Kael moved forward through the tunnel with measured steps, his Void torch casting dancing shadows on the rough stone walls. The dripping water echoed around him, creating an almost hypnotic rhythm that he had to consciously ignore. Dungeons were known for using psychological tricks, subtle environmental effects designed to lower a challenger's guard.
The tunnel widened gradually, opening into a cavern large enough that his floating light couldn't reach the ceiling. Kael's Void Sense painted a clear picture in his mind—this was the first floor's main chamber, roughly circular, about sixty meters across. And it was full of stone golems.
Dozens of them stood motionless throughout the space, arranged in no particular pattern. Some stood upright like statues. Others sat against walls. A few were hunched over as if sleeping, though golems didn't sleep. They were waiting, conserved and inactive until a challenger entered their domain.
In the center of the chamber, on a raised stone throne that looked like it had been carved from the bedrock itself, sat a larger golem. Easily ten feet tall, more elaborately detailed than the basic models, with what might have been carved armor covering its stone body.
[Stone Golem Elite - Floor Boss][Level: 14][HP: 800/800][Mini-Boss of Floor 1][Warning: Elite golems can coordinate lesser golems in tactical formations]
Kael counted quickly. Twenty-three regular golems plus one elite boss. Twenty-four opponents total, all made of living stone that was highly resistant to normal weapons.
Most people would retreat at this point. Call for backup, gather a full party, approach the challenge with numbers and coordination.
Kael smiled and stepped into the chamber.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold, every golem in the room activated simultaneously. Red eyes blazed to life throughout the darkness. Stone bodies that had been perfectly still began to move, joints grinding as ancient magic animated dead rock.
They all turned toward him as one.
The elite boss rose from its throne with ponderous dignity, stone sword appearing in its hand from nowhere. Its voice boomed through the chamber, deeper than thunder, speaking words in a language Kael didn't understand but whose meaning was perfectly clear.
"Intruder. Challenger. You will be tested. You will be broken. You will be absorbed into the stone, your bones becoming part of these eternal walls."
"We'll see about that," Kael replied.
He activated Void Domain.
Dark energy exploded outward from his body in a perfect sphere, expanding to fill twenty meters in every direction. The effect was immediate and dramatic. The chamber's ambient magic, which had been animating the golems and strengthening their stone bodies, suddenly found itself suppressed and controlled.
Within Kael's Domain, he was god. The rules of reality bent to his will. And he decided that stone golems moved much, much slower.
The golems entering his Domain's radius found themselves suddenly wading through air that felt like thick mud. Their movements became sluggish, their reaction times doubled or tripled. The magic holding them together weakened, making their stone bodies more brittle and easier to damage.
Kael moved through them like death incarnate. He created a Void greatsword, the massive blade humming with entropic power. Each swing aged stone to dust. Each strike found weak points with perfect precision, guided by his Sovereign's Authority.
He cut through five golems in the first ten seconds. They were simply too slow within his Domain to mount any effective defense or counterattack.
[+250 EXP]
But Void Domain was expensive. Massively expensive. Kael felt his Void Energy draining at an alarming rate.
[Void Energy: 180/280 and dropping fast][Domain can be maintained for 22 more seconds]
He had to end this quickly or risk exhaustion in the middle of the fight.
Kael released his Domain, letting it collapse to conserve energy. Immediately, the remaining golems returned to full speed. They pressed in from all sides, stone fists swinging, trying to overwhelm him with numbers.
He switched tactics. Instead of the massive greatsword, Kael created twin Void daggers—lighter, faster, perfect for the close-quarters combat the golems were forcing on him. He activated Void Step repeatedly, teleporting around the chamber in rapid succession, striking from unexpected angles.
The golems were strong and durable, but they were also predictable. They telegraphed their attacks with shoulder movements. They committed fully to each swing, leaving themselves open for counterstrikes. And most importantly, they couldn't adapt or learn from mistakes.
Kael could.
He learned their patterns after three exchanges. Started predicting their movements after five. By the tenth golem, he was dancing through their attacks, untouchable, dealing death with every blade strike.
[Multiple Stone Golems defeated][+600 EXP total]
Fifteen down. Twenty. Twenty-two. Only the elite boss remained, still watching from its throne with glowing red eyes that held more intelligence than the basic models.
Kael approached the throne, breathing hard but far from exhausted. His Void Energy had recovered somewhat during the regular golem fights.
[Void Energy: 210/280]
The elite boss rose and stepped down from its throne. Up close, Kael could see fine details in its construction—carved runes covering its stone armor, fingers that ended in actual carved claws rather than simple stone blocks, a face that had been sculpted to look almost human.
"You fight well," the elite said in that same booming voice, speaking the common language this time. "Better than most who challenge the Stone Depths. But I am not like my lesser brethren. I was crafted by masters, imbued with purpose and skill. You will not find me so easy to defeat."
The elite attacked with surprising speed for something so large. Its stone sword swept in a complex pattern, forcing Kael to dodge rather than block. The blade moved with actual technique, refined strikes that showed real combat training rather than just programmed responses.
Kael met the challenge head-on. He created a Void longsword to match the elite's weapon, and they dueled across the chamber floor. Steel techniques against stone strength. Speed against power. Void entropy against earth permanence.
The elite was good. Very good. It had decades or maybe centuries of combat experience programmed into its movements. But it was still predictable in ways a human opponent wouldn't be. It followed patterns, repeated successful techniques, couldn't improvise on the fly.
Kael could.
He deliberately left an opening, baiting the elite into a overhead chop. When the stone sword descended, Kael used Void Step to appear behind the boss. His blade struck the back of the elite's knee joint, Void energy corroding the stone.
The elite stumbled but caught itself. It spun faster than Kael expected, stone sword sweeping in a horizontal arc aimed at his midsection.
No time to dodge. Kael activated Void Armor and took the hit.
The impact sent him flying backward through the air. He hit the chamber wall hard, knocking the breath from his lungs.
[Health: 390/460][Void Armor absorbed significant damage]
The elite pressed its advantage, closing the distance with ground-shaking steps. Kael rolled sideways as the stone sword cratered the wall where he'd been. He came up in a crouch and activated Void Siphon.
Dark tendrils shot out from his hand, latching onto the elite boss. But instead of life force—which the golem didn't have—Kael drained the magic animating it. The ancient enchantments that gave the stone construct motion and purpose.
The elite felt it immediately. Its movements became slightly more rigid, slightly less coordinated as the magic holding it together weakened.
[Draining: 30 energy per second][Elite's combat efficiency decreasing]
Kael maintained the drain while dodging the elite's increasingly desperate attacks. The boss knew what was happening, understood that its power was being stolen, and fought with everything it had to break free.
But Kael held firm. Thirty seconds of continuous draining, and the elite's movements had slowed to half speed. Its stone body was cracking, structural integrity failing.
One final strike—a Void-enhanced thrust directly into the elite's chest core—and the boss shattered into pieces.
[Stone Golem Elite defeated][+200 EXP][Floor 1 Complete!][Loot: Elite Stone Core, 100 Gold, Basic Enhancement Stone]
[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 15][All attributes increased by 3]
A doorway appeared at the far end of the chamber, glowing with soft blue light. Beyond it, stairs descended deeper into the dungeon.
Kael checked his status. Health at 390 out of 480 now after the level up. Void Energy at 185 out of 295. Not terrible, but not great either. He could continue, but he should be careful about resource management.
He activated the communication crystal briefly, sending a pulse to Lyra. The signal that he was alive and making progress.
Then he descended to Floor 2.