Yuehua Academy. Moonlight Organization. Inside Lou Xiaoyue's office.
Slam!
The deputy head of Yuehua Academy's Moonlight Organization, Li Mingyue, slammed a map of [Labyrinth of Mazes] on Lou Xiaoyue's desk.
"Can you explain why this kind of thing is being spread among the students? Who is the person behind it?"
"The academy has repeatedly stressed that aside from providing students with safe cultivation environments, they won't interfere unnecessarily. Isn't this for allowing students to gain experience in Runic World without being spoon-fed?
Under this kind of curriculum, tell me – why was this found in the hands of a student?"
"I have failed to do my job properly. I will immediately investigate this matter."
Lou Xiaoyue's face was pale. She chose to admit her mistake immediately without making excuses.
"There's no need. I have already sent someone to look. On the other hand, you should stop dawdling about what happened in the Forest of Treants. Focus on what's in front of you!"
Li Mingyue turned around and left, leaving Lou Xiaoyue alone with the map in her hands.
..
In the second level of the Labyrinth of Caves, within the territory of the Cave Golems.
At this moment, Wu Wei was slowly creeping up on his target with Yellow and the others.
Emboldened by having [Spider Sense], Wu Wei started to walk faster.
He had detected that there were no other monsters beside his target within a radius of hundred meters.
His target, a Cave Golem, was all he had to be wary of.
Soon, Wu Wei reached his target.
It was a Cave Golem that looked slightly different from an ordinary Cave Golem – an Elite Cave Golem.
The Elite Cave Golem was slightly taller than an ordinary Cave Golem, reaching about 1.7 meters. Furthermore, it had the facial features of a human!
To be more accurate, it had a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
The Elite Cave Golem looked extremely terrifying because it had facial features.
Wu Wei squinted his eyes to check its attribute window.
..
Runic Monster: Elite Cave Golem
Rank: Rare-
Level: 10
Mastery Skills: Earth Spike, Earth Shield
..
Its attributes were as they had been described on the map.
"Hmm… at this level of strength, Yellow alone should be able to take it down!
It should drop about five hearts at the very least! And that will also be mine!"
Wu Wei had noticed something besides the Elite monster.
It was what had gotten him all excited – an object that was shining in black metallic light.
It was something that was, without a doubt, much more valuable than the wooden treasure chest he had previously encountered – a black iron treasure chest.
When Wu Wei saw it, his heart almost jumped out of his chest.
The wooden treasure chest he previously opened had dropped the valuable [Superior] Tusk Blade, so his expectations of the black treasure chest were sky-high.
However, besides exhilaration, Wu Wei also felt a little bit doubtful.
He couldn't understand why a place like this would spawn a black treasure chest.
As an academy-trained Runemaster, he had learned well about weighing risk and reward in Runic World.
A black treasure chest would definitely be guarded by Runic Monsters. However, apart from the lone Elite monster, there did not appear to be anything else to be wary of.
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like there was no way the Elite Cave Golem would be capable of defending the treasure chest alone.
Therefore, Wu Wei felt a little strange.
"Why is it like this? Could it be that this treasure chest was originally guarded by a boss golem, but the academy had already hunted it?"
Wu Wei thought for a long time, and this was the only explanation that seemed plausible to him.
After coming to this conclusion, Wu Wei's eyes lit up with determination.
"Have I lucked out again? There's no reason to hesitate! Yellow, Go!"
The moment Wu Wei gave the order, Yellow opened his mouth.
Looking at the shape of his mouth, it was obvious that he was going to shout 'f**ker,' but Yellow quickly stopped himself from saying the word and replied with a grunt. Next, he raised his blade and charged forward.
However, perhaps because he had been unable to shout his usual war cry, Yellow's charge seemed to lack strength.
And just as Yellow was charging toward the elite monster, the Elite monster discovered him.
As it raised its hand, an earth spike shot from the ground beneath Yellow's foot.
There was a massive difference between an elite monster and a normal monster. The attacks of a normal monster were accurate, but they lacked speed and power and were easily telegraphed. Yellow was able to easily dodge those. However, the Elite Cave Golem seemed to have predicted where Yellow would land and aimed for that spot.
The sudden earth spike flustered Yellow.
His foot would have been pierced through if he had been slower to react.
And as soon as Yellow stopped, another earth spike shot out from the ground beneath his feet. Yellow immediately jumped up and activated his Spider Boots' [Wall Climbing], opting to approach from above.
The elite monster was caught off guard and attempted to use earth spike to ward off Yellow's offense. However, even though the elite monster's spikes could shoot out from the walls, they were much slower than the earth spikes from the ground, so they did not pose a problem to Yellow.
Soon, Yellow arrived within close range. He raised the Tusk Blade high in his hand before unleashing a single downward slash.
"Ding!"
At the same time, the Tusk Blade was swung, and a thin earth shield appeared in front of the Elite Cave Golem. Even though the earth shield was thin, its defense was unexpectedly strong.
Even with the Tusk Blade and his 2 points of STR, Yellow could not destroy it in one blow.
Seeing Yellow struggle, the Elite Cave Golem's lips curled up as if to smirk.
Just then, Yellow's unleashed a second slash.
With a crack, the earth shield shattered.
With an ensuing third slash, Yellow chopped off the entire right torso of the stunned Elite Cave Golem.
Wu Wei was not surprised by the outcome.
The Cave Golem was a monster that fought more like a mage than a warrior. Within Yellow's range, it had simply stood no chance. How could such a thin layer of earth block Yellow?
Yellow made short work of the Elite Monster in no time, leaving the final blow to Wu Wei's Golem Puppet.
The Golem Puppet's experience bar immediately shot up to 100%.
At the same time, the Elite Cave Golem dropped two items - one white and one light green.
However, Wu Wei's attention was not on these two drops. Compared to them, the black treasure chest was obviously what he was more interested in.
Just as Wu Wei was about to open the black treasure chest, a shrill roar echoed throughout the cave.
And the entire Labyrinth of Caves started to shake.