Chapter 43 - Astrea's Quest

"Master there is nothing here other than us."(Astrea)

Suddenly the ground they are standing started to shake.

"Astrea! Underneath!"(Argus)

Argus voice echoed inside the chamber. The two jump away from their current place and take a little distance from it. The two tried to maintained their balance amidst the rumbling.

The walls of the cave trembled, and small rocks and debris began to fall from the ceiling. A deep, rumbling sound filled the chamber, growing louder with each passing second.

Suddenly, the ground near the fallen star core erupted, and a massive figure began to rise from the earth. It was a golem, towering over Argus at a height of fifteen feet, its body composed of rock and infused with the faint, glowing energy of the star core. The golem's eyes and core glowed with the same eerie light, and its movements were slow but powerful. This was no ordinary golem as it had absorbed a tiny portion of the star core's power.

Eyes of Twilight

Name: Starstone Golem

Category: Unique Monster

Level: 26

HP:100%/100%

Skills:

«Crystalline Absorbtion»

•Rank:Unique

•Uses the energy of the star core to heal itself and repair any damage sustained in battle.

«Starlight Smash»

•Rank: Special

•Slams its fists into the ground, causing shockwaves of celestial energy.

«Meteor Charge»

•Rank: Special

•Charges forward with incredible speed, leaving a trail of glowing stardust.

«Star Shockwave»

•Rank: Special

•Releases a burst of star energy that disorients nearby enemies and disrupts their magical abilities.

'A Unique Beast?'(Argus)

Argus immediately assessed the situation and open his status window to add his free stats. Every stat is needed in their current situation. Fortunately a golem of this type physique is very slow even if it has high Agility Stats, as long as the two would be careful not to be hit by the golem, they may have a chance to kill it.

'If we can't beat it, we can just escape safely.'(Argus)

After Argus thinks of the word escape his body trembled. He did not notice it though.

[Congratulations for discovering a Unique Entity]

+10 All Stats

VIT: 159(↑10+23)

STR: 200(↑45)

DEX: 180(↑65)

INT: 140(↑30)

Free Stats: 0(↓110)

[Do you want to use 10 SP to upgrade your Skill «Eyes of Twilight»?]

[Yes/No]

[Do you want to use 10 SP to upgrade your Skill «Twilight Battle Summoner»?]

[Yes/No]

[Do you want to use 10 SP to upgrade your Skill «Soul Link»?]

[Yes/No]

Argus immediately willed yes. This two skills cannot be upgraded by training or by use unlike a weapon specialization skills.

«Eyes of Twilight: Lv.2»(↑1)

•Rank: Unique

•Allows the user to find weakness.

•Allows the user to see flow of energy.(New)

«Twilight Battle Summoner Lv.2»(↑1)

•Rank: Unique

•When fighting close combat, increase basic stats by 40%.

«Soul Link Lv.2»(↑1)

•Rank: Unique Passive

•For every Unique that is bound to your soul, increase base stats by 12% when in combat.

Skill Points: 20(↓30)

Argus Battle Stats:

VIT: 159+83

STR: 200+104

DEX: 180+94

INT: 140+73

Astrea Battle Stats:

VIT: 120+14

STR: 170+20

DEX: 195+23

INT: 230+28

Argus was finish adding his stats and skill points to upgrade some of his skills. His body started to heat up but he ignored it and focus his gaze on the golem. It looks like the golem was just woken up a while ago so it did not immediately attack them.

The golem roared, a sound that reverberated through the chamber, and lumbered toward Argus. Its massive fists swung down with tremendous force, aiming to crush him. Argus dodged to the side, the ground shaking under the impact of the golem's blow.

'Astrea be careful of it's attack! Do not let an attack land on you!'(Argus)

'Yes Master'(Astrea)

Argus and Astrea's movement speed was barely enough to avoid each of the golem's strike. Argus did not need to command Astrea and they split between left and right.

Eyes of Twilight

Argus tried to find another weakness of a golem but he did not saw anything other than the black glowing crystal in its chest. A typical weakness of any golem.

'Attack its Core if you see an opening. Only attack when you are sure you can dodge and escape.'(Argus)

Astrea did not reply but Argus knows she was listening. As Argus was still dodging the attacks of the golems. Looks like he had get its agro.

Argus saw a purplish energy gathering in the golems hand with his eyes and the golem started to raise it.

'Its using a skill, be careful.'(Argus)

Argus and Astrea focus their eyes on the golem's hand that was already to fall down.

'Its slower than I thought.'(Argus)

The two dodge and taken a bit of distance but was still near the place where it slammed its hand. The ground starts to tremble again, fortunately the ceiling was high and strong so Argus do not need to worry that they would be buried alive.

Boom!!!

Suddenly a shockwave immediately erupt, the two was a bit near and was hit by the shockwave.

'Ugh, its stronger than I thought. Astrea are you okay?'(Argus)

'Yes master. There is no problem taking that shockwave within this distance.'(Astrea)

The golem turn his head to look at him. It looks like he is really the target of it.

'It thinks that I'm a treat. Astrea find a chance to attack it, I will get its attention.'(Argus)

'Leave it to me."(Astrea)

The golem then shifted its focus to Argus, charging forward with Meteor Charge. Argus narrowly avoided the attack, feeling the rush of air and the searing heat of the glowing stardust trail left behind. He glanced at Astrea, who was circling around the golem, ready to attack the weak point, the golem core.

The golem roared and released a Star Shockwave, sending a burst of star energy outside. Astrea managed to avoid the full brunt of the shockwave by quickly running behind the golems back.

'Ugh!'(Argus)

Argus, however, wasn't as lucky. With no nearby rocks to hide behind, he raised his scythe to block the shockwave. The force of the attack slammed into him, pushing him back and leaving him momentarily dazed. The difference in strength between the golem and him was double, and he felt the impact deeply.

'Master!'(Astrea)

'Focus'(Argus)

Argus gritted his teeth and steadied himself, feeling the lingering effects of the shockwave. He knew he couldn't let this slow him down. Astrea, now positioned behind the golem, saw an opening and immediately attack the core.

Astrea's claws struck the core, but the golem's durability proved formidable. Despite her effort, the attack only left a superficial mark on the surface of the core. The golem roared in response, shaking Astrea off with a powerful swipe of its hand. She landed gracefully but was visibly shaken by the force of the blow, though she sustained no serious injuries.

Argus, seeing Astrea's struggle, knew it was his turn to step in. Without hesitation he charged forward. The golem, sensing his approach, raised its massive fist to swat at him. Argus anticipated the move and sidestepped with agility, narrowly avoiding the crushing blow.

Using his scythe, Argus swung at the core, aiming for the weakened spot that Astrea had initiated. His blade struck it, but the golem's dense rocky exterior absorbed much of the impact.

Astrea, recovering swiftly, bounce back into the battle. She leaped onto the golem again, her claws slashing at the fissure in the core. Each strike dug deeper, but the golem's core proved resilient, resisting their efforts to breach it easily.

As time wore on, fatigue began to set in for Argus and Astrea. They had been fighting for over an hour, their movements growing slower and more labored. The golem, however, showed no signs of slowing down. It unleashed a barrage of its other skills from time to time.

Starlight Smash

the golem slammed its fists into the ground, sending shockwaves of celestial energy rippling outward. Argus and Astrea dodged and weaved, narrowly avoiding the devastating shockwaves that threatened to knock them off balance.

Meteor Charge

The golem charged forward with incredible speed, leaving a trail of glowing stardust. Astrea managed to evade the initial charge, Argus tried to dodge but he was still graze by its attack, sending him sprawling to the ground. Fortunately, he did not take its full blown attack or he might be turned into meat paste by now. He quickly recovered, using the momentum to strike at the golem's core once more.

Sovereign's Apathy

Sovereign's Intuition

The battle raged on, each side trading blows and maneuvers. Argus and Astrea adapted to the golem's relentless attacks, finding openings in its defenses and exploiting them with precision strikes. They focused their efforts on the core, where they knew the golem was most vulnerable. Astrea and Argus attack became more and more coordinated.

The two did not talk this time since they are in a extremely focus battle mode as Rex term. Although tired, they still continued attacking its core if given a chance.