Chapter 19: Golem

I turned back to see who had stopped me. A man in light armor stood behind me. He had blonde hair slicked back, a sharp jawline and a tanned face. He had an eye patch covering one eye, but I could still see the edges of the scar underneath.

For someone that immersed looked extremely rugged, he had a bright smile.

"Sorry for stopping you all of a sudden," he apologized and stepped back.

"It’s no issue, but why did you say that?" I asked.

"Well, you see, most newcomers rush ahead and die when they arrive here. They believe that this is the first floor of a hundred and so the weakest, but they underestimate what it even takes to get past the door," he explained to me in a calm tone.

"I see, so what can you tell me about getting past the door or the first floor?" I asked. It was the best time to gather information.

"Haha, that’s the spirit. Well, you just go ahead. The first floor is filled with savage goblins, weak kobolds, but that’s what it teases you with. It’s far more than that. There are many monsters that will take you unaware. You must keep watch.

As for leaving the door, you have to escape the golem that spawns outside it every time."

He gave me all that detail without holding back.

"I see, thank you," I replied to him. "My name’s Tez. I do not know why you handed us this information, but I am grateful. If you can find me in the future, I owe you a favor," I said and kept walking.

"Oh, nice, we’ll see you sometime then. My name is Regan."

He said to me as I walked away.

"Regan, huh? I guess that’s worth remembering," I muttered as I walked away.

We got to the door in no time. There was no one else there, so we could pass through with no issue.

"Be on guard, Lia. From here on out, it becomes a battle."

"I understand," she replied to me. I watched as the look in her eyes changed into something else, becoming the look of someone ready to battle.

I stepped out first, then I sensed it, the attack coming from the side, a mace, large and fast through the air. My eyes moved to the side and locked onto the mace that was heading my way. I leaped, moving as fast as this body could allow me to. I rolled and stopped at the other side. The mace slammed into the ground and shattered the marble floor.

BOOM!

The force was explosive, debris and dust already rising. I was on my feet already, my hand moving to my sword, my eyes locked on the dust as I saw a golden flame burst through.

"Lia."

Her flame slammed into the seven-foot-tall golem, made of stone and marble. It caused the golem to stagger back.

I pulled my blade in seconds and dashed, my feet pressing against the floor hard. I crossed the distance in seconds.

"Let’s try this," I muttered. My flames shot out and wrapped around the blade.

"I don’t think I have as much flame as Lia, but I do have better control for some reason, and so I’ll use that to my advantage."

I let out a slash. A black flame arc ripped through the air. It slammed into the chest of the golem. A deep gash formed on its chest.

"Rawwwwwwwwr!" The golem let out a thundering roar. It came forward with a massive swing. Lia unleashed a stream of flames that slammed into the mace, pushing it back and stopping its descent.

I watched her act and immediately bolted again.

"This is my first taste of what it means to fight in this world, my first task to become something that shakes the world."

I leaped into the air, blade in hand covered in dark flames. I stabbed into the shoulder of the golem.

It let out a thundering roar, let go of the mace with its left hand and swung at me. It slammed into my chest hard and sent me flying until I hit a wall.

The wall cracked and I coughed a massive amount of blood. I gripped my blade hard to not let it fall.

"Tez!" Lia yelled.

"Focus!"

Her flames faltered for a second and the golem charged at her. It closed the distance and went for a swing at her.

I moved fast, crossing the distance faster than I thought possible. Using my sword, I blocked the attack. I felt it in my entire body, a force unlike anything I had felt before. I coughed up blood, but forced myself to hold my ground.

"Attack now!" I barked.

Lia moved. She got into a clear space to attack and with a compressed stream of flames, she targeted the head of the golem, a shot that slammed into it and forced it to stagger back. It collapsed to the ground.

I moved fast. The pain in my body was sharp, but I knew I had to execute it now. I leaped into the air and stabbed down toward the head, but the golem moved its head and dodged to the side.

I was stunned for a moment, and before I could fully recover, it shot out a blast from its eyes that chipped my shoulders.

Blood gushed out and I fell to the ground in pain while it tried to get back up.

"Tez!"

Lia screamed. I saw her rush ahead, her flames formed on her back and she took into the air, coming down with a pure punch. The golem fired another blast. She punched right through it and began pushing down with all her strength.

Seeing her do this, I struggled to my feet and picked up the sword, coated it with black flames and walked over to the golem, who was preoccupied. I stabbed right into the head and killed the golem, shattering the core in its head.