The sound of the wind echoed through the underground ruins of the Bone Dungeon. Dawn had barely broken when a sharp voice sliced through the silence.
- Tristam: "Wake up, kid. It's way past time to go." - Said Tristam, stomping his foot on the ground.
Still half-asleep, Benjamin lifted his head, meeting him with a serious look.
- Benjamin "Man… it's only six in the morning."
Tristam looked toward the horizon, the rising sun painting the sky orange, and replied with a half-smile:
- Tristam: "Yeah, and we should've been ready since five."
With a resigned sigh, Benjamin stood up, slipping on his steel armor with slow, tired movements. The clink of metal blended with his footsteps. He grabbed his Steel Sword, an Axe, and the pouch of Bombshanging from his belt.
Both men crossed the tunnel, their footsteps echoing against the bone-covered walls. The second area of the Bone Dungeon awaited them — cold, damp, and heavy with an ancient menace.
Soon, they were attacked by three Rocs. Their wings sliced the air like blades. Tristam hurled his Shurikens, missing the first strike.
- Benjamin: "Still half-asleep, huh?" - Benjamin taunted, raising his axe.
The swing that followed split a Roc clean in half. Its wings fell in bluish flames. Benjamin shot a smug look at Tristam, who glared back, irritated, and threw again — this time hitting both remaining Rocs. One managed to retaliate, clawing Tristam's shoulder.
- Tristam: "Beginner's luck." - Tristam grumbled, wiping the blood from his shoulder.
They pressed forward, facing Sand Worms burrowing beneath the ground. The creatures attacked with spirals of sand that slowed their movements. Benjamin struggled to land hits, while Tristam's agility turned the tide. After several long minutes, the monsters crumbled into dust.
Just when they thought they'd earned a moment's rest, two colossal figures emerged ahead — Skeletons, armed with shields and sabers.
Benjamin charged first, his axe striking with a crack that split one of the shields. The second Skeleton countered fiercely, testing his reflexes. It was a fight of endurance and precision.
Meanwhile, Tristam dispatched his opponent with a single clean throw.
Benjamin watched the bones scatter and thought:
- Benjamin (thinking): "I've still got a long way to go before I can call myself a true hero..."
Even so, he kept moving. Each battle, each wound, brought him closer to something — even if he didn't yet know what.
In the third area, something changed. A roar echoed from deep below. Rising before Benjamin stood Gorgon, a horned monstrosity.
Benjamin's heart tightened. That sound, that gaze — familiar.
- Benjamin (thinking) "This monster… it's the same from that day." - He thought. - "I've defeated it before. So why does it still feel like this?"
- Tristam: "Hey! Focus, kid!" - Tristam shouted, throwing a shuriken.
Benjamin nodded, bracing his stance. With a heavy swing, he shattered one of the beast's horns. It roared furiously. Tristam seized the opening and finished the other enemy. Silence fell as the echo of the battle faded.
- Benjamin: "That was easy." - Benjamin said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
- Tristam: "Easy?" - Tristam laughed. - "Just wait for the next one. Luck doesn't last forever."
Soon, they found a treasure chest. Tristam opened it, groaning at what he saw.
- Benjamin: "Ugh, more explosives. Take 'em." - He shoved the bomb pouch toward Benjamin.
- Benjamin (thinking) "If there are so many bombs lying around… why did I even buy from him? Although he taught me how to use it, so I can't complain too much."
An idea sparked in his mind.
- Benjamin: "That pile of bones we passed earlier… maybe I could blast through." - He turned sharply. - "Wait here, Tristam!"
Tristam blinked.
- Tristam: "Is this kid brain-damaged?"
Moments later, Benjamin detonated the bones and uncovered a hidden chamber. Inside, a chest gleamed faintly. He opened it and found a Steel Shield. He grinned, fastening it to his arm.
When he returned, Tristam raised an eyebrow.
- Tristam: "Not bad. That'd fetch a good price."
Benjamin shook his head.
- Benjamin: "Not selling this one. It'll save my life sooner or later."
They fought through more enemies — Skeletons, Gorgons, and traps that tested their reflexes. Each battle hardened Benjamin's resolve.
Then, from the mist of the fourth area, rose another nightmare — Minotaur Zombie. Benjamin's heartbeat quickened, memories of Kaeli flashing behind his eyes. Anger surged where fear once lived.
He charged. His first strike wasn't enough. The beast countered with a wave of confusion magic, clouding his senses. Tristam's shuriken missed its mark, and the Minotaur retaliated, slamming him to the ground.
- Benjamin: "Tristam!" - Benjamin roared, regaining control. His axe came down with a thunderous crack, shattering the Minotaur's skull. Silence fell.
They pressed onward, deeper into the dungeon's heart. Hours later, they discovered a cave glowing with eerie light. Inside, a black-covered tome pulsed faintly.
Benjamin's eyes widened.
- Benjamin: "By the gods… a book of Black Magic."
Tristam snorted.
- Tristam: "Why the hell do you always find the good stuff?"
Ignoring him, Benjamin opened the book. A wave of dark energy surged through his body, filling his veins with power.
Tristam crossed his arms.
- Tristam: "Well? What spell is it?"
Benjamin smiled faintly.
- Benjamin: "You'll see soon enough."
They journeyed to the dungeon's final chamber — a vast cavern with a red bone lake shimmering under pale light. The air was too quiet.
- Tristam: "Something's off." - Tristam warned.
Benjamin stepped across the rocks, careful and alert. But then… he realized. The bones weren't debris — they formed a colossal shape beneath the surface.
- Benjamin: "Tristam… wait—" - He began, but it was too late. The rock beneath Tristam moved. A massive crocodile erupted from the water, snapping its jaws.
Tristam clung to its back, shouting.
- Tristam: "This water reeks of death and sewage!"
Benjamin hurled his axe — missed.
- Benjamin: "Would you stop screaming?!"
The noise woke something far worse. The lake began to churn. Red vertebrae rose from the depths, piercing the crocodile and rearranging themselves into a towering skeletal beast — Flamerus Rex.
- Flamerus Rex: "Humans… you think you can challenge me? I am Flamerus Rex of the Earth!" - The creature roared.
Tristam grinned through the chaos.
- Tristam: "Finally found you, bonehead. That treasure's mine!"
- Flamerus Rex "Really? I have the power of the Earth Crystal. You possess nothing but mortal weakness!"
The air inside the Bone Dungeon quivered with heat and decay, echoing with distant growls that resonated through the walls. Benjamin wiped the sweat from his brow, his pulse quickened as he faced the colossal skeleton looming ahead — Flamerus Rex.
The creature's eye sockets burned faintly, as if some ancient malice had taken shape again after centuries of silence.
Benjamin clenched his fists, muttering under his breath.
- Benjamin (thinking): "Damn it... I'm without my Axe... why did I throw it into the lake...".
His breathing was sharp, erratic. This one felt different — heavier, darker, far more dangerous than anything he had faced before.
Beside him, Tristam readied his weapons, the familiar metallic clink of shurikens echoing softly in the oppressive chamber.
- Tristam: "Well, kid... looks like we've caught the attention of something big."
- Benjamin: "Big? That thing looks like death itself."
A sudden vibration rippled through the floor — then came the roar. Flamerus Rex moved with surprising speed for something so massive.
The ground split open in violent cracks — Earthquake.
The seismic wave hit them both with brutal force. Benjamin was thrown to the ground; pain tore through his body like liquid fire.
- Benjamin (thinking): "This is a Vile Four... are we even getting out of here alive?"
Tristam coughed blood but still managed to keep his usual sarcasm.
- Tristam: "Hey, kid... don't die on me now."
Benjamin lifted his head, and a small, confident — almost mad — smile curved his lips. FlamerusRex roared furiously, enraged by such human defiance.
Tristam hurled his shurikens — fast, precise, but useless. The monster resisted every trace of Poisonor Paralyze.
Benjamin retaliated. The Bombsexploded against the beast, forcing it to step back slightly. The metallic echo of the blasts filled the dungeon.
- Benjamin: "Not gonna be that easy, huh?"
Both attacked again in unison — shurikens and bombs in perfect rhythm. Flamerus countered with a devastating blow aimed at Tristam, but the mercenary withstood it almost supernaturally, counterattacking and shattering one of the monster's ribs.
Benjamin seized the moment, throwing more Bombs. Three explosions. Three ribs gone. The air reeked of scorched bone.
- Tristam (laughing): "That's it, kid! Now you're really fighting!"
Benjamin felt the energy pulsing through his body — a new magic awakening in his veins.
He raised his hand and shouted:
- Benjamin: "Black Magic: Earthquake!"
The ground trembled, the ceiling moaned. A second quake swallowed the room in chaos.
Tristam let out a wild laugh:
- Tristam: "That's it, kid! Hahaha! Incredible! Pure adrenaline!"
Enraged, Flamerus Rex struck back. Bones shot out like projectiles, exploding around Tristam. The blasts shredded his armor, blood spilling from open wounds.
Benjamin, shaking, hurled more Bombs. Tristam retaliated with Shurikens. The monster roared again, launching bones at Benjamin, whose Steel Shield shuddered under the impact.
- Benjamin: "Tsk... it's cracking!"
He stepped back, drinking a potion in haste. Tristam threw another volley of shurikens — one of them lodged deep between the creature's ribs, pulverizing part of its frame. The giant skeleton staggered, collapsing slightly.
- Benjamin: "Let's give it everything! It's weakened!"
Those words lit a fire in Tristam, who charged once more. Flamerus roared and lunged, biting down hard — two crushing strikes. Blood splattered. One of Tristam's arms was torn away.
- Benjamin (desperate): "TRISTAM!!!"
- Tristam (breathing heavily, with a tense grin): "I'm fine! After the fight... I'll reattach it and heal the wound."
Benjamin steadied his breath, pushing fear aside. Both readied for the final assault. Flamerus Rex tried casting Sleepon Tristam — but the mercenary resisted.
- Tristam: "Ha! You'll need more than that to put me down!"
Then came two critical hits — bombs and shurikens in perfect harmony. The remaining ribs shattered.
For a heartbeat, there was only silence — the kind that feels wrong, like the world itself was holding its breath.
The explosion should have ended it. But instead, the dungeon trembled — a deep, grinding sound like mountains splitting open. The shattered bones of Flamerus began to move again, trembling violently as a dull, amber glow pulsed from their core.
Benjamin froze mid-step.
- Benjamin: "...What the hell?"
The remains twisted, as if drawn by something unseen. From the cracks of the Earth Crystal nearby, a surge of blinding light erupted, golden dust spiraling into the air. It wasn't light — it was essence, the raw soul of the Earth itself.
Tristam staggered back, eyes wide.
- Tristam: "No way… the Crystal'sreacting—!"
A roar split the air, louder and deeper than before — a sound that shook the marrow of their bones.
The skeleton's body dissolved completely, yet from the dust, a colossal shape of energy and ash rose anew.It had no flesh, no bones — only a burning silhouette of molten earth and radiant stone. The Aura of Flamerus Rex.
- Flamerus Rex: "You think destruction ends me? My essence is bound to the Earth Crystal! As long as it exists… so shall my wrath!"
The ground erupted beneath them. Spires of rock speared upward, molten veins running through their edges. Every quake felt alive, filled with wrath. The dungeon walls began to collapse inward, as though the Earth itself were trying to crush the intruders.
Tristam shouted through the chaos:
- Tristam: "Kid! That thing's not physical anymore! You can't hit it with steel—"
- Benjamin: "Then I'll hit it with this!"
He raised his hand. The residual power of the Black Magic he'd learned earlier — Black Magic: Earthquake — flared around his arm, mixing with the Crystal'sunstable energy. His veins burned with pain and power alike.
The spectral jaws of Flamerus lunged at him, the very air trembling in waves of pressure. Benjamin countered with a blast of dark magic — the two forces collided, creating a shockwave that flattened everything around them.
Stone pillars shattered like glass. The floor cracked open, revealing magma beneath.
- Flamerus Rex: "Feel it, human! The pulse of the world — its anger, its weight — crush you as it crushed kings before you!"
Benjamin gritted his teeth, barely staying upright.
- Benjamin (thinking): "It's not the Earth itself… it's feeding off the Crystal!"
The aura lashed out again, tendrils of molten energy whipping across the ground. Tristam dodged left, throwing his last shuriken straight through the creature's glowing core — but it passed through harmlessly.
- Tristam: "Tch! It's pure essence!"
Benjamin's mind raced. He looked toward the Earth Crystal, glowing violently, struggling to contain the monster's remaining power.
- Benjamin: "That's it… The Crystal'sthe anchor!"
He sprinted forward, ignoring Tristam's warning shouts. The aura turned, roaring, launching one final wave of seismic fury that shattered the last of the dungeon walls.
Benjamin reached the crystal, pressing his hand against it. The raw energy burned into his palm, searing his nerves.
- Benjamin: "If you're truly part of this world's strength… then lend it to me — not to its ruin!"
A deafening hum filled the chamber. The aura shrieked — a sound not of rage, but of submission — as its form disintegrated into streams of light, all drawn into Benjamin's body.
The tremors ceased.
Dust settled.
When Benjamin opened his eyes, the Crystalno longer glowed violently — it pulsed softly, resonating with his heartbeat. Faint traces of golden energy crackled over his hands.
Tristam approached slowly, half-smiling despite his wounds.
- Tristam: "You purified it… not bad for a kid."
Benjamin's breath was ragged. His gaze was distant, almost hollow.
- Benjamin: "No. It purified itself… I just gave it the chance."
- Flamerus Rex: "CURSE YOU, HUMANS!!! YOU MAY DEFEAT US FOUR, BUT YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT—"
Before it could finish, its body collapsed into dust. The echo of its voice faded, and a soft light rose from the ashes.
The Earth Crystal floated before them, slowly mending the wounds and pain left behind by the first of the Vile Four.
- Benjamin: "Hey, Tristam! Look, the Crystal!"
- Tristam: "Forget that for now. Come here!"
Benjamin crossed the bone bridge, still catching his breath. In front of the chests, Tristam opened one and chuckled.
- Tristam: "I'll take this one... and this one's yours."
Benjamin accepted the Elixir, gazing at it with reverence. Then he opened the second chest — revealing the Sand Coin;
- Benjamin: "Sand Coin? Hm... no idea what it does, but it must be important."
They walked toward the exit. Tristam stopped, turning with his familiar confident grin.
- Tristam: "Well, I've got to go. See you around, kid."
Before Benjamin could reply, he was already gone. Benjamin sighed — a mix of melancholy and satisfaction lingering in his chest.
As he reached the dungeon's entrance, he looked outside and realized — the quicksand had vanished.
- Benjamin: "How am I supposed to cross that...? Ah... wait... the quicksand's gone!"
The fresh air embraced him. He raised his arms and shouted, exhausted and triumphant:
- Benjamin: "AAAAAH! Finally!!! I actually did it!!! I defeated one of the Vile Four and reclaimed the first Crystal!"
The echo of his voice faded into the morning light, leaving only the distant hum of the earth below.
When the last glimmer of the Crystal'slight faded, something remained — silent, unseen. Deep within his veins, a spark pulsed — neither sacred nor profane. Benjamin couldn't tell whether he had defeated the darkness… or if a part of it had chosen to stay with him.
And so, our hero walked toward the forest — unaware that within him, the Earth had begun to dream again.