Stark, Sora, and Lana stood before the ancient door marked with “Floor 1,” its towering frame making it obvious that what lay beyond was powerful.
Stark took a deep breath before pushing it open, the heavy stone door groaning as it revealed a sprawling arena.
Sand covered the ground, and towering stone walls surrounded the area, leaving no room for escape.
The silence was eerie, and in opposition to when he fought Lother and Reaper, there were no spectators in the stands, it was just the party.
Then, suddenly, with a loud thud, a massive shadow dropped from above, landing in the center of the arena.
Dust and sand flew into the air, obscuring the figure, but as it cleared, they saw it: a towering level 200 [Minotaur] elite, around eight meters tall.
Its muscular frame glistened in the dim light of the arena, thick black fur covering its hulking body.
The beast held a massive, battleaxe in its hands, easily twice as tall as all of them, blood visible on the blade, maybe from killing other awakeners?
Its eyes glowed red with fury, and its nostrils flared as it snorted, the ground beneath it trembling with each breath.
“Level 200, huh?” Stark muttered under his breath, eyeing the creature’s health bar.
500,000 HP, and he didn’t even bother checking its stats.
At this point, anything below level 225 was nothing but child’s play to Stark.
He wasn’t worried about himself or Sora; both of them were more than capable of handling this brute.
But his eyes flicked to Lana.
She had a bow and some skills, but this kind of direct combat would be a challenge for her.
Lana, however, wasn’t about to back down.
Determined to prove herself, she quickly notched several arrows onto her bowstring, her fingers glowing with energy as she activated her skill.
“Moon Arrow!” she called out, sending a dozen shining arrows flying toward the Minotaur in quick succession.
Clang!
The beast reacted faster than expected, planting its massive axe into the ground and ducking behind it.
The arrows bounced harmlessly off the axe’s thick metal surface, not a single one hitting its target.
“…” Lana stared in disbelief at the Minotaur’s effortless defense, “That thing cheated, just wait until I hit it for real.”
But Lana wouldn’t get another chance to attack—Sora had already begun to take action.
With a graceful wave of her hand, she summoned her skill, [Evergreen Resilience].
The entire arena floor shifted and rumbled as lush green grass suddenly sprouted beneath their feet, stretching out to cover the entire battlefield.
Vines grew rapidly from the ground, twisting and writhing as they encircled the Minotaur’s legs.
Stark raised an eyebrow, impressed.
“Your skill’s improved,” he commented, watching the vines’ rapid growth, “I remember it wasn’t this strong before.”
Surely with those, Sora would have easily won against Warden, locking him in place.
But to be honest, Sora didn’t seem that affected by her defeat against Warden, she probably moved on already.
The Minotaur roared in frustration, its red eyes glowing brighter as it attempted to charge forward.
But the [Evergreen Resilience] domain had already taken hold, thick vines wrapped around the beast’s legs, restraining its movements as it struggled to break free.
The more it fought, the tighter the vines held.
Sora gave Stark a brief nod, her silent way of telling him to finish the job.
He smirked, raising his hand as crimson energy flickered around him.
“AURA SMASH!” three crimson fists materialized beside him.
And without hesitation, he began merging the three fists into one, the minotaur could sense the deadly power, but nothing he could do about it, as he was restrained, and he could only watch as Stark powered up his fists.
“RAWWWRRR!” The Minotaur roared again, swinging its axe wildly, but the vines continued to hold strong.
Sora’s plants had evolved to the point where they could restrain even the most powerful enemies at her level, and the Minotaur was no exception.
~FWISH, BOOM~
And so, after finishing to power up his attack, Stark sent the enormous crimson fist flying toward the Minotaur.
It collided with the beast’s chest, the force of the impact reverberating through the arena.
-504381!
The damage number flashed above the Minotaur’s head, and in an instant, its HP bar dropped to zero.
“HOLY SHIT!” Lana exclaimed, her eyes wide.
She’d seen Stark fight before with all the videos about him that were constantly being uploaded, but witnessing his raw power in person was something else entirely.
The Minotaur’s body exploded into a cloud of crimson energy, its remains disintegrating into the sand.
[You have slain ‘Floor 1 Minotaur Elite’, gained 750,000 experience points!]
Ding!
[Your level has increased to level 78, granting you four skill points and a boost in stats.]
[Experience: 379,300/4,500,000.]
Stark barely reacted to the notification.
He glanced over at Lana, who was still processing the fight.
Oh, and by the way, even though she had done no damage, she still gained experience as well since they were in a party.
“Don’t worry,” Stark said with a grin, “You’ll get your chance to shine,” though even he didn’t believe that.
Lana only nodded, though a small part of her felt frustrated. She wanted to help, to prove that she could contribute to the team beyond being carried.
The group continued forward, pushing through the second door.
…
On the second floor, they encountered another elite monster—this time a [Stone Golem], its hulking frame made of boulders and rocks.
Stark didn’t even bother checking its HP.
The moment it stepped into the arena, he activated [Crimson Spear], summoning five glowing red spears of energy that hovered around him.
Sora also acted immediately, her [Evergreen Resilience] once again covering the battlefield. Vines shot up from the ground, winding their way around the golem’s massive legs.
And unlike the Minotaur, the golem’s heavy, rocky body couldn’t even attempt to fight back, too slow to counter, as it mainly focused all of its energy in its strength.
Yet, now that its high strength wasn’t useful, it was pretty much dead.
With a simple motion, Stark sent his crimson spears flying, each one striking the golem with precision.
BOOM!
“-112482! -128491! -117363!”
The golem’s HP bar plummeted, and just like that, it crumbled into a pile of rubble.
…
They moved on to the third floor, where they faced a [Fire Elemental]. The creature, made entirely of swirling flames, floated above the ground, its molten body radiating intense heat.
Lana took her chance this time, attempting to shoot her arrows at it, but they phased right through the monster.
“Elements of Nature,” and Sora was the one to finish it off with her skill, each of the energy balls she summoned hit the monster like a truck before Stark could even act.
He and Sora were making an incredible team, and Lana was an amazing cheerleader too!
…
The fourth floor brought a [Frost Ogre], its massive body covered in thick ice.
Sora took control again, her vines proving even more effective against the ice-covered monster, slowly strangling it until it fell. Stark barely had to intervene, sending only a single crimson spear to finish the job.
After defeating the Frost Ogre, the trio finally reached the fifth safe zone, the tension easing as they came to a halt in front of another massive black door.
Above it, in large crimson letters, read:
[Floor 5: Mini-Boss]
“Well, here goes nothing,” he nor Sora had broken a single drop of sweat, so they would probably be able to keep going until the last floor.
“You’re planning to beat the mini-boss today too?!” Lana asked in shock.
It had been less than thirty minutes since they had entered, and already they were standing before the fifth-floor door, nearly halfway through the trial.
Stark stretched casually, his confidence unwavering. “I mean, duh. The quicker we clear this, the better. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get some information about the next trial if we finish early.”
Lana looked skeptical, but Sora simply nodded in agreement.
She, like Stark, had a calm confidence that suggested they could take on anything.
“Alright…” Lana sighed, readying her bow, though she almost wanted to just drop it on the crowd.
With a determined grin, Stark stepped forward, placing his hand on the black door, and then pushed it without hesitation just like all the others, ready to easily defeat the mini-boss too.
