The Asshai's Bloodmage

 There was something else different about the firewyrm; it was much heavier than before. I'm not sure how long I was unconscious, but it couldn't have been more than a day. When the firewyrm was born, it was only a few centimeters long, and besides eating and sleeping all the time, it was very weak in battle.

Unlike its distant relatives, the dragons, it grew very slowly. Its head was still barely the size of a fist, its length was similar to that of a small adult snake, and its thickness was the width of a wrist. But now, in less than a day, I noticed that its weight had increased significantly... Could it be the environment? Did it enter the growth phase? Or was it those creatures that he ate?

Leaving aside the growth of the firewyrm, the reason I wasn't affected by the low oxygen level is that I finally achieved some results in the oxygen crystal experiment. At that time, Omar and I already had some of these crystals inside our bodies. The hardest part of this experiment was finding a material that could withstand the low temperatures of oxygen in its liquid form.

I used such a material because, in gaseous form, very few quantities could be stored inside the crystals. But with so many magical minerals in Asshai, I soon found the right one. After carving these stones into the smallest possible sizes and carving the necessary magical runes to deal with the conversion and low temperatures, I finally implanted them into my body and used alteration to shape and adapt the crystals as a sort of new auxiliary organ for the respiratory system.

The initial prototype allowed me to go a whole day without breathing if necessary. Since there was still oxygen inside the dungeon, even in small quantities, these crystals would allow me to live for many days here.

But I didn't want to spend so many days here, I was worried about the members of the Order... After the many healing potions and scrolls, it didn't take long for me to recover from my injuries, the pain had subsided and I could walk again although I still limped a little, I was about to send a message to the members of the Order, when my shadow began to move, from inside it came a creature that resembled a giant centipede with its many legs, its face was quite expressive and cruel and it looked at me quite evilly.

I didn't attack it because I knew that this was the only messenger capable of entering other people's towers and dungeons to deliver messages. As soon as he spat out a scroll and I read his message, I discovered that it was from Zaya. Omar was in the final stages of the other dungeon, and with my disappearance, she needed to know what to do.

I took out a paper and began to reply that it wasn't necessary. I also added all the details of the dungeon that I knew at the time. Thanks to the quest reward, I knew that besides the lizardmen, who would be something like the bosses of this dungeon, there were only those parasites that would always devour everything inside the dungeon. Their numbers were huge, and they were vulnerable to fire and light.

The system also warned about something called digestion. It didn't provide details about it, but I was able to deduce some theories about the elevator door that never regenerated. The fact that the dungeon looked like a creature's stomach was quite obvious, which is why I hadn't left the well yet.

After finishing writing and paying the terrible price of the creature drinking my blood almost until I became dizzy, it swallowed the message and disappeared into my shadow again. I took another potion, one that helped with blood loss, and drank it. I took food and other utensils from my inventory and continued inside the well. While waiting to confirm my theory, I decided to take measurements of the firewyrm and began to perform an autopsy on the little Carasu and some parasites that I captured in the surroundings.

I also collected samples of the "flesh" covering the dungeon's walls. Using my microscopic vision and a portable laboratory, I began to study the strange dungeon…

***

Meanwhile, Asimov was also having trouble exploring the first underground floor. The tamed animals and summoned creatures sent in the initial exploration were all dying in a matter of seconds; the only one that entered and came out alive was a fire golem. After the group's analysis, perhaps only elemental creatures could survive, but after using a scroll of wind golem and water golem, both also died, with only the water golem lasting longer.

After much insistence from Asimov, along with a promise of great rewards if anything went wrong, one of his men sent his rare pet, a firebird from the summer lands. The animal was not powerful, but it was undoubtedly beautiful and valuable. Its wings always burned in multicolored flames, and after entering the dungeon, it returned alive without any injuries.

In the next test, the necromancer sent the undead with torches and finally had some success; the next step would be to send some slaves and captives with torches. But before Asimov could send the slaves, the same horrifying messenger emerged from his shadows and spat out a message. When Asimov finished reading, he had a smile on his face, and then he said to everyone:

"Rafael is alive, he is well, and he has sent us important information!"

After everyone celebrated, Asimov canceled the sending of living people and placed two men 24 hours near the elevator. And finally, he sent a request to headquarters requesting artifacts that gave resistance to curses and diseases...

***

 Back on the top underground floor of the dungeon, it had been 22 hours since Rafael fell here. While he was doing his experiments, the ceiling of the dungeon started making strange noises, and the strange flesh started moving while rain gushed all over the dungeon. The rain was light green, and during that moment, the whole place lit up. The elevator door that was starting to regenerate also started to melt again.

Rafael sighed deeply. These black stones were incredibly resistant; being able to melt such magically modified rocks was something scary. With such corrosion, a human body could melt in seconds. He confirmed this by throwing some ingots and other materials into the acid rain, and the corrosion was several times superior to sulfuric acid.

After 15 minutes, the rain stopped, I got out of the well and ran to some pools of acid that were still on the ground and collected the samples using special containers, I put them in my inventory and then I went back to the well since the parasitic creatures were trying to surround me again. As soon as I got inside the well, I took out a pistol and fired upwards, making a huge echoing bang. After timing 15 minutes, I fired another shot. This was the signal agreed with Asimov; the first one was the confirmation of a dangerous corrosion, and the second signal in disparity with the first one was the duration of the corrosive rain period…

****

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