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The spell was similar to [Cracked Mana Trap] in that it created a mine-like area that would explode when an enemy stepped on it. But unlike the other spells, it didn’t have a set number of uses. Rather, it could only be used once per wave.
Still, it was incredibly useful for Matt, who had taken to kiting the monsters around.
As the tenth wave came out with a mix of flying imps and goblins, Matt saved his new spell and relied on the imp spell to kill the first few goblins, and created an area of gas that caused the survivors to choke and sputter.
The ogre that came out shortly after was better equipped with a club and hide armor, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.
No, that was the werewolf-like creature that rushed out of the area like an arrow directly at him.
Casting the trap spell, Matt retreated and allowed the monster to run over it. The werewolf was sent flying, but as it got to its feet, with fur singed and one arm missing, Matt raised his shield and cast the weapon enchantment on his spear while he rushed the monster.
Even his golden shield started to show signs of cracking as it blocked the werewolf’s blows, but Matt was able to finish it off before the remaining monsters recovered from the gas, which he killed with the last of his bow shots.
The next wave consisted of goblins, imps, and a new monster that resembled something like a floating banana that shot various spells at him. As Matt avoided a stream of attacks, he realized that he now possessed a disgusting combination of items.
The trap spell didn’t always kill the enemies it hit, except for smaller and weaker ones, like the goblins. Those kills then activated the helmet enchantment, whose detonation took out more of the monsters and, more often than not, set off a chain explosion that killed most of the weaker monsters for him.
And without the cannon fodder, he was easily able to kill the stragglers and the occasional ogre or werewolf that survived both attacks.
His fourth golden loot was a throwing axe which he could recall, while his fifth was a blanket that made him hard to detect.
That final one never got used, as Matt was more than happy to kill his way through the waves as fast as possible.
With his method perfected, he used his extra spells to finish off any of the survivors.
As the twenty fifth wave ended with his standing victorious over a giant’s body, he was booted out of the challenge and into the safe room between floors.
There, he found hundreds of teams scattered around the area, which massively increased the space of the safe room. Though, it still didn’t hold a candle to the size of the floor safe room.
Thankfully, it seemed like he was the first one to exit, which he considered a good sign. With his trap spell, he had expected nothing less.
He had beaten the challenge perfectly and relatively quickly, with his abuse of his golden drops, which meant that the others should be able to earn the top reward as well.
Matt worried about Aster a little, but knew that she would be fine, as they had practiced for this floor. Even with her body being small and not ideal for combat, she would succeed as long as she got a spell or two early and took her time.
After he scanned the area for anyone he knew to check in with, but finding no one, he set his house down in an out-of-the-way location and inspected his own spirit.
He had been warned about what was coming, and knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant.
Once he started inspecting the portion of his spirit where his skills sat, he found a small bubble of Genesis Energy nestled next to his Core skills, waiting for him to activate it.
Sticking a mouth guard between his teeth, he touched it and felt his spirit stretch and grow like a balloon, rapidly filling with air.
As he bit down and screamed, he involuntarily flexed his muscles so hard, he felt his bones creak and fingers pop.
It wasn’t like any kind of pain he had experienced before. His spirit was expanding, but it felt like his very person was being ripped apart and torn to shreds before being reassembled and stretched back out in a vicious cycle of pain.
When it finally ended, he found only two minutes had gone by. It felt like an eternity, but the reward had done its job.
His spirit was larger than before, and he could see where he had space for three new Core skill slots, along with fifteen Inner slots and forty Outer.
With the harvest of skills they had earned in Minkalla so far, Matt was excited to start absorbing new skills. Waiting could also be good practice for if the next floor was New Growth, but it could just as easily backfire if it was World of Cardboard. The needle overall tipped slightly toward it being better to absorb skills ahead of time, but he’d need to wait until his spirit settled down in any case. The strain was so bad he felt physically cold and couldn’t stop his limbs from shaking.
This strain felt worse than it had when he pushed [Cracked Mana Spear] too hard multiple times in a row.
Susanne came out fifteen minutes after Matt did and found him nursing a cup of tea as he ran his freshly usable healing spells.
Seeing him curled around the cup in his hands, she asked, “It’s that bad?”
“Worse than Luna said it would be.”
She plopped down next to him without a word, and he could feel her spirit expand and contract repeatedly for a few minutes.
Feeling slightly better, he boiled water and made her a cup of coffee, which she gratefully curled around in a mirror of what he did not moments ago.
Through chattering teeth, she said, “f**k that. I’d rather go another ten rounds with the troll.”
Together, they suffered in silence until Liz came in and joined them in their misery.
Aster was the last to come out, a full two hours after Matt had, but she was in high spirits until she saw the three of them still recovering.
- Writer
