Heading out the back of the town with my new sword, I walked up the switchback trail into the mine. The well-traveled path was much nicer to walk through than the rough forest. Peering into the mine, I could barely feel a pressure against my skin. Shrugging my shoulders, I headed inside.

The entrance of the mine had plenty of headspace for me, but just to test things out I held my sword straight up. Before I could even get my arm halfway raised, it struck the ceiling. Looks like only thrusts and short slashes were on order for my attacks, along with my spiked shield. Nodding, I headed in. It was a simple plan, but those tend to work best when things inevitably go FUBAR. I kept my eyes open for enemies, but it was oddly silent. In fact, I was fifteen minutes into my descent before I saw the first set of eyes staring at me. All eight of them blinked in a wave, causing me to shudder a bit. Lovely, spider infestation. The jet black creature the size of a German shepherd scuttled forward on the ceiling, though a swift thrust with my sword had its legs curling inward. I shook it off and checked out what it actually was.

Manawarped funnel spider juvenile corpse

Mutated by massive amounts of mana found in the orichalcum mine, this once small creature has grown to sizes that can threaten grown men.

Great, looks like the ambient mana was changing things into monsters. Oh well, poisons don’t work too well versus a troll’s regeneration, and they don’t usually use fire so I wouldn’t have to worry that much about it. I continued down the main hallway, merrily slaughtering and splattering whatever came to investigate my movements. Three levels of the mine later, and I finally saw the first thing that could give me some issues.

Manawarped hive guard

Lvl 38

The basic guard of an unusual hive type of spider, it has been bred to die for others. Powerful axe arms are used as offense, while chitin plates are used for defensive purposes. The armor is fairly resistant to slashing and piercing attacks, though magic and smashing attacks will work wonders.

Ok, it’s lower level and alone, time to check some things. I walked up to it, and let it attack me. No technique, it simply started slashing at me with its bladed forearms. As long as I didn’t take a strike on a joint, it wouldn’t be too hard to deal with. Catching the blades mid strike, I twisted the joints and snapped them off as the creature hissed in pain. It rushed forward and bit me on the thigh, trying to savage my leg. I simply speared it through the back with my sword, ending it. I had a minor poison debuff, but it wasn’t nearly strong enough to overwhelm my regeneration.

Heading forward, I didn’t bother clearing everything in the mine. I’m sure the humans wouldn’t mind sending another quest for the guild to take care of. I could have gone into some of the larger side passages, but it would have been a tight fit and pointless for me. The guards soon gave way to soldiers and lieutenants, always in groups of three or five. These would actually deploy some fighting tactics. Though basic, they always first went to surround me. I would pierce one, and use its body as a club as I swung horizontally across the hallway. That was usually enough to end the majority of the group, and I could focus on the leader. These had venom that could noticeably slow my regen, but it still wasn’t enough to stop it.

Two more levels of this, and I reached what I hoped was the bottom. By now the pressure was a physical force. It wasn’t quite as bad as trying to move through water, but I know I wasn’t moving as fast as I was through air. This level was one massive room, with an opening on the other side. Egg sacks lay scattered about, and I figured I had found the queen. Knowing that it had to be a spider, I looked up and sure enough, it was hanging from the ceiling.

Manawarped hive matriarch

Lvl 40

The ruler and mother of the spider hive, do not underestimate her. Her poison is vastly stronger than any of her subordinates, and her agility is unmatched.

Manawarped royal guards

Lvl 40

The best warriors of the hive not only guard the queen, but also are allowed to procreate with her. Their armor is thicker than any counterpart, and they will never quit once there is a threat to the queen.

Oh fun, four guards and their queen. They all seemed to be my level as well, and the queen was definitely a boss type. I stepped back into the hallway and carefully took off my net of loot, stepping back into the room to check my options. I fully expected at some point the matriarch was going to summon a swarm of little spiderlings, and I didn’t have anything to deal with the little shits. The easiest way to do that would be to smash them with aoe fire attacks, but that was obviously out. My shiny new sword would be less than useless against them, so the best thing I could come up with was to roll around on the ground and smash ‘em that way. Hopefully my body weight would be enough and my skin would prevent most damage from their fangs.

Stepping back into the room, I leaned my sword against the wall. Taking aim, I launched my first discus at the matriarch, though the pressure in the room threw my aim off just a bit. Instead of smashing into her face, it only clipped it a bit and sheared off two of the legs on one side of her body. Screaming in rage, the four guards dropped as one to the ground to take out whatever would dare to harm their queen. Unfortunately for them, the second discus was already on its way. She saw it coming, and had crouched to get enough power to leap out of its way. That saved her from taking it to her face, but her move caused it to smash into her abdomen. The chitin armor wasn’t near strong enough to take the amount of force that flying stone disc had generated, and made a rather satisfying splat as green ichor sprayed everywhere.

The four guards froze for a half second, before their joints and eyes started glowing with a reddish light. I guess killing their queen caused them to enter a rage. No matter, in here I could swing my sword around however I liked, and as the first one leapt at me I used the flat of the blade to knock it away, taking the second one with it. The backhanded strike from my sword let me hunch down and charge at the remaining two. As they started to separate, I turned slightly and plowed through the one to my left, punching it with my shield hard enough that the shorter, wider spikes caught it in the chest area and sent it flying. The last guard slashed into my back, and the one I had sent flying had grabbed onto my shield with a strand of silk, pulling me off balance.

The flying spider, however, failed to take into account brute strength. Wrapping his strand of silk around my arm, I flung him around like a whip. The initial two that had gotten smacked around by my first attack nimbly dodged the flying spider, and it ended its life in a splatter on the wall. As the nearest spider came back in to attack, I stabbed it from beneath my shield. Judging by the way it was gnashing its mandibles at me, it didn’t enjoy being impaled. I twisted the blade and whipped it out sideways, carving a massive wound. The ichor deluge threatened my footing, so I carefully retreated as the remaining two stalked me.

My health was at 75% and climbing, and they were down to two threats. Once I hit roughly 90%, I charged back in and feinted at the spider on the right. As the other one attacked, I reached out and grabbed one of its weapons. Powerless to escape, I cleaved it in half with a blow from my sword. The remaining spider jumped on my back and started biting at me, so I simply jumped and landed on my back. Three more attempts and the cracking chitin finally gave out, leaving me at half health but victorious. I didn’t bother searching the room, simply going back for my net of loot. On my way back through, I grabbed my two discs from near the smashed body of the matriarch. The pressure increased noticeably with every step, and by the time I had reached the doorway on the edge of the room I was forced to create handholds in the floor and pull myself forward.

Dragging myself through the doorway, the next room was noticeably smaller than the previous one. In it were two pedestals, one with a yellowish egg and the other with a deep blue, nearly purple block. Each was sending out pulses that would smash against each other, and to my surprise I got a popup prompting my evolution.

Evolution materials found!

You have found two powerful relics, capable of fueling your evolution. Touch one to fuel your evolution, and choose wisely.

Material

Evolves to

Description

Phoenix egg

Fire giant

Fire giants are masters of war and blacksmithing. Far more intelligent than many initially give them credit for, their tactics have spelled doom for many unwary adventurers.

Winterwraith essence

Ice giant

Ice giants are terrifying foes. Though susceptible to fire, it takes a lot of it to cut through their chilling auras.

Good night, those were some powerful materials. Looking at everything, I was conflicted though. It said to choose wisely, obviously meaning something bad would happen if I didn’t. Looking at the materials, they were obviously preventing the other from regenerating. I assumed what the devs expected was that I would choose one, then enter into an epic battle with the remaining material as it reformed. So, do I go the route of ice and battle a newly born phoenix? Or choose flames and fight one of the most dangerous undead out there. Forcing myself forward, I stopped between the two pedestals. The waves of magic were slowly chipping away at my health, so I didn’t have much time. Reaching out, I grabbed both materials.

Evolution materials selected!

You have chosen to combine two disparate elements to fuel your evolution, seeing the trap that was laid before you. As the energies fight within and change you, your body grows.

I felt power coursing through me, and saw the floor dropping away slightly. I started out fairly tall, roughly seven feet. By the time I stopped growing, I guessed I had added another three feet. Enough so that my great sword felt more like a regular sword. My hands were violet, and I had swirls running up my arms and the back of my hands in strange patterns.

Evolution complete!

You have evolved into an Eldritch Giant! These massive creatures are masters of the arcane, and highly intelligent. Due to your circumstances, you gain a minor boost to earth spells, and major boosts to fire, ice, and storm spells. Due to your vastly increased intelligence, you now have access to the inventory system. Conversations with others will also sound normal, provided that they don’t run screaming from your presence. You will retain one trait from your time as a troll, either stone skin or regeneration.

Spell list

Earth

Fire

Ice

Storm

Shape stone

Fire blade

Frost blade

Lightning bolt

Earth lance

Fireball

Glacial spike

Thunder javelin

Inferno

Blizzard

Chain lightning

Circle of destruction

Ice prison

Storm aura

Flame cloak

Frost cloak

Thunderstorm barrage

I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was going to be incredibly fun playing as a giant mage with the regeneration of a troll that could wield a greatsword of orichalcum.