Chương 30: By Frank - 2

The battle was over before it started: FRANK infused mana into his body and activated his [Shadow Dance] Skill, enabling him quickly to skitter across the shadowy tunnel of the Oldest Complex, slaying every undead Construct which got in his way. His assault was over in blinks which resulted in a dozen Construct's destruction.

"Push!" was the only thing he told Warhol. By now, the Omni-Wizard was used to his monosyllabic talking. He didn't want to waste precious stamina on nonsense like enunciation. Vile! And by his word, they did advance. He and Warhol threw caution to the wind and at his begging — he was not too proud to beg, not at this critical juncture — they had been restlessly advancing within the complex, their goal the central processing chamber at the complex's heart, possibly the planet's core.

Warhol would not always be by his side, which was why their relentless advance in the moment was so crucial. Frank needed to gain as many levels up as he could, so he could power level his way to the point where he could handle the tunnel combat by himself, leaving Frank free to secure the facility or to continue training his son. Before them was the doorway to another 'Major Construct Room.' A place which held one of the complex's guardians. If their estimates held, this Guardian was going to be level 7500.

An immense level, yes, but one he could handle soon with a war of attrition. What they found while fighting the Guardian Constructs was that although they were each massively leveled, they were mostly damage sponges. It was like a mage had infused each Construct with an absurd amount of health, a startling amount of defense, but only a worrisome bit of strength. It wouldn't be long before he could handle such creations himself.

"There we go," Warhol said as he finished imbuing mana into the doorway leading to the Major Construct.

"When we enter, typical battle strategy. Right? Let me do the heavy lifting. You a wrecking crew or five but you're still not quite ready to handle one of these Guardians." Frank wasn't sure he agreed with his... acquittance, but he acquiesced. He wasn't about to let vainglorious attitudes get in the way of his power. The duo entered the Guardian's Chamber.

Like the previous times, a flurry of bones and dirt and heaven knew what else swarmed into the air above their heads while etches within the stone glowed bright white with mana. It wasn't long before the massive body of the Construct formed in entirety with flesh and claws and the rest of its draconic parts. The beast let a massive roar and charged at Warhol as he found a safe spot to bide his time and wait until he finished the beast of its life after Warhol subjugated it like an out-of-control pig.

Frank watched Warhol battle the Guardian. The Omni-Wizard unleashed a powerful [Flamethrower] attack which melted the guardian's defenses, literally, the sparkle of mana flared and broke as the near-invisible barrier that surrounded the Constructed saw multiple sections collapse in rapid order. Of course, Warhol's assault did not stop, and the Guardian itself was soon engulfed in fire; a fire which burned and melted away the beast's saber-like claws and talons and fangs as huge slabs of it fell to the ground.

"Go for it!" Warhol shouted as his spell ended and the bast lay slumped against the chamber wall, ready for death.

"Finally!" Frank breathed as he readied his blade and [Power Charged] at the large Construct while dumping more mana into his arms and legs in preparation for additional Skill activations; he used the light and shadows of the chamber to make wild bounds over the beast thanks to his [Light Dance] and [Shadow Dance] Skills, enabling his 'Charge' to strike multiple body parts in the blink of an eye. His final attack saw the beast's head severed from its body because of his final [Power Slash].

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. [You Have Killed Guardian Construct: Lv. 7500: XP Gained] Frank felt the experience flow into him like water into a plant. He drooled from feeling its presence. And then, that beautiful, beautiful thing happened: he leveled up.

[You Have Reached Level 300] [You Have Earned Boon Points: 7] [You Have Reached Level 301] [You Have Earned Boon Points: 9] [You Have Reached Level 302] [You Have Earned Boon Points: 10] And so, on all the way until he reached level 320. [Unallocated Boon Points: 790] He felt incredible, like a demi-god — heck, like a god! He was not so insane as to believe himself an actual god, of course. But his spirit never had felt so keen, so flush, so alive!

He checked his stats: [Name: Frank Lorde] [Level: 320] [Martial Prowess: 210] [Magical Prowess: 100] [Stamina: 525] Frank grinned. He danced, so good he felt.

"Shall we continue?" Warhol floated down to the ground. He sighed.

"Aren't you getting bored, yet?" He chuckled.

"Of course, not! Bored, bah! As if that is a consideration! The sooner we get me those sweet, sweet level ups, the sooner you can get back to your son. I say we keep moving!" His compatriot hemmed and hawed for a second but gave in: "Yeah, I should really get back to him soon. Let's go, then."

The hours bled by in a flurry of combat: Warhol handled the runic puzzles while he made short work of the hordes of lesser constructs; the Construct Guardian, meanwhile, they handled as a team, with Warhol taking its wind, then he tore apart their 'sails'; meanwhile, between encounters, Warhol explained to him the many runic symbols and how they interacted with the other tiles; there was an insane number of runic symbols to combine.

Frank followed along as best he could, for once Warhol was away training his boy, he would need to be the one to solve these puzzles. After so many lectures, he thought he was getting ahold of the idea. He lost count of the exact number of Guardian Constructs he and Warhol destroyed. Ten, maybe twelve? He leveled up immensely, had even more Boon Points to spend. And yet, it still wasn't enough.

He wanted to do more, to fight more, to — heck, even be diplomatic, more and rub elbows to secure alliances for more of the complex coming online with additional teams from all the nations of the world. He wanted to do more. And yet, Warhol was growing bored. He could sense it. Or maybe it was tired? Both? When Warhol gave the signal to stop, he knew their campaign for the day was over.

"Frank," he was told by the wizard.

"I need some time to myself so as to consult my knowledge and reflect on the day's events. I can tell you're still up with piss and vinegar, though. I will be the better part of ten or more hours. Do you want me to teleport you somewhere? Or do you want to continue fighting here?" He stumbled on his words.

"Wait... you think I am strong enough?" Warhol shrugged.

"Against the Guardian Constructs? No. Against everything else? Why not. Might be a good chance for you to practice your runic puzzling without me to bail you out. That said, I wouldn't fault you for wanting to do more of that politiking you have doing so much!" He thought about what he should do. Either option appealed to him, frankly.

"Leave me here, I am going to continue fighting these monsters until I, or they, keel over. And I have money on me — wait," he had already done so much fighting today. Did he really need more?

"Actually, send me back to Headquarters. I'm becoming obscured in battle lust. What will all of our efforts here amount to if we don't have that multi-nation support? We can't investigate this facility by ourselves." Warhol snickered at his indecision.

"You sure?"

"Yes, final answer!" A flash of light later and he was back at HQ, surrounded by the tail end of the epic gathering he had organized. Shout called for him. He turned to see not one, but two, emperors demanding his attention. Those who vied for him were no other than Emperor Hawk and Emperor Falcon, sworn rival to two empires who had long been at each other's throats. Had he even invited them? Why were they here and demanding his attention?

"Gentlemen," he asked.

"How good to see you both. How might I serve you?" The emperors stared at each other, puffed out their chests and said, "Is it true, you've been conspiring with the Traitor Wizard to bring down the world order?"