I wasn’t sure whether these monsters were just meant to intimidate me, or actually to hurt me, but I didn’t get much opportunity to consider their intentions; they started to bound toward me, using their arms to propel themselves forward in the same manner as regular apes did. With each motion of their hands, lava slipped from their hides, leaving steaming puddles in their wakes.

There was only one thing to do.

I raised my spell rifle and sent a pair of Storm Spheres at the two gorillas behind me. The orbs of lightning struck the beasts in the knees, and their bodies jolted as the spell’s paralytic effects disabled them. They would not be able to move for at least a short while, and hopefully longer.

The drain on my mana from firing the rifle had been incredible. The mana pot I’d looted from the PentaTech soldier hung from my belt. In one smooth motion, I grabbed it, popped the lid, and swigged a mouthful of the glowing liquid down.

Damn, but that was good! Mana ripped through me, and I suddenly felt ten feet tall.

I snapped the mana pot back into its place on my belt. My body buzzed with the magical energy it had provided me. I spun around, only to find that the first gorilla to appear had jumped through the air. It was flying toward me, its mouth gaping and its arms outstretched.

I tapped my rifle’s trigger, and a crackling sphere exploded from the barrel and crashed into its chest. The projectile sent the ape flying backward, and it landed directly on its head. The beast’s neck broke with an audible snap.

One down, only two more terrifyingly huge monsters to go.

“Touch the core! Hurry, Jeremy! Kyrine has marked you as an intruder! She’s locked us out of the cellar, so we cannot help you.”

The voice that spoke in my head belonged to Belinda. Not only did she have tentacles for hair, but she also seemed capable of telepathy. Of course. It stood to reason that would be one of the powers of a psycher.

I wasn’t sure how touching the core would fix everything, but I figured that it would somehow make me Kyrine’s Keeper. Well, that was my hope, at least. At present, it seemed like it was my only hope.

The two apes I’d shot behind me were shaking off the paralysis effects of the Storm Spheres and would be after me in seconds. I could try to outrun them to the core, but they’d likely intercept me before I could reach it.

I dropped the rifle, letting it hang from its strap, and took another sip from the mana pot. Then I intertwined my fingers in the mudra for my Ensnare spell.