Aerion had already scooped Rogar and Philip by the time I shoved the forge into my inventory. Richard jumped on my back, and we were off.

  Not a moment too soon, either. Beasts of all shapes and sizes darted after us the moment we started, emerging from the forest like ants.

  We hugged the small mountain range where the ore deposit had been—while the foothills were slanted and full of boulders, scree, and other hazardous footing, it allowed us to travel far faster than we could in the forest. That dangerous footing also slowed our pursuers, while Aerion and I actually benefited.

  With my Grace that continued to improve almost by the minute, I might as well have been running on flat asphalt. My movements grew more nimble with every step, as did my pace.

  It wasn’t long before I surged past Aerion, forcing myself to slow down to not leave her behind.

  I just wished my other stats went up as fast as Grace did. The truth was that these monsters were simply no longer at our level—not to mention the fact that half my stats couldn’t increase at all because I’d already earned more points than what my current loadout gave me.

  Our luck ran out when the range ended, merging back with the forest. I briefly considered the branches, but my Grace stat wasn’t nearly high enough to pull off that feat. Not with any speed, anyway. Besides, while Grace made me more nimble, it did nothing to offset my weight. That was one area where Aerion would always have me beat. Well, unless I found armor that made me lighter. Not inconceivable.

  Our pace slowed significantly upon entering the forest, and whatever gains we’d made at the foothills swiftly disappeared.

  The creatures following us must have sensed this and sped up, because it wasn’t long before Richard called out a warning from behind me.

  “They can’t be more than twenty feet away,” he said, his voice tinged with effort and anxiety. “I’ve been bursting hearts as I can, but I don’t reckon I can hold them off much longer.”

  “Roger that,” I replied. I was about to clarify the turn of phrase when I realized Richard was probably the one person on this planet who actually got it. Despite our dire predicament… I smiled. Life was just so much better with a few friends.

  “Alright, listen up,” I shouted so that I’d be heard over the sound of the wind and foliage rushing past us. “The moment we find a clearing, we stop and take out these fuckers following us. Rogar and Philip at the back, with Richard, while Aerion and I deal with whatever-the-fuck is following us. Understood?”

  As much as I hated babying Philip and Rogar, I'd come up empty after wracking my brain for ideas. Slingshots came to mind considering how the goblins and most other creatures in this dungeon were made of Obsidian, but without Initialized weapons and projectiles, they wouldn't do much against these foes. It'd taken a full swing of my longsword back when I'd first entered to take down even the weaker monsters. A mundane slingshot, even with the relatively impressive power slingshots could muster, wouldn't have sufficed. Nor did I have enough Essence to give them both Initialized weapons and projectiles. To say nothing of the hassle of retrieving the ones that missed. I'd have to come up with a solution, eventually, but for now, they stayed at the rear.

  “Understood!” “Got it!” “Yep,” came the chorus of responses, making me feel like the leader of some elite squad of special forces. Weird. It… wasn’t a bad feeling. Despite having gamed solo all my life, I could see myself getting used to this.

  Our opportunity came either just in the nick of time, or about ten minutes too late, depending on how you looked at it. I’d been fending off several attacks for the past several minutes. The obsidian-cheetahs struck first, being the fastest.

  Dodging and deflecting their attacks slowed us down, giving the chimps and lemurs enough time to dive bomb from the trees above.

  The meadow did finally arrive, though, and the instant I cleared the other side, I dropped Richard and bolted back, getting a good look at our pursuers for the first time.

  I had apparently underestimated the opposition.

  Over a hundred different animals of all sorts rushed us—some small and lithe, others as large as boulders. Their only unifying trait was their obsidian composition.

  “Alright, friends,” I muttered, grinning. “Time to test out some new strats. I sincerely hope you’re ready to get your glass cracked.”

  Not for the first time, Richard felt the drum beat of frustration pound in his chest as Greg and Aerion rushed headlong into battle. Yet again, he lamented his frailty, recalling Passion’s words to him soon after he’d been summoned.

  Richard would never grow strong. Physically, he would be as weak as an ordinary human. Greg might’ve had the same restriction, but he’d devised a clever way around it. Greg’s armor made him superhuman, and considering how he never took off that armor, Greg was superhuman, as far as Richard was concerned.

  Aerion… Well, there was no need to wonder about her strength. The diminutive elf scared Richard. Matilda would be her size in only a few years. To even imagine his daughter besting grown men in strength? Let alone brutality…

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Richard shivered. He both feared Aerion and envied her. To possess such awe-inspiring power…

  Almost before he completed that thought, Aerion bounded toward a gorilla made of black glass., thrusting with her sword. By rights, such an attack ought to have had no chance of doing any damage. And yet, the sound of breaking glass confirmed she’d just annihilated her opponent in a single strike.

  Richard watched in awe as she carried her momentum, slamming a shoulder into what looked like a lemur, shattering it before it even had a chance to react.

  Kicking off one foot, she surged into her next foe, dealing devastating strikes one after another in a masterfully choreographed symphony of death.

  Next to her, what was he? True, he’d gained power after his recent rank up, courtesy of the Cataclysm Dungeon. Yet, it was more of the same power. Nothing new, like Greg or Aerion’s. His range was greater, his ability to crush hearts stronger now. That was all…

  What was that, next to Aerion’s might? To say nothing of her [Shock] ability, or that she inherited the powers of whatever weapons Greg Initialized for her.

  And then there was Greg himself. Richard had half expected the bag of tricks to fire more bullets from his magic bag, laying down a barrage of fire that decimated their enemies.

  Richard shook his head. The man was like a tank loaded with a machine gun. Or he had been in previous fights. Now? Now… he was more akin to a fighter jet, moving so fast that nothing could touch him.

  Richard had to blink to confirm he wasn’t seeing things. Greg blurred as he moved, to where Richard had trouble tracking the man.

  “Just me, or has he gone and gotten even faster since the last floor?” Philip muttered from beside him.

  Richard liked Philip. He came off as the sort of hard-working, humble man anyone could respect. His wisdom of years only augmented that aura. Richard felt very much like they could be friends, and their limited conversations had only solidified that belief.

  “Reckon you’re right,” Richard replied, while Rogar only grunted.

  The stocky blacksmith was an enigma. On the one hand, he seemed friendly enough, if a little rough around the edges. On the other, Aerion had explained how he’d treated Greg when they first met. Utterly repulsive behavior, in Richard’s mind. He hadn’t quite decided whether to hate the man or forgive him. He’d kept interactions to a minimum for now.

  Ignoring him, Richard turned his eyes back to the battle. Where Aerion’s steps were graceful and elegant, like a dancer’s, Greg was, well, he was a bit like Iron Man, wasn’t he?

  His strikes were direct, his footwork somewhat awkward, especially for the speed at which he moved.

  None of it mattered, however, when his opponents could barely register him, let alone react.

  It was quite remarkable, really. Rather than focus on Greg, he focused on the sounds of shattered glass that followed him. They came so quick, and in such rhythmic succession, that they almost formed a song of sorts. Each shattering with their own pitch and tone.

  “You think he’s smashing them, like Aerion?” Philip asked.

  “Can’t be,” Rogar said. “Too fast. Must be using those pebbles of his.”

  At first, Richard’s eyes couldn’t make heads or tails of Greg’s methodology. After Rogar’s tip, however, he started to see the signs. The shattered shards hid the biggest clue.

  “He’s only using a single pebble,” Richard breathed, unable to process what his eyes were telling him. “Just one.”

  “You sure?” Philip asked, squinting. “I can’t see anything.”

  “It has to be,” Richard said. “The way the obsidian beasts shatter… It’s near instant. And the shards all explode radially out, all from a single point of origin. That can only mean one thing.”

  “By Dominion,” Philip said, clutching his helmet. “That’s absurd!”

  “Do you see, Philip?” Rogar muttered. “This is the strength we stand to gain from the Trial. The chance to become more than human.”

  Philip’s eyes widened, while Richard’s only narrowed. Perhaps for them… Perhaps they would receive a Blessing of Dominion. Richard, however, would only gain some paltry experience.

  It wasn’t enough. He needed more. Wanted more. Wanted it with every shred of his being. Not just to ensure his safety. Not just so he could return to his family.

  He simply wished for it. Wished for the power to crush his foes like Greg and Aerion. Power for power’s sake.

  It was a sensation Richard had not felt in the past. Power was best left to the authorities, who knew what they were doing… and he still believed that. Back on Earth, there was no need for civilians to be strong.

  This, however, was Axius. A world that played by a different set of rules. It was a world much closer to the law of the jungle. To be weak was to be preyed upon. To be weak was to allow the Archon to rampage, slaughtering thousands and millions. Men, women… even children.

  The very thought made Richard’s blood boil like it never had.

  Frustration and indignation swirled within his chest, spinning faster, growing more potent like a whirlpool until… until something deep within him cracked. Something that had been long dormant, sealing the furnace that was his heart.

  Something dangerous.

  When Richard heard—no, felt—Passion’s laughter resonate within him, he suddenly understood the reason he was so weak. He understood why he’d been caged and hampered.

  And he now understood what had to be done to unlock the vast reserves of power within him.

  Slowly, Richard’s arm extended toward the swiftly-diminishing horde of beasts. Slowly, his fingers closed. Invisible threads of red speared out to every creature still alive.

  And, like a noose, closed around their necks.

  Richard’s fist clenched, pulling the threads. Tightening, straining, until their victims could withstand the force no longer.

  The symphony of shattering came to an end. Not with a slow decay, but in a grand explosion…

  As two-dozen bodies burst at once.