Charlemagne appeared in an enormous room lit by a warm glow that didn’t seem to have any specific source. At the very least, he didn’t appear to be casting a shadow. The floor, ceiling, and walls all seemed to be made of a dense, white stone, which were so packed with mana that his magical senses couldn’t penetrate through. Before he could examine the room further, the Squiggles arrived with a message.

  The rooster did not wish to hear about the Shop Points, as he did not really understand that they could be used to obtain things that he might want. He indicated to the Squiggles that he was ready to get on with it.

  Charlemagne began preparing his body for combat, allowing mana from his Ember Core to further strengthen his physique. Then he fearlessly moved to the center of the room, ready to pit himself against any foe that might appear. His ancient instincts that had been suppressed by months of domestic tranquility roared in anticipation of renewed predation. None of his recent opponents had held any real challenge, and he was itching to see just how strong he had grown through his Special Ability, The Power of Progeny.

  The Squiggles helpfully kept him apprised of how much time remained, allowing him to focus on the impending battle.

  Charlemagne’s senses went into overdrive as he awaited his first opponent. His blood boiled with barely retrained power as his muscles coiled up, ready to spring into action as soon as he located his opponent. His well-developed mana sense noticed the change first, a rush of power that began to coalesce and then collapse into a single point just a few steps ahead of him. The ambient mana levels spiked higher than anything he had ever seen before, temporarily overwhelming his mystical senses. When the rooster recovered, his wave one opponent had appeared before him.

  It flopped helplessly on the white stone floor.

  Charlemagne studied the orange and white fish that gasped and struggled to right itself. It seemed just as real as any other creature that he had fought…there was no indication that the being had been summoned whole cloth from mana. Having been unable to observe the final moments of the creature’s creation, he was completely ignorant of how everything fit together, but there were two things he was certain of.

  First, the fish was no match for him. Second, it appeared delicious.

  Putting his Fowl Arts to good use, the rooster launched into the air and slammed his powerful claw into the fish’s eye. The move destroyed the fish’s tiny brain with minimal spoilage of its flesh, showing that it was both efficient and lethal. Having swiftly vanquished his first foe, Charlemagne reached forward with his beak to take a big bite of the tender flesh that lay beneath the orange scales.

  The fish vanished.

  Charlemagne bawked in annoyance and looked around, wondering how long he had until the next wave began.

  The second wave consisted of two small creatures that looked similar to rats, if rats possessed six legs and tongues studded with what appeared to be thorns. Charlemagne didn’t bother trying to eat either of them.

  The waves continued with little change in difficulty, although none of the creatures was as useless at combat as the fish had been. That was, until the first Boss arrived.

  The rooster felt as though he hadn’t even had a chance to warm up yet. All of the foes so far had been taken out by one hit without doing any damage at all to him. The feeble attacks that the creatures had been able to muster were turned aside by his natural defenses – he hadn’t even needed to create mana shields to blunt them. He was hoping that the first Boss would at least push him a little.

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  The rooster’s excitement level rose as the Boss materialized. It was big…much bigger than any of the other creatures had been. In fact, it was so large that its head nearly touched the room’s ceiling. The creature’s appearance was also unnaturally hideous. It looked like a bloated, bipedal reptile with thick green, scaly skin covered in tumors and other strange growths. On top of that, it had way too many eyes. The Boss shrieked as soon as it fully manifested, creating a sonic attack that split the air and assaulted Charlemagne’s inner ears. The rooster, who was already airborne, powered through the sudden disorientation and prepared a counter attack.

  One of the few things that Charlemagne had learned from his brief sojourn to Niamey was the concept of “collateral damage”. Ndiogou had been very clear that he wanted to kill the humans responsible for the death of his chicks without destroying the entire town. The rooster had not fully understood the sentiment until he had taken possession of his own farm. One day, while he was defending one of his corn storehouses from a particularly stubborn moose, he had accidentally crushed a number of his own progeny. The resulting negative feelings were…intense. Since that fateful day, the rooster had been working on a mana attack that would only kill its intended target, allowing him to swiftly kill trespassers without destroying his farm or harming his chicks.

  Charlemagne, mindful that he was unable to eat his opponents to regain his energy, decided to start things off small. He allowed a fraction of his stored power to flow from his Ember Core through his mana channels, where his Veins of Lava Skill further purified and enhanced the power before it accumulated near the rooster’s beak. A tight sphere of blue mana tinged with yellow formed inside his open mouth, but the yellow brightened as the sphere was compressed into a tiny pellet, turning the entire construct a brilliant white. The energy constantly strained against its confines, a miniature supernova in chains aching to be unleashed upon the universe. The rooster obliged it.

  “Buck-kawk!”

  With a speed that surprised Charlemagne, the condensed ball of energy streaked forward and slammed into the back of the enormous reptile’s throat. The Boss closed its mouth and then reopened it before closing it a second time, as it attempted to figure out what had just happened. A moment later, its confusion became moot as the rooster’s newest attack detonated, blowing the Boss’ head apart.

  The rooster, having only used a small percentage of his full strength on the last attack, indicated that he was ready.

  The next nine waves passed swiftly, except for one where Charlemagne fought what appeared to be a living cloud of gas. Although most combatants would have eventually discovered the creature’s one vulnerable spot, the rooster lost patience after a while and blew the thing up, allowing him to advance to the next round. Before Charlemagne knew it, he was fighting the second Boss.

  This Boss appeared to be a cross between a crab, a hot air balloon, and a scorpion. It appeared in midair and immediately swooped toward the rooster with its deadly-looking stinger outstretched, attempting to use its bulk to impale its avian adversary. Charlemagne met the stinger head on, his powerful beak deflecting the much larger appendage. The Boss screeched in displeasure and attempted to reorient itself for another attack. Unfortunately, it was much too large to turn around gracefully.

  Taking advantage of the Boss’ position, Charlemagne leaped into the air and used his wings to provide a bit of additional lift, landing right between where the creature’s shoulder blades would be if it had any. His claws found a seam in his opponent’s armored shell, granting him both purchase to hang on and a target. His Fowl Arts Skill highlighted the exact spot where the Boss’ armor was weakest, and the rooster immediately slammed his beak into it, unleashing a burst of scalding air and bodily fluids from the enormous Boss’ innards. The creature swiftly lost its buoyancy and crashed into the ground, allowing the rooster to finish it off at his leisure.

  The rooster felt moderately warmed up by this point and did not want to take a break. He declined, starting the next round of ten waves.

  As the rooster waited for the next monster to appear, he assessed the condition of his body. His beak had taken a tiny bit of damage during the exchange with the Boss’ stinger, allowing a small amount of venom to enter his bloodstream. Against most other beings, the venom would have proven almost instantly fatal, but Charlemagne had a number of advantages that lesser beings did not. First off, his Durability Attribute was immense thanks to the effects of his Achievements. Second, his Veins of Lava seemed to provide some measure of protection against poisons. Third, his Ember Core synergized with his Veins of Lava Skill to burn away toxins. And, last but not least, he had experienced dozens if not hundreds of bites from Assassinadders in N’dali, tempering his body with toxic chemicals.

  Despite all of this, Charlemagne could feel his combat ability drop as his Ember Core diverted more mana to counteract the effects of the Boss’ exceedingly potent poison. His opponents no longer seemed to be moving in slow-motion, requiring him to at least consider defense rather than being able to focus exclusively on offense. Still, his powerful Bulwark Skill prevented him from taking any real damage, and the few bruises and cuts he did experience over the next nine battles were almost instantly healed up by his incredible vitality and mana storage capacity. Despite the fights taking two and sometimes even three hits to finish, the rooster quickly advanced to the next Boss fight. The venom had been almost completely neutralized by this point, but at the cost of a considerable portion of his stored power. The rooster was determined not to make the same mistake twice.

  As the Boss began to materialize, Charlemagne had an idea that he believed was completely brilliant and foolproof. As mana flooded the chamber and swiftly coalesced into a single point, he attempted to hijack a portion of the flow, forcing it inside his own body instead. At first, the mana was stubborn and refused to do what the rooster wanted. However, once Charlemagne got serious and exerted his full power, he was able to divert a small stream away from its intended destination and straight into his body.

  As soon as the mana reached his Ember Core, there was an immediate and powerful reaction.