The path upward was steep.
Thane walked alone through narrow stone corridors, each step echoing off walls marked by age and claw. No glowing runes. No pulsing platforms. Only natural rock, worn from centuries of water and monsters and death.
He was far from the Archive now.
And yet, its heat hadn't left him.
He could still feel the spell blueprint for Meteor pulsing behind his eyes, like a sun caged beneath his thoughts. Untouchable.
But not unclaimed.
Not anymore.
He pulled up his full status screen as he climbed.
[STATUS]
🧍 Name: Thane
🧬 Race: Human
🌍 Origin: Unknown Plane
❤️ Vitality: 4
💪 Strength: 3
⚡ Agility: 5
🧠 Intelligence: 7
🔥 Mana: 3 (40/40)
🔁 Passives:
• Law of Absolute Repetition (Active)
• Quiet Casting
• Flow Casting
• Fire Affinity
• Magma Affinity
• Poison Resistance – Lv. 2 — EXP: 4 / 25
🎒 Skills:
• Firebolt – Lv. 1 — EXP: 30 / 100 — Mana Cost: 10
• Flame Arc – Lv. 1 — EXP: 15 / 100 — Mana Cost: 12
• Burning Chain – Lv. 1 — EXP: 11 / 100 — Mana Cost: 14
• Flame Ward – Lv. 1 — EXP: 1 / 100 — Mana Cost: 8
• Flameblade – Lv. 1 — EXP: 4 / 100 — Mana Cost: 10
• Magma Sword – Lv. 1 — EXP: 3 / 100 — Mana Cost: 16
• Lava Geyser – Lv. 1 — EXP: 7 / 100 — Mana Cost: 18
• Scorch Zone – Lv. 1 — EXP: 1 / 100 — Mana Cost: 20
📈 Level: 2
🧪 EXP: 0 / 120
📜 Spell Blueprint: Meteor (Uncastable)
• Mana Requirement: 500
• Magma Control: Rank 4
• Flame Sovereignty: Required
• Progress: 0.00%
His mana pool had increased.
A small step.
But real.
He needed more stats. More kills. More repetition.
He passed through a narrow crevice, ducking beneath a fallen beam of blackened wood that had no business being this deep underground.
Then he stopped.
A corpse lay ahead.
Not monster.
Human.
Old.
Desiccated.
Wrapped in a torn cloak, slumped against the wall.
Not eaten. Not burned.
Dead by time.
But what made him pause wasn't the body.
It was the sigil carved into the floor beside it.
A circle of flame etched in black ash.
The same shape as the Archive trial runes.
But imperfect.
Sloppy.
He tried to copy it... and failed.
Thane knelt.
There were pages scattered beside the corpse—half-melted, covered in what might have been writing once. Now, mostly dust.
He brushed some aside.
One word stood out, half-charred but unmistakable.
"Meteor."
His breath caught.
He stood and stared down at the sigil.
This person had tried to do it.
Tried to cast the spell.
And hadn't made it.
He didn't feel fear.
He felt resolve.
He stood in silence for a moment, letting the heat settle against his skin.
Then he whispered, "Not this time."
The tunnel opened further ahead.
The smell of wet moss and rotting meat returned.
Monsters were near again.
He stepped forward, drawing heat into his palms.
Time to level up.
Time to prepare.
The Giant Frog still waited near the dungeon's only exit.
And this time, Thane wouldn't crawl.
He'd burn his way through.