NOVPUBEven though it was the boss floor, it was not the place where the boss monsters would spawn. The designated battle spot would be different for each group. The magic circle on the boss floor could only accommodate a maximum of 15 people.
Beyond that number, they had no place to stand in the magic circle and were at risk of being injured or possibly losing their lives due to the swift dimensional warp. Therefore, one battle spot consisted of a maximum of three teams.
*Zap*
Elysia and the joint team teleported to a desert area on the 10th floor.
The three team leaders wanted to clear the boss floor with the fastest time they could. Even though they had to share the loot and score on the boss floor with the three teams, it was still better if they could break the record.
*Rumble* *Rumble*
"Prepare for battle! The death sandworms are here. Get into formation and keep your distance!" The leader of team 11 warned the entire group.
*Rumble!*
Three giant sandworms emerged from the nearby dunes, staring at the little humans below. They opened their mouth, showing several rows of spiraling razor-like teeth.
Everyone had yet to respond, and the three sandworms sprayed a poisonous green liquid.
"!!!" The students immediately backed away, taking a safe distance. However, their formation broke because they had to avoid the corrosive poisonous liquid.
"Sam, aggro them from the side. Taunt one of them to separate themselves from the others. Eve, and Erina, assist me in backstabbing them. Ely, Lucia, buff us. Avoid their poisonous liquid at all costs." Dorothy gave her orders.
"Alright. Overall Buff." Elysia raised her magic staff, casting a simple buff multiplier to everyone in the group, increasing their overall capabilities by 20% for 5 minutes.
Lucia spoke nothing, but she also cast her magic, granting the students increased speed and agility by 30%.
"Holy sheet! I feel so light and mighty!" Sam grinned at the sudden surge of power.
He ran up to the giant death sandworm threw several rocks at one of the three boss monsters and raised his middle finger. "Hey, you dickhead! Your enemy is me!"
His taunt was effective, and the taunted death sandworm writhed down from the dune, chasing the little human shield.
Sam gulped his saliva and ran away, going to the trap formation where Dorothy, Eve, and Erina were waiting. Even though Dorothy and Eve failed, everything could be handled by the rich lady Erina and her all-gold weapons. That was what backed up his courage as a shield.
The other two teams also taunted the two boss monsters as they had to handle them separately.
"It’s here!" Sam shouted out loud.
"Are you ready with your lightning magic?" Eve made a ball of lightning on her hand.
"Mm..." Dorothy still didn’t really understand whether this technique would be effective or not. As far as she could understand, the most effective way to get through this floor was to completely kill the boss monster.
The monster could split into smaller monsters if it was slashed. So, her only choice was to continue killing the monsters as quickly as possible.
"Take this." Erina flew with her golden jet propellers, throwing a sack of salt into the death sandworm’s mouth.
Once the sack entered the monster’s mouth, the water bomb inside the sack exploded, soaking the monster’s innards with super salty salt liquid.
"!!!" The death sandworm writhed in pain as the osmosis reaction occurred, absorbing water and fluids in its body.
"It’s wet from the inside now. So, let’s rain lightning on this monster until it dies." Evelyn leaped like a storm, throwing several lightning balls with a smile.
Dorothy followed suit, although her lightning ball was still relatively small and weak.
The dry monster became wet from the inside and was tormented by the salt. However, the continuous lightning strikes caused an electro-charged effect, electrifying its entire body, penetrating its defenses, and spreading to its core.
It didn’t take long for the death sandstorm to meet its demise.
"It was just less than 20 seconds." Evelyn made a victory pose.
"It’s unbelievable. We killed a level 60 monster so easily... Anyway, where did you get 50 kilos of salt and water bombs, Ely?" Dorothy still felt so amazed. She didn’t know that salt, water, and lightning could effectively kill the death sandworm.
"Why do you ask the obvious? You have your own preparations, right?" Evelyn answered for Elysia.
As for Elysia and Lucia, they went to the other team to throw sacks of salt at the other two monsters.
Because there were no students with the lightning element in team 13, Elysia slipped a highly flammable oil bomb instead of a regular water bomb.
"Burn, burn it to ashes! Aim it into its mouth. Come on, you can do it, students!" Elysia clapped her hands to cheer the students.
"I’m doing it, miss!" The fire mage tried his best to throw several fireballs at the death sandstorm, but it kept dodging the fire.
*Bam!*
Erina shot from a distance with her sniper rifle, aiming at the monster’s fangs. Friction between the lead bullet and the sharp fang occurred, causing sparks to burn the monster from within.
"Your aim is horrible, Cody. I almost got crushed because I had to suppress its movements!" The heavily armored student complained as he returned to his team.
"Phew... what can I do? The sandworm is afraid of fire, and it keeps moving." The fire mage felt embarrassed.
"Who would have thought this technique would be so effective? Salt wrung it dry from within, and fire or lightning would be so effective if struck from within." The female mage breathed a sigh of relief.
"Luckily, Miss Ely and the sniper from team 9 came to help. With this, we can break the record. Let’s collect the bubbles and go to the treasure room. The entrance should be inside a particular sand dune." The team leader wiped his sweat.
He found the other teams already killed the boss monsters. Since the first three monsters had been defeated in under five minutes, then they had to leave as soon as possible before the other death sandworms spawned.
"Fufu, that’s good. You did your best." Elysia clapped her hands cheerfully. She floated around with a magic item and then returned to her team.
"Who is this merry girl actually? She is a high-tier support, but for some reason, she is like my mom and her vibe. She is also fond of cheering her children." The fire mage scratched his head. 𝚗o𝚟pub.𝚌𝚘𝚖
"Hmm... she’s just so caring. Her name is Ely, and I don’t think she’s an ordinary student." The leader of team 13 crossed his arms with interest.
The dead monsters soon dematerialized into many bubbles, and the team leaders collected those bubbles. They could hunt for more sandworms, but their aim was to clear the floor as quickly as possible because the bonus and reward were much greater for killing more monsters.
They cleared the boss floor in under a minute, and it would be the fastest record.
It was pretty hard to find the treasure room’s entrance under the dune in the middle of the desert. They had to find the path quickly, but all the dunes looked the same.
"There." Elysia pointed to the initial dune, the place where the first boss monsters emerged. The hole had been covered by sand, but there was a suspicious sand boulder.
"This one is the correct path." Dorothy pressed the rune, and the path to the underground opened.
It was the treasure room, and everyone went down into the hole using the stairs. A narrow underground cavern awaited them below, lit only by the faint light of the blue crystals.
A large treasure chest was located in the corner of the room, and it seemed sparkling enough to invite anyone to immediately open it.
"Is that the real reward, not a trap?" Erina tugged the hem of Elysia’s sleeve.
"It’s a trap, but the reward is in it." Elysia nodded in reply.
The leader of team 11 had already opened the treasure chest. Yet, the chest suddenly turned into a fanged mimic monster with a long tongue, pulling the leader of team 11 as if it were about to be eaten.
*Stab*
Dorothy swiftly stepped forward and thrust her longsword into the mimic’s mouth, slicing open the long tongue that ensnared the student.
"Uh, thanks." The leader of team 11 rubbed his chest, still a bit shocked.
"Even the so-called reward is fake? Is it a trap and a monster?" The leader of team 13 couldn’t help but complain.
"No, the rewards are here." Dorothy took out a scroll and a wooden box from the monster treasure box.
[You cleared boss floor 10. You will be teleported to the entrance gate in ten seconds.]
A notification popped out before the students’ visions.
A magic circle emerged beneath all the students’ feet. But not for Elysia, Erina, Evelyn, and Lucia.
"Why don’t you..." Dorothy widened her eyes with a pale expression, shocked because her team members other than Sam had no magic circle beneath their feet.
"We may meet again soon, Doro. You may distribute the rewards with Sam and other students. Our aim is not on this floor." Elysia waved her hand at the students.
"But, we should be kicked out once the boss floor is cleared!" Dorothy still didn’t understand why or how.
She could only think that Ely, Eve, Erina, and Lucia were at a high level despite being the new students. It was the most plausible reason. That was why the great dungeon system wouldn’t force them to come out.
After all, the first ten floors were the allowed levels to enter for new students, but only those above beginner level could go up to the higher floors.
Dorothy just sighed. Sam and the other students didn’t even have time to comment before the light enveloped them. The teleportation brought them back to the entrance gate.
"Well... isn’t that too fast? You managed to clear the boss floor in just half a day?" The principal looked aside with some surprise.
He stopped his afternoon tea and came out of the tent. The students held the reward for clearing the boss floor, but it was too fast. Unless the divine group’s members helped these students.
"Congratulations, students. But, where are the others? You’re four people short." Glen counted the students once again, but even though it was a joint team, the numbers didn’t match.
"Principal, my team members weren’t teleported out like us even though we managed to clear the boss floor together." Sam reported the situation with great urgency.
"That’s probably because their level is high. This test is initially individual, but you are free to form groups in the dungeon. Those above beginner-level can proceed to the higher floor." Glen rubbed his chin and invited the students into his tent.
"I see..." Dorothy looked at the ground.
She finally understood why those girls weren’t interested in any loot and rewards on the initial ten floors. They gave it all to her as if they weren’t interested. That was because they aimed at the higher floors, and she couldn’t join because of her lack of power.
