The last bend in the tunnel looked exactly the same.
Rough stone. Damp moss. Water dripping from the ceiling into an old, stagnant pool.
But Thane wasn't the same.
He'd come full circle—back to the chamber he'd first stumbled into as a child left to die. Back to the place where he saw the creature with eyes like burning coins and skin like boiling tar.
He hadn't even known its name back then.
Now, the system had one for it:
[Field Boss: Giant Black-Swamp Frog]
Class: C-Rank
HP: ???
Threat Level: High
Note: Avoid direct melee and corrosive tongue lash. Area-based attacks advised.
He stepped forward.
His boots sank slightly into the wet mud near the chamber's entrance. Steam drifted from the floor as heat rolled off his skin. His mana flared behind his ribs like a coiled inferno, and for once, he let the pressure rise unchecked.
The frog was already there.
Same as before.
Still massive. Nearly ten feet from jaw to hindleg. Its skin shimmered black and green, its body squatting at the edge of a shallow lava pool that didn't exist when he first arrived.
It had grown.
Its yellow eyes blinked.
And for the first time—it recognized him.
He opened his full status screen, calm.
[STATUS]
🧍 Name: Thane
🧬 Race: Human
🌍 Origin: Unknown Plane
❤️ Vitality: 4
💪 Strength: 3
⚡ Agility: 5
🧠 Intelligence: 8
🔥 Mana: 3 (50/50)
🔁 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: 3
🧪 EXP: 0 / 140
📜 Spell Blueprint: Meteor (Uncastable)
• Mana Requirement: 500
• Magma Control: Rank 4
• Flame Sovereignty: Required
• Progress: 1.2%
He tightened his grip on the sword.
The frog croaked.
The air shifted.
It lunged.
Thane rolled left—just in time—as a thick, black tongue lashed out and struck the stone wall behind him with a wet, acidic slap. Steam rose from the splattered slime. It wasn't just sticky—it was corrosive.
No melee until I clip it first.
He backpedaled and cast.
Firebolt.
The projectile slammed into the frog's shoulder. It hissed and bucked, spinning its massive bulk toward him.
It leapt.
He cast Scorch Zone at his feet just before impact.
The flames burst up around him as the frog landed hard, splashing lava and mud in all directions. His Flame Ward held the heat back.
Within the zone, his spells surged.
He cast Lava Geyser behind the frog's landing point.
The creature turned to attack—and the geyser exploded upward into its spine.
The frog screamed.
And Thane moved.
He dashed right, closed the gap, and activated Magma Sword.
The blade ignited in dense orange flame. He leapt up the frog's back, slashing once across its flank as the creature twisted in pain. Steam poured from the wound.
The tongue came again.
This time, he was ready.
Burning Chain.
The tongue froze mid-lash, wrapped in heated flame, bound against its own muscle. It twitched—burning at the contact point.
He raised his blade again.
But the frog rolled.
Massive. Sudden. Total.
He was thrown into the air, slammed into the far wall, and crumpled to the ground.
The wall cracked behind him.
Blood hit the inside of his mouth.
He stood anyway.
The screen flashed.
[WARNING: Vitality threshold dropped below 50%]
He laughed.
And cast again.
Flame Arc.
He launched it not at the frog—but at the wall beside it. The blast ricocheted, caught the creature off guard, and forced it to turn awkwardly mid-charge.
Lava Geyser.
Beneath its front legs.
It screamed as the molten burst launched it upward—legs kicking, body twisting.
He dashed underneath, Magma Sword active, and slashed the creature from stomach to jaw as it came crashing down.
The room flashed white.
And the system chimed.
+132 EXP
[Passive Skill Unlocked: Magma Control – Lv. 1]
• You have begun shaping lava with greater precision
• Magma-related spells may now be directed, curved, and sustained
• EXP to Level 2: 0 / 500
The creature gave one last twitch, and then it was still.
The room smelled of cooked mud and blood and scorched moss.
Thane stood above its body, chest rising and falling.
He didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
He had done what no one else had.
Not just passed the Archive.
Not just survived the depths.
He had returned to where it began.
And he had burned the gatekeeper to ash.