The air thickened with tension as the party stepped beyond the scorched entrance to Floor 2.
This floor was unlike the fiery caverns below. The walls shifted between molten rock and dark obsidian glass that reflected shadows like living entities.
The floor was a maze of reflective obsidian walls that warped reality and distorted perception.
Hazard:
Mirrors create multiple illusory duplicates of enemies and party members.
Physical attacks sometimes phase through illusions.
Heat waves pulse unpredictably, threatening to burn the unwary.
System Notification:
"Environmental effect: Reality Distortion – reduces physical attack accuracy by 20% unless illusions are dispelled."
Emerging from the shadows came the Mirror Wraiths—ethereal foes who could slip through walls and create their own illusions to confuse and attack.
Alongside them were Glass Golems, sturdy but slow, their bodies refracting magic to shield themselves and allies.
Battle Begins
Eron's team quickly formed a tight circle.
Vythrax hissed, flames licking from its nostrils, "Illusions are the mind's prison. I will burn it away."
Seryn focused her blade, glowing with a sharp, precise light that shattered illusions on contact.
Blade Hound moved agilely, sensing the real threats through subtle scent and sound cues.
Neha conjured water orbs to douse heat waves and break illusions.
Veyrix raised bone shields to absorb magic bursts.
Slime absorbed stray magic, glowing brighter with each pulse.
The battle was chaotic but coordinated.
During a lull, Eron reached out telepathically to Vythrax.
Eron: "You're calm in this chaos. Tell me—how do you see these illusions?"
Vythrax:"My blood is from the Dragonborn clans, forged in fire and earth. Our bond with the planet lets me sense the tremors beneath illusions. I feel the real, not the false."
"I was once a guardian of a sacred mountain. Bound to protect, bound to fight darkness that twists truth. Here, I see our challenge reflected—both outward and inward."
Eron nodded thoughtfully.
Eron: "Then together, we'll burn through any deception."
After the grueling fight, the team regrouped.
Eron's experience gauge surged, pushing him ever closer to Level 24.
[System Notification]
Level Up Available: 2 (At Levels 21 and 23)
Current Level: 23Experience to Next Level: 20%
Stat Upgrade Options:
+2 to all stats
+4 to a single stat
Eron took a deep breath.
"+2 to all stats, twice."
His power slowly rippled outwards, strength, agility, vitality, and mana all rising steadily.
The system gave a quiet warning:
[Approaching Level 30 – Evolutionary Sync Event Imminent]
"Prepare. The next phase will challenge everything."
Eron clenched his fists, feeling the weight of the coming change.
"Not yet. I'll be ready."