Chapter 6: Nether Fortress Part 1
Roman stepped through the broken-down wall, leading to the spiral staircase that acted as a column of support for the bridges. The temperature inside was slightly cooler than outside and small glowstone lanterns hung off the wall above the steps. But what immediately caught his attention was the silence and the echo caused by his footsteps.
He looked straight up and could see the top of the stairs a few stories up. Without delay, he ascended the stairway until he finally reached the top. His vision finally peaked above the stair line and was able to see the bridge constructed of Nether brick that spread out in front of him.
He glanced above him and made note of the Netherrack ceiling being rather close before he moved down Bridgeway. His immediate attention was taken by the large Magma Cube that was directly in his way.
*Splat* *Splat* *Splat*
The Magma Cube was hopping in the opposite direction, facing away from him and completely unaware that Roman was nearby. Different from the game, it left small pools of hot rock and metals behind as it moved.
'Change key, [Sand of Soul Key]' Roman commanded mentally.
The [Obsidian Key] swiftly morphed into a tiny, regular-sized house key with an amalgamation of crying and moaning human faces.
{
Key Form: [Sand of Soul Key]
Equip Bonus: M. DEF 2
Special Equip Effect: stealth 1
}
All of a sudden, Roman's sense of existence seemed to fade and his movements became much more careful. He inched closer to the Magma Cube until he was within striking distance.
"Change Key, [Obsidian Key]!" He commanded as he was already mid-swing with his tiny [Sand of Soul Key].
The key morphed and extended again as it regained the form of the [Obsidian Key], slamming directly into the Magma Cube, and knocking it away. Different from slime, Magma Cubes had a rather hard interior to target underneath the hot pooling metals.
*Splat* *Splat*
The Magma Cube made no cry of pain and simply lunged at Roman to knock him back.
"[Black Chains]!" Roman yelled as he rolled out of the way and landed a second hit on the cube.
Two smaller [Obsidian Key]'s appeared where one seemed to pierce into the Magma Cube and the other into the Nether Brick underfoot. Roman felt mana drain from his mana pool, but it was worth it as the Magma Cube was completely limited, since its hopping was now restricted to a leashed area. He quickly distanced himself far enough to take advantage of his now-leashed target.
He kept it at the perfect distance and slowly widdled down its health with a few more hits until finally it exploded and split into two smaller magma cubes. Immediately after the two cubes appeared, two more virtually small [Obsidian Keys] appeared and leashed them to the same spot as before. He repeated the process until the cubes were finally defeated.
[Defeated Magma Cube and gained 7 total experience.]
The persistent effect of [Black Chains] was what made it possible to easily handle the Magma Cube. After the initial activation requirement of making contact with an enemy, a chain is rooted into the ground which will automatically attack monsters that enter within a certain area, restricting them. It was a very good skill which lasted almost 20 seconds.
He didn't bother too much with the monster materials from the Magma Cube. The only currency down here is gold! Not to mention the Magma Cube itself had already been absorbed by him to make [Magma Key], but that key had already been mastered enough to the point that he never needed to summon it again to access its effects.
It only gave him additional [Fire Resistance], which was maxed after he put his skill points into it.
After more than 2 years in this place, Roman had pretty much understood the absorption mechanism used to upgrade his key. His key has the same absorption method as Naofumi's shield where it can absorb new materials to unlock different key forms.
Except for when his key encounters a 'Unique' material. In this case, a special 'One Time Use' effect occurs if he selects the [Key] option, instead of just accepting a new key form gained by the [Lock] option. However, these 'Unique' materials are just like that, unique chances. They can only be absorbed once and he must choose to either unlock a permanent key form or spend that opportunity on an unpredictable effect.
Key forms alone follow a specific system, where the longer time he spends using a single key form, he will slowly master it until he no longer needs to change forms to gain its {Equip Bonus}. The only reason he would ever change to mastered keys would be to gain the {Special Equip Effect}, which only a few keys have.
He stepped passed the dead Magma Cube and continued forward down the path until the bridge fully blended into the solid Netherrack from the ceiling above him. The consistent sloping of the rock showed signs of it being a natural cave-in.
Roman stood in front of the collapsed wall and stirred his mana, casting [Move Earth] in his mind. His basic spells had been mastered to a maximum degree thanks to his fast learning speed. He no longer needed to chant to cast the spell.
*Rumble*
The collapsed rock was pushed to the side like small waves, forming a narrow walking path, just wide enough for him to walk through. He walked through the other side of the path with his guard up while checking all his blind spots. The way forward looked pitch-dark, but there was a clear path forward, with the Nether Bricks underfoot.
'Change Key, [Rack Key]' Roman commanded mentally.
The key morphed into the familiar [Rack Key] shape. Then he held his hand up and snapped his fingers to cast [Light Fire] spell on the [Rack Key]. The [Rack Key] has a {Special Equip Effect} which allows for a fire to burn continuously for more than an hour, just like how Netherrack naturally does. It only needs a lighter.
*Woosh*
A small fire burst to life on top of the spiked loop of the key like a torch, illuminating the darkness in the tunnel ahead. Roman continued forward, occasionally lighting a section of Netherrack to keep his way back-illuminated. This continued for a while until he heard many humming and ghostly sounds coming from ahead.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone