You have discovered the Underbelly’s boss: Gemstone Golem, Level 4 [Overlord].

The first impression when Jack laid his eyes on the golem was that the world was indeed, accurate of what the construct represented. At least he thought it was a construct, large crystalline chunks of crystals fused together to form an eight foot monstrosity that intimidatingly towered over them. The crystal density had been focused around the arms especially, two oversized hulking arms that were disproportionate to the rest of its body. If it were a human made construct, he would laugh at the poor choice of design— for how could such a misshapen thing move? The Crystalline rocks forming two short, stubby legs were also densely packed, but they paled in comparison to the arms, its radius at least 30 percent smaller at a rough estimate. It was a pity then, for the laws of physics had abandoned them not to far ago.

The abdomen was reinforced, but the weakest point by far seemed to be the joints— no matter it was an arm joint or a leg joint, the crystalline density at these points was the weakest, perhaps to allow for fluid movement, though that was an assumption at best.

The next second the gemstone beast’s mishappen head—a large chunk of crystalline ore that was chaotic, but seemed to follow a vague elliptical outline, or rather the two dim red gems inlaid in a mimicry of human eyes, started glowing with red light, merely a second or so after Jack laid his eyes upon it.

A burst of fear coursed through him, his instincts warning him about the dangers this beast prevented. He had been hasty in his judgment, but he did not regret it in the slightest. Earlier, it was different, but now he was on a thirty day timer— either he unlocked some vague, esoteric power he knew not how to unleash, or he got killed by a rogue dragon.

That fear gradually transformed into a raging anger when he thought about the repeated injustices he had been subject to, on the whims of ancient arcane entities. An anger that he had been tempering from the moment they had stepped foot into this trial, trying to curtail it lest he show displeasure at the system’s arbitrary, despotic actions and worsen his own treatment. From a society that valued freedom and independence, he had the most important thing a man like him valued robbed away from him: his agency. First they threw him in a death game, and now they told him that the incompetent system could not even protect him from kidnapping by a blasted Dragon, of all things.

Jack no longer held back the revulsion at the idea of being bound to the system, committing its bidding with a hunched back and a smile as it demanded outrageous tasks from him as tribute. He was a man that had lived on his own terms— not caring what society thought of him and living his time upon Earth as the master of his own destiny. Now, in this new world of ancient beings and eldritch horrors, what was he? He had no funds to mobilize, no strength of his own, and most importantly, he was severely lacking in the intelligence department.

The thought of his own impending death, while morbid, had also given him an opportunity. He had no idea what the bloodline mark was, or even his own blasted talent— what did the term ‘void’ even mean? No such equivalent concept existed on Earth, so he didn’t even understand that, except that it was somehow related to space. But that all, ultimately, was irrelevant. The point was, that if he succeeded he would become someone important. Important enough to know greater secrets and understand this new playing field. He would have to endure, endure, endure, until the system pushed him too far…. And hopefully by then, he would have found a way to escape, if not break the game.

He had not forgotten Oathbreaker Melkrys’ pathetic plight, forced to fight him blindfolded and ultimately dying by his hands. That was a message as clear as he’d ever known one, but Jack was not the kind of man to turn a blind eye against tyranny, and in the grand scheme of things his own agency mattered more to him than perhaps, even his life. Maybe that was expected, stereotypical even, of a man that used to have an entire armory’s worth of guns and a nuclear bunker in his house.

“Intruder, detected,” The Golem’s voice was a low hum that seemed to come from all directions, yet simultaneously none at the same time.

“Order received. Proceeding to Eliminate,” The Golem’s pitch and timber remained the same, but the intent within those words was far too malicious for Jack to not react to. The golem’s right hand started to glow with Azure light, and they had enough experience with [Gemstone Beast’s] to know what was coming.

“Get ready!” Sarah’s shrill voice echoed out in the chamber to warn him, both of them almost instinctively splitting up. There was only one beam, and two targets. Or at least that’s what Jack had assumed, before the Golem’s left hand started glowing with azure light as well, sending a chill down his spine. His perception flared and he dove forward with everything he had, figuring that he had just broken all olympic records as he sailed through the air for around a dozen meters. Rolling forward and pivoting on his foot, Jack gasped when he noticed the three foot diameter hole had been blasted into the cavern walls, a melted crystalline solution poured out from the walls, displaying the sheer extent of the damage the golem had caused.

His attention, though, immediately shifted as his perception detected something moving in his direction. His focus shifted immediately, disbelief reflecting on his face a few seconds later. The Golem barrelled in his direction with far, far more grace than its large, unruly and misshapen body had any right to. His perception highlighted that the golem left crystalline deposits on the floor with every step it took, the crystals acting as some sort of sound dampener, allowing the golem to take full advantage of its deceptive agility.

Jack grit his teeth, knowing that his options had been severely limited— the golem had already covered most of the distance separating them while he had focused on evading the beam attack, and he had no confidence dodging the agile construct at such a short distance.

Grunting, he charged forward, in the direction of the golem instead of away from the creature, building momentum before breaking into a slide just as he got within the golem’s strike range. The ground of the cavern was still soft earth, and with his agility sliding forward for a few meters was not a problem— his momentum halted as he passed between the construct’s legs, [Qi Blade] flaring as he ferociously struck the back of the knee joint. Sparks flew in the air as he slowly penetrated into the knee joint, getting about half way through.

“Just a little more,” Jack muttered as he exerted his strength, but the next second his perception detected a flicker of movement. He just had enough time to retract his sword and try to backpedal, but the Golem seemed to have uncanny spatial awareness. Without even looking at him, it’s left leg that was still in undamaged whipped in a blur of motion, bending far beyond what was possible for a human.

The air was knocked out of his own lungs as the flat of his blade crumpled back upon his own chest, feeling himself being propelled through the air before an abrupt jolt rocked his abdomen, crashing against an unmercifully hard cavern wall as the pain came crashing down.