"These damn realms and dungeons sure love treating summons like second-rate individuals," King growled, clearly displeased by the fact that he hadn’t received any scales.

  Fluffy let out a low hiss in agreement, still lounging lazily on Riseth’s shoulder.

  Alistair chuckled before conjuring some of the scales from his soulscape, planning to offer them to King to test whether they could be shared or traded.

  But as soon as the scales appeared, he felt an unnatural pull toward the volcano and the raging magic within. The strange connection between the scales and the volcano vibrated, almost clawing at him with an undeniable intensity.

  He didn’t need his sharpened intuition to realize what he was meant to do—throw the scales into the volcano.

  Through their connection, Riseth sensed something was off. She pulled a scale from her Soulscape, her magenta eyes widening briefly before she bit her lip. Clearly, she was more hesitant to throw away something they had just obtained without knowing its exact value.

  Alistair conjured the rest of his scales, levitating about a hundred of them in front of him before chucking them into the volcano.

  "Of course, you would," Riseth said with a sigh, opening a rift in space just above the volcano and dumping her scales through it, letting them fall into the raging magic below.

  Alistair was mildly impressed that she could still use her magic this effectively so close to the now chaotic spatial phenomenon.

  The reaction was immediate and violent as the island threatened to crack apart, the fissures widening and the sea flowing into the cracks rushing toward the center of the island.

  Multicolored lightning arced violently from the volcano, tearing through the landscape and evaporating anything it touched. Alistair felt the connection he had to the scales abruptly vanish, and Riseth sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth.

  "It’s fine," Alistair said calmly. "We can earn it back if it’s lost. I’d rather invest it and aim for a greater reward."

  Riseth clicked her tongue in irritation. "You’re right. Sotarr did mention we’re being tested by Nivareth, though I can’t decide if it views us as gullible or ambitious."

  Alistair let out a laugh. "I’m sure we’re about to find out."

  Their attention snapped back to the formation as the magic grew more concentrated, space visibly distorting and time slowing around the center. Riseth cursed under her breath, breaking out in a cold sweat as she drew Jack, her body surging with gathered power.

  Alistair immediately shifted into a ready combat stance, trusting her instincts without hesitation.

  "The fabric of space between our plane and the others is about to tear," Riseth said, her tone sharp. "Something’s coming, and I don’t think it’s treasure."

  A beam of incredible energy erupted from the formation, streaking toward the sky before crashing against the fog barrier surrounding the realm. The barrier rippled, momentarily displacing the energy before swallowing it entirely.

  Alistair’s senses flared as he felt multiple presences—each at a far higher grade than them—clawing at the small tear in space where the beam had originated. Countless white fingers, tentacles, and feelers writhed, trying to force their way into their plane, space itself cracking under the strain.

  "We need to leave—now!" Riseth shouted.

  Not even King questioned Riseth’s decision as they raced toward the fog at the edge of the island. The eldritch magic clawed at their minds, a pressure eerily similar to what Alistair had felt long ago from the Screknid field boss. His Mental Fortress skill buckled and cracked under the strain.

  The aura of Nivareth blanketed them, effortlessly containing the eldritch monstrosities clawing their way through the tear in space. The strange fog surrounding the island surged inward in an instant, racing toward the center and swirling around the volcano like a protective tide.

  Grateful for the three levels he had gained, Alistair quickly allocated all his saved points into the Mind stat. His stats per level had jumped from 61 to 75, and he felt the surge in mental strength push him nearly two stages higher. Just as his defenses threatened to collapse and the strain on his mind became unbearable, the newfound strength steadied him, holding back the tide threatening to break him.

  Riseth placed a hand on his shoulder, and the crushing pressure lessened further. The strain flowed around them like a redirected stream, clawing at his mind only occasionally as the eldritch influence was swept away and dispersed by Riseth’s magic.

  "We might have been too ambitious," Riseth remarked, her gaze fixed on the volcano. They stood at the edge of the pocket realm, the fog just a few steps behind them, ready to provide an escape if needed.

  "Yeah, I think we weren’t supposed to throw all of the scales in there. We might have also gotten better scales by facing monsters above our grade," Alistair remarked.

  They watched as the fog enveloped the volcano, swirling like a maelstrom as it worked to contain the tear. Waves of eldritch influence subsided, diminishing substantially. As the spatial phenomenon came to an end, so did its oppressive presence. Alistair’s sight through Conceptual Awareness expanded just far enough to glimpse massive, horrifying shapes clawing their way through the fog. His mind came under renewed assault from the mere sight of them, just as the shapes were cut down and contained.

  He hissed in pain, clutching the side of his head but refusing to divert his gaze. He watched intently as all but two of the shapes were completely annihilated by the fog.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "I think we should be thankful that realms and dungeons don’t factor in summons when it comes to challenges and rewards," Alistair said, his gaze fixed on the fog. "Because it’s doing something to two of the eldritch monstrosities."

  As if to underline his point, the fog pulsed and expanded before retracting sharply. From its depths, two eldritch monstrosities emerged, changed but undeniably powerful, both nearing the peak of grade 8.

  The first was a writhing mass of tentacles covered in eyes, mouths, and various orifices, slithering out of the fog before flopping onto the stone floor like a grotesque octopus out of water. The stone beneath it darkened, turning a sickly black before dissolving into a moorish, liquid-like substance.

  The second monstrosity moved with an unsettling grace. It resembled a pure white hand with far too many fingers and additional appendages sprouting from its core. Its surface was lined with razor-filled mouths, while its numerous eyes rested on stalks that whirled chaotically before locking onto their group. Without hesitation, nails extended from its finger-like appendages, punching effortlessly into the rock as it raced toward them, its movements like the most horrifying spider imaginable.

  Alistair and Riseth stared at the approaching monstrosity as the second one unleashed a wave of eldritch influence in their direction. Riseth quickly redirected the attack, confirming in the process that the other creature was unaffected by the influence. They assessed the strength of the two monsters—neither was low-tier, and both were considerably higher level than them. However, their skills, body cultivation, and other advantages could bridge the gap. The real question was how clever and dangerous these eldritch beings might be.

  "I say we take them," Alistair said, his tone firm.

  Riseth hesitated for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she calculated their chances. Then she nodded. "Let’s eliminate the one approaching. I’ll keep the psychic attacks of the other at bay."

  They descended upon the crooked, spider-like hand as Alistair conjured his Battle Spheres, unleashing a relentless bombardment on the creature. To their surprise, it nimbly dodged the attacks with unsettling agility, skittering perpendicular to their path before leaping high above the forest.

  The monstrosity let out an unearthly screech. Its size swelled grotesquely as new appendages erupted from its core. From these fresh growths, it unleashed a hail of bone shards, each hurtling toward them with deadly precision.

  They dodged the attack, not needing to conjure barriers at this distance. Alistair quickly used Identify, revealing the creature as a [Fragments of Ktholl'kra - lvl ?].

  "Fuck, the other one is growing!" Riseth shouted over the cacophony of explosions.

  The moorish, liquefied ground began to flow into the tentacled creature, its mass swelling to the size of a bus and continuing to grow larger with each passing second. Its tendrils spread, infecting the surrounding environment and twisting it into something grotesquely wrong. Alistair’s Identify revealed it as a [Residue of Z'egreh - lvl ?].

  "Riseth, get on my back! I need your help to shield my mind—we’ll take it down together!" King roared, his wings flaring outward as black flames ignited along their edges, his tone decisive after quickly analyzing the situation.

  Riseth cast a quick glance at Alistair as Fluffy slithered off her shoulders, coiling itself beside him.

  "Go! King’s right—I’ll handle the spider thing!" Alistair called out, gripping his weapon tightly as he braced himself for the fight.

  "Are you sure you want your wife to fight the tentacle monster?" Riseth asked, a playful smile tugging at her lips.

  Alistair snorted with laughter. "You can take the spider if you want. I don’t mind switching," he replied with mock generosity.

  Riseth made a show of considering the offer, but they both knew they were better suited to their current opponents. With a small smirk, she teleported onto King’s back.

  As they soared into the air, Riseth conjured a massive portal for King to fly through. They emerged above the volcano, where King unleashed his black flames upon the creature. The eldritch monstrosity let out a shrill screech, its soundwaves threatening to crack space itself. Riseth swiftly redirected the sound, shattering part of the volcano’s slope beneath the creature. It slid down the incline, crashing into one of the towering crystalline spikes. The spike pierced its writhing form momentarily before the creature absorbed the crystal entirely, destroying it in an instant.

  Fluffy enlarged herself, the metal plates along her body spinning rapidly as electricity built up. Her scales took on a metallic sheen, hardening in preparation for what was to come. Alistair activated his boosting skills, including Cold Rage, as the eldritch creature’s presence would otherwise eventually crack his Mental Fortress. The sheer eldritch influence it exuded made his Mental Fortress quake, and he realized he wouldn’t be able to spare much of his focus for anything beyond fighting.

  "Support from a distance for now until we know what it’s capable of!" Alistair instructed Fluffy as the Ktholl’kra leaped at them, unleashing another hail of bone projectiles.

  Alistair met the charge head-on, his telekinesis partially siphoning the projectiles’ momentum while the rest splintered and crashed against his force barrier. With a roar, he swung his axe blade—glowing white-hot from his Blazing Edge skill—at the clawed limbs lashing out toward him.

  The limbs were severed with little effort, sailing through the air only to take on a life of their own, lashing out mid-flight. The flames from his strike burned the stumps and left scorch marks across the creature’s pristine white body, but the damage appeared minimal. The monstrosity remained unbothered, pressing forward as if the injuries were an afterthought.

  Alistair drew back, parrying the severed limbs with a rapid sweep of his poleaxe, burning them to cinders and extracting a significant amount of kinetic energy. His Cold Rage simmered, suppressing any celebratory thoughts. He had worried this truly alien abomination might not rely on conventional attacks utilizing kinetic energy, but his concerns only deepened as the fight continued.

  Countless sharp bone growths sprouted all over the eldritch being’s body before lancing out at him. Alistair swatted and cut into them, but he failed to intercept them all or fully rob the creature’s momentum. Each growth appeared to house its own magical circuit and reservoir of energy, acting independently. His momentum-based abilities were forced to split a hundredfold, straining his focus as bone spears scraped along his armor, one punching through his right arm and sending a sharp jolt of pain through his body.

  Fluffy darted around the battlefield, sending a hail of spinning metal plates hurtling toward the Ktholl’kra. The plates slammed violently into its body, knocking it further off course and sparing Alistair from more severe injuries. Several orifices and organs were crushed by her assault, though Alistair knew such damage was trivial to the monstrosity. His heavenly purity refined body reacted violently to the intrusion of the bone spear, magic flaring as it worked to purge the eldritch corruption invading and attempting to twist his flesh.

  The creature fell, seemingly incapable of flight, and unleashed another volley of bony projectiles. Alistair only growled in response, returning fire as his Combat Spheres shot back, each Kinetic Strike overpowering the spikes and punching through the monster’s body in a rhythmic barrage. The spheres pulsed and recharged between each shot, their impacts reverberating through the battlefield.

  Alistair strained his focus, descending upon the monster, weaving the rhythm of his strikes with a skill he had been refining, feeling his momentum grow with each exchange. He forced his power to surge, his attacks growing sharper and heavier as the fight progressed, fueled by the relentless tempo of the battle.