Chapter 23 - ''Ambition''

  Before leaving the chamber to find a way out, Nikolai thoroughly searched it for anything of value. He found a few things, but none were even recognizable anymore. A few coins were so corroded that they crumbled in his hands when he tried to pick them up.

  Shrugging and dusting himself off, he began to plan. He had to get out of the dungeon—obvious enough; fuck this expedition—but a thought had been intruding on him ever since picking up the cane.

  It was a foolish idea. Idiotic, actually. And still, he couldn’t let it go.

  What if he could kill the acid monster?

  Stupid, right? Probably downright suicidal to go looking for the thing. But on the other hand, hadn’t he scared it off? It had left him alive, clearly deciding he was more trouble than he was worth.

  That didn’t mean it couldn’t kill Nikolai—far from it—but perhaps with the cane and some solid strategizing.. It was glaringly obvious he was too weak as he was, he needed to grow stronger, and if there was one thing he had learned from games, stronger monsters, better rewards.

  He hesitated as he reached the doorway. He could choose left or right. Looking carefully around, he noticed that in one direction the stone walls were smoother somehow, almost glasslike.

  “No risk, no gains, right?” he muttered, then walked down the right hallway—the one with the smooth walls. He guessed the acid had slowly carved into the stone, leaving the surfaces barren of any roughness.

  The ooze monster likely traveled this way often, which meant the likelihood of finding it was higher.

  Nikolai moved quickly. His leather shoes should have echoed through the hallway, but instead made only a muted thump with each step. Noise-cancelling shoes. Nice.The outfit hidden in the cane was proving to be more than just stylish!

  Soon he reached an intersection—another choice—so he stuck with the same method, following the smoother walls. As he walked, he considered how to even fight the creature. He needed to keep his distance and channel Drain through the cane like a wand.

  It would probably take a bloody long time, but it would work. He was sure of it. He just had to stay alive long enough. His Drain and Curse spells in combination were essentially spells promising certain death, eventually at least. The ooze was massive. It likely had a huge amount of vitality and essence.

  Eventually the path sloped upward and curved slightly right until it opened into a large circular room. Around the room were several garbage chutes looking holes, their openings in the ceiling sloping down into the floor.

  Nikolai frowned. What the hell is this?

  A rush of air came from one of the chutes to his right. He pressed against the wall and wrapped darkness around himself. A blast of air erupted from the hole above before an endless stream of black, translucent sludge poured through.

  He watched, fascinated and horrified, as it gathered in the center of the room. Bodies—or what remained of them—floated within it. Just a couple, but it had definitely been successful in its hunt.

  None of them were alive. That was certain, and he was beginning to rethink the wisdom of what he was doing. Perhaps he really had lost his bloody mind.

  The sludge stopped coming, and the large ooze creature settled in the middle of the chamber, gently undulating. The corpses slowly, visibly melted. Nikolai suppressed a shudder. If he messed up, that would be him in minutes.

  He could still turn back. For a few seconds, he considered it.

  No.

  He was going to kill this thing because he needed to. It wasn’t revenge or justice or anything noble. This was about him—his progress, his power, his ability to destroy threats. He needed this..

  He had hurt the monster. He had scared it. And that gave him a dangerous, intoxicating sense of empowerment.

  Was it a little fucked up to kill things to feel better? Yes. Yes, it was.

  But this was a monster, and eliminating it could easily be justified. Not that he cared about that. Justification could take a back seat.

  Nikolai stepped out of the shadows, unnoticed for now. Grinning, he lifted the cane and pointed the crystal at the ooze. He activated Curse of Torment.

  The effect was immediate. The monster went into a frenzy, its form roiling chaotically. Spikes—oozy ones, but spikes nonetheless—erupted from its body. The curse really was surprisingly effective against this thing. A weakness to dark magic perhaps?

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  He didn’t wait. He cast Lesser Essence Drain. The rush of essence pouring into him was more intense than ever. The ooze convulsed as it finally realized where the threat was coming from.

  It surged toward him like a wave.

  Nikolai decided to test a theory. Mind Wipe normally required eye contact, but would it work on an ooze? It wasn't fast, and he had a moment to spare. He cast the spell.

  The monster froze and flattened into a thick, gelatinous puddle.

  He recast Drain, essence roaring through him until he had no idea what to do with it all. Drain consumed less energy than it gathered, leaving him almost overloaded.

  The ooze was already beginning to regroup, mind wipe wasn’t that effective it seemed, but Nikolai noticed something strange: streaks of greyish green ran through its body, almost like oil on water. He didn’t know what it meant and had no time to ponder it.

  The monster shot forward so fast he couldn’t react. With the sudden and unexpected burst of speed, It engulfed him completely.

  He really did not like the sensation of melting—again—but at least this time he wasn’t shocked by the sensation. It was horribly painful, no worse than that, but he kept his senses.

  Soothe ran on a low burn, keeping his mind rational despite the rising panic. He continued draining essence. The intake didn’t quite offset the damage, but it came close enough that they reached a grim stalemate.

  For at least a minute he hung suspended, unable to breathe or move. Pressure rippled around him at intervals—perhaps the creature’s way of digesting. Staying longer would kill him.

  Something brushed against him, more solid than the rest. Blindly—his eyes burning from acid, held shut—he reached out and grabbed the firmer mass.

  He sensed rot and corruption…and his own mana.

  His curse.

  This was what his curse was doing—solidifying patches of the creature. How would that even affect a human? Coagulating the blood? Not the time.

  Drain was going. Curse was going. Heal?

  …Heal?

  He thought of Soothe—how its effects could be reversed. What if he reversed Heal? Instead of mending corruption, increase it?

  With no better options, Nikolai reached for the rune. He cut off Drain—he couldn’t channel both.

  The stolen essence within him would burn off quickly, he had to work fast. Dark affinity mana flooded into the healing rune, there was harsh but brief resistance, but Nikolai forced the spell to activate. Blackened energy erupted around his hands.

  He pushed it into the solidifying tissue.

  He almost smiled, but opening his mouth would be monumentally idiotic—acid would pour in—but still, the reaction was horrifyingly satisfying.

  Like veins, thick clumps of the creature hardened with corruption. Its movements grew sluggish. Tremors rolled through it. Once again, he was in a race against time—either he died first, or the ooze did. The stolen essence helped bolster him against the damage, but despite the amount he had taken, it was running out fast.

  Luckily for him, the ooze began coming apart. Large chunks sloughed off. He was nearly out of stolen essence now. He switched spells again, draining the monster with everything he had. The curse had done its work. The reverse-heal effect had ravaged it. The process seemed irreversible.

  Nikolai’s feet touched the ground as the creature dissolved. The slime thinned into liquid rather than gel.

  His head broke the surface and he gasped for air. The monster twitched a few final times, then died.

  Nikolai stood in the center of the chamber as the ooze evaporated around him.

  He took several deep breaths, then pressed a glowing hand to his chest and began healing himself. The damage was extensive, but not critical thanks to the essence he’d stolen, and he was slowly recovering.

  He looked down at his clothes—soaked in dead ooze. They were more or less melted away anyways.. The cloak-like robe however, despite being quite a bit smaller than before seemed to be repairing itself. He couldn’t help but grin at that, magic was just cool no matter how fucked the situation.

  He used the cane to unsummon the suit, then tried summoned them again. They reappeared spotless.

  “Not much in the way of protection, but at least I’ll be looking sharp,” he muttered with a chuckle.

  Nearby, a large irregular orb had rolled to a stop. He picked it up—likely the monster’s core or something. It might fetch some coin. He tested the pouch he couldn’t open yet; to his delight, the orb vanished into it as soon as he pressed it to the opening.

  He looked around the room and found nothing else. Peering up one of the chutes, he logically assumed they led to higher levels. He tried poking his head inside, but the walls were perfectly smooth. No way he could climb them. Of course, that would have been too easy..

  Sighing, he turned back toward where he had entered. There had been a few intersections earlier—other paths to try. He didn’t relish wandering this maze, but didn’t have much choice.

  His stomach growled.

  “If I don’t find a way out, I might actually starve to death down here…”

  He glared at the pouch on his hip. It might contain food, but he had no idea how to open it.

  “Nothing for it, I suppose. I’ll just have to—”

  His breath vanished all at once. He choked. Heat flared through his chest. His entire body seized.

  His senses unraveled. Mana churned like a storm-tossed sea. Violent. Chaotic.

  He fell to his knees, then collapsed forward. The pain kept crashing over him until darkness swallowed everything. Then, suddenly, the pain vanished.

  Nikolai blinked. “What?”

  He was somewhere else.

  What fresh hell was this?

  He stood in…a space. Not exactly a room—too vast for that. Columns soared upward as if reaching the heavens. A dark sky glittered with stars. A throne stood far in the distance.

  Nikolai just knew he wasn’t going to like whatever came next.