Level One God

My Abyss Walker boots squelched in the soggy undergrowth and fallen leaves. It had been raining off and on all day, and the night was already shaping up to be the coldest yet in the tournament.

The bulky, clattering plates of armor I wore strapped to my uniform didn't help. The metal armor absorbed every bit of cold and seemed to radiate it back toward my skin.

Unlike the other suits of armor Torgen made for the mongrel army, mine was a bit unique. We had to focus on sewing the plates directly into the padded under-clothes strategically. Considering any of my body parts could swell to double its normal size when using my Rage Blood potion, I didn't want to burst out of my clothes or armor. They also used a special kind of knot at the sides of my shirt and pants that would let them expand if needed. So far, it worked pretty well, even if there was nothing to do about all the blood I was constantly sweating out.

But things like the discomfort of ill-fitting clothes or cold, bulky armor were hardly at the top of my mind.

There was a very real chance of dying in the next few days. I had no idea what most of the nobility were capable of and I was operating with only two active abilities of my own. My allies only had one. Numbers and fancy plate armor or not, we'd be shredded by the right magical abilities, and I was doing my best to remember that.
Pebble rolled through the forest in every direction to help me search for a challenge area or ingredients. I'd occasionally hear him zip past to my right or left. Keeping the spell active let me feel a vague sense of his direction and distance, so I always knew the sounds were coming from him.

There was also a single viewing portal showing a few grommets that drifted behind me, keeping tabs on my progress. All the other viewing portals must have been watching more exciting things for the moment.

I chugged half of a Rage Blood Potion a little while back and had one oversized arm. On the one hand, it helped me feel safer and ready if I was ambushed. On the other hand, it was causing muscle damage and blood loss I could use Devour Mana to heal.

I still hadn't pushed the spell to Tier 3, and I was beginning to suspect it took more than sheer volume. Every time I'd evolved a skill before, it had come shortly after some kind of paradigm shift in how I understood the ability.

So I divided my focus between meditating, calming my nerves, searching, and mulling over the question of how I could push the spell to evolve. What other way could I use it that I hadn't already tried?

Annoyingly, nothing was coming to mind, so I eventually let the Rage Blood Potion wear off and resorted to holding my weapon at the ready in case anything ambushed me. After slaughtering the ragelings, I found myself pretty fond of my new polearm. At least until I had all my spells and equipment back, this thing was becoming a quick favorite.

I was lost in thought and had been exploring fruitlessly for nearly an hour when Pebble rolled into view, bouncing and spinning excitedly in circles.

"What is it?" I asked him, kneeling to get a better look.

He positioned himself on top of a fallen log and then gave me the signal for challenge area. Two small bounces and a big bounce.

"You're sure?"

Pebble wobbled. He wasn't sure, but he suspected. It was good enough for me. The idea of another challenge area filled me with an odd mixture of excitement and dread. Great rewards, sure. But last time I'd very nearly died trying to survive it.

I took a beat to consider, then nodded to Pebble. "Let's go, Buddy."

Pebble charged ahead, ramping up tree trunks and doing small ghost rock tricks as we traveled. It wasn't a long distance, though. Within a few minutes, he was bouncing in front of a particularly large tree. I felt the first pang of disappointment, thinking he'd been wrong. But then he led me around the back, and I saw there was a small door.

I raised my eyebrows, then crouched and tried the door. It swung open to reveal a carved staircase leading straight down into darkness. I stared at that darkness, feeling my doubts grow again.

I temporarily felt the pain of that Void Crawler trying to claw my insides out and the hot, prickly fear of thinking it might be the end.

But there was no use being afraid. Monsters and challenge areas were the lesser of the evils here. The nobility and Rake? Those were the real threats. Then again, the threat of pissing off the people running the game might be the biggest risk of all. I had no idea what they'd do if they thought we were going to win, but I suspected it wouldn't be good.

All the more reason to take this risk now so I was stronger and ready to face whatever bullshit came our way next.

I squeezed myself through the narrow doorway to the larger space beyond.

The door slammed shut as soon as I was inside. Ahead, torches flared to life down the staircase one by one, filling the small chamber with the scent of smoke and just a touch of warmth.

[You have entered a challenge area. You may exit on elimination or victory.]

I rolled out my shoulders. It was cramped in here. Too cramped for my polearm at the moment. Thankfully, a not-so-small benefit of one of our recent outpost captures had unlocked the use of our slip spaces to store items we found within the tournament. It made transporting materials between camps far easier, and it also meant I could simply pop my polearm in my slip space and take out the dagger Zahra gave me until I had more space to work.

In my other hand, I held my Alchemist's Kit loaded with Rage Blood Potion tightly, ready to chug it at the first sign of danger. It was tempting to take it pre-emptively, but I knew even being careful would accidentally swell my muscles and drain some of my mana. For all I knew, I'd have to do some kind of puzzle or obstacle course, too, and being a swollen ball of muscle might be detrimental.

For now, I'd just keep it close.

"Can you look ahead?" I asked Pebble, keeping my voice low. There was no sound down here, just increasingly warm, stuffy air and an overwhelming scent of fresh wood and smoke. There was another smell I couldn't place, something more subtle and faint. It was almost familiar, but not quite.

Pebble rolled down the stairs, bouncing happily as he zipped out of view.

Once he'd covered a little ground, I headed deeper. It was only a few steps before the wood surrounding me turned to dirt that had an odd, smooth texture. It hadn't just been carved away, it had been polished somehow.

I touched it with a finger, frowning because it felt more like smooth, cold stone than dirt. But I could see bits of rock and roots stuck in the stuff.

What kind of creature could do that?

And then the scent felt more familiar. It was a scent I hadn't picked up in what felt like ages. Carapax. It was the scent of their pheromones.

Pebble rolled up out of the darkness, bouncing several times to indicate many enemies ahead.

"Bugs, right?" I asked. "Big beetles?"

He hesitated, then gave a small bounce.

"Not bugs?"

He wobbled.

I spent a few more seconds trying to puzzle out what he meant, but gave up and went deeper. The stairs ended and gave way to a larger chamber with more torches. This one was full of buildings that looked like they were made out of the same polished dirt. They were like a mixture of wasp nests and human buildings, and they were all child-sized.

I paused, kneeling low and pressing myself into a shadow between torches as I strained my eyes for movement. I stared until my eyes burned, but didn't pick up any sign of anything alive. To my left, I saw some pustule looking things dangling from stems on the walls. They were like cursed dumplings with something green inside the thin membrane.

I picked one by the stem and let it dangle. It was giving off a horrible smell, and I was pretty sure if I threw it, the thing would explode and drench whatever it hit. But what effect would the liquid inside have?

Carefully, I gripped the stem and gave the thing a sidearm throw, watching it flip end over end as it sailed toward one of the little wasp nests. It was a direct hit, and the greenish yellow liquid splattered everywhere, hissing and sending up gouts of steam. Within seconds, it ate holes through the structure wherever it touched, dripping to fizzle out on the ground.

I gave an appreciative look toward all the other cursed dumplings on the wall and inspected one.

[Acidbloom (Rare) ?]

Not that rare, I noted, counting at least thirty of the things alone on the single wall. I knew based on past herbs I'd found that they wouldn't last forever without spoiling once I picked them, even in my slip space. But I also knew there was little to no chance I'd ever have time to come back here. There was no use leaving any of them behind, so I kept quiet and close to the wall as I plucked them and stashed them one by one.

I was nearly done when I heard something scuttle nearby.

I whirled, summoning and raising my polearm in the same motion. I expected to see a giant red beetle like the carapax I'd encountered in the Black Wood. Instead…

I slowly lowered my spear, smiling. It was like a baby, maybe? The thing couldn't be more than two or three feet tall. It looked like a beetle, but if beetles had faces in their stomachs. It was holding what looked like a toy sword made out of wood, which raised all kinds of strange questions.

[Carapax Youngling, Level 15 (Wood)] "Carapax young do not stay young for long. They tend to grow at least fifty percent in size each day until they're fully grown, with the whole process from childhood to adulthood taking approximately four days. Carapax do, however, highly value younglings while they're growing and will become extremely upset if younglings are harmed or threatened."

I had an Acidbloom in my left hand that was dangling as I held it by the stem. While reading the tooltip, the youngling crept closer to me, its hands chittering curiously.

"Hi there, little guy," I said. "I don't have to hurt you. I just want to touch the altar. It should be down here somewhere. Want to help me—hey, don't mess with that. It'll hurt you."

I inched backward because it was reaching for the Acidbloom like it was a toy. Its many fingers wiggled as it stretched its arms out. It was even making a pathetic little whimpering noise.

I barely pulled it back in time, then laughed nervously. "Shit, man. You almost burned yourself. You don't want to—"

Pop. Sizzle.

The Acidbloom in my hand was suddenly lighter, and when I looked down I saw a second youngling had emerged and came up from behind me when I wasn't looking. It had also just popped the Acidbloom over its whole body and was screaming and falling backward, body melting bit by horrific bit.

"Oh, fuck," I hissed. "Sorry! I didn't mean to—"

The other youngling backed away and let out an ear-piercing screech.

"Shh, shh," I said, holding up both hands. But the screaming youngling was backing toward the wall, right where another Acidbloom was dangling. "Wait!" I shouted, lunging to help him just as he backed up too far.

Pop.

The youngling went down screaming, arms and legs flailing.

"Damn it," I sighed. The younglings were definitely dead now, and I could hear the sound of something much larger coming toward the chamber, no doubt drawn by the dying screams of the baby beetles.

Three full-sized carapax—each at least eight feet tall—marched into the room, then paused to assess the situation.

"Any chance you guys want to let me explain?" I asked, gripping my polearm and inching backwards.

The first carapax spotted one of the younglings. It froze for a second, then raised its weapon and let out a piercing screech. The others joined in and charged.

[Carapax Praetorian, Level 20 (Iron)] "The praetorians are the royal guards of a Carapax Brood Queen. The Brood Queen is quite large compared to the Wood Ranked Carapax Queen. Brood Queens are also capable fighters, and will defend themselves if necessary. But their first wave of defense is to dispatch the praetorians. If that fails, they'll release a spawn of Carapax Pincers. If that fails, she'll join the fray herself."

I held up my own weapon, chugged down a Rage Blood Potion, and confirmed every last one of them was level 20 and Iron Rank.

Great.

I threw the empty potion bottle at the closest carapax and it didn't even slow down as it smashed against its face. I dove to the side just in time to avoid getting impaled by a spear almost twice as long as I was and rolled, skidding to my feet as I pulled an Acidbloom from my inventory.

Just like last challenge dungeon, the herb they gave me was probably a weakness of the enemy. It was almost too—
I cried out in pain as a chitin spike punched straight through my bicep, whipping my arm back and making me drop the Acidbloom by my feet. The spine punched into me with so much force that it actually lifted me off my feet and yanked me backward several feet. I only stopped when the pincer punched into the wall, slamming my helmet and back against the hard surface and making stars flash across my vision.

And then the pain of the spine in my arm started to throb to life.

I looked at the spot and saw it had punctured straight through my bicep, just below an armor plate. And it was sharp on every edge, meaning my own weight was slowly making it tear up through my arm.

I let out a strained shout of pain through clenched teeth, dropping my polearm to try to wrench it free. I felt the spine tug against my palm in a way I instantly knew was bad. When I looked down, I saw a deep gash and fresh blood welling from the wound.

Shit, shit, shit.

With a sickening tug and explosion of pain, my own weight dragged me down and left a gushing wound that had my arm dangling from my body. I looked at it in horror, but didn't have long to think.

The carapax were coming again, and the one in the back was hunched over like a porcupine showing a back full of far, far more of those nasty ass spines.

I flooded healing into myself and didn't think twice before I fed dark mana into Pebble. In my panic, I fed him slightly more than last time.

I didn't watch the transformation though because I was already jumping and rolling again, mangled arm half-healed as I landed on it and screamed out again. The two big carapax were trying to corral me toward the wall. One had a wicked two-handed sword that could easily cleave me in two. The other had the spear.

I kept healing my wound as I positioned myself so the big carapax were at least between me and the spine shooter. But they were also between me and my polearm I'd dropped when I got shot.

I pulled another Acidbloom from my inventory and chucked it at the carapax with the spear just before having to jump out of the way of the sword.

I heard the splash and sizzle and didn't stop to look as I ran for my weapon.

Something hissed just behind me—probably another one of those damn spines—and then I dove face first, arms extended as I reached for my weapon. I grabbed it and rolled, getting to my feet with my face toward the spine shooter. I was already wincing as I expected the pain of another one of those things hitting me again, but I saw a rocky creature beating the ever-living shit out of the spine shooter.

Pebble.

He was three feet tall and like a meatball with arms, just like last time. But this time his fists were glowing purple, and each time he punched the carapax, some kind of void magic seemed to explode on impact, leaving glowing craters in the bug's flesh.

"Thanks, Pebble!" I shouted.

"Pebble does good thing?" came a voice that sounded like two rocks being rubbed together.

What the fuck…

To my right, the two Carapax Praetorians were coming. The one with the spear was still dripping acid and his stomach was exposed, showing muscle and ichor dripping to join the acid. I gave my arms and legs a few quick flexes, letting the Rage Blood Potion do its thing. And then I charged in.

Just before I reached them, Pebble tackled one, taking it to the ground and gripping it with both arms and legs so he could slam his round body ball into it over and over like a deadly pelvis thrust.

I lowered the spear point of my polearm and ran it straight through the Praetorian. But my mistake was expecting a single stab wound to take down the gigantic bug. I felt the weapon bite through crunchy half-melted carapace and innards and get lodged in the hard shell on the creature's back. I gave it a tug and tried to pull it free, but the praetorian swung its weapon and knocked me away with the butt of the spear like I was the bug.

I flew several feet and smashed through one of the little wasp-like houses, making the whole thing crumble into a smelly mess around me.

I got to my hands and knees coughing and shaking my head as I fed mana to the injuries and the continual damage from my potion-enhanced muscles. Pebble was still brutalizing one of the carapax.

I heard the Burned Man start laughing in my mind. "Trouble, Seraphel? Would you like me to help? You think you can't trust me, but we want the same thing. Power. Release me and we can be strong. Together. With me, you could take this whole tournament in a day."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Ignoring him, I watched the approaching spear-wielder who still had my weapon sticking out of its center of mass. I flexed my legs again and again, feeling the odd sensation of growing larger by the second as my thighs swelled to twice their normal size and my calves bulged, veins and muscles throbbing with potential power.

And then I sprinted straight at the thing. It raised its spear and I nearly impaled myself but managed to twist midair at the last second, slamming into it shoulder-first.

I expected to knock it down and wrestle for my spear, at which point I was going to use the hammer end of my polearm to smash it to pieces. But I exploded right through the creature's acid-weakened center.

Carapace, chitin, and innards burst out in every direction. What felt like far, far too much of it got in my mouth, too.

I gagged, looking down at the shit dripping from every inch of me and the cuts I'd suffered from slamming into it with growing nausea.

Pebble was up now and slamming his tiny little rock hands against the downed carapax over and over, then alternating with fist smashes. "Pebble… Strong…"

"Yeah you are…" I said, scraping gunk from my face and trying not to vomit. "But I'm not sure how I feel about you talking. I always kind of thought of you as a silent buddy."

"Pebble… quiet?"

His crooked little mouth twitched when he spoke, cracks forming at the edges. His droopy eyes watched me with a faint purple glow and his stumpy fingers touched his rounded belly.

"Yeah, quiet is good," I said, ignoring the laughter from the Burned Man in my mind.

Fuck. I needed to be more careful. But I guessed it was fine. The amount of dark mana I'd used only let me hear his voice. I didn't feel any physical tug to do what he said, which was good. There wasn't a single thing that asshole could say to convince me to give him more control, so I was still fine. It was a relief, honestly, because it meant I was getting better at tolerating the dark mana in my system.
"No altar," I said under my breath as I looked around at the unchanged room. "Damn. That means there's more shit to kill."

Pebble looked like he was about to speak, then he clapped a hand over his mouth and flashed a thumbs up instead.

I grinned, giving him a thumbs up in return.

I yanked my polearm out of the dead carapax and gave it a shake, knocking away a little bit of the gore on its tip and shaft. The large room had another tunnel at the far end where the carapax had come from. I took a few steps toward it, then second-guessed myself. If I was going to have to face a giant carapax queen, but Iron Rank this time, I needed to be ready. And the nature of these challenge areas meant there was no retreating, even if I wanted to.

Reluctantly, I sat down and began to meditate.

It took about fifteen minutes to recover the mana I'd used and for the Rage Blood Potion to begin to fade. When I was completely still, it seemed like the potion's effects went away more quickly. But I was left with the annoying drained feeling, as if I was a balloon that had recently deflated.

I considered my options before pushing deeper. I still had mushrooms in my slip space to make more Rage Blood Potion if I emptied it from my Alchemist's Kit for the Acidbloom. But I also had plenty more of the actual Acidblooms in my inventory. I could just sling them like grenades and keep the Rage Blood Potion in my Alchemist's Kit for now.

I decided it was probably better to go that route, considering I didn't have any active abilities I could use at the moment to amplify the potions. All I'd have would be a potion bottle full of the same acid I could more easily sling at enemies. The only real perk would be that I could break the bottle and get a free refill after a couple minutes. But that wasn't really worth it when I had dozens of the grenades I could throw instead.

I still went and collected all the remaining Acidblooms in the chamber before finally pushing deeper. I also considered picking up the chitin weapons dropped by the carapax, but one look told me these wouldn't be usable by human hands. They were segmented and razor sharp all along the shafts. I'd tear my hands apart just trying to carry one, let alone fight with it.

To my relief, Pebble was still in his Dark Pebble form. I wasn't sure how long the dark mana would hold, but I thought maybe as long as I didn't unsummon him, it might linger, which was great.

Together, we walked up a winding tunnel with the same smoothed out walls that rippled like frozen waves. Pebble's meatball form seemed to force him to waddle like a penguin, and judging by the way the ground shook, he seemed to be unnaturally heavy.
"Do you like being this way?" I asked.

"Pebble talk?"

"Yeah, you can talk, sorry. It just surprised me back there."

"Pebble strong."

I grinned. "You are."

That appeared to be the extent of Pebble's thoughts on the matter, so I let the issue drop.

The pheromone smell was getting stronger with every step we took.

The passage held some more dangling Acidblooms, which I happily tugged from their roots and stashed in my inventory. For now, I was keeping my Rage Blood Potion in one hand and my polearm in the other. At the first sign of danger, I'd chug the potion, smash the bottle, and then bring out an Acidbloom grenade.

When the passage finally ended, I felt my lips turn down in disgust. I was standing at the edge of a circular room that was more like a vertical shaft that seemed to go downward forever. A noxious smelling wind rose up from down below in a constant breeze. And worst of all, the chamber led out to what I could only describe as a trampoline made of mucous.

Dark yellow material was globbed to the wall at four anchor points and stretched out into a square surface that looked surprisingly solid. One of the anchors was directly in front of the chamber, meaning I could walk out there if I wanted to, but why would—

Pebble jumped straight out on the mucous floor and began bouncing like it was a trampoline. His lumpy face gave no indication, but I was pretty sure he was having fun. Both his arms were pointed straight up, both hands flashing thumbs up.

Yeah, he was definitely having fun.

I grinned, and then my eyes went upward, where I noticed hundreds of little black dots all over the walls. Not dots. Tunnels.

"Pebble…" I said slowly, eyes scanning all over for ideas. I started to back up, but another mucousy web appeared, blocking my escape. "Oh, fuck." That's why there was a walkable surface. It was going to be the arena for the final fight. Wonderful.

Something with far too many legs and huge hairy pincers where its face should be skittered out of one of the tunnels above. It was long, too. Maybe eight feet from head to tail, and probably twice as thick as my thigh. Worst of all, the back of it was tipped with a bulbous scorpion tail that glowed from within as if it was full of more Acidbloom.

As I stared up in horror, I saw more and more of the things emerging. They each made it about halfway out of their holes before their many legs skittered and slipped on the smooth walls, though. And then they started falling down to the mucous net.

But the chamber was circular and the mucousy flooring was square shaped, meaning dozens of the little horrors were falling through the gaps between the flooring and the wall. Their tails and pincers snapped for purchase before they vanished into the darkness below.

Others landed on the net, bouncing and curling into grotesque little twitching balls of shining chitin before unfolding. Pebble gave one that landed near him a gleeful little kick as he continued bouncing, apparently unbothered.

[Carapax Pincer, Level 35 (Iron)] "If you're seeing these nasty little beasts, it means you're very close to a Carapax Brood Queen. They say the scent of a brood queen is quite distinct. Can you smell it, yet?"

Distinct was a word. The place smelled like ass, but I hardly had time to think about that as I tipped back my helmet to chug my potion and then smashed it against the nearest wall.

I pulled out an Acidblood and chucked it at the nearest pincer. I missed as the thing skittered sideways, dodging with inhuman speed.

The Acidbloom grenade popped on the mucous net beneath our feet, sizzled, and then melted a hole through it. Bits of stringy fibers dangled from the hole, leaving a space large enough that I could fall through if I wasn't careful.

Great.

Pebble gave no shits and was already bouncing his way toward one of the pincers. He flew high and came down on the thing, putting it in a headlock and twisting until its head popped off with a crunch.

"Hah. Hah. Hah." Pebble's voice grated as he tucked into a ball, bounced, and then pounced on another pincer.

The detached head kept snapping, hairy pincers clicking as it bounced around and still tried to fight. The tail kept stabbing Pebble's back, but he turned and gripped it in one hand, squeezed, and the acid inside the bulging segments exploded outward, hissing on his skin.

That got his attention, and he jumped away, patting at his rocky body with mild concern. I could see small pits left by the acid, but there was no use trying to reach into his body and heal him. My Forge Echo summons didn't have mana and I couldn't heal them.

I turned my focus from Pebble, who was kicking the dismembered head toward the wall, where it fell into the darkness below.

A pincer was coming straight for me as I joined the fray on the mucous trampoline. I took a step back, trying not to let the subtle sag and bounce of the surface throw me off too much. I wound up, aiming the hammer end of my polearm toward the thing as I coiled my body.

At the last possible second, I swung hard, but my potion hadn't done much to enhance my muscles yet. The attack came slightly slower than I expected and missed. I tried to throw myself sideways during my backswing, but I wasn't fast enough.

The pincer launched straight for my chest, mandibles scraping against my plate armor with a horrible screeching sound like metal on glass.

I took a few big steps back, swinging at the pincer and catching it in the middle of its body. It flew sideways, hit the wall hard, and landed in a protective ball. A second later, it uncurled and began rushing me again.

My stomach sank as I saw more and more of them raining down in every direction.

This wasn't going to work, even with Dark Pebble to my side kicking ass. I could handle a few of these things, but not the numbers that were coming down every second. I was getting swarmed.

Something hit me hard enough in the back to nearly knock me over and I turned to see a pincer lowering its tail. I smelled something acrid and realized it had tried to stab me but my armor absorbed the worst of it. The acid was probably burning through the plate on my back, though, meaning I couldn't rely on protection for long.

I stole a page from Pebble's book, bouncing hard on the mucous floor as my Rage Blood Potion started to swell my legs. I noticed the nearest pincers bounced and rolled up protectively when I landed and shook the ground.

That gave me an idea.

I started bouncing harder, legs growing and height increasing with each jump. The amount I was making the net recoil was also increasing as my height and weight did. A youth spent jumping on trampolines was paying off, it seemed.

More and more of the pincers were rolling into balls every time I landed.

"Punt them off!" I shouted to Dark Pebble.

He got the message. My jumps were making the pincers roll into protective balls, meaning Pebble could hop around and punt them easily to their deaths. At least I hoped they were dying when they fell and not just slowly scrabbling back up the walls to fight another day. I doubted it, though, because they were barely able to climb down from their tunnels a few feet before slipping and falling. I couldn't picture them climbing up the shaft, either, which made me wonder what kind of purpose this thing served.

I stayed toward the center and Pebble was bounced around as I jumped, but he was punching them out of the air, kicking them, or head-butting them when they got close. I helped too, using my polearm like a baseball bat to knock them to the edges of the room.

It's working.

I was just starting to feel relief as the last of the balled up pincers went over the edge when I realized that terrible smell was getting worse. A lot worse.

By now, my legs were massive and I was bouncing at least twenty feet with each jump. High enough that I was starting to worry I might just punch through the floor next time I landed. But when I looked up, I gave a sudden shout of alarm, legs and arms flailing as I tipped backward. Instead of landing on my feet, I landed hard on my back, bouncing just a few feet in the air as I was left staring up the thing descending down the shaft from above.

A centipede thing at least fifty feet long and thicker than a school bus was drifting down from the high ceiling like a fucking spider.

I tried to yell again, but there was no air in my lungs so all I managed was a screeching whisper.

Thousands of legs, each longer than spears wriggled and squirmed as it came lower. Its face was a collection of twisted spines. Every spine was thick, sharp, and hairy.

[Carapax Brood Queen, Level 50 (Iron)] "Brood Queens are quite deadly, especially in their natural habitat. They dig huge vertical tunnels and live at the top, preferring to drop down on the heads of their prey. The lower levels of their vertical chambers are filled with a fluid that acts like a digestion system, breaking down and melting apart their prey for easy drinking.

"Under normal circumstances, the carapax pincers will ride the brood queen up and down the shaft to traverse the nest. When they find food, they drop it from their tunnels into the digestive fluid. If a carapax pincer or praetorian is reaching the end of its life, it will throw itself into the digestive fluids for the good of the nest!"

I dismissed the text, trying to hastily form some semblance of a plan.

The queen was hanging from something I couldn't see. It was impossibly huge. I had no real offensive spells. But I tried to push through my fear, even as Pebble took a big bounce and tried to get close enough to punch it in the face.

"Big," I heard him say in a whispery voice.

I needed to think. And fast.

The last challenge dungeon relied on me using the herb I found to succeed. The Acidbloom was useful against the monsters here, but I doubted even the thirty or so Acidblooms I'd gathered would be enough to kill that thing unless it wanted to stand still and let me throw every single Acidbloom I'd gathered. My guess was I'd be lucky to get three or four throws off before it ate me alive.

Then I looked at the flooring. I saw the hole where my grenade had left a man-sized opening. And I saw how the mucousy netting connected to the wall by no more than four points. Three well placed grenades would make the entire floor fall away, wouldn't they? And if…

"Pebble!" I shouted, already lobbing the first grenade toward an anchor point. "Come here."

Pebble bounced toward me as the shadow of the wriggling Brood Queen above us came closer. Globs of thick, sizzling liquid dripped from its mouth. Somehow, that horrible smell got even worse. It was like old roadkill, expired garbage, and dirty cat litter were having an orgy.

My grenade exploded, melting away one of the anchor points and causing the springy flooring to sag and dip precariously. I made sure to keep my footing as Pebble bounced my way. He seemed to have no idea what the plan was, but even Dark Pebble appeared to trust me implicitly.

I watched his lumpy little face fly toward me in what felt like slow motion, his rocky arms and legs spread wide as if he was coming in for a hug.

I grabbed one of his hands, which was the size of a toddler's, gripped it tight, and used my enhanced muscles to fling him up and over the Carapax Brood Queen.

I thought I heard the faint sound of his rocky voice shouting "Pebble!" as he flew upward.

"Knock her down! Break whatever she's dangling from!" I called out as I threw a second grenade for the second anchor point. This time, it felt like the floor was about to dump me into the abyss below and I had to jump toward the remaining anchor points and grab at the mucousy floor, fingers punching through it for purchase.

With two anchors down, only a small part of the floor was horizontal. Most of it now hung straight down like a rope bridge that was only attached to one side of a crevasse.

With effort, I managed to climb to my feet, but I saw the shadow of the brood queen getting larger. I pulled myself to the small section where I could still stand up, then flipped over just in time to see a massive, green-tipped stinger whipping toward me.

I knew my Abyss Walker Boots didn't make me fall through normal solid ground, but here? I couldn't be sure, so I tried to roll out of the way instead. With a normal human body, I would've stood no chance of dodging in time. But the benefits of reaching Iron Rank had sharpened my reflexes and body. On top of that, I had swollen muscles from the Rage Blood Potion working in my favor.

I spiraled out of the way, vaguely aware of the sound of something thumping from high above the beast. Hopefully, it was a sign that Pebble was doing a good job of trying to break whatever was suspending it from the top of the chamber.

The brood queen stabbed again, and this time its pincer hit the third anchor point, erasing the last bit of horizontal ground. I gripped the mucousy netting hard with one hand and held on as it sagged and dangled from the final anchor point just below the chamber I'd come in from.

I'd have to hold on with one hand and fight with the other, so I stabbed my polearm into the wall as an emergency handhold. If the last anchor was compromised, I'd need it to climb up to the chamber above.

With my hand free, I produced an acid grenade from my inventory and slung it toward the brood queen. She was thankfully busy trying to curl her centipede-like body upward and snap at Pebble. I couldn't see the little guy, but I figured that meant he was doing a good job.

"Death by a bug, Seraphel," came the Burned Man's voice. "It would be a terribly embarrassing end for a former god. Feed more dark mana into Pebble. With enough of my power, he could kill that thing on his own. There's no reason to die because you fear me so."

"Shut up, asshole," I gritted through my teeth as I fired off another grenade. This one hit the creature in its abdomen, melting away a chunk of carapace that rained bright yellow ichor.

The acid definitely worked, but the brood mother was so big I thought I'd need dozens of grenades to land in the exact same area to even split it in half. Even if that happened, I'd seen the smaller pincers keep fighting even when their bodies were cut to pieces. No, if this thing was going to die, I needed Pebble to—

There was a sudden snap sound like high-tension rope finally giving out.

I saw a shimmering white thread explode upward into the darkness above and then the Carapax Brood Queen began to fall.

Pebble was standing on top of its back with one hand on a silky strand extending from the thing's ass and the other hand pointed my way, giving me a thumbs up.

Pebble and the brood queen fell hard and fast. On its way down, the brood queen's tail caught the net and yanked it free from the final anchor.

I saw it coming just in time to grip the polearm with both hands, waiting as I hung for the sound of impact for so long that I thought it would never come.

But a few seconds passed with no sound. I was sure I'd hear it land unless this cavern was—

Oh fuck.

There was a skittering sound from below.

I looked down and saw small spots of torchlight reflecting off carapace as the queen climbed upward toward me, its legs punching into the smooth walls like little spears.

She was directly below me, and there was a steady drumbeat as Pebble rode her back, his tiny legs wrapped around her abdomen as he pounded into her with both fists, yellow ichor flying with each punch. But it wasn't enough. At least it wouldn't be enough to stop her before she reached me.

Still hanging from my polearm, I began producing Acidblooms as fast I could summon and drop them. I didn't bother aiming. I was going for volume over precision.

I just dropped them one after another, letting them sail straight down toward the creature that was maybe a hundred feet below me and coming slowly because her legs kept slipping and making her lose ground.

The first few acid grenades landed with a splash, hitting her directly in the face. Chunks of chitin and rows of pincers fell away, melting and bubbling as they fell into darkness, but she kept coming.

She also began trying to twist and dodge, but the slippery surface didn't give her enough friction to move much, so all she managed was curving her body and getting hit in other areas. Every few bombs hit the legs, knocking away dozens with a single blow. Meanwhile, Dark Pebble was going to town on her back, punching and punching as his fists seemed to be going deeper into her body with every blow. If he kept it up, he'd break her in half.

After just a few seconds, the pace of her climb slowed dramatically. She'd lost so many legs already that she was having trouble climbing more than she slipped down. I aimed the next grenades more carefully, trying to squeeze them as close to the wall as I could to take out legs instead of going for body shots.

And then there was a squelching sound and what I thought was a victorious sound from Dark Pebble as the back half of the Brood Mother broke free, strands of gore stretching and snapping as Dark Pebble rode the detached piece of her down into the shadows.

I heard him shouting "Pebble!" as he plummeted down with half of her broken body.

I reached out and unsummoned him, not wanting the little hero to get digested.

The only problem was the loss of her back half made the queen lighter, and she suddenly began gaining speed again.

"Fucking challenge areas," I swore. With my swollen muscles, I was pretty sure I could fling myself up and back to the tunnel I'd entered this chamber from. It would at least give me a place to make my final stand.

I swung my body side to side, gaining momentum, then kicked my legs up as hard as I could and tried to aim my body. I yanked the polearm out of the wall as I flew upwards, then landed on solid ground. I had maybe four feet of space to back up before the mucous wall blocked me from going back the way I'd come. The opening to the chamber was about ten feet in diameter, meaning the brood queen would have plenty of room to crawl in here.

I moved to the edge, grenade in hand as I looked over. I cried out in surprise and horror when I saw she was only a few feet from reaching the entrance. She'd moved way faster than I expected. I chucked the grenade at her face and jumped back, weapon held at the ready.

She rose into view, face melting and bubbling as she curled and began to crawl toward me.

"Fuck you!" I shouted, swinging the hammer end of my polearm as hard as I could. Without her tail stinger, all she could do was try to eat me with her half-melted face. Then again, even broken in half, she was big enough that any one of her thousands of feet could stab me like spearpoints.

The first blow landed hard, knocking her sideways and sending more gore and ichor flying. She was moving more slowly now, all the injuries clearly taking a toll. I gripped the weapon in both hands, aimed the spearpoint at her face, and charged forward.

It caught her in the side of her ruined head and stuck deep, then hit something hard. But that just gave me the ability to churn my Blood Rage enhanced legs and start driving her back. She twisted, body convulsing and bucking as she tried to push back against me, but I didn't let up.

I dug my feet into the ground, pushing and pushing as I worked her closer to the edge.

At the last second, I pulled out another Acidbloom, holding my spear with one hand, and then threw it, aiming for her open mouth.

The grenade flew true, scraping against rows of spiraling teeth and spraying all over her insides just as I gave her one last push with my weapon.

She flew over the edge, hissing and spasming as she fell.

Several seconds later, I heard a heavy splash from far down below.

I went to my knees, exhausted as just healing the damage of my Blood Rage had nearly drained my entire mana pool.

"Thank you," I sighed, rolling to my back and closing my eyes.

[Challenge Area Completed. Congratulations. Please select an active skill to unlock.]

I scanned the waiting list of notifications.

You've Reached Level 22!

…

You've Reached Level 30!

[Rare Accomplishment] Trigger the rage of an entire colony by killing its babies. [Reward - Rare Atrocity Trophy] "I know, I know. You didn't try to kill those adorable little carapax younglings. Doesn't matter, though. An accomplishment is an accomplishment. So take your trophy and enjoy! I know you love these things!"

[Rare Accomplishment] Defeat (2) elite enemies within the tournament. [Reward - Rare Tournament Master's Token] "Want to know a fun fact? These challenge areas are supposed to be really hard. Can you believe that? So far, you're one of only three people to enter challenge areas in this tournament. Guess what happened to the other two people? Eliminated! And look at you with two under your belt!"

I closed my eyes, let out a long breath, and began meditating. Yeah, I was relieved as hell to be alive, but I also needed to recover some mana before this Rage Blood Potion killed me. After that, I'd pick my third active skill and look to see if there were any other rewards. Unfortunately, I had a feeling whatever might have "dropped" from the brood queen was melting along with her body down there.

Small price to pay for eight levels, more accomplishments, and another active skill slot, though.