CHAPTER 26: CORROSIVE DEPTHS

The second floor’s air tasted wrong. Chemical. Sharp. Each breath burned slightly going down.

Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.

The sound echoed from deeper in the corridor. Wet. Sliding. Multiple sources approaching.

"Here they come," Julius whispered.

Three shapes emerged from the darkness. Black Blight Slimes. Gelatinous masses roughly three feet in diameter. Their surfaces bubbled constantly. Released vapor that made the air shimmer. Made eyes water.

The slimes moved with disturbing intelligence. Not charging mindlessly like the rabbits. Spreading out. Positioning. Hunting.

Raze’s Combat Reflex tracked all three. Noted the darker cores visible within the translucent bodies. The way they left smoking trails on stone. The deliberate coordination.

"Don’t let them touch you!" Julius raised his cracked shield. "The acid eats through everything!"

The center slime contracted. Building internal pressure.

Fwoosh!

Black liquid launched. Arcing toward Julius in a tight stream.

He raised his shield. The acid splattered across the damaged surface.

Sizzle.

The metal began to dissolve immediately. Smoking. The shield’s compromised integrity failing rapidly.

"Damn it!" Julius threw the ruined shield aside. Still smoking. Still melting. "Can’t block these things!"

The left slime advanced. Rolling. Building momentum. Surprisingly fast.

Raze used Scarlet Leap. His body blurred sideways. The slime passed through where he’d been standing. Its trail left smoking gouges in the stone floor.

He struck with Azure Edge. The blade cut through the slime’s surface easily.

Slash!

The gelatinous body parted around the steel. Then flowed back together. No damage. The blade’s edge was smoking slightly. Acid residue eating at the metal.

"Physical attacks barely work!" Julius stabbed his sword into another slime. The blade sank deep. But when he pulled it free, the slime had only separated temporarily. Already reforming. "We need to hit their cores! The dark spots inside!"

The right slime launched acid at Raze. Multiple globs. Rapid succession.

Fwoosh!

His Combat Reflex tracked trajectories. Too many. Too close. He activated Instant Transmission.

Blink.

Reality shifted. He materialized behind the attacking slime. Struck downward. Aiming for the darker mass visible through translucent flesh.

Azure Edge plunged deep. Found something solid.

Crack!

The core shattered. The slime’s body immediately lost cohesion. Collapsed into puddles of harmless liquid. The threat neutralized.

One down.

"That’s it! The cores!" Julius dodged another acid stream. Barely. His movements were getting frantic. "But they keep moving them!"

The center slime launched acid at Julius. He tried to dodge. Too slow.

Splash!

The edge of the spray caught his leg. Right above the knee.

Sizzle!

Leather armor melted instantly. Turned to smoking ruin. The acid ate through to skin underneath. Started burning flesh.

"Ahhh!" Julius screamed. Stumbled. Nearly fell. The pain was immediate. Overwhelming.

"Julius!" Raze charged. Used Scarlet Leap to close distance instantly. Struck the center slime before it could spit again.

His blade found the core on the second attempt. The angle was awkward but effective.

Crack!

Another slime dissolved.

Two down. One remaining.

The left slime was smarter than its companions. It kept distance. Circling the room. Launching acid whenever they approached. Testing. Learning.

Fwoosh!

Julius couldn’t fight effectively. His leg was badly burned. Movement severely compromised. He limped backward. Pulled a healing draught with shaking hands.

"Fall back! I’ve got this one!"

Julius poured the draught directly onto the wound. Didn’t drink it. Just dumped the magical liquid on burned flesh.

Hiss hiss hiss.

The magic fought the acid. Neutralizing the chemical. Then regenerating damaged tissue. But slowly. Chemical burns were harder to heal than simple cuts. The process was agonizing.

Raze faced the remaining slime alone. It maintained distance. Patient. Spitting whenever he closed the gap.

This required speed. Overwhelming speed.

He used Scarlet Leap to close ground. The slime spat. He blinked with Instant Transmission. Appeared directly behind it. Struck before it could react.

His blade found the core on first attempt.

Crack!

The third slime dissolved into harmless puddles.

Silence fell. Just heavy breathing. The smell of acid and burned flesh.

Julius leaned against the wall. His leg was functional now. Healed enough. But the pain lingered in his expression.

"These are worse than the rabbits," he gasped. "At least rabbits you can see coming. These bastards shoot from anywhere."

The corridor ahead branched into multiple paths. Maze-like. They’d have to search for the remaining encounters.

"Can you move?" Raze asked.

"Yeah. It hurts but I can move." Julius tested his weight. Winced. "Let’s keep going. Can’t rest too long. Those other cultivators might decide to come back early."

The second encounter was brutal.

Three slimes in a narrow corridor. Limited space to dodge. Acid flying from multiple angles simultaneously.

Fwoosh!

Raze took a direct hit. His shoulder. The acid ate through clothing instantly. Started on skin. Pain like fire. Immediate. All-consuming.

He used Instant Transmission to retreat. Created distance. Poured his own healing draught on the wound with shaking hands.

The magic fought the acid. Neutralizing. Regenerating. But it took precious time. Time Julius didn’t have.

Julius engaged despite his injured leg. His sword work was desperate. Frantic. He found one core through sheer determination. Shattered it.

Crack!

Raze recovered enough to rejoin. Used his superior mobility to isolate the remaining slimes. Picked them off one by one with precise strikes.

Crack. Crack.

Cores shattered. Slimes dissolved.

But they were both injured now. Breathing hard. Resources depleting fast.

The third encounter was in an open chamber. More room to maneuver. But the slimes were faster. Smarter. They’d somehow adapted. Learned from previous encounters.

The fight took eight minutes. Eight brutal minutes of dodging. Striking. Retreating. Acid flying. Flesh burning. Cores shattering.

Fourth encounter. Fifth. Sixth.

Each fight was grueling. The slimes varied their tactics endlessly. Some aggressive. Some patient. Some worked together with disturbing coordination.

By the seventh encounter, Julius’s sword was smoking constantly. The acid residue had accumulated. Eating the metal from inside. The blade would shatter soon.

"This thing’s dying," he gasped between fights. "The acid’s compromising the steel. I can feel it getting weaker."

"We’re almost to the boss. Just push through."

Eighth encounter. Ninth encounter. Final mobs before the King.

Three slimes in a medium-sized chamber. They’d learned everything. Moved with purpose. Coordinated perfectly. Launched acid in patterns designed to trap rather than just damage.

The fight took twelve minutes. Twelve brutal minutes that left both men gasping. Multiple acid burns covering their bodies. Armor completely destroyed. Weapons compromised. Resources nearly depleted.

When it ended, they both collapsed. Too exhausted to even celebrate survival.

"I hate slimes," Julius wheezed. "Hate them with every fiber of my being. If I never see another slime in my entire life, I’ll die happy."

"Boss room ahead." Raze pointed to the familiar double doors. Carved with crude slime imagery. Mocking them. "King Blight Slime. Everything we just fought but bigger. Faster. More acid. Are you ready?"

"Absolutely not. Not even close. Let’s do it anyway before I lose my nerve."

They used their remaining healing draughts. The magic worked slowly. Skin regenerating. Strength returning gradually. But they were down to emergency supplies now. One more major injury could be fatal.

The boss room doors opened with that familiar sound.

Creak.

The chamber was circular. Fifty feet across. The floor was covered in acid puddles. Steaming. Creating hazardous terrain that limited movement options.

And in the center. Waiting. The King Blight Slime.

It was massive. Ten feet in diameter easily. Its black surface roiled constantly. Bubbled. Released toxic vapor that made the air shimmer. And through the translucent body, multiple cores were visible. Not one. Not two. Three separate cores. Redundancy. Survivability. Intelligence.

The King sensed their presence. Its entire mass pulsed once. Twice. Then contracted violently.

Fwoosh!

Five acid projectiles launched simultaneously. Covering the entire entrance. Overlapping fields of fire. No escape.

"Split!"

They dove in opposite directions. The acid splattered where they’d been standing. Eating deep gouges into stone. Creating more hazardous puddles. More terrain to avoid.

The King didn’t wait. It rolled forward. Impossibly fast for something so large. Its bulk aimed directly at Julius.

He couldn’t dodge completely. Too slow. Too injured. The King’s mass clipped his shoulder as it passed.

The contact lasted maybe a second. That was enough.

Crash!

Julius flew backward. Hit the wall hard. The King’s surface had left acid burns everywhere it touched. Julius’s remaining armor was dissolving. His shoulder was smoking. Flesh burning.

"Damn it!" He scrambled up. His shoulder was ruined. Barely functional.

Raze charged while the King was focused on Julius. Azure Edge aimed for the nearest visible core.

Slash!

The blade sank deep into gelatinous mass. Found solid core material. Cut through.

Crack!

The King convulsed. Lost cohesion briefly. Its mass rippling. Unstable. But two cores remained. It reformed within seconds. Angrier. More aggressive.

It turned toward Raze. Launched acid. Not projectiles this time. A continuous stream. Sweeping across the chamber like a pressure washer.

Whoosh!

The stream tracked his movement. Following him. Adapting to his speed.

"It’s learning our patterns!" Julius recovered despite his injuries. Charged from the side. His compromised sword stabbed deep into the King’s mass. Found the second core through determination and luck.

Crack!

Another convulsion. Another brief loss of cohesion. The King’s movements became erratic. Desperate.

One core remaining.

But it wasn’t finished. The massive slime split. Divided itself into two smaller masses. Each one containing part of the final core. Both pieces moving independently now.

They flanked. One went left. One went right. Both spitting acid from opposite angles simultaneously.

Fwoosh!

Raze and Julius couldn’t cover both directions. The acid caught them. Multiple hits. Direct hits. Their remaining clothing dissolved. Skin burned. The pain was beyond description.

"Together!" Raze shouted through the agony. "Both halves at once! Simultaneous strike!"

Julius understood immediately. They charged despite the pain. Despite the burns. Despite everything screaming at them to retreat. Each targeted one slime half. Their blades moving in perfect synchronization.

Slash!

Stab!

Both halves pierced. Both blades reached the divided core sections simultaneously.

Crack!

The cores shattered at the same moment. The King Blight Slime lost all cohesion. All structure. Dissolved completely into harmless puddles spreading across the floor.

Silence. Just agonized breathing. The smell of acid. Of burned flesh. Of victory bought with suffering.

Then light appeared.

Whoosh.

The King’s remains dissolved completely. Dungeon magic reclaiming physical matter. The monster core remained. Larger than the rabbit boss’s core. Pulsing with concentrated energy. Worth maybe eight gold.

And floating above it. Another skill core. Smaller crystal. Different color than Julius’s Quick Foot. Spinning slowly. Waiting.

Raze stumbled forward. His body was screaming. Everything hurt. But he reached the skill core. His fingers closed around it.

The crystal pulsed at his touch. Recognized intent. Then shattered.

Crack!

Light flooded into his mind. Not combat information this time. Something else entirely. Spatial awareness. Dimensional understanding. Mathematics and physics compressed into instinctive knowledge.

The skill integrated rapidly. Information downloading directly into his consciousness. He understood it immediately. Completely.

[Inventory - Dimensional Storage]

A pocket dimension. Personal. Accessible only to him. Space carved from reality itself. Storage capacity approximately ten cubic feet. Items placed inside existed outside normal time. No decay. No weight burden on his physical body. Perfect preservation.

And the access was mental. No physical action required. Just thought and intent.

He tested it immediately. Thought about storing his destroyed coat. The garment vanished. Simply ceased existing in physical space. Transferred to the pocket dimension.

Then he recalled it. The coat reappeared in his hands. Exactly as it had been. Undamaged by the transfer.

He stored it again. Then stored the monster core from the dissolved King. Making room. Clearing space. The weight disappeared from his hands but remained accessible in his mind.

"What did you get?" Julius asked. His voice was strained with pain. He’d collapsed against the wall. His sword had finally shattered. The acid damage too severe. The blade lay in pieces at his feet.

"Inventory. Dimensional storage." Raze demonstrated again. Made the coat appear and disappear. "I can store items outside reality. No weight. No decay. Just... available when needed."

"That’s incredible. Utility skill. Those are rare." Julius tried to smile through obvious pain. "Worth more than Quick Foot honestly. That’s pure convenience and tactical advantage."

They sat in silence for long minutes. Too exhausted to move. Too injured to care. The second floor was complete. Two down. One remaining.

Finally, after their breathing normalized somewhat, Raze spoke.

"Julius. How did you know the dungeon layout? You described all three floors. Monster types. Boss names. Everything." His eyes found his companion. "But you said you found this place three days ago. You can’t learn that detail without entering. So how?"

Julius was quiet for a moment. His expression became uncomfortable. Guilty.

"I didn’t enter. Not even the first floor. I was too scared honestly." He laughed bitterly at himself. "Found the entrance three days ago. Stood outside trying to decide if attempting it solo was suicide or just really stupid."

He paused. Drank water from his canteen with shaking hands.

"Then another group came out. Four cultivators. All Initiate Mid rank. They were battered to hell. Limping. Bleeding. One guy’s arm was broken. Another had acid burns covering half her face." Julius stared at the floor. Remembering. "They sat outside the warehouse. Right there in the open. Catching their breath. Treating wounds. Too exhausted to care about being seen."

"And you listened," Raze guessed.

"Yeah. I hid nearby. Listened to everything. They were discussing strategy. Arguing about tactics." Julius met his eyes. "They’d cleared floors one and two. Made it to floor three. But the Lesser Stone Golems were too much. The golems hit too hard. Moved too fast. The Greater Stone Warden almost killed two of them. They barely escaped."

"So they retreated."

"Yeah. But they weren’t giving up. They were planning." Julius’s expression darkened. "Grinding the first two floors. Building resources. Gathering more healing supplies. They said they’d return in two days with better preparation. Clear floor three properly. Claim all the loot."

Understanding clicked into place for Raze. The urgency. The desperation. The need to clear this dungeon immediately.

"Two days. That’s tomorrow. Maybe the day after at most." Julius’s jaw tightened. "They’ll come back. And when they clear it, the dungeon’s theirs. All the final boss drops. The reward chest. Everything."

"And you need the money from this dungeon," Raze said quietly. "Need it desperately."

"My sister." The words came out strained. Raw. "She’s sick. Eight years old. Dying from something similar to what your sister had. The healers here call it Gray Lung. Same principle. Same horrible death. Same extortionate treatment costs."

Julius’s hands clenched.

"She has two weeks. Maybe less. The treatment costs forty gold for the full cure. I have six gold to my name. This dungeon is my only chance. If I can clear it. Sell all the cores and materials. I might have enough. Might save her before it’s too late."

Silence fell heavy. Filled with shared understanding. Shared desperation.

Raze thought about Sophie. About watching her nearly die. About the crushing weight of helplessness. Of knowing someone you loved was dying and you couldn’t save them.

He understood Julius completely. Would have done the same. Had done the same.

"We’ll clear it," Raze said firmly. "All three floors. Get you that money. Save your sister."

"You mean that? After two floors of hell, you’re still willing to face the golems?" Julius’s expression was desperate hope. "My sword is destroyed. Your blade is damaged. We’re down to emergency supplies. And the golems are supposed to be worse than everything we’ve faced."

"I promised to come back stronger. Can’t do that by quitting halfway through." Raze stood slowly. Tested his movement. Everything hurt but everything worked. "And your sister deserves her chance. Same as mine got."

Julius’s expression transformed. Relief. Gratitude. Something deeper than words could express.

"Thank you. I don’t know how to repay this. I—"

"Stay alive. That’s payment enough." Raze offered his hand. Helped Julius stand. "Floor three. Stone golems. Physical combat. No more acid at least. Just raw power versus our speed and tactics."

"I don’t have a weapon anymore." Julius looked at the shattered remains of his sword. "Can’t fight golems barehanded."

"We’ll improvise. Use the environment. Leverage what we have." Raze checked his supplies. "One healing draught left each. Two stamina enhancers. That’s everything. We make them count or we don’t make it out."

They consumed the stamina enhancers. The magic worked immediately. Energy flooded tired bodies. Pushed back exhaustion. Not perfect restoration. Not even close. But enough. Enough to keep fighting.

The stairs to the third floor appeared where the boss had died. Stone steps leading down. Deeper into the dungeon’s pocket dimension.

The air changed as they descended. Became dryer. Cooler. The chemical smell of acid replaced by stone dust. Earth element. The signature of mineral-based monsters.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Heavy footfalls echoed from below. Stone grinding against stone. Rhythmic. Methodical. The Lesser Stone Golems patrolling their territory.

"Final floor," Julius whispered. His voice held fear. Determination. Hope. "Everything we’ve got. For our sisters."

They reached the bottom. The third floor corridor stretched ahead. Wider than previous floors. Reinforced architecture. Built to handle heavier impacts.

Raze tightened his grip on Azure Edge. The blade was damaged from acid residue. But the self-repair enchantment was working. Slowly fixing the compromised metal. By the time they reached the boss, it might be functional again.

Might.

Julius had no weapon. Just determination. Just the desperate need to save his sister.

It would have to be enough.

"Ready?" Raze asked.

"No. Not even slightly. Let’s do it anyway."

They advanced together into the darkness. Into the final floor. Into whatever waited ahead.

Behind them, two floors conquered. Two skill cores claimed. Resources depleted. Bodies battered but unbroken.

Ahead, nine encounters with Lesser Stone Golems. Then the Greater Stone Warden. The final boss. The ultimate test.

And beyond that. Money for Julius’s sister. Experience for Raze. Victory or death.

No middle ground. No compromise.

The dungeon’s final floor awaited.