Matt woke up a while later feeling refreshed, excited, and ready to take on the world. He snacked on some cookies and a chocolate bar before walking to the portal that had appeared on the other side of the room at some point. He had only noticed it when he started trying to fuse stone to the altar. It just looked so inconspicuous in the dimly lit room that it was hard to notice.

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  As he put a hand through the portal, the system decided that he had had enough fun for one day and proceeded to ruin the remainder of said day.

  Dungeon Tomb of the Guardian of the Dunes (Tier 9) floor 1 complete.

  Time to completion: 9 days, 5 hours, 53 minutes and 12 seconds.

  Grade: D+

  Checkpoint reached. Proceed to floor 2?

  Yes/No

  Matt stared at the incoherent message for a few seconds, dumbfounded.

  “Exit dungeon.”

  A breath later, he was teleported back into the desert, whistling as he put his hand on the portal once more. It was a lovely day after all.

  Would you like to enter Tomb of the Guardian of the Dunes (Tier 9 dungeon)?

  Yes/No

  “Yes.”

  Checkpoint reached. Proceed to floor 2?

  Yes/No

  “SON OF A–”

  And so, Matt found himself on floor 2, ready as ever, excited for a new adventure, not letting anything bring him down. Getting D+ on the previous floor didn’t bother him, not at all. He was fine, dandy even.

  For all he knew, the D stood for dandy. And not just dandy, he had gotten a D+, which definitely meant Extra Dandy, not his performance, never. “Yep. Definitely dandy,” he nodded to himself, satisfied with the conclusion he had reached. “Silly dungeon, giving out dandy ratings”, he shook his head in disbelief.

  Finally, he scanned the new floor, and if he was being honest… there wasn’t much to see. It was a fifty foot wide room made entirely of sandstone bricks. Just brick after brick lined up the walls, ceiling and floor, giving him a feeling of being entombed, rather than simply being in a room. There were no doors, gates nor portals, aside from the one behind him, just like on the previous floor.

  Two things did stand out, however. The bright yellow orb, embedded in the ceiling, shining its light on the room like a miniature sun, and the twelve foot long, pearly white statue of a scorpion opposite him.

  The white color of the statue made it stick out like a sore thumb, but even if it were a different color, he would find it hard to miss. It had its pincers, which were large enough to crush his body, open and extended, and a stinger that could pop him like a balloon, frozen mid-attack, and he could swear it was scowling from where he was standing, but he could simply be seeing things. Needless to say, the intimidation factor was just off the charts.

  Matt clutched his hand tighter around the scepter, but didn’t take a step. He wasn’t that stupid as to make the same mistake twice, instead, he started charging his mana orb before identifying the enormous arachnid in front of him.

  Dune Desert Scorpion (level 14)

  The scorpion being nine levels higher than him didn’t worry him much.

  Okay that was a lie, it did worry him but worrying never killed scorpions, fully charged mana orbs did, so that was his plan, pour as much mana into the scepter as he could, fire the orb, then take a step at the last second, and, hopefully, the result would be one less scorpion terrorizing the dungeon.

  And so that’s what Matt did. He poured more and more mana until he felt both a strain from the mana expenditure and the scepter shaking as it struggled to control the 1 foot diameter orb holding 30% of his mana. And so, he fired the mana orb.

  What he didn’t expect was the scorpion waking up as soon as the orb had left the scepter, and if it wasn’t scowling before, it definitely was now.

  Maybe it didn’t get a dandy rating in floor 1, Matt joked to himself as he started sprinting the fifty feet separating him from the scorpion while charging another orb, expecting the scorpion to dodge and wanting to be ready and in position to strike once it did.

  The scorpion, however, didn’t dodge, it simply followed Matt with its eyes while waiting for the orb. When the orb was only a few feet away from it, the scorpion whipped its tail at it.

  Stinger collided with mana triggering a massive explosion.

  Matt cheered inwardly, but outwardly he remained vigilant. He was hoping the scorpion was just overconfident and had severely underestimated the power of Matt’s attack, it was Matt’s strongest mana orb to date after all, but to his dismay, when the dust had settled, the scorpion was still standing, and completely unharmed. The only difference being the white sheen that now covered its body.

  Matt’s face fell, yet he didn’t pause as he made his next move. He fired the orb he was charging at the scorpion’s stinger while rushing towards its head.

  The scorpion tried to move out of the orb’s way this time, but Matt was right in front of it in a flash, throwing a jab its way.

  The scorpion swiped its tail at the orb, but was unable to react to Matt’s punch.

  An explosion sounded, followed by a crunch as Matt’s fist slammed into the scorpion’s head.

  Matt jumped back, creating distance between him and the scorpion, a new orb already charging on his scepter.

  The scorpion’s head had a big cracked dent from where Matt’s punch had landed, but the mana orb did no noticeable damage, the white sheen covering the scorpion’s entire body once more. Matt didn’t miss how hesitant it had been about blocking his 2nd orb, which meant while it did have a way to deal with magic and mana, it wasn’t immune. Coming out scot-free from an attack like that had to have its drawbacks.

  They both remained unmoving for a few seconds as each studied their opponent, Matt continuing to charge his mana orb, and the scorpion probably coming up with a plan of its own, or trying to lure him in. Matt could see that. The scorpion was a close quarters fighter at heart, even if its stinger extended its range dramatically. And so, knowing all that, Matt gave the scorpion exactly what it wanted. He had to know how intelligent the arachnid was, both for this, and for future battles. Whether creatures and monsters fought on instinct or were capable of strategic thinking. That was why he repeated the same maneuver, but this time firing the orb at its injured head, while he sprinted towards the scorpion’s other side.

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  The scorpion immediately reacted by whipping its tail at Matt, trying to knock him off of his feet and into the mana orb.

  Matt, expecting a response, dove forward and back onto his feet. With the momentum of the dive and his speed behind him, he jumped, swinging his scepter with all the might he could muster at the base of the scorpion’s pincer.

  A loud crunch echoed in the small room, and ichor started spraying everywhere. His scepter had smashed through the base, breaking the pincer right off.

  Matt tried rolling to the side in a hurry in an attempt to get back up on his feet, but the scorpion was faster, swiping at him with its other pincer.

  The hit landed with a crunch of its own, hitting Matt across the side, knocking the air out of him and sending him tumbling across the room.

  Matt slammed into the wall, hearing something else break as he did. He pushed himself back up to his feet, wincing from the pain.

  “F-fuck that hurts,” he stammered through gritted teeth. The strike had cracked a few ribs with him slamming the wall completely breaking them off, one even lodging itself in his lung, making it harder to breathe. He cast a quick [Minor Heal] with his scepter before charging another mana orb, keeping his other hand to his side, channeling [Mend] in an attempt to deal with the worst of the damage. He was barely keeping up with the scorpion as is, and an injury this severe would make this fight impossible.

  The scorpion wasn’t having any of it, wanting to capitalize on an injured Matt as it rushed towards him with surprising speed.

  The scorpion’s speed caught Matt off guard, leaving him with nowhere to dodge but the side he was leaning towards. His injured side.

  The scorpion, expecting the dive, lashed with its stinger at where Matt was diving.

  Matt’s dive landed him in an awkward position where he couldn’t avoid the tail attack, instead he raised his scepter and fired the mana orb towards the incoming stinger.

  An explosion echoed barely two feet away from Matt, knocking him back into the wall with a thud, yet the scorpion wasn’t as lucky as it screeched in pain, seemingly failing to defend against the orb this time.

  He pushed himself back to his feet, casting another round of [Minor Heal] and [Mend] as he did. Another mana orb was being charged as he surveyed the carnage in front of him, keeping [Mend] on for as long as possible to heal his broken ribs.

  The scorpion’s stinger was almost entirely blown off. The mana orb had done more than Matt had expected, with only a third of the stinger remaining, green ichor flowing freely from the large wound.

  Matt had no time to cheer, firing a series of quick mana orbs while sprinting towards the still reeling scorpion.

  The scorpion arced its tail at Matt, showering him with ichor, while snapping its pincer his way.

  With no room to dodge, Matt took a step back, throwing more hastily charged mana orbs towards the scorpion’s injured form.

  The scorpion used its pincer to block most of the hits, realizing they were too weak to break through the tough appendage.

  Matt paused his bombardment only for the scorpion to immediately snap a pincer at him.

  Matt’s eyes widened as he pushed himself against the wall, the pincer missing him by mere inches.

  Seeing an opening, he charged another orb while jumping with a knee strike towards its side.

  The scorpion attempted to slam its pincer into Matt as it returned, but the mana orb pushed the pincer back, guaranteeing the knee strike.

  Matt’s knee landed with a loud crunch, forcing the scorpion to jump away, hissing and reeling.

  Matt was about to follow, but missed the tail swipe that came from his blind spot, tripping him, the ichor making it impossible to keep his balance.

  He hit the floor hard, the fall pushing the broken rib deeper into his lung and causing the pain in his side to flare up.

  He started gasping for air, each breath more difficult than the last, his thoughts all over the place as pain and lack of oxygen worked in tandem to almost paralyze his mind.

  Panic was starting to set in, but he didn’t let it take over his mind. He cast a quick [Minor Heal], the relief enough for him to start moving once more.

  He tried to push himself up, but his body felt heavy, his muscles losing strength from the lack of oxygen, and the ichor covering both him and the floor causing his shaky hand to slip. He turned around and onto his back in an attempt to steady himself and see what’s happening. And that’s when he saw it. The scorpion, in the air, aiming to crush the previously prone Matt with its enormous body.

  Thoughts raced through his addled mind. He was too worn out to move, to dodge, and had nothing capable of stopping the scorpion that was slowly falling towards him, like a boulder of doom falling from the sky.

  If only I had [Knockback]. As the regretful thought hit him, his eyes widened. [Knockback] was, according to the description, simply pushing a mana wave at a target, so why couldn’t he do it?

  Steeling himself, he pushed all the mana he could into his hand, trying to ready as much of it as possible for the eventual release. Time felt as if it had slowed down as Matt’s brain worked at triple the speed to try to get him out alive.

  Matt gritted his teeth, pushing through the pain and agony, redirecting all the mana he could into his hand, watching with defiant eyes as the scorpion inched closer and closer towards him.

  The scorpion was now right on top of Matt, a few feet barely separating the two, a familiar white sheen covering its body. Matt held his breath, his hands raised, the mana in his body resisting his attempts to control it, to redirect it, as it tried to break free.

  He was now at 15% mana, his body bursting at the seams from how much mana was being pumped into the appendages, the headache already in full swing, doing its utmost along with the erratic mana, to force him into an early grave.

  With a guttural battle cry, Matt pushed all the mana he’d been gathering, freeing it from its shackles and onto the now closer than ever arachnid.

  Mana, like a tidal wave, shot out of Matt’s hands and towards the falling scorpion, the pressure from the flood of mana causing his arms to explode as it finally gave out. Bone shards turned to bullets, ripping holes through both the scorpion and him, as a fountain of blood covered the once sand-colored room.

  The mana wave hit the scorpion, pushing and slamming it into the ceiling with a very audible crunch. It kept squeezing it against the sandstone bricks for a few more seconds before running out of power, the scorpion remaining in place for a few breaths longer before dropping to the ground, green ichor following it like rain.

  Silence filled the room, as only Matt’s ragged breathing could be heard. He held his breath as he waited, pleading for it to be enough. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long.

  [Mend] (common 4) → [Mend] (common 5)

  You have defeated Dune Desert Scorpion (level 14)

  Level up!

  Level up!

  Level up!

  You are now level 8

  You have 12 free stat points to distribute

  Matt breathed out in relief, his eyes not leaving the scorpion or its surroundings. It was a gory scene. The scorpion was splattered across the floor, Matt was missing two limbs, and both him and the room were covered in blood, bone and ichor. And yet he couldn’t help but chuckle. He had won. It was a hard earned victory, and the scorpion was extremely powerful. He had even almost blown himself up towards the end, and bone shrapnel riddled his body, but he had done it. He had come out victorious.

  He chuckled again, the chuckle turning into wheezing and coughing as his body struggled with the numerous injuries. The rush of adrenaline was dulling the worst of it, helping him revel in his victory even more, but it was only a matter of time. Soon enough, he would be feeling nothing but pain.

  He looked at his arms, now stumps, wondering how he was supposed to heal himself now. He tried casting [Mend] a few times, but it wasn’t working.

  “What the fuck, man,” he complained in a whisper, unable to even raise his voice. “What good are healers if cutting their arms makes them useless.”

  He groaned, every word coming out harder than the last, every breath a struggle. He really hoped his arms would grow back on their own, or it would really suck. Looking around for his scepter, he found it next to the wall a few feet away from him. The adrenaline from the fight was quickly waning, and right now, [Minor Heal] was his only hope.

  He crawled towards the scepter, his side flaring up as the movement agitated his injuries. Gritting his teeth, he kept pushing himself until he finally reached his target. He grabbed it with his mouth before climbing into a sitting position.

  [Minor Heal]. He willed the skill active, and the scepter complied, drawing on his dwindling mana, worsening his headache in the process, but delivering instant relief to his body as the sweet wave of healing energy hit him. It didn’t help his arms grow back, but it did stop some of the bleeding and pain.

  “Well, this is awkward,” Matt muttered incoherently around the scepter held between his teeth, as he leaned into the wall. He stared at the scene in front of him, then at his stumps, wondering if losing a limb was truly the end of the journey for those who had no access to healers.

  That would definitely suck.

  It was a scary thought, and one he couldn’t do anything about in his current state. His mind and body were beyond exhausted with both his health and mana barely above 15%. There was only one thing left for him to do before the last vestiges of adrenaline faded, opening the floodgates for pain to take over.

  “Fucking healers man,” he mumbled before drifting off.