While descending further, more monsters appeared.

  However, thanks to their teamwork they could easily fend them off.

  With regular breaks, they were eventually able to reach the 49th floor.

  “We’ve collected around 100 crystals,” Nox said, looking in his bag.

  Only the big spiders dropped rewards; the smaller ones seemed to be babies who hadn’t a direct mana connection.

  “Let’s split them up afterwards,” Lina suggested.

  “Yeah, but why aren’t there any monsters?” Beatrice asked, watching their surroundings carefully.

  The further they walked, the quieter the dungeon became. They had expected tons of monsters on the second last floor, but the faint skittering of spiders had vanished, leaving only the echo of their footsteps against the stone.

  As they reached the middle of the long tunnel, a small altar stood there in the dark. On top of it was a shining dungeon chest.

  “That has to be a trap,” Nox thought, walking toward the treasure.

  However, when he opened it, nothing unusual happened. He pulled a small grey item out of it.

  Name: Stone ring

  Grade: Rare

  Type: Ring

  Description: You can only wear two rings at once. +20% damage when standing on stone.

  Nox briefly glanced at Lina. When she nodded, his head turned to Regea who inspected the item with an excited gaze.

  “I think we all know who this belongs to,” he said, placing the ring in Regea’s hand.

  “W- What no, I didn’t do as much as you guys,” he tried to clarify. He let go of the ring as if it was fire.

  “You saved me, so please take it Regea”, Beatrice replied, putting the item on his finger.

  “I’m not sur-”

  A loud bang interrupted their conversation.

  Without hesitation, Nox grabbed Lina and pulled her away. A massive stone boulder fell from the ceiling.

  “Uhm guys, I think it’s rolling toward us!” Regea screamed, as the boulder suddenly started moving.

  Nox desperately tried to destroy it with ice magic, but it had no effect.

  “Run. Don’t look back,” Nox said, scooping Lina up as the ground trembled beneath them.

  The thunderous sound behind them grew louder with every step, stone scraping against stone as the boulder devoured the tunnel.

  After running for two minutes, Nox started to curse his low stamina.

  “Shit, the boulder is getting faster. I must do something,” he thought, subtly extending his finger.

  An invisible force seemed to accelerate them, or rather, pull them toward the exit.

  “Huh? What’s that?” Beatrice muttered.

  The three were now subtly gaining speed, just barely enough to escape the deadly boulder behind them. They dropped down to the last floor, standing in a small cave with large tunnels leading in every direction.

  “That was you, wasn’t it?” Lina whispered.

  “Yeah, I used a magnetic field,” he answered, putting her back on her feet.

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  “We just have to find that boss now.”

  “I don’t think you have to search,” Beatrice replied, looking into the tunnel before them. The floor and walls were covered by thick cobwebs, reflecting the dim, white light of the dungeon walls.

  Something shifted within the darkness, the webs trembling as if the dungeon itself were breathing.

  Eight enormous eyes glared around, each one locking onto them with a cold, predatory focus. Its hairy legs were as thick as a small tree, saliva dripping out of its mouth.

  With a shriek, it dashed toward them.

  A warm light engulfed Nox while an ice crystal blocked the spider’s attack.

  With clear coordination, Beatrice and Regea jumped to the side and launched powerful spells.

  Without being able to react, the spider was blinded. Desperately it tried to move away but its legs were already frozen.

  Cracks spread across the frozen body, but instead of collapsing, the spider twitched violently.

  Its legs slammed against the ground in erratic spasms, shattering chunks of ice and forcing the four to retreat instinctively.

  Finally, the monster slammed to the ground, leaving a big motionless body.

  For a moment, the dungeon fell unnaturally silent. Even the webs seemed to sag, as if relieved.

  “Well, it was only a level 5 boss after all,” Regea said, turning away. He tried to act relieved, but his body was still tense.

  Swish-

  A spider’s thread suddenly wrapped around his body, making him unable to move. He tried to cast a spell, but the pressure on his chest restricted the mana flow.

  The four looked at the monster’s corpse in shock, as it started to move.

  Purple veins of light spread across its shattered body, knitting broken flesh together as something embedded in its corpse pulsed violently.

  The purple glow seeped into the webs around them, casting flickering shadow over their faces.

  When the spider rose again, its movements were fiercer, with each step crushing the stone beneath it.

  The monster let out a distorted shriek, nothing like before, deeper, warped, and filled with rage.

  “That’s not a level five boss,” Nox thought, gulping heavily.

  Beatrice immediately launched a counterattack, severing the spider’s leg.

  The monster didn’t even budge and slammed her against the wall. With a loud cough, blood splattered out of her mouth.

  Regea attacked the monster with everything he could, but the giant boss just crawled toward them.

  Nox dashed forward and tried to cut through its neck. The monster however, dodged effortlessly and sent him flying.

  The three froze as the spider dragged Regea closer, his feet scraping helplessly against the stone while the creature’s mandibles opened wide.

  The heat of the creature’s breath washed over his face, sharp and suffocating. Teeth scrapped over his black hair, hot saliva dripping onto his skin.

  Just as she was about to eat him alive, a row of flame arrows hit the monster’s string, freeing Regea.

  Another flame attack came, damaging the spider’s head.

  The wound closed almost instantly, purple light crawling over the burned flesh.

  “It’s healing faster than we can damage it,” Beatrice shouted.

  Her body was wrapped in an intense orange glow, her breathing turning ragged as she forced out spell after spell.

  But no matter how strong they were, the boss would just regenerate.

  “Beatrice! We don’t have enough oxygen,” Nox screamed.

  “Shit, I need to have a stronger skill, but there’s nothing to combine it with,” he thought.

  His mana surged chaotically, ice and water clashing within him without forming anything stable.

  “Think,” he muttered. “There has to be something…”

  Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.

  “Shoot a fireball at me,” he said, running toward Beatrice.

  Without any time to think, Beatrice did as commanded and launched an attack.

  “He’s gonna dodge right?” she thought.

  However, Nox just summoned a water ball and kept it in his hand.

  “If I can force them together…” he thought, as the fire ball hit his chest.

  White-hot pain tore through his chest, locking his body in place as his vision blurred.

  His senses drowned in heat and pressure, while his skin was burned in a heartbeat.

  The world dimmed, and for a moment he thought he had made a fatal mistake.

  “Shit, I can’t move my hand,” he desperately tried to withstand the pain. Only a small amount of the fire remained, the water trying to merge with it.

  Just as the spider was preparing for another attack, a hand laid on Nox’s back. He felt his energy returning and the pain stopped temporarily.

  He quickly moved his hand onto his chest where the remnants of the fire ball buzzled.

  -You have learned the magma element

  -You have unlocked the restricted skill magma chamber

  Nox immediately used the skill and giant walls built up around the monster.

  The spider shrieked as the temperature inside the chamber spiked, its legs thrashing wildly against the narrowing walls.

  Stone melted beneath it, the dungeon itself groaning under the strain.

  It tried to escape, but as soon as its legs touched the walls, they started burning.

  Unable to move, the boss was slowly crushed as the chamber became smaller. A loud explosion echoed and a purple cloud emerged from within.

  When the smoke cleared, only the boss crystal remained.

  Beatrice walked over to Regea to check on him, but before she could utter a word, her body collapsed and she fell into his arms.

  “We should rest here,” he said.

  With a grateful smile, he carefully placed her on his lap.

  “Are you okay?” Nox asked, turning around to Lina.

  “You should ask that yourself,” she replied, pushing him gently.

  “H- Huh?”

  Without any mana or stamina left, Nox fell like a sandbag.

  Before his head could reach the ground, Lina caught him and forced his head on her lap.

  “Even I could probably beat you up right now,” she whispered, ruffling through his silver hair.

  Without any resistance, he made himself comfortable before his eyes fell shut.

  “You really did well.”