Akira stepped into a hallway that had numerous passages branching off in every direction.

“Which path should we take?” asked Akira.

“Let's just pick the one in front of us and keep going straight until we either run into a dead end or find the stairs to the next floor,” suggested Varbu.

After making sure their equipment was still in good shape they walked into the passageway that was right in front of them.

Fwoosh!

They had only taken one step forward into the hallway before multiple fireballs stronger than the ones spat out by the [lava slime] came flying towards them.

Scanning the dimly lit area Akira found a mass of fire creatures that had just revealed themselves. The mini-map was showing a large cluster of red dots to many to count. [Lesser firemen lvl 24].

“Whoa! Where did these guys come from?!” asked Varbu who had been surprised by their sudden appearance.

The [Lesser firemen] continued to throw fireballs at Akira and Varbu only allowing them to block and dodge the attacks and not giving them a chance to move forward.

“It looks like they don't want us to use this path. Let's try a different path,” said Akira as he slowly walked backward while blocking multiple fireballs with his shield.

The same thing continued to happen for the next 10 passages large numbers of [Lesser firemen] blocked their path with far too many to allow them to successfully push through.

There was only one path that they had not tried yet and It was going in the direct opposite direction of the first path they had chosen. Stepping into the passageway they waited for the attack to come but there was nothing blocking their path nor were there any of the fast-flying fireballs.

“I guess this is the path they want us to take. All the more reason to be cautious,” said Akira walking ahead first with his shield held in front of him.

The path led them in the same direction as the entrance of the cave one floor above them. They continued to walk for numerous minutes before they reached a corner in the path.

Akira quietly looked over to Varbu to see if he was ready and saw him give a quick nod of his head signaling he was ready.

The two charged around the right corner into the new passageway and were met with four surprised lesser firemen who on instinct sent fireballs flying towards Akira who was the closest to them, as they moved back a few steps trying to widen the distance between the two groups.

The fireballs exploded harmlessly against his shield only raising the already hot temperature even higher.

Using the skill [Sword Slash] Akira sent out a blue light that sliced through two of the [Lesser Firemen] killing one and damaging the other.

“Their defense doesn't seem to be that strong,” commented Varbu as he charged forward to attack one of them.

Unexpectedly the two that had been undamaged jumped back while the third that was wounded jumped towards Varbu and latched himself to Varbu's leg. Before Akira or Varbu could do anything about it a large explosion erupted from the [Lesser fireman] as it self destructed creating a small explosion around Varbu's leg.

“Are you Okay?” asked Akira as he ran forward and sent another [Sword slash] to kill the last two [Lesser firemen] making sure to kill them in one attack not allowing them to attach onto him or Varbu and self-destruct.

“Yeah, I'm alive,” said Varbu gritting his teeth and enduring the pain from the burns all over his lower body. He wanted to swear but held it back.

Akira hurried over to Varbu and looked at his leg to see that it was still intact but had been badly burnt.

He reached into his small bag and pulled out one of the cheapest health potions he had and poured it over Varbu's burn leg. The skin immediately began to change as it healed. The black burnt skin began to fall off revealing fresh skin that was smooth and deep red.

“You sure do have high vitality to only receive burns instead of losing a leg. That explosion was no joke,” commented Akira after standing back up.

“It's because I'm a Blood orc,” Varbu mumbled after letting out a few curse words as Akira helped him stand back up.

Akira watched as Varbu tested his leg and found it was now once again back in working condition.

“Well, looking at bright side of things at least we now know about their suicidal tendencies. Luckily it was only one of them and we didn't make the mistake of trying to push through the large groups of them earlier. That would have been a massive mistake.”

Varbu grunted in agreement as they again started to walk down the long passageway.

The path they had been forced to take was long and winding. Every-time there was a turn it was a turn to the right, and at every turn, there were three to five [Lesser firemen] waiting to fight them.

Akira and Varbu had learned from the first attack to not get close to any of the firemen who were damaged and focused on killing them in one attack. Or at least killing them before they were able to get close enough to attach themselves to either of them. Throughout the fighting, they both received various minor burns from the attacks.

The passages were now getting shorter and shorter as they continued moving forward, causing them to continuously fight firemen that were waiting for them around the corner.

The blue light of a [Sword Slash] flew forward killing the last of the [Lesser firemen] that had been blocking their way forward. Only a short distance away from where they had killed the last [Lesser firemen] stood a large stone door with the image of what looked like a [Rockman golem] carved into each of the doors.

“I'm going to take a wild guess and say that something like the golem we had to fight in the burning forest is waiting inside for us,” said Akira remembering the golem they had killed some days ago.

“If we don't kill it we won't be able to move on from this point and all the fighting we have done so far will be pointless,” said Varbu.

“You think we can beat it by ourselves?” asked Akira.

“Might need Nox to help out,” said Varbu with a shrug.

Akira used the skill to summon Nox who jumped out of Akira's shadow and looked around curiously.

“Let's take a quick break to be fully prepared for the fight,” suggested Akira as he sat down and drank a large gulp of water from his water skin.

Akira opened the stat window to check his lvl and saw it was lvl 23: 95%, almost lvl 24.

'What is it this time? You don't seem to be in any danger so why did you summon me?' asked Nox.

“It's not like I only summon you when we're in danger. There is most likely a large monster blocking our way so we need to pool our full strength to defeat it,” answered Akira.

“We already fought something like it before but we had the help of numerous people,” said Varbu.

'Why is it that you two always like to cause me such headaches,' complained Nox.

After ten minutes of resting the three as one pushed the stone doors open and walked into a large open and bright room.

Boom!

The large stone doors automatically shut behind them. There were no handles to open the doors from this side. The door was completely smooth and looked like part of the wall.

“Guess we can't go back even if we wanted to,” said Akira turning around to inspect the room.

“Good then that means I can go all out,” said Varbu while doing a few quick stretches to warm up.

The room was even warmer than the hallway due to two rivers of lava running along the edges of the room which was the source of the bright light.

In the middle of the room was a large pile of small boulders and rocks. Above it, Akira could see its name and level. [Rockman golem lvl 25].

Ding!

Quest Updated!

Defeat the Second floor Guardian:

The Rockman golem is blocking your path to the third floor defeat him and his minions in order to go to the next floor.

Difficulty: D+

Reward: Unknown

Will you accept?

Yes / No

Akira quickly accepted the quest.

“Be careful of the golem ahead of us even though it looks smaller it could be even stronger than the one we fought in the forest. There might be some lesser firemen hiding so don't let your guard down,” said Akira.

Without another word, a black light covered Akira's body as he began the transformation into a werewolf. Within mere seconds his body grew taller his muscles exploded doubling in size. His teeth became sharp daggers and his hands turned into deadly claws. Dark black fur covered his entire body. The dark light covering his body disappeared after he was completely transformed.

“Let's take care of this hindrance,” said Akira in his gravelly voice.

“Let's do it!” said Varbu getting pumped up.

The group of three walked forward but after only a few steps they were stopped by numerous Firemen that jumped out of the lava river and ran towards them to block them from reaching the [Rockman golem].

“Nox be careful these guys will latch onto you and explode if they take any damage,” warned Akira.

'How detestable,' said Nox.

“They have no honor,” said Varbu.

“They're monsters what do you expect?” asked Akira.

Akira sent a [Sword slash] towards a group of [Lesser firemen] killing many of them with one attack.

With the help of Nox, Varbu smashed any of the [Lesser firemen] that got in their way as they moved forward.

More and more appeared as they moved forward closer to the Rockman golem.

When they were 30 feet away the last batch of [Lesser firemen] appeared and after killing them there was nothing left to block their way forward.

When they came within twenty feet of the [Rockman golem] the rocks and boulders shot up into the air transforming into a large humanoid form.

The large stone head stared at the three small-fry's in front of it and let out a loud roar the reverberated throughout the room and echoed through all of the second floor.

“Let me attack first to keep his attention focused on me. Nox you help deal damage so Varbu can breakthrough the boulders protecting its core. Varbu you know what to do. When the core is exposed everyone focus your attacks on it,” ordered Akira.

Akira used his skill [Cross attack] sending it towards the [Rockman golem]. The blue X slammed into its chest where the core of the golem was protected. The only damage that appeared were small cracks that created an X.

Roaring with anger the [Rockman golem] turned its attention to Akira and stepped towards him.

Akira used his skill [Pounce] to close the distance between them slamming into the large golem's legs while landing a few weak attacks on them.

Before the slow golem could attack him, he escaped through the opening between its legs and attacked it from behind causing it even more anger. It slowly turned around and took a swiped at Akira with its large fist slamming into the ground near him creating a large hole.

With Akira keeping the attention and anger focused on him the golems back was now wide open allowing Varbu and Nox to attack freely.

Varbu took a running jump before slamming his quarterstaff into the back of the golem creating a small crack.

Nox nimbly climbed up the back of the golem and tried to dig into the golem's back removing rocks.

The golem feeling pain in its back reached a large fist back to grab at Nox to try and tear him off of his back.

A large blue X slammed into his rocky face causing numerous small rocks to fall off. With a roar of anger, both fists stopped their movement and were sent towards Akira trying to smash him between them.

Varbu and Nox continued their attacks on its back causing large rocks and small boulders to fall to the ground creating uneven footing near the golem making it harder to move around.

Their teamwork was even better than the last time they fought together.

Bam!

Akira was slow in dodging one of the rock fists that was sent his way. It slammed into his shield and sent him flying backward.

The golem seeing him fly away lost interest in him. It grabbed for and successfully captured Nox who was on his back. With an angry roar, the [Rockman golem] flung Nox away from its body in the opposite direction of Akira.

His attention turned to Varbu who had been standing behind him and was now backing away to create some distance between the [Rockman golem].

Akira struggled to his feet and when he saw the golem's back was close to exposing its core sent a [Cross attack] aimed at the last bit of rock covering it removing the last bit of defense.

“Its core is exposed!” shouted Akira in his gravelly voice.

The golem feeling threatened by the attack Akira had used turned around and charged towards Akira, who had sent another cross attack hoping to destroy the core.

The blue X slammed into its chest causing it to steps to falter allowing Varbu and Nox a chance to deal the final killing blow.

With a last roar of indignation, the core broke into many fragments causing the boulders and rocks to fall into a motionless heap on the ground.

“Pheeeew, that was harder than I was expecting,” said Varbu wiping away the sweat that was covering his face and neck.

Akira sat down and let out a few curses while rubbing his chest.

“That thing's fist freaking hurt,” said Akira. He had blocked the fist with the shield which had saved his life but the shield had slammed into his chest when he was knocked back.

Ding!

Quest Complete!

Level up!

Level up!

You are now lvl 25!

+3 to Toughness

Hidden stat on Dashing blue cape unlocked:

+2 charm

Nox has lvl up!

Nox has lvl up!

Nox has lvl up!

Nox's has reached Lvl 15

Son of the Night class has been upgraded from [Rank F] Beginner to [Rank E] Beginner!

-(10%) buff at night and in darkness

-Max amount of time able to stay transformed has been raised to 4 hours.

New class skills have been learned!

-Shadow chains: chains shoot out from underneath enemy, the chains have heads of wolfs that bite down onto the enemy holding them in place and does a small D.O.T.

Can not use physical attacks to break the chain. Results may vary depending on the enemy's strength and size.

-Howl: When used on an enemy the same lvl and size or lower/smaller, will make enemy feared and cower for 5 seconds. Bigger and higher leveled enemies will only be stopped for 1 second and is able to interrupt them from launching a skill attack.

Howl is able to clear negative buffs from allies and clear their minds while boosting their resistance to such negative effects for a short time.