“An obsidian crown,” he muttered, lifting it reverently. “Provides resistance to magic and I can activate it to repel a spell back at someone, sweet. It also has resistance to status ailments.” He grinned, then gave Lorelai a look. “Its a good thing I called dibs, isn't it?”
Lorelai shook her head. “It matches your ego.”
He bowed deeply after placing it atop his head. “A crown fit for a king of sarcasm.”
Among the other fragments, Aeryn dug out two glass vials sealed with wax—potions glowing with faint silver mist. “Healing, and something else... this one smells like honeysuckle and pepper.”
Kael took a vial, turning it in his fingers. “Resistance to mental debuffs. Nice.”
The rest of the spoils were scattered and eclectic: a charm carved in the shape of a waning moon that pulsed with illusion magic, a tattered journal written in a forgotten dialect, and a shard of tourmaline that sparked on touch. Lorelai couldn't place it but she felt this stone was meant for her and pocketed it. Calder took the charm and Kael pocketed the journal with quiet fascination.
“Time to go,” Nyra called, already ascending the spiral stairs. “The second floor awaits us.”
The descent from the frozen lake was abrupt, as if the dungeon itself had exhaled winter and inhaled something older, drier, and far more patient.
The third floor unfurled like a secret tomb long sealed from the world above. The walls shifted from glacial ice to massive sandstone blocks, weathered with age and etched with sprawling murals in flaking gold leaf. Columns lined the stairwell, their surfaces covered in depictions of sun-headed gods and snake-bodied figures offering tribute to an unseen power. Dust, fine and undisturbed, carpeted the ground like a forgotten snowfall, muffling the sound of every footstep.
As they reached the main chamber, the scale became clear—it was shaped like an inverted ziggurat, a massive pit carved with concentric terraces that descended toward a central dais far below. Each level held niches carved into the stone, some empty, others still housing statues that loomed in eternal prayer or judgment, their eyes inlaid with gems that glinted in the flickering torchlight.
At the lowest level, the floor was composed of worn obsidian tiles, many cracked or chipped by time. In its center lay a stone altar encircled by concentric rings of script, carved deep and filled with dark resin that shimmered like spilled oil. Behind it, half-sunken into the stone, stood a sarcophagus bound in thick iron chains. The bindings themselves seemed to pulse faintly, as though holding back more than just stone.
The air was thick with incense that had long gone bitter—traces of myrrh and something acrid, like scorched parchment. It clung to the walls, the statues, the bones of the chamber itself. Every breath tasted of ancient rituals and the kind of silence reserved for tombs that had been sealed with purpose.
High above, near the ceiling, an oculus of blackened glass filtered the light down in narrow shafts, casting geometric shadows across the terraces. It felt like a sun that had long since died, preserved only in memory.
The deeper one gazed into the chamber, the more it seemed the room gazed back—unmoving, unblinking, and utterly unwilling to forget.
The staircase spiraled upward and despite their expectations, there were no enemies. As they climbed, the heat from the first floor faded. Cold seeped into their bones, and frost clung to the walls. When they emerged, it was like stepping into winter itself.
The second floor was a hollow cavern, lit from within by crystalline ice columns that rose from floor to ceiling. The temperature dropped sharply, breath puffing visibly before them. Snow crunched beneath their boots, though none fell from the shadowy sky above. The walls glimmered with frost-runes, and the silence was absolute.
“This is my kind of place,” Thrax said, stretching with a grin.
Aeryn shook her head. “You’re practically vibrating.”
Thrax pounded a fist into his palm. “Been too long since I led a good charge. This one’s mine.”
Lorelai grabbed everyone but Thrax, who was wholly unbothered by the drastic change in temperature, coats from her spatial storage. While looking ahead while donning their coats, the center of the chamber widened into a frozen lake. In its center stood a throne of jagged ice, upon which rested the floor boss—an armored figure frozen in posture, face obscured beneath a mask of pale steel and a mantle of frostbitten fur.
The moment Thrax stepped onto the lake, the ice trembled.
The figure stirred.
Lorelai raised her spear. “Here we go.”
BOSS: KALGRITH, THE ICE-WRAITH LORD
Kalgrith rose with a hiss of freezing wind. The throne shattered behind him as he took to the air, gliding silently above the lake’s surface. Icicles formed midair, spinning in slow orbit around him like hungry teeth. His voice echoed with frost.
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“Trespassers die.”
Without warning, he plunged toward them, twin blades of frost launched themselves from behind the wraith. Thrax roared and met him in a direct clash, their weapons sparking as steel coated in blue flame met enchanted ice.
“He’s fast!” Thrax shouted, stepping back as frost spread across his scaled skin with each parry. “Don’t let him touch your skin!”
Kael fired a rapid volley of arrows each coated in his class' magic, but Kalgrith twisted mid-air, a blade of wind forming in one hand to deflect the shots. Lorelai sprinted across the edge of the lake, flanking him, while Nyra launched from the opposite side.
Kalgrith dove low and slammed both palms into the ground.
The lake cracked.
Jagged walls of ice shot upward, splitting the field into isolated pockets. The party was separated—Kael and Lorelai in one corner, Thrax alone in the center, and the others cut off by frozen barriers.
“Damn it!” Calder roared, striking a wall with an earthen fist, but the ice didn’t budge.
Kalgrith stalked toward Thrax, one blade trailing behind him, its touch leaving a rift of cold that shimmered like a dying star.
“Fight me then,” Thrax growled. “Just us.”
The wraith lord obliged.
What followed was a flurry of brutal, close-quarters combat—Thrax’s axe clashing against Kalgrith’s speed and elemental fury. The barbarian fought like a tempest, heavy blows and clever feints forcing Kalgrith to expend energy dodging instead of freezing. Thrax's blue flame force Kalgrith to retreat a few times.
Outside the walls, Lorelai and Kael worked in tandem. Kael launched flaming arrows at key pressure points while Lorelai, spear charged with static, drove Heaven’s Needle into the walls. Her strike shattered one barrier after another until she and Kael reunited with Calder and Aeryn.
Thrax faltered—Kalgrith’s blade slipped past his defense, cutting a deep gash across his chest. Frost spiderwebbed along the wound.
Then Lorelai struck from behind.
[Heavenly Piercer]
A bolt of radiant energy flew the short distance between them punching a hole through Kalgrith’s left shoulder. The radiant aligned magic seemed doubly effective against the wraith who screamed out in agony. Calder followed up with a seismic stone toss, forcing the wraith to retreat further in an attempt to heal himself. Nyra teleported behind him and slashed him twice in quick succession across his back.
Aeryn conjured a spear of crimson blood that glowed with energy from her mana, hurling it. The mask shattered on impact from the powerful attack. Kalgrith’s face was hollow, literally. No flesh, no bone, only a remnant of a man who had frozen in place too long.
A searing heat, so hot the surrounding ice spires began to melt, emanated from Thrax. His axe head coated in a flame double the size of his own body, emitted a thunderous battle cry. Thrax leapt and cleaved down with his axe splitting Kalgrith into shards, his essence dissolving into glittering snow.
The silence returned, followed by the hum of arcane energy as a new staircase revealed itself.
“Now that was a fight,” Thrax wheezed, falling onto his back and breathing deep. “I feel like I wrestled a blizzard.”
“You practically did,” Lorelai said, kneeling beside him. “Hold still.”
She applied one of the healing potions, watching the frost retreat from the wound.
“Thanks,” he muttered. “He was a bastard.”
“He was beautiful,” Kael said softly, looking at the lake. “Horrifying, but beautiful.”
They gathered around the site of Kalgrith’s death. The floor shimmered, revealing this floor’s loot.
Loot:
-
Glacial Mantle: Frost-resistant cloak that nullifies cold debuffs and increases resistance to magic.
-
Frozen Fang: A dagger forged from Kalgrith’s broken blade. Each strike reduces reaction speed and may freeze limbs.
-
Ring of Stillness: Grants ability to cast silence. Can activate the ring to givr yourself invisibilty as long as you remain motionless. This ability lasts for 5 minutes when activated. Three charges per day.
-
Echowood Seeds: Can be planted anywhere to grow a temporary shelter that provides warmth and status recovery.
-
Tincture of Iceblood: A rare potion that permantly boosts endurance and hardens the user’s skin to stone-like resilience similar to ice giants.
They split the items thoughtfully. Calder took the Glacial Mantle, tossing his old fur cloak into the snow with a grunt. Nyra claimed the dagger. Kael accepted the Ring with a hesitant nod. Lorelai took the seeds. Aeryn held up the potion, uncertain, then shrugged and stored it. She'd have to get it appraised later.
As they prepared to ascend, the ice slowly began to melt, the lake vanishing like a dream.
“The tower changes quickly,” Nyra said softly in astonishment. “The difficulty increases quite a bit on each floor.”
Aeryn exhaled, her breath fogging. “You think there’s a fire-themed floor?”
“Don’t jinx us,” Kael muttered.
“Let’s keep climbing,” Lorelai said. “Before the cold decides it’s not done with us.”
"Why," Thrax said with a sly grin, "I enjoy seeing your perkiness."
Lorelai performed a swift kick to Thrax's shin before crossing her arms over her chest.
With that, they began their ascent once more—toward the third floor, where the unknown waited in silence.
The ascent from the frozen lake was abrupt, as if the dungeon itself had exhaled winter and inhaled something older, drier, and far more patient.
The third floor unfurled like a secret tomb long sealed from the world above. The walls shifted from glacial ice to massive sandstone blocks, weathered with age and etched with sprawling murals in flaking gold leaf. Columns lined the stairwell, their surfaces covered in depictions of sun-headed gods and snake-bodied figures offering tribute to an unseen power. Dust, fine and undisturbed, carpeted the ground like a forgotten snowfall, muffling the sound of every footstep.
As they reached the main chamber, the scale became clear—it was shaped like an inverted ziggurat, a massive pit carved with concentric terraces that descended toward a central dais far below. Each level held niches carved into the stone, some empty, others still housing statues that loomed in eternal prayer or judgment, their eyes inlaid with gems that glinted in the flickering torchlight.
At the lowest level, the floor was composed of worn obsidian tiles, many cracked or chipped by time. In its center lay a stone altar encircled by concentric rings of script, carved deep and filled with dark resin that shimmered like spilled oil. Behind it, half-sunken into the stone, stood a sarcophagus bound in thick iron chains. The bindings themselves seemed to pulse faintly, as though holding back more than just stone.
The air was thick with incense that had long gone bitter—traces of myrrh and something acrid, like scorched parchment. It clung to the walls, the statues, the bones of the chamber itself. Every breath tasted of ancient rituals and the kind of silence reserved for tombs that had been sealed with purpose.
High above, near the ceiling, an oculus of blackened glass filtered the light down in narrow shafts, casting geometric shadows across the terraces. It felt like a sun that had long since died, preserved only in memory.
The deeper one gazed into the chamber, the more it seemed the room gazed back—unmoving, unblinking, and utterly unwilling to forget.
class: Martial Force
3 Unused stat points
Agi - 27
Will - 25
End - 24
Int- 20
Lightning Animus: Scarlet Thunderbird
Aura of Purity (Rank II)- emanate a protective aura that radiates from you granting allies protection and curing against poison, charm effects, and status ailments such as paralysis and petrification. Cures minor curses. After a meditative prayer the caster can cause a small healing instead of purification
Bolt Slash/Piercer: A slash(sword)/Punch (Spear) that sends out lightning/radiant magic attack from a weapon. Small chance of paralysis effect, duration 1.5 s
Gravity Slash/Piercer: The slash presses down, the punch presses to a wall or other object. Str of gravity effect coordinates with WILL stat.
Daylight(light magic)- illuminates dark areas, weakens undead, and dispels magical darkness below a certain level/tier
Zakir- large bolt of lightning shot with two fingers, high piercing effect
Oppression- greatly increase the gravitational force in an aoe
Gravity Centrifuge-you create a focal point to create your gravitational pull point. Any enemy within a fifteen meter radius is pulled towards the center. The closer to the center, the stronger the pull. The ball of gravity explodes at the end of the spell dealing damage proportional to proximity to the center
Repulse- can repel or pull any metal object under the effects of lightning clad
Weight Manipulation (upgrade pending)- Alter the weight of yourself or target, concentration required. Drastic changes are available at a higher tier
Spatial Storage: Provides a pocket dimension to store non-living things in, the size of the space is dependent upon your INT stat.
Rapid thrusts - Give numerous quick thrusts, number of thrusts dependent upon AGI stat power of thrust dependent upon STR stat
Dash(Rank II)- rapidly increase movement speed for up to 2 meters cd 15 seconds. Speed of dash is dependent upon AGI stat, distance is dependent upon STR stat. At a small mana cost create an after-image to confuse enemies
Counterstrike- Parry and counter strike with a higher chance to critical. crit chance dependent upon WILL stat, damage dependent upon STR
Smite(Rank II) - coats weapon in radiant energy and provides a minor heal/stamina to allies within 60 feet when an enemy is slain by smite. Radiant dmg is scaled off of STR and WILL
Affinities: holy, radiant, light, lightning, gravity, spacetime, electromagnetism
basic skills- dash unarmed combat
Swordsmanship: Diamond Cutter: Dragonslaying Sword (third form)
Spearmanship: Spear of the Divine: Precision and Punishing (third form)
unique talent - shapeshifting (human only)