Chapter 116: Second Phase
Slash!
In one smooth motion, the sword gently touched the floor, slicing flawlessly through the sphere and the stone platform on which it was placed, cutting them into two symmetrical halves.
"Huff..." Vlad breathed out as he pulled back the sword, resting it on his shoulder.
Ding...
[You have cleared the first phase of the first floor of Ascension Dungeon!]
[The next phase will begin in four hours.]
"Eh? What am I supposed to do for four ho—" Vlad’s words stopped mid-sentence as his eyes fell on the two halves of the sliced sphere. At the centre of the two hemispheres, something was embedded, its radiance painting Vlad’s face in a golden hue.
Vlad pulled out the two smaller hemispheres, revealing what looked like a golden pill that had been embedded in the sphere and was now cut in two by his blade.
He had barely touched them when the system screen appeared again.
Ding...
[You have received two halves of the panacea pill.
Description (Panacea pill first): A legendary alchemical pill that permanently grants its consumer immunity to all conventional poisons.
Description (Panacea pill second): A legendary alchemical pill that permanently grants its consumer immunity to mana-based toxins whose rank is equal to or lower than that of the consumer. Poisons exceeding the user’s rank are weakened but not completely negated.]
"Ohh, this is an amazing pill," Vlad exclaimed, reading the description. "If I’d had this before, I wouldn’t have been affected by the sedatives in the city, or faced such difficulty defeating Lorenzo."
Without wasting any time, he sat on the floor and swallowed the first half of the pill. It melted inside his stomach, giving him a warm sensation. To his relief, he did not suffer through the same deadly pain he had endured when consuming the previous items received from the system.
Once he had consumed both pills, he decided to spend the remaining time getting some well-deserved rest.
---
Ding...
[The second phase of the first floor of the Ascension Dungeon is starting in five seconds.]
Vlad’s eyes opened to the notification sound of the system as he slowly rose to his feet, stretching his sore back from sleeping on the cold stone floor.
The heavy rumble of grinding stone echoed through the hall as the keyless back door began sliding upward, disappearing into the wall.
His eyes narrowed at the dark opening beyond the gate as he heard heavy footsteps approaching from the other side. He could feel the reverberations under his feet.
What emerged first was a pair of grey pillars formed from numerous asymmetrical stones interlocked with one another. Following the pillars emerged a massive head with stone eyes and no mouth. It was only when the entire figure emerged that Vlad realized what he had mistaken for a pair of pillars were actually the arms of a massive golem supporting its upper frame, its fists cracking the stone tiles beneath it from sheer weight as it walked forward. It stood over seven feet tall even with its back bent forward. At the centre of its chest, a blue-colored core was embedded, its surface reflecting its surroundings.
Vlad pulled out his sword from the inventory, gripping the hilt with both hands as he took a step back, preparing for a fight.
"I-is it really a golem?" he mumbled, slightly taken aback. From what he had read in the library about monsters, golems could range from threat level I all the way to threat level IV, depending on the materials used in their formation. Yes, golems were not naturally occurring monsters but artificially made ones that performed only fixed functions under given protocols.
Ding...
[You have entered the second phase of the first floor of Ascension Dungeon.]
[Defeat the Rock Golem to clear the second phase.]
"Thank god it didn’t impose the condition of using a wooden sword to defeat it," Vlad said, releasing a sigh of relief, trying to find something positive in this absurd situation.
It would be a lie to say Vlad wasn’t nervous. It was his first time facing an actual magical monster, after all. Still, there was not a hint of fear in his eyes. He had been up against far worse monsters in the past. A mere golem with no intelligence was nothing.
With this determination, he laced The Eclair’s blade with his dark mana, his crimson eyes fixed on the incoming monster.
Vlad rushed at the monster, thrusting the blade straight at the core in its chest.
Tang!
The golem’s fist struck the flat of the incoming blade, sending Vlad flying sideways. He steadied himself, his feet and one hand skidding backward across the floor.
The monster had fast instincts for its size. It fixed him with its stone eyes as if it could actually see him. Slamming its fists and stone legs onto the floor, it rushed at Vlad, shaking the ground with the sheer force of its movement.
Instead of retreating, Vlad rushed straight at the monster. He wanted to see the results of his training from the past two months.
Once he was in range, he swung his sword with both hands straight at the stone fist hurtling toward him.
Tang!!!!
The whole hall rang out with the sharp sound of steel meeting stone. This time, the sword cleanly sliced the fist in half. However, at the same time, the golem had hurled its other fist toward Vlad’s open side.
The muscles in Vlad’s arms bulged as he twisted the blade, changing its trajectory toward the golem’s other arm. It struck the forearm from below and sliced it clean off as Vlad’s blade rose, leaving a trail of dark flame in its wake.
The heavy arm fell to the floor with a loud thud. However, there was one thing Vlad had overlooked. He was fighting a monster that did not feel pain.
The previous fist that Vlad had sliced through the middle was still coming for him. By the time he realized it, it was already too late to defend himself.
Bam!
The fist struck Vlad square in the chest, sending him rolling across the floor.
"Cough-cough!" Blood spilled from Vlad’s mouth onto the floor as he lay clutching his chest. A sharp stab erupted through his chest every time he tried to breathe.
"F-fuck... definitely the ribs," he muttered between heavy gasps.
He pushed himself up onto all fours, his grip tightening around the sword. Even amid the sudden attacks and the intense pain surging from his chest, the mana blade from his sword did not waver for even a moment.
He was still struggling to rise to his feet when the rock golem was already standing before him, launching another fist straight at his head.
"Damn it, I’m still a weakling," Vlad muttered, raising his head to meet the incoming fist as he rose to his knees.
Just as the fist came within inches of his face, it abruptly froze in motion. Vlad’s hair fluttered back from the rush of air carried by the massive fist, while his sword, thrust at the last moment, was buried in the core embedded in the golem’s chest.