The door closed behind Morgan with a reverberating clang, and he sidestepped, eyes on the flesh monster. It shuddered and flexed, leaning forward with its flat, expressionless face, nostrils widening as though it were taking a huge sniff. Morgan didn’t see any point in letting the monster ramp up an attack, so he fired a Vortex Lance as he circled the creature. The Energy shot rang out, echoing around the circular chamber and leaving its spiral trail hanging in the air. Morgan was surprised but not shocked to see that the monster didn’t seem particularly harmed by the blast, though it punched a fist-sized hole through its right shoulder.

The monster didn’t flinch and didn’t cry out. How could it with no mouth? Some bits of flesh and a spray of dark blood splattered the wall behind it, but it moved as if it hadn’t noticed the attack, loping straight at Morgan with its long, clawed arms raking the air as though it were swimming toward him. Morgan waited for it to draw near, then cast Void Step, placing himself directly behind the monster and then unleashing a Void Wave. His movement and subsequent attack were almost instantaneous, and the flesh monster swept its claws through the space he’d occupied at the same time that Morgan’s black, reality-ripping wave washed over it from behind.

Morgan watched with grim satisfaction as his spell engulfed the creature, and he felt its will struggling against his attack. The monster’s skin began to dissolve, but Energy, thick and red, pulsed up out of the creature’s Core and pushed back Morgan’s Void Wave. When the spell had passed, Morgan saw that he’d damaged the monster, but only superficially. Its will or the Energy sustaining it had proven stronger than his void Energy, more so than any enemy he’d hit with it in the past. Morgan was so stunned by the lack of effectiveness that he barely got Bloodfang up in time to block the swipe of the claws that tore through the air, leaving a trail of red steam.

The monster’s three long claws rang like steel against Bloodfang’s edge, and Morgan was thrown back by the ferocity of the attack. While his blade was occupied, the flesh monster’s other claws came swiping from the side and tore into his shining cuirass, biting through the metal and digging into the flesh of his shoulder. Morgan cried out and cast Azure Burst, hoping to give himself some space by blasting the creature back.

With him at its center, a rippling wave of crackling blue flames exploded outward, and Morgan saw the monster flinch back. Before it could regain the initiative, Morgan reached out with Energy Drain and pulled with all the might of his Core, yanking on a thick stream of the hot, red Energy that pulsed within the monster. He felt the torrent of potent Energy enter his pathways, and he yanked even harder, pulling it into his Core and then sending it out to mend the gashes on his shoulder. Meanwhile, he circled the monster as it regained its balance. Its blackened flesh sizzled and smoked as it turned its eyeless face to track Morgan’s movements.

“Didn’t like that one, did you?” Morgan asked, waiting for it to make a move. His Vortex Lance was off cooldown, so he primed it, trying to aim more carefully, pointing his sword tip at the monster’s head. A red wave of Energy began to emanate from the guardian, rippling along its flesh. Morgan knew it was about to do something, so he fired his Vortex Lance, doing his best to place the shimmering bolt of Energy through the center of the fleshy creature’s face.

The supersonic missile cracked through the air, and Morgan’s aim was good, if not perfect. The creature started to move just as Morgan released the shot, and though it hit its head, it only tore through the left upper quadrant, shearing away a thick groove of flesh and whatever matter made up the inside of the guardian’s skull—it didn’t look like brains. The shot and the trail of gore continued past the monster to smash into one of the walls with a reverberating clang.

The creature clearly felt no pain because it didn’t so much as flinch at the blow. It moved like it had been charged with electricity. The red aura that suffused it had started to pulse rapidly, and the creature twitched through the space between it and Morgan as though it were skipping part of the distance. Morgan, anticipating an attack, fell back into The Crane Defends the Nest. Just as he channeled Energy into the form, he felt a dozen slashes smash into the Energy barrier that had enhanced his guard.

The creature’s claw swipes were coming so fast that Morgan couldn’t see the individual swings, doing his best just to backpedal and block with his parry form. Just as he was about to be driven into the wall, nowhere else to retreat, he felt Void Step come off cooldown, and, with a crackling rend in reality, he winked out of existence and reappeared directly behind the monster. It was his turn to unleash a flurry of cleaves, and the monster’s back was completely exposed.

Bloodfang went to work, cutting huge, terrible rends in the monster's back. Morgan didn’t feel any bones, just the tough naked flesh and the sinewy tendons and muscles that thickly lined its torso. Still, Bloodfang cleaved through those dense, ropy viscera, and dark blood sprayed left and right with Morgan’s heavy, powerful cleaves. The guardian tried to turn during Morgan’s combo, but his slashes were so heavy and cut so deeply that it was pressed into the wall, unable to turn to interpose its long, hard claws between Morgan’s sword and its body.

Just as he finished the Crane Flutters its Wings, Morgan felt Void Wave come off cooldown and unleashed it. This time, the creature’s will and Energy stores were insufficient to negate the spell. Morgan felt it struggle for a moment, but then his wave of nothingness washed over the monster, consuming its flesh with much greater effect than the first time. Morgan saw a red pulse of potent Energy surge up from the monster’s Core, but it was just a quick burst, easily overwhelmed by his spell. Morgan’s Energy stores were nearing ten thousand, and apparently, this creature couldn’t compete with such reserves.

When the wave of his dark void-attuned Energy faded away, the guardian sat slumped against the wall, most of its flesh gone, revealing a thin, steel-colored skeleton covered in shreds of viscera, skin, and a light coating of blood. A fist-sized skull sat atop its metallic shoulders, with a dimly pulsing pink gem mounted at its center.

Unsure what surprises the guardian might have in store, Morgan didn’t hesitate, stepping forward with a heavy cleave aimed at the narrow, wire-like neck of the construct. Bloodfang didn’t disappoint, shearing through the metal with a pinging crunch. The little skull fell to the floor, rolling in a sad spiral, and the gem pulsed more slowly, its light gradually fading away.

As Morgan stood over the ruined guardian, panting with exertion, a gong sounded, deeply resounding through the metal of the tower. In fact, Morgan felt the sound before his ears registered it. His entire body shook, as did the tower, and then a surge of Energy unlike any he’d ever encountered flooded his body, lifting him from the ground, pushing into his pathways like an electrical torrent that spread all six of his limbs. Still, the deluge of Energy came, filling his Core and then pushing out through his pathways until golden Energy began to erupt from his mouth and eyes.

Morgan lifted his head and screamed, unable to do anything else as the surge coursed through him. The Energy poured up from the floor, through him, and out to the ceiling of the circular room. He was like a circuit in a massive electrical connection, though it was pure Energy that flowed through him rather than voltage. When it finally ended, and he fell to the floor, limp and weak beyond measure, he struggled to open his eyes and was greeted by several System messages.

***Congratulations! You have achieved level 40 Void Adept, gained 8 Intelligence, 8 Will, and have 12 points to distribute.***

***Level 40 Class refinement is available. Class refinement is permanent. Human Energy cultivators will next be offered a Class refinement selection at level 50. To view your options and make your selection, access the menu through your status page.***

***Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Defeat the guardians of Vormendion’s Iron Tower 8/8. You have gained access to each guardian’s level and Vormendion’s Reliquary. As the new master of the Metalline Tower, you will have full access and control of all its aspects.***

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Captain Gella stood on the deck of his ship, well, Lord ap’Gravin’s ship, and watched the lights of First Landing. Tanna stood beside him, much more pleasant to be around when she wasn’t sniping with Baron Finneal. He wanted to look at her but didn’t want her to catch him admiring her glittering flesh or the cut of her blouse. Instead, he continued to stare down toward the hill they’d named after the missing heroine, Bronwyn. Seizing on an interesting topic, he said, “A shame for the Humans that one of their heroes seems to keep disappearing. You haven’t heard anything more about Bronwyn, have you?”

“No, but that’s fine with me. One less person to worry about.” Tanna leaned forward, suddenly staring down toward the tall iron tower that rose up from the nearby field. Gella took the opportunity to glance sideways at her, drinking in the sight of her elegant neck and the way she’d swept her hair up into a bun, leaving just a few tendrils to hang down over her pale blue skin with its countless little sparkles—only really evident if you looked for them. Gella had never seen an Ardeni with such a strange but beautiful bloodline. He wanted to ask her about it but feared her acerbic tongue.

“What’s happening down there?” she asked, completely unaware of his attentions.

“What?” Gella tore his gaze away from the beautiful sorceress and looked down toward the dark finger of metal jutting upward. “Not so dark as I remember it,” he muttered as he saw swirls of bright Energy moving around in the base of the structure, pulsing through the iron in bright brass-colored loops.

“I don’t like this,” Tanna said. “I was just starting to relax about that tower, having finished one of the ward stones. That’s a lot of Energy surging around in it. Can’t you feel it?”

“I,” Gella started, straining to feel what she was talking about but unable. His affinity was just too low. “I can see it, but no, I don’t feel anything,” he admitted. Suddenly the swirls of Energy in the dark iron tower grew brighter and connected to each other, forming a solid, looping band around the base, then it slowly began to grow brighter and brighter. Tanna sucked in her breath, and then Gella did feel it—a pulse of Energy so strong that his exposed flesh tingled with the sensation of it as it rushed out. The bright band of Energy shot up the length of the tower, coloring the metal from dark iron to bright brass, and then a beam fired from the top into the heavens, a great searchlight that speared into the starry sky.

“Ancestors!” Tanna breathed, her knuckles white where she gripped the rail of Skybreaker. The beam of Energy started to fold down onto itself, and then, an image took shape atop the now-shimmering brass tower—the projection of a man in shining silvery armor with a gleaming broadsword held victoriously over his head. It was a titanic projection of Morgan; Gella would recognize that armor anywhere.

“What the bloody shit is this?” he muttered.

“He’s worked some sort of ritual or gained some sort of new power over that tower. I don’t know, but it’s like a dormant giant has woken. I can feel the Energy fading, though—I don’t think this enormous surge is permanent. I hope I can still find a way to ward it to hold him within, but this certainly complicates things.”

Tanna gradually relaxed her grip on the railing, sighing as the enormous projection of Morgan Hall began to flicker and fade. The two of them watched for several more minutes, but the new brass-colored aspect of the tower didn’t completely fade, settling on a less shiny bronze. Still, it was a good deal brighter than its previous, dull, iron aspect. It was like Tanna had said—the structure had been sleeping, and now it was awake.