Khal and Merlin ventured deeper into the forest, hunting monsters.
After a few hours of venturing, the only monsters they encountered were low-level.
I hoped i would have found an elemental monster to farm a resistance but since today is only the first day of the exam, most of the monsters are quite weak; they aren’t even strong enough to level up any of my adaptations.
I guess I’ll have to wait a day or two.
Merlin grabbed Khal by his hoodie, pulling it; Khal turned his head to her, eyebrow raised.
“Since we currently aren’t doing anything, do you mind if we check something out?”
Khal turned towards her, curiosity in his gaze.
“What are you talking about?”
She tilted her head down, pulling a map out of her pocket and unfolding it.
“My mother gave me this map; she said that when this secret realm was built, it was made from a fragment of a destroyed C-class rift to cut cost; the fragment had an unexplored dungeon inside it, but the association didn’t want to waste resources to close it.”
“To ensure a student wouldn’t wander into it, they covered it up. This map is supposed to lead to the location of said dungeon.”
Khal’s eyes widen with curiosity, rubbing his chin.
If what she said is true, a place with monsters stronger than me would be the perfect place to level up my adaptations… But can i trust this information? Why did she tell me this? did she need the help in exploring it or is there another reason behind it?
Khal thought for awhile before responding.
“If what you're saying is true, we should follow the map for now and see where it leads us. If it is as you said, then i suppose we can explore to see what we can find.”
She hasn’t done anything untrustworthy so far so let’s check it out; i can’t let such an opportunity pass.
Merlin nodded, staring at the map, leading the way.
Khal followed closely behind, watching his surroundings.
 

 
After a few minutes of venturing through the forest, They made it to it’s end, reaching an open grassy plain. The air there was different; it felt as if they stepped into a different world entirely.
The wind would blow but seemingly not pass into the forest, and the creatures inside the forest seemingly tried to avoid crossing into it.
“We’re now on the fragment of the C-class rift, aren’t we?” Khal asked.
“Yes, we are. We're not far now; we're about an hour away from where the dungeon's located.”
They kept moving forward. Khal felt uneasy; though his danger sense wasn’t being activated, he could still feel something was off.
Since the moment we entered this area, I’ve had a bad feeling… i feel like we're being watched.
They were passing a massive brown boulder. Merlin, buried in the map, kept walking without pause. But Khal couldn’t take his eyes off the rock. He stopped, reached out, and grabbed her shoulder, halting her in her tracks.
“Sorry to do this to you again.”
Before she could react.
SWOOSH!
Khal threw her into the air. The hair on his body raising, a sharp pain in his head.
…I won’t be able to dodge this.
BOOM!
An enormous earthy hand uprooted itself from the ground, smacking Khal away.
Bam Bam Bam
Khal Skipped across the ground like a rock, Stopping a few feet away from it. Struggling to stand up.
 




Muscle Strength +1
Muscle Strength +1
Muscle Strength +1




 




Bone Density +1
Bone Density +1
Bone Density +1
Bone Density +1
Bone Density +1





Damn, that hurt. I really can’t get a break.
Khal stood up, summoning his spear, mana seeping out the blade.
Merlin floated above the creature, sitting on her staff.
If khal didn’t move me out the way just now, i would have been dead…
RUMBLE RUMBLE
The ground shook violently. the massive earthy hand, already gripping the ground, began to pull itself free. Another arm burst through the soil, then its body followed, rising from the ground. At the top, a small jagged head emerged, its glowing white eyes fixed in a cold glare.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
 




Earth Golem Lvl 12





Merlin quickly flew towards Khal, floating above him.
“How are we gonna defeat that thing? Its level is higher than both of ours, and earth golems are known for their high defense and regenerative abilities.” She asked.
Khal steadied himself, a determined expression hardening on his face. He was already calculating his next move.
“Tell me, what offensive abilities do you have?” he asked, eyes narrowing as he scanned the golem.
“Rapid water bullet and Purple Thunder are currently my only offensive abilities.” She replied.
“That golem’s mostly made of dirt. Your water bullet will be key in stopping its regeneration. When I give the signal, I want you to fire everything you've got at its left arm.” She nodded her head in response, slowly flying towards the golem.
FWOOSH!
Khal charged forward, his feet pounding the ground, passing Merlin in an instant. His mind raced—
My spear might not do much damage on it’s own, but if i let Merl use water bullet before i attack…
“NOW!” Khal shouted.
Merlin extended both hands, aiming at the golem’s left arm.

RAPID WATER BULLET[㊌]
PSSH! PSSH! PSSH!
Merlin’s attack struck relentlessly, soaking and damaging the golem’s hand in water. Enraged, the golem swung its arm, aiming to crush her.
Khal poured his mana into his spear, focusing intently.
FWOOSH!
He leaped into the air towards it, swinging his spear in a wide arc.
CHING!
Do some damage!
BAM!
Three of it’s fingers fell to the ground; Khal landed, falling on top of one of them.
The golem tried to regenerate, but all the soil kept falling off, making the injury even worse.
A golem keeps it’s core in one of two areas: it’s head or it’s chest. if the core is not discovered and destroyed, a golem will never die; fighting like this won’t do much to it, but if i can render it unable to regenerate it’s arms, we win.
The golem swung its massive arm down at Khal, who reacted instantly, lifting his spear above his head to block the strike.
BAM!
The golem's fist slammed down on him, the soaked soil making its arm break off.
Khal remained buried beneath the soil, his body unscathed.





Blunt Force Resistance Acquired!





Blunt Force Resist +1
Blunt Force Resist +1
Blunt Force Resist +1









RAPID WATER BULLET[㊌]
Merlin shot it’s other hand nine consecutive times, soaking it with water.
FWOOSH!
Khal exploded from the dirt, his spear raised high, a grin tugging at his lips.
“Great work, Merl. Leave the rest to me!”
I need to take it’s arm off in a single move; I’ll inject as much mana as i can into my weapon.
 




Mana+1
Mana+1
Mana+1
Mana+1




 
The spear pulsed with a fierce red glow, mana crackling and seeping from its blade.
And with everything i have… I’ll slash!
CHING!
A red arc of pure mana sliced through the golem’s arm, the energy dissipating into the air as the limb was severed cleanly.
BOOM!
The golem’s hand crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Khal landed swiftly on his feet, immediately backing away from the golem, his eyes locked on its movements.
The golem attempted to regenerate its arm, but the soil continued to slip off. In a fit of rage, it shook violently, a bright white ball of light forming just in front of its head.
Golems are extremely stupid. All it needs to do is break off the wet soil to regenerate. But even with their dullness, when they realize they’re in danger, they draw power from their core to charge up an insanely powerful mana blast.
The place where the blast is being charged from will fool you and let you think that’s where the core is, but its the opposite.
“Merl, quickly use water bullet and attack it’s chest!”
“On it!” Merlin extended her hands, firing.
 
RAPID WATER BULLET[㊌]
 
PSSH! PSSH! PSSH!
The attacks struck the golem, soaking the front of its chest and putting it off balance. Though the attack was damaging, the golem didn’t stop, still charging up it’s attack.
Khal held his spear back, mana seeping out of it.
Since it no longer has any hands to block, this is my chance.
and with everything he had, he threw.
WHOOSH!
The spear traveled at an incredible speed, aimed at the golem’s chest.
FHOOM!
The spear struck true, piercing the golem’s chest. It impaled the core, which flew out of the golem’s body with it, landing with a sharp thud on the ground.
 




Earth Golem Defeated!

27.5 Adaptive Points acquired




 




4000 points earned from defeating an Earth Golem (Split between Greatest Mage Alive.)




 




Examination Ranking Updated!




 
The blast subsided, it’s body falling to the ground returning to soil.
Merlin flew down to the ground, checking her status window, a slight smile forming on her face.
“Wow, i leveled up 3 times; im level 10 now.”
Khal turned to her, forcing a smile.
“Ah yea, i leveled up too.”
Must be nice… If only you weren’t here, i could have played with that golem some more and farmed some adaptations.
Well, i guess it wasn’t that bad a loss since i got another adaptation, and i probably wouldn’t have encountered it without her.
Khal let out an exasperated sigh.
“I’ll let it go for now.”
Merlin tilted her head, staring at him with curiosity.
“Let what go?”
Khal shook his head left and right.
“Its nothing. let’s continue on.”
Khal walked over to his spear, pulling it out of the ground and pulling off the golem's core, throwing it away.
“Too bad it’s destroyed.” Merlin, staring at the core with a disappointed look.
“Destroyed?” Khal asked.
“You know, the golems Vitality stone, it would have produced a decent amount of experience if it wasn’t destroyed.”
Khal widen his eyes in surprise before turning his gaze.
“Oh yeah, i was so absorbed in reclaiming my spear and wasn’t focused on what you were saying.”
Since vitality stones have no use to me except monetary value, i complete forgot vitality stones are a universal want for awakened.
“Alright, it’s about time we continued our journey… Let's go.