Chapter 423 - A Trial of Strength (Patreon)

A gentle rain fell, casting a seemingly peaceful pall across the ravine. The pitter pat of raindrops hitting the ground was almost enough to mask the sizzling sound that came with each one. But for Zeke, it was all too obvious, especially when he felt every single one burning through his metallic body and leaving it pitted and scarred.

Zeke felt the pain of each drop, but he ignored the irritation as he gazed took in his surroundings. The sides of the ravine were sheer and perfectly vertical, almost to the point of looking artificial. Which given that he was within a dungeon, it was, but that was beside the point. The ground was rough, with the acid-like rain flowing to the center and creating a small stream. Otherwise, the ravine was entirely barren. Not surprising, given the corrosive precipitation, but it was notable all the same.

A few dozen yards away, the ravine was blocked by a pile of rocks. On the edges, they were small – barely bigger than basketballs – but the further into the pile Zeke looked, the larger the rocks became until, just visible beneath the rest of the boulders, was one that rivaled a cottage in size.

Looking back, Zeke saw his way barred by another sheer cliff.

The first thing he did was switch to fueling [Triune Colossus] with earth-attuned mana. It offered far more durability, which was necessary given the constant corrosion that came from the acidic rain. That helped, though Zeke knew that he was on something of a timer. Not only was he still under the effects of the poison to which he had previously been subjected, but he also knew that the rain would eventually wear him down, regardless of his endurance. So, he needed to figure out how to complete the challenge as quickly as possible.

Once he felt his body shift, taking on a larger, rockier form that came with fueling the skill with earth-attuned mana, Zeke set about inspecting his surroundings. Jamming his hands into the wall was easy enough, and the climb was no different. However, when he reached the top of the cliff, he met with an invisible barrier that would allow no further progress.

Briefly, Zeke considered using his Runebreaker technique to shatter that obstacle, but he chose not to for two reasons. First, he had no idea if it would even work. He saw no runes to shatter, so there was no guarantee that the technique would do anything at all. Second, even if it did work, he suspected that there would be unintended consequences for breaking the challenge. For all he knew, shattering that barrier would destroy everything, including the means for progressing to the next challenge.

So, for once, Zeke chose the route of caution and restraint.

“That’s character growth if I’ve ever seen it. But you definitely don’t like it, do you?” remarked Eveline. “You’d prefer to just smash through without a care for the consequences.”

“I think of consequences.”

“Sometimes.”

“Shut up.”

With that, he descended from the top of the cliff, his feet thudding against the ground when he leaped from a height of around fifteen feet. Next, he tried to climb the pile of rocks and boulders, but he met with a similar issue when he encountered the same invisible obstacle. Finally, he tried to use [Shifting Sands] to go through the rocks, but another invisible barrier stopped his progress, and he was forced to cancel it. In Zeke’s mind, that cemented the strategy intended to meet and defeat the challenge.

So, after climbing down, he started removing rocks, tossing them aside as he dug through the pile. At first, it was easy enough. If he’d been back on Earth, the rocks would have been heavy enough to give him trouble, but with his incredibly enhanced strength, their weight was completely inconsequential.

But after the tenth rock, Zeke noticed an additional problem.

“Is the rain coming down harder than before, or is that my imagination?” he asked, tilting his head to the sky. It roiled with angry, green-tinted clouds.

“Not your imagination,” Eveline answered.

“Shit,” he muttered, hoping it was just a natural surge in the storm. But in the back of his mind, he could predict the pattern. “Maybe I’m wrong.”

“Yeah. Because that would make total sense for a dungeon that’s meant to challenge you. Why wouldn’t it be easy?” Eveline asked.

She definitely had a point there, but Zeke didn’t react to her response. Instead, he continued with his labor. He picked up and tossed aside one rock after another, and as time went on, they grew larger and larger until he was forced to dig handholds just so he could handle them. The weight still wasn’t an issue, but boulders the size of a motorcycle made for an awkward burden.

And they only grew larger and heavier as the task went on.

Compounding that problem was the fact that the ferocity of the storm continued to increase. When Zeke had first arrived in the ravine, it had barely been enough to call a drizzle, but after an hour of heaving rocks out of the way, it had picked up to a heavy shower. The pain of that rain eating away at him made his labor that much more onerous, but the real issue came from the pattern it established.

“It’s just going to get worse,” he mumbled as he heaved a boulder onto his shoulder, then tossed it to the other end of the ravine.

“That seems likely,” Eveline agreed.

But there was nothing for it but to keep going. He couldn’t climb the walls, and he couldn’t return the way he’d come. So, the only way forward was through that pile of boulders. With that in mind, Zeke continued his labor.

Time passed, and the hours began to blend together. At some point, Zeke stopped long enough to slake his thirst and satiate his hunger, but he took no pleasure in it. Not with the increasingly heavy downpour burning through his rocky exterior.

It wasn’t until the boulders had grown to ten and fifteen feet across that Zeke discovered yet another issue. The increased furor of the storm had dumped so much caustic precipitation into the ravine that the small stream flowing through the center had grown to take up the entire ground. It had gotten deep enough that it had risen to Zeke’s ankles.

If it kept going, the waters would continue to rise, and at an ever-accelerating rate. Eventually, it would completely envelop him.

Which reaffirmed the idea that he couldn’t dawdle. So, Zeke continued his labors, and as the hours stretched into more than a day, the acidic waters continued to rise until they reached his thighs. And given his massive size, that was high enough that, if he were in his cambion form, only his head would’ve been visible.

In addition, the furious storm continued to intensify to hurricanic levels. Wind whipped through the ravine, churning the ever-deepening waters and splashing Zeke’s earthen form. Still, he persisted because he had no other choice.

And then things changed.

“You needn’t toil any longer,” came the familiar voice of the mushroom man. Zeke looked up to see the strange creature perched atop the tall cliff. The fact that he’d heard his voice brought to light the fact that the storm – and its tornadic winds – had suddenly ceased.

No. That wasn’t quite right. Everything had frozen in place. The waves still existed. The falling rain hadn’t gone anywhere. Instead, everything had just stopped.

Everything but Zeke and the mushroom man, at least.

“What?” Zeke called out, his throat sore and his voice raspy. More than a little acid had gotten into his mouth, and as a result, even his insides had been blistered.

“You can escape,” the humanoid fungi said. He waved a hand, and a door suddenly appeared in the side of the cliff. Oddly, no liquid passed through the black rectangle, and Zeke couldn’t see anything on the other side. “You need only pass through the door. I assure you, no harm will come to you if you choose this route.”

It was a testament to the amount of pain Zeke was in that he very nearly walked through that door without even thinking. However, the weight of his expectations brought him up short, and he asked, “What happens after that? Does this mean I’ve passed this test?”

“Oh, no. Passing through that door means that you admit you are unworthy. You will be deposited back in the real world, where you can do naught but wallow in the shame of your failure,” the mushroom man stated. “However, you will live, and that must have some value to you.”

Zeke asked, “Are the tasks the same for everyone who enters this dungeon?”

“No. They are tailored to the individual. It is meant to be a challenge. What might strain your capabilities can be overcome by someone else with little difficulty. If you proceed, you will be pushed to your limits. I can guarantee that much.”

“So, you’re offering me a chance to fail.”

“I offer a chance to live.”

Zeke didn’t even give it a thought before he said, “No thanks.”

Then, he went back to work. The storm resumed, and the waters continued to churn. With every passing moment, Zeke felt a little weaker than before. The acidic rain didn’t just leave him pitted and scarred, but it also sapped his strength like nothing ever had. Boulders that should have been well within his capabilities to lift suddenly felt far too heavy to bear. He compensated by trying to shatter them with his hammer, but they were unassailable. He couldn’t even crack the things.

So, he summoned every ounce of strength he could, and set about slowly shifting them out of the way. Inch by inch, he persisted until he’d accomplished his goal. Then, he started in on the remaining boulders.

To Zeke, time lost meaning. There was only the task.

All the while, the acidic water continued to rise. The mushroom man remained in place, but he didn’t say anything else. Instead, he just watched and waited for Zeke to succeed or die. For his part, Zeke refused to give up, even after the water rose to his neck, he bent his back to the task at hand.

And gradually, he made progress. Even as the acid ate through his body, one layer at a time, he shifted enormous rocks. He tried to counteract the damage via [Cambion’s Awakening], but the skill came up short. As a result, his progress was marked by a slow but inevitable decline.

He knew that he could, at any time, leave. The door remained in place, so he could end his suffering at any point. However, for Zeke, it had never been an option. He refused to give up just as ardently as he refused to fail. So, through sheer stubbornness, he persisted. Even Eveline’s constant chatter couldn’t distract him from his found purpose as a humanoid excavator.

Then, with a mighty heave that felt as if it was going to rip his muscles to shreds, he finally edged the final boulder – which was the size of a suburban starter home – out of the way. The water rushed out, draining through the miniscule crack in the previously impenetrable wall of boulders.

But Zeke wasn’t finished.

Even as the acidic water’s level fell, he continued to pull the boulder out of the way. Meanwhile, the storm’s fury intensified even further, and Zeke felt even his massive form shifting in the wind. He increased his weight to compensate, but the wind kept pace.

He would not be denied, though.

With herculean effort, Zeke let out a roar and shifted the final boulder against the current. One tiny inch at a time. Bit by bit, he dragged it far enough away that it revealed a tiny path that was just wide enough to admit his cambion form. So, after taking a deep breath, he cancelled [Triune Colossus].

It was a mistake.

Fiery pain erupted across his entire body as the acidic rain melted through muscle and skin. Dollops of blood and liquified meat ran off him right alongside the drops of corrosive rain. Zeke let out a scream of agony, then harnessed his Will. It sang through him, just as destructive as the corrosion, but in a completely different way. The two forces – one of Arcane Destruction, the other of corrosive rain – did battle in Zeke’s body, giving him a brief window of opportunity.

He seized it, then lurched forward and through the opening he’d created. [Cambion’s Awakening] battled the two destructive forces, but it was too weak to do much more than stave off disaster. Still, that, along with the standstill created by his Will’s clash with the corrosive rain, gave him just enough time to bypass the boulder and stumble into the clearing beyond.

It was just more of the same ravine, but in the distance, Zeke saw an elaborate arch. The moment he caught sight of it, he knew that was his destination. In fact, as he crawled forward, it became his entire world. Inches became feet, and soon enough, he’d dragged himself to the base.

Bloody, and with large bits of his skin falling off, he looked up to see the mushroom man staring down at him. Zeke had no idea when the man had arrived. Nor was he in any position to care.

“Congratulations,” the humanoid fungi said. “You have conquered this trial. Be warned, it will only grow more difficult from here. You may proceed.”

With that, he gestured to the door.

Zeke needed no further invitation before he dragged himself through.