Chapter 40: When In Doubt, Make It Rain
Pain.
Raw, unfiltered pain shot through my ribs as I was launched backward, my body slamming against the cold stone wall of the chamber. My breath hitched, and a sharp, metallic taste filled my mouth before I coughed—splattering blood onto the cracked floor beneath me.
"Ugh…" I groaned, forcing my battered body to move. My arms shook as I pressed my palms against the ground, pushing myself up. Every muscle screamed in protest, my wounds stinging from where the gargoyles had literally melted into me with their overheated stone limbs.
I staggered, my vision swimming as I looked up.
The bastards were closing in.
Their once-stiff, statue-like bodies now dripped with molten streaks, glowing veins of heat pulsing through their cracked, jagged frames. Their eyes burned with the same infernal light, and their sharp claws clicked against the floor with each methodical step.
I was surrounded.
My sword was still in my grip, but what good was it? I already knew my blade couldn't cut them. Even when I tried stabbing into their eye sockets, it barely slowed them down. My agility was the only thing keeping me alive, but even that was being pushed to the limit.
I needed something. A plan. A way out.
But my body was failing me, my breath coming in ragged gasps. Blood dripped from the side of my mouth, my vision hazy from the blows I had taken.
Shit…
And then—
A glow.
A brilliant, ethereal blue light erupted across the entire chamber.
I barely had the strength to lift my head, but when I did—my eyes widened in shock.
Above me, spanning the entirety of the ceiling, was a massive First Tier magic circle.
It pulsed with raw magic, intricate runes weaving into each other like an ancient tapestry of power. The sheer size of it was absurd—easily the largest First Tier spell I had ever seen. The whole room was bathed in its eerie glow, the light reflecting off the wet stone and the molten gargoyles, casting an almost dreamlike shimmer across the battlefield.
And then, from above—
"Water Magic: Water Wave!!!"
Neralia's voice *boomed* through the chamber, filled with both power and desperation.
The moment the words left her lips, the magic circle erupted.
A torrent of water—no, a tsunami—descended from above like the wrath of the ocean itself.
It crashed down with titanic force, engulfing the entire chamber in a swirling, surging flood. The gargoyles didn't even have time to react before they were swept away, their molten bodies hissing violently as the water overwhelmed them. Steam erupted everywhere, filling the air with a thick mist as the boiling stone cooled rapidly.
I barely had a second to brace before the wave hit me too.
The sheer force tore me from my feet, sending me tumbling through the rushing current. Water filled my ears, my world spinning as I was thrown and twisted through the flood. It was like being caught in a raging river, the current unrelenting, smashing me against the stone floor and walls before finally spitting me out onto the drenched ground near the edge of the chamber.
Coughing, soaked to the bone, I crawled toward the source of the spell.
There she was—Neralia, standing in the middle of the flooded chamber, trembling from exertion. The magic circle above her was fading, its glow flickering before vanishing completely.
I pulled myself forward, my soaked clothes weighing me down as I reached her side.
"Hah…" I exhaled, wiping the wet hair from my face. "Okay, I'll admit it—that was pretty badass."
She turned to me, her breathing ragged, sweat mixing with the water running down her face. "It… It worked," she panted, her body shaking from exhaustion.
"Yeah, no kidding." I let out a breath before looking back up at the ceiling. "But that was a First Tier spell… How the hell did you make it that strong?"
Neralia slumped to one knee, gasping. "Calling out the spell name… It helps focus the magic. And… size matters." She gestured weakly toward the massive chamber. "Water Wave is… one of the easiest spells to learn. But if I made the magic circle big enough… I could hit everything at once."
I gave her a tired grin. "Smart. You countered the spell's weak attack power by scaling up the range."
She nodded weakly. "Even a First Tier spell can be powerful if you increase its area of effect…"
And then—she collapsed.
"Whoa, whoa—hey!" I caught her before she hit the ground completely, steadying her by the shoulders. "Easy there, genius. Don't go passing out on me now."
"I… used up too much mana…" she whispered, barely able to keep her eyes open.
I sighed, shaking my head. "You really need to work on mana efficiency. Just because the magic circle is big doesn't mean it's always the best choice."
She blinked up at me tiredly. "It worked, didn't it?"
"Yeah, but a Third Tier spell at a tenth of that size could do twice the damage with less than half the mana." I reached into my belt and pulled out a healing potion, pressing it into her hands. "Drink up. You need to recover some mana before you pass out completely."
She took the potion with weak fingers, her breathing still heavy.
I exhaled and stood up, cracking my neck as I turned toward the final obstacle in our way.
The dragon.
It loomed at the far end of the chamber, now the sole enemy left standing after the flood. Its massive form remained unshaken, its scales gleaming even in the dim lighting. But most importantly—
The Philosopher's Stone was still in its mouth.
The beast's golden eyes locked onto me. Its massive jaws parted, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, and within its maw, the blood-red stone pulsed with a faint, ominous glow.
My fingers tightened around my sword.
A heat began to rise around me—no, not from the dragon, but from me.
A faint red and black glow flickered to life around my body, swirling like embers caught in a storm. My ki surged, burning ,hot, filling my limbs with renewed strength. The exhaustion, the bruises, the pain—they all faded into the background.
I exhaled, rolling my shoulders, feeling the power build.
Then, I raised my blade, locking eyes with the massive beast before me.
"Alright, you overgrown lizard…" I smirked, fire dancing along my aura. "Time to take you down."