The ground stabilized and Blurak's large body was visibly blocking the entrance after falling on his butt. He shook his dazed head as he tried to analyze what just happened.
"Ah, that was f*cking close" Shouted Vorgarag from inside the passage.
Ed who was running behind stopped his full force sprint after hearing this, he smirked involuntarily. It seemed even Vorgarag could curse from time to time.
"AAARGH! MY SNACK!!!" Blurak yelled out ferociously in his husky voice. He madly clawed at the entrance of the cave trying to widen it in any way possible but it was to no avail.
His strong and large hands did not leave a scratch on it. No sign of harm was shown on it as a matter of fact. This didn't stop the ground from trembling violently with each strong punch or scratch he performed.
"MY SNACK!!!..." He wailed.
His blood boiled from his fervent anger which could not be easily quelled. He slammed his heavy fists on the ground and fell to his knees. It was his way to vent his final frustration.
"My snack…" Like a child, Blurak couldn't cope with the fact that his snack was taken away. Its only chance to eat something for what felt like years was so rudely taken away.
"YOU WILL PAY CHAMPION!!!" He screamed out, not hiding his seething anger.
Vorgarag who barely made it to the other side finally heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that the ogre's onslaught did not damage the wall. His relief then changed into confusion after hearing its furious words.
Blurak turned around, not hiding the hatred evident in its large eyes, he stared madly at the distant Ed.
'Well damn it' Ed subconsciously gripped his battle axe as he prepared himself to face the angry Blurak.
He could run away to wait out its temper tantrum but time-wise, that wasn't the best option.
"CHAAAAMPIOOON!" The bumbling fool ran forward with evident madness. Its speed seemingly overbearing causing Ed to subconsciously flinch.
Nonetheless, faster than he was before? It wasn't hard to top that.
Ed could still easily cope with Blurak's speed, compared to the adventurers this was almost a piece of cake.
Ed conjured a sharp blade of wind, it flew straight towards Blurak's face. The angry giant took it head-on, the wide gash that the sharp wind created promptly healed as it missed his eyes.
Ed lamented not being able to control the spells after casting them but he didn't stay idle.
'Steam!' He was hoping to try it out to trick Blurak, his personage was quickly covered by a steamy fog.
"ROOOAR!" Blurak yelled in anger after it saw its worst enemy escape from its clutches. He didn't give in so easily though.
Blurak dived head first over the foggy area causing a strong tremor upon impact. Luckily, Ed wasn't stupid enough to only cover, both his enemy's and his own, vision.
"AAARGH!" Yelled Blurak after diving in belly first into rows of slanted spikes. Its plan to sweep Ed aside with its enormous body had clearly backfired. Ed didn't expect Blurak to do such a thing but he definitely benefited.
He had already run away from the scene of the crime.
[You've been dealt damage. -12 hp]
A medium-sized rock cracked apart on his head, he clearly didn't see it coming.
'Damn' He rubbed his head a bit dazed by the collision.
Luckily both his vitality and constitution had increased significantly so his capabilities were not diminished.
"CHAAMPION!!!" Blurak wailed tearfully, adding habitual angry sobs. His yell was strong enough to blow away some of the steam which was already starting to fade away.
Ed had run quite a distance away after Blurak was stuck on the spikes but a hint of fear inadvertently found a place in his heart.
Blurak used his arms to push himself off the earthen stakes. He gritted his teeth with every inch. It was quite a sight to behold as it demonstrated his unwavering determination.
Having had enough of Ed, Blurak ran forwar-…!
'The hell!!' Yelled Ed internally as he hastily cast the earth dome spell. The heavy Blurak managed to do a running jump with its heavy body instantly closing the new distance between itself and Ed.
Just as it seemed that Blurak would pound the dome with its strong overhead smash.
"WaarGGHH!!!" It yelled out in pain, its muscles freezing in mid-air. The momentum caused him to crash against Ed's dome.
'F*ck…!' Ed cursed as he fell off his feet following the crash. The dome barely held on, cracks visibly ran across it.
"SSSTTOOOOPPP!!" Blurak madly contorted next to the dome as if something was trying to kill him from the inside.
Ed knew very well what must have been happening right now.
'At least I am not the only one that gets to suffer that pain…' It was clearly the same thing that happened to him whenever he disobeyed the dungeon.
Vorgarag simply eyed the giant that was bawling its eyes out from the distance extra confused. Why did that happen? He couldn't help but ask himself internally.
Ed undid his dome after no longer feeling the shaking earth underneath his feet. He got up off the floor and dusted himself a bit. He could hear Blurak breathing roughly as he stared off aimlessly towards the ceiling.
He could understand how the giant felt right now. He was feeling a bit of sympathy even.
"Vorgarag! Stay there! I'll handle the boulder!" Ed yelled loudly from next to the tired Blurak.
"Alright be careful!" Shouted Vorgarag from the entrance. His shout had signs of clear disappointment. It was a pity he wouldn't get to see the boulder himself.
'I could try moving it towards him but…' He wasn't too sure if that would be a good idea. It was moved in there for a reason, right? Not only that but he would be assimilating it anyways which would obviously make it disappear.
Ed then turned around, he jogged towards the boulder. It now laid in front of him a second time, in its grand dullness. The blueish boulder and its carvings weren't much of a sight to behold for those incapable of appreciating its historical value.
Ed clearly wasn't interested in its appearance. He started to circle the boulder skimming for any signs of the word alchemy or just healing herb, potion, etc.
'Even just half of it will do' But no matter where he looked he couldn't help but get more and more disappointed.
'It can only be in one of these spots…' Ed looked at each. The three areas had been scrapped off of the boulder with no signs of them anywhere.
'Do I really need to assimilate one at random?' It was a one in three chance assuming that the formula existed at all but… he probably wouldn't be that lucky.
'Fortune favors the bold…!' He grit his teeth as he held out his hand in front of him.
'Please be the formula! Something on alchemy!' He yelled inside his mind. With closed eyes, he approached the left most area. If he remembered correctly that side had spells like entangled written on it. A good a guess as any, barely passes as an educated one.
'Assimilation!' He stopped his ritualistic internal chanting and activated his skill.
[<Thought Manifestation> is in effect]
[Assimilation on cooldown]
[<Alchemy lvl. -1> Acquired]
Ed heaved out a giant breath of relief. He had been holding his breath throughout the whole thing.
"...It worked" It took him a moment to really let that sink in.
"Why did that work?" He asked with a chuckle. He didn't expect it to work.
He stopped wasting time and analyzed what his new skill was all about. He could already find a formula for the healing herb inside of his head but it was best to see the skill description.
[Alchemy lvl.-1]
You know an alchemic formula and its process.
Normally Ed would react with awkward silence but this time it didn't matter if it was level -1! This was exactly what he needed!
Who knows? Maybe unlike with his swordsmanship, he would be able to get this skill to level up.