Chapter 17: Blue Demonic Crystals

Chapter 17: Blue Demonic Crystals

Jack picked up his pace across the jagged basalt wasteland, his two reanimated skeletal wolves matching his stride. One flanked his right, the other his left, keeping a sharp lookout to protect him from any sudden attacks.

He was running toward a giant, towering obsidian outcrop that breached the ash-filled sky. ‘If I’m lucky, there’s a chance there’s a cave system hidden in that formation,’ Jack thought, adjusting his grip as he sprinted. ‘And if I’m lucky enough, I might just find a hidden treasure chest inside.’

When Jack finally reached the massive outcrop, he began methodically searching the rock face to see if it hid an opening. Luckily, he managed to find a narrow fissure leading inward. Jerking his chin at his wolves, he entered the cave alongside them, cautiously searching every dark corner for any clues or hidden loot.

He moved through a winding tunnel until he entered a large chamber, but there was nothing inside. The cave system was truly massive. Undeterred, Jack pressed on, entering one chamber after another, exploring deeper and deeper into the earth.

Finally, he stepped into the biggest chamber of the entire complex—and stood completely stunned.

A churning lake of molten lava occupied the very middle of the chamber, casting a fierce, ambient light across the cavern. But what truly left him speechless were the glowing blue demonic crystals protruding from every surface of the chamber walls, radiating a brilliant, cool light. In the game, these crystals were the absolute most valuable currency available.

“I will be damned... Blue Demonic Crystals,” Jack muttered, a wide smirk spreading across his face as he looked right and left. “I’ve found a real treasure.” The entire massive chamber was overflowing with them.

He slowly circled the edge of the lava lake, his mind racing. “Maybe I’ll be able to set up a mining operation here. This place is way too far from my current safe zone for my boundary to catch up anytime soon—it’ll take ages. But to make this work, I’ll need to upgrade that dwarf building as fast as I can.”

He paused, scanning the shadowy corners of the glowing cavern. “But what if someone else finds this place? Hmm... I need to find more beasts to kill, reanimate them, and make them protect this place.”

Just as the words left his mouth, three massive shapes crawled out from the churning surface of the lava lake, their thick, heat-resistant scales dripping with molten liquid. They were giant, heavily armored reptilian beasts—Lava Crocodiles.

“Huh, guess this is your home,” Jack said, resting his hand on his sword hilt. “So I’m an intruder then, aren’t I?”

The three crocodiles slowly fanned out, moving from three different directions toward Jack and his skeletal wolves to cut off their only way out. The beasts had already added Jack and his summons to today's dinner menu.

[Lava Crocodile]

[Grade: Bronze]

[Level: 3]

[HP: 500]

[Attack: 25]

[Defense: 65]

“Oh wow, 65 defense... wonderful,” Jack muttered, taking in their absurdly high defense stat.

Without dropping his stance, Jack commanded his two skeletal wolves to intercept two of the beasts, leaving the third one right in front of him. Drawing his enhanced blade, Jack lunged, thrusting straight toward the crocodile’s eyes—the most obvious weak spot. But the beast snapped its massive jaws open in a lightning-fast counter-bite, forcing Jack to abort his strike and spring backward to avoid getting snapped in half.

Realizing its thick hide was going to be a nightmare to pierce head-on, Jack pivoted away from his direct opponent and flanked the second crocodile currently trading blows with one of his wolves. Sinking his boots into the stone, he leaped onto its back and drove his sword downward into its left eye.

The blade sank deep, but no purple mist flared—the poison failed to trigger on the first strike. Enraged, the massive reptile thrashed violently, whipping its back and launching Jack through the air. Jack hit the cavern floor and rolled to absorb the impact just as his original opponent lunged to crush him.

The nearby skeletal wolf lunged in, driving its sharp necrotic claws into the beast's other eye and blinding it completely.

Scrambling back to his feet to keep a safe distance from the crocodile snapping at his boots, Jack watched as his skeletal wolf tore into the defenseless, blinded reptile, quickly finishing it off. Free from its target, the wolf turned toward Jack to assist.

“Go help the other wolf,” Jack shouted. The second wolf was struggling to penetrate the high defense of the third crocodile on its own.

With both wolves ganking the third beast, Jack turned his full attention back to his enemy. Sweeping his blade in fluid arcs, he ducked under tail swipes and stepped around snapping jaws. Although this crocodile had superior strength and defense compared to his wolves, its heavy movement patterns were predictable. On his third strike, Jack found a crack in its neck scales and thrust his blade deep.

A dense cloud of purple mist instantly erupted from the wound.

[System Notice: The special Poison effect has been activated! Target loses 100 HP per second for 10 seconds!]

Five seconds later, the corrosive venom completely dissolved the beast's insides, and its massive body slumped onto the stone, dead. Across the chamber, his two skeletal wolves had successfully ripped through the throat of the final crocodile.

“Finally,” Jack panted, wiping sweat and ash from his brow. “Now let’s try to make some more protectors for this place.”

Where the three crocodiles died, three glowing drops materialized on the ground—2 piece of equipments and a glowing skill scroll.

Jack walked over and picked up the scroll, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. “A skill scroll... I hope it gives me something good. But what about enhancing it before I open it?”

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