Chapter 57 - The Result [1]
(Vael’s POV)
With the Lizardman Warrior dead, we used the boss room as our temporary camp area.
We unbuckled our travel gear and placed our heavy packs onto the dry ground, clearing out a small corner of the large chamber to rest.
’It only takes a few hours for the floor boss to respawn, but it wouldn’t appear if there are people inside the room.’
I thought to myself.
I recalled the exact mechanics from my past playthroughs, remembering how the floor dungeons handled monster spawning routines. I remember this rule in the game, this was to prevent players from AFK farming.
The developers had coded the zone logic so that the boss encounter would stay completely paused as long as player entity models occupied the room.
My point is that we don’t have to worry about any enemy monster attacking us as long as we’re here inside.
The stone doors behind us remained firmly shut, turning the massive chamber into an absolute safe zone free from wandering patrols.
"..."
Anyway, after setting up my tent and sleeping bag, I looked down at my hands.
I unrolled my grey sleeping mat, secured the corner pegs into the ground, and sat down on the soft fabric to rest my legs.
I flexed my fingers slowly, watching the faint blue light from my palm flicker softly before fading back under my skin.
I can feel it... I became stronger again.
The internal flow of my energy felt much smoother and noticeably denser than it was when we first stepped into the subterranean entrance.
"Another level up, huh."
I smiled as I whispered that to myself.
I leaned back against my rolled-up pack, taking a quiet moment to appreciate the steady growth of my baseline attributes.
With all the hunting I did last time, and landing the last killing hit on the Lizardman Warrior, I was able to level up again.
Clearing out those Hobgoblin patrols for hours and topping it off with a high-tier floor guardian had yielded a massive amount of experience points.
It was really a strange, refreshing feeling.
A cool, light sensation washed through my limbs, washing away the minor physical fatigue from our previous fights.
By the way, the last skill that I used to kill the floor boss—it’s something I created.
[Absolute Frost]
It wasn’t a standard ability listed in the academy spell books or something I learned from a skill scroll. It’s not one of Vael’s priginal skills either.
Basically, after stabbing an enemy; I will just pour more mana in [Frost], and that will amplify my ice powers even more—freezing the enemy from inside and out.
The compressed cold energy would travel straight through the rapier’s blade, flooding the opponent’s circulatory system and instantly crystalizing their internal organs.
It’s not a complete skill just yet, but it worked well on the Lizardman Warrior because it was bound and already sustained a lot of damage throughout the fight with our group.
The spell required too much focus and a stationary target to land properly, making it risky to use against agile opponents in a one-on-one fight.
"I need to create more skills... The ones the original Vael has are all defensive."
I mumbled to myself.
I shook my head slightly, remembering how the original character used to rely almost entirely on basic ice shields and evasive footwork.
Moving, I looked around the temporary camp and noticed that everyone else was done setting up their area.
Zion had finished rolling out his sleeping bag near the entrance, while Cindy and Cordelia were sitting near Crystal’s tent.
"The camp is done, let’s eat."
Crystal then said after noticing that too. She took out a variety of food from her spatial storage again and invited us all to eat.
She pulled out a small wooden table structure along with several sealed meal boxes, setting them down neatly near the center of our setup.
I was feeling hungry now as well so I didn’t waste time and joined everyone else immediately, and just like that... We started eating.
I stood up from my tent, walked over to the group, and took a small wooden stool before opening one of the warm food containers.
As we were eating, the group praised me and sent compliments my way, telling me that it was because of me that we were able to do a lot during the test.
"Are you like... the greatest navigator of all time? Are you sure you don’t have any path finding skills?"
Zion took a large bite of his food and gestured toward me with his fork, pointing out how fast we cleared both floors.
"Yeah, it wouldn’t be strange if you say you have a high-tier path finding skill. All the paths we took were safe and correct."
"Yeah, we’re glad to have you in our team."
Even Crystal and Cordelia voiced out their agreement.
Crystal nodded as she set her drink down, while Cordelia gave a quiet nod of concurrence from across the table.
I just shrugged, but I do understand where they’re coming from. So with my lips parting—
I swallowed my food, looking at all four of them with a calm and relaxed expression.
"Thanks, but we all contributed to reach this outcome."
I replied with that.
I reminded them that without their constant support, crowd control, and coordination, taking down a hardened boss would have taken much longer.
We continued talking more after that about random stuff and the test.
We laughed over Zion’s clumsy moments during the first floor, discussed the evaluation criteria, and speculated on how the other teams were doing.
*****
The group rested for the rest of the second day without any worry. Cindy still stood guard for the night and was followed by Crystal, but nothing really happened.
The quiet night inside the boss chamber passed completely uninterrupted, with the heavy stone doors keeping all outside threats away.
And by the next day—
The morning light from our ambient mana lamps illuminated the camp as everyone woke up feeling completely refreshed and fully restored.
They started travelling back toward the first floor of the dungeon to exit it.
They knew that the main evaluation objectives were already far surpassed, so staying any longer was completely unnecessary. Now they just need to leave the dungeon without any problem.
The group cleaned up their temporary camp and packed up all their items.
Tents were folded down, sleeping bags were strapped tight, and all trash was neatly packed away into storage containers.
After that, Vael led them once again... and they started going back.
... ... ...
On their way back, the group encountered some monsters on their way back, they dealt with them as fast as they could. They didn’t shy away from enemies, they wanted to rack up as many points as possible on their way back as well, after all.
Whenever a small group of Hobgoblins or Giant Spiders blocked our path, Zion and Cindy rushed in to clear them out in seconds.
Then not long after that—
As they reached the upper boundary paths connecting the floor levels, the dark stone corridors began to show signs of recent combat.
The group started encountering other groups as well.
Small freshman parties were slowly picking their way through side tunnels, looking tired, battered, and cautious as they fought basic patrols.
Vael and the others arrived on the second floor first among all the freshmen groups that entered the dungeon. Their rapid pace had set them hours ahead of the standard academy progression curve.
Needless to say, the students were surprised to see them coming from the deeper parts of the second floor. But the group just ignored them and continued on their way back.
The other parties stared at Vael and the others with wide, disbelieving eyes, completely shocked to see their group walking out from the lower sectors looking completely relaxed and uninjured.
... ... ...
After half of the day had passed, they were all back at the floor boss room of the first floor.
The group stepped through the wide threshold, looking around the massive arena where we had fought the Hobgoblin Champion earlier.
The Hobgoblin Champion was not there though... It seems like a group had arrived before them and defeated it to advance to the second floor.
The central pedestal was completely empty, showing clear signs of recent magic impacts and heavy weapon marks along the floor. It was a shame because defeating it again would’ve given them a lot of points again, but they weren’t really caught up with it.
They had already taken down the second floor’s main boss, so missing out on a first-floor re-clear was a minor loss at best.
Vael and the others just continued on their way back, they didn’t even stop to rest and eat anymore, they planned to exit the dungeon as soon as possible.
The group maintained a steady, swift marching pace, passing through the remaining upper corridors without slowing down for anything.
... ... ...
The familiar rough stone walls of the upper entry zone began to give way to brighter artificial light sources fixed near the ceiling.
... ... ...
The group passed the final checkpoint archways, hearing the distant sound of instructors’ voices echoing from the main exit surface.
... ... ...
Their boots clicked steadily against the smooth, carved stone steps leading upward toward the natural sunlight of the outer world.
And then, just before the third day ends—
A cool, fresh outdoor breeze blew past their faces as they broke through the heavy shadow of the massive stone portal.
TAP-
"We’re out."
Vael and the others finally stepped outside the dungeon.
He stopped near the edge of the wide stone platform, looking up at the bright open sky as the fresh air filled his lungs.
Behind him and the others, the instructors and observing staff looked up from their clipboards in complete shock, realizing that their party had finished the entire evaluation with a few more hours to spare.