I pass through the pure green gate and appear in front of a brick wall. When I spin around, I find myself at a dead end of a corridor made entirely of reddish bricks. The air feels like it has no temperature, perfectly comfortable, and perfectly unsettling for some reason. It's not fresh, but it's not stale either, a strange middle ground. Silence reigns around me, occasionally disturbed by the rustling of my clothing, my breathing, and my heartbeat, devoid of any other sounds. After roughly ten meters, the only way is obscured by impenetrable darkness, wafting down like mist. A step forward pushes the darkness just that much back. A step backward, hitting my back against the wall, pulls the darkness to me. My eyes, my sensors, and my mana senses are blind to anything else but my small bubble of clarity. Fun.

I start walking. The corridor's width is just enough so I can see both sidewalls no matter my position in it. A few minutes later, a small part of something enters my sphere of vision, causing me to freeze before I expose myself. If that is even how it works.

Evidently not. The monster steps through the dark mist. Two bare feet slapping on the hard bricks. Flaky, gray skin. Two twitching hands, the nails broken and sharp. A touch too toothy maw, the only defining feature of its face. A Devourer variant—The All-Consuming.

The monster slowly twists its head left and then right. It finally settles on the middle, facing me. It steps again, but this time, its body passes through space itself.

I lean to the side, evading a deadly snap that threatened to consume much more than its mouth can actually handle. The snap is followed by a loud thump as air rushes in to replace the portion that was removed by its attack.

My sword blurs, passing through the monster's midsection. My attack goes through the devourer, but the hungry denizen fails to separate into two pieces. With my cue given, I start running away as fast as I can.

That was amazing. I wonder how much mana the dungeon has to expend. Probably very little. Dungeons and their reality bending abilities are really something. Good thing it's limited to inside the dungeon's dimension only.

I duck down, avoiding a swipe that digs out five deep rifts in the brick wall, exposing only more brick underneath.

There's a split in the corridor ahead. No visible markings for either of the choices, or any other indications. I'm pretty sure the devourer won't give me any hints if I ask, right? Eh, good enough. Right it is.

I speed up, trying to make some more distance. The monster is not keen on using its teleportation abilities constantly, constrained by its own stamina and mana. Even if my gracious host dabbles in bending reality, it still plays by some rules.

Another dodge and another dash reveal a floating orb. It is hovering perfectly in the center of the corridor. Dull white. No mass. No emissions. My sensors are asking me, 'What orb?', writing something down in small notepads, and shaking their heads in worry. My mana senses scoff and give me an aloof nod, flicking their cowboy hat with a finger.

As I pass by the orb, I touch it with my hand. The moment my skin makes contact, the orb bursts into light, quickly absorbed into me, giving me a slight glow.

I skid to a halt, the pursuing monster nearly crashing into me. It tries to attack, but I dodge and run it through with my sword. As my luminescence fades, so does its life, going limp and sliding to the floor. The mist of darkness retreats back, expanding my limited vision. Neat.

Running around aimlessly through the monotone and seemingly endless corridors and junctions leads me to another devourer. The monster has the same figure and flaky skin, but instead of a lonely mouth, its head is covered in numerous bloodshot eyes, unblinking.

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A barrage of my metal needles are intercepted by a shimmering barrier. The monster does not move. A metal spear crashes against the shield, embedding itself inside but failing to pierce it. The monster refuses to react again. Even when I run from it, it does not follow.

During my daring escape, I come across another orb hanging in the air. A touch absorbs it. When I spot another and do the same, my glow increases in intensity. So these might stack. Interesting.

I trace back my steps, returning to the All-Seeing Devourer. I conjure a segmented ball of metal in my hand. The shimmering magic of the devourer flickers to life. A snap of my hand launches the metal ball at the monster. When my spell impacts its shield, the ball explodes into deadly fragments, momentarily shattering its defenses. A needle hidden behind the flight of the ball leaves a small hole through one of the devourer's eyes. And its head. The monster collapses. My glow reduces. Minus one stack.

A deafening screech staggers my body, blood pouring out of my ears, eyes, and nose. The unheard approach of another devourer is easily detected. A metal plate behind me dampens a sonic attack. The plate shoots for the monster, splitting into sharp pieces, covering the whole corridor. A bassy sound shakes the projectiles, trying to slow them down. I flip around, bring my hands back, and then close them in a clap. The pieces of metal accelerate, riddling the All-Hearing Devourer with even more holes than the ones covering its head. Back to zero stacks.

I continue running around, mapping the dungeon, and dispatching the occasional monster with help from the empowering orbs. With my area of perception increasing more and more, locating the boss is only a matter of time and numbers.

Eventually, I find it. A large chamber in the middle of the brick labyrinth houses the final monster.

When I enter the chamber, the devourer boss does not react, simply waiting.

I warp an incendiary grenade next to its head. The boss distractedly pats at the actinic flames consuming its form. The raging inferno is extinguished with ease.

Next up, I warp an antimatter grenade. The aftermath of the detonation is a melted mess. Except for two islands of perfect cleanliness. The first one is around me, my personal shield blocking the low-yield explosion with ease. The second is around the boss. The destructive forces failing to reach it. Even the lingering radiation is somehow consumed by the powerful monster.

A singularity charge finally turns its fully blank head. The singularity collapses before it can form. Well... Huh. They don't call it an All-Missing Devourer for nothing, I guess.

The boss takes a step toward me. I focus my mana, the churning river calming with singular purpose. A meter long dart starts slowly forming next to me. The boss continues leisurely walking. When everything I have is put into my spell, I launch it with a boom. The boss raises an arm, intercepting the dart. The faceless monster appears to strain. The dart hits its palm. Reality around the boss cracks into facets. The dart obliterates its hand. The facets crack into more. When my projectile is almost to its head, my spell fizzles out. The boss lowers its damaged arm and continues walking.

I've improved a lot it seems. I'll show Elisa the video when I visit her later today. I would show it to her now, but I want to see her reaction personally. Would she be proud of me? Or simply content, her expectations met... No, no. Too much self-doubt again. Of course she'd be proud. She is who she is.

The boss tilts its head to the side, savaged and maimed, gray dust spilling from its many wounds, covering the melted floor, joining my own blood and viscera. Before it can do anything else, I end it.

As its body turns to more gray dust, a faceted mana crystal peeks out from the cascading pile. I reach in and grab it. A green gate out appears inside the chamber. I send a needle down one of the many paths.

I look up at a gray sky. Snowflakes are sluggishly drifting down. I exhale a breath, forming a white cloud of condensation. The prickly air touches my skin, my light clothing offering very little protection. Divine.

Each step compresses the fresh snow. A squeak and a crunch. Each breath fills my lungs with fresh air. Sharp and real.

As I am walking back to the city, and when I occasionally see something appropriate in the distance, I bend down, scooping a fistful of snow. Using a few practiced movements, my projectile is shaped.

The target this time is a tall rock. I close one eye and aim. With a flare of tempering, the compressed snow blazes through the air and splatters against the stone. An involuntary laugh escapes my lips.

I wonder if Elisa would want to have a magical snowball fight? Now that would be really fun.

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