After I managed to escape the entrance room... or rather, after that lich allowed me to escape from that room, I made my way to the third floor.
No matter where I ran, there was always a kind of undead monster I could run into.
If it was a skeleton, I'd simply try to avoid it, to run past it, and hope that it doesn't follow me.
If it was a zombie, I could try to attack and kill it without too much trouble.
I know that monster is following me. But thanks to his overconfidence, he's taking his time with me.
In my items, I have a couple of stunning mines and flash bombs.
And in my spell reserve, I have a strong sandstorm and a quick northern wind weapon set, meaning that I can either use wind ram or scythe depending on. The situation.
And I feel like I could only reserve a single spell more. After that, I would've reached my spell limit until my mana recharged.
I should've trained and learned more tier one spells...
While I don't have the necessary mana to learn tier two spells, the tier of the magic circle I recently reached, I should know more than just four spells by now!
Sandstorm, two northern wind weapon set, and a tier one wind Infusion.
Those are all the spells I currently know how to cast.
Two zombies!
I throw one of my throwing knives at one zombie's head, making it stumble and lose its balance.
I jumped at that zombie and used all my body to achieve more strength in my attack.
I pierced its head, and the first zombie died.
And before the other zombie could react. I quickly stepped behind it and cut the tendons on the back of its knee, making it fall to its knees.
As soon as that zombie fell to its knees, I stabbed its chest with enough precision to pierce right through its mana stone.
After killing these two zombies, I decided to abuse the mechanics of monsters and keep this mana stones.
While mana stones can be sold for a lot of coins, they're also good items to keep in my inventory.
These stones are made out of mana, meaning that you can absorb them to regain mana.
Mana stones are an essential part of creating potions through alchemy.
The problem is, I don't know alchemy.
Which means that I'll have to make do with these stones.
And the mana I'd get from a mana stone will be worse compared to the amount I could get from a mana potion.
"How did they do it in the game... by holding it close and breaking it with their hands?"
But the fun facts during the game's loading screen say that some mana is lost through the process of absorbing mana directly from a mana stone.
"Some of it will inevitably escape to the outside, and you never get a hundred percent of the mana stone's mana"
"But right now, every single amount of mana is important"
I'll think about it after I put my plan in action.
The stairs that go down to the fourth floor.
"The rocks on the ceiling, stalagmites? stalactites? Whichever they may be, they're crucial to my plan"
"A strong sandstorm and a quick northern wind weapon set. I can add one more to that reserve with the mana I have left, and with these two mana stones, I can probably add an extra spell with each stone"
"A spell with what I have left, and two more spells thanks to these mana stones... three spells, plus the two I already have..."
Five total spells!
But that is if it all goes right...
And my plan to not let mana leak out from these stones...
Is by placing them where they can't leak.
My mouth!
The biggest problem with this method is that to consume the mana of a mana stone, you have to break said stone.
But I'm not crazy enough to try to break stone with my teeth!
I could feel my hand trembling as I covered my mouth with it.
"It's a quick spell. It won't kill me. It's a quick spell. It won't kill me"
It took a bit of pumping myself up, downplay the high amount of pain I was about to feel, and remember the dire situation I'm in.
"These stones taste like... stone..."
"[W-wind S-scythe]"
I gripped my own mouth to prevent myself from opening my mouth.
I fell to the ground and started to scream, a scream that was muffled by my covered mouth.
Not only did I feel the wind spell cut inside my mouth, but the mana stones also broke into tiny, sharp chunks that also damaged my mouth.
Apart from tasting the iron in my blood, I also felt a burning sensation inside my mouth, caused by the mana being freed from the stone.
That burning feeling traveled all the way up to my brain, producing me headaches strong enough to feel like my head was splitting in two.
Because I didn't want anything to spill out, I ended up swallowing my own blood.
And with my blood going down my throat, the burning of the mana also traveled with my it.
To busy myself and try to forget the pain I felt, I decided to focus and go into my inner place where I could feel my own mana.
Something felt different than the other times.
While the other times I entered my inner place, I felt like I was fully submerged in water. Right now, I feel as if I was submerged deeper in my own mana.
And I feel more mana than before.
Did... did absorbing one hundred percent of the mana stone help me break through my own limits?
No, that shouldn't be possible...
If it was this easy, then this method should be the norm when training magic.
Maybe it's because my own mana reserves were smaller than the amount I absorbed from the mana stone.
I... turned outer mana into inner mana...
I opened my eyes and quickly stood up.
With short, ragged breaths, I slowly regained my composure.
I started coughing out some of the blood that was still coming out from my wounds inside my mouth.
"There has to be a reason I could break through my mana reserves and make them better..."
But right now's not the time for that.
"Only a single spell in reserve, sandstorm"
But thanks to the mana stones affecting my body, I feel like I could cast more spells than what I had expected to.
I chanted the incantation for two strong northern wind weapon set, and a strong wind infusion.
Four spells reserved, plus the one I had from before.
But I still feel like I could cast one more spell...
"Arid winds that have been whistling in the eternal scorching desert of the west ever since the beginning. Sing on this battlefield to blind all those who dare to cross you"
"[Sandstorm]"
The whole room quickly got filled by the sandstorm I cast.
I ran towards the wall and used it to impulse my own jump.
Once I gained enough height, I pierced the wall with my daggers.
Now I'm sticking to the wall thanks to my daggers. And thanks to the sandstorm, it'll be impossible for that lich to find me.
After a couple of seconds of waiting, the lich finally got to this room.
He's on the front of the legion and was the first one to go down the stairs.
Once the entire legion got down the stairs, I threw both my stun mine and flash bomb to the ceiling.
"[Wind Ram]"
Thanks to my spell, both explosives detonated and caused the rocks, whose names I don't remember, to collapse down and seal the passage between the third and fourth floors.
"They could take care of those rocks quickly"
I began running to the opposite side. Now my goal is to get to the first floor.
...
"[Wind Ram]"
I used that spell to detonate a mine and blow up a wall on the first floor.
"Now I only have sandstorm and wind infusion in my reserve" I said as I stepped inside that hidden room.
"If this room exists, then that item should be here"
The game gives you items when you don't train up your main character in [Dragon's Roar].
One of those items is the serrated knife with golden hilt, the one I copied using my own spells and wooden weapons when I skipped tiers.
That knife allowed Kaida to go from tier five to six if you deliberately kept her weak. But the advancement is only permanent with that item.
There are six different items you can obtain at different points in the game.
And right here, inside this hidden room, hides the necklace that allowed an untrained Kaida to go from tier three to four.
"But I can't use it"
Unlike Kaida Thican, I'm a regular human.
"But I'm all out of options right now"
The lich and his legion are trapped on the fourth floor, but they can and will get out of there at any moment.
"That chest..."
The chest was right there in the corner of this hidden room, with a human skeleton hugging it.
"I'm tired of skeletons..."
I shoved the skeleton away and used my abilities at lock picking to open up the chest.
Inside the chest, buried underneath ash and dirt, was the golden necklace that managed to shine as if it was brand new despite years of being here.
The clasp had the shape of a dragon wing, while the chain was darker near the clasp and got progressively golden near the pendant.
The pendant was the size of a coin, and it had a reptilian eye carved on it.
"Just like the in-game pixel art"
Instead of wrapping the necklace around my neck, I decided to wrap it around my left arm.
"I'll probably get no use out of this, but I'd rather be prepared to face anything"
I can't risk it with everything that has been happening inside this dungeon.
I sigh and stand up.
"Now... to the entrance"
...
I walked all the way to the entrance, but my gut told me that something was wrong.
I haven't found a single undead ever since I trapped the lich on the fourth floor.
"You did an interesting little trick back there"
"What?"
"What happened? You're pale... as if you've seen a ghost"
What was the lich doing on the entrance, and unguarded.
"You're still green, kid. What kind of leader goes on the front line?" He asked with a mocking tone.
I played right into his trap.
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