Leaving the adventurers to fight amongst themselves for the monster's corpse, Ralphie suggested that they return to the surface, however, Evan said they should do so after entering the fifth floor.
"Once we're done with the fifth floor, we'd go back immediately."
He walked around killing weaker monsters they found. They did not see another monster on the Leopard's level, monsters like that were the masters of territories on that floor.
They had to go a long distance before entering the territory of another monster which would most likely not be as strong as the leopard was originally.
After all, Level 55's on the fourth floor was not exactly a normal occurrence.
"That's through, did you level up Laurene?"
"Yep."
"What Level?"
"Take a look yourself."
Sighing in exasperation, he appraised Laurene.
Name- Laurene Hayes
Race- Human
Level- 29
Existence Level - Bronze
Titles- Princess of the Great Western Empire, Fourth of the Seven Heroes, Wielder of Mystic Eyes, Loved By Mana.
Class - Mage
Health – E+
Energy – E+
Strength – E-
Agility – E
Durability –E
Intelligence- E-
Condition- Mana Deficient
Magic Tiers- Lightning Tier 1, Fire Tier 1, Wind Tier 1.
Skills- Full Appraisal, Lie Detection, Magic Control, Lightning Magic (High), Chant Revocation, Mental Block, Language Comprehension.
Unique Skills- Mystic Eyes of Truth. |
Like him, since she had high contributions during the fight, she also levelled up 7 times. After 6 more levels, she would awaken the first stage of her mystic eyes and be finally able to use its actual power and not just the lie detection.
'I think it allowed her to see through illusions, see weak points of opponents, see through the weak points of magic spells and circles, see invisible objects and hidden items, she can see ghosts too if I'm not mistaken.'
Those were some of the abilities of the mystic eye of truth, Evan recalled them while hoping she awakened them quickly.
They finally found the stairs to the fifth floor. The problem was that they were two of them in the same place instead of the usual one.
Ralphie felt a sense of foreboding towards the door on the left, his senses he had trained for years told him something was waiting on the other end of that door.
Something that was definitely not a fifth-floor monster.
Evan on the other hand, felt like dancing for joy, but he had to act natural, he couldn't let Ralphie get suspicious.
"Huh? They're two? Is that normal?
Oh well, the existence of dungeons is not normal either. Let's go through the one on the... Right?"
As he said that he began walking to the door on the right, and Laurene also followed him.
As he got closer, Ralphie felt something was off. Right before he opened his mouth to speak, Evan abruptly pulled Laurene into the left door.
"I knew he was up to something! Fuck!"
Ralphie cursed as he ran into the left door after Evan and Laurene. The door subsequently disappeared after the trio had entered.
◇ ◇ ◇
The condition that needed to be met for the trap door to open was simple.
You had to reach the fourth floor on your first try in the dungeon, on the first day of the week.
Evan discovered this after resetting his character multiple times in order to face the troll king that ended his streak of clearing dungeons perfectly on his first try.
However, this was reality, there was no reset, and Evan only had one chance.
In order to make sure they went on the first day of the week, he delayed their trip by two days.
The excuses he gave were ridiculous but it didn't change the fact that he managed to get Ralphie to change their schedule.
That was enough.
Today, was Monday, the first day of the week, it was also Evan's first time in the dungeon, same with Laurene. Although it wasn't Ralphie's first time, Evan alone was enough to trigger the hidden door.
Naturally, what waited behind was not the fifth floor but the hundredth.
One would normally wonder why the existence of such a thing was not known but the answer was quite simple.
The majority of those who were unlucky enough to enter the door were murdered by the monsters on the other end.
As for the ones who left to report it, the door was not there when they returned, after all, they did not meet the conditions to open the door anymore.
The room was fairly large, larger than the size of a banquet hall. There was a throne of bones in the middle, seated on that throne was a giant troll.
It was a hairy, apelike humanoid monster with black fur and a face that comprise elements of various big breeds. It had wide and bulging eyes with a snout that was thick and fleshy.
Seeing the monster Ralphie recognized it immediately.
"Troll King."
Hearing that, Laurene Instinctively appraised the monster.
Name- Gu
Race- Troll
Level- 360
Titles- Troll King
Class – Troll Warrior
Health – A+
Energy – A-
Strength – S-
Agility – A-
Durability – S-
Intelligence- C+
Condition- Normal, Expectant.
Magic Tiers- None
Skills- Titan Punch, Size control, Strength Amplification.
Unique Skills- Foreshadowing. |
"Tch... this one had foreshadowing, it was prepared."
There were two variations of the troll king, the one with a unique skill and the one without. The chance to encounter either of them was 50/50.
It was completely random, sometimes Evan encountered the one with a unique skill about 5 times in a row before the one without.
In the game, the foreshadowing skill's effect, allowed the boss monster to have a skill that countered any one of the player's skills, however, it was not the case in reality.
Fortunately, or unfortunately for them, this one had, a skill called foreshadowing that allowed it to vaguely predict incoming threats to its life and make some preparations.
The preparations this one made were evident in its level. The troll king was supposed to be a level 350 monster.
'However, it's 360, meaning it gained 10 levels in just one day. It probably killed all its subordinate trolls to level up.
Makes sense, even if it knew what skills we had beforehand, it's impossible for it to suddenly acquire counter skills in such a short time frame.'
The troll king was usually not alone, it was a boss monster after all. It had tens of troll knights and troll generals around it, however, this one had killed them all to increase its level and its chances of survival.
Ralphie looked at Evan as he unsheathed his sword and asked.
"Did you know this was gonna be here? Is that why you entered that door?"
"Of course, why do you think I suggested you go with us? It's so you can kill that for us."
Hearing this, Laurene was surprised, she wanted to shout at Evan with all her might, however, she saw something that shut her up.
[The goddess 'Artemisia' suggests you remain calm.]
She had never heard of such a thing where the goddess sent messages to humans with such a method. However, she had memories of it, the memories of the previous hero she possessed.
So that was why she was sure, that the message in front of her was sent by the actual goddess that governed this world.
"Don't glare at me like that Raplhie, you've got other things to do, see, it's coming over already."
Evan's words brought Laurene out of her thoughts. As he said, the troll king had risen from his throne, fists clenched tightly.
It locked eyes with Raplhie, ignoring the other two as Raplhie was the only one in the room who could threaten its life.
**ROoaAR