I kept to the far side of the tunnel, not wanting to have to deal with the lurker, since I still didn’t know what to do to injure it. How did one hurt lava?

  Water might work. Probably ice, too.

  However, I didn’t have unlimited access to those, and I might need them later.

  Thinking about it, I kept to the side and continued. The lava flow peeled off from the tunnel, vanishing into the side of the wall.

  Each challenge in the dungeon had gotten harder. At the bottom, that level 90 Lurker waited, but something had to come before that.

  The tunnel opened up to a massive cavern filled with burning red light, but the tunnel curved in a different direction, less glowy and more of what we had been dealing with.

  [Would you like to continue on to the mini-boss battle, or leave the variant path?]

  I had a choice?

  This was the worst. I knew what waited for me if I went to the mini-boss battle. Or at least, I hoped that was the mini-boss battle.

  “What happens if I leave the path?” I asked aloud.

  [Do you want to continue on the normal pathway to this area’s final challenge?]

  That made it even harder. If I skipped the mini-boss I’d be able to keep going to that tower which had to be the final challenge. But leaving this unfinished made me uneasy.

  Leana’s warning that we needed to be higher level for what came next echoed inside my head.

  What better way to gain levels than against something I wasn’t sure I could beat? Worst case, I figured out a way to get the Wraiths to come down here and freeze the fucker.

  That voice I tried not to listen to agreed with me for once.

  I selected the mini-boss battle by ignoring the tunnel that broke off and stepping over the rocky ledge.

  Massive spears of stone pointed up, blocking my sight of whatever the cavern contained. As soon as I stepped around them, the wall of heat hit. Sweat broke out all over me, but it didn’t linger. I yanked my canteen out and slammed half of it before tossing it back into my inventory.

  Pitch black rocks floated in a giant pool of lava. The bright red light covered the space, coming from the liquid. Usually, light didn’t come from the ground, and it cast strange shadows upwards. Stalactites covered the ceiling like sharp teeth waiting to close in on me.

  There it was.

  Curled in a ball like a cat, in the center of a black rock, waited an enormous dragon-like creature. Black scales reflected the red glow, along with a thin fin running down its spine. A pointed tail peeked out from around one leg.

  Beyond the creature, another archway rested near the floor with a golden chest right in the center of it.

  The motivation was clear.

  Quiet snores reached me as its chest rose and fell. I studied the beast.

  [Magma Lurker, Stupor, Ambush, Level 90, Predator, Unknown.]

  Noseen's warning to me from way back in the jungle about overeating ran through my head. If you overeat it might knock you out, he’d said.

  How many Pyre Wyrms did I shove down here? It’d been, what, around five? If that creature ate all of them, the Stupor modifier made sense.

  It took everything in me not to laugh as I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw. My body shook slightly, but I held it in. I slowly let out a deep breath before swallowing as I smiled.

  I swung my cloak onto my back, creating a shadow between the cloth and my body.

  Strange thanked me for creating another space for him to hide.

  As I crept across the touching floating rocks, I monitored the sleeping Lurker. It stayed asleep, not even flinching. Sweat dripped down my back from the heat, but it wasn’t as bad as it should be. I thanked my body skill yet again.

  Strange stayed invisible in my barely-there shadow.

  The rock with the sleeping Lurker was connected to a narrow strip of rock that reached all the way to the exit. Lava flowed on either side of it. The chest glittered in the light, urging me closer.

  I knew the smart choice.

  Continue on, get the chest, and leave.

  Yet, I paused just beyond the lurker. All I had to do was take a step onto the walkway and stroll out of here. Loot and all.

  But no experience. Or extra experience for killing something about my level.

  This was dumb. Really dumb. I knew that.

  I pulled out all the water crystals I had, along with the air, and combined them while humming under my breath. It took only seconds to stretch the mass into three different knives. Notifications dinged, but I ignored them, prepping myself as much as possible.

  I silently gave Strange the choice to head to the exit without me, or stay with me.

  Thankfully, he didn’t take it as an insult and understood the tough fight ahead of us. He still chose to stay.

  All three solid knives gave off a soft blue glow as I finished my work.

  [Icy Fang, Knife.]

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  Hopefully, this worked.

  My spear went into my belt, along with the third knife. The first two I took, one in each hand. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself.

  I had to do as much damage as possible, as fast as possible. If these knives didn’t work, I’d probably run for it. Not dying was preferable to being burned alive and eaten by a Magma Lurker.

  This time, I didn’t use the soarstone. It had recharged a bit and would be better for an emergency escape plan.

  I jumped up with as much force as I could, flying much higher into the air than I’d expected. My movement skill had room to work as I aimed behind the great beast’s head. My knives hit before my feet landed, aiming to cut as deep as possible.

  Both sliced like butter.

  A scream echoed through the cavern, making everything shake. Pain erupted from both sides of my head as my eardrums burst. Silence took over.

  I bit my tongue as I pumped freeze-cold energy into both blades, not daring to let go.

  “Move!”

  Strange’s warning caused me to let go and dodge to the other side of the Magma Lurker’s fin as stalactites cut through the air from above.

  Two shattered on the front of the Lurker, while several others splashed into the lava pools. Several floating rocks sank below the surface as the lake of lava trembled.

  The pointed tail stabbed at me, moving much slower than anticipated.

  I dodged easily, and snagged the third Icy fang from my belt before plunging it into the gap between the two other knives. Again, I left my hand on it as long as possible to pump more cold into the creature.

  The three knives created a band of pure white frost stretching between one another across the back of of the Lurker’s neck.

  The creature rolled to one side, and I dangled in the air for a second before I swung myself onto its fin.

  A claw scratched at the knives in its neck, but couldn’t reach the icy blades.

  I yanked out my spear and slammed it into the side of the creature. Again, I focused on cold. The cold spread much quicker from this wound, the scales taking on a blueish tint.

  The Lurker's tail slammed into the stone it rested on, and my radar went crazy. Several more smaller creatures appeared in the room from below.

  Not good. Really not good.

  I checked the status of the Lurker.

  [Magma Lurker, Stupor, Chilled, Poisoned, Ambush, Level 90, Predator, Unknown.]

  Joy came from Strange as he danced in my shadow, apparently nipping wherever he could.

  I jerked my spear back and stabbed again, about three feet away from the first wound. A bluish tint spread from my weapon, and great shivers wracked the beast.

  I held on tight, but needed a plan. This wasn’t a plan anymore, just survival, and it was about to stop working.

  The mass of smaller lurkers approached floating across the surface of the lava.

  We needed to finish this now. If they pulled him in, it’d be over with.

  I shortened my spear as I yanked it out, and tossed it in its sheath before grabbing onto the handle of one knife still stuck in the Lurker.

  Just as I did, the monster heaved up, and my feet left the side of the creature.

  My one hand tightened around the knife handle, and I tried to get my feet to catch on it. When that failed, I swung myself closer to the other knife. Something inside me warned against pouring even more cold energy down the knife that I held onto.

  Then the Lurker slammed down again in the same spot. All that saved me was snagging the other knife while in the air.

  My heart pounded as the first small lurker reached the stone we fought on.

  Strange leaped out of my shadow and raced down the back of the larger Lurker's fin to the stone below.

  A loud screech and pull to chase him washed out in a wave, visible on the mental map we shared.

  It hit several close small lurkers.

  Then Strange fled down the stone pier to the exit.

  My feet found purchase and I yanked the two knives out, then plunged them back in. Yet that voice warned me again not to push it.

  “Die already!”

  The energy shots.

  Suddenly, I released one knife and an energy shot appeared in my hand. I stabbed it into my leg. I hoped it worked like I guessed it would.

  Power coursed through me at the contact, like too much caffeine, or worse.

  [You have taken an experimental booster.]

  Frigid energy raced down the knife, and the blue color on the Lurker’s scales spread. A whimper came from the beast, as more shivers rocked it beneath me.

  I dropped the shot and grasped the other knife, adding more cold energy.

  The whimper cut off.

  [You have defeated the mini-boss of the lava tubes. Congratulations. You have earned a token.]

  [You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against a level 90 Magma Lurker.]

  [You have leveled.]

  [You have gained a professional level.]

  The many mini lurkers froze in place, then moved as one, racing to the center of the room away from both Strange and me.

  Once a group of them reached the center, the fighting began.

  Eyes wide, I recovered two of the Icy Fangs out and tossed them into my crystal inventory, soon followed by the third. Then, taking a deep breath, I carved into the massive Lurker, searching for the heart.

  Icy blood dripped from the cuts, and the muscle remained semi-frozen in spots.

  The mini-lurkers arranged themselves into a ring as I worked.

  I paused when I found it. It appeared like a stone with red undertones, but was somehow still squishy.

  I took a bite.

  Spicy, it was hella spicy.

  My eyes watered as I took bites out of it, while watching the fighting and focusing on stats.

  I needed more stats. Physical stats.

  [You have devoured a Magma Lurker, and gained the potential skill: King’s Guard. You have ten skills already, would you like to forget one to learn King’s Guard?]

  Frustration welled up in me that this was the reward for taking down that monster. True, we had funneled food down here, and the fight had been easier since the mini-boss was in a food coma. But, still.

  One of the mini-lurkers flickered on my radar.

  Without sticking around, or responding to the question about the potential skill, I darted down the stone walkway toward the archway that led out of this room. We did not need to fight the next mini-boss, no matter the level.

  Strange sat on the stone ground several feet in front of the arch, and the chests.

  I crossed a line in the rock, which reminded me of the safe zone in the dungeon back in Lakeside. The feeling of the other lurkers vanished from my radar.

  Strange chirped twice and headed to the chests.

  There were two identical ones. One had my name attached to it.

  [Reward Chest for Defeating Optional Mini-Boss, Alex.]

  Strange nudged his chest, and it opened without a problem. His eyes grew wide and he jumped up and down several times.

  “What’d you get, buddy?”

  Something appeared next to his foot.

  [Skill Upgrade Token, Soul Bound, Strange.]

  “Now, that’s an amazing reward…” Upgrading a skill without needing to merge something in or doing a ton of work was worth that fight.

  He nodded a few times, studying it before it vanished again.

  “Not gonna use it now?”

  Uncertainty came from him, then he spoke in my mind. “Profession too low. Need more jobs.”

  “That makes sense,” I answered before opening up the quest board. It hadn’t worked last time I checked.

  Several quests appeared, all looking for various materials found within the dungeon.

  I made note of three that we might be able to find: Obsidian, Hound Skins, and Scales from a Pyre Wyrm. Each of these, if I’d thought of checking after we left the safe zone, we could have been gathering from the get go.

  “There are some folks in the safe area looking for materials. We have some Wyrms in my inventory that we can turn in. Or, rather, you can turn in, for delivering the materials for me.”

  Excitement came from Strange, who nodded at my chest.

  “Reward?”

  “Yep.”

  I opened the lid, bouncing on my toes to see what reward I’d get from defeating the mini-boss.