He arrived at a fork in the tunnel, and took refuge there from the acid, until the worms arrived. He took the opportunity to attack those who appeared first, while they weren't many of them yet, so he didn't need to avoid the rain of acid. But again, soon the number grew more than he could manage, forcing him back to retreat, as well as healing from the painful acid he hadn't longer be able to avoid.
While he was starting to run, he used Lion's Roar to try to gain some time, being the result much better than expected. The worms at the crossroads scattered and receded. And for a while, none of them appeared
Eldi approached cautiously, to find that a large group of worms tried to pass through the rest, delaying them and being crushed, while the Frozen Walls were doing their work. He moved closer and used Lion's Roar again, increasing the number which wanted to flee from there.
It was a carnage, in which Eldi only had to go through the worms that were turning their backs, and whose bodies disappeared shortly after, leaving part of their essence in the mana stone. He would never have thought that Lion's Roar could be so useful, and it ended up raising to 8. The greatest difficulty was the confrontations with the few that returned from the other tunnels.
Frozen Wall also leveled up to 8, probably because it damaged many enemies throughout its full duration. And Burning Wall up to 9, because once he didn't need to hold them anymore, he used the one that could damage them the most.
His level had risen to 26 and advanced on it, unlocking the Lightning Aura and Decapitate. The latter is an axe's skill that kills an enemy with less than 5% of their health, as long as they are on the same level. The percentage of activation lowers by half for each level in which the enemy is superior, up to a maximum of 5 levels, having no effect beyond that. He had it in 10, because it was useful in the past, and it looked cool.
He also had to change the mana stone, because it was mostly filled. It would have been easier for him if he hadn't decided to use the small ones first, although it was not a big inconvenience either. Anyway, he didn't know when or where he could sell them, or if he could craft something with them.
When he returned to the cavern, there were about thirty worms there, apart from a boss which didn't move from its place. It was a while attracting them to the tunnel with Provoke, and he also used Lion's Roar if they were too many or to make the work easier. Knowing their weak point and how fear affected them, it was easy to kill them, although it was somewhat slow. He didn't dare to chase them inside the cavern with the boss, and it ended up being rather tedious. However, it was much safer in this way.
When he finally finished with them, he stayed a while watching the huge worm in the distance, wondering how to face it and recovering his strength. No doubt it would be easier with a group, with Goldmi and Gjaki, but he had to do it alone.
Finally, he approached little by little, sneaking a look at the tunnel to take refuge if necessary, and trusting that the floor boss wouldn't move from its place. Unlike the hellhound, its agility was low.
When he was close enough, he tried the bow, but the arrows barely made any effect, nor did the magic imbued in them, as they could barely penetrate the thick skin of the worm. So, he had no choice but to get closer.
The long body of the invertebrate stirred slightly and a shower of acid fell on Eldi, who wanted at that moment to have an umbrella. It was as if several dozen of the smaller ones were shooting at the same time. However, the speed of the projectiles was not high, which allowed him to leave the area of impact with relative ease. But it would be harder as it got closer.
So it was. He had to sacrifice one of the lower level spears, using Mill, to reach it, after which he confronted it with the axe. From the game, he knew that the worm boss don't have the same weakness, or, at least, that it is very difficult to sink a spear with enough force, since its skin is much thicker and harder.
He was surprised when it used Metal Spring against him, leaving the way clear to the next floor, but it also used it to return. With the skill, it could travel the distance much faster than the man.
He managed to get close enough to jump on it with Kangaroo Power, and attack it with Double Edge a couple of times, just before the boss used another skill with an absurd name: Croquette. It consists of rolling on itself at great speed, and that almost crushed Eldi with all the weight of the huge monster.
He tried with Javelin, Boomerang, the three walls, Shred and Crush Earth, the ones he had available to attack at range, but its effectiveness was very low compared to the mana and energy spent. As expected, neither Earthquake nor Propel had a great effect, getting the latter little more than making it roll a couple of degrees.
It is true that he had damaged it, but less than a fifth of its health, while he had his mana and energy at less than half. And a broken spear.
He doubted that the spears with Stand would have a great effect, and Lion's Roar wasn't effective like with its little siblings. The biggest advantage was that it wasn't very fast, except in the movements by its skills, which could be foreseen by observing it.
He thought that he would probably have no choice but to engage in long hand-to-hand combat, in which he would have to be very careful, and in which he wanted to have all his energy and mana available. So, even at the risk of losing the damage he had already done, he disengaged from his opponent and ran to the protection of the tunnel