged. A pack of those raptor things led the charge, followed by something that looked like a centipede made of vertebrae.

"Rakthanos's forge cathedral," I said calmly, watching the horde close the distance.

The world warped and the portal controlled by Legion spiraled around me as I was pulled and yanked through.

Individual Statistical Analyses.

Level: 43

141901 XP / 400,000 XP.

I landed in the cathedral entryway with less grace than I had ever done before as puffs of bone dust settled to the ground. “Everyone here?” I asked getting to my feet.

"Here," Ashley called from my left, her hand raised. Relief flooded her voice as she brushed bone dust from her burgundy hair.

"Present," Rachel answered, already removing her helmet. Her dark hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat despite the armor's cooling enchantments.

"I'm okay, Master!" Milly's cheerful voice rang through the cathedral, though her usual brightness was dimmed by exhaustion.

Sasha's bell chimed softly as she stepped forward. "Here, Master." Her four tails drooped slightly, covered in a fine coating of white dust.

"Safe," Allie confirmed, her fox ears twitching as she surveyed the massive chamber.

"Made it," Brie added, leaning on her spear.

Titus moved through the group, his experienced eye checking each member for injuries. "Titan's Shield, sound off."

"Here," Lucius rumbled, his tower shield still strapped to his arm.

"Present," Branwen said, her tail flicking dust away with each movement.

"Accounted for," Chariklia confirmed, her axe resting against her shoulder.

"Safe," Clymiphae finished, her blonde ponytail somehow still perfect despite everything we'd been through.

Titus approached me, pulling a crystalline tag from his belt pouch. The object pulsed with soft blue light, more elaborate than the previous level tags. Intricate runes spiraled across its surface in patterns that hurt to look at directly.

"Level six access," he said, pressing it into my palm.

“Thanks,” I said, as I took the tag, its weight surprising for something so delicate. I secured it in my spatial ring with the others, feeling the collection grow. I followed the rest of the party deeper into the forge cathedral.

"Well, well, well! Look what the dungeon dragged in! The conquering hero returns, trailing enough bone dust to build a museum!" Rakthanos boomed from his spot atop the anvil altar under his statue, A foot-tall figure of flickering flame materialized atop the anvil, his form dancing between red and orange. Rakthanos spread his tiny arms wide in an exaggerated gesture of welcome.

"Prince Eric Grayson, Slayer of Fossils, Maker of Giant Stone Hands, Disturber of Ancient Resting Places!" His voice carried the theatrical quality of a bard announcing royalty. "You grace my humble forge with your presence once more, and you've brought the entire menagerie! How delightful!"

Rachel stifled a laugh beside me as Rakthanos bowed so deeply his flames nearly touched the anvil surface.

"Rakthanos," I acknowledged, unable to keep the smile from my voice. "Good to see you too."

He straightened, his form pulsing brighter. "Legion wishes me to convey his most profound gratitude for your recent... shall we say, enthusiastic magical display. The amount of mana you just flooded through level five. Absolutely MAGNIFICENT! Legion is practically singing with joy!… quite disturbing to hear really." He shuddered.

“Well, I’m glad to help I am his champion after all. We came to talk and give you and Legion a few updates.” I said, sitting on one of the parishioner anvils.

“Hum, more bad news no doubt, well out with it, let’s hear what trouble you’ve uncovered now.” Rakthanos said, sitting on the edge of his altar and swinging his feet.

I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees. The weight of what we'd discovered pressed against my chest like a physical thing. "Leonard's vault was corrupted. Not just a little bit. The whole thing reeked of abyssal energy."

Rakthanos's flames flickered, shifting from orange to a deep crimson. "Corrupted how?"

"A statue of Ack, twisted. Chains, torment, his cock exaggerated and reaching to his chin. Alleystra and Sippsie were absent. The Testament Obedientia, the holy book only the highest priests of the temple of Ack are allowed to read, is practically dripping with corruption."

Rakthanos's flames stuttered, dimming to a dull orange. "The Testament Obedientia? That's... that's not good, Eric. That's very not good."

"It gets worse," Rachel added, stepping closer to the anvil. "A priest of the Order Obedientia intercepted us at the bank. Exalted Lord Octavian Korvax. He informed Eric that by killing Leonard, he inherited his position in the Order."

The small flame figure went completely still, his usual theatrical energy draining away. "The Order Obedientia is compromised. If they have been using a corrupted text of the Testament Obedientia, if they're the ones interpreting doctrine for the entire temple of Ack..." He trailed off, the implications hanging heavy in the air.

"They control the religious narrative of the empire," I finished. "Every high priest answers to them. They dictate what's orthodox and what's heresy."

"And they're infested with the abyss," Ashley said quietly. "Which means the corruption isn't just in the dungeon. It's being woven into the empire's foundation."

I stood, pacing across the cathedral floor. "The coins in the vault, they were generating themselves. A silver coin pushed itself out of the statue's... anatomy. Every coin had microscopic veins of abyssal corruption running through it."

"They're spreading corruption through currency," Rachel breathed. "Every transaction, every trade, a tiny thread of the abyss changing hands."

Titus swore, his hand tightening on his shield. "How long has this been happening? How many coins are already in circulation?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But Leonard had chests full of them. Copper, silver, gold, and platinum. All corrupted."

“No mithril?” I could hear the importance of the question asked by Rakthanos.

“N…” I checked my spatial ring feeling. None of the coins from the vault were mithril. “No, no mithril at least not in his vault.”

Rakthanos flickered back to his full brightness, his form expanding slightly. "You took everything from the vault, yes? Tell me you didn't leave any of it behind."

"It's all in my spatial ring," I confirmed. "Including the Testament Obedientia."

“Good. If the corrupted statue can’t corrupt mithril there is still time. farther along than we thought, though it is to be expected. Breaking through the dungeon is not the only way the abyss touches its filthy hand upon a world.” Rakthanos’s words sounded troubled.

“If I’m understanding right, a year is optimistic?” From the sound of it Legion did not know how far the abyss had reached outside his walls.

Rakthanos tilted his head to the side, listening to Legion. When he soke the serious tone once again did nothing to assuage my fears, “Lets just day the sooner you get to level twelve and can enter the battle with the abyss the better.”

“Were only free to talk in the dungeon. We need to treat everywhere outside of here as compromised. And once I use the Ashul’kai amulet the empire wont be safe, not that it ever really was.” I said.

Rachel re-braided her black hair as she spoke, “We can mitigate some of the observation magic from the order, but when one of them is directly observing, even my enchantments wont be enough.”

“Best to just not say anything until we are all in the dungeon. We need to clear levels everyday,” Ashley added.

“Dawning Rachel and me need to make the needles, the emperors ambassador will be coming by to pick them up, I’ve also got to go and see Sarah about the new temple.”

“Temple?” Rakthanos asked.

“Yeah, to Amara, she is her high priestess.”

“AMARA! Oh, by the sweet embers of the hearth fire it has been so long since I talked with her. She barely has any threads of fate attaching her to this world… You’re going to sanctify a home hearth?” his flame glowed brighter at the thought.

“That’s the plan, Sarah said it was all ready.” I added.

Rakthanos stood and paced, “If you have the chance to speak with her tell her everything that is going on. she might… well not sure what she could do but She’ll help that I’m sure of.”

“Good to know, was planning on it anyway.” I said standing and stretching.

“We’ll run interference with Adelia and Tiffany,” Rachel said getting a nod of affirmation from Ashley.

Lucious stretched as well, “Don’t worry about the coffin road well keep running it when were not in the dungeon with you.”

“Tamuss?” Titus asked.

“Yeah, dawning will be for forging. Mundness we have our meeting with Professor Trianna. After classes we’ll get through level six. What is it by the way?” I said as we all gathered our things.

“Death affinity.” He said, a chill shudder accompanying his words.

“Death, like zombies?” I said.

He scrunched his face, “Not sure what a zombie is. But it’s a graveyard, with reanimated corpse. Though it’s one of the weakest levels, not much to it. in all honesty it should be a lot harder than a few dozen reanimated corpses and a long dead exalted mage who controls them.”

I shook my head, “Zombies, but the level is week?”

“Yes, its honestly not much of a level. the realm of light after it is brutal, along with the domain of shadow following it.” Titus said as we all stood ready to leave.

“Right, well Tamuss then.” I nodded.

Everyone spoke and where pulled from the cathedral.

“Good luck Eric.” Rakthanos said.

“Thank you, Rakthanos. Leave the dungeon now…”