Exploration- Chapter 24

Freaking amazing what I can do when I'm not being constantly distracted. Sorry if that sounded arrogant or something- that wasn't how I meant it. I just am marveling at how much easier it is to write 2 chapters in 3 hours than it is when my wife and or kids are constantly moving around me- even if they aren't asking me anything.

Here's hoping that all 8 days of writing retreat time go like this.

Now, I'm gonna hit the gym and then I'll be right back at it.

Chapter 24- Stone Foes

Something moved at the far edge of the broken plain, and then the stone itself seemed to stand up. At first I thought the pillars were collapsing, but the shapes peeled free instead, massive figures unfolding from crouched poses they’d held for who knew how long. There was only one word for monsters like this: gargoyles, although they were nothing like the crude statues people carved to scare birds. These were living things shaped like stone, ten feet tall at their largest, with thick torsos, powerful legs, and wings that folded tight against their backs until they snapped open with the sound of grinding rock.

Despite being made of stone, they moved with unsettling fluidity. Their joints flexed like muscle rather than grinding like hinges, and their weight shifted smoothly as they stepped forward. Faces that looked carved at first glance twisted into expressions of predatory focus, eyes lighting up from within with a pale, unnatural glow. Their mouths opened wider than any statue should have been able to manage, revealing throats lined with the same light that burned in their eyes.

The resemblance to the gargoyles from the old cartoon hit me then, broad shoulders, hunched posture, wings built for sudden bursts of speed rather than sustained flight. Smaller ones flanked the larger brutes, moving faster and darting ahead with claws extended, while the biggest among them held back, watching and waiting.

When Identify went off, I was surprised to find that even here in another universe, apparently a dungeon could borrow from my memories. The gargoyles seemed to be split into three types. There was only one of the largest while the others seems lean and fast or moved on four legs with an obvious strength.

Gargoyle Goliath- Legendary tier equivalent. Estimated level: 277

Gargoyle Demona- Legendary tier equivalent. Estimated level: 274

Gargoyle Bronx- Legendary tier equivalent. Estimated level: 270

I would have loved to talk about whether the dungeon floor had always been like this or if it had been customized for us, but didn’t have the time as they are already attacking.

The first gargoyle hit the ground hard enough to crack normal stone, but the dungeon remained unmoved. It unfolded from a crouch into a towering shape, wings snapping open as it let out a grinding roar that sounded like boulders being dragged across one another. Its eyes burned with pale light, and a second later a beam of brilliant light tore from its mouth, carving a glowing line across the ground where we’d been standing. Samvek and I split without speaking, boots skidding as we moved in opposite arcs.

I met the creature head-on. Wayfinder bit into stone as easily as flesh, the blade punching through its chest in a spray of shattered rock and glowing fragments. The gargoyle barely slowed, clawed hands slashing down toward my shoulders, and I twisted inside the strike, letting the talons scrape across my armor instead of tearing through it. I drove my shoulder into its torso and felt the impact reverberate through my bones as the thing staggered back.

Samvek was already moving, spear flashing as he took another gargoyle off its feet. He hooked a wing mid-swing, tore it free with a brutal wrench, and rammed the spearhead up through the creature’s jaw. The gargoyle convulsed, light spilling from the wound like molten glass, then collapsed into a heap of rubble that still twitched for a heartbeat before going still. There was no pause, no chance to breathe.

Three more dropped from above, wings folding as they slammed down around us. One raked its claws across my back, the impact numbing rather than cutting, and I spun with the force of the blow, letting momentum carry my next strike. Wayfinder cleaved through its arm at the elbow, stone exploding outward as the limb shattered. I followed through and drove the blade up under its chin, splitting the head in half as the light inside guttered out.

A beam lanced toward Samvek, white-hot and fast. He twisted aside, the edge of it catching his shoulder and scorching fur and armor alike. He didn’t slow. He charged straight through the pain, spear spinning as he slammed it into the gargoyle’s chest and levered the creature off the ground. He ripped the weapon free and brought it down again, smashing the head into fragments that scattered across the floor.

The ground shook as more gargoyles poured in, stone feet pounding, wings beating up clouds of dust and grit. They came in a loose wave, five, then seven, then more, all moving faster than creatures that heavy should have been able to. Claws scraped, wings buffeted, beams of light slashed through the air, and the floor became a maze of broken pillars and rising debris.

I ducked under a sweeping wing and hacked at the joint, feeling resistance give way in a satisfying crack. The wing tore free, and the gargoyle reeled, flailing blindly as I stepped in and drove Wayfinder through its spine. Another slammed into me from the side, the impact throwing me off my feet, and I rolled with it, coming up on one knee as its claws slammed down where my head had been. I rose into the strike, blade flashing in a brutal upward arc that split the creature from hip to shoulder.

Samvek fought with barely constrained lightning dancing all over him. He was as fluid as a waterfall and equally unstoppable. I admired how quickly he was adapting to his upgrades. He moved constantly, spear darting and retracting, never letting the gargoyles surround him. One tried to grapple him, stone arms locking around his torso, and he answered by slamming his forehead into its face hard enough to crater it. He shoved free and skewered the thing through the throat, twisting until the light inside went dark.

Stone dust filled the air, coating my tongue and stinging my eyes. My arms burned from the constant motion, but the power in my body kept me moving, strikes landing harder and faster than they ever had before. I was stronger and faster than I’d ever been before, but Samvek was right. There was something more to it than a mere physical upgrade. I just couldn’t put my finger on it yet.

 Each gargoyle fell in pieces, wings shattered, limbs broken, heads split open to spill that pale, dying glow. They were durable, relentless, and fast, but they weren’t enough.

When the last of the wave finally collapsed, the floor was a ruin of cracked stone and broken bodies. Fragments still shifted and settled, the echoes of the fight rolling away into the distance. I stood there, actually feeling my breaths as I had needed to exert myself a bit. That alone marked how powerful these foes were.

I held Wayfinder in a loose grip and felt the life within the weapon as it pulsed in my hands. Like me, my weapon lived for moments like this. There wouldn’t be long to rest or even time to talk about the oddness I was feeling in my body. Already there were more shapes moving at the edge of my senses, and I tightened my grip, ready for the next wave.

The next set of waves came faster and tighter, as if the dungeon had learned something from watching the first. Gargoyles dropped in coordinated pairs, wings folding just enough to control their descent before slamming into the ground and surging forward together. One would feint high with claw and wing, forcing a guard, while the other drove in low, talons scraping for legs and balance. It was smart, brutal fighting, the kind meant to overwhelm rather than outmatch.

I stepped into it anyway.

Wayfinder rang like a struck bell as it met stone, the impact shuddering up my arms. I parried one claw and drove the blade straight through the joint of a shoulder, twisting hard as I ripped free. The gargoyle reeled but didn’t fall, its partner already on me, wings battering at my sides with enough force to rattle my teeth. I ducked under the next swing, planted my foot, and took its head clean off in a rising cut that sent glowing fragments spraying through the air.

Samvek was in constant motion to my left, spear a silver blur as he carved lanes through the oncoming stone. He used reach and footwork to keep them from boxing him in, striking joints, throats, and wing bases with ruthless efficiency. A demona type lunged at him from above, claws outstretched, and he met it mid-air, spear punching through its chest as lightning crawled along the shaft and into the creature. The gargoyle convulsed once and dropped, breaking apart as it hit.

Light beams lanced through the chaos, brilliant and precise. I felt one graze past my shoulder, heat flaring as it scorched armor and skin alike, and I rolled through the pain without slowing. I came up inside another gargoyle’s guard, smashed my pommel into its face hard enough to crater it, then finished the job with a short, brutal thrust through the skull. The glow inside winked out, leaving nothing but dead weight.

They kept coming.

Five more, then eight, then a mixed pack that included another goliath, its bulk dwarfing the others as it charged straight through the press. Its fists slammed down like hammers, each blow carrying enough force to pulp bone if it landed cleanly. I met it head-on, blade flashing as I hacked at its arms, each strike biting deep but not stopping it outright. It grabbed for me, stone fingers closing around my torso, and I drove Wayfinder up under its ribcage, twisting and wrenching until the light inside flared and died.

Samvek took the opening I’d created, spear plunging into the Goliath’s throat from behind. He braced and hauled back with a roar, tearing the head free in a shower of glowing fragments. The body staggered forward a step and then collapsed into inert stone, finally still.

Stone dust hung thick in the air, every breath tasting of grit and dust. My arms burned, shoulders screaming from the constant impact, and I welcomed it. I welcomed the strain, the resistance, the proof that this floor demanded effort. These monsters were a worthy test of my physical capabilities.

What struck me was that the goliaths could match my strength for the most part, but were slower. Meanwhile the demona were nearly as fast as me, even if they lacked my strength. They each tugged at me a bit too. Even as dungeon monsters, they had an aura and they were fierce. Whenever I found myself surrounded by too many of them, their combined aura would weigh down on me.

I’d experienced some of this with the Malfon legendaries I’d fought, but this was different. Maybe it was because of the rules of this universe, but I felt like I was being suppressed by their auras. The weight of it combined to be something akin to an ascendant.

That alone caused me to struggle just to move properly. Then a thought struck me. No… it couldn’t be that simple, but maybe it was. My physical stats weren’t the only ones which had been cranked up with all the levels I’d gained. That wasn’t the core issue, but rather a symptom. My mental stats were affected as well and they were telling me something that seemed hard to believe.

Each tier increase had come with something greater than the tier before it. Samvek had often called legendary the peak of mortal existence. He reminded me that it touched upon the ascendant but wasn’t ascendant itself and just recalling his words made me feel sure about my instinct.

As soon as I created a momentary lull in battle, I paused for the duration of a single heartbeat. That was an eternity to one such as me locked in the middle of combat, but I needed it to square my mind away.

I was legendary tier now. I was more real, more complete, than at any point in my past. I needed to accept that.

Just like that, the pressure around me lessened as though the air suddenly weighed less. It was thrilling. I felt more connected to the world and in turn the pressure it was putting on me balanced out. In that moment, Trailblazer’s Aura activated and then evolved. There were no choices to make, it was a simple linear evolution.

Trailblazer’s Aura (Epic 99%) >> Legendary 1%

This aura can be used passively or actively, in battle or even social situations. It drains the health from foes, adding to your own with an enhancement to all your damage the longer that you stay within a sphere of a fifty-foot radius. It boosts the effectiveness of your Charisma and causes all around you to feel the effects of your primordial aspect.

You will be recognized as someone who stands apart from the masses. This may engender fear in some and excitement in others. More than anything this aura will stabilize your presence, and make you slightly more real.

As your aura reaches legendary tier even Ascendant Tier beings will find it more difficult to ignore. Further, your place as one apart will enable you to better withstand the aura of other beings, even those who are divine. This protection is not perfect, but is progressive as you find your place.

Note: Your quest to borrow from other systems will likely help you progress this aura more than simple use.

The moment of clarity passed and I was thrown back into the battle. This time I felt like my movement was more natural. I hadn’t gained any new stats but I was starting to use the ones I had correctly. The battle was still fierce without relying upon any of my spells or abilities, but it made me feel alive.

When the wave finally broke, the remaining gargoyles falling in shattered heaps around us, I stood there breathing hard, Wayfinder humming in my grip. My muscles felt heavy but responsive, power coiled tight instead of overflowing. Samvek straightened nearby, spear resting against the ground as he surveyed the field with a critical eye.

I could feel it then, the rhythm settling in.

“Well done. Now, we’re going to take turns helping you develop some of the unused parts of your build. I’m not going to fight the next wave and if I get hit or have to teleport away, then you will have failed this test. To make it more fun, you have to fight with your eyes closed and your ears shut down.

“What?”

“I saw you reach a new balance with your tier. Search inside yourself, but you can control every bodily function now. It’s just part of being legendary. Simply shut off the portion of your brain which processes the sound waves. You can’t shut it all down because it would affect your balance and I can’t explain it anymore than that because each species is different. But you can do this. You don’t have long though before the next wave gets here. Oh, and the skill set you’re going to be training is your Psi abilities. You can use any of them, but otherwise only use your physical stats for this battle.”

I wanted to tell him that he asked for the impossible but I didn’t want to turn this into any more of a Yoda moment than it already was.