[Pleasure Points: 2732]
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Sirem was running through the area, moving alternately across the grass and the cobblestone paths.
She dodged the magical spears Margaret fired while simultaneously pursuing and attacking Liam.
Liam merely dodged or blocked Sirem's increasingly precise attacks.
"You're improving. This time, you only took four hits."
"You..." Sirem started to retort, but this time she didn't take the bait.
Liam nodded; he was satisfied with how much Sirem was improving.
Sirem unleashed a strike of martial aura, blasting a crater into the spot where Liam had just been standing.
He dodged it, but she also evaded three magical spears before using her martial aura to boost her movements.
Leaping almost instantly after her aura strike, she closed the distance to Liam and aimed a kick at his side.
Liam had already leapt toward her; he caught her left thigh with his right hand—stopping the kick—while simultaneously wrapping his left hand around her delicate neck.
Liam's steady gaze showed he wasn't playing around.
She bit her lip, sensing that Liam was about to slam the back of her head against the cobblestones covering the ground.
Even so, she didn't give up; she shielded the back of her head with martial aura to withstand the impact.
Bang!
"That's the fifth strike," Liam said with a playful glint in his eyes.
She sighed as Liam gently halted the momentum, preventing her from suffering a dangerous impact against the ground.
He offered his hand; she took it and stood up.
"You did great."
She nodded at Liam's words, then walked over to the lake to meditate and gradually recover her mana. Liam looked at the virtual window that appeared at his will.
[Time remaining: 02 Days | 1 Hour | 21 Minutes...]
They would soon have to advance to the next floor of the dungeon.
"Training is over. Use the remaining time to rest and recover your energy. The next dungeon floor—and those that follow—will be a tough challenge; we mustn't let our guard down."
Vivian, who had been watching Sirem spar, nodded at Liam's words.
...
A few weeks later.
[Mission: Clear Rank C Dungeon]
[Dungeon Floors: 66/100]
[Play Points Earned: 2,250]
[Play Points: 605]
Dungeon Floor 67.
Drops of blood fell onto the cracked paving stones of the floor.
Nearby, Vivian coughed, crimson staining her lips.
"You have to hold on; this is the fifth round. After this one, the floor boss will appear!" Liam said as he engaged five Crab Princes in fierce combat.
There was no fog in the area yet.
Every floor—ever since they stepped onto the sixty-first—had been hellishly difficult.
Waves of Rank C and Rank C+ golems emerged on every floor.
There were six waves, or rounds, per floor.
But it was during the sixth round that the fog—and the boss generating it—would appear.
The biggest problem was the sheer number of golems; there were hundreds, not just tens.
After clearing each floor, the dungeon granted them only a twenty-four-hour rest period before they had to enter the next one.
Just as before, Sirem was facing down numerous golems, but now she wasn't merely bruised; she was bleeding from several wounds.
A deep, bleeding gash marred her beautiful face just above her left eyebrow.
Even so, she dodged, blocked, and attacked without giving up, though her muscles screamed at her to stop.
Seeing the overwhelming number of enemies, Vivian pushed herself to the limit, taking control of a dozen golems—six Rank C+ and six Rank C.
However, manipulating multiple golems required a massive expenditure of mana and mental energy. And the excessive use of mana, in the end, was also something that took its toll on the human body.
Margaret calmly hurled magical spears at the many golems that dared to attack her; she remained so composed because her mana expenditure for each spell was precise, and her ability to absorb mana prevented her reserves from running dry too quickly. Moreover, of the group of four, the beautiful witch possessed the most experience in utilizing her abilities.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!...
The coordinated attacks from the Crab Princes came swiftly.
Liam dodged them with a steady gaze while slicing the many other golems that dared to attack him into segments.
Not a single wound marred Liam's body; his mastery grew with every battle he faced—battles he never shied away from.
Before, he had trained despite lacking talent; now, gifted with talent, he continued to train just as hard.
Four of the five Crab Princes lunged at Liam with a precise attack.
Bang!
The fifth Crab Prince appeared before Liam, delivering a powerful blow to his face.
But the Crab Prince's armored fist met the palm of Liam's left hand.
Liam wasted no time; he channeled magic spells throughout his body and, with lightning-fast movements, unleashed a series of slashes that hacked that Crab Prince to pieces.
"Time to finish off your brothers." With a few more slashes, Liam sliced the remaining four Crab Princes into segments.
By then, the edges of Liam's hands had taken on a reddish hue from manipulating his cutting spells.
Liam glanced at Sirem and Vivian—not out of a lack of trust, but because the challenge ahead would be even greater. He leapt toward the more than 200 remaining golems, slicing them to pieces with precise hand strikes.
Sirem felt her heart race as she witnessed just how dominant Liam could be in combat.
"Drink your potions; true hell is about to begin!" Liam exclaimed in a firm voice.
Both Vivian and Sirem pulled out their mana and resistance potions and quickly drank them.
Liam's words soon proved true.
Boom!
The entire dungeon floor shook.
The red eyes of the "arachnid golems" glowed.
The lake had erupted, and from its depths emerged three crab-like golems with blue-black exoskeletons that generated mist and regenerating bubbles.
Protecting these crab golems was a battalion of twelve Crab Princes, each commanding 100 Rank-C crab golems.
Most intimidating of all was the fact that every golem defeated in previous rounds was regenerating, bringing the total number of enemies into the thousands.