Chapter 55 - The Test [12]
Turns out that the voting wasn’t needed at all.
Vael looked around at everyone’s faces, seeing the exact same eager look mirrored across the whole squad.
After he told everyone that they could face the floor boss with their current condition, the others were immediately convinced.
They didn’t hesitate or raise a single objection, completely onboard with pushing straight into the boss chamber without delay.
After all, they can feel it as well themselves.
Their bodies were completely primed for action, filled with plenty of active energy from our smooth run through the second floor.
Their mana and stamina were still good. They don’t feel fatigued at all.
The group’s pacing had been so clean and controlled that nobody was suffering from physical strain or low mana reserves.
And they realized that if they stop now to set up camp, then they would just standby until the next day, not doing anything until it was time to face the floor boss.
Setting up tents right outside the boss room would just mean sitting around in the quiet dark for hours, waiting for morning to arrive.
Just thinking about that was boring the whole group.
They had accumulated so much momentum over the course of the day that halting right at the finish line felt like a total waste of time.
So after just resting for a couple of minutes—
They all stood together in the wide, cold hallway, taking a few brief moments to catch our breath and double-check our gear straps.
"Everyone ready?"
Crystal asked that as their whole group was standing in front of the double stone doors.
She turned back to face us, holding her staff loosely as she checked the readiness of every single party member.
Cordelia nodded her head, her water whip resting on her hand.
She stood near the front line, her face completely calm as a fluid stream of compressed water hummed around her fingers.
Cindy and Zion did so as well as they fixed their grip on their weapons.
Zion rolled his shoulders and adjusted his two-handed grip, while Cindy slipped into a low stance right beside the doorway edge.
FWISH~
Vael poured mana on [Frost] and transformed it again into a thin, elegant blue rapier.
A sharp, frigid aura flared out from the weapon’s hilt, encasing the blade in a dense layer of gleaming blue ice.
Crystal nodded her head seeing everyone ready, so clutching her staff tighter—She exhaled softly, tightening her grip on the polished wood before channeling a burst of mana into the ancient mechanisms.
"Let’s enter."
She said that and used magic to open the heavy stone doors, with just a small gesture forward, she let her magic surge into the massive barrier to break the heavy seal holding it closed.
CREEEAAAK!!!
The old stone hinges groaned loudly against the floor, slowly pushing open to reveal the cavernous boss chamber beyond.
*****
BOOM!
Just like on the first floor, the store doors slammed close behind the group when they entered.
The massive stone slabs crashed together with tremendous force, sealing the entryway completely and trapping us inside the arena. It made a loud sound that caused the floor boss to be aware of their presence, not giving them any opportunity to ambush it.
The heavy, echoing thud rattled through the entire floor, instantly alerting the boss standing near the center of the dark hall.
But the group already expected this, and also... They know what the floor boss is based on the information Cordelia bought from the seniors.
It was an Lizardman Warrior.
The creature stood tall in the middle of the cavernous room, its thick scaled hide glinting under the dim, ambient light.
It was several times stronger, faster, and intelligent than the Hobgoblin Champion. Its physical parameters far outclassed the brute force of the first-floor boss, possessing sharp instincts and tactical awareness.
It uses a spear as its weapon.
A massive, double-edged polearm rested in its clawed grip, perfectly balanced for rapid thrusts and wide sweeping strikes.
It has a skill where it can harden its scales and increase defense, and it can also attack with its tail.
The creature could instantly fortify its outer hide to absorb heavy physical impacts, using its heavy muscular tail to clear close-range threats.
-KEKEKEKE...
The Lizardman Warrior let out a laugh as it sees the group, thinking of them as its next prey. A raspy, guttural cackle echoed through the wide room as the monster eyed our entry formation with complete confidence.
But before it could even do something—
Crystal raised her staff high into the air, releasing a bright flare of incandescent mana before the boss could even settle its stance.
"[FIREBALL!]"
She called out her spell, unleashing three concentrated masses of roaring flame directly from her position near the threshold.
WHOOOOSH!!!
The triple fireballs tore through the dark cavern air at incredible speed, illuminating the stone floor with a fierce orange glow.
FWOOSH—!
The floor monster wasn’t fazed by this, it just performed three precise thrust and destroyed the fireballs swiftly with a smile on its face. It flicked its heavy spear with terrifying precision, stabbing through the core of each fire projectile and popping them into harmless embers.
"..."
But Crystal wasn’t surprised at all. She lowered her staff slightly, her face completely calm as she watched the fiery sparks fade into nothingness around the creature.
After all, those fireballs were just distractions.
The flashy magic attack was never meant to inflict actual damage, serving purely as a blind to cover our frontline vanguards.
S W I I S H—!
At that moment, Cindy and Zion suddenly appeared on both sides of the Lizardman!
They burst through the fading smoke clouds on left and right flanks, closing the distance in less than a second.
Zion was trying to slice off the monster’s neck, while Cindy was trying to stab its temple! Zion brought his mana-coated blade around in a powerful horizontal arc, while Cindy lunged silently from the shadows with her dagger aimed high.
The Lizardman Warrior just widened its smile, it was expecting the two. It retrieved its spear back to use it to block the attacks.
The boss grinned viciously, twisting its torso with incredible flexibility to pull the shaft of its spear back to parry both incoming strikes at once.
But before it could even do— W H I I I P!
A sudden, sharp snapping sound echoed across the chamber as a bright blue liquid tendril shot across the distance like a bolt of lightning.
Cordelia’s water whip wrapped on the Lizardman’s spear, stopping the the monster from using it to block attacks!
-?!!
This time, the Lizardman was taken aback for a bit, then quickly— it crouched down and performed a sweep attack using its tail!
BAM!
The muscular tail swept through the air like a heavy iron beam, smashing against the stone floor with a violent crash.
Zion and Cindy jumped back to avoid it, then taking advantage of that, the Lizardman Warrior violently pulled its spear back and broke free from Cordelia’s water whip..
But just as it thought that it was finally free—
A sudden, intense chill swept across the entire arena, freezing the ambient moisture on the ground into a solid, gleaming track.
F W O O O O O S H—!!!
Vael suddenly glided through ice paths he created under his feet, all the way behind the Lizardman Warrior!
A curved, frictionless frost ramp manifested instantly under his boots, shooting him around the creature’s flank at blinding, absurd speed.
And with a smile on his face—
He slid off the end of the ice track, landing completely weightless right in the middle of the monster’s blind spot.
"I’ll take your exp too."
He whispered those words with a casual, confident grin, targeting the exposed vulnerable gap right behind its scaled neck.
SWIISH!
He thrust his rapier forward as fast as he can!
The slender, frozen needle of [Frost] drove straight toward its target with maximum speed and absolute precision!
The Lizardman Warrior shifted its weight with terrifying speed, barely twisting its body to deflect [Frost] with the thick shaft of its spear.
CLANG!
Sparks flew into the air as the cold tip of Vael’s rapier scraped against the steel tip of its weapon, leaving a frost-covered gouge along the wood.
-GRAAAAAH!
The monster let out a furious roar, its yellow slit pupils locking onto Vael.
Without giving the monster a second to recover, Vael tapped the ground with his right boot, instantly generating a fresh frost path beneath his feet to slide backward.
S W O O S H!!!
The Lizardman’s spear thrust passed right through the air where his chest had been a millisecond prior, creating a sharp wind pressure that stung his face.
’This monster is fast... much faster than the Hobgoblin Champion.’
Vael noted in his head, a small smile growing on his face as his combat instincts kicked in. He didn’t give the Lizardman Warrior a room to breathe either.
As he glided around its flank on his ice track, Vael drove [Frost] upward, launching three swift thrust directly at its unprotected eyes.
SH-SH-SHIK!
The Lizardman reacted instantly, snapping its spear in front to block all the attacks with one fluid motion.
TINK!
-KEK!
But taking advantage of the Lizardman’s blocked vision, Vael canceled the ice path under his feet, planting his boots firmly on the stone floor and launching myself straight at the monster.
BAM!
"Let’s see how tough your scales really are!"
He shouted, thrusting forward again in a rapid barrage of linear strikes!
STAB! STAB! STAB!
And this time, Vael’s attacks landed like lightning against its chest and shoulders, each hit leaving small, frozen puncture marks on its dark green hide!
-KAAAA!
Enraged by the continuous damage, the Lizardman Warrior activated its skill—[Scale Hardening]!
A dull, grey metallic sheen instantly covered its entire body, turning its hide into something as hard as solid steel plates.
PING! PING!
Vael’s follow-up thrusts bounced harmlessly off its chest, barely leaving a scratch on its newly reinforced defense.
’A defensive skill... expected.’
The boss grinned viciously, raising its heavy spear with both hands and bringing it down in a massive overhead strike aimed straight at my head!
BOOOM!
The force of its strike shattered the stone floor beneath us, sending debris and dust flying in all directions.
Vael barely managed to dodge by sliding sideways on a newly formed frost layer, feeling the sheer wind pressure sweep past his cheek.
"Ugh!"
He groaned, spinning his body mid-slide to face the creature once again.
Vael concentrated his mana into [Frost], coating the thin blade in a much denser, compressed layer of blue aura, just as Cordelia had instructed earlier.
The temperature around the two dropped instantly, turning their breath into white mist.
-GRAAA!
The Lizardman Warrior charged forward, thrusting its spear in a series of deadly, high-speed jabs that forced me to parry continuously.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Their weapons clashed repeatedly in the center of the dark arena, filling the quiet chamber with the metallic ringing of blade against spear.
Vael used his superior speed and mobility to evade the Lizardman’s heavy strikes, smoothly sliding around its attacks while looking for a clear opening in its defense.
Every time its spear came close, Vael created and used small ice shields to deflect the trajectory just enough to avoid a direct hit.
"Eyes here, Lizard!"
He shouted as the boss overcommitted on a wide horizontal swing!
WHOOSH!
Vael ducked under the heavy spear, stepping directly into the Lizardman’s inner reach where its weapon was useless.
He then channeled every drop of compressed ice mana into the tip of [Frost] and drove the rapier straight into the joint beneath its armpit—where the scales were naturally thinner!
TWHACK-- CRACK!
The frozen blade pierced through the hardened hide, freezing its internal shoulder joint instantly and locking its right arm in place!
-GAHHH?!
The Lizardman Warrior shrieked in shock and pain, dropping its spear as its right arm went completely numb from the deep frostbite.
"Now!"
Then Vael yelled to the rest of the group, sliding back to give them a clear line of sight.