"Reat, Lyria, Seth—stay back," Orwen ordered, his voice sharp. His usual easygoing demeanor was now gone, replaced by intense focus. He didn't spare them another glance, his attention locking solely on the colossal Golem standing before the cave mouth. "Drack. Krystel. Let's go."

The three veteran Wielders moved as one. Drack took the lead, his heavy boots thudding against the rocky ground as he charged forward. A deep, resonant hum emanated from him as brown aether flared, coalescing around his shield in thick layers. Orwen blurred and unsheathed his twin blades, becoming a streak of motion while flanking the Golem's right. Krystel followed behind Drack, her hands already weaving intricate patterns of white aether in preparation of a spell.

Seth watched, heart pounding and fists clenching. Beside him, Professor Reat let out a low whistle. "It's Peak-Gold," the man said, likely guessing Seth's spell didn't show the Golem's current Tier. "Rank two hundreds. Strong enough to kill almost every Wielder of Kastal… except maybe a handful. And fortunately a few of that handful are right here."

Seth barely listened to the words, his attention entirely consumed by the unfolding battle. The beast's Rank didn't mean much, but seeing it move, seeing three powerful Gold-ranked Wielders engage it… that was something else entirely.

Drack struck the Golem first. Not with his shield, but with a powerful shout that boomed across the clearing. The Keeper's burning umber eyes immediately snapped to the Guardian, ignoring Orwen on the left. It then raised its stone arm—which was the size of a small house—and brought it down in a crushing blow.

Instead of dodging, Drack planted his feet and poured aether into his shield. Azure light surged out of the piece of gear, forming a dome that shimmered under the titanic impact. The ground shook violently, shockwaves radiating outwards and forcing Seth and the others to brace themselves.

When the dust settled, Drack still stood, his shield intact, though skid marks under his boots showed he'd been driven back several feet. Before the Golem could strike again, Orwen was on it.

The man moved like wind, his flashing blades carving glowing green lines across the Golem's body. Each strike sent shards flying and was accompanied by sharp gusts of wind that buffeted the massive creature. The attacks seemed insignificant against the Golem's sheer bulk, like knives against a mountain, but Orwen didn't relent, his speed bewildering. He danced around the Guardian's clumsy attempts to swat him, his swords finding the seams between the stone slabs.

The Golem roared, a sound like grinding tectonic plates echoing out of its maw, then it stomped its foot. The ground beneath Orwen buckled and fissured, sharp spikes of rock erupting upwards. But the Champion of Chaos' leader was already airborne, propelled by the green aether swirling around his boots, and he landed lightly fifty feet away before charging back into the fray.

At the same moment, a beam of pure white light lanced out of Krystel's staff and struck the Golem's fist descending toward Drack, who had just hit the creature with his one-handed hammer. The light didn't stop the blow, but it seemed to disrupt something within the Golem, causing the impact on Drack's shield to land with visibly less force.

Almost simultaneously, silvery chains of light erupted from the ground to bind the behemoth's ankles. The Golem tore through them easily, yet it cost it precious seconds. Using the opportunity, Drack slammed the base of his shield into the ground.

A nearly invisible wave of aether crept up the Golem's legs and plunged into its chest. Seth couldn't see an immediate effect, but he did feel a subtle shift in how the creature moved and received damage—its Agility and Toughness seemed to have diminished. Drack then braced again, drawing the creature's attention once more as Orwen continued his relentless assault.

"See how they work together?" Professor Reat said next to Seth. "Drack holds its focus, absorbs the worst hits, and applies debuffs. Krystel keeps Drack alive. And Orwen… well, that part's obvious."

The fight was brutal. Drack was an immovable anchor, his shield flashing as he blocked or deflected blows that could pulverize boulders. Behind the bald Guardian, Krystel was in perpetual motion, the white light of her spells flowing in to either protect him or heal him if she was too late. From time to time, a bright flash beamed out of her staff and struck the Golem's face, causing it to stumble momentarily and buying Orwen an opening.

The Warrior's blades, infused with wind aether, struck with deadly precision. Miniature vortexes chewed at the stone, widening the cracks he'd previously made. Orwen unleashed flurries of powerful slashes that were too fast for Seth to follow, each of them resonating like hammer blows on an anvil.

The sheer pressure radiating from the clash was immense; blasts of displaced aether rammed into Seth, Lyria, and Reat, forcing them back step by step despite the distance. It felt like standing near a raging storm, the air rumbling with a tremendous pressure.

Seth would have been an insect next to them. His own spells, even Phantom Punch, felt like children's toys compared to those being unleashed before him. The scale of the Gold-Tier combat was staggering. The coordination, the speed, the power behind each blow—the fight was leagues beyond anything he had ever seen or even imagined.

Inside Seth's necklace, Nightmare dug his claws into the ground. 'I need to reach that strength.'

Colossus's egg pulsed faintly in the other teardrop, seeming to be stirred by the aether-laced shockwaves. 'I too,' he said.

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'We all will,' Seth answered, a deep, insatiable hunger kindling in his chest. They would get there. No matter how high the climb, they'd reach that level... and keep going until they rose to the very top.

Ahead, the colossal Golem absorbed blow after blow, its movements growing more deliberate. It wasn't a mindless pile of rocks; it was adapting. Then, as if losing patience, it abruptly spun away from Orwen, who was attacking its legs, and shifted focus.

With a guttural rumble, the creature raised both arms and slammed its fists into the earth. An eruption of stone spikes burst from the ground around Drack, jagged and fast like the spears. The Guardian bellowed, activating another defensive spell, a translucent wall of azure energy reinforcing his shield just as the jagged rocks tore upwards. The stones shattered against the combined defense and sent glass-like shards flying, but spiderweb cracks spread across his shield's aetheric layer.

Krystel cried out behind him, unleashing a powerful wave of healing that washed over Drack, mending the shield and his taxed body simultaneously.

But the Golem wasn't finished. It opened its blocky maw and raw earth aether gathered inside, condensing into a sphere of churning rock and soil.

"Move!" Reat barked, shoving Seth and Lyria farther back as he erected his own barrier.

The Golem fired the spell, not at Drack, but at Krystel. Orwen reacted instantly and dashed in front of the Priest, his blades crossed and green aether swirling into a defensive vortex. The blast of rocks hit the barrier and exploded outward with deafening force. The shockwave flattened nearby shrubs and sent Seth tumbling backward even despite Reat's barrier.

When Seth scrambled back up, coughing from the dust, Orwen was still standing, though his stance was wider, his breathing heavier. The wind shield had held, but it had clearly cost the man a great amount of aether. The Golem used that chance to swing its massive arm in a wide arc, forcing both Orwen and Drack to disengage momentarily and step back next to Krystel.

Without wasting a second, the Priest waved her staff and a dome of shimmering, holy light expanded rapidly from her position, pushing back the oppressive aura of the Golem and giving her allies some sort of continuous healing.

"It switched its strategy," Reat said. "It's trying to take out Krystel."

Drack charged back in, lifting up his shield—this time not to block, but to attack. It slammed into the Golem's knee, staggering the giant. Orwen immediately joined the Guardian, his twin blades aimed at the same weakened joint. With a thrust, the blades pierced deep into the stone, widening the cracks Drack had started.

The Golem roared, losing balance and stumbling. Krystel seized the opportunity to unleash another blinding ray of light toward the creature's face while Orwen swung his weapons once more. The sword glowed then struck with tremendous force, causing a section of the stone leg to simply… crumble.

The colossal creature listed heavily, struggling to get upright. Its shimmering eyes flared with rage and it raised both arms, ignoring its injury. Aether surged violently around the two giant fists.

"Now!" Orwen yelled.

The man blurred, appearing directly before the Golem's chest. His twin blades shone with blinding green glow, wind howling fiercely around them. Drack slammed his hammer against his shield and shouted, causing the Golem to halt for half a second while a beam of pure, searing light left Krystel's staff and struck the middle of the creature's chest.

A blink later, Orwen's sword pierced through the weakened stone and a torrent of aether exploded outward. Powerful blasts of wind erupted, flattening nearby boulders, uprooting bushes, and snapping thin trees like twigs.

Seth instinctively crossed his arms in front of his face, bracing against the impact, yet the force still sent him skidding a dozen feet back. Right before he lost balance, Professor Reat stepped in front of him, shielding him with another barrier that stopped most of the gusts and kept him grounded.

As the tempest subsided and the dust settled, Orwen yanked his swords out and leapt backward to land beside Drack. For a heartbeat, a deep silence fell over the area and nature itself seemed to hold its breath.

Then, a spiderweb of green-and-white cracks spread across the Golem's chest while the once blazing brown light in the creature's eyes dimmed and vanished completely. The Golem's massive body froze, and a heartbeat later stone slabs sloughed off one after another until the entire titan had crumbled into a pile of rubble and dust.

The aether which had bound the whole thing together drifted away, fading like mist into the mountain air.

A few feet away, Orwen sheathed his blades. Despite the man's obvious exhaustion, a broad grin spread on his lips. Beside him, Drack lowered his dented-but-unbroken shield and nodded toward Krystel, whose pale hands clutched her staff like a lifeline.

With a loud sigh, Orwen stepped forward, wading into the mound of rocks. He sifted through the debris for a moment before pulling out a rough, brown, palm-sized crystal that pulsed with a strong, aetheric glow.

'That beaststone… it would be perfect for Small Bite,' Nightmare's voice echoed in Seth's mind.

'There's no way we could afford that thing, Nightmare,' Seth answered, eyeing the valuable crystal. A Peak-Gold beaststone was certainly worth more than all their savings—and likely all the savings they could acquire in the next two or three years.

The Champion of Chaos' leader pocketed the crystal and looked at the dark mouth carved into the mountain's rocky façade, tilting his head as if listening to something only he could hear. He then turned back to Seth with his usual grin.

"Alright, kid," Orwen said, gesturing toward the cave. "You can head inside now with your egg. Find a comfortable spot near the Essence. We'll be hunting and training around here for the next few days, making sure nothing disturbs you… or tries to eat you."

Seth nodded. The thought of meditating near a raw Essence, soaking in its power, was exhilarating—but then something struck him. "Wouldn't it be better for everyone to train inside? Closer to the Essence?"

Orwen shook his head, clapping Drack on the shoulder pauldron. "Nah. Out of all of us, Drack's the only one with an Earth affinity, and as a Crusader, he mainly relies on non-elemental defensive spells anyway. He won't mind staying out here and smashing some more Golems with us, right Drack?"

Drack, who was inspecting his shield, let out a rumbling groan. "Yeah."

Crusader, Seth thought, recalling Elena mentioning her father held that same subclass. They were renowned for their almost-impenetrable defensive spells and absurdly high Toughness.

"Alright, let's go," Professor Reat cut in.

The man took out a torch from his Endless Pouch, then a small flame flickered to life in his palm. With a touch, he lit the torch head before tossing the thing to Seth.

Seth caught it and looked at the group. Orwen, Drack, Krystel, Lyria, and Professor Reat—all were watching him. He gave them a nod before turning toward the cave. Looking back one last time as he reached the entrance, he spotted Orwen flash him a wide, encouraging smile and two thumbs-up.

Taking a steadying breath, Seth turned away from the sunlight and stepped into the cool darkness with the torch held high.

Time to make you hatch, Colossus.

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