Chapter 49 - The Test [6]
THUD!
The mini boss’ body made a hollow sound as its lifeless body fell on the ground after Vael undid his ice power that restricted the Hobgoblin.
The solid crystalline block holding the monster dissolved into a fine frost mist, letting the heavy, frozen corpse drop heavily onto the damp stone floor.
And after that—
"Vael!"
The others rushed to him.
Their footsteps echoed rapidly across the wide stone arena as they closed the distance, their eyes filled with shock and awe at how quickly the battle had concluded.
"...?"
Vael turned his head slightly, lowering [Frost] back to his hip as the four of them surrounded him in a tight circle.
"That was awesome!"
Zion said, he arrived first to him and declared that with a smile on his face.
He clapped a heavy hand against Vael’s shoulder, grinning widely as he looked down at the motionless floor boss lying on the ground.
"Yeah, your timing was really good, the floor boss wasn’t able to respond at all."
Cindy complimented. She knows how hard it was to catch the Hobgoblin unprepared.
She sheathed her twin sai, nodding her head in genuine admiration of the fast execution that had snuffed out the boss’s second phase.
Vael just shrugged his shoulders... He just knew from the game that during the process of turning berserk, the Hobgoblin wouldn’t be able to do anything for one turn.
In the original game’s turn-based system, the berserk animation was treated as a mandatory charge-up turn where the enemy couldn’t execute offensive actions or raise its defenses.
Meaning, it was vulnerable.
It was a free window built specifically for players to burst down the boss’s remaining health pool before the heavy damage phase officially started.
So Vael figured that in this situation, it would be the same before the Hobgoblin enters that phase.
He reasoned that even in a real-world setting, channeling that massive spike of raw mana would create a momentary lag in its physical body.
"Did you know that the Hobgoblin wouldn’t be able to respond during that time?"
Crystal asked, she was just as surprised as the others at how the fight just abruptly ended.
She stepped forward with her staff held loosely in her hand, her eyes locked onto Vael as she tried to make sense of my terrifying tactical precision.
"Hmm, yeah... Instinctively, let’s just say I got lucky."
Vael replied to her.
He gave a casual tilt of his head, brushing off her intense curiosity with a light answer to avoid revealing his knowledge of the game’s mechanics.
"..."
Cordelia just looked at Vael. She wants to say something to him, but she stopped herself from doing so. She was just glad that no one was hurt among them, and that the battle ended fast.
She let out a quiet breath, resting her hand over her chest as she silently observed everyone from a few paces back.
"The boss room is the safest place in the dungeon after the monster guarding it has been defeated, we can stay here for a while and rest."
Vael stated. The mini boss monster wouldn’t respawn for a while.
He pointed toward the far corner of the quiet cavern stage, where the high stone walls offered shelter from the drafty main corridors.
"And based on how ahead we are from the others, no students would arrive here for a few more hours, at least."
He added.
Unless there’s a possessor from the other groups as well that memorized the layout of the dungeon just like Vael—it’s not possible to catch up from their group that fast.
They had taken every hidden shortcut, bypassed every optional mob room, and moved at maximum speed thanks to his movement buffs.
But there are students with pathfinding and tracking abilities, so the group still should not get that carefree.
Certain elite vanguard students from the higher classes possessed specialized scouting abilities that could pinpoint optimal routes through mana sensing and track finding. Vael and the others’ tracks might get followed all the way here.
Moving on...
"Vael is right, we should rest here before heading to the second floor."
Crystal declared that after hearing Vael’s suggestion and seeing Cordelia’s signal of agreement to his words.
She turned to face the rest of the group, tapping the base of her staff against the stone floor to officially sign off on their resting period.
"No problem with it."
"We should rest if we can, that way, we can fight more."
Cindy and Zion didn’t mind a rest as well, and so with that—they decided to stay inside the floor boss’ room for a while.
They immediately unbuckled their gear, sitting down on the smooth stone steps near the entrance to catch their breath and relax their muscles.
They plan on staying here at least until they finished dinner and eating.
*****
(Vael’s POV)
"..."
I took the last hit that killed the Hobgoblin, and in the game’s logic, I should be able to receive the largest amount of exp from that.
I walked away from the group while they began setting up our temporary camp, heading toward a quiet, shadowed corner of the boss room.
I looked down at my hands, then I closed and opened them multiple times.
I flexed my fingers slowly, paying close attention to the subtle, tingling sensation vibrating through my skin and nerve endings.
I couldn’t confirm it before when we just killed mob monsters on the way here, and because I just supported everyone from the back as they killed everything... But after killing the floor boss...
I could feel a distinct, warm current circulating rapidly through my central mana channels, expanding my overall capacity in a single instant.
I can feel my body lighter, stronger, and sturdier. I can feel my mana way better now as well.
My physical perception had sharpened, and the ambient cold radiating from [Frost] felt even more natural and effortless to control than before.
The tired feeling almost disappeared too.
The minor physical fatigue from running through the damp stone tunnels for hours had completely washed away, replaced by a sudden surge of fresh stamina.
So if I have to estimate based on all of this—
’Then this is akin to leveling up and raising my stats, along with the small recovery that comes with it when characters level up in the game.’
I stared at the palm of my hand as the realization settled deeply into my mind.
I was able to confirm that the leveling logic still exists even though this is the real world and not a game anymore.
The underlying mechanics of growth and stat scaling were still actively operating behind the scenes of this reality, rewarding direct monster kills with raw growth.
Meaning...
’I can get stronger as long as I kill a lot of monsters.’
When that realization hit me, a small smile forced itself to my face. The corners of my lips slowly rose up just from the thought of that.
The path to building Vael’s strength and surpassing the deadly plot flags of the original story was right in front of me, simple and direct.
"Hey, what are you doing here all alone?"
"Let’s eat, Vael!"
Just then, Cindy and Zion approached me and told me that.
Zion waved a large piece of bread in his hand while Cindy stood beside him, pointing back toward the middle of the camp where Crystal had laid out the food.
"I was just checking something... Let’s go."
I walked back over to the blanket, taking a seat between Cindy and Zion as we shared a hot meal in the quiet boss room. We all ate to regain our lost stamina from the fight.
As we were eating, they started asking and talking about the time when I killed off the Hobgoblin earlier. They mentioned how they didn’t expect that their first dungeon diving in the academy would be this smooth and easy.
Zion gesticulated wildly with his hands, re-enacting the moment the boss was frozen mid-scream, while Crystal nodded along with a satisfied smile.
Then they said that it was because of my guidance that we arrived here fast, and that it was because of my great observation skill that the fight ended easily.
I was flattered hearing that, but if I was with other students and not them... Then all the knowledge from the game would’ve been useless.
If I had been paired with weak or uncooperative teammates, knowing the map and the boss’s vulnerabilities wouldn’t have meant anything at all.
The only reason everything went smoothly and easily... Is because the main characters are strong. I can plan and make use of my game knowledge to the max efficiency with that fact.
Their overwhelming raw stats, high-grade martial skills, and top-tier spellcasting provided the perfect foundation for my strategic calls.
In fact, I can literally do nothing and just accompany them—and our group would still be guaranteed of one of the top spots in the test.
... ... ...
... ... ...
... ... ...
We rested for a couple of hours more in the floor boss’ room... Until we’re back to full stamina, mana, and strength.
We packed up our gear, strapped our weapons back to our waists, and walked together toward the massive glowing archway at the end of the hall.
And after that—
TAP.
We stepped on to the second floor of the dungeon not even a day since the test started.
The heavy, cold air of the next level washed over us as we crossed the threshold.