The Runesmith

“That takes care of the chamber guards.”

Roland relaxed while looking at the victorious Agni that was standing over two monsters that looked like crabs covered in volcanic armor. The ruby wolf wasn’t much behind when it came to fire resistance and with the added armor, the volcanic decapod had no chance.

The creatures in this part of the dungeon were randomly chosen and these were not the best of guardians in a tighter corridor. The most dangerous part about them was the high-pressure projectile spit. But thanks to his magical shields he didn’t even need to worry about dodging.

“You’ll have to sit this one out Agni.”

“Awoo?”

It was time to face the boss, this time around Roland decided to try a more direct tactic. Usually, his tactic involved using his golems to seal the big dinosaur's movement before he delivered a devastating blow. It was a safe way to go about things as the monster had a few patterns that could be seen through.

Yet his level had progressed past this monster’s. He had achieved his second tier 2 class and was already hundred thirty. The Bladed Volcanic Xornotaurus which was behind the door would usually spawn at a slightly lower level than that. Even though boss monsters were considered stronger than adventurers at the same level, this wasn’t always the case.

“Let’s go Agni, just stay in the back and don’t engage the monster unless I tell you to.”

Even though he intended to have a proper one-on-one battle with the monster he wasn’t stupid. Something always could go wrong so he needed to have a backup plan. Thus he opened up the mule golem and let six of his spider drones outside. After opening the boss chamber he ordered them to surround the area and stay at the edges.

There it was, not long after everyone got in place the large monster descended from the ceiling. Even now this boss looked ferocious, the size difference was tremendous. It was somewhat strange but he didn’t feel that he was in any danger. Even though normally that mouth should be enough to devour him in one bite, the monster felt below him.

Previously when facing this monster he felt a strange pressure weighing him down. It was his survival instinct kicking in and trying to force him to flee. Yet this time around there was none, it was as if he was up against a regular dungeon monster.

To the side was his enlarged kite shield that he had rammed into the ground. For the time being he decided to hold his large hammer with both his hands. Right as the monster descended to the ground he initiated a spell effect.

The head of the hammer began releasing a blue glow that enhanced the runes. It started with a pale light that continued to darken. Soon enough a chilling energy wave escaped from the focal point at the tip. This energy looked like a simple cone of cold but it had gone through several enhancements.

Just as usually the Xornotaurus variant had been caught off guard the moment it descended down. The chilling spell started to quickly drop the temperature around its body. This as per usual caused the monster to go into its enraged state. While in it, it was able to produce a high amount of heat to counter the cold.

“Hm… it doesn’t look like it can oppose the cold spell fully.”

Due to Roland’s stats, the Xornotaurus was faltering. The magic that not only intended to freeze the monster was also damaging it. Sharp ice crystals along with torrents of wind were slowly chipping away at the fuming dinosaur’s body. In the past when he faced it, his spells were not able to counter the volcanic flames but now the monster was faltering.

“Is it due to the difference in stat multipliers?”

It seemed that he wouldn’t even have to do much to win this fight. Just using his hammer to freeze the Xornotaurus was working well enough. The monster was trying to gain some momentum by running towards him but before it reached his location it would be frozen or severely weakened.

Yet before he could cheer for his victory the monster’s back spikes began to glow red. They quickly dislodged themselves and traveled upwards. This gave Roland enough time to grab the shield that he placed down on the ground. The hammer’s handle gave out a metallic noise as it shortened itself.

The spike missiles that the monster gave out were all focused on his location while ignoring anything else. It was clear that the monster realized that its main enemy was the armored man. Usually, it would use this attack as a way of suppressing a larger number of enemies but it apparently could also aim it at one.

However, even though the missiles rained down onto his location they only collided with a large shield of ice energy. A few large explosions caused the whole area to shake and even some of the rocks on the ceiling began falling down.

“Awwoo!”

“I’m fine, just stay there Agni.”

Agni called out to his master as he got ready to jump on the Xornotaurus’ neck. Yet after hearing Roland’s voice he quickly backed away. He was fine, the shield and his stats were enough to only take minor damage from this attack. Something that could have previously killed him instantly was now a minor inconvenience.

“Not bad… what will you do now… rushing in?”

The monster was usually quite smart but even it would lose itself to rage. After seeing that its attack didn’t work it decided to rush forward. Its body was engulfed in even more flames than before. Each step it took caused the ground to shake and also left a searing claw print behind.

‘Is it banking on those flames resisting the frost spells during the charge?’

It wasn’t a bad tactic, even Roland’s ice spells would take some time to take effect. A high enough temperature could be enough to keep them in check. The monster hoped to devour him at close range with its advantage in strength.

Roland decided to take the monster up on its offer but before it got here, he swung his now one-handed hammer in an arc. This produced a blade of cold energy that flew forward. The Xornotaurus didn’t dodge it and allowed it to collide with one of its legs. The timing was just right to throw it off balance. Coupled with a stomp that produced a small rock obstacle, the tactic was complete.

The Xornotaurus was charging forward with its toothy mouth opened wide. Its intent was to chomp down on the iron human as fast as it could. Yet this fast pace was a double-edged sword, by forcing it off balance it wasn’t that hard to dodge the chomp. Almost instantly the hammer was used to smack the large jaw that missed the mark.

A loud sound of the monster’s head being hit echoed through the whole cave. It’s head jolted back as it was smacked away, its maddened charge only adding to the devastating effect of this hit. With Roland’s current strength and addition of buffing effects, the damage was real. Sharp teeth that riddled the creature’s mouth along with magma flew in all directions

It was still too soon to celebrate his victory, while the hit caused a lot of damage the monster was not dead. Instead of falling to the ground, the monster dinosaur caught itself with the help of its powerful legs. Quickly it shifted its weight to use its last trump card, the huge tail that had the shape of a sword.

Roland defended himself yet even after putting up a strong barrier he could feel it. The monster might have been below him in stats but it was still several times heavier. With the added weight behind the attack and momentum, it was several times stronger.

He could feel the swordtail smashing through the barrier spells and finally connecting with his shield that was blown to the side. His left hand felt like it was close to falling off but he somehow managed not to be flung away.

Even though the Xornotaurus’ mouth had fewer teeth it didn’t stop it from charging once more. After doing a spin around it glared at the enemy that caused it so much pain. To its surprise, the armored man just stared back. This enraged it, a massive shout of intimidation was followed by a buildup of fire energy in its mouth. The monster was intent on burning this troublesome enemy to ashes.

Roland on the other hand didn’t budge and remained silent. His shield was blown to the side so he could not use it to defend himself. Instead, the cannon on his shoulder took aim, as the monster opened that maw a concentrated bolt of energy interrupted it. The monstrous dinosaur had a special organ that was responsible for producing those flames. This was something he knew and this same organ was the one that was now damaged by the blue sphere of mana.

The Xornotaurus throat was on fire, it could not control the flames anymore and blood was spilling everywhere. Its whole body began producing chaotic flames and magma that dribbled down to the ground. The ear-piercing screams of pain didn’t bring Roland any joy so it was time to end it. While holding his battle hammer with both his hands and turning it around he delivered the finishing blow.

On the other side was a large spike that after connecting with the creature’s head injected electricity into its body. If the spike wasn’t enough to kill it then the electrical discharge would at least be able to stun it. However, not soon after he received the message of a successful defeat, the monster was dead.

“Hm… that could have gone better…”

Roland grabbed his left shoulder as his whole arm was stiff. Without his stat multiplier and level of spells, his whole body would have probably been sent flying into the wall. Even he was prone to overestimating his own capabilities and should have decided to evade it. Yet this was also a good reference point for future battles, even if the monster seemed weaker he could not underestimate it.

“Woof!”

“I’m fine Agni.”

The spider drones that were on the side were called back towards the mule golem and started going back into the storage space. Agni, on the other hand, attempted to lick Roland’s hand but the metallic taste of his gauntlets wasn’t up to his standards. Instead, he focused on the dead monster's body that was ripe for the taking.

“No, you can’t have the mana stone Agni.”

“...”

Agni’s tail, which was wiggling around like a propeller, instantly dropped down after he heard that statement. Roland on the other hand just rolled his eyes as he already knew what this dire wolf was up to.

“You ate all the mana stones from the other monsters, stop being such a glutton.”

“Woof, woof!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a cheapskate, what else is new?”

Roland felt as if he knew what his wolf was trying to tell him by how much he was barking. Though he wasn’t against feeding him these boss monster mana stones in the future. It could have unlocked a prestige evolutionary option if he gorged down on something like this.

‘I wonder if he ate tier 3 mana stones if he could get something really useful?’

There was always a possibility of rare skills and evolutions being gained instantly or later. Yet materials from tier 3 monsters weren’t cheap, he would quickly burn through all of his reserves if he started buying them up. The more reasonable spot to get tier 3 monster parts was in the place that he was going to.

The test was over and Roland confirmed where he stood power-wise. This Xornotaurus would normally require a party of at least three people of the same level to defeat it. His prestige class and the armor he was wearing really did put him in a different category. If he was able to prepare more golems then he would be a force to be reckoned with.

This didn’t mean that he would always be victorious. Just as the Xornotaurus almost blew him away with the swordtail, so could someone with a strong enough skill. He did not have much experience when facing high-level tier 2 class holders yet. If someone had the same stat multiplier of two, then he would probably need to keep his distance.

Some of the monster parts could still be used and worth the hassle. After getting all the components that could be used for crafting or trading he finally headed for the real training spot. The walk there was uneventful with a lack of any monsters and only a few traps that could be easily disabled.

“Just a few salamanders and slugs as always, go get them Agni.”

After checking his map Roland opened up the secret exit from this mine area. Inside he discovered a few low-level tier 2 monsters. Agni was more than enough to take care of them without him interfering but the spider drones also gave some ranged support. After the quick encounter was over, the golems were sent off to find the rarest materials.

Besides the six usual mining drones, he had another two accompany him towards another location. Agni and the mule golem weren’t far behind either while the other six golems were left in the mining area to their work.

“This brings back memories…”

Roland remembered this corridor well and the time he was with his older brother and Lucille. They had arrived in the secret mining area after falling down. His aim was to check what was at the end. After a few encounters with ceiling slugs, he arrived at the large chasm.

“So that didn’t work.”

The previous time he was here he decided to cave in the tunnel. This was the second entrance to the secret area that he didn’t want anyone to discover. He had tested if perhaps the dungeon wouldn’t recreate the opening but it did. This area had been caved in the last time he was here but now it was as if there was never any rubble at all.

“Plan B it is.”

For this exact reason, he decided to prepare something different. While he took out a brownish-looking heavy cloth from the carry golem the spider ones began going outside. There in some places, they began drilling small holes that would be used to support the camouflage.

While they were working Roland looked at the steep wall and the lack of flooring below. Even when he was already down here he could not see anything at the bottom. How far this chasm went down was anyone's guess. This place was quite dangerous as the last time he was here it was riddled with holes from worm-type monsters.

It had been discovered that these creatures would be activated when a larger concentration of people tried crossing the mountain. The expedition with nobles was the first time this effect was triggered and could be only confirmed later.

Some people had apparently tried descending down to the lower area but it was deemed too dangerous. Thus for the time being Roland decided to cover up the hole. As long as the material was inorganic it would not be consumed by the dungeon.

“As long as someone doesn’t get too close to it, they shouldn’t notice…”

There was no wind coming out of this underground area so he didn’t have to worry about the heavy cloth being blown away from the inside. There was always an option to place runic traps like mines in the tunnel to save his secret. Yet this could potentially cause harm or even kill the person that would travel through. This was not something that he was willing to have on his conscience.

“Let’s go back Agni.”

“Woof.”

Finally, he returned to the main area where his spider drones continued to work. Just as he had instructed, a few had brought over some Elokin’s crystals. With them, he could go ahead with the next stage of his plan that would increase his grinding rate. From inside the mule golem, he started taking out various metallic objects. These were part of a larger construct that he was going to assemble.

“These crystals should be enough to power everything, let me get to work…”

After looking at the pre-prepared parts that consisted of screws and bolts he remembered the old times of furniture assembly. This would be a bit more difficult but wouldn’t take that much longer.