Chapter 21: Depths of Black Rock Spire

Item Descriptions:

Black Panther Bone: Bone from a Black Panther. Useful for potion crafting.

Black Panther Hide: Panther fur. Can be used to make clothing.

Herb: Common medicinal herb. Basic potion ingredient.

Bronze: Low-grade ore. Used to forge beginner weapons and armor.

Marcus didn’t just grind for experience, he made sure to collect materials along the way.

With Intermediate Mining, Intermediate Herb Gathering, and Advanced Gathering skills, his success rate for collecting materials was 100%, and the items he gathered were always top-quality for their level. The results spoke for themselves.

In Dominion, materials were worth almost as much as combat power. Forging weapons, crafting armor, and brewing potions all required massive amounts of them. To create top-tier equipment or divine-grade potions, high-level materials were a must, and those only dropped for players with high-level secondary skills.

That’s why Marcus made sure to practice every chance he got.

—

Secondary Skills Overview:

Gathering: Used to harvest materials from monster corpses.

Mining: Used to excavate ore. Aside from large fixed mines, small random deposits also spawned across the map. They disappeared after yielding one or two pieces of ore.

Herb Gathering: Used to collect medicinal herbs found in the wild.

—

Following the map given to him by Silas the Wanderer, Marcus finally reached the dense forest behind a low hill. He passed under a giant oak, its branches blotting out the sky, then traced the faint runic symbols glowing on the ground.

The Arcane Seal shimmered faintly as he stepped through it, the air rippling around him.

Beyond it stood the entrance to Black Rock Spire; dark, silent, and waiting.

Without hesitation, Marcus tightened his grip on his weapon and walked inside.

“Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven, you have discovered the Black Rock Spire! Experience increased by 2,000. Reputation increased by 20.”

The system alert chimed just as the world around Marcus shifted. One moment, he stood under a bright blue sky with white clouds drifting above green fields, and the next, everything twisted into a bleak, gray wasteland. The air itself felt heavier. Overhead, the sky burned with a sickly red hue, casting the ground in a colorless, lifeless pall.

The entrance to the Black Rock Spire loomed ahead, carved into a massive, jagged rock jutting from the desert floor. Two gigantic skull-shaped sculptures flanked the archway, their hollow eyes staring out like silent sentinels. A faint, low moan drifted through the wind, as if the very air was lamenting.

At the mouth of the Spire, five or six Skeletons patrolled in slow, deliberate loops, each gripping a black longsword that gleamed with cold light. Every step they took echoed with the rhythmic clack-clack of bone striking bone.

Marcus cast Insight.

Skeleton Fighter: Level 18, 1,000 HP.

Skill: Heavy Strike.

Formed from the bones of the battlefield dead and tainted by dark magic, these mindless soldiers wander eternally, driven by the hunger to kill.

The monsters were no joke. Even at the entrance, the lowest-level enemy was Level 18, a clear warning that only serious players belonged here.

Marcus frowned thoughtfully. He was strong, but his current equipment was still only Level 5 gear. This wasn’t the place to be reckless. Still, he wanted to test their strength.

He stepped forward and targeted one of the Skeleton Fighters. His sword flashed twice, –150, –170 numbers appearing above the monster’s skull. The creature reacted instantly, pivoting with unnerving precision to counterattack.

’Hmph’, Marcus thought, meeting its blow head-on.

Two small numbers popped above his own head: –25, –30. The damage was laughable.

’A knight’s defense really is something.’

The Skeleton’s strikes felt heavy but slow, and his own attack speed was at least twice as fast. Within moments, the undead warrior collapsed into a heap of bones at his feet. Marcus barely lost a hundred HP.

“Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven. You have gathered Bone Ash. Mining skill proficiency increased.”

Bone Ash: Bones infused with dark magic. Useful for refining poisonous potions.

Marcus studied the gray powder in his hand and sighed. “Good defense, but the attack’s still too low,” he muttered. If he had a Level 10 Blue-tier weapon, these Skeleton Fighters would go down like paper targets. Still, for now, they weren’t a real threat.

Grinding higher-level monsters was efficient, at least. After clearing the few Skeleton Fighters at the entrance, his experience bar had already climbed three percent.

The Black Rock Spire was said to be sealed, which meant its monsters shouldn’t be roaming outside. But the fact that Skeleton Fighters were patrolling the entrance suggested something wasn’t right. Marcus’s curiosity flared.

He tightened his grip on his sword and stepped toward the shadowed entryway. Just as he was about to cross the threshold, the system chimed again.

“Stonehaven, you have been in the game for eight hours. Please remember to rest and protect your health. If you remain logged in for ten consecutive hours, the system will automatically log you out.”

“Damn it,” Marcus muttered. He’d just found his rhythm. But rules were rules. Besides, he knew that proper rest was part of long-term success in the game.

He sighed, logged out, and blinked at the real-world clock. Past midnight already.

After a quick shower, Marcus stretched out on his bed. As soon as he closed his eyes, the Human Rock combat technique within his body began to circulate on its own, its familiar energy pulsing like a slow heartbeat.

He had discovered the ancient text; the Human Rock, during a trip abroad before his final year of college. What had started as a curiosity had turned into something extraordinary. A year of practice had transformed him in ways he could hardly explain.

The Human Rock technique was divided into four main stages: Innate, Champion, Ascendant, and Transcendent, each containing five levels. Marcus was currently at the fourth level of the Innate stage.

Progress had been painfully slow at first. He’d never studied combat technoques before and couldn’t grasp the method’s essence. The results were almost nonexistent. But six months later, something had clicked. He broke through to the first level, and from there, the floodgates opened. Within another five months, he’d reached the fourth level.

Then he hit a wall. His Inner Energy refused to grow no matter how much he practiced. He studied the text night after night, but nothing changed. Eventually, he learned to let it be, trusting that the breakthrough would come in time.

Still, Marcus knew without a doubt that the Human Rock was no ordinary technique. Its power was frighteningly real.

Even at the mere fourth level of the Innate stage, he could leap five meters in a single bound, slice through steel with his bare hand, shatter boulders with a punch, and even manipulate a basketball from ten meters away with a flick of his will. He had become something more than human, like a superhero straight out of an old action movie.

Sometimes, he caught himself wondering. If this was only the beginning, what kind of power awaited at the higher stages of the Human Rock? He imagined himself soaring through the clouds, like those revered heroes of legend.

Marcus lay in bed and quickly drifted into sleep.

The familiar circulation of the Human Rock technique continued through his Energy channels, steady and effortless. Though it no longer increased his Inner Energy, it still carried one incredible benefit, one hour of sleep refreshed him as if he had rested for three.

He woke early the next morning, feeling clear-headed and energized. After a quick stretch, he jogged the half-hour loop around Crestwood University, the campus only ten minutes from his house. Crestwood was one of the country’s top institutions, renowned for its wide lawns, glassy lakes, and quiet trails that ran between towering maples. His morning run there had become as natural as breathing.

A shower later, Marcus sat at his desk, logged back into the game, and felt the familiar surge of light as his consciousness re-entered the digital world.

He materialized right where he had logged off; before the shadowed entrance of the Black Rock Spire. Drawing his Steel Blade and readying his shield, he advanced toward the dark maw of stone.

“Ding! Stonehaven, you are about to enter Black Rock Spire – Level 1. Do you wish to proceed?”

“Yes.”

A flash of light swallowed him whole, and when his vision cleared, he stood inside.

The interior was oppressive, its black marble walls glistening faintly under the flickering oil lamps mounted along the corridors. The air was thick with decay and the echoing clack-clack of bones grinding together somewhere ahead. Without the lamps’ dim glow, Marcus thought, he might have hesitated to move at all.

The Spire’s layout was straightforward, several short passageways that opened into three broad stone halls. Each one was filled with patrolling Skeleton Fighters, their heads turning in eerie unison as they moved like clockwork puppets across the floor.

“This is a perfect spot for leveling,” Marcus murmured, his lips curving slightly. Without hesitation, he dashed into the left hall.

The Skeleton Fighters here didn’t even react unless approached, making them easy prey. His blade flashed again and again, cleaving through bone and armor alike. The steady stream of experience points rolling in made his pulse quicken. Grinding higher-level monsters was always worth the risk.

After clearing the left hall, he pushed into the central one. He had just taken down two Skeleton Fighters when a loud, hollow roar echoed through the chamber. A towering skeleton, its bones radiating a faint dark glow, stomped toward him. It was armed with a massive greatsword, each swing leaving a faint trail of light in the air.

’That one’s different.’

He activated Insight.

Skeleton Captain: Level 23. Normal BOSS. 2,000 HP.

Skills: Bone Spike (reflects damage), Heavy Cleave (stun effect).

The leader of the Skeleton Fighters, a dark sentinel drawn to the energy of black stones.

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