Jake refused to believe that, though. The destroyed portal must be part of the puzzle he needed to solve. He was sure of it. He just needed to find a way to somehow piece the arch back together. He couldn’t do it himself, but there should be some clues about how the portal could be restored. He had explored only a small part of the third floor so far, so somewhere in the unexplored sections, there should be something that could help him fix the portal—some magic spell or something like that. He just needed to find it. With that in mind, he exited the chamber and ventured further into the depths of the dungeon.
At some point, he entered a vast cavern filled with luminescent mushrooms clinging to the walls, illuminating the entire area. Jake stopped at the entrance to take in the sight. In the middle of the cavern stood a tall and imposing creature. It faced the entrance, so it saw Jake but made no move toward him. Maintaining a safe distance from the enemy, Jake took a moment to examine it. The creature was humanoid, some sort of golem, standing over a dozen feet tall. Jake was tall himself, but his head hardly reached halfway up the golem’s body.
The golem was a stunning amalgamation of shimmering, transparent crystals. Its figure featured jagged edges and sharp angles, giving it both beauty and a sense of danger. For a moment, Jake was mesmerized by the intricate mosaic of various crystals that made up the golem’s body. The glow of the mushrooms reflected off the facets of its crystalline form, creating a dazzling display of colors that danced across its exterior and cast an ethereal glow on the walls. Within the golem’s eye sockets, two orbs of red light glimmered with an unsettling intensity.
The creature’s arms and legs were as thick as logs, its hands balled into powerful fists seemingly strong enough to shatter the cave walls. It had a peculiar-looking helmet atop its huge head—long and pointed, but lacking a faceplate. As Jake took a closer look, he realized the helmet wasn’t merely resting atop the golem’s head. Instead, it appeared to have fused with its crystalline structure. Jake couldn’t help but wonder what the golem even needed a helmet for—its crystalline body seemed sturdy and resilient as it was.
With a thought, Jake summoned its description.
Construct – Crystal Golem – Level 125 (Elite)
The crystal golem had a level advantage of over thirty, but that didn’t concern Jake—he had faced tougher foes before. By that point, he had grown accustomed to battling elite opponents who far outleveled him. He then activated his Enemy Appraisal perk to examine the crystal golem’s attributes and uncover any potential weaknesses.
Construct – Crystal Golem – Level 125 (Elite)
Elemental weaknesses: Shock, Explosive
Unfortunately, his natural weapons couldn’t deal any elemental damage—at least for now. However, he did have an amber gemstone in his Inventory that granted explosive damage when inserted into a weapon. He had also discovered a hammer with an amber-shaped slot hidden in one of the chests on this floor. So if his natural weapons proved insufficient against the crystal golem, he would retrieve the hammer and insert the gemstone to grant the weapon the ability to deal explosive elemental damage before facing the golem once more.
With that in mind, Jake charged into the cavern, expecting the golem to barrel toward him. However, the massive creature had other plans. It extended one hand, and in an instant, a barrage of pointed crystal shards materialized from the air, hurtling toward him. Reacting quickly, Jake darted to the side, successfully avoiding the onslaught of glittering projectiles. Once the barrage ceased, he sprinted straight for the golem.
Upon reaching his opponent, Jake launched a powerful punch at the golem’s midsection. Given the golem’s immense height, he couldn’t aim for its face, so he targeted its torso instead. However, he aimed to strike not just at the golem’s exterior but through it, channeling all his inhuman strength into the blow. While such a forceful punch would have left a significant dent in a cave wall, it merely caused a series of thin cracks to radiate from the point of impact on the golem’s body.
Unfazed, Jake unleashed a rapid series of powerful punches directed at the golem’s midsection. Suddenly, the golem retaliated, swinging its fist toward him. Huge and powerful, the golem was too slow and clumsy to land a hit on Jake, though. Dodging the swing with ease, he resumed his assault, driving his fists into the golem’s body and causing small cracks to appear across its crystalline surface.
Jake was ready to strike the golem again when he felt a sudden force pushing him backward. Confused at first, he quickly realized that the golem had just used another of its special abilities, summoning a barely visible shield around itself. He delivered a powerful punch with his smashfist against the magic barrier, but it had no effect at all. As he contemplated whether to continue trying to break the shield or wait for it to wear off, the golem activated its third ability.
The crystalline creature began stamping its massive feet on the cave floor, causing tremors that rolled in all directions. Jake staggered slightly, losing his balance for a brief moment. Just then, the golem decided to attack again, leaving Jake with no chance to dodge. The force of the punch propelled him across the cavern, slamming him into the cave wall. He dropped face-first onto the ground but quickly sprang back to his feet. Glancing at the golem, he noticed a volley of pointed crystal shards whizzing through the air toward him.
Jake dodged to the side in an instant, but a couple of projectiles still found their mark—one hit his shoulder and another struck his thigh. Nevertheless, he kept sprinting around the golem, which kept firing away shards in his direction. His speed was slightly reduced, but he pushed on. Running nearly at full speed, he managed to avoid any additional hits. As he dashed away, he gripped the shard embedded in his shoulder and yanked it out. Mana spilled from the wound, but his Enhanced Regeneration quickly began to seal the gash.
As soon as the golem stopped firing, Jake took a moment to yank the shard from his thigh. When he looked back at the golem, he noticed its magical shield was no longer active. Wasting no time, he dashed toward the enemy. As soon as he reached it, he unleashed a flurry of punches with his smashfists, causing the old cracks to widen and new fissures to sprout across the golem’s crystalline body. Eventually, the golem activated its shield again and caused the ground to quake before resuming its attack. This time, though, Jake was quicker, skillfully dodging both the golem’s punches and the incoming projectiles.
The battle continued in this pattern for several minutes. Jake skillfully avoided the flying shards, weaving around the creature. Each time its magical barrier vanished, he charged in, unleashing powerful punches with his smashfists. With every strike, more and more cracks spread across the golem’s body. Finally, as Jake landed one last punch, the golem began to shudder, with bright light pouring from the fissures, intensifying by the second. Anticipating an explosion, Jake quickly darted away from the creature. Moments later, the golem blew up, showering the area with thousands of sparkling fragments scattering in every direction.
Enemy killed. +20,500 XP
With the golem defeated, Jake scanned the area for any treasures. Against one wall, he spotted a quality chest. Sure enough, it was trapped. He triggered the magical trap and then lifted the lid. Inside, he discovered an uncommon shortsword—which he didn’t bother to take out—along with several lesser mana consumables and another shard of the Demon Blood charm. First, he siphoned mana from the consumables, replenishing his reserves. Then, he extracted the charm shard from the chest. With a simple mental command, he summoned the other two shards of the same charm from his Inventory.
Holding all three shards in the palm of his left hand, Jake maneuvered them with the fingers of his right hand, carefully piecing them together to form a complete charm. However, despite having all three shards in the correct position, the charm didn’t magically repair itself. That was fine, though. Jake was sure that he would eventually discover a way to make the shards unify, restoring the charm.
After stashing the three shards back in his Inventory, Jake stood up from his crouching position. Turning around, he took in the remains of the crystal golem, its shattered pieces strewn about and shimmering under the light of the luminescent mushrooms. This opponent had proven significantly tougher than the usual spiders he encountered on this floor. He couldn’t help but think that the rewards for defeating such a formidable foe should have been a little better.
While making his way across the cavern to the exit, Jake’s eyes caught sight of the golem’s head resting on the floor nearby. Surprisingly intact, the head had managed to survive the explosion of its body, and the pointed helmet was still affixed to the crystalline features. The rest of the body, however, lay in fragments, reduced to countless tiny splinters scattered across the ground. After one final look at the golem’s remains, Jake stepped out of the cavern.