Upon returning to the chamber where he had defeated the Abyssal Liche - Flame Lord, Jake approached the skeleton’s lifeless form. He crouched down, reaching for the rune stone that dangled from the liche’s neck.
He examined the mysterious symbol etched into the rune stone’s surface, mentally comparing it to the top symbol engraved on the arch, which he had memorized. They indeed appeared identical, but he wasn’t sure yet what it might mean. Transforming his left hand into claws, he used them to tear the rope securing the rune stone. Reverting his claws back to a human-like hand, he gripped the stone and rose to his feet, his gaze still fixed on the symbol.
While he couldn’t pinpoint its meaning, he could see that the symbol vaguely resembled a flame. During his battle with the flame abyssal liche, the skeleton had siphoned energy from the rune stone into its staff, granting it the ability to launch fireballs. This rune stone had clearly harbored the power of fire magic—at least, it had at one time. Now, however, the symbol lay dormant, no longer glowing, indicating that the rune stone was depleted of energy. However, he guessed that it could be recharged somehow.
He recalled the other two symbols carved into the arch of the portal. The symbol beneath the fiery one gave him an impression of ice, while the bottom symbol resembled a smoky splatter, giving him an impression of acid. If the first symbol represented fire magic and the second indicated frost, then the third likely signified acid, poison, or something akin to that.
So, if his guess was correct, it indicated that there should be two more rune stones similar to the one he held. The question of where to find them was becoming increasingly obvious. He had acquired the fire rune stone from a flame abyssal liche. This suggested that two other similar creatures were lurking somewhere on this floor—one with a frost rune and the other with an acid or poison one. He just had to track them down.
Jake pressed on through the dungeon for some time, dispatching every undead group that crossed his path. Eventually, he stumbled upon another black obelisk. However, he chose to leave it alone for now, as his primary objective was to locate the remaining rune stones. He felt he had explored most of the first floor by that point, but there were still areas he hadn’t ventured into yet.
At some point, after eliminating another bunch of undead, he checked his current experience.
Finally, he discovered a chamber with a familiar foe inside. The skeleton hovered motionlessly a few inches above the cobbled floor, clad in a long robe and gripping a crystal-topped staff in one hand. A rune stone adorned its neck, and a mysterious symbol etched into its surface pulsed with an eerie blue light. It was definitely identical to the second symbol engraved on the portal’s arch.
Abyssal Liche – Frost Lord – Level 90 (Elite)
The skeleton bore a striking resemblance to the previous abyssal liche he had defeated, save for the different rune stone hanging from its neck. The frost liche detected his presence at the entrance but made no attempt to advance, waiting for him to step into the chamber before launching an attack.
Knowing that his ethereal battleaxe would be ineffective against an undead creature with a physical body, Jake let the weapon fall to the floor. He also dropped the fire rune stone he held in his other hand. He had made a point not to carry it in his mouth, as he occasionally used Acidic Spit in battles against the undead, which was a powerful ability that could damage anything in its path. Keeping the rune stone safe was a priority, so he carried it in his hand and dropped it to the floor when he was about to confront an undead foe.
Jake burst into a sprint toward the liche. The skeleton quickly aimed its staff at him, and a wave of energy surged from the rune stone toward the crystal atop the staff, charging it. In the next instant, several projectiles that resembled icicles shot through the air toward him like missiles. Those frost shards—or whatever they were called—were pretty large and robust-looking.
He sidestepped one of the icy projectiles, which whizzed harmlessly over his head. Another shot was so far off that he barely needed to move, missing him by a wide margin. However, the liche had simultaneously launched over a dozen ice shards at slightly varying angles, causing them to spread out widely and making it impossible for him to evade every one of them.
One of the icy projectiles struck him in the shoulder, embedding itself an inch into his flesh. The Adaptive Armor quickly grew an additional plate at the point of impact, but whether due to the overwhelming power of the liche’s magic or the effects of the Fragile Body curse, which rendered him extremely vulnerable to piercing damage, the frost shard managed to break through his armor.
Another shard thrust into his thigh, burying itself in his flesh, the tip of the icy projectile sticking from the other side of his leg. Jake was about to pull the shard from his shoulder but then realized it wasn’t necessary, as it was already beginning to melt. At the pace it was turning into liquid, it would be fully converted to water in just a few seconds. Sensing that it would be pointless to remove it now, he decided to leave the shards embedded in his body as he continued to dodge the other icy projectiles the liche was sending his way.
Then, suddenly, the barrage ceased. The two projectiles had melted into water, leaving gaping holes in his body, from which mana was seeping out. Enhanced Regeneration was tirelessly working to mend his wounds, but he knew he would lose a portion of his mana before they were fully sealed. Jake refused to let himself dwell on that, as defeating the liche was his priority. With the barrage ceased, he charged at his undead foe.
The skeleton leaned in, its jaws creaking open. Realizing it was about to unleash another ability, Jake immediately darted to the side. A wave of frigid air surged from the liche’s mouth, carrying with it thousands of sparkling particles, rapidly forming a vast blue cloud that spread in all directions. Despite having leaped aside, Jake was still partially enveloped by the chilling mist.
You have just gotten a negative effect: Mild Frostbite. All your movements will be slightly slowed down for a short amount of time.
Although his movements were indeed hampered, they weren’t significantly slowed. Jake moved around the gradually dissipating blue cloud and approached the liche from the other side. Unlike the Abyssal Liche - Flame Lord, his current foe didn’t possess the ability to instantly shift several yards away, leaving it wide open for the two powerful punches Jake unleashed. The first one shattered its ribcage, and the second one caused its skull to blow apart in an explosion of bone shards. What was left of the skeleton dropped to the floor.
Enemy killed. +2,500 XP
Jake quickly severed the rope that held the rune stone around the skeleton’s neck and grabbed the stone, cradling it in one hand. The symbol glowed for a fleeting second before fading into darkness. Almost immediately, a familiar ghostly figure began to emerge from the fallen liche’s body. In his previous encounter, the shade had seemed to emerge from the very fire rune stone of the fallen flame abyssal liche. Now, however, it became clear he had been mistaken—the new shade was manifesting from the frost liche’s body instead of the rune stone, which was now held in his hand.
Wheeling around, Jake sprinted toward the exit where he had left the fire rune stone and the ethereal battleaxe. He dropped the frost rune next to the fire one, then picked up the battleaxe and turned back to face the shade.
The battle against the shade proved to be relatively simple, as all the damage it inflicted was absorbed by his ethereal protective medallion. As he landed the final strike, the shade erupted in a dazzling light before disintegrating into nothing.
Enemy killed. +3,000 XP
Once the battle ended, Jake inspected his medallion to gauge its remaining energy. To his dismay, he found only fifteen percent left. Unless he could figure out a way to recharge it, facing the shade that would emerge from the final abyssal liche would be quite tough, as he would be left defenseless against most of its attacks.
He checked his current experience.
It wouldn’t be long before he leveled up now. He returned to the exit of the chamber where the two inactive rune stones lay on the floor. While he now had two rune stones in his possession, both were devoid of magical energy. Jake doubted anything would happen if he brought them to the portal. He was pretty much sure they needed to somehow be charged with magical energy to have any effect on the portal.
Strangely enough, once he killed the frost liche, its rune stone had almost immediately lost its charge. Perhaps he should have snatched the stones from the liches before defeating them? Or not kill them at all? While the thought of not killing the liches crossed his mind, it didn’t feel right. After all, wasn’t it the purpose of dungeons to defeat their monsters?
Anyway, he decided to try to snatch the rune stone from the last liche he would encounter, hoping to keep its energy intact. If that didn’t do the trick, he would have to find some way to charge the rune stones. With that plan in mind, he set off in search of the final abyssal liche.