Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 241

Chapter 241

The well he was falling into was too wide for him to reach its walls. They seemed impossibly far away. As he flailed his arms, his fingers grasped nothing but empty air. Below, the lava pool surged up toward him way too fast. 

 Desperate, he sprouted three bladed tentacles from his back and lashed out at the rocky walls racing past him. The sharp tip of one of the tentacles scraped against the hard surface, sending bits of rock spraying in every direction.

The blade of another tentacle snapped in half. The third one, however, managed to slip into a crack, anchoring Jake securely in place. His chaotic descent was abruptly halted, and he slammed into the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of his lungs—figuratively, of course, since he had no lungs at all.

He dangled from his tentacle, the blade at its tip firmly lodged in the narrow crack above him. Jake looked down at the pool of bubbling lava below to see that he had plunged more than halfway to the bottom of the pit.

Jake couldn’t help but wonder how long he could have survived if he hadn’t broken his fall and plunged into the bubbling lava below. Definitely longer than an ordinary human being would. Probably even long enough to reach one of the walls and climb out of the lava. Not that he was eager to put that theory to the test.

Suddenly, a rumble came from below. The walls began to tremble, and the lava bubbled with increased intensity. There was no doubt about it—another geyser was on the way. He needed to get the hell out of the pit ASAP.

While still hanging from his tentacle, Jake twisted to face the wall. He pressed the tips of his fingers and feet against the rough surface and activated Adhesive Secretion. He clung to the rocky wall without a hitch. No longer needing his tentacles, he detached them and began to climb upward.

The rumble from below grew louder with each passing second, and the walls of the well shook more violently. The lava was on the verge of erupting. Jake scrambled upward as quickly as he could, but it was painfully obvious that he wouldn’t make it to the surface before the geyser erupted.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar squeaking sound from above. He looked up to see the remaining ash imps hovering above the lava pit, their leathery wings flapping vigorously. Staring down at him, the demonic creatures squealed and squeaked, as if giggling at his predicament. Globs of darkness formed in their hands. Unlike him, these creatures seemed unaware of the destructive force that was about to erupt from the depths of the lava pit. 

Jake was about to reach the surface when the geyser erupted. He could have employed Gravity Leap to quickly get out of the pit, covering the rest of the way, but that would still place him directly in the path of the surging geyser. So he instead pressed his body against the rocky wall, hoping to minimize the damage he was about to take. 

In the next moment, a torrent of lava shot up from the depths of the pit. Jake felt the geyser surge behind him, searing his back and bombarding him with bits of molten rock. Fortunately, the geyser wasn’t as wide at the well; otherwise, he would have fared much worse.

The winged demonic creatures tried to get out of the way, but they were too slow. The powerful torrent of lava struck the diminutive beings with enough force to reduce them to mangled masses of broken bones and ruptured flesh. They didn’t even have time to scream before their lives ended.

Finally, the geyser quieted, and the lava cascaded back to the bottom of the well. Jake wasted no time climbing the rest of the way to the edge and pulling himself out of the pit. Once he reached the surface and got to his feet, he quickly scanned his surroundings. There were no ash imps left, which was definitely a relief. Those devious little creatures had been quite annoying and troublesome.

The remaining dragonspawn closed in on him from multiple angles. Behind them, several charred fiends gaped their jaws wide, ready to launch fireballs. Jake was determined to put an end to this grueling fight. The dragonspawn took him in a tight circle, but before dealing with them, he knew he needed to take care of the charred fiends first.

Jake executed a mana-infused leap, soaring over the overgrown lizards as they watched him with disappointment in their eyes. He landed next to one of the charred fiends and immediately drove his smashfist into its skull, shattering it like a delicate porcelain vase.

After dealing with the first bone creature, he immediately focused on the second one. He burst into a run toward the charred fiend just as it launched a fireball at him. Without slowing down, he dodged, feeling the fiery projectile zip past his shoulder, leaving a blazing trail behind.

Jake dispatched the second charred fiend as quickly as he had the first. He shifted his gaze to another bony creature, but before he could attack this one, it decided to flee, wheeling around instead of launching a fireball at him. It didn’t get far, though. Jake grabbed the bone creature by its skeletal tail and yanked, causing the creature to lose its footing and flop to the ground.

Pulling the unfortunate creature closer, Jake stomped on its spinal cord, snapping it in half and breaking several ribs in the process. Surprisingly, the creature made entirely of bones was still alive. It couldn’t get on its feet anymore, though. Jake lifted his foot again and brought it down on the creature’s skull, shattering it to pieces.

He then turned his attention to the remaining charred fiends, chasing them down one by one and slaying them. Once they were all taken care of, he shifted his focus to the dragonspawn. It didn’t take long for him to kill the overgrown lizards as well. With that, this prolonged battle finally came to an end.

Multiple Enemies Killed. +45,550 XP

Despite having killed quite a lot of monsters in this fight, he hadn’t gathered enough XP to level up yet. That was fine, though. There were still plenty of enemies to kill on this floor. He was sure he would have leveled up several more times by the time he completed this level of the dungeon.

After the battle concluded, he looked around the island and spotted a chest near a bone bridge that spanned a river of lava, leading to a neighboring island. He approached the chest and assessed it with a thought. As it turned out, it was a quality chest, and like many such chests, it was protected by magical wards.

He still didn’t know how to disarm magical traps, so he simply triggered them by lifting the lid from a distance with one of his bladed tentacles. Once the chest was safe to approach, he swung the lid all the way open and took a look inside. As usual, there were several relics and pieces of various charms. While he still had no use for them, he was sure he would eventually find out how to make them work, so he stashed them all in his Inventory. 

The chest also contained a couple of greater mana consumables, which he immediately used to replenish the energy he had lost during the recent battle.

Another item resting inside the chest was an oval-shaped rock with a mysterious symbol etched into its surface. It appeared to be a key for unlocking something. Most likely, he would need to solve a puzzle to gain access to the final level of the dungeon, just as he had done on the previous floors. He was certain he would need the rune stone later, so he stored it in his Inventory as well. 

One final item lay at the bottom of the chest: a small vial with a familiar shape. Jake retrieved the vial and appraised it with a thought. It contained ethereal ointment, which would allow him to deal damage to ghost-like creatures.

The presence of the ointment suggested that ghosts or similar creatures awaited him on this floor. However, there was no weapon in the chest to apply the ointment to. Jake wondered if it could be used on his natural weapons, like his claws or swords. He couldn’t see why it wouldn’t work. He resolved to test it out when he came across a ghost-like enemy. 

After stashing the vial in his Inventory, he rose to his feet and took one more careful look around the island to make sure he hadn’t missed anything useful. Just then, on the other side of the island, another geyser erupted, hurling sprays of lava and shards of red-hot rock everywhere.

Wheeling away from the destructive spectacle, Jake stepped onto the bone bridge that stretched toward a more tranquil island.

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