A Walk In The Desert

'You attack from afar while I attack from up close.'

The Moonlit Feline nodded.

'I'll have to train my different senses and get some Passive Skills, but I'll do that some other time. Right now...'

Mark pushed the doors open.

'All I can think of is the fact that I'll be able to leave this Dungeon. Just gotta get through this Floor first.'

He stepped into the desert once more.

Mark waited for a bit, and once again, Monsters showed up.

This time, five of them.

They looked exactly like those Mark had encountered before.

'I won't go the same way this time-'

Before any of the Monsters could move, an Ice Spike stabbed one of them.

The ice spread, and the Monster's core was frozen solid.

Mark did not miss the fact that the remaining Monsters were thrown off.

He immediately rushed towards them.

While his claws pierced through one of the Monsters, his tail beheaded another one.

Just like that, three of the five attackers had been dealt with.

The remaining ones quickly went underground and fled.

After staying on high alert for a minute or so, Mark let his guard down.

'Good job.'

While the Moonlit Feline tried to act unaffected by the compliment, Light's ears twitched.

The Underling growled as it raised its gaze.

Mark followed that gaze.

Multiple Monsters were flying in the air.

They were far away, and fairly high.

The white-scaled Monster showed its teeth.

'That's good too, Light. You can't do much since it's so bright in here, but this is plenty.' Mark thought as he raised a hand.

From the three unmoving bodies, multiple bones were lifted into the air.

'Maybe I should get you to assimilate some stronger Monsters? Or wait for you to Evolve again...'

The bones were crushed and turned into a huge spear.

Bone Manipulation.

The huge spear pierced the air and flew towards the flying Monsters in the distance.

[You have defeated a Sand Vulture. 7000 Gold Coins and 14000 Experience Points earned.]

The swarm of Sand Vultures started approaching faster.

'Fiery's attacks don't have much range either. So...'

Mark spread his black wings.

He flew up.

The numerous Monsters screeched as they got closer and closer.

Mark immediately rushed towards the closest Monster and tore its left wing apart.

He, then, quickly moved on to the next one, leaving the previous one falling.

Once the eleven Monsters, each missing a wing, hit the ground, Mark extended his palm towards them.

The Monsters had been injured by their fall.

Broken bones, ribs, necks, and other various injuries.

Had the ground not been covered with sand, the fall would have been enough to kill them.

5 Great Fire Balls were shot.

'Going well for now.'

Unbeknownst to Mark, who was still in the air, the ground started shaking.

As he was in mid-air, Mark could not feel it.

And yet,

'Something is coming-'

The next second, a giant hole appeared right below him.

A giant sandworm exited the ground.

It threw itself with such force, that it managed to capture Mark with its mouth.

The sandworm rotated and was about to dive back into the ground.

But instead, it cried loudly.

A cloud of smoke escaped from its mouth.

The next instant, a red light radiated from inside the Monster's body.

Its stomach body was blown off.

From the giant carcass, a white-scaled Monster, covered in blood and internal organs, emerged.

'Disgusting...' Mark thought.

He shook his head.

'Light, Fiery and um... You. Stay on the other side of the doors. I'll go check if there are any worthwhile enemies in here.'

Mark spread his wings and flew over the desert.

On his way, he found multiple Monsters.

Some were absolutely huge, while others very small.

Still, not one of them managed to seriously injure him.

Mark arrived at the other side of the desert.

Two huge doors stood in front of him.

'The Guardian? Already?'

[The doors do not lead directly to the Guardian.]

[They lead to the second part of the Fourth Floor.]

'Why are you making this more complicated than it should be? There's no need for a second part. Just put them all together. Tsk...'

Mark flew back across the desert, reviving many Sand Vultures on the way.

The Moonlit Feline purred, delighted by its Master's comeback.

'Alright, let's go.'

Mark flew away while the Moonlit Feline was standing on his shoulder, trying hard to balance itself.

Fiery and Light were carried by the multiple Sand Vultures across the desert.

'Maybe I should spend some more time here actually. Keep going to those doors. No Monsters should be near them.'

Mark put the Moonlit Feline on top of Fiery, before descending to the ground.

'Devouring Monsters is never a waste of time.'

...

[You have developed the Magic Skill "Blinding Sand[C]".]

[You have developed the Passive Skill "Heat Resistance[E]".]

Sometime later, Mark entered the second part of the Fourth Floor along with his Underlings.

'Two Skills. I guess that's pretty good...'

On the other side of the doors, was a long corridor.

The first Monsters that the group encountered were easily taken care of.

As time passed, the Moonlit Feline became more and more efficient at assisting Mark with long-range attacks.

'These guys shouldn't be a problem...'

In front of Mark stood three giant Monsters.

Their bodies were made of rocks.

They looked extremely sturdy.

Purple inscriptions were all over their bodies.

They were Golems.

'It's been a while. Finally, the normal version, huh?'

Mark confidently, yet cautiously, walked towards the Golems.

The three Monsters were facing him.

They were slow.

Extremely slow.

Once he arrived at one of the Golems' feet, Mark amassed Aura around his right arm.

Using all the strength he had, he punched the Monster's stone leg.

But Mark was left perplexed.

A single crack had appeared on the Golem's leg.

Meanwhile, his knuckles were bleeding.

Slightly but, nevertheless, bleeding.

'Huh. That's pretty-'

The next instant, the Golem hit Mark's body with an open palm.

A palm larger than Mark's whole body.

Despite the Golem's slow movements, Mark was thrown towards the corridor's wall with insane force.

The impact even made him cough up small amounts of blood.

'This is... Not bad.' Mark thought as he showed his fangs.

An ice spear hit the Golem's head, but only a small part of it was frozen.

'These guys are strong, slow and durable. The easiest enemies.'

Mark quickly got back up on his feet and rushed between the Golem's legs before getting behind it.

'I could easily just go past them but... That wouldn't be fun. Let's try something else.'

He jumped onto the Golem's back and climbed up its body.

A strong punch to the eye.

Numerous cracks appeared.

'Some spots are weaker than others. Makes sense.'

An open palm moved towards Mark.

Slowly.

Extremely slowly.

Yet, when it touched him, he was thrown away with insane force.

Mark rolled on the ground many times before his back hit the wall.

'Ugh. High strength? No... It's impossible for a hit that slow to produce that much force. It must be a Skill...'

Mark let himself get hit.

'As I thought. Once their palms touch me, I get pushed somehow. But that does not deal any damage. It's the impact against the ground and walls that does the damage. This Skill...'

His eyes started burning.

'I want it!'

Using his Sonic Tail Flick, Mark could damage the Golems a bit more easily.

'Freeze its eye.'

The Moonlit Feline obeyed.

A second later, Mark used his tail to hit the frozen spot.

Half of the Golem's head was destroyed.

Once it had lost its head, the rest of its huge body fell.

Upon impact with the ground, the Golem's body crumbled.

'Like sandcastles...'

The two other Golems were defeated shortly after.

'Freezing can make things easier to break. I'll have to remember that.'

Sometime later, Mark arrived at the Boss Room.

On the way, he had devoured more than 15 Golems.

Still, it wasn't enough to acquire the Skill he was looking for.

Instead, his Magic Skill "Heavy Stone Armor[E]" had evolved into "Golem Armor[D+]".

'Better than nothing. Anyways, let's go in.'

Mark pushed the two huge doors open.

Behind him stood, of course, Moonlit Feline, Light and Fiery.

But also a Golem with black inscriptions on its body, a Sand Vulture with black pelt, a Great Rattlesnake and a Great Paralyzing Sand Iguana.

'Let's see which of these Underlings are worth keeping!'