Chương 29: Horde of Magma

Time until next Elemental Storm: 3 Days and 21 Hours [Dungeon Quest: Dragonmount (Earth Shrine) Activate the elevator down to the lower depths (1/1 Activated) Ride the elevator down to the lower depths. (0/1 Done)] They should've split up the crystals again. He shouldn't have listened to Jeffrey and let them go. And now, because of that one mistake, he was going to pay. [[Party Chat] Bradley: Help fight here Mia: Jeffrey Emma: Please help …]"Where are you going!" Jeffrey shouted from behind.

He kept pace with Ethan, if only to not be overwhelmed by the coming horde.

"They need help! We're the only ones who can give it!" Boost ran through his legs while Jeffrey used magnetism to push against his metal toed boots. Ethan was the faster between them, but he didn't dare leave him behind, even if he sorely wanted to. He didn't want to come back and save someone else too.

"Go save Bradley first! He's the weakest alone!" Ethan ordered.

"Are you insane! How am I supposed to survive!"

"JUST RUN!" Ethan shouted, frustrated. Bone armour formed over his face and chestplate. Splashes of lava hit the armour and hardened against he. He scraped away the magma while dashing forward madly. Jeffrey was darting his eyes around while he ran. The sheer number of monsters coming up from the drained river to chase them would've turned any man's heart to ice. A Magmizard climbed onto their path, and Ethan readied his spear. DE Overlay.

Before the monster opened its mouth, Ethan shifted the life force to his arms. He plunged the spear into its chest and watched it choke up magma. Plates of bone formed over his other hand as he took out the spear. DE Shotgun. The bone shards exploded into its chest, and Ethan ran past the monster. [+250 Credits] Jeffrey floated over the corpse and landed in a run beside him.

"You could do that this whole time?!" he asked, half-enraged.

"I just learned it. It takes a lot out of me," Ethan lied. He just didn't have the time to argue or hold back when so many lives were at stake. While the other monsters shot at him and Jeffrey, Ethan opened the menu and sent a message to the others. [[Party Chat] Ethan: Hang on. Me and Jeffrey are coming. Everyone who's available, send a message. Emma:. Mia:. … Bradley:.] Penny wasn't replying. I need to get to her first! Jeffrey had a scowl over his face.

Maybe he didn't like that Ethan spoke for the both of them, but if that was the case, he could just leave.

"Give me two crystals, now!" Ethan shouted at him. He hesitated, but Jeffrey eventually relented, and handed them to Ethan. Ethan stuffed them into his small duffel bag, and the two of them busied themselves in reaching the centre. While Ethan took care of the close monsters, Jeffrey handled the flying snakes. All that essence wasted would've been a loss in Ethan's mind, but he had bigger worries to deal with at that point. He and Bradley saw the centre coming up in the hallway, and a new structure risen there.

It was a pentagonal black brick with barred doors on each side and buttons next to them.

"It's the exit to the shrine!" Jeffrey said. As soon as he said it, he started to run. But before he could make too much headway, Ethan stopped to grab his arm. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ethan asked, surprised and awed.

"Everyone else is still stuck!" He reasoned. Jeffrey's eyes darted between Ethan's grip and the elevator. Ethan shifted the Boost into his arms, tightening his hold and looking Jeffrey in the eyes.

"The quest said it only takes you to the depths! What if there're more monsters there?" Ethan appealed to his survival instinct. Eventually, that won out and Jeffrey pulled his arm away.

"Fine, I'll save that fool Bradley. Where are you going?"

"Penny. Then I'll go for Mia and you go for Emma," Ethan told him. Jeffrey nodded shakily and they picked the hallways they had to go down. Even from here they could see the monsters crowding around the bottom of the lake, ready to pounce on them when they approached. They readied hammer and spear respectively, and started to run.

DE Shot. Holes filled the snakes' wings and sent them hurdling down to the ground. Death essence coated his boots and Ethan smashed it down on their heads, killing them instantly. He jumped with Boosted legs to avoid the magma blasts that came after. Two Komodos near the far end of the platform were also coming towards him, but Ethan vaulted over them. At the peak of his jump, he flushed the spear with death essence, and stabbed it into one of the Komodo's heads. The spear stuck there and Ethan landed.

The Komodo he'd hit fell limp, while the other turned to him and kept running. DE Shotgun. Bone plates and essence formed over his hands. The Komodo opened its mouth to bite off a chunk of him. Ethan planted his fist in the burning mouth, and bone shards exploded out the back of its skull. He pulled out his arm, healed the burns, and ran to grab his spear. After he pulled it out, he turned away from the rest of the approaching monsters, filled his legs with Boost, and kept running.

He couldn't stop in one place for too long. The longer he did, the higher the chances that they would end up getting ganging up on him. But at least he could keep fighting with his full capabilities. No more holding back his death essence. Further down the bridge, he found a snake wrapping itself fully around it. It was a large monster, and its snake-like eyes locked onto Ethan. It shot towards him with fangs bared, but Ethan jumped. The snake hit the platform, and turned faster than should've been possible.

Its head lurched to Ethan's body in the air, and bit down, cracking the bone armour. Ethan filled his hands with death essence and fired them at its gums. A dozen loaded death essence shots hit the monster's teeth, rotting away the foundation. But the monster's bite was hardening, cracking through more layers of his armour. Ethan formed another layer beneath the first, and coated the rest of his arms in essence too. He punched the foundations of the monster's teeth, sending them flying into the river.

The snake recoiled in pain, and Ethan fell to the ground on his back. He rolled out of the way of the snake's head slam, and got back on his two feet. The snake backed off, licking its bleeding gums, and readying something in its throat. Ethan saw the scales across its body light up the air around it begin to wobble. The snake opened its mouth again, and this time flames came to burn the entire platform. Ethan ran away from the flamethrower and the monster chased him, unwrapping itself from around the platform.

I can't let this thing come near Penny. I need to do something! His Talent showed the heart of the monster, but it wasn't as bright as the other monsters in the dungeon. Ethan wasn't sure if taking it out would take out the monster entirely. And he needed something bigger to deal it in. It's brain was too big for his spear too. Or is it? Ethan wondered, looking down at his weapon. He'd gotten good practice making his bone constructs sharper. He already had the spear head, he just needed it to be bigger.

While he ran from the monster's flaming breath, part of Ethan's mind focused on constructing a massive bone spearhead around his weapon. That would add some heft to the weapon, but with his Boost spread across his limbs, he could handle it. Focusing on all three at once was a nightmare, but somehow Ethan managed. He crafted a massive boney point wrapped around his spear, fitted perfectly so it wouldn't move. And now. DE Overlay.

As much Death Essence as Ethan could bear to control spread across the sharp end of the weapon, and he stopped. Boost. He shifted his life force to his legs, jumped over the flames and snake head both. When he landed on its back, he ran back to the monster's skull. The heat coming off the monster was no joke, and he felt it snaking up his legs and slowly burning them. The unwieldy weapon in his hand was awkward to aim, so Ethan held on with both hands. He let out a scream, and stabbed it into the skull.

Flesh and bone parted under the spear and essence both, breaking through to the monster's brain. The snake's last breath was a whimper, after which it collapsed on the platform and slinked off below. [+350 Credits] Ethan dismissed the construct around his spear and pulled it out just before it fell. He jumped off the skull and huffed, wiping the sweat from his brow. It's not even that hot, he thought. He healed himself, sores and burn wounds both. If it was just muscle fatigue, he'd make it through alive.

That didn't mean he was all well though. He was still huffing air like it was at a premium, and he had to slow his jog to Penny, despite how little he wanted to. [[Party Chat] Ethan: Penny, are you there? … Ethan: I'm coming for you. Just hold on a little while longer, okay? …] He kept waiting for a message to hit him, but none did. Emma, Mia and Bradley kept sending occasional one letter responses, but Penny was strangely absent.

The more time went on, the more a pit formed in his heart, but he kept on moving, despite what the saner part of him said. She's already dead, you idiot. You're wasting time. Yours and the rest of the party's. Why don't you make yourself actually useful and save someone who's still alive? One step after another, Ethan ran. But he still didn't see Penny anywhere up ahead. If she'd survived, she should've been running back to the centre herself. Why wasn't she? His breath caught.

His eyes were blurry from pushing himself, but he saw someone running in the distance. There was something in the figure's arms, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. And behind them were a dozen or so glowing red monsters, flying or chasing them.

"Penny!" Ethan shouted.

"Ethan!?" She shouted back, and his heart settled for a moment. The bundle in her arms was her falcon, and it was badly burnt along one wing. Boost. DE Shotgun, Ethan ran and leapt past Penny. Thick death essence clustered around his fingers, and he smashed it against the first Axolotl's face. As soon as he landed, the monsters turned to him. They stopped running and readied themselves for a fight. Penny caught her breath and so did Ethan, for the second or two that the monsters let them.

And then, the battle began again.