"So how are we gonna farm the Stone Golems?" Lena bounced excitedly, eyes tracking a particularly large specimen that lumbered past. "Do I get to give them magical backshots? Can I name one before we kill it? What's a good name…"
She eyed a golem that had a slightly lopsided head. "Look at him! He's got character! That slight tilt suggests…uhm… something! Low IQ! Yeah! Quick we need to make fun of him!"
Lumi shook his head. "We're not hunting these."
"But... but they're right there!" Lena pointed dramatically at the nearest golem. Its crude stone head swiveled toward them with grinding sounds. "It looks so farmable… look at those broad shoulders! Those were made for taking magical damage!"
"Talk lower." Lumi whispered harshly to her. "Don't aggro them. Just follow me." He began navigating deeper into the ruins, his movements slow as he weaved between enemies with ease. "There's something better."
Lena trudged behind him, she spoke low, so low that Lumi barely heard her, "Bye Gerald… Bye Susan… Bye Reginald the Third…" She paused mid-wave. "Why does that one get to be the third? Did I already name two Reginalds? Lumi, am I developing memory loss?"
"You're developing something." Lumi muttered, leading her through a broken archway.
The ruins grew progressively darker as they ventured deeper. It wasn't just a matter of the bricks being darker, light itself was less effective. The air grew heavier, tinged with something that made Lena's nose wrinkle dramatically.
"It smells like sadness…" she announced, then took another deep sniff. "With hints of existential dread and... is that nutmeg? Why would ancient ruins smell like nutmeg?"
"That's the smell of dark magic." Lumi responded as he continued moving.
"That's dark magic? Why does dark magic have a smell?"
"It doesn't necessarily," Lumi explained, "But in these circumstances, it does."
They emerged into a distinctly different section of the ruins. Here, the architecture was more intact but somehow more oppressive. The golems were immediately obviously different. Where the standard Stone Golems had been crude but clean, almost innocent in their simplicity, these were somehow more menacing.
Their stone was darker, shot through with veins of what looked like obsidian. It pulsed as if a heart was beating. The very way they moved had more aggression to it, despite not having a target.
"Ooooh, edgy golems!" Lena whispered, while they were crouching behind a broken pillar. "It's the same enemy but like evil!"
"Dark Stone Golems," Lumi corrected, refamiliarizing himself with their movement patterns. "They're slightly stronger than the regular ones, but that's not why we're here."
He raised his wand, preparing himself. "The regular Stone Golems have a slight inclination toward the light element. These have traces of darkness embedded in their core matrices."
"Okie okie," Lena nodded, listening to Lumi. "And so someone made them evil? And we are here to stop that! Right?
"...no." Lumi paused a bit, then continued. "So, my light magic would do reduced damage against the regular ones, but increased damage against these. The elemental opposition creates a multiplicative damage bonus."
Lena's eyes widened in understanding. "Elemental vulnerability! That makes sense. You've gotta tell me all about the match ups later!"
Lumi nodded. "Yes, it'll be part of the guide I upload before I sleep today. I'll send you extra."
"Weren't you gonna send me a guide yesterday?" Lena tilted her head.
"Oh." Lumi opened his mouth in shock, then closed it as he grimaced. He grit his teeth together. "Damn! Damn it!"
He turned to her. "Sorry, I forgot. I'll do that today."
"Woah, Lumi, man." Lena lightly put her hands up placatingly. "It's not a big deal. So you forgot once. It's alright."
Damn…
How could I forget that? Something that I was part of my plans. Something I told her I was going to do.
Part of gaining influence over the players is becoming the one they look to for guidance. Publishing a giant guide is a great part of the plan.
If I'm forgetting things like that, what else might I be forgetting!?
"Lumi?" Lena asked out.
"Mn." Lumi turned to her. "Remember how I wanted to gain influence over the players, to boost my fame."
"Yeah, to make money and stuff." Lena responded. "It's really, really not a big deal that you missed a day."
Lumi stared for a bit. It wasn't as if he could tell her the true stakes, and the implications. So he let it go. "I suppose."
"Watch carefully," Lumi instructed, stepping out from their cover. "Then copy what I do. Pay attention to the timing and positioning."
He stepped forward into the open, and immediately, several Dark Stone Golems turned their crude heads toward him. Each stood roughly three meters tall, their bodies following the same basic pattern.
It consisted of two blocky legs supporting a core that glowed with faint purple-black darkness, a broad torso carved from single blocks of stone, two arms that ended in fists, and a head which was really just a square, with indentations where eyes might be.
Lumi raised his wand, mana gathering at its tip in a brilliant concentration of light. "Light Shower!"
A spray of condensed light erupted forward, aimed directly at the nearest golem's core. The light penetrated through the stone. It didn't penetrate by having obliterated what it passed through, but through magical principles. Though it did indeed cause damage to what it touched. The strike caused cracks to spider web across its torso with sharp cracking sounds.
The reaction was immediate and violent. The struck golem let out a grinding roar, and suddenly over two dozen of its kind were converging on Lumi's position.
"That's a lot of angry rocks!" Lena shrieked. "Wait! You didn't give me instructions!? I need instructions! Am I helping you? Am I casting spells? We love casting spells!?"
"Not yet!" Lumi put a hand up to stop her. "Just watch!"
Lumi was already moving. The first golem swung down with both fists in an overhead smash. Lumi sidestepped at the last possible moment, the impact leaving a crater in the flooring. Another approached from his left, attempting to grab him with its rocky hands. He ducked under its reach, pivoted on his heel, and was suddenly behind it.
"Light Shower!"
The spell caught three golems in a perfect line, the penetrating light drilling through the first's core, weakening the second, and scorching the third. The first golem crumbled immediately, its core shattered into countless fragments that dissolved into motes of darkness.
[EXP +31]
A golem picked up a chunk of its fallen comrade and hurled it like a missile. Lumi read the telegraph in its wind up, the way its shoulder joint ground back for maximum force. He stepped right at the exact moment of release, and the projectile smashed harmlessly into another approaching golem, staggering it.
"You're making them hit each other!" Lena cheered. "That's skill! He tried skill! He succeeded at skill! Go Lumi! Go, go!"
She paused and put a finger up to her chin. "Hey why are they ignoring me? 'I'm shouting, should I be drawing aggro?"
More golems pressed in towards Lumi. One performed a shoulder charge. Lumi waited until the last second, reading the commitment in its posture, then rolled forward and to the side, coming up in perfect position as three more golems tried to surround him.
"Light Shower!"
The spell carved through the charging golem's back, piercing straight through its core, and erupted out through its chest, continuing on to catch two others in the blast. All three began to crumble, their forms losing cohesion as their force left them.
[EXP +29] [EXP +26] [EXP +28]
"How?!" Lena demanded, jumping up and down. "Your dodging skill is incredible!? It's like, it's like… uhmm…. A fox that rotated into a raccoon to send the chicken into chicken location and mate with the cat."
"?" Even through his concentration, that comment earned her a side eye from Lumi.
Another golem proved charged onwards, feinting with one arm while bringing the other around in a haymaker that displaced air with its force. Lumi dropped low, the swing passing over his head close enough to ruffle his hair, and cast upward at an angle.
"Light Shower!"
The angle was perfect. The light entered under the golem's torso, traveled straight up through its core, and erupted out its head in a fountain of brilliant energy. It froze mid-swing, then toppled backward with a crash.
[EXP +30]
Two more tried to coordinate their assault, approaching from opposite angles to cut off escape routes. Lumi backpedaled, letting them converge on his previous position, then stepped aside at the critical moment. They collided with a sound like a quarry explosion, stunning both and sending cracks through their forms.
"Light Shower!"
The single spell cored both of them, the penetrating light living up to its description by passing through one into the other.
[EXP +28] [EXP +27]
More rocks flew through the air in deadly arcs. Lumi weaved between them like they were falling in slow motion, occasionally using a golem as cover against its own allies' projectiles. Every movement was economical, saving as much energy as possible. His feet barely seemed to touch the ground as he danced through the battlefield.
"Light Shower!"
Another line of three fell, Lumi having maneuvered them into perfect alignment through nothing but superior footwork and battlefield awareness.
[EXP +31] [EXP +26] [EXP +29]
The remaining golems pressed harder, their attacks becoming more frantic as their numbers dwindled. One tried a spinning attack, arms extended like a helicopter. Unlike the golems getting demolished, a real helicopter would one shot you.
For real.
It'll slice your skull in half.
Helicopters were superior to Dark Stone Golems.
Lumi simply backed out of range, then ended it with a precisely placed spell.
[EXP +28]
"Show off!" Lena accused. "You're not even sweating! I sweat when I eat soup! Hot soup, cold soup, doesn't matter! It's a medical condition!"
Finally, the last golem stood alone, seeming to realize its situation. It actually took a step back, its core pulsing erratically.
"Even rocks know fear." Lumi observed philosophically, then put it out of its misery with a final Light Shower that shattered its core.
[EXP +27]
He turned to Lena, who was staring with her mouth open wide. "Your turn. Join me."