As Kaiden and Snow Bunny stood inside the foreign chamber. The environment began altering in a way that made the duo understand exactly why they were graced with the presence of a buff. The walls began cracking, presenting holes at least 2 meters wide in diameter.
What's more, the dense steam that billowed out of it was soon replaced by a stream of magma. However, the progression of the magma was that of a snail's pace. However, this wasn't the worst part. In light of the cracked walls, the floor also began splitting, a geyser of magma spouting from the ground.
On the contrary, it wasn't a continuous geyser that would eventually flood the room; but rather it was an occasional geyser. Or rather, a completely random geyser. The geyser appeared from one of the numerous cracks in the floor at sporadic intervals. Moreover, the magma that entered the room turned into sentient beings of different sizes but the same species.
But the unsettling part was the spawn rate of these monsters and numbers they were spawning in. With each fleeting second, the fiery entities multiplied by 2. It seemed as if they had some sort of duplication ability. But rather it was the magma itself that was creating them.
With charred exteriors, the creatures took the form of lizard-like four-legged beings. Within their skin, numerous cracks of flowing magma. The temperature emitted was so hot—it caused the air to warp. Additionally, due to the introduction of large quantities of magma certain areas of the group were covered in it.
"Oh my, this is a map altering stage. The conditions of the monsters can alter the environment of the map...Perhaps we might still receive damage from this stage." said Kaiden.
Of course, he was correct. The 'Embrace of the Flame Hellion' buff didn't serve as a complete reversal of the conditions. Rather, its purpose was to mitigate the environment to a level suitable for the partaker to have a chance at survival. As a result, the buff only bolstered resistance and didn't provide immunity.
"Yeah. Watch your step. The magma isn't cooling." noticed Snow Bunny.
Nodding, Kaiden examined his surroundings. Of course, in a game world, even though they wanted to replicate the conditions of the world—there were bound to be instances where the environment simply wouldn't conform to the physics of the world.
I mean, take these stats for an example. Soon enough they will leave the complete realm of physics and travel into nonsense. For god's sake, who would be able to withstand spontaneous acceleration without burning up or damaging their insides.
Focusing back on the monsters, Kaiden began to scrutinize the molten entities. He found no plausible weakness. Perhaps, he would be unable to exploit these monsters. Not to mention, his Spiritual Outburst was now on cooldown for another 11 hours.
Lv.55 [Magma Spawn - Lizard] (Special Elite)
Health: 2,340,000/2,340,000 (100%)
"I'm not locating any weaknesses nor can I create any. These entities have the structure of a lizard, however, they consist solely of magma."
"If only we had an Ice based Mage we could have them take advantage of the Elemental Weakness."
"You're right! Ice based…"
With that thought, Kaiden began rummaging through his Spatial until he came across a twin copy of a weapon as well as a few flasks of cerulean potions. These items could prove to be a minute blessing.
In his hands now laid to Ice attribute items, one was a potion that imbued your attacks with that element for a short duration.
[Basic Flash Frost Potion] (Fine-Grade)
Imbues your weapon with Ice Mana.
Effect: For 30 minutes, your attack will shift to Ice Element damage.
"Here, smear this on your weapon. That was a good judgment you had."
"Thank you." said Snow Bunny in a plain tone as she poured the potion over her weapon.
As a result, her twin swords began glowing with a light blue hue—symbolizing the Ice Element that now coated the blade.
'This is garbage compared to dealing with the Energy Element itself, but, this will have to do. Beggars can't be choosers.'
Throwing the copy of the weapons back into the Spatial Ring, Kaiden instead poured the potion over both of his blades.
The best part was due to the type of potion, excess amounts weren't needed and you could use this one potion more than once unlike a potion which is ingested.
'This isn't the environment to use the Searing Sword Force. Although it is rich in Fire Energy, these monsters seem slightly different from the previous ones.
Correct, the Magma Spawn took pleasure in flames. If he were to use them on this type of monster instead of damaging he would render aid, once again filling their depleting Health.
[Quest Alert! Magma to Renew Yourself (Unique Quest)
Complete the second chamber of the Subterranean Molten Morphing Trial - Preliminary stage.
-Kill 900 Magma Spawn - Lizard - 0/900
-Reward: +50 Strength, +50 Agility, +50 Dexterity and Health + 4,000.
-Time Limit: 3 hours.
-Failure: Expulsion from the Secret Dungeon, -1 Level and Death.
"Oh, another quest. But...this one has a time limit and it's rather short." muttered Kaiden.
"Looks like they won't be making it easy for us at all. Thank god we have the potions.
Activating his mandatory Sword Force, Kaiden tested the water with a high damaging skill. Holding his blade across opposite sides of his body, Kaiden slashed them horizontally—instantly a huge sword arc billowed forward. Illusive Sword Torrent ripped through the sea of magma.
[System: Due to your enemies consisting of Fire and Earth-type attributes. Your ice-based attacks have superimposed the dual Elemental Weakness of Fire and Earth. Damage increased by 200%.]
-502,490 [-175,872]
"Oh, perhaps these potions are more of a blessing than I thought." chuckled Kaiden.
As a result, Kaiden shifted his feet, diving into the mass of Magma Spawns. Thanks to the presence of the 'Embrace of the Flame Hellion' being in proximity to the monsters didn't cause default damage.
However, these monsters showed higher sentience than the previous one. Opening their mouths they shot projectile flame beams at Kaiden. Due to his keen senses, Kaiden performed weaves and steps as he evaded a large number of flame beams.
Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of beams, Kaiden inevitably experienced damage from unavoidable angles.
(-758) (-645)
'Tch, they attack in sync. It's as if they share one mind.'
"Unsheathed, I'll help. Let me hold some aggro. If you take damage so often it may overpower your regeneration rate."
"Go ahead. However, take precaution."
Nodding, Snow Bunny used her improved damage to mitigate some of the pressure on Kaiden. As a result, the pair slowly began vanquishing the mass of monsters. Even more so when Kaiden unleashed his AoE skills that wiped out a chunk of targets with a mass of damage.
In 30 minutes, the remainder of monsters was reduced to ⅓ of its previous stature. Moreover, the remaining monsters didn't have untouched health bars. Courtesy of Angurvadal's handy effect Kaiden. Furthermore, Kaiden took this occasion to familiarize himself with 'Spirit Emperor Slash'.
What shocked Kaiden was the fact that this skill didn't have a set form. It could be a vertical slash, horizontal slash, etc. It was simply a basic slash to which the form was left to the user's imagination. What it did possess, however, was an AoE effect that wasn't described beforehand.
The AoE effect was a group stun. It was birthed by the combination of Angurvadal's splash effect and being the weapon's skill. As a result, all targets hit by the damage of Spirit Emperor Slash incurred a 5-second stun state.
-117,247! (Critical) [-41,037]
'Oh wow, this skill will be used unsparingly. Haha! I had no idea it produced this effect.'
Now that a majority of the Magma Spawns were spawned Kaiden dealt obscene amounts of damage unimpededly as Snow Bunny dashed around the battlefield prolonging the stun states of monsters.
With the use of one skill, the previous tedious battle turned into one of lax. The feeling of pressure completely disappeared and an onslaught befell the monsters.
Within an additional 25 minutes, all 900 monsters had been slain. Just as the previous chamber possessed, orangish lights littered the room. However, the magnitude doubled with at least 600 light currently suspended in the air. Once again, the radiances accompanied the pair raising Kaiden's and Snow Bunny's levels to Lv.42 and Lv.40 respectively.
[Quest Complete! Magma to Renew Yourself (Unique Quest)
Complete the second chamber of the Subterranean Molten Morphing Trial - Preliminary stage.
-Kill 900 Magma Spawn - Lizard - 900/900 (!)
-You have been awarded: +50 Strength, +50 Agility, +50 Dexterity and Health + 4,000.
"These stat boosts are equivalent to at 10 Levels. That means compared to our peers our stats will be advanced by at least 10 levels" voiced Snow Bunny.
However, Kaiden simply coughed looking away awkwardly. He was sure that if he ever presented his stat page, someone would be undoubtedly coughing blood. His stats were already on par with a beginner Tier 2 existence according to Kairo.
Due to the fact that he didn't execute any overly demanding technique's his body was in good shape. As such, Kaiden zoomed around the room consuming his half of the Lesser Flame Essence. As a result, the 'Embrace of the Flame Hellion' upgraded to another level.
[Embrace of the Flame Hellion] (Special Buff) - Temporary.
Perfected Version-
Increases Fire Resistance by 100 points.
Reduce damage from fire-type attacks by 35%.
Note: This buff only lasts for the duration that you remain inside the Subterranean Molten Morphing Trial. The perfect version of the buff, can't be further upgraded.
Rubbing his chin, Kaiden examined the state of his body, "Hmm it seems this environment has been completely neutralized due to the hefty increase in resistance."
"Indeed, it seems so. With that being said, the next part has to be even more dreadful. We should prepare ourselves." said Snow Bunny.
….
Entering the 3rd chamber, Kaiden and Snow Bunny were shocked. The 3rd chamber was far from a room in immensity. It could be called a clearing instead. What's more is there were levitating platforms—3 in total, floating above their head.
What followed was a grand voice, resounding inside their ears.
"Welcome to the true trial of the Subterranean Molten Morphing Trial. You have approached the Trial by Fire - Death's Trio. How confident are you in taking the preliminary step of shedding your mortal boundaries."
Looking around there was no face to match with the voice. Rather, the voice sounded as if it was the chamber itself—becoming one with the environment.
"I will undergo the trial." declared Kaiden with a steely gaze.
"I will take the trial." added Snow Bunny. She came to this game to reverse the situation of her company. And to do so she needed as much strength as possible. There was a chance of her not adding up to enough. Therefore, she would put forward extra effort.
"Very well, you may commence the trial together. Perhaps this will be better than the initial conditions. Maybe it isn't singularity needed to surpass our boundaries but rather...duality. Indeed, the collision provides momentum…" as if talking to itself the voice began to drone on and on about topics unfamiliar with Kaiden. Moreover, Kaiden was unable to understand the indistinct mumbles.
"Since there are 2 of you, and one of you seemed to have already surpassed the threshold of your physique tethering on the edge of an ancient physique—let's increase the difficulty."
[System: The difficulty of the dungeon has been raised from Hell to Asura Grade. Rewards will be raised in tandem.]
"Asura Grade? Bad enough I have no idea what Hell entails as a boss, now it's an Asura grade dungeon what?"
"Um, wait...this feels dangerous." trembled Snow Bunny. The moment system announced the heightened difficulty a wave of unfiltered oppression descended upon Kaiden and Snow Bunny.
Placing his hand on Snow Bunny's shoulder, Kaiden genuinely consoled her with no false intentions. "It's ok. I'm here. Besides, aren't you here to take control of your future? Don't cower before pressure, use it to mold yourself into a goddess, unfettered by trivial matters."
As he spoke, a radiant smile crept upon Kaiden's countenance. These were heartfelt words that Kaiden formulated to lift the weight on her mind. Perhaps it was an indirect way to lighten her somber mood.
"Y-you're right… Thank you." a light blush appeared on her cheeks but not due to heat. This was a genuine blush. Who would have thought such a cold heart could experience a moment of warmth. But, that was Kaiden's superpower.
"Come up." commanded the grand voice, the chamber slightly trembling.