CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46: GATE INSIDE A GATE

"What the hell?!?"

The scene before Lian was not like the one in his memories.

The shimmering walls adorned with runes were nowhere to be seen. The very air of this place did not resemble Grimreach in any way, let alone the landscape, a barren wasteland far removed from the familiar academy grounds.

A vast expanse of cracked earth stretched endlessly, dotted with jagged rocks and rocky hills. The sky was a heavy gray, and the air smelled of dust and rust, an oppressive atmosphere that weighed on his spirit.

"I do not believe it..." Lian murmured in disbelief as he looked around. "That portal was not an exit, but something that led elsewhere?!"

Lian cursed as he reflected on everything he was going through. Since he had obtained the system, it seemed the world was conspiring against him.

He could not have peaceful days, each step fraught with new trials.

"And the others are not here either; I am alone... I wonder if they are okay," he whispered as he began walking.

Sulking would not help, after all.

"This place is completely desolate... and—" Lian immediately recalled his first days in the previous Gate. "I have no food or water! Great, maybe this is the time I actually die..."

His tone hid a hint of humor, the only thing keeping him from despair.

Lian kept walking forward. He had chosen a random direction; the landscape ahead was all identical. There were no enemies in sight, nor any structures. It was desolate—

"Damn it, I really want to go home..." he said, kicking a small rock on the ground. "And I still have this strange feeling. Like I was supposed to check something important, but I cannot remember what..."

A sudden tremor shook the ground beneath his feet. Lian moved instinctively, his heart pounding. A crack opened a few meters from him, and a creature emerged from the earth, a monstrous form born from the barren soil.

A massive monster made of gray stone, with squared limbs and eyes glowing a deep red.

"What the hell!" Lian shouted, leaping back. He had not expected something like that to burst out from the rock below.

"A golem?" he murmured, staring at the rocky monster before him.

It was huge, much larger than Lian. Its body exceeded three meters in height, its brownish form matching the earth beneath. Its arms were long, nearly touching the ground, while its legs were short, limiting its movements.

Before Lian could focus on it further, the monster leaned forward, planting its arms on the ground, slamming them and emitting a cry in the form of a vibration.

The air around the boy trembled, the ground beneath him began to split in multiple places, trying to swallow him, a destructive force that threatened to consume him.

The golem before Lian was a magical monster, a Bronze 2.

And its first attack was devastating, causing large-scale destruction.

"Tch, you will not take me down so easily, monster!" Lian roared, raising a hand forward.

"Geometric Spell, Circle!"

Lian chose not to use any variants for this attack; he wanted to understand the monster’s characteristics before finishing it off.

With his eyes closed but his awareness ever-present in the surrounding world, Lian began drawing the circle.

He had become an expert by now; he could create it in a handful of moments. He no longer needed precious seconds as he did at the start of his journey.

Of course, this came at the expense of precision, which was still acceptable.

"Ignis Arde, Ignis Globus"

[Precision: 50%]

A fireball slightly larger than when he was a mere Bronze 1 flew from his hand, striking the massive golem.

An explosion echoed in the air, shaking the earth, a fiery burst that rippled through the wasteland.

"Let us see how you handle this—"

Before the cloud of dust and smoke could clear, the golem charged toward Lian, the earth trembling under its mass, each step shaking the ground.

"You are a tough one, huh?" Lian prepared to dodge the charge, but the monster had no intention of engaging in close combat.

Striking the ground with one of its arms, a spike of rock and earth shot up from below, hurtling toward Lian, a blunt projectile aimed with deadly force.

"Damn—" he did not have time to say before being struck head-on, spitting blood from his mouth.

The spike was not sharp, but it was powerful and fast enough to disorient Lian, the impact rattling his body.

"You piece of crap!" he shouted as another spike emerged from the ground, threatening to crush him.

But this time, expecting such a blow, Lian dodged quickly, getting grazed and sustaining a slight injury to his right ankle.

"Damn it, it is always the right ankle!" he exclaimed angrily as he put distance between himself and the monster.

"Not bad, Mr. Golem. But now it is my turn—try this!"

A circle appeared in his mind as he prepared to use one of his favorite variants, the concentric circle.

He had discovered during the fight against the Silver 1 worm that his limit was four concentric circles. He could not handle more, and using four was still very taxing in terms of energy.

Not to mention, at this moment, he did not have much left. After all, the battle against the worm boss had occurred only about twenty minutes ago...

"Let us try with two concentric circles," he thought as his mind formed the variant.

Soon after, a fireball smaller than before but containing more power left Lian’s hand, hurtling toward the golem, a concentrated blast of fiery energy.

"If you survive this one too, I will have to admit it. You are officially a tough nut!" Lian said with a confident smile on his face.

Of course, he did not expect a Bronze 2 monster like this to withstand the power of that spell without issue.

But just like before, the smoke did not have time to clear before the golem charged forward, roaring and shattering the ground in front of it.

"Damn, you really are a tough nut, I will admit it!" Lian exclaimed as he moved to avoid the craters and fissures.

Lian’s spell had done little to the monster’s natural armor, barely blackening the area on its chest.

Lian observed the damage from a distance, trying to figure out how to take the monster down.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, slapping his face. "I can always use the earth element!"

"Geometric Spell, Square!"

A simple square appeared in the boy’s mind. He intended to use the same technique as the golem but slightly modified.

He did not want to just summon a simple spike from the ground; he wanted this spike to go straight up its rear!

"He who laughs last laughs best, Mr. Golem!" he murmured before drawing the square.

"Terra Fortis, Saxum Parvum"

However, whether due to bad luck or Lian’s overconfidence, something went wrong.

[Precision: 0%]

[Error]

[Form canceled]

[Prepare for backlash]

"Huh?" Lian murmured before a sensation of emptiness washed over him from head to toe, causing him to collapse onto the ground.

"Damn it, what the hell is happening?!" His eyes, a mix of fear and discomfort, locked onto the golem’s dozens of meters away. Raising one of its giant arms, the golem prepared to send a spike of earth straight at him.

The golem’s red eyes seemed to gloat as it slammed its arm into the ground. It seemed to laugh at Lian.

After all, he who laughs last laughs best, right?