NOVPUBEach team was teleported to a different spot on the great dungeon’s first floor.
A realm with vast expanses of forest welcomed everyone. On the first floor, no real challenge awaited them. They only had to find the path to the next floor amidst the misty forest with many low-level magical monsters roaming everywhere.
"We should advance to the next floor quickly. The real gain awaits after floor 5. But, we need to familiarize ourselves with each other." Dorothy looked around and observed her team members.
Ely and Lucia wore the priestess robes, so these two were clearly not front combatants. They were either mages or supports. But, if at least one of them was a healer, then their team was blessed and won it big. After all, someone with a healing power was so precious, the greatest asset to all situations.
As for Erina and Eve, they looked well-trained and properly equipped with some magical equipment. But, Erina was too conspicuous because those items were all made of gold!
And the last one, the silly-looking boy. It was easy to guess he would be nothing but a burden and meat shield, but it was unwise to judge him that fast.
Dorothy pointed to the nearby level 2 horned rabbits and asked her team members to show some of their skills.
If she had to consider her team member, the other girls might just be trying to hide their real identity. Except for Erina, the other three clearly didn’t want to reveal something, but she had to make them reveal their skills.
"Me?" Elysia pointed at her face because Dorothy kept looking at her.
Since the team leader wished for it, then she took out her Gohei, her favorite wooden wand. She lightly smacked the nearby rabbit with it.
The rabbit flinched in shock and fainted with occasional convulsions.
"How is that possible? It’s just a level 2 horned rabbit..." Dorothy face-palmed, unable to believe that Ely would do something so direct and ridiculous, but fail to kill even a level 2 little monster.
Generally speaking, all the students were around 16 years old, and every one of them was at least above level 20! And yet, Ely failed to kill that rabbit even though the level difference was so massive.
"Kyui!" The surrounding rabbits noticed the attacker was so weak. They waited nothing more to pounce at her.
"Well then." Erina stepped out of the dim magic circle and took out her rifle. She used magic bullets to kill the horned rabbits around Elysia with high accuracy.
None got spared. Those horned rabbits didn’t have time to respond and disintegrated into magic particles, leaving some bubbles behind. The other little beasts were shocked and ran away in all directions after knowing the weak girl had come with a strong ally.
"So, those are magical monsters spawned by this great dungeon, huh. How is that?" Erina flicked her bronde long hair proudly. It was only a minimal effort, considering she was currently disguised and had to play as a low-key like Elysia and the other sisters.
"Wow, you are an archer with super expensive magic equipment. Is that real gold, Lady Erina?" Sam clapped his hands, amazed by Erina’s elegance.
"Well yes. But, my shots made the other monsters run away." Erina shrugged her shoulders.
"Thank you, Erina. Let’s advance while familiarizing ourselves with each other." Elysia put her hands together. She then took out her magic staff as she would take her role as support along with Lucia.
"Let’s go." Evelyn unsheathed her twin daggers, sparkling with a hint of lightning.
Dorothy felt a bit dissatisfied because the other girls listened to Ely’s words as if the leader was not her. However, she remained silent and followed closely behind.
If possible, she wished to advance alone. So, she would gain the loot and benefits all for herself, but since the rule became a team exploration right at the start, then she couldn’t do much about it.
Her team members should better be useful upstairs later, or else, she truly hit her misfortune to carrying everyone on the team.
But before that, she used the magical device given by the instructor to each team. They had to collect the dropped bubbles to accumulate the score.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked in astonishment.
"These bubbles are the monster’s drop to accumulate the score. Didn’t you listen to the instructor’s explanation?" Dorothy sighed.
"O-oh..." Sam rubbed his head awkwardly. He missed that part because the instructor’s long speech made him sleepy.
The first floor was not intended for real combat, and no students were allowed to target the other team as prey there. On the next floor, they could try to ambush and snatch the other team’s scores.
It was a trial to find the right path to the next floor amidst the dense and vast misty forest. The deeper they went, the thicker the mist became.
During the journey, Dorothy’s team encountered several other teams, but they only passed by each other. They didn’t want to exchange any information and went to separate ways.
"Two supports, one shooter, one sword mage, and one swordmaster... Also, a shield tanker vanguard." Dorothy developed a strategy to organize her team formation. During the journey, she collected some information related to her team members’ skills.
Erina would be placed in the middle row. Ely and Lucia would be in the back. As for her and Eve, they had to be in the front row, but not at the very front. Sam would use his shield as the vanguard.
Then, she returned to the current matter. She made a route map for this first floor, but she still failed to find the path to the next floor!
"..." Elysia held no comment on Dorothy’s strategy. She crouched down and asked the nearby plants to show her the right path. Sadly, she got no answer.
Her team was lost somewhere, and Dorothy was directionless.
’We are once again lost. How many times has that been? This team leader is so arrogant and thirsty for recognition, but she has no real skills other than swinging a sword.’ Elena couldn’t help but comment, but she was amused by Dorothy’s troubled face.
’Everyone, I found the path to the second floor is inside the big blue tree at the very north. They said the path is more than one, but please don’t go to the center because this path is the easiest!’ Morfina shared her discovery with everyone in the Elysium Group Chat.
’The far north?! Hey, we don’t even know the distance to your location. This forest is so wide! I’d better try my luck at the giant tree in the heart of this misty forest.’ Sylvia voiced her protest. She knew something big awaited her there.
’Well, it’s up to you. But, I don’t think this forest is bigger than a city. Make your journey by jumping from one tree branch to another. Make sure you don’t inhale the forest smell to avoid illusion and direction loss. The grass and mushrooms on the ground are the culprits.’ Morfina added a bit of information to everyone.
’O-oh. Nice info, Morfi. We’ll hop around to the north. We don’t know whether there is a trap in the heart of the forest or not.’
’Hum, thanks. We will follow your advice.’
’Don’t go to the giant tree in the heart of the forest. It’s a specter trap, but there is indeed a passage to the next floor.’
’The Goddess of Nature has spoken. Do you still want to try your luck, Sylvi? But, good luck! I’ll just go north. I happen to be in the northwest.’
The girls exchanged information via group chat. It could be considered a cheat, but that privilege was exclusive to the Elysium Family.
"Hmm..." Elysia picked up nearby grass and other small plants. She did sense these plants had a hidden magical aura with an illusory effect, but these plants were not actually alive.
Her team got lost because the plant emitted a certain scent to obscure the path and confuse anyone. No wonder these plants didn’t answer her call when she asked them using Rhea’s nature divinity.
It was clear why Dorothy led the team down a continuous lost path.
"Ugh... this is harder than I thought." Dorothy felt frustrated because experiencing everything herself and reading complete information felt so different.
"Captain Doro, these little plants are fake and contain light hallucinogens. We need to advance while maintaining a safe distance of at least three meters from the ground." Elysia showed the culprit to everyone.
"Do-Doro? Uh-hum! Are you sure, Ely?" Dorothy was taken aback by that pet-like name. Regardless, she picked up the random grass and did faintly feel it had a faint unpleasant smell.
"Yes." Elysia nodded.
"Then, we will advance to the heart of the forest. The area with the thickest fog and mist. There is a giant tree and the path to the next floor." Dorothy made up her mind and leaped high into the tree.
’We need to face the trap then.’ Evelyn shrugged her shoulders.
’That’s a cheap trick. Let’s see how these students grow.’ Elysia smiled in reply.
Her family needed to wait two days, and they didn’t have any urgency at the moment. The previous warning already put a deep fear towards the Polluted Sea God. Also, those water demons would most likely prepare themselves to face the divine punishment, abandoning worldly affairs to protect the Polluted Sea God.
’Nee, Ellie... may I ask you a question?’ Erina opened the conversation via private telepathy.
’Ask away. I’m happy to help.’ Elysia responded kindly.
’Why is a ruler of the kingdom an Emperor, not a king? Also, their family is the royal family, but with an imperial army?’ Erina thought about it again, and it didn’t make sense.
’Uhm, yes... it’s a bit complicated. However, let’s say there is no real Emperor here. They are called Emperor because their power is at the Emperor-level. That is one of the conditions for becoming a true ruler of a nation. The situation on Devil Continent is different because Sylvi’s father put the other Devil Emperors under submission, and they willingly submitted to him. They were demoted and became the Demon Kings.’
Elysia explained a little, and Erina finally felt enlightened.
Elysia then added Evelyn and Lucia to the telepathic conversation on their journey to follow Dorothy.
"It’s so quiet, it makes me very uneasy and uncomfortable." Sam rubbed his arms.
He looked back occasionally. The girls behind him were so quiet, and it sometimes made him feel that they had disappeared somewhere, leaving him alone. Luckily, they were still there.
"Keep moving. Did something happen?" Dorothy stopped when the vanguard suddenly stopped.
"We won’t be affected by the illusion as long as we’re far from the ground. The fog is pretty thick, but we can already see the giant tree’s shadow from here." Elysia reassured Sam as if she knew what he was thinking.
"I see. Then, we need to maintain our speed." Sam nodded in understanding, somehow relieved.
"I’ll make sure no one gets left behind here." Elysia waved her hand at Dorothy.
Dorothy nodded and led her team to the deepest forest, the giant tree.
