As it turned out, Samantha was probably telling the truth when she said that most paths would lead to the Region Lord. The next path I took, I found myself heading deeper and deeper into the mountain.  I had intentionally picked the tunnel with an uphill incline, but I still found that incline turning into a gradual downhill.


    At best, the tunnels were designed to be a maze. At worst, there was actually one way out—towards the Region Lord.


    The further I walked, the warmer it got.  The Poison and Earth-attuned Mana Beads now gave way to Fire-attuned Mana Beads.  The Fire-attuned Mana Beads, each about the size of a fingernail, cast an ominous red light on the tunnels, and created an uncomfortable warmth, that I just knew promised a new adventure around the bend.


    And I—or rather, Samantha—wasn’t disappointed.


    Turning a corner, I found the pathway covered in small red bugs the size of a housefly.  There were hundreds of thousands of them—I couldn’t see the ground, walls, or ceiling at all.


    The Schema identified them as Lava Roaches (level 20).


    <That’s unfortunate,> Samantha said.  <You still don’t have an AOE attack.  How many Explosion Rune Patterns do you have?>


    I took a quick inventory of my Interdimensional Pouch.  Ten.


    <That’s enough.  Here’s the strategy. Put twenty points into Physical Defense, and fifty points into Agility. We’re going to rush through, and drop a few bombs off in their hive before they can spread out.  Don’t let them fly down your throat or nose. Lava roaches are controlled by the Lava Roach Queen, which is about the size of a sparrow. If we’re fast enough, we’ll kill the queen in a quick hit-and-run.>


    Why is this unfortunate? You’re making this sound easy.  I asked uneasily.


    <It’s a waste to use these bombs. You really need to find a good AOE skill.  And if we don’t kill the queen right away, then this will be an incredibly annoying game of hide-and-seek.>


    I readied myself mentally, added the points to Physical Defense and Agility, and followed Samantha’s combat shadow through the lava roaches.


    For once, there was no weaving, no feinting, or zigzagging.


    I ran in a straight line, stomping on the lava roaches below my feet, and in under a second I was out of the tunnel and inside yet another cavern.


    It was impossible to tell any details about the cavern, because every surface was swarming with lava roaches. The layers of roaches were at least 6 inches thick, obscuring the light that the fire-attuned Mana Shards normally cast, leaving only the red glow of the lava roaches to illuminate my path. The room was incredibly warm, and I was sweating profusely in my armor.


    Samantha had me charge towards the center of the room, where the roaches were densest.


    Each step was a sickening crunch, as my booted feet squashed hundreds of roaches with every step.


    The number of lava roaches in the cavern was mind-boggling. They were already agitated, swirling in tornado-like movements, and buzzing angrily.


    I was half way through the room, when my leg sunk through the lava roaches, passed where I thought the ground was going to be, and into a pool of lava.


    “Fuck!” I shouted, jumping back immediately.


    It cost a precious second, and the lava roaches around me were already flying at me. I wasn’t concerned about their bites, thanks to my Physical Defense, at least.


    Instead of charging forward, Samantha had me toss an Igneal Ingot engraved with E-rank Explosion Rune Pattern toward the center of what I now assumed was a lake of lava, adding about ten additional points to my Perception at the same time.


    Just like how nearing 20 points to my Perception granted me what was essentially night vision, approaching 30 points essentially gave me heat vision.


    Unfortunately, every sense was occluded, because by now the roaches were flying all around me, on my skin, swarming and trying to fly into my ears, eyes, and nose.  With my increased Physical Defense, the tiny bugs couldn’t really harm me, but they we annoying and they were able to limit my senses—overloading Mana Sensing, blocking my line of sight, and exuding enough heat that I couldn’t distinguish the Lava Roach leader.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    I could feel myself panicking.  My heartrate increased, and my breath came out in uncomfortable gasps.


    Even as I was panicking, the world in front of me exploded.  Along with the sound, a shower of lava and roach corpses blew towards me.


    There was one bright side to all the roaches in front of me: they were in between me and the explosion.


    I ran around the circumference of the lake of lava. With crude thermal vision, it wasn’t exactly rocket science to find the lake. As I ran, I flicked my eyes back and forth, hoping to catch some sign of the Roach Queen.


    I was following the combat shadow by reflex, and so when the combat shadow jumped towards the lava, I followed suit, activating my Boots of a Feather to gain a second jump—bringing me further towards the center of the lava lake.


    It was as I descended towards the lake of lava that I realized I had, once again, made the mistake of trusting Samantha.


    I fell directly into burning hot lava and screamed.  I writhed in pain, flailing in agony at the incredible pain covering my legs and waist.


    As I did, I felt my arm connect with something surprisingly solid.


    <It’s the Roach Queen! Kill it!>


    I could barely think straight, but I knew enough to not let go of the creature squirming away from me. I clenched the creature in my left hand, and then I struck it, hard, with my dagger, several times.


    <Take off all your equipment except for your battle robes! Hurry and don’t let your pouches get submerged again! Then put more points into Physical Defense!> Samantha said.


    What? I could barely think straight, still feeling fire all over my body. I put the points into Physical Defense, but why would I take off the equipment that was protecting me?


    <Your equipment will lose durability! Take it off now!>


    With more points in Physical Defense, the lava only felt like uncomfortably hot water.  Samantha’s instructions made sense—as I peeled off the various equipment, I could see that they were far worse for the wear.


    My knives and sword were barely damaged, along with the damn goat mask.  My battle robes were almost completely destroyed, but they could fix themselves later.


    The Boots of a Feather were completely destroyed by the time I unequipped them, and I tossed the useless leather into the lava pool. It was a shame—I had been so excited when I bought these boots, but I had barely even used them.


    My gloves were also hanging on by a thread, but Samantha was hopeful that with the right tanner, I could repair them.


    It was uncomfortable, to say the least, to take this inventory of my equipment while floating in a lake of lava. Especially since my inflated stats were on a time limit.


    But the moment I finished taking off all my equipment, I immediately grabbed the Town Token that was floating next to the roach’s corpse.


    Besides the corpse itself, I didn’t gain any other loot, so I quickly made my way out of the lava, replacing my destroyed boots with a pair of boots that had belonged to the Imperial Scouts.


    It was a painful reduction in my Agility, but at least I had shoes to wear.


    The only bright side was that these roaches were now mindless bugs, now that the queen was dead. For someone with an AOE skill, this would be a leveling dream…


    But I was on a mission. I needed to find Justin, Petra, and Ezma.


    I continued walking through the cavern and the tunnels, killing the lava roaches that were closest to me.


    We need reset expectations, I said, finally starting up a conversation with Samantha.


    <Let me guess. Ground rule number 1: no walking on the lava?> Samantha quipped. I could hear a bit of nervousness in her voice.


    No. If you’re going to do something that will cause me that much pain, you need to let me know in advance, so that I can confirm it.


    <That’s easier said than done. I’m not a god, Jarek.  Have I ever mentioned that using the combat shadow is actually very challenging for me? Think about it for a moment.  First, I have to calculate the locations and likely trajectories of everything around you. Then, I have to factor in your reaction speed—which is variable, depending on your Agility stat and your mental state.  There isn’t time for that kind of discussion in a battle, especially when you are on a timer.  I saw an opportunity, and we took it.  If I had to ask you, then by the time you complained, vented, and responded, the window of opportunity to jump on top of the Lava Roach Queen would have vanished.  Even if I had mentioned it, you would have slowed down, flinched, and not followed the combat shadow reliably.  I view the most recent battle as a success—and if you had followed my instructions immediately, we wouldn’t have lost the boots, either. So I’m the one who should be complaining, here.   And if you can’t handle the pain, then I would be happy to turn it off for you.>


    I clenched my teeth, and swung a blade unnecessarily hard at a nearby lava roach. There was no satisfactory resistance—my blade cut easily through the roach’s body.


    The most annoying part of it all that I could see what she was saying.  I had already agreed that killing the roach queen for the Town Token was important. In retrospect, Samantha had likely already calculated that with my boosted Physical Defense, the lava would hurt, but it wouldn’t kill me.


    And of course, Samantha reframed the conversation to make me sound like a whining wimp.


    The truth of the matter was, I needed Samantha, if I wanted to survive down here, let alone find my family.    If I had tried to make it past the roaches without Samantha, I might have made it past, but I certainly couldn’t have killed the Roach Queen. And, if I truly need these Town Tokens, then I would have been stuck.


    I didn’t know what else to say to Samantha, but I didn’t want her to have the last words.  Let’s get out of here.