The atmosphere was uncomfortable, with both parties remaining silent. Sensing the tension, a girl from Lancelot's team attempted to break the ice.
"Hello, I'm Guin. You must be... Zaine, Albus, and Amy. Nice to meet you all," she said with a smile.
She gestured towards her teammate, a large man named Theodore.
"And this is Theodore. Of course, you already know our renowned S-class adventurer, Mr. Lancelot."
"I heard recently that you got invited into our guild, the Knights Order, right?"
Zaine nodded.
"Yeah, maybe the fact that I defeated the boss of the 5th floor got recognized by the King?" He answers with another question.
They entered the 11th floor of the tower. The place was brimming with monsters, and both parties decided to fight the monsters together.
Lancelot keeps his eye on Zaine while he summons a few of his low-class monsters, like the giant and orc, which makes him question the king's decision.
They continue their journey at the tower, with the monster getting progressively stronger, forcing Lancelot's party, especially Theodore who was worn out from all the fighting.
Zaine's party, on the other hand, manages to defeat the monster and remain unscathed for the most part.
Albus has adapted to close-range fighting using her fist. Her destructive power can easily defeat the monster with a couple of hits.
While Amy can provide buffs and heals for the team while they're fighting.
They slowly climbed up the tower, plowing through the monsters who stood in their way.
Finally reaching the 14th floor, they notice a change in the area. It has become an open space with a blue sky above its head.
Blue sky and green grass, complemented by the flowing wind, made it seem they were no longer at the tower. Suddenly, they can feel the ground shifting, and the rocks come to life.
A group of golems made of stone stood in their way, making it hard for a sword to penetrate.
Lancelot uses one of his skills, which creates light across his sword, strengthening it.
Along the way, Zaine thinks about showing Lancelot his powerful summons. He decided it would be better for him to recognize his strength as an adventurer and accept him into the guild.
Just as Lancelot casts his spell on the sword, Zaine summons the Giantess to the field, one of his current strongest summons.
It lifts both her hands and smashes them to the ground, creating a small earthquake and crushing the ground alongside the golems.
The Giantess's sudden appearance changed Lancelot's attention from the golem to the powerful Giantess.
"Stop! Don't attack it! It's mine!" Zaine shouted to Lancelot, who was already preparing to engage.
Lancelot's party is in shock after seeing the Giantess get summoned from thin air.
Hearing what Zaine said, he stopped and watched as the golem got demolished in mere seconds.
'How's that?' Zaine thought to himself while his gaze at Lancelot.
Lancelot's face is unfazed and shows no emotions. He proceeds to continue with the journey.
"Whoa, that's your summons?" Guin amazes Zaine after the battle has finished.
"Humu humu. I can see why the king is interested in you." She nodded while talking to herself, approving Zaine as one of the new members of the guild.
Theodore is also amazed at Zaine. He doesn't say much, but his expression says it all.
"Hey Lancelot, you agree, right?" Guin comes up to Lancelot, asking for his reaction after seeing that.
Lancelot remains silent and continues walking.
"Tch, ignored. Don't worry, even though he's like that, he's a good guy." Guin faces Zaines group.
The two parties continue their journey, finally reaching floor 15. They are faced with another door, indicating a boss fight up ahead.
{Would you want to enter (Boss Room: Minotaur)}
{YES / NO}
'Hmm... A Minotaur, a half body of a man, half of a bull. I think I remember his movements.' Zaine reminds himself of the movement of it.
Zaine tries to talk to Lancelot's party, but they immediately go straight into the boss fight.
With Lancelot's party going inside first, Zaine's party came in quite late after they discussed the potential weaknesses of the Minotaur.
The Minotaur is a formidable monster with immense speed and strength. It could efficiently deliver massive blows swiftly, killing anything in sight.
Once inside the boss's room, Zaine knew he had to act quickly. It rushes into Lancelot's team while lifting his large cleaver and swinging it downwards, making a loud bang on the whole tower.
Theodore, the tank for Lancelot's team, manages to resist the hard blow from the Minotaur's attack. His stamina was drained from all the fighting from the previous floor, making him less capable than before.
This forces Lancelot to defend the team, and though he manages to protect himself from the attack for a while, he soon gets overwhelmed by the Minotaur's quick barrage of attacks.
Lancelot tries his best to fight back, only to slowly fall to his knees as the Minotaur follows up his attacks with barrages of continuous swings from his cleaver.
Seeing Lancelot get caught off guard by the Minotaur, Zaine steps in and summons a few Giantess alongside some giants to try and stall for time.
Zaine knew that anyone who faced off with a Minotaur for the first time was set up for failure, just like the countless hours he spent on beating the Minotaur on HHL. He made sure to see every attack pattern and share them with Albus and Amy.
Seeing the beaten-up Lancelot, they hastily went to his side while Guin was also there, trying desperately to heal him.
The once cheerful Guin is now in shock after seeing both her teammates, especially Lancelot, be defeated so quickly by the Minotaur.
She tried to cast a shield and heal her party members, but she realized it was all pointless against the Minotaur's strength.
Amy joined Guin as they tried their best to heal Lancelot's and Theodore's wounds.
Thankfully, it wasn't anything life-threatening. Theodore has been forcing himself while shielding every attack. His body needs a rest, while Lancelot luckily only received shallow cuts and bruises from the short onslaught.
a
This leaves only Zaine and Albus to face off against it.